Day: February 5, 2019

Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce Executive Director to Retire

By
Daily News

NORTHAMPTON — After 27 years of service to the Pioneer Valley, Suzanne Beck announced that she will retire as the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce’s executive director. She cited the completion of the chamber’s strategic plan as the ideal time to pass the baton.

“I could not be more excited about the chamber’s future,” Beck said. “The strategic plan is a forward-thinking response to the area’s growth and change. With a new generation of business and community leaders, I strongly believe that the best way to move the chamber forward is to have a leader representative of that change. While it is hard to step aside, I make this decision certain it is right for the chamber.”

The strategic plan, to be launched over the coming months, is a commitment to serve the health and vibrancy of the community at large as an extension of the growth and strengthening of the business and nonprofit communities under Beck’s leadership.

“I feel very fortunate to have worked with Suzanne over the last six years and to have witnessed a small part of all she has done for our community,” said David DeSwert, board president. “As with everything she’s done in her time as executive director, Suzanne placed the interests of the chamber and the Greater Northampton community above all else when making her decision to retire. She leaves the chamber in an extremely strong position after leading a thoughtful and forward-looking strategic planning process. The strategic plan creates an exciting road map for the new executive director.”

Two years ago, the chamber embarked on a process to reimagine and redefine its role as a community partner. With the nonprofit’s centennial approaching in June, the chamber will be meeting in small groups with stakeholders to present the plan and get feedback.

Highlights of Beck’s accomplishments include:

• Working with Hampshire County business, nonprofit, and community leaders to create the first economic-development strategy serving all of Hampshire County;

• Supporting a group of young professionals to form Northampton Area Young Professionals (NAYP), now in its 10th year supporting the career and community interests of emerging leaders;

• Partnering with the United Way of Hampshire County to create Leadership Hampshire County (a precursor of Leadership Pioneer Valley) to connect, train, and support business and nonprofit leaders with a shared interest in community leadership; and

• Partnering with the Three County Fair Assoc. and the city on the redevelopment of the fairgrounds and construction of new barns.

In addition, the chamber has been committed to the success of downtown Northampton, recognizing its importance as the community’s commercial and civic center. A few examples of this commitment include hosting and supporting the Downtown Northampton Assoc. as a division of the chamber, events like Taste of Northampton and sidewalk sales, and shared promotions that raise money for local nonprofits.

This month, the chamber board will establish a committee to conduct a search for Beck’s replacement and create a transition plan. Beck and the committee will set a mutually agreeable departure date.

Gov. Charlie Baker Declares Feb. 11 as 211 Day in Massachusetts

By
Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — On Monday, Feb. 11 at 1 p.m., Springfield Mayor Dominic Sarno will hold a news conference at the United Way of Pioneer Valley headquarters, located at 1441 Main St., to declare that day 211 Day in Massachusetts. He will read a proclamation by Gov. Charlie Baker.

“The mayor is committed to raising awareness of Mass211, which receives more than 130,000 calls annually and responds to over 250,000 web inquiries from people in the Commonwealth seeking resources. Over 41% of all inquiries to Mass211 come from the Pioneer Valley area,” said Paul Mina, CEO of Mass211. Callers can also access the United Way’s statewide mental health/suicide prevention hotline known as Call2Talk if they are depressed, despondent, or just need someone to listen.

Feb. 11 marks national 211 Day in recognition of the free, user-friendly phone and online system that serves 90% of America’s population, and connects some 16 million people a year to critical resources, information, and services.

People call or search 211 looking for resources to meet basic needs, such as heating or utility assistance, shelter, emergency help, or to find the closest food bank. They also call for everyday non-emergency needs, such as developmental screening for a child, home health care for a relative, job training, or free tax-filing support.

“The collaboration between the United Way and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts allows Mass211 to access stable resources sufficient enough to continue this vital service well into the future,” Mina said.

Skoler, Abbott & Presser Attorneys Honored as Super Lawyers, Rising Stars

By
Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C. announced that three of its attorneys, Ralph Abbott Jr., Susan Fentin, and Marylou Fabbo were selected to the 2018 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list in the field of employment and labor law. Additionally, attorneys John Gannon and Amelia Holstrom were named to the 2018 Massachusetts Rising Stars list.

Abbott has been selected to Super Lawyers for 14 consecutive years. With the firm since 1975, he is known throughout the legal community for his work representing management in labor relations and employment-related matters, providing employment-related advice to employers, assisting clients in remaining union-free, and representing employers before the National Labor Relations Board. Abbott also has numerous credits as an author, editor, and teacher, as well as a record of civic and community involvement.

Fentin has been selected to Super Lawyers for 13 years and before that was named twice to the Rising Stars list. She has been with the firm since 1999. Her practice concentrates on labor and employment counseling, advising large and small employers on their responsibilities and obligations under state and federal employment laws and representing employers before state and federal agencies and in court. She frequently speaks to employer groups, conducts training on avoiding problems in employment law, and teaches master classes on both the Family Medical Leave Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. She was also named one of the Top 50 Women in the Law by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly in 2015.

Fabbo has been selected to Super Lawyers for 10 years and before that was named twice to the Rising Stars list. She is a partner and heads the firm’s litigation team. She represents employers in employment litigation before state and federal courts as well as state and federal agencies in Massachusetts and Connecticut. She also has extensive experience working with employers to reduce the risk of legal liability as the result of illegal employment practices. She is a frequent speaker on employment-related topics and conducts extensive management-training and employment-practices audits. She is a published author and volunteers in the local community. Fabbo was also named one of the Top 50 Women in the Law by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly in 2016.

Gannon and Holstrom have each been selected to the 2018 Massachusetts Rising Stars list for the first time. It is an exclusive list, recognizing no more than 2.5% of the lawyers in the state. Both defend employers against claims of discrimination, retaliation, harassment, and wrongful termination, as well as actions arising under the Family Medical Leave Act and wage-and-hour law.

Gannon also regularly guides employers on compliance with state and federal laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, Fair Labor Standards Act, and Occupational Health and Safety Act. He is a frequent speaker on employment-related legal topics for a wide variety of associations and organizations and was selected by BusinessWest as a 40 Under Forty honoree in 2016.

Holstrom frequently provides counsel to management regarding litigation avoidance strategies. She was selected by BusinessWest as a 40 Under Forty honoree in 2015 and was awarded the Massachusetts Bar Assoc. Community Service Award in 2016. In 2017, she was named an Up & Coming Lawyer by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly at its Excellence in the Law event.

Jennifer Fischer Joins Holyoke Medical Center as Chief Experience Officer

By
Daily News

HOLYOKE — Spiros Hatiras, president and CEO of Holyoke Medical Center and Valley Health Systems, announced the appointment of Jennifer Fischer as chief experience officer at Holyoke Medical Center.

“Jenny brings over 15 years of healthcare experience with a specialty in increasing operational excellence and patient satisfaction through evidence-based processes,” Hatiras said. “We are excited to have her join us and to further develop our culture and commitment to providing patients with the highest level of quality and compassionate care.”

Most recently, Fischer served as an account leader and coach for the Studer Group, an outcomes-based healthcare-consulting firm. In that role, she had a track record of six years of leading healthcare organizations in their service-excellence journeys, achieving targets for patient experience across multiple service lines, creating and sustaining leadership-development programs, and helping executive teams manage change.

Fischer’s prior experience included director-level positions at Wuesthoff Health Systems in Rockledge, Fla., and Door County Memorial Hospital in Sturgeon Bay, Wis. She received her bachelor’s degree from Ripon College in Wisconsin, a master’s degree in arts management from Columbia College in Chicago, and her bachelor’s of science in nursing degree from the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. She also received a juris doctor degree from the John Marshall Law School in Chicago.

“I had the pleasure of working with Holyoke Medical Center as a consultant and am honored to have been recruited to join a great team with such dedication and commitment to continuously improve the experience of every patient,” Fischer said.

Announcing the 2019 Difference Makers

By
Class of 2019 Cover Story Difference Makers

Celebrating the 2019 Class

It was almost a decade ago now when Bill Ward, then the executive director of the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, stepped to the podium at the Log Cabin Banquet & Meeting House in Holyoke to accept the first Difference Maker award presented by BusinessWest.

Much has happened since then. Ward retired a few years later, and the REB is now known as the MassHire Hampden County Workforce Board. But the Difference Maker award remains a constant — and a symbol of excellence and dedication to improving quality of life in this region.

Since the very beginning, this recognition program has shown conclusively that are a great many ways to make a difference. And the class of 2019, the program’s 11th, makes this even more abundantly clear, as the stories clearly show.

The six members of the class of 2019 were honored on Thursday, March 28 at the Log Cabin. View the Program Guide HERE.

Submit Nominations Here!

2019 Emcee

Tony Cignoli
President of A.L. Cignoli Company

Tony Cignoli is the President of the A. L. Cignoli Company, the public relations, political and governmental affairs company he founded in 1992. The company serves political and corporate clients across America with bases of operation in Boston, Massachusetts, clients’ operations centers, and home base being Springfield, Massachusetts.

A.L. Cignoli Company has built a reputation creating success for both political and corporate clients in challenging situations; taking on tough assignments, from referendum campaigns other firms will not touch to assisting in turning around political and corporate campaigns in trouble. The firm is recognized for a holistic approach to public and governmental affairs solutions, melding Tony and his associate’s contacts and hands-on approach with an understanding of how to utilize modern applications of data mining, polling data and social media.

Tony is a veteran of over 350 political campaigns, including presidential elections in Peru, Prime Minister and Parliamentary campaigns in Italy and many referendums in Massachusetts and throughout New England. He is a frequent commentator and political analyst for newspapers, radio and television news programs.

2019 Sponsor Videos

2019 Difference Makers

Carla Cosenzi, Co-president, TommyCar Auto Group

She’s Been a Driving Force in Business and Philanthropy

The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts

This Essential Agency Helps the Region Contend with a ‘New Normal’

Peter Gagliardi, President and CEO, of Way Finders

He’s Spent a Career Bringing Home the Power of Collaboration

Frederick and Marjorie Hurst

They’ve Shared a Lifetime Working for Social Change

Joe Peters, Vice Chairman, Former President, Universal Plastics

This Business Leader Has Made a Career of Finding Ways to Give Back

The Springfield Museums

Institution Has Mastered the Art and Science of Being Entrepreneurial

2019 Presenting Sponsor

2019 Sponsors

Photography for this special section by Leah Martin Photography

New Ownership Group Exudes Confidence on the Future of Tower Square

By
Dinesh Patel, left, and Vid Mitta in the soon-to-be-renovated lobby of the Tower Square Hotel.
Features

Complex Equation

Dinesh Patel, left, and Vid Mitta in the soon-to-be-renovated lobby of the Tower Square Hotel.

Dinesh Patel, left, and Vid Mitta in the soon-to-be-renovated lobby of the Tower Square Hotel.

Both the office/retail complex known as Tower Square and the hotel that sits on the property would be considered somewhat risky investments, given their recent history. But the investment group Springfield Hospitality believes otherwise — in both cases. The new ownership group has announced an ambitious plan to get the Marriott flag back on the hotel, and it is confident about gaining a wide range of new tenants on the retail side of the equation.

As they talked about their plans for Tower Square, the downtown Springfield landmark they acquired last year, and the hotel that is a prominent part of the complex, Vid Mitta and Dinesh Patel had to be careful, even cryptic, with some of their comments.

Especially when it came to the long-rumored signing of the YMCA of Greater Springfield as a major new tenant. That deal has not been finalized, said the partners as they talked with BusinessWest following a press conference late last month on their plans for the complex. And when it is, that news will be announced by the Y.

But also when it came to the small park across Main Street from Tower Square. They hinted quietly that this acreage — dubbed the ‘Little Park for a Little While’ after the Steiger’s department store that sat on the site was torn down (yes, that was 24 years ago now) — will likely become the site of another “hospitality-related business,” probably a boutique hotel.

“We really can’t say anything about that at this time; that’s for … later; that will be phase two,” said Mitta, president and CEO of Mitta’s Group and a partner with Patel and also Rohit Patel and Kamlesh Patel of Maine in the Tower Square project.

As for what’s happening now, Mitta and Patel were not at all cryptic or even careful as they talked about Tower Square, the hotel, their plans for both, and their optimism when it comes to achieving progress and profitability at the office/retail complex that has certainly seen better days.

Peter Marks

Peter Marks says a long list of renovations and upgrades must be undertaken to get the Marriott flag back over the hotel, and the new ownership group is committed to making them.

“When we looked at Tower Square as a possible investment, we saw opportunity where perhaps some didn’t,” said Patel, owner of the Hampton Inn on Columbus Avenue in Springfield, a Quality Inn in Chicopee, and other hotels across the region, adding that, while there is a good deal of vacant space in the complex, especially on the retail side, there is a solid foundation on which to build, with two colleges, UMass Amherst and Cambridge College, assuming large footprints in the building.

And there are already some new building blocks in place, including White Lion Brewing, which is constructing a brewery and tasting area in the long-vacant Spaghetti Freddy’s space along Bridge Street.

As for the hotel, the press conference was called to announce that the ownership group is on schedule and on target to get the ‘Marriott’ name back on the façade. It was removed and replaced with ‘Tower Square Hotel’ in the summer of 2017 as the complex’s former owner, MassMutual, was putting the property on the market.

“When we looked at Tower Square as a possible investment, we saw opportunity where perhaps some didn’t.”

To get that brand name back, the owners must complete a comprehensive renovation and upgrade, said Peter Marks, general manager of the hotel, adding that plans have been blueprinted, considerable infrastructure work has already been completed, and the owners are committed to spending “tens of millions of dollars” to return the hotel to prominence and make it a vital cog in the ongoing resurgence in downtown Springfield.

For this issue, BusinessWest talked with Marks and members of the ownership team about Tower Square and its future (or at least the subjects they could talk about at this time) and why they believe this was a solid investment for them, and the city.

New Lease on Life

Mitta acknowledged that, to the casual observer, anyway, the glass at Tower Square probably looks more half-empty (at least) than half-full.

But the total amount of vacant space (perhaps 20% of the complex) is less than most would think, and there has been, as noted, some progress made toward bringing that number down further.

White Lion will make Tower Square its mailing — and brewing — address, he said, adding quickly that a staffing company and AT&T have come on as tenants recently.

And there is that solid foundation of education facilities on which to build, he said, adding that there are a number of different ways the space may be repurposed in the future.

This is what the new ownership group — operating under name Springfield Hospitality Group — saw when it began looking at Tower Square as a potential investment in 2018. The group paid $7 million for the 25-story office tower and attached retail space, parking garages, and the Steiger’s parcel. The hotel, a separate purchase, was acquired for $10.5 million.

“With Tower Square as a prominent landmark in the city’s downtown, we think we can bring all kinds of businesses, not just retail, to this location,” he told BusinessWest. “We think we can transform the mall into different kinds of uses.”

As an example, he said the complex could become an ‘educational hub,’ or a bigger one, given that there are already two institutions with classrooms and other facilities there.

“We’re working with two other local colleges,” he said, adding that he could not disclose their names because the talks were very preliminary. “Meanwhile, we want to bring in some basic amenities such as a nail salon or a massage parlor or banking. Overall, there are many ways we can fill the available spaces, and we have already started implementing them.”

By that, he meant the AT&T store, the new staffing agency, and the fitness center and daycare components of the YMCA’s operation, which, as noted, have not been finalized.

Overall, flexibility will be the watchword moving forward, he said, and while there are certain visions that have developed for what might the Tower Square complex might look like in a year, or five years, the shape it takes will ultimately be determined by the marketplace and the types of opportunities that present themselves.

“With Tower Square as a prominent landmark in the city’s downtown, we think we can bring all kinds of businesses, not just retail, to this location. We think we can transform the mall into different kinds of uses.”

“We didn’t have a full plan for Tower Square, because as a businessman, you have to take what is available and turn it into opportunity,” Mitta noted, adding that the business plan calls for being profitable “from day one,” and more so with each passing quarter and year.

As for the hotel, it was “unflagged” — yes, that’s the industry term — when Marriott presented a long list of needed renovations and upgrades to the previous owner, MassMutual, which decided those expenditures were not worth making.

As with Tower Square itself, the Springfield Hospitality Group saw things differently, said Patel, adding that he and his partners believe the sizable investment — whatever it will be — will ultimately translate into enough room bookings, weddings, meetings, and other events to justify the expense of getting the Marriott name back over the front desk.

Mitta agreed. He said new construction of a Marriott would require an investment of between $200,000 and $300,000 per room, based on where this building project was taking place. Between the acquisition price of the hotel and the cost of the planned renovations and upgrades, the Springfield Hospitality Group is in that ballpark and probably just below.

“And if those new construction projects are going to work, why not renovations at this prestigious landmark?” he asked, before answering that question himself, in the affirmative.

Plans call for what Marks called an ‘inside-out’ concept, where elements of the city are incorporated into the design and décor of the renovated hotel. Specific improvements call for renovations to each room and the addition of one room, a suite, bringing the total to 266, said Marks. Also, the sixth floor, familiar to most area business owners and managers because it’s home to the banquet space and conference rooms, will get a makeover that includes a new fitness center with glass walls overlooking the rooftop garden.

A new, much larger bridal suite will be added, he went on, noting that the lobby will be given a new look as well.

“There are a lot of exciting changes,” he said, adding that the hotel will become part of what’s called the ‘Reimagined Marriott World,’ a comprehensive survey of customers and potential customers to determine what they want in a hotel — and a Marriott.

“The feedback was, ‘we want more than a place to sleep,’” he told BusinessWest. “They said, ‘we want a place where we can connect, relax, entertain, and do all the things we want to do.’”

And this led to the conceptualization of what he called a ‘great room’ in the lobby.

“The entire great room is the one place to be,” he said. “There’s a bar there, you can eat anywhere in that whole great-room area, and technology will allow our staff to deliver unsurpassed hospitality in the market by going out and greeting the customer with tablet in hand and checking them in the lobby.”

Model rooms will be available for viewing this spring, he went on, adding that construction, already underway on infrastructure systems, will move to more visible areas in the coming weeks.

Staying Power

“We’re going to be the number-one, most prestigious hotel in Western Mass.,” said Mitta, adding that the planned renovations and improvements should position the hotel to fully capitalize on the momentum being seen in downtown Springfield.

He noted that the arrival of MGM Springfield, as well as the performances and events it will bring, add up to considerable opportunity for a name-brand hotel located in the heart of downtown.

“Usually, a casino like this has 1,000 rooms, and some have 1,800 or 2,000 rooms,” Mitta explained. “This one has 250 rooms. That’s not enough when you bring events like Stevie Wonder and Cher to your city. This creates opportunities. If we make this hotel business-friendly with a lot of amenities, people will stay downtown.”

That was the thinking behind this large investment, and the partners who made it are confident their investment will soon start paying real dividends.

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

Bacon Wilson Focuses on Strategic Growth

By
Managing Partner Kenneth Albano
Law

Firm Resolve

Managing Partner Kenneth Albano

Managing Partner Kenneth Albano

As Bacon Wilson approaches its 125th anniversary next year, it can look back on plenty of history and change — with perhaps the past couple of decades representing the most dramatic evolutions in law. Through it all, the practice has remained remarkably steady, boasting numerous long-time attorneys and a measured growth strategy that has led Bacon Wilson to its position as the region’s largest law firm — one with its focus squarely on the future.

Just before he sat down with BusinessWest, Kenneth Albano was looking through an old file at Bacon Wilson, dating from 1993. Two things struck him about the letterhead.

One was the number of lawyers — just 16, compared to 42 today. The other striking thing was how many of those 16 are still practicing at Bacon Wilson today.

“Every lawyer except a few is still here,” said the firm’s managing partner, noting that he’s been at Bacon Wilson for 31 years, while the other two partners who spoke with BusinessWest for this story, Hyman Darling (38 years) and Donna Wexler (a relatively brief 17 years), have also built quite a bit of history with the firm.

“It says a lot about the fabric of the firm, that people stay here as long as they do.”

It says a lot about the fabric of the firm, that people stay here as long as they do,” Albano went on. “We have lawyers like Mike Katz and Paul Rothschild, who have been here 40-plus years and are still working hard every day.

“When we interview for associates, they always bring that to the top of the discussion, because it’s important for people to feel stability,” he noted. “With Millennials these days, it’s tough to get a straight answer as far as commitment, but we try to impress upon them that this can be your work family and your home for years to come. That’s what we bring to the table, and it’s been successful over the years.”

That stability has no doubt contributed to the firm’s growth, but so have a series of strategic mergers, which have led to Bacon Wilson establishing offices over the years in Northampton, Amherst, Westfield, and Hadley in addition to Springfield, where it has maintained a State Street address for almost 125 years.

“These are not offices where you call a phone number get a receptionist covering all the shared space,” Albano said. “These are standalone facilities with partners, associates, paralegals, and receptionists.”

At a time when it’s more difficult to find young talent (more on that later), the key has been smart expansion — not hiring just to hire or merging just to merge, he added. And those mergers have essentially been achieved through relationship building.

“We don’t buy practices,” he said. “So if you were looking to retire, you wouldn’t come to me and say, ‘I want X amount of dollars for my practice,’ because it’s a lose-lose situation for us. The win-win is, ‘sure, let’s talk, come be part of the Bacon Wilson family for three or four years, allow your clients to meld into our practice groups, and allow our lawyers to get to know your clients, and have a slow exit strategy.’ That’s how it’s worked in the past.”

Last year, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly ranked Bacon Wilson as the 42nd-largest law firm in Massachusetts, but it’s the largest in Western Mass. — and well-positioned, Albano said, to continue to tackle what has become an increasingly complex and demanding legal landscape.

Time to Change

Long-timers like Albano, Darling, and Wexler have seen their share of changes in the legal world, too.

“When I first came here, if somebody came in for an estate plan, it was a will,” said Darling, who has built a reputation as a premier authority in the region on estate planning. “Now, it’s a will, health proxy, power of attorney, homestead declaration, maybe a trust … we talk about things like end-of-life decisions and organ donors and cremation and anatomical gifts. Pet trusts, gun trusts. It’s evolved into things that none of us ever learned in law school.”

Donna Wexler and Hyman Darling

Donna Wexler and Hyman Darling have seen plenty of changes in their fields of real estate and elder care/estate planning, respectively.

That’s why he has gone from working with one shared secretary to leading a team of six estate-planning attorneys and 20 total staff, with responsibilities ranging from asset-protection planning and pet trusts to having his picture taken with a big check for the Massachusetts Lottery wall in Braintree when a winner decides to establish an anonymous trust.

“There’s special-needs planning that we didn’t do before,” he went on. “There was nothing called elder law when I came to the practice. And 10,000 people turn 60 every day — and we have a lot of them in Massachusetts.”

Technology has changed the way lawyers work as well, said Wexler, who specializes in real estate.

“When I started practicing, I would fill out forms in pen and the secretary would type them, then there were years when I typed them, then it evolved into the banks actually preparing them and e-mailing them. Now we’ve got cloud-based things,” she said, adding that increased government regulation, especially since the financial crisis in 2008, has led to new complexities to her work. “There’s more we need to know about what the regulations are and what we’re required to do.”

Then there’s the culture of constant communication — and the resulting rise in client expectations — that has shrunk timelines on projects in industries like construction, printing, and, yes, law. Albano recalled the days when he’d come back from lunch and hope to see a phone message on one those classic pink slips of paper waiting for him. Now, he returns to a couple dozen e-mails.

“There’s an expectation of immediate response, and it’s changed the pace of the practice tremendously,” Wexler said, to which Darling noted he’s had clients call asking to set up a will before they flew off on vacation. Tomorrow.

They all recognize, however, that those constant e-mails and calls represent something important: individuals who need help, and often at a difficult time in their life.

“I always tell people, if I get a call from someone I haven’t heard from in a while, they’re not calling to say, ‘how are you doing? Have a great day.’ They have a problem.”

“There’s an expectation of immediate response, and it’s changed the pace of the practice tremendously.”

As all three mentioned, those problems continue to evolve. Cannabis law in Massachusetts, for example, has unfurled an entire new world of issues that cross several practice areas. For instance, Albano represents a few municipalities seeking guidance on what kinds of restrictions they can place on marijuana businesses. Wexler has handled transactions for clients looking to purchase land for growing, while some of Darling’s clients have sought to invest in these facilities.

In fact, the sheer scope of Bacon Wilson’s expertise is a plus for clients, Albano said. “We don’t do high-end criminal work or security work. Everything else, we do. And we cross-sell each other to clients. The clients appreciate that.”

Wexler added that the attorneys tend to collaborate for the sake of clients, whether it’s seeking advice from a different department on a case or hearing a potential client’s request for services and recommending colleague with more specialized knowledge.

“When you hire Ken, you’re not just hiring him, you’re hiring 40 lawyers,” Darling said. “The firm is your lawyer. They’re all available.”

Well Suited

Albano said the three-legged stool holding up Bacon Wilson has always been litigation, real estate, and estate planning. “That’s always been with us. But when this firm was founded back in 1895, it was a commercial law firm, and we’ve maintained that commercial group from day one, representing so many Western Mass. banks. We survived all the mergers and all the new banks coming in. The key to our success is maintaining relationships. Relationships are so big in this market.”

So is staying educated and up to date on quickly evolving trends in a practice area.

For instance, even before the #metoo movement — but certainly in the wake of it — employment lawyers have seen a steep rise in harassment and discrimination cases, as well as thorny handbook issues to help clients sort out.

“We’ve had specialists come in here and give seminars on preventing those types of harassment claims,” he noted. “You have to stay up on it.”

In turn, Bacon Wilson’s attorneys are active in the community, writing articles (for publications such as BusinessWest) and conducting workshops on hot issues. That’s in addition to the many ways the firm’s lawyers support their favorite charities and volunteer on their boards.

“Everybody gives back,” Darling said. “We don’t have to ask them; they just realize it’s important.”

Wexler agreed. “When we bring new associates in, the ones I work with seem very excited. And most of them come in with a passion for one organization or another, and we encourage them to take the time to give to that organization. It’s catchy. And it’s exciting to be a part of that.”

That said, it can be a challenge to attract young talent to the firm in a competitive marketplace in an era when law-school enrollment is significantly down from where it was 20 years ago. But Bacon Wilson has developed a relationship with Western New England University School of Law, interviewing students for clerk positions and often hiring them full-time later on, while building similar pipelines with institutions like Bay Path University to find paralegals.

“The tough part is getting young lawyers to stay in Springfield, as opposed to Boston or New York,” Darling said. “But we’ve done a good job. The quality of life here is pretty good. They can make a living and have a house they can afford and be able to pay their school debt.”

Not to mention working at a firm that continues to rack up accolades each year — including “Best Law Firm” in the Valley Advocate Readers’ Poll every year since 2012, “Best Law Firm” in the Daily Hampshire Gazette Readers’ Choice poll every year since 2014, plenty of attorney citations in Best Lawyers in America, the 2018 Firm Impact Award from the Hampden County Bar Assoc. for pro bono work, and a raft of others — and, as Albano noted, a stable, venerable firm to call home for many years to come.

“We’ve grown in bits and pieces over the years,” said Albano, who would like to see the firm grow to more than 50 attorneys during his tenure. “It’s been a great run so far. We’ve had some hiccups along the way, as with any business, especially when the economy was bad. But the reason we’ve grown as well as we have is because the people who work here really enjoy coming to work.”

Joe Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

The 10 Most Significant Changes for This Tax Season

By
Accounting and Tax Planning

Items That Add Up

By Kathryn A. Sisson, CPA, MST

There are many changes that businesses and individuals should be aware of under The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), the most significant tax legislation in the U.S. in more than 30 years. Here are the 10 changes that will have the most significant impact this tax season.

Individuals

1. Tax Rates. The 2018 tax brackets have changed, resulting in lower tax rates for most individuals. For example, the 15% tax bracket has been reduced to 12% and the 25% bracket to 22%.

2. Income-tax Withholding. As a result of the lower taxes rates, income-tax withholding during 2018 also decreased for most individuals. This could result in underpayment of taxes for 2018, depending on your tax situation. Taxpayers should carefully review their withholding going into 2019 and discuss it with their tax professional.

3. Itemized Deductions. TCJA made several changes to itemized deductions as noted below.

Medical Expenses: TCJA lowered the threshold for the medical-expense deduction to 7.5% of AGI for 2017 and 2018. The threshold for 2019 is 10% for most taxpayers.

State and Local Taxes: TCJA limits the deduction for state and local taxes to $10,000 per year. This includes payments for state income tax, property tax, and excise tax. The same $10,000 limit applies regardless of whether you are a single taxpayer or if you are married and file a joint return. The deduction for taxpayers who are married and filing separate returns is limited to $5,000.

Kathryn A. Sisson

Kathryn A. Sisson

Mortgage Interest: Interest is generally deductible on original home acquisition debt up to $750,000. Home-equity interest is deductible only if the funds were used to improve the mortgaged property.

Charitable Donations: Donations are generally deductible up to 60% of AGI, up from 50%, for most donations. You could also consider giving directly from your IRA if you are over age 70 1/2 or gifting appreciated stock directly to a charity. Discuss with your tax professional in order to maximize your benefit.

Miscellaneous Itemized Deductions: TCJA has eliminated miscellaneous itemized deductions. These include deductions for unreimbursed employee business expenses, tax-preparation fees, and investment-advisory fees.

4. Increased Standard Deduction. One of the most significant provisions of TCJA is the near-doubling of the standard deduction for all taxpayers. For 2018, the standard deduction amounts are $24,000 for joint filers, $18,000 for head of household, and $12,000 for all other filers. The limitations on itemized deductions as noted above and the increased standard deduction amounts may make it less advantageous to itemize deductions.

5. Personal Exemptions. TCJA eliminated personal exemptions for 2018. For 2017, taxpayers received a personal exemption deduction of $4,050 per person. Therefore, a family of four received a deduction of $16,200 in 2017 that is no longer available under the new tax act.

Businesses

6. Tax Rates. A flat tax rate of 21% replaces the graduated tax rate brackets for C corporations that ranged from 15% to 39% in prior years.

7. Qualified Business Income (QBI) Deduction. A deduction of up to 20% of business income may be available to owners of pass-through entities. There are limitations based on several factors, including income of the taxpayer as well as the type of trade or business. The purpose of the deduction is to provide some parity between the new flat 21% corporate rate and the tax rates paid by owners of pass-through entities on their individual income-tax returns.

8. Depreciation. TCJA made significant changes to encourage businesses to expand and invest in new property; 100% bonus depreciation is now available for federal purposes, and the limitation on expensing certain assets has been increased to $1 million, with a $2.5 million investment limitation.

9. Business Credits. TCJA created a Family Leave Credit for employers making family-leave payments to employees. The credit is available only to employers who have a written policy in place for the payment and credit.

10. Deductions. Previously, the deduction for meals and entertainment was limited to 50% of expenses incurred. For 2018, 50% of meals are still deductible; however, entertainment expenses are no longer deductible.

Many of these changes are significant and warrant your full attention. As you approach tax season this year, seek the assistance of tax professionals, and do not follow your neighbor’s tax advice.

Kathryn A. Sisson, CPA, MST is a tax manager in the Commercial Services Department of Melanson Heath in Greenfield. She has 20 years of experience in public accounting and has been with Melanson Heath for 10 years. She has extensive experience in corporate and individual income-tax planning and review as well as financial-statement compilations and reviews. Her corporate experience includes working with businesses doing business in multiple states. She is also a QuickBooks ProAdvisor assisting many clients with general ledger systems and software training.

Bradley Continues to Grow Its Routes — and Its Amenities

By
Two Roads Tap Room
Features

Cruising Altitude

Two Roads Tap Room

Two Roads Tap Room is among several food and drink options Bradley has either added recently or plans to open in the coming year.

It’s no secret that the air-travel industry is a competitive one. But Kevin Dillon said it’s doubly so for the airports themselves.

“We’re competing with many regional airports for passengers, but we’re also competing with every airport in the country for limited assets — meaning aircraft,” he told BusinessWest. “Airlines will put aircraft where they get the best return. So we have to provide the best customer service possible, along with keeping operating costs low for airlines. Airports that can do both will be very successful.”

By any standard, Bradley International Airport has been exactly that in recent years, said Dillon, executive director of the Connecticut Airport Authority (CAA), which has managed the airport in Windsor Locks since 2013 — during which time it has enjoyed six straight years of passenger growth.

Part of that momentum stems from giving passengers what they need, and that’s more flight destinations. Recently announced non-stop additions include service to Denver, Raleigh-Durham, and Orlando on Frontier Airlines; to Pittsburgh on Via Airlines, and to St. Louis on Southwest Airlines.

Kevin Dillon

Kevin Dillon

“We continue to be very heavily focused on airline route development, and we continue to push for additional non-stop routes,” Dillon said, adding that the top goal these days is to boost West Coast service, particularly to Seattle, which would allow easy, one-stop access to Asia from Bradley.

“We already have service into Los Angeles and San Francisco, but Seattle would complement those very nicely,” he explained, adding that the CAA is also focused on Phoenix, Austin, Milwaukee, Nashville, and Jacksonville. “As it stands today, we feel we have a very healthy non-stop menu, but we want to expand that.”

Internationally, the daily Aer Lingus flight to Dublin introduced in 2016 has becoming increasingly popular with area business and leisure flyers, and the airline recently committed to another four years at Bradley.

“That service has been a success, especially during the spring and summer months, when business travel to Europe is supplemented by more leisure travel to Ireland,” he added. “We’ll be exploring additional trans-Atlantic service, but we also want to be very careful to make sure we’re fully supporting the Aer Lingus service.”

“Airlines will put aircraft where they get the best return. So we have to provide the best customer service possible, along with keeping operating costs low for airlines. Airports that can do both will be very successful.”

So, Bradley continues to give flyers what they need in terms of destinations. But just as important is giving them what they want. That’s where customer service comes in — and it’s a much more involved game than it was a few decades ago.

Comfort Zone

When Dillon entered the air-travel world in 1975, he said, operating airports was viewed exclusively as a government function, and airports were largely utilitarian in design. Now, it’s a very competitive business that’s laser-focused on pleasing its customers.

Bradley is doing so in a number of ways, including new eateries, such as recent additions Phillips Seafood and Two Roads Tap Room. “We’re looking to add additional concessions in 2019 — particularly in the concourse that houses United and American. Folks can look forward to some new brands coming in 2019; we’re negotiating the deals right now.

“That nicely complements some improvements made in other areas of the airport,” he went on. “Two Roads and Phillips are doing very well, and so is our club, the Escape Lounge. Black Bear restaurant closed down, and it’s going to be redone and refreshed. A lot of good things are coming to the terminal building.”

On that list is a planned $5 million renovation of all public restrooms in the complex, he added. “Everything we do here in the terminal building, all the improvements we make at Bradley, are with an eye toward improved customer service, whether it’s new concessions or something as routine as adding a new elevator. We’re constantly looking to make someone’s journey through the terminal building better.”

Meanwhile, the CAA recently announced that Travelers Aid International has begun serving Bradley’s passengers with a guest-service volunteer program. Forty-five volunteers currently staff the service — which operates out of the Information Center on the lower level of Terminal A, the baggage-claim level — while Travelers Aid continues to recruit more of them.

Travelers Aid currently operates similar guest-service volunteer programs at four other airports: New York JFK, Newark Liberty, Washington Dulles, and Washington Reagan. In addition, it operates the information booth at Washington Union Station. At these five locations, more than 750 Travelers Aid volunteers assisted more than 4.2 million passengers in 2017.

These service-focused improvements have all contributed to Bradley’s continued rise up the annual Condé Nast Traveler poll. The publication’s most recent Readers’ Choice Awards recognized Bradley as the third-best airport in the U.S. Travelers gave the airport high marks for “convenient on-site parking, plentiful charging stations and free wi-fi, decent restaurant options, and an overall relaxed atmosphere.”

airport terminals must be attractive and packed with convenient amenities

Kevin Dillon says airport terminals must be attractive and packed with convenient amenities in order to draw business in a competitive market.10

Selling Convenience

Dillon hopes they have similar praise for Bradley’s planned, $210 million ground transportation center, which is the final stages of design and financing. Construction may begin as soon as this year.

When it’s open, passengers will be able to fly into Bradley and connect to the transportation center via a walkway from the terminal. All the rental-car companies serving Bradley will be located there, as well as 830 spaces of public parking.

“We have rental cars scattered all around airport,” Dillon said. “Being able to walk right into the new center to get a car is, by itself, a great customer-service improvement.”

“We continue to be very heavily focused on airline route development, and we continue to push for additional non-stop routes.”

The transportation facility will also serve as a transit hub for the various bus services into and out of Bradley, as a connecting point to the rail line that now connects New Haven with Springfield. “We feel this is a real opportunity to connect the airport to that rail service,” he added. “We want to have a location within this transportation center where we can process rail and bus passengers.”

Meanwhile, the CAA expects to complete the new airport entrance roadway this summer, he noted.

“That was a safety improvement as well as a capacity improvement, as we look to grow the airport. We want to be sure people can easily access ground transportation, and make sure that driving into airport is just as convenient as the terminal building.”

When the CAA took over operations at Bradley in 2013, it was handling roughly 5.5 million passengers a year. Now, that figure is more than 6.5 million. But Dillon doesn’t think the airport is close to its potential.

“How big can Bradley Airport get? I do think we can be a 10 million passenger airport,” he told BusinessWest — but only if it continues to drive improvements in what passengers need, and also what they want.

“We know, at the end of the day, that what we’re selling is convenience,” he said. “When you compare Bradley with Logan or the New York airports, what differentiates us is that people look at Bradley as the most convenient option.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Pittsfield Focuses on Improving Neighborhoods

By
Commercial Real Estate
Community Spotlight

Community Spotlight

By Joseph Bednar

Mayor Linda Tyer

Mayor Linda Tyer says Pittsfield’s leaders remain focused on the needs of its individual neighborhoods in order to generate economic development.

As part of her annual state-of-the-city address recently, Pittsfield Mayor Linda Tyer praised the arrival of Wayfair — the fastest-growing e-commerce home-décor company in the world — on a number of levels.

Perhaps most importantly, by opening a sales and service center, the company has created 300 new jobs in Pittsfield. Wayfair is also a locally grown success story, founded by Pittsfield High School graduate Niraj Shah. And, Tyer said, Wayfair’s presence signals to other major employers that they can be successful in this city of about 45,000 people in the heart of Berkshire County.

But Wayfair’s arrival speaks to a broader success story as well — that of a city-wide development strategy that’s bearing fruit.

“Wayfair choosing Pittsfield wasn’t happenstance,” she said. “Rather, the foundation was set with the alignment of the city’s economic-development strategy. The city joined forces with the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority and the Pittsfield Economic Revitalization Corporation. Together, we created the ‘red-carpet team,’ the Mayor’s Economic Development Council, and a new position of Business Development manager.”

In their discussions with companies looking to set up shop in Pittsfield, Tyer noted, those entities are touting not only the economic benefits of doing business here, but quality of life. And people are listening.

“We prepared our presentation assuming that Wayfair will want to know what incentives we might be able to offer them,” she explained. “As the first session got underway, Wayfair’s representatives said they’re not yet interested in the financial incentives. They’d rather learn about Pittsfield’s lifestyle, our schools, our neighborhoods. They wanted to make sure that our community culture aligned with Wayfair’s culture.”

Pittsfield at a Glance

Year Incorporated: 1761
Population: 44,737
Area: 42.5 square miles
County: Berkshire
Residential Tax Rate: $19.42
Commercial Tax Rate: $39.94
Median Household Income: $35,655
Median family Income: $46,228
Type of Government: Mayor, City Council
Largest Employers: Berkshire Health Systems; General Dynamics; Petricca Industries Inc.; SABIC Innovative Plastics; Berkshire Bank
* Latest information available

The city’s red-carpet team, made up of city and state officials whose purpose is to develop strategies and explore incentives to support business expansion or startups, has been deployed in myriad cases to help companies move and expand in Pittsfield. Another resource Tyer is excited about is the Berkshire Innovation Center, which broke ground in September at the William Stanley Business Park.

This 20,000-square-foot facility that will support and advance the work of small and medium companies in the life sciences, advanced manufacturing, and technology, featuring cutting-edge equipment available to advanced manufacturers for research and development of new products. In partnership with Berkshire Community College, the center will be a place of teaching and learning, creating a pipeline of trained employees that area companies desperately need.

Neighborhoods on the Rise

Meanwhile, Tyer touted a downtown district generating energy through its mix of eateries, boutiques, and urban apartments, not mention a renovation of the historic Beacon Cinema on North Street by new owner Phoenix Theatres, which refreshed the interior, enhanced the seats, and added more showtimes.

“Downtown is Pittsfield’s front porch,” Tyer said. “We must remain watchful, always, to ensure a spirited, vibrant experience for all who live in and visit our city.”

She added that it’s time for the city to build on the successes of the North Street revitalization and focus more attention on the historic Tyler Street artery.

“My grandmother, who just turned 95, grew up on Tyler Street,” the mayor said. “She has fond memories of sitting on the front porch, getting an ice cream, and walking to North Street with her sisters to buy fabric at Newbury’s. Tyler Street can be that again, but with a modern twist.”

Anchored by Berkshire Medical Center, General Dynamics, and the William Stanley Business Park, the neighborhood is ripe for a renaissance, she argued. One development toward that goal is the conversion of the former St. Mary the Morningstar Church to 29 units of market-rate housing, a project that drew on $125,000 in state finding for infrastructure improvements around the building.

In addition, the Baker-Polito administration awarded a $30,000 grant last May to support small businesses in the neighborhood. The funding, Tyer explained, will be applied to Pittsfield’s Storefront Enhancement Program. “This is vital financial assistance for businesses to make façade improvements to boost visibility, attractiveness, and ensure accessibility.”

Work also began last summer on the Tyler Street Streetscape Design Project, which aims to create a curated throughway that addresses the needs of pedestrians and bicycles, improves lighting and landscaping, identifies dedicated bus stops, preserves on-street parking, and elevates public spaces. The completed design work is expected to be unveiled early this year.

Going forward, the city will continue to seek ways to take advantage of private investment in North Street and Tyler Street, both designated as Opportunity Zones, Tyer said. “Alliances with local and state representatives, financial institutions, and developers will spur capital investment and job creation.”

On the public-safety front, the mayor focused on several incidents in the Westside area of town, citing a meeting with neighborhood residents who expressed their fears and shared their ideas on ways to enhance the work of the police department, while they in turn tried to understand police protocols.

One idea — to establish a Police Department community outreach office in Westside — is becoming a reality, she added, thanks to space being offered by Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity in its building on Columbus Avenue.

Meanwhile, a series of high-visibility patrol operations were conducted in November and December. The operation, led by the Police Department’s uniformed patrol and anti-crime unit, brought in reinforcements from the Berkshire County Sheriff’s Office, Massachusetts State Police, and the state Alcohol Beverages Control Commission, which, in total, netted 32 arrests, including the seizure of approximately 340 grams of cocaine with an estimated value of $34,000 and a variety of illicit pills.

“While we tackle the complex issue of crime, our Police Department has established a strong philosophy of community policing,” Tyer added, noting that officers have hosted free movie events, back-to-school meet and greets, and other community activities. “All of these interactions create trusting relationships that will endure with our kids, their families, and our police officers.”

Collaborative Efforts

Still, making the community a more desirable one — again, a factor in attracting new business — doesn’t end with public safety. To that end, an LED street-light conversion will be complete by the spring, replacing some 5,300 streetlights in all, with the dual goal of brighter streets and lower utility bills. Meanwhile, the Westside Riverway Park, a new outdoor space along the west branch of the Housatonic River, extends from Wahconah Park to Clapp Park.

“Paying attention to what’s happening within our neighborhoods continues to be a primary focus. And our efforts are paying dividends,” Tyer said, noting that a surging housing market has increased home values in the city. Still, she added, vigilance against blight and decay in neighborhoods remains a priority for her administration.

“We have cataloged about 100 problem properties,” she noted. “The city’s code-enforcement team tries to identify and exercise all viable options. Our objective is always to preserve as much as possible. Sometimes, demolition is the only option. We continuously balance the cost of demotion against the very real gains that come with keeping our city appealing.”

Finally, 2018 was the first year of Community Preservation projects, the mayor noted. Drawing from a 1% surcharge on property values, the endeavor resulted in a $580,000 appropriation of funds for investing in historic resources, open space, and recreation. Eleven projects were funded, including the preservation of the Melville Art and Artifacts collection in the Berkshire Athenaeum, the Arrowhead stone wall, restoration of the Springside House, siting and design for pickleball courts, the turf field at Berkshire Community College, and infield restoration at the Pellerin baseball field.

Meanwhile, she said, local partners continue to support improvements in public spaces. This past year, the pavilion at Durant Park went up thanks to a gift from Greylock Federal Credit Union. A Berkshire Bank contribution facilitated the renovation of the basketball court at Lakewood Park, while the Buddy Pellerin Foundation and the Rotary Club are making significant investments in Clapp Park.

The progress Pittsfield has made on these fronts and others are, of course, a collective effort by myriad agencies, businesses, and individuals, Tyer noted. But she wants her administration to set the tone for growth.

“We cultivate an organizational culture that encompasses shared responsibility, proactive long-term planning, dynamic communication and professional development,” she said. “My philosophy around this is simple: when we make decisions that affect the people that we serve, these principles must be in the forefront of our minds.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Five Employment-law Mistakes to Avoid in 2019

By
Law

Knowledge Is Power

By John S. Gannon, Esq.

John S. Gannon, Esq

John S. Gannon, Esq

As an employment attorney, my job is to help businesses comply with the myriad laws that govern the workplace. No business is immune from workplace problems, and for those who violate employment laws, hefty penalties and damages await.

In order to help businesses avoid these problems, I’ve put together a list five costly employment-practice mistakes we frequently come across, with tips for correction and prevention.

Misclassifying Employees as Exempt from Overtime

Employers are sometimes shocked when they learn that salaried employees might be entitled to overtime when they work more than 40 hours in a week. The shock quickly goes to panic when they are told the salaried non-exempt employee is due several years’ worth of unpaid overtime, and that this unpaid wage amount can be doubled and potentially tripled under state and federal wage laws.

Misclassifying employees as exempt is a common mistake. This is because many employers associate paying a salary basis with no overtime obligation. True, paying employees a salary is typically one part of the test, but there are several other factors to consider during your exemption analysis.

We recommend you work with legal counsel to audit your exempt employee classifications. While you’re at it, consider doing a pay-equity audit to help protect against equal-pay discrimination claims.

Leave-law Headaches

When an employee is out for a medical condition, there are a series of complex and challenging employment laws that need to be navigated. This includes the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), workers’ compensation laws, the Massachusetts Earned Sick Time law, and, coming soon, the Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave law.

These laws have a plethora of traps for the unwary. What do you do when an employee continually calls out in connection with a medical condition? Do your supervisors know what to do if an employee requests several weeks off for surgery? The answers are not always easy, so make sure you know how these laws interact with one another.

Outdated Handbooks and Employment Agreements

Recently, I was reviewing whether a non-compete agreement would be enforceable in court. It turned out the agreement was signed roughly 10 years ago. To make things worse, the last update to the document was pre-Y2K.

The point here is that employment agreements and handbooks should not grow cobwebs. Changes in the law require changes to these documents. For example, Massachusetts enacted significant legislation in October 2018 changing the entire landscape of non-compete law in the Commonwealth. The state also saw the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act take shape in April last year. This new law included a notice requirement that meant an update to the employee handbook was in order.

Having your employment agreements and handbook regularly reviewed by counsel is a good way to stay on top of the constant changes in the employment law world. Remember, if you have not updated these employment documents in a few years, they are probably doing more harm than good.

Failure to Eradicate Harassment at Work

Last year was dominated by headlines spotlighting sexual-harassment scandals and cover-ups. But was the #metoo movement just another fad? The answer unequivocally is ‘no.’

To prove it, late last year the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) published data on workplace harassment claims that revealed a 50% increase in sexual-harassment lawsuits filed by the EEOC when compared to 2017 numbers. The EEOC also recovered nearly $70 million for the victims of sexual harassment in 2018, up from $47.5 million in 2017.

You’ve heard it before, but it bears repeating: businesses need to take proactive steps to create a workplace free from harassment. This involves updating anti-harassment policies and practices, adequately training your workforce, and promptly investigating all harassment complaints.

Lack of Supervisor Training

Most of the mistakes listed above are fertile ground for supervisor slip-ups. Whether they fail to report harassment (or, worse yet, engage in harassing behavior themselves) or discipline an employee who has taken too much sick time, supervisors who don’t know any better are in a position to do considerable damage to your business.

Proper training can alleviate this risk. Plus, a supervisor who spots an issue before it spirals out of control could prevent a costly lawsuit from being filed.

John S. Gannon is an attorney with Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C., one of the largest law firms in New England exclusively practicing labor and employment law. He specializes in employment litigation and personnel policies and practices, wage-and-hour compliance, and non-compete and trade-secrets litigation; (413) 737-4753; [email protected].

There Are Steps to Be Taken Even Though the Calendar Has Turned

By
Accounting and Tax Planning

2018 Tax Planning (in 2019)

By Brendan Healy, CPA

Brendan Healy

Even though we’re into 2019, there are still tax-saving opportunities available for the 2018 tax year.

This article summarizes a number of options that businesses and taxpayers should consider to help minimize their tax burden when they file their 2018 tax returns. As with any tax-savings strategy, you should discuss these post-2018 year-end planning techniques with your tax advisor before implementing them.

Retirement-plan Contributions

Although some retirement plans needed to have been in place before Dec. 31 to be used for the 2018 year, there are plans that could be set up in 2019, funded, and then used as deductions for the 2018 tax return.

A simplified employee pension (or SEP) IRA, for example, can be set up after year-end and funded up to the due date (including extensions) of the taxpayer’s business.

New Opportunity-zone Funds

The new tax law created a significant tax incentive to encourage capital investment in certain locations that need development. If you sell an asset with a large capital gain, you may be able to defer that gain if you essentially reinvest that gain into an “opportunity-zone fund” within six months of that sale. If done properly, you wouldn’t recognize the tax gain until the latter of when your new investment is sold or Dec. 31, 2026. You can also get up to 15% of the deferred gain forgiven entirely for holding the investment for specified time period. And if you held the investment for an additional 10 years, you’d pay no tax on subsequent capital gains.

Capital-expenditure Tax Writeoff

The new tax law allows businesses to write off (or expense) larger amounts of fixed-asset purchases. The new law not only applies to personal property (machinery, equipment, computers, office furniture, etc.) but also increases the ability to write off certain real-estate improvements. It also increases the amount of tax deduction available for business-owned automobiles. These capital-expense writeoff elections are made at the time you file the tax return.

State Tax Planning

If you ship product to different states or if you sell over the internet across the country, there may be state tax-planning strategies available for your business. Certain businesses can take advantage of apportioning their revenue across several states. And if they do not have to file tax returns in those states, that apportioned revenue may never be subject to state income tax.

There have been significant changes this past year in the way states are allowed to (or not allowed to) tax out-of-state shipments entering their state. You should review your state income tax plan as well as your state sales tax reporting process in light of these new and significant changes.

Tax Credits

The tax law provides certain incentives to businesses by offering tax credits. The research and experimentation tax credit, for example, allows a business to convert a dollar of deduction into a dollar of tax credit. Since tax credits reduce taxes on a dollar-for-dollar basis, a tax credit is more valuable to the business than a tax deduction. So if the business is allowed to convert an expenditure into a credit, the tax savings could be substantial.

Many businesses (such as manufacturers or software companies) are not taking advantage of this tax credit that may be available to them.

Estate Planning and Gifts During Lifetime

The new tax law significantly increases the ability for families to transfer wealth upon death as well as allowing gifts during lifetime on a tax-free basis. Although estate and gift planning can get very complicated, the limits available today (which will expire in about seven years) are substantially higher than they have been in the past and allow for great flexibility in wealth-transfer planning.

Bottom Line

Just because 2018 is over does not mean we should stop thinking about tax-planning strategies for 2018 tax returns that will be filed over the next several months.

There are many tax incentives written into the tax law to encourage business and individual taxpayers to reinvest. It is up to you to make sure you are taking advantage of every one available to you and your business.

Brenden Healy, CPA, a partner at Whittlesey, is an expert in state and federal tax matters who consults with businesses and individuals and focuses his practice on closely held businesses in the real-estate, manufacturing and distribution, and retail industries.

The Benefits of This Corporate Tool Certainly Do Add Up

By
Accounting and Tax Planning

Life in the Cloud Age

By Rebecca J. Connolly, CPA

Rebecca J. Connolly

Rebecca J. Connolly

If you’re anything like me, you wonder what a cloud is, besides the one I see when I look out my office window.

Most people resist change because they don’t know what it truly is, but let’s take a moment to ignore our instinct of ‘no’ and think about what this truly is and if it is right for your business. The cloud is not something you touch, but it is a tool in your corporate toolbox that you should consider using.

For business owners, the true questions are, what is cloud computing? How do I use it? Is it safe? And, why would I spend the money?

The true definition of cloud computing is confusing to most, but the information element is ease of use and availability. Many small-business owners need frequent access to their office network, and what if that office was fully accessible at your home computer?

There are many options that allow a business owner or worker to access their office computer, but cloud computing offers your business software to not be stored not on your laptop or desktop, but on an online solution that can help save the costs and late nights spent in the office.

I was skeptical as to how cloud computing would work and the true speed and efficiency of it, but I can travel all over the Northeast part of the U.S. for my clients and have everything available to me from any computer, including my laptop. How many of us are stuck carrying a laptop and waiting 15 minutes a day to load due to how large our software is? My laptop takes a minute or less to load due to minimal software being loaded on it because our office uses cloud computing.

You might ask, is cloud computing safe for my business? Nowadays we hear so often about data breaches that they are not shocking anymore, but just a thing of the times. So, let’s take a step back and think about how secure we are with our work computers, company data, and Internet access.

If you practice the gold standard of security, you don’t store any company files on your laptop itself, the laptop is backed up every day, and you do not use the internet except for required business activities. How many people do all three of these items? If you are part of the general population of business owners and workers, you put systems in place the best you can using your knowledge or your hired consultants’ suggestions. You then attempt to follow those processes and procedures, but again, you’re human, so maybe the local drive on your laptop is backed up only once at month at best.

Cloud computing could be your answer, or at least make you think about where your business stands and determine if you are losing time with your current work setup. Cloud computing has layers of security most people never think about, including frequent backups, two-factor authentication, and audit logs.

Another question people have once they partially understand the aspects of cloud computing is price. Now, I ask you, what is the price you are willing to pay to allow yourself and your workers access into your software securely at any time from any location?

The next question you should ask yourself is how much time, effort, and money are you losing using your current platform. Do you wait for your system to boot up for a long period of time every day, and so do all your employees? Is your current system secure, or do you just tell yourself it is so that you can sleep at night?

There are so many questions to ask here, but the first item to resolve when looking at how to move your company into the next phase of information technology is realizing that we know our business inside and out, whether it is making a product or providing a great service to our community. Just because we’re not experts in the field of cloud computing or technology in general does not mean that we couldn’t save time, money, and frustration, while also enhancing security, by looking into new technology to help the business grow.

Working in public accounting with many small-business owners allows me to realize there isn’t enough time in the day or week to allow for everything that needs to get done. Losing data and hard work because of a computer glitch or a bad information-technology setup is not only unacceptable, but also costly to businesses beyond price tags.

I’m not saying everyone needs to be using the cloud, because each business and every business owner is different. I am saying that it is prudent to take the time to access your current system, no matter how much time and effort it costs you, and evaluate if you are doing yourself and your business a disservice by not using cloud computing or a similar technology.

Rebecca J. Connolly, CPA is audit manager for the West Springfield-based accounting firm Burkhart Pizzanelli, certified public accountants; (413) 734-9040.

The Many Ways to Make a Difference

By
Opinion

Editorial

Just over a decade ago, BusinessWest launched a new recognition program, Difference Makers. And in many ways, the past 10 years have been a celebration of the many different ways groups and individuals can make a difference in their community, and this region as a whole.

Indeed, those making their way to the podium at the Log Cabin Banquet & Meeting House in Holyoke have included a sheriff of Hampden County, a police chief in Holyoke, the president of UMass Amherst, the founder of Rays of Hope, the director of Junior Achievement, the co-founder of Link to Libraries, the creators of Valley Venture Mentors … the list goes on.

And this year’s additions to that list  provide still more evidence that there are countless ways to make a difference, and they all need to be celebrated:

• Let’s start with the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. This Hatfield-based agency, launched in the early ’80s, is a Difference Maker on many levels, from the 11.6 million pounds of food and 9.6 million meals it provides to area shelters and soup kitchens, to its Coalition to End Hunger, which is raising awareness of the problem, attacking the stigma attached to it, and advocating for those in need. For almost 40 years, the Food Bank has been answering the call.

• The same is true of Joe Peters, a businessman who has always had an influence that has extended far beyond the walls of Universal Plastics. It has extended across Chicopee, the city he grew up and still lives in today, with initiatives such as the so-called ‘sandwich ministry,’ a program he helped start to feed the homeless in that city. And it has extended all the way to Guayape, Honduras, where he helped bring a new ambulance to that hurricane-ravaged village. He has always looked for new ways to step in and change lives for the better.

• As has Peter Gagliardi, the long-time president and CEO of Way Finders. He has spent the past 45 years working in the broad realm of housing and the past quarter-century at Way Finders, where he has greatly expanded the mission and, while doing so, has changed lives and helped change the course of entire neighborhoods through the power of collaboration.

• Frederick and Marjorie Hurst have always been catalysts for positive change within their community, especially through the newsmagazine they created called An African American Point of View, a name that speaks volumes about its mission and importance to the community. It blends community news with often-unsparing commentary, and speaks with a powerful voice, just like its founders.

• The Springfield Museums, as a cultural institution, is a different kind of Difference Maker. For more than 160 years, it has helped bring art, science, history, and memories to visitors from across this region and far outside it, a mission that entered a new dimension with the opening of the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum in 2017. Collectively, the Museums have helped put Springfield on the map and make it far more of a destination.

• Meanwhile, Carla Cosenzi, co-president of the TommyCar Auto Group, has found her own ways to make a difference. First, as a successful business owner and, therefore, role model and mentor to many young women. But also has a warrior in the battle against cancer, the disease that claimed the life of her father, through the Tommy Cosenzi Driving for the Cure Golf Tournament.

As we said, there are no limits on the ways that an individual or group can make a difference here in Western Massachusetts, or in Guayape, Honduras for that matter. That’s what we’ve been celebrating for the past decade, and the celebration continues with the class of 2019.

The Crisis of Physician Burnout

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Opinion

Opinion

By Tom Flanagan

Burnout among the nation’s physicians has become so pervasive that a new paper published by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the Harvard Global Health Institute, the Massachusetts Medical Society, and the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Assoc. has deemed the condition a public health crisis.

In a 2018 survey conducted by Merritt-Hawkins, 78% of physicians surveyed said they experience some symptoms of professional burnout.

The paper includes directives aimed at curbing the prevalence of burnout among physicians and other care providers, including the appointment of an executive-level chief wellness officer at every major healthcare organization, proactive mental-health treatment and support for caregivers experiencing burnout, and improvements to the efficiency of electronic health records. 

In a 2018 survey conducted by Merritt-Hawkins, 78% of physicians surveyed said they experience some symptoms of professional burnout. Burnout is a syndrome involving one or more of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and diminished sense of personal accomplishment. Physicians experiencing burnout are more likely than their peers to reduce their work hours or exit their profession. 

“The issue of burnout is something we take incredibly seriously because physician wellbeing is linked to providing quality care and favorable outcomes for our patients,” said Dr. Alain Chaoui, a practicing family physician and president of the Massachusetts Medical Society.  “We need our healthcare institutions to recognize burnout at the highest level and to take active steps to survey physicians for burnout and then identify and implement solutions. We need to take better care of our doctors and all caregivers so that they can continue to take the best care of us.” 

By 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services predicts that there will be a nationwide shortage of nearly 90,000 physicians, many driven away from medicine or out of practice because of the effects of burnout. Further complicating matters is the cost an employer must incur to recruit and replace a physician, estimated at between $500,000 and $1,000.000.

The growth in poorly designed digital health records and quality metrics has required that physicians spend more and more time on tasks that don’t directly benefit patients, contributing to a growing epidemic of physician burnout,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, a Veterans Affairs physician and Harvard faculty member. “There is simply no way to achieve the goal of improving healthcare while those on the front lines — our physicians — are experiencing an epidemic of burnout due to the conflicting demands of their work. We need to identify and share innovative best practices to support doctors in fulfilling their mission to care for patients.” 

The full report is available at www.massmed.org.

Tom Flanagan is Media Relations manager for the Massachusetts Medical Society.

Picture This

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Picture This

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

Black Tie Gala

The Assoc. of Black Business and Professionals (ABBP) hosted its third annual Black Tie Gala on Jan. 19 at the Aria Ballroom at the MGM hotel in Springfield. During the gala, the association recognized 10 businesses and professionals were that have contributed significantly to the growth and development of the local black business community. The keynote speaker was Barfuor Adjei-Barwuah, ambassador of the Republic of Ghana to the U.S.

Attorney Alesia Days serves as master of ceremonies

Adjei-Barwuah addresses the crowd

Adjei-Barwuah addresses the crowd

Adjei-Barwuah (left) with Jasmine Green, ABBP executive board member

Adjei-Barwuah (left) with Jasmine Green, ABBP executive board member

From left, Jimmy and Toni Hendrix of Smokey Joe’s Cigar Lounge, Lamont Clemens of S-Cel-O Painting, Stefan Davis of I Found Light Against All Odds, Rosemary Tracy Woods of Art for the Soul Gallery, Justin Haynes of Jus10h, Vanessa Hall of Beaute Within, Clarence Thomas of Final Touch Barbershop, and Mychal Connoly of Stinky Cakes

From left, Clemons, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, mayoral aide and ABBP executive board member Darryl Moss, and Lordi Smith of Micro Scalp Clinic.

Open for Business

Florence Bank recently cut the ribbon on its second Hampden County branch, at 1444 Allen St. in Springfield. Bank staff, board members, and corporators were on hand at the ceremony, along with civic leaders.

In the front row, are, from left, Springfield City Councilor Michael Fenton, State Rep. Angelo Puppolo, Springfield Chief Development Officer Kevin Kennedy, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, Florence Bank President and CEO John Heaps, Vice President and Branch Manager Nikki Gleason, board member Mansour Ghalibaf, Area Manager/Vice President Elissa Langevin, corporator Tania Barber, Vice President/Director of Facilities Mark Cavanaugh, and Joanne Gould of the Outerbelt Service Assoc

The branch’s staff: from left, Carolyn Ware, community relations director; Candice Somar, assistant branch manager; Mario Nascimento, customer service representative/senior teller; Nikki Gleason, vice president/branch manager; Magdalis (Maggie) Sierra, customer service representative/senior teller; and Bianca Hyde, customer service representative/teller operations manager

Sarno (left) greeting Heaps and welcoming Florence Bank into the city.

Sarno (left) greeting Heaps and welcoming Florence Bank into the city.

Model Congress at AIC

The 79th annual Model Congress at American International College, the longest-running continuous model congress of its type in the nation and one of the college’s oldest campus traditions, convened at AIC during the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Eleven high schools throughout the Northeast came to campus to write, debate, and pass legislation in a weekend-long simulated congress.

The Best Delegation award was presented to (pictured, from left) Alexandria Barnard-Davignon, Rose McCaffrey, Bridget Bushy, and Michael Scoville from SABIS International Charter School. The Best Bill award was given to Chinaly Chanvong and Jada Ficarra, also from SABIS. McCaffrey was named this year’s top delegate, and will receive the Kathryn Mauke Scholarship, a full four-year tuition scholarship to AIC. Second- and third-place delegates were Althea Brennan and Pamela Mountain, respectively, from Chatham High School in New York, who receive a $10,000 and a $5,000 four-year scholarship to AIC.

Court Dockets

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Court Dockets

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

Lori Saleem v. William W. Clark and William W. Clark Excavating

Allegation: Motor-vehicle negligence causing personal injury and property damage: $6,725

Filed: 10/9/18

Juanita Soriano Taylor v. the Yankee Candle Co. Inc.

Allegation: Negligence causing personal injury: $25,000+

Filed: 11/15/18

HAMPDEN SUPERIOR COURT

Ruthie Melendez v. Springfield Housing Authority

Allegation: Negligence causing personal injury: $5,575.67

Filed: 12/10/18

Galveston Shrimp Co., LLC v. EP Floors Corp.

Allegation: Breach of contract, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, breach of express warranty for goods: $87,500+

Filed: 12/17/18

Michelle Raymond v. Sterling Realty Trust and Stewart B. Reed as trustee for Sterling Realty Trust

Allegation: Negligence; slip and fall causing personal injury: $38,233.90

Filed: 12/20/18

Jean Sullivan v. the Stop and Shop Supermarket Co., LLC

Allegation: Negligence causing personal injury: $25,389.79

Filed: 12/20/18

Gayle Lombardini, personal representative of the estate of Paul Lombardini Jr. v. Brian Paul Sutton, M.D.; David Peterson, M.D.; and Westfield Emergency Physicians, P.C.

Allegation: Medical malpractice: $25,000+

Filed: 12/24/18

Jorge Colon Sr. and Betty Matos v. Fuel Services Inc.

Allegation: Trespass, nuisance, negligence, loss of use, property damage, personal injury, and loss of consortium resulting from wrongful delivery of heating oil that flooded basement and seeped into soil: $2,500

Filed: 12/28/18

Lesley Sporbert and Paul Sporbert Jr. v. the Carson Center for Human Services Inc., Behavioral Health Network Inc., BHN the Carson Center, and Anne Benoit

Allegation: Negligence causing personal injury: $152,748.60

Filed: 12/28/18

HAMPSHIRE SUPERIOR COURT

Bernadette Giblin v. J.F. White Contracting Co.; Schiavone Construction Co., LLC; White-Schiavone JV; Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Inc.; CME Associates Inc.; and Roadsafe Traffic Systems Inc.

Allegation: Negligence causing personal injury: $65,368.43+

Filed: 12/13/18

Joann Cook and Carl Cook v. Balise Motor Sales Co. and Primary Source Insurance Agency Inc. d/b/a Federated Service Insurance

Allegation: Negligence causing personal injury and property damage: $46,643+

Filed: 1/10/19

PALMER DISTRICT COURT

Progressive Universal Insurance Co. a/s/o Vincent N. Raleigh v. De Mase Trucking Co. Inc.

Allegation: Motor-vehicle negligence causing property damage: $16,117.30

Filed: 1/15/19

WESTFIELD DISTRICT COURT

Peter Talbot v. Window World of Western Massachusetts Inc.

Allegation: Money owed for services provided as an employee: $4,995.21

Filed: 12/14/18

Agenda

By
Agenda

Nomination Deadline for 40 Under Forty

Through Feb. 15: BusinessWest is currently accepting nominations for the 40 Under Forty Class of 2019. The deadline for nominations is Feb. 15. Launched in 2007, the program recognizes rising stars in the four counties of Western Mass. Nominations, which should be detailed in nature, should list an individual’s accomplishments within their profession as well as their work within the community. Nominations can be completed online by visiting www.businesswest.com, clicking on ‘Our Events,’ and then ‘40 Under Forty.’ Nominations will be weighed by a panel of judges. The selected individuals will be profiled in the April 29 issue of BusinessWest and honored at the 40 Under Forty Gala on June 20 at the Log Cabin in Holyoke. PeoplesBank will be presenting sponsor of this year’s 40 Under Forty program, and YPS of Greater Springfield is a partner. Additional sponsorships are available.

Application Deadline for Local Farmer Awards

Jan. 31: Farmers in Western Massachusetts are invited to apply for Local Farmer Awards up to $2,500 toward equipment and infrastructure projects to help them complete in the marketplace. The Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation (HGCF), in partnership with Big Y and with the support of other funders, is entering the fifth year of the awards program, which has helped more than 125 farmers carry out a total of 188 projects. The deadline for applying is Jan. 31. Interested applicants are encouraged to visit www.farmerawards.org for more information. “Big Y has been partnering with and supporting local farmers since we began over 80 years ago,” said Big Y president and CEO Charles D’Amour. “Our partnership with the Grinspoon Foundation provides one more way we help the local growers to thrive in our community.” Some examples of how the awards have been used include a high-efficiency vegetable washer, a walk-in cooler aging room, an egg washer, high tunnel irrigation, electric fencing, and a milkplan bulk tank. “Farmers don’t typically ask for help,” said philanthropist and project founder Harold Grinspoon. “They are genuinely appreciative of these awards and use the money in creative ways for projects to help their businesses.” To be eligible, farms must have gross sales of $10,000 or above and either be a member of Berkshire Grown or Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) or reside in one the four counties of Western Mass. Berkshire Grown and CISA share their passion for local farms by providing ongoing guidance and help with promotion of the Local Farmer Awards.

Free Legal Help Hotline

Feb. 7: The Hampden County Bar Assoc. will hold a Legal Help Hotline in conjunction with Western New England University School of Law from 4 to 7 p.m. at Western New England University School of Law, 1215 Wilbraham Road, Springfield. The volunteers will provide legal advice on a variety of topics, including divorce and family law, bankruptcy, business law, landlord/tenant issues, and real estate. Spanish-speaking attorneys will be available. Individuals needing advice should call (413) 796-2057 to speak to a volunteer.

‘DiSC for Sales’ Workshop

Feb. 28: Elms College will host a workshop to help salespeople and business leaders maximize their effectiveness with customers from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Faculty Dining Room in the Dooley College Center. The three-hour “DiSC for Sales” workshop, sponsored by the college’s MBA program and the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL), will be led by Nancy Davis, Business Development specialist at CEL. DiSC for Sales is a model that supports people in sales roles and helps them to recognize and understand their own unique strengths and style, while also helping them build relationships with clients by learning to read each client and adapt to connect with them better. The model offers a concrete method and practical tools to help businesspeople engage with all personality styles. During the interactive workshop, Davis, a certified DiSC facilitator, will offer educational content, examples, activities, and opportunities for sales-oriented people to recognize customer priorities, what to emphasize to customers, and strategies that work with different personality styles. Prior to the event, participants will take an online assessment and receive a full report. The cost to attend is $199 per person, which includes the workshop and dinner. Space is limited. Register by Friday, Feb. 15 by e-mailing [email protected]. For more information, e-mail Davis at [email protected].

Springfield Leadership Institute

Feb. 28 to June 6: The 2019 Springfield Leadership Institute will focus on core management and leadership skills for increasing personal and organizational effectiveness. The practical and applied program will equip participants with the knowledge and skills to take their leadership to the next level. The Institute takes place on Thursdays from 1 to 4:30 p.m., and is directed by Robert Kleine III, dean of the Western New England University College of Business, and Associate Professor Stacie Chappell, who has a strong background in leadership development and consulting to a variety of organizations. The program is supported by the Irene E. and George A. Davis Foundation. All sessions will be held at the TD Bank Conference Center, 1441 Main St., Springfield. Sessions will focus on managerial leadership, emotional intelligence and self-awareness, powerful communication, building high-performance teams, and leveraging conflict. Participants will actively explore best practices of leaders; analyze their own leadership, learning, and problem-solving styles; and experience the synergies that result from high-performing teams. The emphasis will be on experiential activities that provide opportunities to identify, develop, and refine skill sets for effective leadership. Participants will have the opportunity to apply and extend their learning through a practice-based team project. The program is designed for aspiring managers, new managers, and professionals interested in increasing their effectiveness and/or expanding their impact within or beyond their current role. Upon successful completion of Leadership 2019, participants will be eligible to enroll in a free graduate course offered through the College of Business at Western New England University (subject to certain requirements). Applications must be received by Thursday, Feb. 14. Tuition is $885 per participant and includes a day trip to Beacon Hill and a graduation dinner. For questions about the program or the application process, e-mail Grace Szydziak at [email protected].

Elms Instant Accept Day at GCC

March 6: The School of Graduate and Professional Studies at Elms College will host an Instant Accept Day from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the cafeteria at Berkshire Community College, 1350 West St., Pittsfield. Interested students should bring their official transcripts to be considered for admission to bachelor’s degree completion programs in social work or early care and education. Elms College representatives will be on hand to discuss program options, review students’ educational histories, and offer instant acceptance to qualified applicants. In this degree-completion program, classes are held Saturdays on the Berkshire Community College campus, taught by Elms faculty. By completing coursework in 10 eight-week sessions over a 20-month period, students can save thousands of dollars in completing a bachelor’s degree.

‘Building a Company People Crave to Work For’

March 12: The Family Business Center of Pioneer Valley is looking for business owners or key managers who would contribute to a presentation called “Building a Company People Crave to Work For.” Several years ago, Jack Stack, father of the Great Game of Business and open-book management, said, “build a great company — because a great company can’t help but make great products.” But what does it take to make a company great? The presentation will be made up of people from businesses with strong policies, attractive cultures, and impressive numbers of high potential employees rising through the ranks. Attendees will hear how they did it, and learn how to adopt anything that would work for their own companies. Get in touch at fambizpv.com.

Difference Makers

March 28: BusinessWest launched its Difference Makers program in 2009 to celebrate individuals, groups, organizations, and families that are positively impacting the Pioneer Valley and are, as the name suggests, making a difference in this region. The class of 2019 will be announced and profiled in the Feb. 4 issue and feted at the Difference Makers Gala on March 28 at 5 p.m. at the Log Cabin in Holyoke. Tickets are on sale now for $75. To reserve a spot, call (413) 781-8600, ext. 100, or e-mail [email protected]. Event sponsors include presenting sponsor Baystate Health/Health New England, Royal, P.C., Burkhart Pizzanelli, P.C., Development Associates, and Viability.

Springfield Art Stop

April 26: The Springfield Cultural Partnership (SCP) announced the return of Art Stop, a pop-up gallery/street festival hybrid, from 5 to 8 p.m. The SCP is partnering with venues downtown to open galleries in unexpected spaces simultaneously. Additionally, several existing Springfield art galleries along this year’s route will also participate as stops along the Art Stop. Between the galleries, which will have the typical artist talks and receptions, there will be street performances. Art Stop was designed to activate underutilized community spaces with colorful art, create economic opportunity for artists, and bring communities together. Galleries will all be located in downtown Springfield. Each individual gallery opening will have an reception with the artist on site to both sell and talk about their work. This year, the SCP has also partnered with several downtown restaurants that will offer a discount on food to Art Stop attendees who present their Art Stop ‘passport’ on April 26. The SCP, along with organizing the curation of art in the pop-up spaces, is hiring unique buskers to encourage attendees to walk from place to place. Guides will be strategically placed to guide attendees along the Art Stop route. The performers will showcase an array of dance, music, and entertainment. All locations are within a walkable area.

Company Notebook

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Company Notebook

Community Bank N.A. Reopens Springfield Branch

SPRINGFIELD — The Community Bank N.A. Springfield branch recently celebrated its grand reopening 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. 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. 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.

Travel Kuz Provides Services at Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta

GILL — Travel Kuz, a motorcoach charter company based in Gill, sent six of its luxurious motorcoach buses to the Super Bowl for the second consecutive year. The Travel Kuz buses and drivers were used in Atlanta for VIP and dignitary transportation, which included the special guests of each team and the athletes’ families. In addition to last year’s Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis, Travel Kuz has also provided transportation services at Super Bowl XLI in Miami in 2007, and at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, British Columbia. F.M. Kuzmeskus Inc., doing business as Travel Kuz, is a fifth-generation family business that has been providing school-bus and luxury motorcoach transportation for more than 90 years. The company operates more than 150 vehicles employing 136 local residents in Franklin County and Southern Vermont.

MassDevelopment Boosts Patriot Armored Systems

LEE — MassDevelopment has issued a $2,646,000 tax-exempt bond on behalf of Patriot Armored Systems Holding LLC, a real-estate entity affiliated with glass manufacturer Patriot Armored Systems. Patriot Armored Systems currently leases 45,000 square feet of office and manufacturing space at 100 Valley St. in Lee. The company’s real-estate entity will use bond proceeds to buy the building and construct a 7,500-square-foot addition, allowing Patriot Armored Systems to expand its manufacturing operations and hire 13 additional employees. Berkshire Bank purchased the bond. Founded in 1992, Patriot Armored Systems manufactures laminated, customized protective glass systems by purchasing glass as a raw material and melding it with bonding compounds. The company specializes in bullet-resistant glass and security glazing and offers an array of glass types, including architectural, ballistic, and bullet-resistant glass. Patriot Armored Systems serves a broad customer base, manufacturing customized products for various military operations, law enforcement, government buildings, banks, hospitals, retail businesses, vehicles, and homes.

United Financial Bancorp Announces Record Earnings

HARTFORD, Conn. — United Financial Bancorp Inc., the holding company for United Bank, announced results for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2018. The company reported net income of $12.2 million, or $0.24 per diluted share, for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2018, compared to net income for the linked quarter of $16.3 million, or $0.32 per diluted share. The company reported net income of $9.5 million, or $0.19 per diluted share, for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2017. Net income for the year ended Dec. 31, 2018 was $59.9 million, or $1.17 per diluted share, compared to net income of $54.6 million, or $1.07 per diluted share, for the year ended Dec. 31, 2017. “In the fourth quarter of 2018, United Financial Bancorp Inc. delivered annualized linked quarter loan growth of 9% and deposit growth of 12%, while maintaining pristine asset quality and a strong balance sheet,” said William Crawford, IV, CEO and president of the company and the bank.

Pride Cuts Ribbon on New Hadley Location

HADLEY — Pride Stores held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Jan. 23 at its newest store, located at 25 Russell St. in Hadley. The new store offers a wide range of services, including an expanded dining area, a café and bakery, fresh deli and grill, Subway, a convenient drive-thru lane, as well as a separate room for beer and wine sales. It’s the first Pride to offer Chester’s Chicken for fresh fried chicken and family meals. The site also includes 12 charging stations for Tesla vehicles. Pride also donated five cents from every gallon of gasoline purchased that week to the Hadley Library Fund, a local nonprofit that is raising funds to support the building of the new Goodwin Library slated to break ground this summer.

Eversource Recognized for Energy-efficiency Programs

BOSTON — Homeowners, renters, and business owners across Massachusetts are always looking for ways to reduce expenses, and that includes energy costs. In recognition of its efforts to help these customers better manage their energy, Eversource was recognized by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) with Exemplary Energy Efficiency Program awards for both its Home Energy Services (HES) program and Franchise Customer Initiative in Massachusetts. The national award recognizes the best utility programs across the country. ACEEE’s national review evaluates and recognizes exemplary programs in areas such as direct customer energy savings, cost-effectiveness, customer service, innovation, and expansion potential. Eversource’s HES program takes a fuel-blind approach and provides in-home energy assessments, turnkey facilitation of weatherization measures, and 0% financing to help homeowners or renters retrofit their homes with cost-effective, energy-efficient measures. Since 2016, the energy saved through Eversource’s HES program in Massachusetts is enough to power approximately 6,000 homes for a year, and the greenhouse-gas emission reductions are equivalent to taking 1,062 cars off the road for a year.

Berkshire Theatre Group Receives Universal Participation Designation

PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Theatre Group (BTG) announced it was the recipient of the Mass Cultural Council’s (MCC) Universal Participation (UP) Designation. The UP initiative seeks to break down barriers that prevent civic participation in the cultural sector of Massachusetts. The UP designation provides peer networking, leadership platforms, access to grants, promotional opportunities, and professional development for organizations demonstrating inclusive practices. Through the MCC Innovation and Learning Network and the UP designation, the goals of the UP initiative are to support the growth and development of organizations that embrace inclusivity as core to their mission and recognize the power of design to anticipate and accommodate patrons, staff, volunteers, and students. BTG received this designation through providing training to the staff, board, and volunteers about inclusion; engaging users and experts to steward institutional needs to facilitate program and policy development; and implementing innovative accessible practices.

Hazen Paper Co. Launches 2019 ‘Space’ Calendar

HOLYOKE — Hazen Paper Co. is sharing a futuristic view of holography with its 2019 calendar, titled “Space – the Infinite Frontier.” Hazen Holography creates the illusion of motion and dimension on two-dimensional printed items by reflecting and refracting light at different angles. Revolving around the design concept of concentric circles, the calendar depicts a view of space from within a space capsule and a rocket launch. The poster/calendar incorporates several new holographic effects, including circular pillars, which resemble a sun-like orb pulsating with prismatic color that appears concave or convex, depending upon the viewer’s perspective. It also features holographic radial burst, a ray of light beams that alternates from monochrome to a rainbow of colors. The 18-by-24-inch poster/calendar was created to showcase Hazen’s wide-format tableau. This capability enables production of materials up to 52 inches wide without recombine lines, providing designers greater creative freedom. The custom Hazen hologram on 10-point board, coated on both sides, was finished with four-color printing plus opaque white. Hazen is known for the holographic stadium edition NFL Super Bowl program and the holographic enshrinement yearbook for the Basketball Hall of Fame. It is the most vertically integrated producer of holographic paper and film in the U.S., with a holographic lab and design studio on its Holyoke manufacturing campus. To receive a calendar, e-mail [email protected] or call (413) 538-8040.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Reports Q4 Results

BOSTON — Berkshire Hills Bancorp Inc. reported GAAP net income of $14 million, or $0.31 per common share, in the fourth quarter of 2018. The non-GAAP measure of core earnings totaled $29 million, or $0.63 per share, during this period. Both GAAP and core EPS totaled $0.70 in the prior quarter. The benefit of higher net interest income in the fourth quarter was offset by lower fee income and higher expense. Core EPS is net of non-core charges, which totaled $0.32 per share after tax in the fourth quarter and included merger-related expenses and other items, including costs related to the restructuring of the company’s banking systems provider relationships. Fourth-quarter financial highlights included 2% loan and deposit growth, 3.41% net interest margin, 60.3% efficiency ratio, 0.17% net loan charge-offs/average loans, and 0.28% non-performing assets/assets. “Core earnings for the year were in line with our original plan, and fourth quarter core earnings also met our expectations before the impact of the government shutdown on SBA-related fee revenue,” CEO Richard Marotta said. “During 2018, our teams made great strides integrating our Eastern Massachusetts acquisition and developing organic business across our footprint. Loan growth was consistent throughout the year, and deposit balances increased with the benefit of higher activity in the fourth quarter. Our internal capital generation supported our balance-sheet growth, and our credit performance and asset quality remain strong.” The board of directors voted to increase the quarterly cash dividend by $0.01, or 5%, to $0.23 per common share to shareholders of record at the close of business on Feb. 14, 2019, payable on Feb. 28, 2019. Effective on the same dates, the board also increased the quarterly cash dividend on preferred stock by 5% to $0.46 per share.

Teach Western Mass Receives $250,000 Grant from Barr Foundation

SPRINGFIELD — Teach Western Mass has been awarded a $250,000 grant from the Barr Foundation that will allow the education nonprofit to make investments in strategic planning and capacity-building efforts. Launched in 2015, Teach Western Mass is a nonprofit organization focused on improving the volume, quality, and diversity of teacher candidates in Western Mass. Teach Western Mass (TWM) leads regional teacher-recruitment campaigns in collaboration with school and district partners. As a result, it is the primary source of job opportunities for prospective teachers in Western Mass., while also offering a high-quality, diverse talent pool for partner schools. In the last two years, TWM partner schools have accelerated hiring timelines and increased the percentage of incoming teachers who self-identify as people of color to 40%. Teach Western Mass also offers four innovative and regionally based teacher-training programs that seek to address persistent talent and hiring challenges faced by partner schools, which include both district and charter schools.

Way Finders Awarded $140,000 Grant from Tufts Health Plan Foundation

SPRINGFIELD — Way Finders Inc. was awarded a two-year grant for $140,000 from Tufts Health Plan Foundation to advocate for equitable infrastructure and improved public safety in Springfield. This is one of 11 new community investments totaling more than $1.2 million that reflect the foundation’s commitment to advancing policies and practices that support healthy aging, including addressing gaps in oral health, nutrition, housing, transportation, and community safety. Through this grant, Way Finders will increase the capacity of low-income, older people who are advocating for policy and system changes in Springfield. These older people will lead efforts to address the built environment and community safety. The project leverages Way Finders’ existing Resident Health Advocate programming and its relationships with LiveWell Springfield and the Massachusetts Senior Action Coalition to enable the development of a robust advocacy infrastructure for the city.

Briefcase

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Briefcase

Massachusetts Unemployment Drops Slightly in December

BOSTON — The state’s total unemployment rate dropped one-tenth of a percentage point to 3.3% in December, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development announced. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ preliminary job estimates indicate Massachusetts added 5,600 jobs in December. Over the month, the private sector added 5,500 jobs as gains occurred in professional, scientific, and business services; other services; education and health services; leisure and hospitality; manufacturing; financial activities; and information. Construction and trade, transportation, and utilities lost jobs over the month. From December 2017 to December 2018, BLS estimates Massachusetts has added 65,800 jobs. The December unemployment rate was six-tenths of a percentage point lower than the national rate of 3.9% reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Preliminary estimates show an addition of 184,700 residents to the labor force during 2018 — the largest yearly increase in the labor force since the beginning of the series in 1976. These labor-force gains, alongside the 65,800 jobs added to the economy last year, are indicators of the continued strength of the job market in the Commonwealth,” Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Rosalin Acosta said. The labor force increased by 5,000 from 3,837,000 in November, as 8,800 more residents were employed and 3,800 fewer residents were unemployed over the month. Over the year, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped two-tenths of a percentage point. 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 — increased one-tenth of a percentage point to 68.1%. Compared to December 2017, the labor-force participation rate is up 2.8%. The largest private-sector percentage job gains over the year were in professional, scientific, and business services; information; other services; and education and health services.

HCC Secures Grant to Create Hotel Training Lab

HOLYOKE — Holyoke Community College (HCC) secured a $35,000 grant to establish a hotel training lab on the second floor of the HCC MGM Culinary Arts Institute. The award, announced by Gov. Charlie Baker and other administration officials, comes from the Massachusetts Skills Capital Grant Program, which funds the purchase of new equipment for educational initiatives linked to workforce needs. The lab will be set up like a hotel reception area with front desk and adjoining guest room and equipped with up-to-date technology and software. It will be used for non-credit workforce-training programs as well as credit-based associate degree and certificate programs in Hospitality Management. The lab is expected to be up and running in February. The competitive Skills Capital Grants require institutions to partner with local businesses and align the curriculum to meet industry requirements. HCC’s partners include the Log Cabin Delaney House, the Tower Square Hotel Springfield, and MassHire career centers in Holyoke and Springfield. Over the past three years, HCC has been awarded nearly $400,000 through the Skills Capital Grant Program, including $127,741 in 2016 to expand and enhance its EMT Training Program and $229,500 in 2017 for kitchen equipment at the HCC MGM Culinary Arts Institute, which opened in January 2018 on Race Street in the Holyoke Innovation District. This new round of Skills Capital Grants mainly targets educational programs for people who may need help overcoming barriers to employment — those who may be unemployed or underemployed, lack English proficiency, or do not yet hold college credentials and want to develop new skills.

UMass Amherst Study Looks at Drought, Virus Impact on Plant Roots and Soil Carbon

AMHERST — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently awarded biogeochemist Marco Keiluweit, assistant professor of Soils and the Environment in the Stockbridge School of Agriculture at UMass Amherst, along with his collaborators elsewhere, two grants to study how climate change affects the capacity of soils to remove carbon from the atmosphere and retain enough nutrients for food production. In particular, the teams will investigate climate-change-related effects of drought and virus infection in plants, and their interaction with soils. Keiluweit and colleagues received $200,000 and $300,000 exploratory research awards from DOE’s Biological and Environmental Research program, which supports “high-risk, high-reward” research, the soil-chemistry expert says. Keiluweit’s collaborators include Zoe Cardon at the Woods Hole Marine Biology Laboratory, the principal investigator on one of the grants, and Malak Tfaily at the University of Arizona, Carolyn Malmstrom at Michigan State University, and William J. Riley at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Their drought-focused research will look at plants in an alpine watershed near Gothic, Colo., where root-soil interactions are key regulators of ecosystem carbon storage and downstream nutrient loadings, the researchers say. These areas have been shown to be particularly vulnerable to climate change, they point out. For this work, Keiluweit says he and collaborators will make “very fine scale measurements of what is happening at the interface between roots and soil” in both greenhouse and field experiments. They want to explore what they call “elusive mechanisms” driving root-soil interaction, which may mobilize a “vast pool of organic matter that has been stabilized by associations with minerals for centuries or millennia.” Such mechanisms are missing from conceptual and numerical models of carbon cycling in soils, they note.

Boys & Girls Club of Greater Holyoke Opens New Boxing Program Space

HOLYOKE — In its heyday, the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Holyoke was the boxing capital of Massachusetts. Its boxing program attracted seasoned and novice fighters as well as spectators from all over the Commonwealth, as well as Connecticut, New York, and other surrounding states. Some of the more prominent names even included Rocky Marciano and Mike Tyson. After years of planning and six months of buildout, the Boys & Girls Club opened its new boxing program space, equipped with a regulation, 20-foot boxing ring and a variety of punching bags and workout stations. The club will reintroduce the sport as a non-contact youth-development program for after-school and summer-camp members. All activities will focus on mentoring, character development, teamwork, and discipline. Coaches will include members of the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department, the Holyoke Police Department, and past club alumni.

Chamber Corners: Upcoming Events

By
Chamber Corners

1BERKSHIRE

www.1berkshire.com

(413) 499-1600

• Feb. 26: 1Berkshire Entrepreneurial Meetup. Looking to start up a business? Grow your network? Meet others with similar business interests? 1Berkshire is a countywide organization with an innovative approach to economic development. Get to know fellow entrepreneurs and business owners, rub elbows with local leaders, and share success stories at the monthly free Entrepreneurial Meetups. Free of charge. Register at www.meetup.com/1berkshire-alliance.

• Feb. 28: 1Berkshire February Chamber Nite, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Barrington Stage Co. Wolfson Center, 122 North St., Pittsfield. Join us for the February Chamber Nite in partnership with Downtown Pittsfield Inc. Members of either organization get in for free. Stick around after the event for discounted tickets to the 10×10 play festival. Register at www.1berkshire.com.

FRANKLIN COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.franklincc.org

(413) 773-5463

• Feb. 7: Business After Hours, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Greenfield Savings Bank, 400 Main St., Greenfield. Come meet the chamber’s new executive director, Diana Szynal, at a wine and chocolate pre-Valentine’s Day networking event sponsored by Greenfield Savings Bank. Register at franklincc.org or e-mail [email protected].

• Feb. 22: Monthly Breakfast Series, 7:30-9 a.m., hosted by Greenfield Community College Cohn Family Dining Commons, One College Drive, Greenfield. Full breakfast will be served during the program, which will feature a panel on the ways businesses and secondary schools can benefit from each other and help the community. Sponsored by Franklin Hampshire Workforce Board. Register at franklincc.org or e-mail [email protected].

GREATER CHICOPEE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.chicopeechamber.org

(413) 594-2101

• Feb. 7: Business After Hours, 4:30-6:30 p.m., hosted by Elms College, 291 Springfield St., Chicopee. Sponsored by Polish National Credit Union. An evening of fun, networking, and an opportunity to meet potential employees. Free hors d’oeuvres and cash bar available. Cost: $10 for members, $15 for non-members. Sign up online at www.chicopeechamber.org/events.

• Feb. 12: Educational Seminar on Employee Development, 7:30-9:30 a.m., hosted by Elms College, College Center FDR Room, 291 Springfield St., Chicopee. Sponsored by Elms College MBA Department. An educational seminar on proper planning and maintenance of your employees’ development. Includes a continental breakfast. Cost: $10 for members, $15 for non-members. Sign up online at www.chicopeechamber.org/events or call (413) 594-2101.

• Feb. 22: Lights On Arts & Culture, 5-8 p.m., hosted by select downtown Chicopee businesses. Explore local art, meet the people, visit the places, and learn about the events that help to shape our city’s culture. Sponsored by the Greater Chicopee Chamber of Commerce, the Chicopee Cultural Council, and TDI Partner. Cost is free, but donations are welcome. Check out more information online at chicopeechamber.org/events or call (413) 594-2101.

GREATER EASTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.easthamptonchamber.org

(413) 527-9414

• Feb. 19: In the Know, 5-7 p.m., hosted by New City Brewery, 180 Pleasant St., Easthampton. The first in a series of three panel discussions exploring the challenges and frustrations shared by business owners. Panelists will include Elizabeth Paquette from Rock Valley Tool, Mark Zatyrka from INSA, and Nate Costa from the Springfield Thunderbirds. There will be time for networking and noshing after the panel concludes. Cost: $15 for members, $30 for non-members. Pre-registration is required. For more information and to register, visit www.easthamptonchamber.org or call the chamber at (413) 527-9414.

GREATER HOLYOKE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.holyokechamber.com

(413) 534-3376

• Feb. 20: Business After Hours, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Gary Rome Hyundai, 150 Whiting Farms Road, Holyoke. Get connected and help your business grow. Meet the Gary Rome team, Jack and Gary, as welcome guests during one of their busiest seasons. Light bites, cash bar, door prizes, and 50/50 raffle. Cost: $10 for members, $25 for non-members.

GREATER WESTFIELD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.westfieldbiz.org
(413) 568-1618

• Feb. 4: February Mayor’s Coffee Hour, 8-9 a.m., hosted by Armbrook Village, 551 North Road, Westfield. Join us for our monthly Mayor’s Coffee Hour with Westfield Mayor Brian Sullivan. The event is free and open to the public. Sign up online at www.westfieldbiz.org/events or call the chamber at (413) 568-1618 to register so we can give our host a head count.

• Feb. 11: February After 5 Connection, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Pair A Dice Clean, LLC, 31 St. Jacques Ave., Agawam. Refreshments will be served, and a 50/50 raffle will benefit the chamber scholarship fund. Bring your business cards and make connections. Cost: free for members, $15 for non-members (cash or credit paid at the door). Sign up online at www.westfieldbiz.org/events. For sponsorships or more information, call the chamber at (413) 568-1618.

SOUTH HADLEY & GRANBY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.shgchamber.com

(413) 532-6451

• Feb. 7: Business After 5, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Yarde Tavern, 3 Hadley St., South Hadley. Refreshments will be served, and connections will be made. Bring your business cards to share and to enter a raffle to win a prize. Cost: $10 for members, $15 for non-members. Register by e-mailing Kim Prough at [email protected].

SPRINGFIELD REGIONAL CHAMBER

www.springfieldregionalchamber.com

(413) 787-1555

• Feb. 6: Winning the War for Talent, 7:15 a.m.-9 a.m., hosted by the MassMutual Center, 1277 Main St., Springfield. Presented by Mark Emrick of the Employers Assoc. of the NorthEast. Sponsored by United Personnel and the Employers Assoc. of the NorthEast. Cost: $25 for members ($30 at the door), $35 for non-members ($40 at the door). To register, visit www.springfieldregionalchamber.com, e-mail [email protected], or call (413) 755-1310.

• Feb. 28: Leadership Institute, hosted by TD Bank Conference Center, 1441 Main St., Springfield. Presented in partnership with Western New England University College of Business with support from the Irene E. and George A. Davis Foundation. The deadline to apply is Feb. 14. E-mail [email protected] for an application.

WEST OF THE RIVER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.ourwrc.com

(413) 426-3880

• Feb. 6: Wicked Wednesday, 5-7 p.m., hosted by MacMillan Group, 265 Main St., Agawam. Wicked Wednesdays are monthly social events hosted by various businesses and restaurants. These events 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 at www.ourwrc.com.

• Feb. 28: Mayoral Breakfast, 7-9 a.m., hosted by Crestview Country Club, Agawam. Join us as we listen to an informative discussion with our mayors, who will update the guests on all that is going on in our towns individually and collaboratively. For sponsorships or to register online, visit www.ourwrc.com.

YOUNG PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY OF GREATER SPRINGFIELD

springfieldyps.com

• Feb. 21: February Third Thursday & Trivia, 5 p.m., hosted by Nathan Bills Bar & Restaurant. Cost: free for members, $10 for non-members. Visit springfieldyps.com to register.

People on the Move

By
People on the Move

The board of directors of Big Y Foods Inc. announced the following changes to its senior leadership team, effective Jan. 1. These changes align with the enterprise’s expanding business activities and the dynamic shifts that are occurring within the supermarket, convenience, and retail liquor industries.

Donald D’Amour

Donald D’Amour

• Donald D’Amour, current chairman and CEO, will transition out of his day-to-day responsibilities as CEO and will continue to serve as an advisor to the board in his new role as chairman emeritus. He was appointed to CEO in 1980 and in 1997 succeeded his father and co-founder, Paul D’Amour, as chairman of the board.

• Charles D’Amour

Charles D’Amour

• Charles D’Amour, son of co-founder Gerald D’Amour, will continue as president, a position he has held since 2006. In order to allow for a smooth transition, he has been appointed CEO and will be responsible for helping to drive the overall strategic direction of Big Y along with the company’s vision and mission. In addition to providing overall leadership and oversight, key departments of Finance, Legal, Real Estate and Development, Employee Services, and Information Resources Technology will report directly to him.

• Michael D’Amour

Michael D’Amour

• Michael D’Amour, grandson of Paul D’Amour and son of Donald D’Amour, was appointed to the position of executive vice president in 2014 and has added the role of COO, a position formerly held by Charles, to his roster of responsibilities. As COO, Michael will be responsible for all operating aspects of the company, including Sales, Operations, Distribution, and Supply Chain. He began his full-time career at Big Y in 1996.

Guy McFarlane

Guy McFarlane

• Guy McFarlane, Big Y’s vice president of Fresh Foods since 2011, has been promoted to senior vice president of Sales and Marketing, where he will oversee sales and procurement, pricing, marketing, and data analytics. He will report to Michael D’Amour. McFarlane began his career at Big Y more than 23 years ago and has been in the supermarket industry for 41 years.

Richard Bossie

Richard Bossie

• Richard Bossie, Big Y’s vice president of Operations since 2016, has been promoted to the new position of senior vice president of Operations and Customer Experience. Within this expanded role, Bossie will oversee all operational aspects of the company that impact the customer experience, including labor planning, inventory control and ordering, checkout and customer service, and retail asset protection, along with all operational aspects of Big Y Express Gas and Convenience Division and Table and Vine, Big Y’s flagship beer, spirits, and fine-wine store. He also will report to Michael D’Amour. Bossie began his career at Big Y more than 30 years ago and has more than 38 years of retail experience.

Nicole D’Amour

Nicole D’Amour

• Nicole D’Amour Schneider, Big Y’s senior director of Store Operations (and granddaughter of Paul D’Amour and daughter of Donald D’Amour), has been appointed to the new position of vice president of Supermarket Operations, with specific focus on the daily operations of the supermarket division. Along with the five district directors reporting to her, she will continue to drive operational excellence throughout the chain. She reports to Bossie. She began her full-time Big Y career in 1999.

•••••

Amelia Holstrom

Amelia Holstrom

Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C. announced that attorney Amelia Holstrom was named a partner in the firm on Jan. 1. Holstrom, who has been with the firm since 2012, focuses her practice on labor law and employment litigation, including personnel policies and practices review, wage-and-hour compliance, and separation and severance agreements. Holstrom frequently speaks about employment-related legal topics for a wide variety of associations and organizations. She was selected by BusinessWest as a 40 Under Forty honoree in 2015 and received the Massachusetts Bar Assoc. Community Service Award in 2016. She is a member of the Massachusetts, Hampden County, and Connecticut bar associations; sits on the board of directors for Clinical & Support Options in Northampton and Girls Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts; and is an ad hoc member of the personnel committee for the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts.

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Esther Rich

Esther Rich

Andrew Anderlonis, president of Rediker Software, recently announced that Esther Rich has been hired as the company’s new director of Support. Rich brings more than 30 years of experience in customer support, with more than 10 of those years spent in a management position. Before joining Rediker Software, Rich was the Customer Support manager for Farm Credit Financial Partners in Agawam. In her new role, Rich will lead and motivate her team to ensure they have the tools and skills required to provide the best customer service possible. She holds a business management degree from St. John’s School of Business.

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Laura Lefebvre

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. 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. 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.

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Wendy Fitzgerald

Wendy Fitzgerald

HUB International New England, LLC, a division of HUB International Limited, a leading global insurance brokerage, recently announced that Wendy Fitzgerald has re-joined HUB New England as a strategic account executive, responsible for all things personal (personal insurance/auto, home, condo, renters, and more). Her role will include handling new business and outreach, renewals, quoting, special projects, and providing support when needed to the Personal Lines team of experts. She will be based out of HUB New England’s East Longmeadow office. Previously, Fitzgerald had been with the HUB/FieldEddy Personal Lines team from 2008 to 2016.

•••••

Mary Shea

Mary Shea

James Garvey

James Garvey

Garvey Communication Associates Inc., 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.

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Leadership Pioneer Valley (LPV) announced that Rosemary Manu has joined the LPV team as the LEAP program coordinator. She will hold various responsibilities in this position, including assisting in the planning, coordination, and execution of Leadership Pioneer Valley’s nine-month leadership-development program, in addition to helping recruit future LEAP program participants. Manu returned to Springfield last spring after obtaining a master’s degree from George Washington University in international development studies with a concentration in energy. Prior to this, she earned her bachelor’s degree in international relations from the University of Connecticut. Most recently, she worked as a consultant for USAID Food for Peace, which provided her with monitoring and evaluation skills. She was responsible for evaluating and assessing the effectiveness of combining emergency assistance and resilience building. Manu also comes to Leadership Pioneer Valley with an extensive background in the UN Women in Bangkok, Thailand, in the Disaster Risk Reduction Department. This experience expanded her research and writing skills and led her to become passionate about helping to develop communities and individuals.

•••••

John McAndrew, an Edward Jones financial advisor in Holyoke, has accepted an invitation to become a limited partner in the Jones Financial Cos., the holding company for the St. Louis-based financial-services firm. Edward Jones currently employs 45,000 associates in all 50 states and through its affiliate in Canada. This is the firm’s 17th limited-partnership offering in its 97-year history. The Jones Financial Cos. was created in 1987 to enable the firm to expand into new business areas while allowing it to remain a partnership. The Jones Financial Cos. owns Edward D. Jones & Co., LP, which operates under the trade names Edward Jones, EDJ Leasing Co., the Edward Jones Trust Co., and its international financial-services subsidiary, Edward Jones Canada.

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Marilyn Lopez-Haddad

Marilyn Lopez-Haddad

Pattie Hallberg

Pattie Hallberg

Meredith Wise, president of the Employers Assoc. of the Northeast (EANE), announced the addition of two new members, Marilyn Lopez-Haddad and Pattie Hallberg, to the EANE board of directors, effective Jan. 1, for three-year terms. Lopez-Haddad, vice president of Human Resources for the Seven Hills Foundation, joined that organization’s senior leadership team in 2008.  She oversees the HR office and Seven Hills Corporate College, and provides leadership in the areas of employee relations, recruitment and retention compensation and benefits, and learning and development. Seven Hills is an integrated health and human services network based in Worcester. Before joining Seven Hills, Lopez-Haddad worked for various municipalities in Connecticut as the head of HR, personnel, and labor relations. She also worked as a Social Security disability associate in Florida. Most recently, she worked as an adjunct professor at Clark University in Worcester, where she taught global talent development. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Fairfield University and a juris doctor degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law. She was admitted to practice law in Connecticut and Massachusetts, is a certified executive and career coach, and has acquired the SPHR and SHRM-SCP certifications. Hallberg is CEO of Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts (GSCWM), headquartered in Worcester and Holyoke. She joined GSCWM as CEO in 2008 to lead the merger of the three Girl Scout councils into one organization with a commitment to developing girls’ leadership potential. Under her direction, GSCWM has emerged as a leader in Central and Western Mass. in advocacy for girls. She is a commissioner on the Hampden County Commission on the Status of Women and Girls. She serves as a co-chair for the Investing in Girls Alliance in Worcester, and is a founding member of the advisory committee for the Leadership Institute for Political and Public Impact and an advisory board member of the Young Women’s Leadership Institute with the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts. She serves as a board member and member of the finance committee for New England Public Radio. She is a member of the Women’s Suffrage Celebration Coalition of Massachusetts and a member of the Western Mass Women Presidents’ Organization. She is on the advisory board of the Institute for Women’s Leadership at Nichols College and a volunteer for the Springfield Schools Read-Aloud Program. In 2013, she received the Outstanding Women in Business Award from the Worcester Business Journal.

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Executives and entrepreneurs who participate in business peer groups report it is their most valuable activity for exploring solutions and shifting paradigms, says Ira Bryck, director of the Family Business Center of Pioneer Valley. A group that has been meeting for years, formerly as part of a global roundtable organization, is accepting new members and hiring Bryck as their facilitator and coach. The Impact Executive Peer Group meets monthly for much of a day, and each member gets monthly, personalized coaching from the facilitator. The group will grow to include a dozen leaders from medium and larger companies roughly between Worcester and the Berkshires, and Hartford and Brattleboro. The format will include members discussing their challenges with questions and suggestions, as well as a speaker series, with topics and presenters relevant to the needs of the group. Bryck has moderated roundtable groups for 25 years, and is taking on this project as part of the leadership succession the Family Business Center is undergoing.

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Dena Hall

Dena Hall

Dena Hall, who has served as Baystate Health Foundation’s vice chair for the past two years, has succeeded Jean Deliso as the foundation’s chair. Hall — a graduate of UMass Amherst, the Massachusetts School for Financial Studies, and the National School of Banking and Finance at Fairfield University — is executive vice president, chief Marketing officer for Hometown Financial Group and its banks, bankESB, based in Easthampton, and bankHometown, based in Central Mass. She is also the president of the bankESB Charitable Foundation and a member of the board of trustees for the Springfield Museums and the Springfield Thunderbirds Foundation. A longstanding volunteer for Baystate Noble Hospital, Hall and her husband, Eric, chaired the 2009 Baystate Noble Ball, helping to generate vitally important funds in support of the hospital in Westfield. In her previous role as Western Massachusetts regional president of United Bank and president of the United Bank Foundation, she launched support for the innovative Acute Care for Elders Unit at Baystate Medical Center with a $50,000 grant from the bank. She continues to invite new funders to the hospital to consider supporting this program.

•••••

Ryan Nauman

Ryan Nauman

Country Bank announced that Ryan Nauman joined its Commercial Banking division as vice president of Commercial Lending. Nauman brings 20 years of experience in the industry. His knowledge of business banking comes from his prior commercial-service roles and his passion for partnering with business owners to make their dreams reality. Nauman has held various positions over the years as a credit analyst, portfolio manager, and, most recently, vice president, loan officer with Farmington Bank in the Commercial Real Estate department. He earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from Bryant College. He is a member of the Real Estate Finance Assoc. and the Hartford Community Loan Fund. Nauman is located at the bank’s corporate office in Ware and will assist customers in the Western Mass. and Connecticut areas.

•••••

The Vann Group announced that Patty Stefanelli has joined the organization and will lead its newly launched Performance Improvement Division. This division was created to help organizations in any industry work toward more sustained levels of operational excellence by embracing Lean thinking and continuous improvement. In her role, Stefanelli will be focusing on creating awareness of the benefits of these concepts throughout the Pioneer Valley. Before joining the Vann Group, Stefanelli worked for the city of Springfield in its Information Technology department, and as an independent consultant helping organizations with their operations and IT. She has extensive technical and business knowledge, as well as project-management experience. She has led large, organization-wide initiatives from ERP and time and attendance system implementations to Lean process improvement initiatives, such as streamlining hiring processes or the order fulfillment processes in shipping departments. She has an MBA, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification, and TWI Knowledge certification.

•••••

Paragus IT CEO Delcie Bean announced the addition of three new board members. On Jan. 1, Nicole Nakashian, Michelle Abdow, and Scott Webster joined Randy Krotowski, Scott Foster, and John Drake on the board of the fast-growing IT firm. Nakashian currently serves as executive vice president at InvestCloud Inc. She helped launch Agio, an IT managed-service provider, and was responsible for building a client-centric progressive culture in addition to growing and managing the operations. Abdow is founder and president of Market Mentors, LLC, a full-service marketing agency located in Western Mass. that provides a variety of services, including advertising, branding, media buying, graphic design, public relations, broadcast production, and event planning. Webster is currently head of WW Operations for Amazon Experts. He brings a versatile mix of financial, technical, and business expertise. He is passionate about driving innovation, strategic change, and operational efficiency across dynamic, internet-based businesses.

 

Carla Cosenzi, Co-president, TommyCar Auto Group

By
Class of 2019 Difference Makers

She’s Been a Driving Force in Business and Philanthropy

Carla Cosenzi, Co-president, TommyCar Auto Group

Carla Cosenzi, Co-president,
TommyCar Auto Group

Carla Cosenzi says many people who think they know her story believe she segued from a career in healthcare to one selling cars and eventually managing dealerships because her father, Tommy Cosenzi, had been diagnosed with brain cancer.

That’s not really how it happened, said Cosenzi, adding quickly that her father, well before he was diagnosed, changed her career course when he convinced her to put plans to pursue her doctorate in clinical psychology on hold temporarily and spend some time at the family business.

“He said, ‘just come home and do some stuff around the dealership with me,’” she recalled, adding that she was living in New York at the time, having just earned her master’s at Columbia, and was trying to figure out the next chapter in her life. “In retrospect, I know now exactly what he was doing, but at the time I didn’t. He said, ‘I want you help me get our internet department up and going, and I want you to help with the sales process inside some of the dealerships, and just help me do some stuff that I need to get done that I haven’t been able to accomplish.’”

Long story somewhat short, she did all that and really enjoyed it, putting a career in clinical psychology on the shelf, if you will, and starting down a much different road.

“At the time, I felt he was really supportive of my ambitions, but he had a different plan for me, and he was re-routing me,” she went on, adding that she would “fall in love with the business.”

Carla Cosenzi says she shares her father’s ‘wanting more’ attitude

Carla Cosenzi says she shares her father’s ‘wanting more’ attitude, which drives her work in both business and philanthropy.

But while her father’s illness wasn’t exactly the impetus for what has become a career in auto-sales management, it was certainly the inspiration of what has become a very important part of her life.

That would be the Tommy Cosenzi Driving for the Cure Charity Golf Tournament, which she started, along with her brother, also named Tommy, in 2010.

“I think I share a lot of his ‘wanting more’ attitude. If we set a goal and we hit it, we’d set another goal and work to attain that goal. It’s that attitude of ‘it’s never enough and always looking for more.’ I’m not sure that’s a good thing or a bad thing in life, but that’s where I am.”

Over the past eight years, the tournament has raised more than $900,000 to support Dr. Patrick Wen (her father’s doctor) and his research colleagues at the Center for Neuro-Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, and it will certainly top the $1 million mark with this year’s tournament in August.

That money helps Dana-Farber researchers design novel clinical trials to test and develop targeted therapies that have not previously been studied in brain tumors, initiating several clinical trials in immunotherapy and conducting groundbreaking basic research to guide new therapeutic approaches, said Cosenzi, adding that these initiatives are an ambitious extension of her father’s efforts to find a cure for the disease that took his life.

Carla Consenzi and her brother, Tommy, left, with Dr. Patrick Wen

Carla Cosenzi and her brother, Tommy, left, with Dr. Patrick Wen, who is annually awarded the proceeds from the Driving for the Cure charity golf tournament.

“These funds are unrestricted — he can take them and try anything with research that he wants to try,” she explained. “It’s almost impossible to get money like that, and they’ve done a lot of testing and trial drugs with the money.

“I wish I could say that there were positive results from the work that’s been done,” she went on, “but every dollar helps in that effort to find a cure.”

Cosenzi said the tournament has become a labor of love, much like the car business itself, with planning for the following year’s event beginning literally within days after the trophy is handed out and the proceeds presented to Wen from the just-completed tournament.

And it represents just one of the many ways Cosenzi, now a winner of multiple BusinessWest awards — she was the top scorer in the Forty Under 40 class of 2012 — has become a Difference Maker in the region. Others include her success in business, her emergence as a role model of sorts for young women pursuing careers in business and mothers trying to balance life and work, and her commitment to following in her father’s footsteps not only as a manager of people but as one who gives back to the community.

“I think I share a lot of his ‘wanting more’ attitude,” she explained, referring to her father. “If we set a goal and we hit it, we’d set another goal and work to attain that goal. It’s that attitude of ‘it’s never enough and always looking for more.’ I’m not sure that’s a good thing or a bad thing in life, but that’s where I am.”

And that ‘wanting more’ and setting higher goals refers not only to selling Volkswagens, Nissans, and Volvos, but also to raising money to fight cancer.

In each realm, she does, as they might say in this business, put the pedal to the metal.

Getting Up to Speed

As she talked about the all that planning that goes into the charity golf tournament, her level of involvement, and whether she puts a tee in the ground and plays herself, Cosenzi offered a quick yet effective response: “I’m a control freak.”

She could have left it at that, but didn’t.

“I’m very particular when it comes to how the day is run,” she told BusinessWest. “I want to make sure it’s set up properly and that we’re running on the right schedule. No, I don’t play; I’m there running the event. I hand out our roses, I shake everyone’s hand at registration … I greet them when they arrive and make sure everyone’s having a good time.”

Carla Cosenzi says the charity golf tournament named in honor of her father

Carla Cosenzi says the charity golf tournament named in honor of her father, like the family business itself, has become a labor of love for her.

But, and this is a big but, she went on to explain that her control-freak nature, while certainly not restricted to golf-tournament management, doesn’t really extend to management at the TommyCar Auto Group.

Indeed, she said that over the years — and it hasn’t been all that many years, to be sure (she’s only 39) — she’s learned that good managers master the art of delegation.

“A lot of people think of a leader as someone coming in, being a control freak, and yelling at everyone,” she said. “But really, if you’re a good leader, you’re relinquishing more control and you’re putting more trust into other people.”

Knowing when and when not to delegate is one of the many things Cosenzi has learned in a career that is many ways just getting started and still adding intriguing chapters.

“There’s a huge difference between being a manager for my father and being a leader and managing other managers.”

Like most all second- (or third- or fourth-) generation members of auto-business owning families, Cosenzi remembers practically growing up at the dealership, in this case Springfield Chrysler Plymouth on Boston Road in Springfield, one of several stores her father would eventually own and manage.

“I spent a lot of summers at the dealership and would come in on weekends; one of my first memories is of the Christmas parties my father would have for employees and underprivileged children,” she recalled, adding that giving back certainly runs in the family. “I remember spending a lot of time playing in the cars and in the office-supplies room. I don’t know why office supplies are so attractive to kids, but they are — my children love them, too — the Post-its, stapling, making photocopies, coloring … it’s all fun.”

Later, when she would return to this region for summer break from high school, she would work at the dealership moving cars, making sure they were clean, and related tasks. And as she got a little older, she drifted into sales and quickly developed both an affinity for, and a passion for, that side of the business.

“I always loved the idea of selling cars — it was fun, and I was making decent money,” she said, recalling that, by this time, the mid-’90s, it was still rare to see women in positions other than the back office in auto sales, primarily because the industry didn’t work very hard to attract women. Today, the situation is much different, a climate we’ll get to later. First, back to how Cosenzi arrived at the large office at Northampton Volkswagen, managing four dealerships and more than 150 employees.

That was certainly not the plan when she enrolled at Northeastern University and studied clinical psychology. With her undergraduate degree, she worked at a hospital in the area, and eventually enrolled at Columbia to earn her master’s in clinical psychology and lived in New York City for a year and a half.

It was when she had that diploma in her hand — and started looking at options for attaining a doctorate — that she had a talk with her father that she remembers vividly. It went this way:

“I remember saying to my dad, ‘I think I might go on; I really enjoy this,’” she recalled. “And he said, ‘we’re going to put on the brakes here; you’re going to pack up, you’re going to come home, we’re going to reset, and we’re going to make sure this is what you really want to do before we invest in any more schooling.”

And that’s exactly what happened, she went on, adding that she missed one window for applying for doctorate programs, and in the eight or nine months before the next window would open, her career outlook would change dramatically.

Indeed, as noted earlier, as her father got her involved in more aspects of the business, she was drawn into it and decided she wanted to stay in — before her father was diagnosed. She spent a year going back and forth to McLean, Va. and the National Automotive Dealer Association’s Dealer Academy.

“At this point, I really fell in love with the business, like I never knew I could,” she told BusinessWest. “I loved selling cars, I loved working for my dad … I really just fell in love with all aspects of the dealership.”

She progressed from being a salesperson at Patriot Buick GMC in Charleton to being a finance manager, to sales manager, and was moving to the point of “managing the managers, rather then being a manager,” as she put it, when her father got sick in 2007 at only 49 years of age.

To a Higher Gear

Doctors gave Tom Cosenzi less than a year to live. He would actually live another 2½ years.

Over that time, Carla would learn still more about the business from him and, with her brother, complete a transition of the business to the next generation.

Over the past several years, they’ve expanded the TommyCar Auto Group to its present four dealerships, the latest addition being Volvo Cars Pioneer Valley in South Deerfield, acquired last summer. Along the way, Carla has become the marketing face of the business, and even her young children, Talia, 4, and Nico, 3, have become well-known to those listening to the radio or watching local television.

Far less well known is how Carla said she grappled with the transition from car sales to managing a sales team to managing managers and ultimately making her mark in an industry dominated by men.

“There’s a huge difference between being a manager for my father and being a leader and managing other managers,” she said. “Luckily, I think I earned the respect of the people here after working in the business for so long.

“Still, being female, it was a very interesting dynamic,” she went on, adding that she was now managing people who had worked for her father for long time — some a very long time. “I struggled — I mean I really struggled — to earn their respect, figure out how to be a good leader to them, and hold them accountable; I would not want to go back to those days.”

But figure it out she did, she said, adding that there was a lot of learning by doing — but also some restaffing, as she had to replace some people whose respect she couldn’t seem to earn and who didn’t want to do some of the things she suggested — things that her father might not have wanted to do.

Ultimately, she said she’s much like in her father in many respects, especially in how she wants a dealership run and customers treated, but also in how employees are respected and business goals set and made.

While transitioning to management of the family business, Cosenzi and her brother have also followed their father in another respect — giving back to the community.

For Carla, such efforts have taken many forms, from work to create scholarships in her father’s name for students at several area high schools, to mentoring of young women, to public speaking on topics related to women in business and work/life balance.

But much of her time and energy goes to the Drive for the Cure golf tournament, which has earned the support of a number of area businesses and individuals. She said the event is in some ways a continuation of an annual golf tournament her father ran as an outing for his employees.

“That’s why it was so important for us to take that idea of all coming together and getting out and having some fun and turn it into a way to honor him and also raise money for a good cause,” she explained.

And while her work at the four dealerships and with the golf tournament absorbs much of her time, she still finds some to occasionally mentor young women in various ways.

For example, she frequently speaks at the region’s trade schools, offering words of advice and encouragement to young women looking at careers that been traditionally dominated by men. And she uses her own story to help get her points across.

“I tell them about my own struggles coming up as a woman in the business,” she said. “And I tell them that it’s possible to succeed and that they should never give up on whatever their dream might be.”

She’s also spoken before a number of women’s groups about subjects ranging from leadership to attracting women to her business, to the all-important issue of achieving work-life balance, something that is elusive and that she still struggles to attain.

“My kids are growing up quick, and I work hard to make sure I’m there for what they need, but am also still here for the business,” she said. “The key is to be organized — very organized — and I am.”

A Leader Who’s Driven

When she visits the office-supplies area at Northampton Volkswagen, Cosenzi can usually find signs that her children have been there — and have enjoyed themselves.

That takes her back about 35 years or so to the Springfield Chrysler Plymouth dealership, where she started learning the ropes from a man who inspired her —and keeps on inspiring her — in all kinds of ways.

Today, she’s inspiring others, as a business leader, a woman achieving balance in her life, an aggressive fighter against cancer, and an individual always looking for different ways to give back to her community.

In short, as a Difference Maker.

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

The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts

By
Andrew Morehouse, executive director of the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts
Class of 2019 Difference Makers

This Essential Agency Helps the Region Contend with a ‘New Normal’

Andrew Morehouse, executive director of the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts

Andrew Morehouse, executive director of the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts

As Andrew Morehouse talks about the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, its history, mission, and future, he makes early and frequent use of numbers.

And for a good reason — actually, several of them.

They bring this story into focus better than any words probably could, said Morehouse, executive director of the Hatfield-based nonprofit since 2005. The numbers punctuate the tremendous amount of need in this region, and … well, they usually wind up surprising people and then inspiring them.

Here are just a few:

Over the past calendar year, the Food Bank has served more than 225,000 people seeking what is known as ‘food assistance.’ That’s not necessarily 225,000 different people, Morehouse acknowledged; that number is at least 100,000 and probably closer to 200,000 — significant no matter what the actual total is, because the population of this region is only about 900,000. Nearly one-third of those served (30%) are children, 14% are seniors, and the rest are adults ages 19-64.

“Do the math. People working at minimum wage or near minimum wage working full-time can’t meet all their basic expenses, including food, so something has to give. And often, it is food.”

As for meals distributed, that number is more than 9.6 million for the four Western Mass. counties, and more than 5 million for Hampden County alone. Those meals add up to 11.6 million pounds of food, or the equivalent of 145 tractor-trailers packed from one end to the other.

And here are perhaps the most surprising, disturbing, and inspiring numbers. The total amount of food distributed in 2005 was 5.6 million pounds, just over half what it is today. Meanwhile, the number of people served spiked after the Great Recession to more than 200,000, and in the decade since, it hasn’t gone down, even though the economy has recovered significantly by every statistical measure.

The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts relies on a small army of volunteers to carry out its broad mission.

The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts relies on a small army of volunteers to carry out its broad mission.

“That’s certainly alarming,” said Morehouse, adding that all these numbers add up to three simple yet also quite complex words: ‘a new normal.’

“There’s been an economic restructuring, as often happens after recessions, which has brought about a dramatic change in the workforce,” he explained. “Many people, if they are working, are in lower-paying jobs. And that results in a lot of families not being able to support themselves, even if people are working full-time.

“Do the math,” he went on. “People working at minimum wage or near minimum wage working full-time can’t meet all their basic expenses, including food, so something has to give. And often, it is food.”

Confronting this new normal in a proactive manner could be considered the unofficial mission of the Food Bank, which was created in 1982 and first housed in a tobacco barn in Hadley.

And this mission is carried on in a number of ways, said Morehouse, noting that collecting and then distributing food for more than 9 million meals is obviously the most visible and impactful manifestation of the agency’s work and the quickest, most profound explanation for why this agency is being honored as a Difference Maker.

“People are not going to wear a sign around their neck saying, ‘I’m hungry.’ There is a lot of stigma and shame attached to not being able to meet your basic needs, especially food. So there’s a real challenge there in terms of public education.”

Indeed, Monte Belmonte, program director and morning show host at WHMP radio and architect of Monte’s March, an annual trek during which he pushes a shopping cart to raise money for the Food Bank, called the agency ‘mother ship hunger’ that provides food to a number of area food pantries and soup kitchens, and essentially enables them to carry out their work.

“When I go into these emergency food providers across our region, all of them say they couldn’t do their work; that’s how essential the Food Bank is to fighting hunger here,” he said. “If it weren’t for this huge piece of the puzzle, all those other dominoes would be in huge trouble.”

But the Food Bank is also attacking the root causes of this large and persistent problem through an ambitious initiative called the Coalition to End Hunger.

Launched in 2017, the coalition is a collaborative network of leaders and organizations focusing on providing integrated services for those who need them, erasing the stigma associated with hunger and advocating for public policy solutions.

As just one example, he noted the agency’s work to bring awareness to — and a possible solution for — the so-called ‘cliff effect.’ Not a recent phenomenon but certainly a growing problem, this cliff effect refers to a situation where people who want to work, and are often being given help to join the workforce, often don’t because the income they would earn would make them ineligible or less eligible for benefits such as food assistance.

Andrew Morehouse says the Food Bank is coping with what a ‘new normal’

Andrew Morehouse says the Food Bank is coping with what a ‘new normal’ when it comes to the number of area residents needing help and the volume of food it distributes.

Looking toward the future, the Food Bank is blueprinting ambitious expansion plans, said Morehouse, adding that, given the ‘new normal’ this region is facing, the agency will need to nearly double the size of its 30,000-square-foot Hatfield headquarters to effectively carry out its broad mission.

Plans are preliminary, he went on, adding that a capital campaign will certainly be needed for this expansion to become reality. When asked for a price tag, he said he didn’t know what that number might be at this time.

What he does know is that all those other numbers cited earlier are expected to increase in the months and years to come. The food bank will go on being a Difference Maker in this region, he said, but the challenge will only continue to grow in scope.

Crunching the Numbers

Morehouse told BusinessWest that hunger is what he called “an invisible problem.”

By that, he meant that, in many ways, it’s not easy for many people to see or fully comprehend the scope of the problem in this area, especially in times like these, when the economy is, in most ways, doing well and unemployment rates are approaching record-low levels. And also because of the persistent stigma attached to hunger.

“People are not going to wear a sign around their neck saying, ‘I’m hungry,’” he said. “There is a lot of stigma and shame attached to not being able to meet your basic needs, especially food. So there’s a real challenge there in terms of public education.”

Meanwhile, beyond being invisible in nature, hunger, or the need for food assistance, is an often misunderstood problem.

Indeed, the common perception is that many of those seeking such assistance are capable of working and are not, opting instead for a handout. There are certainly a few that might fit into that category, said Morehouse, but the vast majority of people receiving assistance would rather not be. However, circumstances dictate that they must, so they do, although pride does keep some away who are truly in need.

“We need to debunk that myth that people go hungry because of their fault,” he explained, adding that battling this stigma, as well as the many misperceptions about those seeking food assistance, has been part of the Food Bank’s mission since it was created more than 35 years ago by area church leaders. It is now one of 200 food banks across the country under the umbrella of a national organization called Feeding America.

As noted, it started in a tobacco barn in Hadley (a location chosen because the intent was for the agency to also serve Southern Vermont, although it did that for only a short time), but within a year, land was purchased in Hatfield for a headquarters facility that includes a large warehouse and administrative offices.

As he offered a tour of that warehouse, Morehouse noted that the food distributed by the agency comes from a number of sources and agencies with like-sounding acronyms. These include the state government (MEFAP), the federal government (TEFAP), local farms, the agency’s own farm, retail and wholesale food businesses (including CNS Wholesale Grocers, which built a huge warehouse literally next door in Hatfield), community organizations, and individual donations.

“With state funding and food donations from local farmers, we receive more than 1 million pounds of fresh vegetables every year,” he explained, while pointing to cases and large storage bins of food that arrived from a host of various sources, and correcting another misperception about food banks. “Contrary to the stereotype that food banks distribute unhealthy food, a third of the food that we distribute is fresh vegetables; we get vegetables from supermarkets, and we actually buy vegetables from Canada over the winter months because they know how to store the harvest up there.”

Once received and processed, the food is distributed to a number of member agencies or through the Food Bank’s own direct-to-client programs such as its Mobile Food Bank or its Brown Bag: Food for Elders program. These member agencies, located across the four counties of Western Mass., include pantries, meal sites, shelters, rehabilitation facilities, senior centers, and more.

And this is where some confusion exists, said Morehouse, noting that many believe the Food Bank is one of these pantries, such as Rachel’s Table, Kate’s Kitchen in Holyoke, or the Amherst Survival Center.

“Our strategic plan is to continue to increase the amount of food we distribute every year, until or unless we see things get better. But here we are in a period of dramatic economic growth, and there are still 225,000 people receiving food — and we know that another recession will come.”

Instead, it is, as Belmonte described, the mother ship for those smaller distribution facilities, a ship that needs fuel — in the form of donations of food, money, time, and energy; indeed, the Food Bank relies on a small army of volunteers to keep its multi-faceted operation running smoothly.

Meanwhile, donations from the public, attained through a host of fundraisers, including Monte’s March, are used to support the infrastructure that enables the Food Bank to carry out its mission, said Morehouse.

“Those donations support the capacity we have, between staff and trucks and warehousing, to be able to receive the food that’s either donated or paid for by the public sector,” he explained. “That’s the magic that enables us to turn $1 that is donated into the equivalent of three meals.”

But while food distribution is at the heart of the agency’s mission, there is much more to the work known as food assistance, said Morehouse, adding that the Food Bank is engaged in helping area residents on a number of fronts, including SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) outreach and enrollment, nutrition outreach, and the broad realm of advocacy.

Educating the public about the problem of hunger and its vast dimensions is a big part of the mission, said Morehouse, adding that many of the families being served by the agency have incomes that exceed the thresholds established for SNAP benefits, but are not high enough to adequately feed that family. He offered an example.

“For a family of four, that threshold is about $44,000,” he said, in reference to the ceiling for SNAP benefits. “So if you’re making $45,000 a year, you can’t make ends meet, yet you’re not eligible for SNAP benefits. So if you can’t feed yourself, you can go to a local food pantry or meal site and get some food to get through the week or the month until the next paycheck comes. To get by, a family of four would need to earn about $56,000; so there’s a gap of $12,000.”

Word-of-Mouth Referrals

That gap, and, more specifically, the steady, alarmingly high number of people facing such a gap, explains not only the need for the Food Bank but why the long-term strategic plan calls for an expansion of the Hatfield facility, said Morehouse.

Elaborating, he said that, when the Food Bank goes about calculating how much food it will need to distribute, either to area member agencies or through its own programs, it takes that number cited earlier — 225,000 people — and multiples it by the number of times each individual might visit. This takes us to that other number — 11.6 million pounds of food — which, he said, is almost certain to increase in the years to come.

“Every year that I’ve been at the Food Bank, we’ve increased the amount of food we’ve distributed,” he explained. “In 2005, we were distributing 5.6 million pounds of food; last year, it was over twice that amount.

“Our strategic plan is to continue to increase the amount of food we distribute every year, until or unless we see things get better,” he went on. “But here we are in a period of dramatic economic growth, and there are still 225,000 people receiving food — and we know that another recession will come.”

This reality, and the need to be able to respond to it, is one of the forces that started Belmonte on his march back at the start of this decade. The program has its roots in a food drive staged by the radio station, he explained, but was inspired by the knowledge that the Food Bank, with its enormous buying power, can do more with dollars than it can with donated cans of soup.

So Belmonte started marching from Northampton to Greenfield with a shopping cart souped up (pun intended) by students at Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School, broadcasting and raising money as he went.

In its first year, the march raised $13,000 for the Food Bank. The latest installment, staged last November, raised $294,000. The numbers are just one manifestation of how the event has grown in size — and meaning.

Indeed, the march now covers two days and much more ground; the trek is now from Springfield to Greenfield. And Belmonte, who likened himself to Forrest Gump in the scenes where that movie character is running across the country, has picked up a lot of company in his march.

“There were hundreds of people joining us at various points along the 43-mile route, including all the newly elected legislators in Western Mass. and U.S. Congressman Jim McGovern, who has done this march at least six times now,” said Belmonte, adding that this strength in numbers has helped bring more than money to the Food Bank — it’s helped raise awareness of its all-important mission.

And still more awareness comes with some stops those marching make to a few of the member agencies served by the Food Bank.

“Some of these people who are marching along with us have never been to a food pantry and seen how one works,” he said. “So it brings the pieces to the puzzle together in a rather interesting way for people.”

Thus, the march has become part of Belmonte’s work as a member of the Coalition to End Hunger, an important extension, if you will, of the Food Bank’s mission. The coalition is focusing on three primary areas of work:

• A policy team that identifies and supports changes that will help resolve the underlying causes of hunger;

• A service-integration team that develops a network that will help those who are food-insecure through initiatives ranging from integrating nutrition programs into other safety-net programs to increasing access to healthy food in food deserts and food swamps; and

• A communication and education team (Belmonte’s a member) that addresses the lack of understanding and education about food insecurity, and the stigma attached to the problem, through a targeted media campaign.

“We’ve invested in a public media-education campaign to drive traffic to a website called coalitiontoendhunger.org,” Morehouse explained, “where we’re telling real stories of real people that will help shatter the myth that people are hungry because they’re lazy or they don’t want to work or because they have a drug problem.

“One would do better to not assume or judge, but to understand this problem and come up with smart ways to address it,” he went on, adding that this is the essence of the coalition and its work.

Belmonte agreed, and said his efforts to assist the food bank have certainly evolved over the years and expanded beyond the physical pushing of a shopping cart and asking for donations, and into the realm of education.

“I’ve learned so much about food insecurity and the myths surrounding it, and I wanted to do much more than a publicity stunt,” he said of his work with the coalition. “Using the tools of marketing to help destigmatize this issue is really important to me.”

Food for Thought

As he put the Food Bank and its broad spectrum of work in perspective, Morehouse recalled (he said it was something he’d never forget) a tour of the Charlemont area he was given by a woman who runs a food pantry there.

“She drove me around the rural roads of Charlemont to show me where people lived and tell the stories of the people who lived in those houses and also frequented the pantries,” he told BusinessWest. “It was eye-opening to see the condition of those houses, but it’s just one example of how there’s lots of people in rural communities, and urban communities, who are just scraping by — really struggling.

“People who don’t experience that and don’t live in those circumstances, just don’t have a clue of how much people are struggling to survive,” he went on, adding that it is part of the Food Bank’s mission to not only give people a clue but create enough momentum to confront that new normal he described, in the manner in which it needs to be confronted.

And that’s why, beyond those 9.6 million meals and 11.6 million pounds of food distributed, this agency is a true Difference Maker.

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

Peter Gagliardi, President and CEO of Way Finders

By
Class of 2019 Difference Makers

He’s Spent a Career Bringing Home the Power of Collaboration

Like most school teachers working in the early ’70s, Peter Gagliardi needed something to do during the summer — not just to keep him busy, but to help with cash flow during those 10 weeks when there were no paychecks coming in.

Early in the summer of 1973, his search for such an employment opportunity took him to a nonprofit called Rural Housing Improvement Inc. in Winchendon. After being told there were no part-time, temporary jobs to be had at the agency, he was further informed of a full-time, permanent position as director of property management that he might pursue if he was interested.

After doing a little soul searching — OK, a lot of soul searching — he convinced himself that he was interested.

“I had just signed a tenured contract, but I resigned and took a job with an organization that had secure funding for 30 days,” he said in a voice that didn’t accurately reflect the sizable risk he was taking. “And I’ve been doing housing ever since.”

It was a big decision for the Gagliardi family, and, as things would turn out, a big one for countless other families as well.

Indeed, that job with a fledgling nonprofit would, as he said, lead to a career in housing. But actually, it’s been a career in much more than that. In the nearly 30 years he’s been president and CEO of Way Finders, the agency formerly known as HAPHousing and before that the Housing Allowance Project, he has helped to greatly expand both the mission and the nonprofit’s influence far beyond its original charge — providing housing vouchers for those in need.

“I had just signed a tenured contract, but I resigned and took a job with an organization that had secure funding for 30 days.”

While it still helps individuals and families secure a roof over their heads through vouchers and creation of new affordable-housing projects, it now helps people in many other ways, as its relatively new name suggests.

It helps them secure employment through job-training initiatives, for example, and also enables individuals to become homeowners by helping them save money, improve their credit, and take the other steps needed to buy a house. And it has stepped forward to help change the trajectory of entire blocks and neighborhoods.

That was the case on Byers Street in Springfield, a half-mile-long stretch that borders the Springfield Armory property and, ironically enough, sits across Pearl Street from Springfield Police headquarters. Ironic because, by the late ’90s, Byers Street had become a hot spot for crime and, in most all ways, a blighted area.

It was (note the past tense) defined by perhaps its most famous, or infamous, piece of real estate — the Rainville Hotel.

Finders-managed properties on Byers Street in Springfield

Peter Gagliardi stands in front of the Way Finders-managed properties on Byers Street in Springfield, an area that has become a “different place” since the agency became involved.

“It was notorious,” said Gagliardi, flashing back 15 to 20 years, adding that it had become a center for drug dealing and other illegal activities, and just one of several properties that were causing problems for abutters that included Springfield Technical Community College, the Quadrangle, St. Luke’s Home (operated by the Sisters of Providence), the Diocese of Springfield, the Armory Street Commons apartment complex, and others.

HAPHousing stepped forward, partnered with other agencies (more on this later), and changed the fortunes of that area by taking down some derelict buildings and fixing up others. Today, it manages the Rainville, now an apartment complex, and several other properties, and the change on the street is palpable.

“You’re seeing other property owners on the street investing in their homes,” said Gagliardi, pointing out such initiatives as he walked the length of Byers Street with BusinessWest recently. “It’s a much better place now.”

The same can be said of the Old Hill section of the city, another area where Way Finders worked, again in partnership with other agencies and especially Springfield Neighborhood Housing Services, to bring about positive change in many ways. Dozens of new homes have been built, dozens more have been renovated, and scores of vacant lots have been put to better uses. Most importantly, residents are taking pride in their neighborhood — as well as responsibility for it — and the fabric of that neighborhood is becoming stronger.

“You’re seeing other property owners on the street investing in their homes. It’s a much better place now.”

“There’s always more to do, but Old Hill is a different place,” said Gagliardi. “Since the houses were built that we’ve been involved with, people are choosing to buy homes there; that was just not happening before.”

In a way, Byers Street, Old Hill, and what’s happened in those areas have become living symbols of Gagliardi’s energetic and imaginative approach to fulfilling and expanding the stated mission at Way Finders — “to light pathways and open doors to homes and communities where people thrive.”

And they serve to help explain why he has long been a real Difference Maker in this region.

Keys to Success

They call them ‘Success Stories,’ and that’s pretty much an understatement.

These are poignant vignettes, if you will, created to help convey the many ways that Way Finders has evolved as an agency and how it has helped change the lives of the people it has touched.

People like Charles Winston, the single father of a 7-year-old boy, who was unemployed and living in a one-bedroom apartment with his son when he enrolled in Way Finders’ Family Self-sufficiency (FSS) Program in 2014. He knew what he wanted to do — buy a home of his own someday — but also knew he had a laundry list of things he needed help with, from reliable childcare to a dependable vehicle; from full-time employment to credit repair. Long story short, Way Finders and its FSS program helped with all that. He secured a job with UPS, improved his credit score to 738, saved $22,391 in an escrow account established for him to buy a house, and in 2017, he became a home owner.

Peter Gagliardi and his staff at Way Finders have helped write many different kinds of success stories in recent years.

Peter Gagliardi and his staff at Way Finders have helped write many different kinds of success stories in recent years.

And also people like Minerva Gonzalez, who witnessed a sharp decline in the neighborhood in Holyoke in which she grew up and was now raising a family, and became determined to do something about it, only she didn’t know where or how to begin.

After enrolling in Way Finders’ Resident Leadership Program, she soon learned that community leaders often have a stronger voice than city officials. And she used hers to bring about change at H.B. Lawrence Elementary School and, specifically, a host of improvements to its playground.

You don’t see Peter Gagliardi’s picture accompanying these success stories. Instead, you see Charles Winston proudly holding up the keys to his house, and Minerva Gonzalez sitting atop a piece of playground equipment at her kids’ school.

But he had a big hand in writing them, a pattern that began way back in 1973 when he decided to leave the classroom and take that full-time job with Rural Housing Improvement Inc.

But our story actually begins several years earlier, when Gagliardi was attending college. He met a volunteer with VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) who was working in his hometown of Athol, and she introduced him to a housing problem he never knew existed.

“She showed me some atrocious housing conditions that people were living in and really brought the issue home,” he recalled. “I never thought about us having poor people as neighbors — they were all friends. I didn’t think about people living in really terrible living conditions, but there were some, and there weren’t a lot of alternatives for people.

“I learned a little bit, and then I went off and finished school, did the teaching thing, and along came a job that was pretty much serendipity,” he went on, retracing the start of his new career. “It got me involved in housing, and it became clear pretty quickly that this is where I should be.”

At Rural Housing Improvement Inc., Gagliardi worked for a boss who gave him what he called “a wide-open portfolio,” and he took full advantage, spending 13 years at the organization, rising to the rank of associate executive director, and, most importantly, learning a number of lessons he would apply later in his career, starting with his next stop.

“Along came a job that was pretty much serendipity. It got me involved in housing, and it became clear pretty quickly that this is where I should be.”

That would be at the recently created Mass. Housing Partnership, part of the Executive Office of Communities and Development, in 1986.

There, he worked under Amy Anthony, who was, ironically enough, the first executive director of the Housing Allowance Project and would become a titan within the affordable-housing industry, transforming Massachusetts into a national leader in that realm (she passed away last December).

Gagliardi was recruited to be director of field operations for the Mass. Housing Partnership, and his job was to work with communities across the state to develop what were known as ‘local housing partnerships.’

the Healthy Hill Initiative in Springfield’s Old Hill neighborhood is just one example of the power of collaboration.

Peter Gagliardi says the Healthy Hill Initiative in Springfield’s Old Hill neighborhood is just one example of the power of collaboration.

“The concept was, if you bring people together from different sectors and start focusing on the problem, then the interaction will add to the value of the work that you do,” he explained. “You have the private sector, the public sector, and representatives of the community … you’re tackling a common problem, and by doing it together, you get a better result than if any one of those sectors tried to do it on their own.”

And results were achieved, he said, adding that Massachusetts soon set the tone for affordable-housing programs nationwide through imaginative, partnership-driven initiatives that changed the landscape in all kinds of ways.

“That was a very dynamic time in housing in Massachusetts,” he recalled. “The governor [Michael Dukakis] was putting resources into it — these were the days of the Massachusetts Miracle — and allotted programs were created in Massachusetts, many of which still exist today,” he told BusinessWest. “We became the envy of all the states in the country with the variety of programs we had and the effectiveness of those programs.”

Living Proof

Gagliardi would eventually take the role of director of Private Housing at the Mass. Housing Partnership and would stay in that role for roughly a year.

By the end of 1990, however, the Dukakis administration was coming to an end, and he was looking for his next challenge.

He found it as president and CEO of the Housing Allowance Project, a position that, in many ways, took him back to his work with Rural Housing Improvement Inc. and the front lines of the housing problem in the western part of the state.

Over the past 28 years, the agency has grown and diversified its portfolio of services largely out of necessity, in a way that makes its mission more holistic in nature and worthy of that name Way Finders.

Gagliardi put all this into some kind of perspective:

“I think the most significant thing we’ve done is bring together a variety of services, all of which are complementary,” he explained. “We’ve built the strength and the reputation to take on new challenges as they arise. More than any one specific program, what we’ve been able to do is generate impact for the community and the people we work with across a wide range of programmatic activities.”

To explain this expansion of the mission, he returned to Byers Street, literally, where he pointed to the buildings, including the Rainville, that have been transformed from eyesores into attractive affordable housing, and talked about how it happened.

“This was one of Springfield’s darkest hours in a lot of ways,” he said, while setting the tone and explaining how Byers came to be the way it was. “Jobs had been declining for many years, people left their housing, places were vacant and abandoned; it was very difficult circumstances.”

The agency’s work there is a solid example of the importance of partnerships and bringing together groups with common goals to accomplish something they could not have done on their own, he said, adding that efforts to revitalize the area led to the creation of the Armory/Quadrangle Civic Assoc., which is still active today.

“We took the experience of doing some affordable-housing development, but in an urban setting, to use it as a way of bringing positive change to a neighborhood,” he said, adding that the agency brought various officials and groups to see what was done there. And the results would inspire an even bigger initiative.

“When we had an open house for our second project there on Byers Street, we brought some people down in a bus from the Old Hill neighborhood,” he recalled. “And I can remember the head of the Old Hill Neighborhood Council saying, ‘why can’t we do this in my neighborhood?’”

Soon thereafter, they did, in what became perhaps an even better example of the power of partnerships.

By the early 2000s, there were 150 vacant lots in Old Hill, a neighborhood in the vicinity of Springfield College, which represented maybe 10% of all the residential lots.

“We knew we couldn’t just go in, do a couple of houses, and make a difference — we needed a different strategy,” he explained, adding that, in collaboration with a host of partners, including the college, Habitat for Humanity, the neighborhood council, Springfield Neighborhood Housing Services, Revitalize Community Development Corp., and others, a plan was crafted to acquire many of the vacant lots (often from the city in tax title) and putting new homes on them.

Meanwhile, many other homes were rehabbed, and a host of agencies came together for what became known as the Healthy Hill Initiative, a project focused on two of the primary social determinants of health — public safety and access to physical activity.

“The secret to success, in my mind, is collaboration,” he told BusinessWest. “One of the things that I’m mindful of is that we would not have done any of this on our own.”

He was talking about Old Hill, but that sentiment applies to many of the initiatives the agency involves itself with, and collaboration is just one of the managerial mindsets that Gagliardi has brought with him to work for the past 45 years or so.

“We’ve built the strength and the reputation to take on new challenges as they arise. More than any one specific program, what we’ve been able to do is generate impact for the community and the people we work with across a wide range of programmatic activities.”

Overall, he said his goal has been to hire people who, like him, have a passion for this kind of work and can realize that, while the work is often difficult and bound tightly in red tape, there are many rewards.

“We’re working here because, at the end of the day when we go home, sometimes tired from all the complexities of the programs we run, we can take pride in the fact that, because of what we did today, somebody is in housing they wouldn’t otherwise have had,” he told BusinessWest. “It might be a homeless family has found a place to call home or a family that was in danger of being evicted has solved their problem. That’s much different than coming home and saying, ‘well, I made another buck for the shareholders,’ and that’s what keeps us coming back the next day.”

Looking back on that fateful decision he made back in 1973, he said he has no regrets at all and is simply thankful for that bit of serendipity.

“It’s been good work,” he said with a wide smile on his face. “There is where I should have been.”

Bottom Line

As he talked about his work with Mass. Housing Partnership, Gagliardi took a few minutes to reflect on the many ways Amy Anthony influenced his career.

“She was inspiring,” he told BusinessWest. “She was full of energy and open to ideas. I would go to her with an idea, she’d think about it, we’d talk about it, and she’d say, ‘OK, I like it; run with it.’”

One could use many of those same descriptive words and phrases when talking about her eventual successor. Also full of energy and open to ideas, he has built upon her legacy and helped write countless success stories like those mentioned earlier.

And he’s come a long way since he stepped into the offices of the Rural Housing Improvement Inc. looking for a summer job. Instead he found a career and, indirectly, a path to the stage at the Log Cabin on March 30, where he’ll be honored for what he has truly become.

A real Difference Maker.

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

Frederick and Marjorie Hurst

By
Class of 2019 Difference Makers

They’ve Shared a Lifetime Working for Social Change

Frederick Hurst clearly recalls where he was the April afternoon in 1968 when Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed. It was a job interview — a job he decided not to take.

That day, he said, changed the course of his life, and that of his wife, Marjorie. The trajectory of those lives has been a winding one, with many stops along the way, but one common thread — a constant focus on making a difference, in myriad ways.

For the past 15 years, the most visible vehicle for that change has been An African American Point of View, the ‘newsmagazine,’ as Rick calls it, that blends community news with often-unsparing commentary, every word of it edited by Marjorie. We’ll let his note in a recent issue explain the dynamic.

“We didn’t start this paper without knowing what we want to accomplish. We knew where we wanted to go in terms of content and impact. And we still feel we provide a point of view that is not provided anywhere else.”

“Like any journalist, I have an editor who pushes back at me. She pisses me off sometimes, but I often acquiesce. I’m not easy. She often recoils at stuff that truly expresses what I mean to say even though it might upset some folks. I am most responsive when she can show me a milder way to say the same thing and less responsive when she suggests a change simply because, without it, someone will get mad. I write it as I see it. And sometimes, I want to make someone mad because it is a legitimate part of my message and it tells the story best.”

“We didn’t start this paper without knowing what we want to accomplish,” Rick told BusinessWest. “We knew where we wanted to go in terms of content and impact. And we still feel we provide a point of view that is not provided anywhere else.”

It’s a perspective that remains badly needed, he added.

“The African-American point of view is so diluted in every medium you can find around here. I don’t think that has been malicious; I just think folks generally don’t understand what that means, even though they do the best they can,” he continued. “Sometimes I write to educate, sometimes I write to provoke, and sometimes I write to just express my opinion.”

Pointing out ways that political, educational, and economic infrastructures present barriers to success for the black community is nothing new to the Hursts.

Marjorie and Rick Hurst are gratified that their son Justin and daughter-in-law Denise

Marjorie and Rick Hurst are gratified that their son Justin and daughter-in-law Denise — who serve on Springfield’s City Council and School Committee, respectively — have followed their example of civic involvement.

“These things need to be discussed without equivocation,” Rick continued. “And most people I know — good people — are equivocal. They’ve been raised to be equivocal, and approach things like race with such delicacy that the story doesn’t get out there. One way we can make a solid impact as a newspaper is to deal with these race issues unequivocally. And I think we’re having an impact. Sometimes my good friends get mad at me — but it doesn’t bother me. I learned, if you have another point of view, write it, and we’ll print it.”

Marjorie noted that the newspaper had long been on the couple’s five-year plan — for way more than five years, actually — before they actually launched it in 2003.

“It was always part of what we were going to do,” she said. “He always had something to say, always had thoughts, always had ideas and a need to express them.”

And a need for an editor — even when they were dating as teenagers and engaged as college students.

“I’d send her love letters, and she’d send them back with corrections in red,” he laughed. “And she’s still doing that with anything else I write.”

A Life Together

In fact, the Hursts have known each other from their days as Buckingham Junior High School students in Springfield. Marjorie went to the High School of Commerce, Rick to Technical High School, and they had been dating for five years when they decided to tie the knot as undergrads at Howard University in Washington, D.C. in 1967.

“I was planning to go into speech therapy and audiology,” she recalled. “I had started out in journalism, but decided not to do that. It felt too intrusive to ask people all these questions.”

King’s death when the couple were seniors at Howard palpably altered both their career paths. An economics major with his eye on law school, Rick was sitting at a table with executives from D.C.-based Riggs National Bank, who were making him an offer to manage their trust department — and offering to pay his way through law school — when he heard King had been shot.

“People came running in, screaming and hollering — everyone was all upset,” he recalled. “It changed everything. I listened and was very cool, but I knew I wasn’t going to work for a bank, and we made a decision to come back to Springfield.”

“Most people I know — good people — are equivocal. They’ve been raised to be equivocal, and approach things like race with such delicacy that the story doesn’t get out there.”

With a new sense of mission, Rick got involved in poverty and unemployment programs, and they both taught school. He was recruited by Digital Equipment Corp. to run its planning department in Springfield and did well there for several years, but grew frustrated by the steady flow of white employees being promoted ahead of him. They both attended a graduate program at UMass, after which time an intriguing opportunity arose in Chicago.

It was an experimental, relatively new school on the west side of the city — a rough area to say the least — called Daniel Hale Williams University. Rick became facilities manager in 1975, while Marjorie worked as registrar.

“We sold our house, packed up our furniture, and moved to Oak Park,” he recalled. “The school had campuses all over the west side and south side, into the projects. We struggled to make that thing survive — but it didn’t survive. We had cashed in everything, and we were out in the middle of the country, when the school went bankrupt. Both of us were out of a job, and Marge was pregnant with our third child, Justin.”

That was the low point in their early part of their marriage, but again, they were energized by a planned return to Springfield. This time, they turned to law, Rick’s original goal as an undergrad at Howard. He enrolled at DePaul University School of Law — also working part-time while Marjorie worked full-time — and then both returned to Springfield, where she enrolled in Western New England College School of Law.

Rick Hurst says he writes to both educate and provoke

Rick Hurst says he writes to both educate and provoke — because sometimes people need a little provocation.

She opened a law office with a friend, while then-Gov. Mike Dukakis appointed Rick a commissioner at the Mass. Commission on Discrimination, overseeing 171 communities in the western half of the state for the next nine years.

“It was a very powerful commission then,” he said, explaining that MCAD had a judicial unit and a civil-rights unit. The latter, which no longer exists, allowed commissioners to essentially police every municipality and require them to develop diversity programs for employment, housing, and contract compliance — and authority to bring charges if they didn’t comply.

Holyoke and Springfield were both recalcitrant when it came to instituting such programs, he noted, and Holyoke has been more progressive over the years than Springfield, which Hurst feels remains somewhat stuck in old-school politics when it comes to systemic change.

“It was a great time in my life. We saw some positive changes,” he said. “And when I left, I went with my love” — specifically, to join her in the law firm that would eventually be known as Hurst and Hurst, P.C.

“It was an interesting time,” Marge said regarding those early years. “We just started off young and involved, and we continued to be involved. We got involved in civil rights. We were part of high-school walkouts over the lack of minority teachers and a black-focused curriculum. We set up an alternative school. We’ve always been extremely active and dedicated to moving the ball forward in whatever way we could. But we’ve always worked closely together and been supportive of each other, and there’s always been the feeling we’re equal partners.”

Hot Off the Presses

By the turn of the century, they both agreed their newspaper idea couldn’t stay on the five-year plan forever. So, in 2003, they took the plunge — with a little extra motivation from a black newspaper based in Framingham that was sniffing around Springfield. “That sped us up,” Rick said. “We knew we had a better product.”

The paper was originally published quarterly, then bimonthly in its second year, then monthly in its third, which it remains to this day. When the Great Recession hit, the paper struggled somewhat — advertisers began pulling back, loath to spend money during those difficult years — but Af-Am Point of View survived and eventually thrived, rebranding as a newsmagazine and pouring resources into producing more — and more diverse — content, while also developing an online presence.

“I’d send her love letters, and she’d send them back with corrections in red. And she’s still doing that with anything else I write.”

“We entered the market as African-American emphasis paper, but we always knew we’d expand and broaden it out,” Rick said. “We felt the paper would never grow in reader interest without a diversity of writers, to make it interesting to everybody.”

The Hursts celebrate Marjorie’s election to the Springfield School Committee

The Hursts celebrate Marjorie’s election to the Springfield School Committee — she was the top vote getter — in this 1997 photo from the Union-News.

Indeed, those writers represent diverse races, genders, and ages, too — in fact, a recent issue featured an essay by the Hursts’ 12-year-old grandson, Tristin.

Through it all, Rick has never been one to pull punches, whether speaking broadly about systemic racism in the U.S. or calling out local leaders on political matters.

“I’m more the warrior type than Marge,” he said. “Not in a wild and crazy way — I’m more measured than that. But I fight for change. I understand what change means. All my adult life, I’ve been fighting for political change, broader cultural change in the way people think. And the paper has made a difference. I think we’ve impacted the way people see black people and the way black people see themselves. I know we’re not there yet, but nothing makes me feel better than to know we have started something in that direction that’s meaningful.”

The Hursts have a long political history in the city, including Rick’s unsuccessful effort in the mayoral race of 1969, and City Council bids after that. Meanwhile, Marjorie served 12 years on the Springfield School Committee. Their youngest son, Justin, has followed suit over the past few years, most recently being named president of the City Council, while his wife, Denise, serves on the School Committee.

That legacy is gratifying for Marjorie, who had her kids knocking on doors from an early age supporting local candidates for office. “They had a history of being active and involved in politics.”

“They were very much involved,” Rick added. “We were sophisticated — we could break wards down, break streets down; we understood the value of door to door, face to face. They grew up with that in their heads, and the work was natural to them. But they take it to a new level with technology.”

That civic investment by the next generation is a source of pride, he added.

“That’s what I live for. I want to see my kids get involved in the body politic, and not just them. A whole lot of other minorities, black, Hispanic — and women, too — should get involved so Springfield is run like it should be run.”

Marjorie calls Rick conservative when it comes to his feelings about family structure, but he considers their family proof that a two-parent home — with two educated parents, no less — gives kids a great advantage in life. Their daughter and oldest child, Tiffani, is an assistant to the public defender in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, following years as a federal appellate attorney in Las Vegas. Their first son, Frederick Jr., has a CPA background and works for the public school system locally.

“I made a promise to myself, years before I met Marge, that I’d meet a good woman who’d want to marry me, and I’d stay with her for the rest of my days,” Rick said. “I’ve always preached it to my kids — take your time, find a good woman you’re compatible with, and commit to stay with her for the rest of your life and raise your kids right.”

He explained that Marjorie represented something aspirational to him, whose wisdom he has long relied on.

“I’m more the warrior type than Marge. Not in a wild and crazy way — I’m more measured than that. But I fight for change. I understand what change means. All my adult life, I’ve been fighting for political change, broader cultural change in the way people think.”

“I’m a kid from the hood; I really am — fisticuffs and gambling and all that,” he said. “When I made a decision to go to college, I had all that baggage. And at every critical point in my life, I can point to Marge being there as incredible support. Whether I would have made it anyway, I don’t know. But, my God, most people who came up with me … I’ve got more dead than alive, and many of them died decades ago.”

Even at Howard, he vascillated in his goals and considered dropping out to join his brother in the Army. “But she helped me struggle through, and I finished college. If I ever write my story, it’ll be a story about Marge.”

The Next Chapter

But Rick has written a book already: A History of Blind Industries and Services of Maryland, the century-spanning account of a program in Maryland dedicated to putting blind people to work — a success story that reflects his own philosophy about how government programs should support, but never replace, organic economic development in a community.

“You’ve got to introduce an economic-development element into every program you put on the table, or they’re all going to fail,” he said “These people figured out how you do it, how to integrate government money into private operations and grow the private sector much bigger than the original government investment.”

In some ways, the Hursts’ life together has been a microcosm of that kind of growth, constantly planting seeds — from a newspaper influencing public opinion to the development of black-centric curriculum in the public schools, to the raising up of future generations who will continue making a difference.

“Justin and Denise surround themselves with people of all races; they’re comfortable with everyone,” Marge said of the two Hurst family members with the most public profile these days. “That gives you hope for the future — how seamlessly they move into the fabric of the city, into all areas of the city. It makes you feel good that you might have contributed to an element of change in the city. So we’re extremely proud to be here at this point in time and still be contributing through the newspaper.”

Not that the work is ever truly done, Rick was quick to add, arguing that Springfield will never grow to political maturity until it fully shakes off its history of crony politics and embraces more diversity and openness to change. “I know it sounds idealistic, but change never came about through people who weren’t idealistic. The only way you change that stuff is to keep picking at it.”

He admires a quote by Thomas Jefferson — a man, it must be said, with his own racial complexities — who once noted that, if he had to choose between a government without newspapers or newspapers without government, he would not hesitate to choose the latter.

“That’s the power of the media,” Rick said. “Jefferson knew what he was talking about. If we didn’t have the press today, we’d be well on our way to a dictatorship. I’ve come to understand the power of the press.

“We’ve had an impact in that respect,” he went on. “The Hursts never set out to be prominent. We set out to make a difference, and we have made a difference. And that impact will continue long after we’re gone.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Joe Peters, Vice Chairman, Former President, Universal Plastics

By
Joe Peters
Class of 2019 Difference Makers

This Business Leader Has Made a Career of Finding Ways to Give Back

Joe Peters

Joe Peters

‘El Gordito.’

That’s what the people of Guayape, Honduras started calling Joe Peters — according to his son, anyway, who relayed this bit of news while he was spending the summer of 1999 in that remote town working to help build a medical clinic.

That was about eight months after Hurricane Mitch parked itself over the country and dropped nearly six feet of rain on it, and about six months after his father came to visit, bringing much-needed medical supplies and, even more importantly, a pledge of sorts to help buy an ambulance for the impoverished community.

“‘El Gordito?’ … I’m thinking, ‘what the heck does that mean?’” Peters recalled, still laughing heartily as he retold a story he’s told dozens of times. “I’m thinking in my head that I’m some kind of big shot now, they’ve given me a nickname. Turns out, it means ‘short, fat guy’ — but in the nicest possible way.”

Actually, the good people of Guayape (pronounced guy-up-eh) have much more flattering phrases with which to describe Peters, who would eventually ride triumphantly, and pretty much to the point of embarrassment, from the airport into that town in the ambulance he raised money for (much more on that later), in a poignant episode that serves as a microcosm for his life, his service to the community — a term with broad meaning, to be sure — and the pattern he’s established for stepping in and making a difference in the lives of others.

Other examples abound — starting with the family business, Universal Plastics, which his father created and Joe started working for when he was a teenager. He grew it exponentially over the years, and while he and his brothers sold it to Jay and Pia Kumar in 2012, he remains active, representing the company in the community and still figuring some quotes here and there.

“Our goal here has always been to take all the good that Joe has done and build upon it further. I’m inspired by Joe’s commitment to our community and feel a strong sense of responsibility to continue his ongoing legacy. Joe doesn’t just make a difference, he also inspires others to do so, and this only amplifies his impact.”

But he’s always been active outside the walls of the plant, whether it was in Chicopee, where it was launched and remained until 2003, or in Holyoke, where it resides today. And active in many different ways, from being involved with the chamber of commerce or the Rotary Club to being the face of regional efforts to create summer jobs for young people; from getting involved regionally, and now on the state level, in a host of workforce issues to becoming a deacon at his church.

And then, there’s the ‘sandwich ministry,’ a name that certainly helps tell the story.

It’s an outreach program for the homeless in Chicopee, created to fill a gap when another soup kitchen relocated from the city’s downtown area to the Willimansett section and, eventually, had to stop serving meals on weekends as one of the conditions for its operation. And, yes, it’s mostly about sandwiches. Peters, one of its principal architects, explains:

“We saw this as an issue for the less-fortunate people in downtown Chicopee who couldn’t get to Willimansett,” he explained. “On weekends, they had nowhere to go, so we talked about it with the pastor and went about finding a solution.

“That was 10 years ago,” he went on. “We have a group of about 20 people who get together at the school and make lunches; we’re up to 160 sandwiches, which makes 80 lunches. We put two sandwiches in a bag with a banana and some cookies … it’s a little well-oiled machine at this point; we have a good staff of people, and we’re adding new volunteers regularly.”

Joe Peters played a large role in bringing a new ambulance to the Honduran village of Guayape

Joe Peters played a large role in bringing a new ambulance to the Honduran village of Guayape, which was devastated by Hurricane Mitch in 1998.

The sandwich ministry is another example of how Peters has seemingly always been there to help the city he still calls home — Chicopee — and be an employer willing to give people a chance, sometimes changing their life in the process.

People like Manny Cruz. He had been struggling for some time in his efforts to secure a job because of mistakes made earlier in his life, when he came to Universal Plastics via CareerPoint, now MassHire Holyoke, another organization to which Peters has given his time, energy, and talent. Today, he’s one of the company’s best CNC programmers.

He and Peters were honored by the state in 2014 as a success story when it comes to workforce development and manufacturing training. Peters has helped script many similar stories over the years, winning a number of different awards and citations. He now has another — BusinessWest’s Difference Makers award, which is given for many reasons, including the recipient’s ability to inspire others to want to make a difference as well.

Peters has been able to do just that, said Pia Kumar.

“Our goal here has always been to take all the good that Joe has done and build upon it further,” she told BusinessWest. “I’m inspired by Joe’s commitment to our community and feel a strong sense of responsibility to continue his ongoing legacy. Joe doesn’t just make a difference, he also inspires others to do so, and this only amplifies his impact.”

True to Form

The Universal Plastics saga — and therefore Joe Peters’ story — have been told more than a few times on the pages of BusinessWest since the magazine started publishing nearly 35 years ago.

The company’s story, and in some ways Joe’s as well, was forged by his father, James, the son of a farmer from Wisconsin, and one who knew early on that he didn’t want to be a farmer.

The ‘sandwich ministry’

The ‘sandwich ministry’ is another example of Joe Peters’ commitment to helping those in need, especially in his hometown of Chicopee.

Instead, he joined the Army Air Corps and was assigned to work at Westover Air Force Base in the mid-1940s. He met Frances Ogarzalek at a polka dance and fell in love.

When the Westover facility became a major support base during the Berlin Airlift, James Peters, a flight engineer, served in Germany as an interpreter. He eventually became a sheet-metal worker with the Air Force repairing airplanes, his son recalled, later worked at Pratt & Whitney in the broad realm of R&D and prototype development, and eventually joined a plastics company in Chicopee.

“After 12 years there, he decided he could do this himself — and he did; he borrowed a little bit of money and started Universal Plastics in 1965,” said Peters, who was 15 at the time, and remembers going to his father’s shop with him as he was getting things off the ground.

“We’d go down at night while he was still working and building his first machine,” he recalled. “I had no idea what the machine was going to do, but I helped with the wrenches and screwdrivers, I’d light his cigarette when his hands were all greasy, and I’d answer the phone when my mother called to ask when we were coming home.

“It was a very humble beginning, but I fell in love with manufacturing,” he went on, adding that this love affair continues to this day, and he’s spent the latter part of his career trying to convince others to become equally enamored.

Over the years, Peters would lead Universal Plastics to steady growth and status as one of the leading producers of precision thermoformed plastics in this region, and the country, for that matter. The company produced everything from jet-engine covers to kayaks; from housing for computers and medical equipment to visors for riot helmets.

But while that one word — plastics — neatly sums up what went on at the family business, it doesn’t begin to define what would have to be considered Peters’ life’s work.

James Peters, left, started Universal Plastics

James Peters, left, started Universal Plastics and was a big believer in providing summer jobs to young people. His son, Joe, followed in his footsteps in both realms.

For that, we would need two words — giving back. Peters has been doing that consistently, and in many different ways, over the past several decades.

Examples abound, and one could start anywhere, but maybe the most appropriate place would be with one of the many things his father gave him, and he helps provide for countless others — a summer job.

Indeed, Peters has become the face and in many ways the driving force behind efforts to create summer jobs for area young people — positions that provide not just a paycheck, but invaluable lessons about the world of work and teamwork.

“These jobs are so important,” he said, adding that his father would always hire several young people for the summer, and he has continued that tradition while also working hard to help secure the funding needed to put more people to work. “The statistics bear it out — kids who work in summer jobs do a lot better in life than those who never did. Kids who have the perspective of having to work find it easier to get jobs later on and keep them.”

But summer jobs constitute just one facet of Peters’ work in the broad realm of workforce development, a task he took up as the manufacturing sector began to decline in the ’70s and ’80s and the profession became a harder sell for young people and their parents.

He was first appointed to the REB by Chicopee Mayor Richard Kos (during his first stint in the corner office at the start of this century) and has been there ever since.

And just a few months ago, he was named one of two Western Mass. representatives on the Mass. Workforce Assoc., a 15-member panel with a broad and significant charge that Peters boiled down to helping to make sure that the state’s employers have the workers they’ll need in the years to come.

“As a workforce board, we’ll have to be able to see two or three years into the future and say, ‘what are we going to need for employees — where is the market going?” he explained. “Healthcare has become a huge issue for the Regional Employment Board in terms of training and securing money from the federal government so that people are properly trained. Advanced manufacturing is another area of concern, among many others.

“Training is the probably biggest issue facing this region and the state as a whole,” he went on. “There are three populations we’re working with — young people, individuals who are working but are underemployed, and people who have been laid off and are missing from the workforce because they’ve just given up. In each case, training is the key to getting them into the workforce.”

Making His Mark

It’s been just over 20 years since Peters made that first trip to Guayape, but the memories are still etched in his mind.

So are the events leading up to it and all that has happened since. Telling the story as quickly as he could, he said it all started with a missionary friar from upstate New York, the Rev. Ronald Roll, who was doing a lot of work in Honduras and had been invited — via Peters and his long-time friend, the Rev. Placid Kaczorek, a priest from Chicopee — to speak to the Chicopee Rotary Club about his work and solicit some help.

“I was sitting in my office one day, and this little woman walked in and said to the secretary, ‘does the guy who’s trying to raise money for the ambulance work here?’”

Indeed, he was involved with a number of efforts in that country, from building bridges to securing safe water supplies, said Peters, adding that, in the weeks running up to his talk at the Rotary Club, he hinted that he would solicit help for one of those initiatives.

But when he reached the podium, he flipped the script somewhat. “He said, ‘I thought that maybe you guys would like to do a bigger project … they really need an ambulance in this particular village,’” Peters recalled, adding that, in the months afterward, Roll regularly e-mailed him with requests to come to Honduras for a visit.

Plans were eventually made for Peters, Kaczorek, and others to visit in December, he continued, and in between, Hurricane Mitch visited the country and stayed for several days.

“It flooded the country out … virtually every bridge was washed out; it was a mess,” he recalled. “We were trying to talk him out of letting us go, but he said, ‘no, no, you’ve got to come now.’”

They did, and the work of ‘El Gordito’ began.

Fast-forwarding significantly, he said the need for an ambulance was quickly verified — the nearest hospital was in the capital city of Tegucigalpa, more than 30 miles away, and there was often no way to transport people there — and Peters took the lead in a very ambitious effort to raise half the cost of the $45,000 ambulance and write a grant application to the Rotary Foundation to cover the other half.

The second part of the equation was relatively simple, and the first part … well, it wasn’t that difficult, either, thanks in part to a large story in the Republican — a reporter actually accompanied them on the trip to Honduras — and Peters’ energy, drive, and ability to inspire others.

One story that he loves to tell sums it all up.

“I was sitting in my office one day, and this little woman walked in and said to the secretary, ‘does the guy who’s trying to raise money for the ambulance work here?’” he recalled. “She sat down opposite me and said, ‘I want to give you some money for your ambulance.’ She pulled out her checkbook, wrote out ‘5,’ then ‘0,’ and I’m thinking to myself, ‘50 bucks, that’s great’ … then she writes another zero, and then another zero — 5,000 bucks! I was like, ‘can I hug you?’”

Throughout his life, Peters has been able to not only give back, but get others to join him as he does so, be it fellow Rotary Club members, his own sons, who went to Honduras in subsequent years, or fellow sandwich makers, including his wife, Jan, who have joined him in his new ministry.

“It’s meaningful to everyone … I think part of the reason people do things like this is that they get more out of them than they give,” he told BusinessWest. “When you see the gratitude on the faces of people, it reminds you why you’re there.

“We have days when we have more people than we do sandwiches,” he went on. “People will open their bags, and they’ll share their sandwiches with others. It really is a remarkable program.”

What’s in a Name?

Guayape, Honduras is a long way from Chicopee — and in all kinds of ways.

But Joe Peters found an important common denominator. In both places, he’s encountered people in need, and he’s stepped in to help — in a fashion that could be described as humble yet determined.

As he was on his way to the airport to return home from Honduras 20 years ago, a tired Peters, when asked about the plight of the people in that country, told that reporter from the Republican who went along on the trip, “I don’t have answers. I don’t think I can make a tremendous difference, but a little is better than no difference at all. I just wish there was more I could do.”

He was right with regard to that specific moment and place. But with regard to his career and all that he’s done within the community … he was way off the mark.

‘El Gordito’ has made a tremendous difference, and better still, he’s shown everyone that they can, too.

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

The Springfield Museums

By
Kay Simpson, left, president and CEO of the Springfield Museums, with current board chair Kate Kane.
Class of 2019 Difference Makers

Institution Has Mastered the Art and Science of Being Entrepreneurial

Kay Simpson, left, president and CEO of the Springfield Museums, with current board chair Kate Kane.

Kay Simpson, left, president and CEO of the Springfield Museums, with current board chair Kate Kane.

Kay Simpson says it wasn’t long after the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden opened to the public in 2002 when the Springfield Museums first considered creating a special license plate to commemorate Seuss — and his hometown of Springfield.

That effort didn’t really get very far, she told BusinessWest, adding that the process of getting the state to produce these specialty license plates — there are now almost 30 of them that help raise money for causes and institutions ranging from the Jimmy Fund to Blackstone Valley to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame — was more involved then, and the thresholds to be met in terms of minimum numbers of subscribers were considerably higher. And 2002 was before the age of social media, when marketing such an effort was a much different proposition.

That was then.

With the opening in 2017 of the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum, which has drawn visitors from across the state and around the world, Simpson and others at the Springfield Museums believe that threshold can be far more easily reached.

“We have 130 people signed up, and we need 750 signed on before we can actually put the plates into production; we’re well on our way, and there is considerable interest,” she explained, adding that there will eventually be an auction at which individuals can bid on the low plate numbers bearing the Seuss imagery.

A Dr. Seuss specialty plate could yield perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue for the Museums over the next several years, said Simpson, but that windfall only begins to explain what the plate might mean for the institution and the City of Homes.

“It’s like a billboard, not just for the Museums, but for Springfield,” she told BusinessWest, in reference to the plate, which will bear an image of the most famous of all the Seuss characters, the Cat in the Hat. “The image says ‘seussinspringfield.org,’ which is our website, which tells the story of the Dr. Seuss museum, but it also celebrates Ted Geisel growing up in Springfield and all the connections he had to the city through his boyhood.

“This is not only going to be promoting the Quadrangle, the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum, and the sculpture garden, but the city of Springfield as well,” she went on. “People living across the state can get one of these license plates, but people living in Massachusetts drive to all kinds of locations throughout the country, so this is a way of promoting the Museums and the city nationwide.”

“People living across the state can get one of these license plates, but people living in Massachusetts drive to all kinds of locations throughout the country, so this is a way of promoting the Museums and the city nationwide.”

So, in essence, a specialty license plate will only further amplify the already profound impact the Springfield Museums have had on the city and this region since the first collections, housed then in the Springfield Library, went on view back in 1857.

In the ensuing 162 years, the Museums have been a source of culture, history, and pride for generations of area residents, and they have also brought people from far outside this region into Springfield, effectively putting the city on the map.

And with many recent additions, especially the Dr. Seuss Museum, which doubled the institution’s visitation numbers in the first year it was open, the Museums’ overall impact has increased tremendously.

To the point where the decision makers at BusinessWest are making the Museums part of the Difference Makers class of 2019, thus taking the recognition program to a different dimension.

The Quadrangle has certainly changed over the years.

The Quadrangle has certainly changed over the years. Above, the scene in the early ’70s when one could actually drive onto the property. Below, today the scene is dominated by trees and the Dr. Seuss Memorial Sculpture Garden.

Indeed, over the past decade, the program has recognized individuals, families, a host of nonprofits (from Girls Inc. to Big Brothers Big Sisters), some of the region’s institutions of higher learning (UMass Amherst and the area’s community colleges, to be specific), and even a corporation — MassMutual.

But a cultural institution? The Museums would be the first. But they have collectively been a Difference Maker from the very beginning. Lyman Wood, retired business owner, philanthropist, mentor to many young professionals, and long-time supporter of the Museums — he and late wife, Merrie, have their names on the Museum of Springfield History — put things in their proper perspective:

“The Museums put us on the map,” he said, adding that the Seuss museum has made the city and the region only more visible in that respect. “But it’s more than that. The Museums touch every aspect of people’s lives, from the arts to the science to the culture; it’s a focus point for everyone.”

Moving forward, as it strives to go on being this focus point, the Museums will continue a pattern of thinking and operating that Kate Kane, chair of the Museums’ board of directors, described simply as “being entrepreneurial.”

Examples of this entrepreneurial mindset abound, from the license-plate initiative to the recent purchase of property adjacent to the history museum on Chestnut Street with the goal of transforming it into another potential attraction and revenue stream; from new exhibits like the current offerings ToyTopia (an interactive look at the history of toys) in the history museum and Dinosaur Discoveries in the Science Museum, to new, lower-priced, often-Seuss-themed items in the museum store that have triggered huge increases.

At a time when many museums are struggling to lure visitors and make ends meet, the Springfield Museums are enjoying considerable momentum and looking toward an even brighter future.

In short, an institution that has always been a Difference Maker is poised to become even more of one in the years and decades to come.

Making History

As she talked about the Museums, their history, and their evolution over the years, Simpson said that, while the individual museums are architectural masterpieces and many of the items on display within them have been under the same glass — figuratively and in some cases literally — for 50 or 100 years or more, they are far from static.

“The Museums touch every aspect of people’s lives, from the arts to the science to the culture; it’s a focus point for everyone.”

Indeed, they must change with the times in order to stand the test of time, she said, pointing out, as just one example, the Art of Discovery Center on the second floor of the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum, a 21st-century addition, if you will, to a late 19th-century facility, and that new Dinosaur Discoveries exhibit in the Science Museum.

The center provides drop-in activities during hours when the museum is open. Decorated with colorful and intricately painted floor-to-wall murals, the center’s hands-on activities provide insights into the culturally diverse collections on display in the museum’s galleries.

There are many other examples of how the old and the new — the past, the present, and sometimes the future — rush together in an almost seamless fashion at the museums, said Simpson, adding that this quality is one of many that make the collection of museums, which offer free admission to city residents, a historic landmark, a center for culture, and one of the leading tourist attractions in the region.

Lyman Wood, seen in the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History

Lyman Wood, seen in the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History, says the Museums have helped put Springfield on the map and bring more vibrancy to its downtown.

Evolution and building on past successes have been the blueprint for the Museums since the first items were put on display in the middle of the 19th century.

Indeed, the Springfield Museums trace their origins to 1857, when the Springfield and the Young Men’s Library Assoc. were joined to form the City Library Assoc. The earliest museum collections were housed in a room in City Hall.

In 1871, the museum collections were moved into a new library building, said Simpson, adding that, in 1888, George Walter Vincent Smith and his wife, Belle Townsley Smith, offered their collection to the association — a philanthropic act and one that would set the tone for many to come — that led to the construction of Springfield’s first museum.

The George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum, an Italian palazzo-style building, opened its doors in 1896. The next addition to what would become a cluster of museums, or the Quadrangle, as it came to be called, was the Springfield Science Museum, which was founded in 1859 in City Hall and then moved in 1899 into a classical revival building that was expanded in 1932 and again in 1970, with the Tolman addition that included a public observatory.

Subsequent additions to the Quadrangle included the Connecticut Valley Historical Museum (1927), the Michelle and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts (1933), the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden (2002), the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History (2009), and the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum, created in the original history museum, which opened in 2017.

And opened to considerable fanfare, said Simpson, adding that there was considerable, pent-up demand for a Seuss facility — visitors to the sculpture garden would habitually ask where the museum dedicated to the children’s book author was located and were disappointed when told there wasn’t one — and this was reflected in both the number of visitors and the long distances they traveled to walk under the arch at the front of the building.

Simpson told BusinessWest that, while the numbers speak loudly about the impact of the Seuss museum — attendance rose 110% in 2017 — it’s sometimes difficult to put into words exactly what that facility means for the Museums. But she tried, as did Wood.

“The opening of the Dr. Seuss Museum elevated the Museums in so many ways,” she explained. “It of course increased our attendance and, as a result, our revenue from ticketed admissions, which was very positive. But it also changed the character of our visitation; it really made us national and international, and while that might sound like an exaggeration, it really isn’t.

Above, the interior of the Science Museum in the mid-’30s. The facilities at the Quadrangle have all evolved with changing times and advancing technology. Below, Kay Simpson at the Dinosaur Discoveries special exhibit now at the Science Museum.

“We have the visitor-comment books that demonstrate that people travel here from Indiana and California and London because they wanted to see the Dr. Seuss Museum,” she went on, adding that, when they come — and those comment books indicate they’re also making repeat visits — they generally visit the other museums on the Quadrangle and often get out to see other parts of the city as well.

Wood agreed, and said that, collectively, the Museums, bolstered by the Dr. Seuss facility, will play a huge role in what he sees as the city’s best bet from a business and economic-development standpoint moving forward: tourism.

“To me, the future of Springfield, and I’ve been arguing this for 25 years, is going to be tourism,” he told BusinessWest. “We tried to get Fidelity out here, we’ve tried to be a tech center, we’ve made some good progress with communications, but if we’re really going to be on the map and have the vibrancy we all want, it’s going to come from tourism.”

And the Museums, along with MGM Springfield, the Basketball Hall of Fame, and other large attractions, will play a huge role in these efforts.

Entrepreneurship on Display

Overall, the Seuss Museum brings not only those aforementioned revenues — from not only admissions, but also the sale of items in the gift shop and, hopefully, those license plates — but also momentum and opportunity to expand and enhance its mission and do more to continue the evolutionary process of the individual museums.

In short, said Simpson, the Museums will continue to echo the entrepreneurial spirit so readily on display in the history museum, with its displays of Smith & Wesson guns, Indian motocycles, some of the first automobiles made in this country, several of Milton Bradley’s toys and games, and other products made in the city.

“The opening of the Dr. Seuss Museum elevated the Museums in so many ways. It of course increased our attendance and, as a result, our revenue from ticketed admissions, which was very positive. But it also changed the character of our visitation; it really made us national and international, and while that might sound like an exaggeration, it really isn’t.”

Plans to renovate and modernize the Science Museum are one example of being entrepreneurial and seizing opportunities, she said, adding that some of the halls are being improved in preparation for the opening of a Smithsonian SPARK Lab, a maker’s space that will bring more hands-on activities to the facility.

That lab is similar in nature to both the Art of Discovery Center in the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum and the so-called Cat’s Corner (named after the Cat in the Hat) in the Seuss Museum, a space on the second floor where children and families can take part in a host of facilitated art and literacy activities. Such facilities help prompt return visits, said Simpson, by providing new experiences each time one comes.

“With the SPARK Lab, you have this wonderful space with a changing curriculum where kids can go and engage in these open-ended activities that tie to STEM,” she explained. “And it is the Smithsonian, so it has that wonderful brand.”

The building on Chestnut Street that was acquired recently is still another example of the Museums being entrepreneurial, said Simpson. The space, currently occupied by a liquor store and a convenience store, could be put to a number of uses that could advance the institution’s mission and bring more people to the Quadrangle.

Possibilities include another maker’s space or perhaps a small bakery, much like the one operated by Ted Geisel’s maternal grandparents more than a century ago.

Overall, the broad goal for the Museums moving forward is to maintain their relevance, something many institutions, especially the living-history museums, are struggling to do in this day and age, she said, noting that, nationwide, attendance is down roughly 20% at museums across the board.

“When you talk about strategic planning, you can see it in terms of the evolution of the Quadrangle,” she said, referring to many of the recent changes, additions, and new, family-oriented exhibits. “You’re looking for those opportunities to make sure that what you’re offering is relevant to today’s audiences; you’re always building on the past.”

And building toward the future as well, said Kane, the board chair, who returned to that notion of being entrepreneurial.

“And what better place to follow that path than in Springfield?” she said, referencing the city’s long history of innovation and ‘firsts.’ “We can provide people with experiences that they can relate to and have value for them; it’s about making memories.”

Wood agreed. He said the Seuss Museum has brought attention to Springfield from across the state, across the country, and even from around the world, and it’s now incumbent on the institution to take full advantage of this development and build momentum moving forward.

The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum doubled the Museums’ attendance

The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum doubled the Museums’ attendance in the first year it was open, greatly increasing revenues and creating more opportunities for the institution.

“What happened with the attendance that first year was remarkable, and it put us on the map with Boston,” he said. “We’ve received much more attention from the governor and the lieutenant governor — they’ve been out here to the Museums many times — and that means more people in the city and far outside the city are more aware of us. We have to build on that.”

Simpson concurred, and as she talked about the future, she returned once more to the past.

“When the Museums first opened, there was a statement made by one of the early founders that this was the ‘people’s college,’” she recalled, noting that phrase reflected a time when few people went to college. “I think that’s a wonderful expression, but I like to think of us more as the ‘people’s museum’ — there’s something for everyone, and we provide really substantial educational experiences for people of all ages.”

And it is now in a much better position to do that for generations to come.

Drive Time

Simpson said a date will soon be set for the auction involving those low, much-sought-after numbers for the Seuss specialty license plates. A few opportunistic individuals will emerge as big winners in that competition.

But over the past 161 years or so, the residents of Springfield and the region as a whole have all been big winners because of the Museums and all they have brought to the region — from art, science, and history to thousands of visitors and greater vibrancy.

Springfield was already on the map before 1857, when the first of the Museums’ exhibits went on display, but this institution has kept it there and promoted more people to circle that spot.

The Dr. Seuss Museum has taken the Quadrangle to a new and exciting place and made it a national and international attraction. But the reality is that this special collection of museums has always been a Difference Maker.

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

Incorporations

By
Incorporations

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

CHICOPEE

O.F. Bright Enterprise Inc., 411 Front St., Chicopee, MA 01013. Osvaldo Paulo Moura, same. Cleaning services.

EASTHAMPTON

Per MGMT Inc., 123 East St., Easthampton, MA 01027. Chris Lachapelle, 128 Central Park Dr., Holyoke, MA 01040. Bar/café.

GREENFIELD

Mighty Clean Mutt, Corp., 52 French King Highway, Greenfield, MA 01301. Megan Edson, same. Pet and animal grooming services and associated products.

LONGMEADOW

Northstar Imaging Inc., 66 Dwight Rd., #4, Longmeadow, MA 01106. Craig A. Saltman, same. Mobile imaging company.

Peoplesdental Holdings, P.C., 66 Dwight Road, Longmeadow, MA 01106. Craig A. Saltzman, 266 Ardsley Road, Longmeadow, MA 01106. Dentistry and related specialties.

Positive Spin Real Estate Investments Inc., 785 Williams Street #206, Longmeadow, MA 01106. Jarrett Thomas, same. Asset management.

MONTGOMERY

Prophit Insight Inc., 78 Pomeroy Road, Montgomery, MA 01085. Michael Arian, same. Data analysis.

PITTSFIELD

Scarci & Costa Cleaning Services Inc., 137 Onota St, — 2nd Floor, Pittsfield, MA 01201. Sergio L. Costa, same. Cleaning services.

SPRINGFIELD

Mountainview Home Evaluations Inc., 112 Washington Road, Springfield, MA 01108. Roger Peterson, same. Home and building inspections.

Nacion De Fe Massachusetts Corp, 41 Sullivan St., Springfield, MA 01104. Melvin Arroyo, 118 Maynard St., Springfield, MA 01109. Provide spiritual counseling and teach theology through a Bible college to any individual, and other religious organizations. To prepare and ordain ministers and pastors here and international.

WEST SPRINGFIELD

No More Silence Massachusetts Non – Profit Corporation, 23 Queen Ave., West Springfield, MA 01089. Terri McNulty, same. Purpose is to raise awareness to suicide and support for loss survivors through various fundraising efforts throughout the year.

Doing Business As Certificates

By
DBA Certificates

The following business certificates and trade names were issued or renewed during the month of January 2019.

AMHERST

Edwards Realty
145 University Dr., #2058
John Edwards

Heystack
34 Kingman Road
Prashant Shenoy

Mara Hahn Bodyworks
150 Fearing St., Suite 8
Mara Hahn
Pioneer Va

lley Massage and Acupuncture Center
120 Pulpit Hill Road
Haiying Conover

RoosterRam
95 Butterfield Terrace
S.R. MacRostie

CHICOPEE

Beauty by Juey
1512 Memorial Dr.
Yowin Ojeda Jr.

C & G Painting & Home Improvement
222 Hampden St.
Carlos Guarneri

Evolution Unlimited, LLC
24 Olko Court
Christopher Larrivee

Lugo’s Barbershop
55 Springfield St.
Agustin Lugo Jr.

ManeTamers
358 Britton St.
Kathleen Rogers

Richie’s A-Z Craftsman
9 Lucretia Ave.
Richard Morganstern

DEERFIELD

Grybko Marketing Solutions
13 Elm St.
Timothy Grybko

Pioneer Valley Charcuterie Team
122 Lower Road
Jeffrey Fairman, Meghan Fairman

EASTHAMPTON

Ayda Accounting and Tax Service
2 Symanski Ave.
Ailada Lemonde

Daniel J. O’Donoghue Consulting
32 Adams St.
Daniel O’Donoghue

JRF Investigative Services
70 Cottage St.
Jeffrey Fish, Vanessa Fish

EAST LONGMEADOW

HUB International
96 Shaker Road
Timothy Marini

Laffan’s Ledger
223 Hampden Road
Deanna Laffan

Silverstrand Fitness
434 North Main St.
Brian Burke

Van Le’s Hair and Nails
613 North Main St.
Stephanie Le

GREENFIELD

Artisan Beverage Cooperative
324 Wells St.
Garth Shaneyfelt

Baker Financial Group, LLC
357 Main St.
Jeffrey Baker

Blue Ganu
62 Graves Road
Terry Gray

Chris’ Mobile Repair
272 Silver St.
Christopher Arel

Cole Ecological Inc.
15 Bank Row, Suite B
Michael Cole

Designs by Monique
227 Colrain Road
Monique Richardson

Greenfield Per Diem
27 Allen St.
Anita Lockesmith

Hair Therapy
40 School St., Suite 1
Jaime Young

Jennifer Twyon
5 Arch St.
Jennifer Twyon

Koch’s Automotive Inc.
44 Main St.
Jayme Koch

Liebenow Auto Body
163 Wells St.
Robert Liebenow

Marilyn Erickson
22 Abbott St.
Marilyn Erickson

Matt Kim’s Academy of Rock
219 Main St.
Matthew Kim

Nam’s US Taekwondo Center
154 Main St.
Nam’s US Taekwondo Center

Pioneer Ergonomics
52 Mary Potter Lane
Gail Hegeman

Reil Cleaning Services, LLC
30 Woodleigh Ave.
Edward Terault

Save Each Life
332 Deerfield St.
Dan Oros

Shree Brahmani Mataji Corp.
256 Federal St.
Priyankkumar Patel

Yasou Electrolysis & Skin Care
224½ Federal St.
Sophia Koblinski

HOLYOKE

5 Martin
5 Martin St.
Venus Chartier

A & A Multi Cleaning Service
266 Essex St., Apt. 103
Abner Velazquez

Aunty’s Market
539 Pleasant St.
Mohinder Grewal

Reico Compliance Services
51 North Canal St.
Margaret Morneau

Trust the Bar Fitness Center
20 Hadley Mills Road
Nicole Feliciano, Edward Vanderpool

LONGMEADOW

Nancy Miller, CLU Insurance and Financial Services
666 Bliss Road, Suite 5
Nancy Miller

LUDLOW

The Chop Shop
123 Center St.
Jessica Lacosse

Encompass Health Home Health
487 Holyoke St.
Excella Home Health Agency, LLC

Lorraine’s
19 Prospect St.
Lorraine Carreira

Ludlow Public Market
46 Birch St.
Rosa Fernandes

Nails by Tia Lynn
131 Center St.
Tia Fortier

NORTHAMPTON

Fringe Studio for Hair
56 Main St., #202
Bruce Klein, Lisa Suriano

Meghan McCormick Massage
1N Main St.
Meghan McCormick

Sentient Technology
209 Main St., Apt. 2A
Cian Dowling

Yiroch Photography
48 Evergreen Dr., #14
Abigail Connick

PALMER

Don’s Statues and Plaques
233 Wilbraham St.
Margaret Westbrook

On 3 Photography
9 Carriage Dr.
Maryellen Roche

RCE Co. Inc.
244 Burlingame Road
Dawn Morey, Raymond Croteau

SOUTHWICK

Donna M. Houghton Licensed Massage Therapist
405 North Loomis St.
Donna Houghton

Luna Bella Décor
613 College Highway
Mary Welch

Southwick Builders
104 Fred Jackson Road
Brian Drenen

SPRINGFIELD

Before and After Beauty Salon
686 Belmont Ave.
Jose Calderon

Cintron Home Repair
11 Fordham St.
Javier Cintron

Cortes Transportation
59 Parkside St.
Ruddy Cortes

Fautouh Inc.
1812 Wilbraham Road
Imtiaz Bukhari

Fener 1907 Inc.
1190 Parker St.
Ilker Demir

First Family Logistics
113 Cambridge St.
Veronica Wilson

Immaculate Cleaning Service Inc.
64 Melha Ave.
Shukrallah Reissour

J’Majesty Hair Collection
30 Leete St.
Janessa Smalls

M.R.L.R. Property Maintenance
112 State St.
Mark LaRose

Main Street Auto Service
77 Main St.
Michael Belanger

Mamuchy Grocery Store
306 Belmont Ave.
Berta Luciano Fabian

Merri Maid Laundry
819 State St.
Yanghwa Chong

Union Market
537 Union St.
Inocencio Laulino

Vega & Vega Financial Services
29 Melville St.
Willie Vega

WLC Electric
814 Roosevelt Ave.
William Collins

WARE

Flatbrook Wildlife Solutions
1 Greenwich Plains Road
Scott Reynolds

From Fiber to Fashion
70 Coffey Hill Road
Donna Young

Jack’s Auto Body
139 Main St.
Jack Podkowka

King Creek Farm
337 Belchertown Road
Michael Biskup, Sharon Biskup

Maxx Fitness
89 Main St.
Robert Smith

Quabbin Stables
70 Coffey Hill Road
Donna Young

R & K Auto Repair
118 West Main St.
Richard Benedict

This N That 2
52A Main St.
Donald Hawes

Woolen Memories
20 Glendale Circle
Sandra Miarecki

WESTFIELD

Blackberry Lane
7 Sadie Lane
Bevery Lucey

C.G. Roadside Mowing
17 Old Quarry Road
Christopher Grady

Dhazu Woodcraft
722 Western Ave.
Reynaldo Hazle

JJ International
73 Colony Dr.
John Jaszek

Management Solutions Northeast
85 Big Wood Dr.
Christopher Nagle

WEST SPRINGFIELD

Eastern Builders
733 Memorial Ave.
Sergey Kaletin

Family Nepali & Indian Cuisine
977 Main St.
Govinda Adhikari

Infinity Auto Rentals
74 Baldwin St.
Joseph Gallo

Memo’s Restaurant
1272 memorial Ave.
Dominic Pompi

Once Upon a Child
1458 Riverdale St.
Lawrence White Jr.

Online Fabric Store
333 Park St.
Mayer Kahan

Transform @ Amy Bourque Yoga
470 Westfield St.
Amy Bourque

WILBRAHAM

Best Reflection
2141K Boston Road
Amanda Cadieux

Blue Elephant Restaurant, LLC
2000 Boston Road
W. Andrew Czepiel, Nuchjaree O’Connell, Arunroj Arkhomroek, Daniel O’Connell

Indeeco
14 Brookdale Dr.
Timothy Poole

Nice Duds
5 Harness Dr.
Marcel Gosselin

Bankruptcies

By
Bankruptcies

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

Braman, Daniel W.
Braman, Trisha L.
13 Cypress Dr.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/07/19

Bussler, Larry Edwin
7 Tower Lane
Easthampton, MA 01027
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/04/19

Cannon, Jennifer K.
28 Fifth Ave.
Northampton, MA 01060
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 12/29/18

Cotto, Maximino
Cotto, Betsy Lee
a/k/a Concepcion, Betsy
118 Surrey Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 12/31/18

Daigle, Alan M.
Daigle, Mary E.
PO Box 105
Warren, MA 01083
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 12/31/18

Dieppa, Jacqueline
184 Leopold St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/08/19

Dufault, TerriAnn Mary
22 Arlmont St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/04/19

Houle, Donald A.
Lapierre- Houle, Allison M.
121 Wilder Ter.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 12/31/18

Jackson, Robert Lee
28 Strathmore St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 12/28/18

Jacobs, Jeffrey D.
217 Greenwich Road
Ware, MA 01082
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 01/02/19

Johnson, Kevin
Johnson, Mercedes
436 Dipping Hole Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 01/03/19

Lareau, Jerolyn
359 Cold Spring Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/03/19

Laurino, Tracy
17 Clayton Road
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 01/07/19

Pamphile, Woodnel
Ipradieu, Loudnie
659 Prospect St., Apt. A-3
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 12/31/18

Peter Pan Cafe,
Harrilee, LLC
46 Pleasant St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/03/19

Pouliot, Mary J.
22 Rosedell Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 12/29/18

Realini, Michael J.
343 Beacon St.
Athol, MA 01331
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/08/19

Ruggere, Katie A.
a/k/a Kelley, Katie
21 Gardner Ave.
Sturbridge, MA 01566
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 12/31/18

Semaski, Jason R.
Semaski, Kerry A.
58 Highland Ave.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Chapter: 11
Filing Date: 01/02/19

Snow, Nora J.
78 Thayer Road
Monson, MA 01057
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 12/31/18

Verba, Airah
170 East Hadley Road, Apt. 47
Amherst, MA 01002
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/07/19

Real Estate Transactions

By
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

655 Tea St.
Charlemont, MA 01339
Amount: $305,000
Buyer: Vladyslav A. Balog
Seller: Thomas J. Gessing
Date: 01/10/19

COLRAIN

148 Thompson Road
Colrain, MA 01340
Amount: $179,000
Buyer: John Hapeman
Seller: Wayne R. Cromack
Date: 01/04/19

DEERFIELD

55 North Main St.
Deerfield, MA 01373
Amount: $1,319,500
Buyer: J2K Realty LLC
Seller: Michael J. McGrath
Date: 01/07/19

ERVING

7 Pleasant St.
Erving, MA 01344
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Heather L. Cassidy
Seller: Gary J. Betters
Date: 01/11/19

GREENFIELD

265 Chapman St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $187,500
Buyer: Brandi M. Bean
Seller: James M. Elwell
Date: 01/10/19

375 Leyden Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Matthew R. Guertin
Seller: Brian A. Coppola
Date: 01/08/19

HEATH

10 Judd Road
Heath, MA 01346
Amount: $229,000
Buyer: Amy S. Quist
Seller: Ann E. Rocchi
Date: 01/07/19

LEVERETT

11 Shutesbury Road
Leverett, MA 01054
Amount: $391,000
Buyer: Seth W. Donahue
Seller: Stephen K. Kavanagh
Date: 01/04/19

LEYDEN

George Lamb Road
Leyden, MA 01301
Amount: $670,000
Buyer: Carmen E. Abramson
Seller: Caleb Kissling
Date: 01/07/19

MONTAGUE

144 7th St.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: Jennifer Waryas
Seller: Charles H. Shaw
Date: 01/02/19

ORANGE

99 Burrill Ave.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Audrina D. Cadet
Seller: Dean H. Cadet
Date: 01/08/19

93 Congress St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $206,000
Buyer: Deborah A. Szenftner
Seller: Sheryl A. MacDonald
Date: 01/04/19

32 Pleasant St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Raleigh RT
Seller: John Dunphy
Date: 01/03/19

218 Prentiss St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Vincent MacDonald
Seller: Janet Olson-Martini
Date: 01/11/19

10 Stone Road
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $139,000
Buyer: Nicole Luce
Seller: Mark E. Williams
Date: 01/10/19

SHELBURNE

623 Mohawk Trail
Shelburne, MA 01370
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Town Of Shelburne
Seller: Brian A. Donelson
Date: 01/04/19

120 Smead Hill Road
Shelburne, MA 01370
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Scott J. Rae
Seller: Rae Properties LLC
Date: 01/02/19

SHUTESBURY

32 Merrill Dr.
Shutesbury, MA 01072
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: James A. Battistoni
Seller: Eugene M. Battistoni
Date: 01/10/19

SUNDERLAND

117 Reservation Road
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Paul J. Duval
Seller: Bevlynn Gallant
Date: 01/10/19

WENDELL

68-76 Bullard Pasture Road
Wendell, MA 01379
Amount: $334,500
Buyer: Adam Sutton
Seller: Lincoln Soule
Date: 01/03/19

HAMPDEN COUNTY

AGAWAM

3-G Maple View Lane
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Denise Y. Gagnon
Seller: T. Russo Construction Corp.
Date: 01/03/19

456 Silver St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $161,000
Buyer: Justin M. Vermette
Seller: James R. Hill
Date: 01/04/19

37 South Florida Dr.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $212,000
Buyer: Kelly J. Gustafson
Seller: Adam D. Schmaelzle
Date: 01/10/19

CHESTER

424 Route 20
Chester, MA 01011
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: James Lemarier
Seller: Christopher S. Daningburg
Date: 01/03/19

CHICOPEE

16 Alvord Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $2,544,000
Buyer: Couture Partners LLC
Seller: CIG 3 LLC
Date: 01/10/19

2-8 Beaudoin Court
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $2,544,000
Buyer: Couture Partners LLC
Seller: CIG 3 LLC
Date: 01/10/19

16 Chapman St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $2,544,000
Buyer: Couture Partners LLC
Seller: CIG 3 LLC
Date: 01/10/19

582 Chicopee St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $223,000
Buyer: Springfield Portfolio
Seller: Orange Park Management
Date: 01/08/19

39 Fairview Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $137,764
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Martin J. Mulvihill
Date: 01/02/19

231 Grove St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $2,544,000
Buyer: Couture Partners LLC
Seller: CIG 3 LLC
Date: 01/10/19

84 Old Pendleton Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Wandas FT
Seller: Machnik, Edward J. Jr., (Estate)
Date: 01/10/19

85 Roosevelt Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Christian Holguin
Seller: William T. Lynch
Date: 01/11/19

52 Rzasa Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Jason Vermette
Seller: Kevin J. Coulter
Date: 01/03/19

162 Trilby Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $125,420
Buyer: Onota Rental LLC
Seller: Onota Rental LLC
Date: 01/04/19

EAST LONGMEADOW

101 Admiral St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $171,000
Buyer: Siobhan Ireland
Seller: Jennifer Drake
Date: 01/11/19

306 Allen St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $177,000
Buyer: Adam Deblok
Seller: Moores, Eileen, (Estate)
Date: 01/07/19

6 Clareside Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Susan M. Hearne
Seller: Krista Santaniello
Date: 01/04/19

55 Colony Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $398,000
Buyer: Vyacheslav Babinov
Seller: Oak Ridge Custom Home Builders
Date: 01/11/19

21 Dewey Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Rebecca M. Leclair
Seller: Pamela Rutherford
Date: 01/11/19

32 Fairview St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: James M. Chapdelaine
Seller: Elizabeth J. Chapdelaine
Date: 01/04/19

30 Holland Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $119,500
Buyer: Thomas Kaye
Seller: HSBC Bank
Date: 01/02/19

175 Mountainview Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $371,500
Buyer: Omer Karaarslan
Seller: Margaret A. Falkowski
Date: 01/09/19

101 Old Farm Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: William Ngaruiya
Seller: HSBC Bank
Date: 01/08/19

566 Parker St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: CIG 3 LLC
Seller: Couture Partners LLC
Date: 01/10/19

162 Pleasant St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $151,000
Buyer: MTGLQ Investors LP
Seller: Amy C. Warren
Date: 01/07/19

GRANVILLE

139 Crest Lane
Granville, MA 01034
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: John T. Audet
Seller: Robert E. Crochetiere
Date: 01/02/19

49 Hartland Hollow Road
Granville, MA 01034
Amount: $122,146
Buyer: Wilmington Savings
Seller: Jonathan F. Isner
Date: 01/02/19

HOLYOKE

50 Beacon Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $170,900
Buyer: Yaureli Colon
Seller: Witman Properties Inc.
Date: 01/08/19

31 Cady St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $207,500
Buyer: Angela S. Berkeley
Seller: Timothy J. Fitzgerald
Date: 01/08/19

188 Clearwater Circle
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $530,000
Buyer: Muhammad A. Saleem
Seller: Joao P. Guerreiro
Date: 01/07/19

33 Evergreen Circle
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $131,600
Buyer: Citizens Bank
Seller: Robert W. Koss
Date: 01/10/19

13 Grant St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Maria I. Vega
Seller: Mario J. Tascon
Date: 01/04/19

20 Harbour Road
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Mark Netherton
Seller: Dina M. Vaudrin
Date: 01/02/19

326 High St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Guyott LLC
Seller: 324-326 High Street LLC
Date: 01/03/19

45 Laurel St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $196,100
Buyer: Melissa A. Lafond
Seller: Paul E. Goddu
Date: 01/10/19

19 Main Blvd.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Marc J. Sotiropoulos
Seller: Elaine T. Daigneault
Date: 01/08/19

7 Meggison Lane
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $216,000
Buyer: Johnny Acevedo
Seller: Ivan I. Biley
Date: 01/11/19

Northampton St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Thorpe Hill LLC
Seller: HWP Co.
Date: 01/10/19

62 Saint James Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $167,350
Buyer: Andre L. Tyson
Seller: Sarah R. Larose
Date: 01/02/19

207 Sargeant St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $187,500
Buyer: Benjamin Santos
Seller: Santos S. Ortiz
Date: 01/04/19

10 Shepard Dr.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $278,000
Buyer: Samantha Racine
Seller: Elizabeth A. Crowley
Date: 01/11/19

193 Sycamore St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $153,000
Buyer: Valerie M. Garcia
Seller: TM Properties Inc.
Date: 01/04/19

LONGMEADOW

414 Inverness Lane
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $518,000
Buyer: Amy E. Beresky
Seller: William F. Donoghue
Date: 01/04/19

136 Lynnwood Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $355,000
Buyer: Krista Santaniello
Seller: Ferris, Theodore V., (Estate)
Date: 01/09/19

LUDLOW

96 Aldo Dr.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $131,300
Buyer: Tony L. Desousa
Seller: Ludlow Housing Authority
Date: 01/02/19

36 Hampden St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $126,280
Buyer: Freedom Mortgage Corp.
Seller: Arick Rutger-Reese
Date: 01/02/19

133 Shawinigan Dr.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $199,000
Buyer: Martin P. Fagone
Seller: Emerald City Rentals LLC
Date: 01/04/19

MONSON

51 Bridge St.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Gary F. Hall
Seller: Stasia J. Hall
Date: 01/03/19

23 Green St.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Todd Young
Seller: Dean W. Ferrington
Date: 01/09/19

23 Munn Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $355,000
Buyer: James Hwang
Seller: VanDeGeer, Judy A., (Estate)
Date: 01/10/19

11 Robbins Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $295,000
Buyer: Gregg P. Talbot
Seller: James M. Messina
Date: 01/11/19

157 Stafford Hollow Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: James T. Kearney
Seller: Patricia A. Lazarz
Date: 01/11/19

PALMER

14 Brainerd St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $164,000
Buyer: Judith A. Daniels
Seller: Jeffrey R. Bedard
Date: 01/11/19

95 Flynt St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $131,000
Buyer: Sidney Corydon-Smith
Seller: Meyer, Kim A., (Estate)
Date: 01/11/19

1712-1714 North Main St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Jeffrey R. Renaud
Seller: Stephen M. Fayle
Date: 01/09/19

142 Peterson Road
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $128,000
Buyer: Jared S. Valadares
Seller: Bernard F. Johnson
Date: 01/10/19

3027 Thorndike St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $222,500
Buyer: Tiffany Anderson-Thomas
Seller: Sean D. Genereux
Date: 01/04/19

SOUTHWICK

71 Klaus Anderson Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $225,250
Buyer: Citibank
Seller: William Johnson
Date: 01/09/19

7 Lauren Lane
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $410,000
Buyer: Erudite RT
Seller: Lawrence A. Walden
Date: 01/09/19

10 Southwick Hill
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Cancks Properties LLC
Seller: PNC Bank
Date: 01/10/19

SPRINGFIELD

70-72 Abbe Ave.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Maria M. Cruz
Seller: Carlos A. Rivera
Date: 01/04/19

168 Allen St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Springfield Portfolio
Seller: Orange Park Management
Date: 01/08/19

719 Allen St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: CIG 3 LLC
Seller: Couture Partners LLC
Date: 01/10/19

11 Aspen Road
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $126,000
Buyer: Dan Beauregard
Seller: Citizens Bank
Date: 01/07/19

90 Audubon St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Dishawn Ramos-Diaz
Seller: Wilmington Savings
Date: 01/08/19

689 Bay St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $171,000
Buyer: Francisco Sanchez
Seller: Julio C. Mejia
Date: 01/02/19

15 Beaufort Circle
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Adan J. Ibanez
Seller: Patricia A. Sheldon
Date: 01/11/19

57 Biella St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $157,000
Buyer: Fermin F. Perez
Seller: Crump, Roland M., (Estate)
Date: 01/08/19

72 Blaine St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Angelica M. Escobar
Seller: C&C Homes LLC
Date: 01/11/19

670 Boston Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $1,125,453
Buyer: Pachyderm Properties LLC
Seller: Sherwin-Williams Realty
Date: 01/03/19

315 Breckwood Blvd.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $157,000
Buyer: Richard J. Heywood
Seller: Daniel O’Sullivan
Date: 01/04/19

57 Bretton Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $158,000
Buyer: Angel M. Melendez
Seller: Richard J. Kagan
Date: 01/08/19

26 Brewster St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $175,500
Buyer: Bank New York Mellon
Seller: Heath Desso
Date: 01/07/19

82 Cherokee Dr.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Matthew P. Dabrowski
Seller: AJN Rentals LLC
Date: 01/04/19

38-40 Churchill St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $259,000
Buyer: Kevin A. Rice
Seller: Stephen F. Rivers
Date: 01/08/19

247-249 Commonwealth Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $185,200
Buyer: Gerardo Ortiz
Seller: Nolava LLC
Date: 01/11/19

258 Cooper St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $187,000
Buyer: Benjamin W. John
Seller: Gosselin, Robert G., (Estate)
Date: 01/03/19

309 East St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $500,000
Buyer: ZGDG Realty LLC
Seller: Louis & Clark Realty LLC
Date: 01/03/19

961 East Columbus Ave.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Jeremy D. Ober
Seller: Ober, Robert D., (Estate)
Date: 01/08/19

165 Eddy St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Iris N. Cuba
Seller: Equonda Bercy
Date: 01/04/19

329 Forest Hills Road
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Jonathan Docanto
Seller: Joachim W. Hoelzer
Date: 01/10/19

3-5 Glendell Ter.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Springfield Portfolio
Seller: Orange Park Management
Date: 01/08/19

23 Hicks St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $171,000
Buyer: Jorge R. Rivera
Seller: Linda J. Slatcher
Date: 01/08/19

115 Hudson St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: CIG 3 LLC
Seller: Couture Partners LLC
Date: 01/10/19

28 Johnson St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Springfield Portfolio
Seller: Orange Park Management
Date: 01/08/19

302 Locust St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $167,646
Buyer: Iglesia Centro De La Familia
Seller: James E. Popham
Date: 01/09/19

49 Loretta St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $149,999
Buyer: Charlie Ibarra
Seller: Michael F. Richards
Date: 01/11/19

200 Maple St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Damaris L. Irizarry
Seller: Lea Scibelli
Date: 01/11/19

41 Merrimac Ave.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $173,840
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: David Massa
Date: 01/07/19

94-96 Mooreland St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $199,000
Buyer: Jerine Blissett
Seller: Shawana Lazarus
Date: 01/04/19

83 Moss Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Sawyer B. Pellegrino
Seller: Notre Dame Properties LLC
Date: 01/11/19

27 Newhall St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: CIG 3 LLC
Seller: Couture Partners LLC
Date: 01/10/19

98-100 Noel St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $118,800
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Michelle A. Leith
Date: 01/07/19

254 Oakland St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Ernesto Ayala
Seller: Dora D. Saravia
Date: 01/04/19

36 Osborne Ter.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $166,900
Buyer: Sara J. Gilpatrick
Seller: Mark A. Ostrander
Date: 01/03/19

2199 Page Blvd.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $164,600
Buyer: Henry Reyes
Seller: Preferred Property Mgmt.
Date: 01/11/19

274 Pine St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $166,000
Buyer: Gabriel I. Vazquez-Negron
Seller: Steven J. Brantley
Date: 01/03/19

59 Pocantico Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $257,500
Buyer: Jason C. Hickey
Seller: Nu-Way Homes Inc.
Date: 01/03/19

66 Redlands St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: John Bednaz
Seller: Fallah Razzak
Date: 01/10/19

68 Rollins St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $185,604
Buyer: Semyrog, Sergi V., (Estate)
Seller: Michael O. Spence
Date: 01/10/19

595 Roosevelt Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $395,000
Buyer: Equonda Bercy
Seller: Grahams Construction Inc.
Date: 01/04/19

620 Roosevelt Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Shirely Lu
Seller: Robert Brown
Date: 01/07/19

235 Starling Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $182,000
Buyer: Abigail N. Lopata
Seller: Second Phase Homes LLC
Date: 01/04/19

109 Stuart St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Oluwole M. Aduwo
Seller: Kelly L. Coughlin
Date: 01/09/19

93 Sunapee St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $168,900
Buyer: Justin L. Lincoln
Seller: Lorenz, Kyle Eric, (Estate)
Date: 01/09/19

343 Trafton Road
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Mary J. Ekmalian LT
Seller: James G. Ekmalian
Date: 01/04/19

183 Waldorf St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $189,900
Buyer: Thomas J. Daniels
Seller: Joan Prince
Date: 01/04/19

118 Warrenton St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $146,000
Buyer: Antonia M. Stewart
Seller: Marion Talbot
Date: 01/11/19

80 Washburn St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Bank Of New York Mellon
Seller: Jose E. Pontes
Date: 01/08/19

2 Washington Road
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $247,000
Buyer: Joan Prince
Seller: Loan T. Nguyen
Date: 01/04/19

35 Westbrook Dr.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Monica J. Gagliarducci
Seller: Lois M. Krull
Date: 01/10/19

WEST SPRINGFIELD

488 Amostown Road
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: David P. Stevenson
Seller: Kennedy, John E., (Estate)
Date: 01/11/19

100 Baldwin St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Jibber Holdings LLC
Seller: MAA Property LLC
Date: 01/08/19

60 Belmont Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $217,000
Buyer: Michael Rose
Seller: US Bank
Date: 01/10/19

402 Birnie Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: CIG 3 LLC
Seller: Couture Partners LLC
Date: 01/10/19

161 Chestnut St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Heber E. Gonzalez
Seller: MAA Property LLC
Date: 01/11/19

255 Dewey St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $324,900
Buyer: Christopher Hall
Seller: Norman B. Landon
Date: 01/07/19

16 Dorwin Dr.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $258,000
Buyer: Hemanta Adhikari
Seller: John L. Cady
Date: 01/02/19

112 Havenhurst Road
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Michelle C. Bonnayer
Seller: Christopher K. Hall
Date: 01/04/19

21 Hummingbird Lane
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $381,000
Buyer: Kevin M. Dudley
Seller: Francesco Cervone
Date: 01/09/19

96 Worthy Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $189,900
Buyer: Demerise M. Potvin
Seller: Brian Seibold
Date: 01/04/19

WESTFIELD

228 Birch Bluffs Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Richard E. Guiel
Seller: Curran Barbara, (Estate)
Date: 01/08/19

Breighly Way #11L
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $118,000
Buyer: G&F Custom Built Homes
Seller: DDLP Development LLC
Date: 01/09/19

118 Elizabeth Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $295,000
Buyer: Preston J. Hallett
Seller: A. Stanley Kochanek
Date: 01/09/19

20 Fairview Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $173,000
Buyer: Jane R. Thielen
Seller: Dorothy L. Theriault
Date: 01/09/19

40 Floral Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Jessica L. Boistelle
Seller: Robin Sheldon
Date: 01/11/19

9 Furrow St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Scott D. Crawford
Seller: Jessica L. Boistelle
Date: 01/11/19

17 Northwest Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Peter-John Crane
Seller: Paul Troy
Date: 01/11/19

69 Old Farm Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Second Phase Homes LLC
Seller: Eric D. Applebaum
Date: 01/11/19

9 Pearl St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $260,500
Buyer: George A. Cone
Seller: Garrett S. Kendziera
Date: 01/11/19

WILBRAHAM

347 Glendale Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $231,700
Buyer: Sarah H. Fila
Seller: Brian D. Dworsky
Date: 01/11/19

31 Glenn Dr.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $284,000
Buyer: William W. Prendergast
Seller: Silver P. Serra
Date: 01/04/19

4 Oakland St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Custom Homes Development Group
Seller: Marlene C. Jobson
Date: 01/03/19

13 Pidgeon Dr.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: Vaughn White
Seller: John Pelloso
Date: 01/11/19

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY

AMHERST

249 East Pleasant St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: 249 East Pleasant LLC
Seller: Ruby Realty LLC
Date: 01/08/19

49 Hunters Hill Circle
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: German O. Cruz-Urias
Seller: Nathanael Miksis
Date: 01/04/19

40 Kendrick Place
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $465,000
Buyer: Pelham Road Partners LLC
Seller: Lester E. Kopinto
Date: 01/10/19

BELCHERTOWN

170 North St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $575,000
Buyer: Jonathan J. Franz
Seller: Lupa TR
Date: 01/09/19

291 Stebbins St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $397,500
Buyer: Matthew Paquette
Seller: JHP Builders LLC
Date: 01/04/19

EASTHAMPTON

70-72 Ferry St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Parsons Ferry Street LLC
Seller: Jason J. Laprade
Date: 01/04/19

21 Lyman St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Nicole V. Singer
Seller: Nicholas J. Brazee
Date: 01/04/19

GRANBY

15 Bittersweet Lane
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $438,000
Buyer: Christopher P. Wozniak
Seller: Drew D. Wendelken
Date: 01/04/19

HADLEY

8 Lawrence Plain Road
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: N. Riley Realty LLC
Seller: Frank J. Kostek
Date: 01/09/19

2 Shaw Lane
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $260,715
Buyer: JP Morgan Chase Bank
Seller: John F. Penn
Date: 01/04/19

NORTHAMPTON

Ladd Ave.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Atelier LLC
Seller: Yankee Hill Machine Co. NT
Date: 01/11/19

Olander Dr.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Sunwood Development Corp.
Seller: Hospital Hill Development
Date: 01/11/19

15 Roe Ave.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $655,000
Buyer: Zoe Pappenheimer
Seller: Joan M. Juall
Date: 01/07/19

14 Valley St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Alyson R. Fortier
Seller: John S. Dobi
Date: 01/11/19

PLAINFIELD

305 Main St.
Plainfield, MA 01070
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Zachary Fay
Seller: Cathy A. Chapman
Date: 01/08/19

SOUTH HADLEY

437-1/2 Granby Road
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Granby Road LLC
Seller: Nonotuck Mortgage Service
Date: 01/04/19

7 Lois Ave.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $319,900
Buyer: Christopher F. Geraghty
Seller: Christopher P. Wozniak
Date: 01/04/19

SOUTHAMPTON

5 Fulton St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $169,900
Buyer: Ann Rocchi
Seller: Etelvina A. Laverdiere
Date: 01/07/19

50 Lamb St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $315,000
Buyer: J. C. Mexican Food Inc.
Seller: MBAJL LLC
Date: 01/08/19

27 North Main St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Shemron Ross
Seller: Michal P. Kosciolek
Date: 01/07/19

31 Pleasant St.
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $163,500
Buyer: Janet G. Swierzewski
Seller: Ronald T. Gloutak
Date: 01/04/19

117 Pleasant St.
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Christopher M. Soutra
Seller: Scott A. Soutra
Date: 01/02/19

2 Rita Circle
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $209,000
Buyer: Timothy M. Fuller
Seller: Claudia P. Frappier
Date: 01/11/19

38 Wildwood Lane
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $297,000
Buyer: Matthew A. Cowie
Seller: Jonathan J. Franz
Date: 01/09/19

8 Young Circle
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Anthony Nepal
Seller: John S. Kovalchik
Date: 01/07/19

SOUTHAMPTON

20 Bluemer Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $172,500
Buyer: Linda E. Candage
Seller: Douglas Langevin
Date: 01/08/19

42 Wolcott Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $172,500
Buyer: Cynthia A. Boyle
Seller: Frank N. Fournier
Date: 01/09/19

WARE

6-10 Morse Ave.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $455,000
Buyer: Sunflower LLC
Seller: Mark A. Andrews
Date: 01/09/19

WESTHAMPTON

89 Curtis Road
Worthington, MA 01098
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Richard B. Messier
Seller: Ivy J. McClaflin
Date: 01/11/19

135 Northwest Road
Westhampton, MA 01027
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Paige E. Novotny
Seller: Robert A. Lapalme
Date: 01/04/19

Building Permits

By
Building Permits

The following building permits were issued during the month of January 2019.

AMHERST

The Boltwood Group, LLC
30 Boltwood Walk
$32,707 — Roofing

CHICOPEE

Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield
7 Belcher St.
$20,000 — Remove three antennas and three remote radio units; install three antennas, three remote radio units, and one hybrid cable to wireless telecom facility

SCP 2002E-31, LLC
1616 Memorial Dr.
$109,000 — Interior remodel to pharmacy area at CVS; equipment, fixture, and finish upgrades; minor plumbing and electrical work; parking lot and sidewalk upgrades

U.S. Tsubaki Inc.
106 Lonczak Dr.
$228,925 — Construct metal tempering pit

Valley Opportunity Council
63 West St.
$177,000 — Renovate first-floor space

Wrecker, LLC
1676 Westover Road
$3,600 — Install complete building fire-alarm system with sprinkler flow and tampers

EASTHAMPTON

Autumn Properties, LLC
4 Liberty St.
$3,000 — Remove partition walls in office suite

CIL Realty of Mass. Inc.
100 Strong St.
$12,725 — Install privacy fence

EAST LONGMEADOW

Benton Professional Partners
265B Benton Dr.
$2,431,254 — New commercial building

LG Industries, LLC
194 Pleasant St.
$9,500 — Sheet metal

Orange Theory
434 North Main St.
$5,300 — Sprinkler system

GREENFIELD

Alliance Church
385 Chapman St.
$20,000 — Roofing

HADLEY

Amherst Development Assoc., LLC
329 Russell St.
$73,950 — Roofing at Econolodge

Parmar and Sons Inc.
41 Russell St.
$9,900 — Install hood and roof-mounted exhaust supply fan at Ecuador Store

Pyramid Mall of Hadley Newco, LLC
367 Russell St.
$62,000 — New walls, electrical, lights, and storefront for Lazer Blast

W/S Hadley Properties II, LLC
353 Russell St.
$221,700 — Frame and install rooftop units and exhaust fan, furnish and install ductwork and insulation, registers, diffusers, and air balancing

NORTHAMPTON

Big Y
122 North King St.
$108,700 — Frame and insulate drywall perimeter walls and box out columns

City of Northampton
Haydenville Road
$25,000 — Swap three antennas, add three remote radio units and one DC surge suppressor, add DC cables

Masonic Street Trust
32 Masonic St.
$300,000 — Repairs following fire

Meadowbrook Preservation Associates, LP
491 Bridge Road
$19,125 — Roofing

Northampton Arts Trust
33 Hawley St.
$6,670 — Non-illuminated wall sign

PALMER

Palmer Housing Authority
13 Fletcher St.
$37,667 — Add new accessible path in front of community building, add new door and hardware

SPRINGFIELD

Baystate Medical Center Inc.
300 Carew St.
$294,054 — Alter interior space at Family Advocacy Center

C & C Springfield Realty, LLC
782 State St.
$426,000 — Alterations and accessibility upgrades to McDonald’s restaurant

Carmela Fraziero
1070 Main St.
$120,000 — Alter interior of Red Rose for restaurant expansion to include new kitchen area

Vibra Healthcare Real Estate Co. II, LLC
1400 State St.
$20,000 — Remove and replace three roof-mounted cellular antennas for T-Mobile

WARE

Baystate Health
85 South St.
$561,000 — Renovate women’s health suite

James Chrabaszcz, John Chrabaszcz
268 Belchertown Road
$20,000 — Replace six antennas with six new antennas and associated ancillary equipment and cables

CMJT Management, LLC
90 South St.
$12,000 — Turn storage room into coffee-break room, install sheetrock and flooring

Letendre, LLC
350 Belchertown Road
$5,734 — Construct new shed

TCF Enterprise, LLC
85-91 Main St.
$2,800 — Install opening in existing wall

WEST SPRINGFIELD

Steve Rivers
771 Dewey St.
$34,200 — Kitchen renovation

WILBRAHAM

Town of Wilbraham
678 Main St.
$187,000 — New handicap-accessible bathrooms, new kitchenette, interior renovations, construct handicap-accessible deck