Day: May 14, 2019

Daily News

WESTFIELD — Tighe & Bond, one of the leading full-service engineering and environmental consulting firms in the Northeast, climbed 19 spots this year to number 222 on Engineering News Record’s (ENR) 2019 Top 500 Design Firms ranking. In the past two years, Tighe & Bond climbed 38 spots as the firm continues to grow its regional market. ENR ranks its list of top 500 design firms nationally based on design-specific revenue from the previous year.

“We are very excited to climb 19 spots in this national ranking, which we believe is the result of continuing to execute on our strategies of expanding in our regional markets along with attracting and retaining outstanding staff across the organization,” said Bob Belitz, president and CEO of Tighe & Bond. “Of course, we could not achieve these accomplishments without the trust our clients have in us to work on their behalf and deliver superb project outcomes.”

Berkshire Film and Media Collaborative to Offer Filmmaking Workshops for Young People

Daily News

GREAT BARRINGTON — The Berkshire Film and Media Collaborative (BFMC) will host two summer filmmaking workshops: one for 15- to 19-year-olds from Monday, June 24 to Friday, June 28, and one for 11- to 14-year-olds from Monday July 8 to Friday, July 12. These week-long workshops will meet daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Berkshire Community College’s South County Campus, 343 Main St., Great Barrington. Early dropoff (9 a.m.) and late pickup (5 p.m.) is available by request.

The purpose of the workshops are twofold: for kids to experience what it’s like to work on a real movie crew from creation of an idea to the final edit of the project, and for the group to produce a high-quality short film championed in every aspect by everyone in the group. The kids will work collaboratively — performing as actors on camera; running the lights, camera, and sound; editing; and marketing the film’s premiere to the community. On the final night, parents, friends, and the public will be invited to attend, and the young filmmakers will participate in a question-and-answer session with the audience. Each participant will walk away with a copy of the film and the experience of creating a professional-quality film together.

Specific topics covered will include story structure, screenwriting, character development, cinematography, sound recording and mixing, lighting, editing, sound design, and marketing.

“We are thrilled to be offering this filmmaking workshop for the young people in our community,” said Diane Pearlman, executive director of BFMC. “Video is becoming more and more important as a tool for communication. We need to teach our kids the importance of working cooperatively on a project, while giving them the tools necessary to tell a compelling story.”

The course is being taught by writer, director, actor, and educator Patrick Toole. For four years, Patrick taught filmmaking and animation at the Darrow School in New Lebanon, N.Y. He also co-created the After School Film Project with the Chatham Film Club and numerous other afterschool film and theater programs for middle- and high-school students. Toole has written, directed, and edited more than 30 short films and founded and curated several local film festivals, including the Berkshire Shorts Film Festival. He is the co-founder of the Whitdiots improv troupe and Emergent Ensemble Theater Co. He studied film at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

All equipment will be provided. The cost for the week-long workshop is $325. Students will need to bring lunch. Class size is limited. To register online, visit shop.berkshirecc.edu or call (413) 236-2127.

Two Casino Dealer Classes Starting in June

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — The Massachusetts Casino Career Training Institute (MCCTI) is offering the opportunity for students to take the necessary training to become a casino dealer in Massachusetts. Everyone who successfully passes two classes is guaranteed an audition with MGM Springfield. It will be possible to begin training in June and be working by September.

There are two options, one on weekdays and one on weekends. The weekday class meets Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from June 3 to July 23, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Immediately following blackjack is the carnival-games course, which runs during the same time frame and ends on Aug 26.

The weekend class meets Saturday and Sunday, June 1 to July 20, from noon to 6 p.m. Immediately following blackjack is the carnival-games course, which runs during the same time frame and ends on Aug 18.

“You bring the fun, guest-services personality. We’ll teach you everything else you need to know,” said Michele Cabral, director of MCCTI.

Classes are taught by MGM Springfield supervisors on the casino grounds. The tables, chips, and cards are close replicas of those on the casino floor.

The cost for the two classes is $598. To receive more information or help signing up, stop by MassHire Springfield on Wednesday, May 15 from 10 a.m. to noon; Friday, May 17 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.; or Thursday, May 30, from 9 to 11 a.m. MassHire Springfield is located at the STCC Technology Park, 1 Federal St., Building 103-3. Drop-ins are welcome.

MCCTI is a partnership between Holyoke Community College, Springfield Technical Community College and MGM, and is authorized by the state of Massachusetts to provide the training required to become a licensed dealer. To get more information or to enroll, visit www.mccti.org. Class space is limited.

ValleyBike Sees Plenty of Growth Potential as It Gets Up to Speed

Cover Story

Pedal Power

Catherine Ratté, principal planner and Land Use & Environment section manager at the PVPC

ValleyBike had, by most accounts, an up-and-down first year, and we’re not talking about the hills its bikes make a little easier through electric pedal assist. But on the whole, 2018 was an encouraging success, with gradually increasing ridership across the network’s six municipalities, despite a slow and incomplete roll-out of the 50 stations and 500 bikes. With further expansion possible, hopes are high that more people will ditch their cars for a bike ride in 2019 — and then turn that ride into a habit.

A regional bike-share program may have seemed like a novel idea for many Pioneer Valley denizens last year, but for those who helped bring it about, it’s far from a new concept.

“We’ve been talking about it in the Pioneer Valley for 15 years,” said Catherine Ratté, principal planner and Land Use & Environment section manager at the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission. In fact, the PVPC produced a report in 2008 documenting previous bike-share programs around the world — including the Yellow Bike program that once existed at Hampshire College as well as the Bixi Bikeshare program in Montreal — and encouraging Pioneer Valley municipalities to look into establishing a regional program.

A lot has happened since then, but the main development was the emergence of electric pedal-assist bikes that help riders navigate hills and long distances they might not have wanted to attempt before. It was a game changer, Ratté said.

“Part of it was being a broad region — how can people get from Amherst to Northampton to Springfield? Then electric pedal assist came along, and we said, ‘oh, this could be a regional program,’” she told BusinessWest.

That program, known as ValleyBike, currently encompasses six communities — Northampton, Amherst, Springfield, Holyoke, South Hadley, and Easthampton — with others possibly on the horizon. A rider is free to pick up a bike at any of the 50 stations and drop it off at any other.

“The idea is to replace car trips with bike trips, and pedal assist makes it easier for all ages and abilities to use,” said Ratté. “It’s a big piece of acting on the climate crisis, but we also have a public-health crisis, and people don’t always have the opportunity to be physically active. ValleyBike makes it easier for people to bike to work. Maybe they aren’t physically fit enough to bike without pedal assist, and they don’t want to arrive at work sweaty — but they’re still exercising.”

A recent PVPC report detailed use of ValleyBike during 2018, its inaugural year. Even with limited availability and a slow ramp-up of stations (more on that later), the service logged 26,353 trips last year, an average of 170 per day, generating 83,735 miles — the equivalent of 3.3 times around the earth.

With the numbers expected to increase in 2019, that represents a significant front in the battle against traffic and air pollution, said Wayne Feiden, Northampton’s director of Planning & Sustainability.

“Our biggest commitment this year is to get more people to say, ‘yes, I really want to use this,’” said Feiden, who has long been one of the region’s strongest proponents of a bike-share network. “Nationwide, about a third of the people using bike shares are coming out of their car — making what would have been a car trip otherwise. If we can get you out of your car, that’s great from an environmental standpoint and a congestion standpoint. And that’s the part we need to grow most in the system.”

According to the year-end rider survey that helped the PVPC generate its report, the vast majority of users — 77.9% — rode ValleyBike less than five times per month, and 2.8% used it daily, with another 2.8% riding five or more times per week. These figures suggest that many users rode the bikes for leisure rather than to commute, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, Feiden said.

Wayne Feiden says ValleyBike organizers have several goals, from reducing traffic and air pollution to getting people more physically active.

“We have a lot of goals, and each one serves different purposes,” he noted. “One is just to get people to exercise more. So that’s been great, and it’s also been a diverse set of users.”

Indeed, 28.8% of survey respondents were between 18 and 30, 52.1% were between the ages of 30 and 60, and 6.9% were over 60 years old, while the gender split was close to even.

“People who use bikes tend to be younger, but these bikes are reaching a broader range of users, which is great,” he said. “Getting people healthier is wonderful, as is giving people transportation options, whether they can’t afford a car or don’t want to drive a car for environmental reasons.”

“The idea is to replace car trips with bike trips, and pedal assist makes it easier for all ages and abilities to use. It’s a big piece of acting on the climate crisis, but we also have a public-health crisis, and people don’t always have the opportunity to be physically active.”

One goal moving forward, he said, will be to increase usage of memberships. Annual passes ($80) accounted for just 13% of all rides in 2018, and monthly passes ($20) represented another 28%.

Those riders, Feiden said, are the ones more likely to use ValleyBike Share for commuting to work or other daily commitments, and to turn biking from a leisure activity into a habit and a lifestyle. “Once you sign up for a year, you tend to build your commitment.”

For this issue, BusinessWest looks at the ways ValleyBike is building on its own commitment — and its momentum, both electric-assisted and figuratively.

Winding Path

To its proponents at the PVPC, ValleyBike is a key component of the region’s path to a sustainable future by promoting healthy habits and reducing greenhouse gases emitted by vehicle trips. If managed effectively, the year-end report notes, the program could also reduce the need for road repairs and expansion, and has the potential to improve the effectiveness of the region’s transit system.

Following the 2008 report exploring the concept, UMass Amherst launched a free bike-sharing program in 2012 funded by student government fees. The same year, Northampton’s Planning and Sustainability Department began researching a program for that city.

Mayor David Narkewicz approved a single bike-share station downtown, but by early 2013, officials determined that a larger system, either city-wide or, better yet, region-wide, was preferable. At the same time, Amherst officials were meeting with representatives from Amherst College, Hampshire College, and UMass to explore a town-wide bike-sharing program.

Soon after, the PVPC secured a Massachusetts Clean Energy Center grant to work with several area communities to advance clean-energy strategies, selecting advancement of a regional bike-share initiative as a priority for funding.

The ValleyBike station at Court Square, one of 11 in Springfield, saw the sixth-most ride starts across the entire network in 2018.

Between 2014 and 2016, the PVPC worked with a group of member municipalities — Amherst, Holyoke, Northampton, and Springfield — to research and advance regional bike-sharing. In 2016, Northampton, with PVPC and regional support, applied for and obtained federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality funds for a regional bike-share network for four communities, later adding South Hadley as a fifth member.

A year later, Northampton, with PVPC and regional support, released a bike-share RFP and awarded a contract to Bewegen Technology for a 500-bike, 50-station system in the five communities. Toward the end of 2018, Easthampton obtained a Massachusetts Housing Choice grant for ValleyBike and joined the regional consortium, growing it to six municipalities.

The year-end report notes that ValleyBike had a rocky start due to issues with station installation, bike availability, and kiosk usability. Only 26 stations were open when the system went online on June 28, and another 17 were added in July and August. The remaining seven opened at the start of the 2019 season, bringing the total to 50.

After a slow start, the popularity of ValleyBike saw large increases in the first few weeks of August, reaching its peak ridership between Aug. 21 and Sept. 3, dipping slightly as temperatures dropped and students went back to school in early September.

“This is the first regional, multi-community, all-electric-pedal-assist bike-share program in the world. It was a really ambitious idea,” Ratté told BusinessWest. “It could have been smoother, but we had fantastic numbers of riders from all communities. And we definitely are eager to expand the coalition.”

She noted that possible expansion communities include Hadley, Chicopee, and West Springfield, should the PVPC secure the necessary additional funding. “We hope to keep it growing and expanding as well as adding some stations in the existing communities.”

“Nationwide, about a third of the people using bike shares are coming out of their car — making what would have been a car trip otherwise.”

With a longer season this year and more bikes — the network typically had about 167 available last year, but will offer 500 at the 50 stations in 2019 — she expects an uptick in ridership and increasing interest from the communities not yet on board.

“Hadley and Chicopee are the two holes in the system we’re trying to fill. We’re also trying to expand to West Springfield, but that’s more expanding out rather than filling in holes,” Feiden added. “Obviously we have to get more funding for new stations; there are many more locations that would make sense than we have money for.”

He added that more corporate sponsors are needed to make the system more sustainable. “But businesses are seeing the value for it — a third of the stations in Northampton are on private property. People gave us easements or licenses, whatever they needed to do, because they saw the value. One is at Cooper’s Corner in Florence, a small grocery store, and I hope people shop there because they gave us some really valuable real estate.”

Sustainable Future

Between climate concerns, public-health awareness, and simply enjoying the outdoors, bicycling — especially when pedal-assisted on those tricky hills — holds appeal to many demographic groups, Ratté said.

“If you ask people what they want in their region, a bike share is a popular thing. People expect their cities to fund options for getting around. And the cool thing is, you don’t have to stay inside your municipality; the same bike can go from place to place. It’s very convenient.”

That said, the program would benefit by coordinating more closely with public transit systems, she noted. According to the year-end survey, 27.5% of riders used ValleyBike in conjunction with other types of public transportation (such as rail or bus services). Organizers had hoped that bike stations could be located close to public transportation so public-transit riders could utilize the bikes to reach their final destinations. However, due to complications regarding the need for electrical outlets in close proximity to stations, this goal was not always met. That’s something planners are looking to remedy with future bike-station placements.

“People rely on the bus,” she said, “and to be able to use ValleyBike to get to and from the bus stop would be great.”

On a related note, the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts worked with the Pioneer Valley Regional Ventures Center, the not-for-profit arm of the PVPC, to allocate $12,000 per year over three years to provide subsidized memberships for economically disadvantaged residents of the region, particularly those who live in transit-rich urban cores. Bewegen was not able to launch this aspect of the ValleyBike initiative in 2018, and more people are expected to use ValleyBike when the access passes become available this year.

So far, however, people seem to be using the bikes mostly for enjoyment. Of the year-end survey respondents, 52% said they used ValleyBike mostly for leisure, while 21.2% used them to commute, 5.5% wanted to reduce pollution and traffic congestion, and 5.2% were focused on the health benefits. Notably, 36% reported an increase in riding bikes of all kinds since using the system.

“In some ways, the biggest criticism is people asking, ‘why didn’t you come to my neighborhood?’” Feiden said, noting that Northampton added one stop this year and has applied for a grant to establish four more. “And that’s great. It’s nice to get beat up for not doing it.”

The hope is that the coming years will see fewer of those complaints as ValleyBike continues to expand, giving more people an excuse to leave their cars behind, get their legs moving, and maybe leave the air a little cleaner.

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

At Eversource, Energy Conservation Is the ‘First Fuel’

Accounting and Tax Planning

Green Business

Saving Graces

Clarence Smith, owner of Final Touch Barber Shop in Springfield

While outwardly in the business of providing energy, Eversource is making a name for itself in the business of conserving energy as well. Indeed, it has a deep portfolio of initiatives that are slicing energy bills, reducing peak-demand periods, and making a real impact — on both Main Street in Springfield and main streets across the Northeast.

Clarence Smith doesn’t have any trouble remembering when Eversource Energy entered his life — and his business — and helped him see the light, in all kinds of ways.

It was early June 2016. Muhammad Ali had recently passed away, and the boxing legend was on everyone’s mind. Coincidentally enough, he was also on Smith’s wall — the back wall of Final Touch, his barber shop on State Street in Springfield, to be more precise.

A representative of Eversource, the energy company based in Hartford and Boston, with a large presence in Springfield, happened to walk by and see the mural, said Smith, adding that he came in for a closer look, an impromptu visit that led to a wide-ranging discussion and, eventually, some improvement in the numbers on his electric bill.

“He was coming from a meeting at the health clinic across the street … he walked by and said, ‘wow, that’s a beautiful picture,’” Smith recalled. “We talked about Muhammad Ali, I showed him other pictures I had, and I eventually learned that his father used to do some boxing.

“We had a conversation about boxing, and then he said, ‘hey, I work for Eversource. We run a program — how would you like to be part of it?’” Smith went on, finishing the story (sort of) about how he became involved with the utility’s Main Street Energy Efficiency program, which has now impacted businesses on a great many streets in several different communities, and is now focusing on the Indian Orchard section of Springfield.

Through the initiative, business owners save an estimated $600 to $1,000 a year in energy costs through steps that include new and more efficient lighting, occupancy sensors, programmable thermostats, and water-saving devices.

For both Eversource and Massachusetts, Penni McLean-Conner says, conservation is the “first fuel.”

The Main Street initiative is one of many that Eversource has launched with the broad goal of reducing overall energy consumption across the region and across the Northeast, involving communities, neighborhoods, and landmarks ranging from the corner market to Springfield’s Union Station; from Fenway Park to TD Bank Garden.

Others include a small-business program that provides no-interest loans to ventures to undertake similar energy-efficiency projects, often with dramatic results, such as those recorded by the Dakin Humane Society at its facilities in Springfield and Leverett.

There’s also a new focus on solar power, electric-car charging stations, and initiatives to improve storage in many locations — from UMass campuses to Cape Cod — with new technology, including lithium ion batteries and so-called ‘ice batteries’ (more on them later) to better handle peak loads, help alleviate outages, and improve reliability.

And while reducing the amount of energy consumed may seem counterproductive for a utility that sells that commodity, it makes perfect sense, said Penni McLean-Conner, senior vice president and chief customer officer for Eversource, noting that energy conservation is now a state priority and a state mandate.

“We’re at the end of the pipeline, so energy is expensive, and therefore it’s important that we leverage this resource and use it as wisely as possible,” she explained. “And Massachusetts leaders have recognized that conservation is the first fuel, something that was established with the Green Communities Act. And with that, the state has created the regulatory framework and policy framework that has allowed utilities to thrive by investing in energy-efficiency solutions.”

And Eversource has, indeed, invested in a number of these solutions, designed, overall, to help reduce the state’s carbon footprint and, locally, enable utility customers of all sizes and all business sectors to do what Smith did — trim (that’s one of his industry’s terms) his energy consumption.

“Our entire energy-conservation portfolio looks like an asset,” said McLean-Conner, who oversees a team of some 1,200 employees charged, overall, with managing the customer experience and developing ways to improve it. “In a three-year period, our energy-efficiency programs will build the equivalent of a 750-megawatt power plant. That’s powerful, because can you imagine siting a 750-megawatt power plant and getting all the lines up?”

Kim Kiernan, energy efficiency consultant for Eversource, with Charles Brush, owner of Indian Orchard Mills, which has benefited from the utility’s energy-conservation programs.

For this issue and its focus on green energy, BusinessWest takes an in-depth look at Eversource’s Main Street program and its many other initiatives aimed at helping businesses become greener — and save green at the same time.

Current Events

Charles Brush says he’s “a small business that manages space for lots of small businesses.”

That’s an intriguing, but accurate, description of the Indian Orchard Mills, a large mill complex along the Chicopee River that is home to more than 150 businesses. Many of them are artists who don’t use large amounts of electricity, but maybe half are manufacturers that do, especially those that make use of compressors.

“When machines start up, they create a demand — when machinery kicks on, it creates a higher rate that we pay,” said Brush, who has already had the lighting at the mill changed once through the Main Street program. With another upgrade to LED now in the discussion phase, he’s also hoping to perhaps implement some other electric-efficiency programs regarding machinery and compressors.

“We’re talking about doing what’s known as soft-starting,” he explained, “so that when a compressor comes on, it doesn’t just go from ‘off’ to ‘on,’ which creates that load; it soft-starts the motors so it doesn’t create a spike in demand.”

As noted, Brush is not your typical small business participating in these energy-efficiency programs — his mill complex boasts more than 500,000 square feet of space being put to all kinds of uses. But his issues are in many ways the same as those facing business owners occupying one-tenth, one-hundredth, or even one-thousandth of that footprint, which is about what Smith’s barbershop covers.

Every small-business owner is looking to reduce energy consumption and, therefore, their monthly bill, said Kim Kiernan, energy efficiency consultant for Eversource and manager of the Main Street program, and the utility is committed to helping as many as it can.

“Our plan is to have everyone changed over to LED lighting by 2021,” she said, stating just one of the program’s goals, adding that the Main Street program, which started in Springfield and has been expanded to several other communities, has assisted more than 600 businesses to date.

While all business owners are in the same boat when it comes to energy consumption and the need to reduce it, very large customers do have their own specific issues and challenges, said McLean-Conner, adding that Eversource breaks down the business community into several categories of customers, with usage being the determining factor.

“We don’t look at business customers as one homogeneous group; we realize that our customers have different needs, so we do a lot of segmentation,” she said, adding that very large customers — think colleges and universities, hospitals, the new MGM casino, large manufacturers, and refrigerated warehouses — have their own account executive assigned to them.

But there are also teams assigned to different business sectors comprised of large users — education, healthcare, food-processing plants, and others — with the specific goal of identifying ways to save.

“And each of the solutions for those sectors is different,” she explained, citing the example of higher education and work the utility has done in partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

“When I’m working with education, there’s considerable focus on labs, said McLean-Conner. “Those labs have intense energy needs, so the focus is how we reduce that. MIT was one of the first customers to sign on with us with a strategic energy agreement, a multi-year agreement and a public commitment by MIT and Eversource to reduce energy use over a period of time.

“They have actually increased square footage and reduced overall energy consumption — it’s a tremendous story,” she went on. “But it’s been done through the investment of wise energy-efficiency efforts, whether it’s building envelope and ensuring that the building itself is well-insulated, or heating and ventilation to make sure those systems are increasingly controlled, and lighting, which is obviously huge.”

There are a number of these tremendous stories being written, said both McLean-Conner and Kiernan. Like the one at MIT, they involve the customer partnering with Eversource to achieve stated goals when it comes to reducing energy consumption.

“In a three-year period, our energy-efficiency programs will build the equivalent of a 750-megawatt power plant. That’s powerful, because can you imagine siting a 750-megawatt power plant and getting all the lines up?”

They involve communities — Springfield was among the first, if not the first, city to ink what’s known as a strategic energy agreement with the utility — as well as large customers (UMass Amherst and Yankee Candle in this market are some of the examples cited), and literally thousands of small businesses.

“We try to develop custom solutions for these large organizations,” said McLean-Conner, noting that, at Yankee Candle, for example, the utility worked with the company to showcase various lighting options for franchisees — systems that would not only enhance the customer experience but reduce energy consumption and lower electricity bills.

Watt’s Happening

One of the keys to achieving those goals is making a dent in peak-demand periods, an important development for all commercial consumers, said McLean-Conner, because they pay not only for the energy for they use, but for the peak usage as well.

And recent trends show the peak moving higher, she said, motivating utilities like Eversource to look for innovative solutions, many of them involving a combination of energy conservation and storage of power for use during those peak-demand periods, usually in the middle of the summer when chillers of all sizes are operating at once.

“We want to avoid building resources just for those peak moments — we want to clip those peaks,” she explained, adding that one initiative in that realm is the installation of a large lithium-ion battery-storage system with the goal of reducing peak energy demand on the campus.

Funded through a $1.1 million state grant from the Advancing Commonwealth Energy Storage project, the battery-storage system will provide power that would otherwise have to be purchased from the power grid at premium rates — and it will also provide a research site for clean-energy experts, researchers, and students, said McLean-Conner.

Ice batteries do much the same thing, she noted, adding that there are a few in place across the state. These thermal storage systems produce ice at night when the demand for energy is at its lowest point. When the outside air is hot, the stored ice melts and is used to cool the building with existing air conditioning ducts and fans, but not the compressor, which requires power, she explained, adding that shifting power demand from peak times to non-peak hours is one of the major goals of the energy efficiency programs.

While working to reduce those peak-demand periods through storage initiatives, Eversource continues to work with business owners of all sizes to reduce energy consumption.

With the Main Street program, it works with very small businesses, generally shop owners who are leasing property. Launched in 2015, the program has program has focused on different communities — Pittsfield, Easthampton, Southwick, West Springfield, Ludlow, and Greenfield among them, with Hadley and Amherst next on the schedule — and sections of Springfield each year.

In the City of Homes, work began, appropriately enough, on Main Street, moved to State Street, then to the ‘X,’ and now, as noted, it is focused on Indian Orchard and customers like Charles Brush. There are some 400 small businesses in the Orchard, as it’s called, and Kiernan would like to sign up at least half of them.

That will be a challenge, she noted, because these are partnership efforts, and sometimes, some selling is required to recruit these partners.

Indeed, Kiernan noted that small-business owners, especially those who take part in the Main Street program, are, generally speaking, understandably worried about possible scams and wary of claims of reduction in their energy bills. But once Eversource can convince them to not only listen to the pitch — sometimes it’s difficult to even get a foot in the door — but implement many of the suggested steps, they’ll discover that the savings are real.

The process, with both the small-business initiative and the Main Street program, begins with an assessment by electrical contractors and then development of a detailed plan to reduce consumption. Lighting, specifically a switch to LED lighting, is a big element in these plans, said Kiernan, calling it “low-hanging fruit,” but important fruit, generally able to yield a 40% reduction in cost over what was in the ceiling.

But there are other considerations as well, such as refrigeration, HVAC, motors and compressors, occupancy sensors, programmable thermostats, and others, she went on, adding that measures are implemented without interruption to the business in question.

Eversource provides an incentive to participate, Kiernan added. With the Main Street program, 100% of the project’s cost is covered by the utility, and with the small-business program, 70% of a project’s cost is covered, and the utility will finance the rest over two years, with a zero-interest loan.

Generally, the cost of the loan is more than covered by the savings generated by the measures implemented, she went on, adding that the customer’s bill doesn’t increase through participation. When the loan is paid off, the bill will then decrease by that amount.

In many cases, as noted, all this sounds too good to be true, and utility customers need to be convinced that it isn’t, Kiernan went on, adding that, while it works diligently to do this, often it has help from those who can see first-hand that the benefits are real.

Positively Charged

People like Clarence Smith. He’s become an ambassador of sorts for the Main Street initiative, encouraging many of his business neighbors to take part.

“People don’t believe it until they see it,” he explained, noting that he’s encountered plenty of initial skepticism about the project. “I’m a testament to this program; I’ve seen how it’s worked for us, and if people ask me, I’ll tell them it can work for them, too.”

It all started when someone from Eversource saw his mural of Muhammad Ali and came in for a look and a talk — a talk that led to another of thousands of small steps to reduce energy consumption across the state and the region.

As McLean-Conner noted, conservation has become the first fuel for Eversource, as well as the state, and this mindset is creating a spark — in all kinds of ways.

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

Tax Season Is Over, But That Doesn’t Mean You Can Stop Thinking About Your Taxes

By Columnist May 14, 2019

Looking Back — and Ahead

April 15 has come and gone, and many people are not looking back on the recent tax season with fond memories. Indeed, for many there were surprises and refunds lower than expected. One of the keys to not being surprised or disappointed is planning, as in year-round planning.

By Danielle Fitzpatrick, CPA

Many taxpayers think about taxes only once a year, and that one time is when they are filing their income-tax return. However, taxpayers should be thinking about their taxes year-round.

Many people do not consider how a change in their life may affect their taxes until they see the outcome the following year. Surprises may be avoided if they were to seek the advice of their tax professional ahead of time.

Seeking the advice of a tax professional throughout the year is very important. Certified public accountants (CPAs) who specialize in tax are not just tax preparers. CPAs can be trusted advisors who can help meet your personal wealth-creation, business-management, and financial goals.

Danielle Fitzpatrick

The 2018 tax-filing season brought some of the biggest tax-law changes that we’ve seen in more than 30 years, and left many taxpayers surprised with their tax outcome. Perhaps you were pleasantly surprised by the additional money you received because you have children, or maybe you were one of the many who were shocked because of the reduced refunds or liability that you owed for the very first time.

If you were unhappy with the results of your 2018 tax return, you now have an opportunity to plan for the future. Review your 2018 income-tax return and determine if changes need to be made. Did you owe money for the first time because your withholdings decreased too much, or because you are now taking the standard deduction due to the loss of several itemized deductions?

Consider this — if your income and deductions were to remain relatively the same in 2019 as they were in 2018, would you be happy with your results, or do you wish they were different?

“If you were unhappy with the results of your 2018 tax return, you now have an opportunity to plan for the future.”

After you have looked at your 2018 income-tax return, you should then consider what changes may need to occur in 2019. Your tax accountant can help you determine how an expected change can impact your tax liability and try to ensure that you are safe-harbored from potential underpayment penalties.

Individuals may be subject to underpayment penalties on both their federal and state returns if they do not meet specific payment requirements each year through withholdings and/or estimated tax payments. Your accountant can also help you determine if a change in withholdings at work or through your retirement is necessary, or whether there is a need to adjust or make estimated tax payments.

These changes can help you avoid, or reduce, any potential underpayment penalties.

There are so many changes in a person’s life that could impact their tax return. Some changes include, but are not limited to, getting married or divorced, having a baby, sending a child to college, retiring, or starting a new job.

Maybe you have decided to start your own business and now are responsible for self-employment tax. Or maybe you have decided that you need to sell that rental property or second home you have had for many years. Perhaps you are a beneficiary of an estate for a loved one who passed away or have decided to sell stock through your investments. These are all examples of changes that could significantly impact your taxes.

Businesses also experience changes that could have an impact on their business returns. These changes include, but are not limited to, purchasing or selling a business, investing in a new vehicle or piece of equipment, or maybe the company has grown and you want to start providing benefits to your employees.

All the above examples could have a major impact on your individual or business income-tax returns, and that impact could be reduced if you were to reach out to a tax professional for advice before the next tax season. Besides the changes briefly mentioned above, here are two lists of questions (personal and business) that may be helpful in your next discussion with your tax professional.

First, some questions to ask your accountant in relation to your personal taxes:

• How much should I be contributing to my retirement, and which type of retirement best suits my needs?

• Am I adequately saving for my children’s education, and should I consider an education savings plan?

• Do I have adequate health, disability, and life insurance?

• When should I start taking Social Security benefits?

• When do I sign up for Medicare?

• Have I properly planned for Medicaid?

• Do I need a will, or when should my existing will be updated?

• Should I consider a living trust?

• Are my bank accounts, retirement accounts, and investment accounts set up appropriately so they avoid probate if I pass away?

• Are my withholdings and/or estimated tax payments adequate?

• When should I sell my rental property, and how much should I expect to pay in taxes?

• Can I still claim my child as a dependent even though they are no longer a full-time student?

• I’m inheriting money from a loved one who passed away; will this affect my taxes?

• I’m thinking about starting my own business; how will this impact my taxes going forward?

• My financial advisor told me I would have significant capital gains; how will this affect my tax liability?

Here are some questions to ask your accountant in relation to your business:

• What business structure is most appropriate for my circumstances?

• How do I know if my business is generating a profit?

• Am I pricing my products and services properly?

• How would my business function if my bookkeeper left tomorrow?

• What controls should I have in place to prevent employees from misusing company funds?

• Should I upgrade my accounting software?

• Do I need compiled, reviewed, or audited financial statements?

• Are my withholdings and/or estimated tax payments adequate?

• Can I claim a deduction for an office in my home?

• Should I buy a new truck or equipment before year-end?

• Should I buy or lease a vehicle?

• Should I implement a retirement plan before year-end?

• What is the overall value of my business?

• What should my exit strategy be?

• What are the tax consequences of selling my business?

Whether you are experiencing a major change in your life or want to plan for your future, do not forget to reach out to your tax professional to determine how it may affect your income taxes. u

Danielle Fitzpatrick, CPA, is a tax manager at Melanson Heath. She is part of the Commercial Services Department and is based out of the Greenfield office. Her areas of expertise include individual income taxes and planning, as well as nonprofit taxes. She also works with many businesses, helping with corporate and partnership taxes and planning

Financial Literacy Should — but Often Doesn’t — Start Young

Banking and Financial Services

Adding It Up

It’s no secret that too many Americans make poor borrowing decisions, fail to save for retirement, even lack basic budgeting skills. That financial-literacy deficit begins early, say local bank and credit-union officials, which is why area institutions offer programs and classes to help people — both teenagers and adults — forge better strategies for making their money work for them, not drag them down.

So much, Lena Buteau says, comes down to tiny decisions that add up.

Take that morning coffee. If someone spends $2.69 at Dunkin’ Donuts every morning, that comes out to well over $900 a year. Spend $7 or $8 on lunch five times a week instead of packing a lunch at home, and you’re looking at around $2,000 a year.

“When you think you can’t afford something, look at your daily expenses,” said Buteau, vice president of Retail Administration at Monson Savings Bank, while explaining the importance of MSB’s financial-literacy programs, many of which target students, but which are needed by many adults, too.

For instance, people of all ages often struggle to understand the long-term impact of buying on credit, she noted, using the example of someone who buys a $650 laptop at Best Buy but takes a $150-off deal to put it on a store credit card at 25% interest, then pays only the minimum every month. At that rate, that laptop would be paid off in seven years — eventually costing more than double its original price tag.

“When you explain this, the kids are shocked at the numbers,” she said. “It really touches home.”

Because so many habits and philosophies are forged early, Buteau said, “we go in and teach students about saving, lending, credit scams, how to keep your money safe, and much more.”

And it’s not just schools, she added. “We want to go to church groups, Boy and Girl Scout troops, anybody that will give us an hour of time for a financial-literacy class.”

“No disrespect to the schools, but they’re not preparing kids for real life — how your credit score affects your insurance and buying a car, how to handle a checkbook.”

Michael Ostrowski, president and CEO of Arrha Credit Union, said his institution has an internal focus on financial literacy.

“No disrespect to the schools, but they’re not preparing kids for real life — how your credit score affects your insurance and buying a car, how to handle a checkbook. People don’t go into banks anymore; they do stuff online, and you can get ripped off if you don’t know what you’re doing.”

For that reason, Arrha has worked with high schools in the past on financial-literacy programs and is currently planning another program for local students.

“When we were kids, we had home-ec class, and they used to explain how to do a checkbook. They don’t do that anymore, and I don’t know why,” Ostrowski said, before offering one possible reason. “With all the regulations schools are under, for MCAS and other things, they’ve bailed on programs like this, but they’re absolutely critical for kids’ development and future life.”

Jon Reske, vice president of Marketing at UMassFive College Federal Credit Union, pointed out that financial literacy, and education in general, has long been part of the credit-union culture.

“Why? Because, unfortunately, your parents and my parents probably never taught us anything about personal finance, especially if things weren’t going well in the household,” he told BusinessWest. We take the opposite approach — we say your kid should be involved in understanding how the budget works in your house.

Jon Reske says even good budgeters can be tripped up by a bad loan — with long-term consequences.

“We also do workshops on a regular basis — everything from homebuying 101 to how to create a budget to understanding credit,” he added, noting that the latter is especially critical, as the average American, between the ages of 21 and 65, will borrow about $1.5 million, and bad decisions can compound quickly and have a long-term impact. “You can be the greatest budgeter in the world and be smart about your pennies, but if you make bad borrowing decisions, you can be overwhelmed by debt.”

Monson Savings also conducts workshops for adults, such as first-time homebuyers, and offers a Credit Builders loan program, which is an effective way to, as the name suggests, build credit without going into unmanageable debt. The customer borrows a certain amount from the bank, which is deposited into a savings account and cannot be accessed until the loan is repaid. Not only does the borrower build positive credit through on-time payments, but at the end, the balance, plus interest, is available for a down payment on a car or home, a cushion for emergencies — anything, really.

In short, area institutions understand the deficits that exist when it comes to financial literacy and how that impacts the decision-making process — and how bad decisions can turn into years of heartache. And they’re doing something about it.

A Matter of Confidence

A new national survey by Junior Achievement USA and Citizens Bank shows that more than 30% of teens do not believe they will be financially independent of their parents by the age of 30. Sixty percent believe they will own a home by that age, 44% believe they will begin saving for retirement, and 43% think they will have paid off their student loans.

“With a strong economy, you would think teens would be more optimistic. It just demonstrates the importance of working with young people to help them better understand financial concepts and gain confidence in their ability to manage their financial futures.”

“These survey findings show a disconcerting lack of confidence among teens when it comes to achieving financial goals,” said Jack Kosakowski, president and CEO of Junior Achievement USA. “With a strong economy, you would think teens would be more optimistic. It just demonstrates the importance of working with young people to help them better understand financial concepts and gain confidence in their ability to manage their financial futures.”

Financial literacy has long been a cornerstone of Junior Achievement, but there’s no shortage of educational programs available at credit unions and banks.

“Money is very emotional. It’s one of the hardest things to talk about, even with your spouse,” Reske said. “And it’s hard to be objective. That’s why it’s nice when people come to our workshops and say, ‘I’m not emotional now; I’m looking at the objective side of it. I wish I’d taken this before getting that loan.’”

While money issues can seem overwhelming at times, he added, financial-literacy tools are much more accessible than they were 10 years ago if people know where to look. He also outlined a number of concepts people attending UMassFive’s workshops might learn. For example:

• If you’re able to pay bills weekly, as they arrive, do it. It reduces the risk of missing a deadline and winding up with a late fee, which is easy to do when you pay the whole pile of bills once a month.

• Start building an emergency fund. According to a U.S. News & World Report study, two-thirds of Americans would struggle — and often do — to come up with $1,000 for an emergency, like an urgent car repair or medical procedure.

“So what happens? You put it on a credit card, and now you’re paying 21% interest, and soon $1,000 turns into $1,200,” Reske noted. “And an emergency fund can keep you from missing a rent payment or not getting something fixed on your car, which could lead to a bigger repair in three to six months.”

• Check out your credit report on an annual basis, if only to make sure everything is correct. “If the activity on your credit report is inaccurate, you’re getting an inaccurate score, and most rates you get are based on your score.”

• Put every credit card on a minimum automatic payment so you don’t miss any payments — and then pay more principal when the bill arrives in the mail. Also, it’s not a bad idea to dedicate one credit card to online purchases only, to more easily identify instances of identity theft.

• Finally, it’s never too early to start saving for retirement. According to Forbes, 33% of adults have zero saved for retirement.

“Social Security will pay a portion of your expenses, but not all,” Reske said. “Time is more valuable than money because of compounding interest. If you start planning at 50 or 55, you just don’t have enough time; you’ve wasted 20 years. And if you have a 401(k) at work with an employer match and you’re not on it, you’re being foolish.”

Budget Battles

UMassFive also conducts a workshop for high-school seniors in which they choose a career, get a salary, and then go from station to station filling out a budget in different categories, from housing, transportation, and food to luxury items and student loans — and trying to stay within that budget.

“Kids say, ‘I never knew how expensive things are,’” Reske said. “People wonder why a 40-year-old can’t come up with $1,000 for an emergency; it’s because they weren’t taught that the key is to get in front of problems as early as possible” with smart budgeting followed by spending discipline.

Monson Savings runs a similar program in local schools. “One thing I build in there is student debt. If you want to spend $30,000 a year on college and go for a $30,000-per-year job, you’re not going to be able to pay that back,” Buteau said, stressing the importance of making smart decisions about college — if college is even the best option.

In fact, she said, many kids today are so focused on college — because it’s what their schools push — that they may not be aware of careers in the trades that offer robust salaries and no long-term debt.

One thing is for sure: whether in high school, college, early adulthood, or beyond, there’s no bad time to learn more effective strategies for handling money, budgets, and credit — in other words, to become more literate.

“If you’re sick, you go to the doctor,” Buteau said. “If your car is broken down, you go to a mechanic. If your pipes are broken, you call a plumber. But if you have trouble budgeting or financing, no one thinks to go to the bank for advice or a class. And it’s free.”

And when it comes to finances, there’s nothing wrong with free.

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Louis & Clark Continues a Long Tradition of Innovation

Business of Aging

On the Path of Discovery

Skip Matthews says Louis & Clark is continuing a process of evolution and response to changes in the marketplace that began in 1965.

By now, a good number of people in this region know the story of how the second-generation, 55-year-old company known to most as Louis & Clark came to take that name.

The sign over the pharmacy on Memorial Drive in Chicopee in the mid-’60s read ‘Airline Drug,’ an obvious nod to what was then known as Westover Air Force Base, just a few hundred yards away. But before long, many customers had unofficially renamed it, using the first names of the partners — and pharmacists — who had acquired the business, Louis Demosthenous and Clark Matthews, who just happened to share names with those famous explorers (sort of).

“There weren’t really marketing companies back then,” Skip Matthews, Clark’s son, explained with a laugh. “It was just … we were Airline Drug, the customers started calling it Louis & Clark, and they kept calling it that, so they changed the name. I imagine that feeds your ego pretty well, too.”

Perhaps a less-known story (although the company is investing considerable time and energy in telling it, as we’ll see later) is how this company continues to evolve and respond to change — within the industry, in societal needs, in demographics, and even in the way companies are operated.

We’ll start with the much longer name over the door. Under the ‘Louis & Clark’ in large type (with a stick figure in a wheelchair taking the place of a traditional ampersand) are the words ‘Pharmacy & Home Medical Supplies,’ and they go a long way toward telling this story.

“Our employees possess a world of knowledge. Our emphasis is on unlocking all that knowledge instead of having people place an order, come in and pick it up, and leave.”

Indeed, a company that once had several pharmacies scattered across this region has seen that division of the company remain vibrant while also taking on a different look and feel. There are fewer locations — in fact, just one — but also a greater focus on convenience and delivery.

It’s all on display at the company’s recently opened pharmacy on Brookdale Drive in Springfield.

Formerly located on Page Boulevard in the same city, the company calls this a ‘long-term-care-facility’ pharmacy, one that focuses on delivery, packaging, and medication management, especially through a relatively new service called the MediBubble, its new medication-management system delivered to those in assisted-living facilities, group homes, nursing homes, and independent-living situations within the community.

The MediBubble is a medication package that helps individuals safely manage what prescription medications they take, and when, he explained, adding that each package contains all of one’s medications for a specific time of day, this reducing confusion when taking multiple medications.

Diane Cordeiro says one of the main focal points for Louis & Clark is to build relationships and boost awareness of its many products and services.

“Sometimes it’s hard for people to remember if they’ve taken their pills,” he went on. “With MediBubble, they simply have to look at the sheet. If that bubble has been opened, they’ve probably taken their pills.”

Meanwhile, the medical-supplies side of the operation, which itself dates back to 1978, has grown considerably and also evolved to meet new and different needs and bring a higher level of service to customers. Matthews explained this by stressing that the company doesn’t simply supply medical equipment. It also provides education and advice, something that isn’t available to those who might be tempted to merely order something online.

“The big point of emphasis now is becoming more and more knowledge providers as opposed to order takers,” he explained. “That’s a challenge for us and a challenge for our industry; people have options — they can go to a pharmacy, or they can try to find something online. For people to come into our location, there has to be a reason — it’s too easy to buy things anywhere else.

“Our employees possess a world of knowledge,” he went on, adding that some have been in the business for three decades or more. “Our emphasis is on unlocking all that knowledge instead of having people place an order, come in and pick it up, and leave.”

Over the years, the company has developed a number of specialty services, including the Pink Mermaid Mastectomy Boutique, located in the medical-supplies location in Groton, Conn., and a focus on foot care in all its medical-supplies locations — in Springfield, Easthampton, and East Longmeadow.

And it continues to find new ways to bring quality service and convenience to customers, a pattern that has continued for 55 years. For this issue, BusinessWest looks at how this ability to respond, adapt, and evolve has positioned Louis & Clark for continued growth in an always-changing healthcare landscape.

Blazing New Trails

Before talking about the present and especially the future, Matthews first stepped into the way-back machine and returned to 1965 — and actually a few years before that, when his father and Louis Demosthenous were classmates at the Hampden College of Pharmacy in Chicopee, long since merged into the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in Boston.

After graduation, they went in different directions — mostly work at pharmaceutical chains — before deciding to go into business for themselves. They acquired Airline Drug, and as you now know (if you didn’t know before), the partners’ first names, not their last, as is so often the case, became a brand.

And a brand that quickly expanded its presence across the region as the partners opened additional pharmacy locations.

Indeed, just a few years after acquiring the Chicopee facility, they opened a second on Breckwood Boulevard in Springfield, across from Western New England University. Additional pharmacy locations were opened in the center of Wilbraham (1970), Ludlow (1971), Page Boulevard (1972), Baystate Medical Center (1988), Mercy Medical Center (1992), and Holyoke Health Center, among others. The first medical-supplies facility was located in one of the company’s pharmacies in West Springfield.

Kim Vigliotte, seen here in the fitting area in the East Street, Springfield location, is a compression specialist and pedorthist who consults with 25-30 customers a day.

As the landscape changed and pharmacy became much more of a volume business, the company consolidated those operations and focused its attention on the types of business that the large chains dominating that landscape were not interested in — specifically delivery and packaging, like the MediBubble, said Matthews, who has been involved with the business since graduating from college in 1987 and assumed full ownership a few years ago.

The recently opened facility on Brookdale Drive will deliver to individuals and facilities within a wide geographic radius, from Greenfield to the north to Westfield and beyond to the west, to Monson and Palmer to the east.

As noted, the service specializes in bringing packaged medications to those who take anywhere from five to 15 medications a day, and it is becoming increasingly popular, said Matthews, adding that the pharmacy side of the business remains vibrant — but different than it was decades ago.

And the same can be said of the medical-supplies division, which has seen more dramatic growth over the years.

Indeed, there are now four locations — what Matthews calls the ‘hub,’ a large showroom and warehouse on East Street in Springfield; a satellite location in Easthampton; a recently opened retail location in the Heritage Plaza in East Longmeadow; and the location in Groton, which was an acquisition of an existing facility.

As was noted earlier, Matthews said the focus is on not merely supplying or resupplying a wide range of items — from catheters to compression socks; from incontinence products to wheelchairs — but also supplying information, education, and guidance.

“People need help, and sometimes they don’t even know what’s out there to help them — like a different product or a different size of a given product,” he said, again stressing that the company strives to move well beyond merely taking and filling orders and dispensing more knowledge.

This is especially true when it comes to foot care, said Kim Vigliotte, a compression specialist and pedorthist, who spends much of her time at the East Street location, but rotates to all of the company’s medical-supply locations.

She told BusinessWest she assists individuals with a range of foot problems, including diabetes, vascular disease, and non-healing wounds, and sees, on average, 25 to 30 people a day at the Springfield location.

“A patient comes in with a prescription from their podiatrist or primary-care doctor, and we do a foot evaluation or evaluation of their legs, and determine which product would be most appropriate for them to address whatever issues they’re having, be it pain, swelling, or ulceration,” she said, adding that there are a number of products on the market now that can improve quality of life for such patients. Her work is focused on matching them with the right ones, and she acknowledged it’s very rewarding work.

Charting a New Course

While working to improve service to customers, Louis & Clark has also been working to improve efficiency and develop and then follow a roadmap for continued growth, and it has been helped in this regard by adaptation of what’s known as the entrepreneurial operating system (EOS).

In simple terms, EOS is a system by which companies large and small can manage and strengthen six key components of business operation: vision, data, process, traction, issues, and people.

Rachel Duda says Louis & Clark has been very proactive in its outreach to a number of constituencies.

The company now has separate leadership teams for its two divisions — pharmacy and medical supplies — thus enabling Matthews to focus more on the vision side of the equation and long-term strategic planning.

This new structure has allowed for better, sharper focus within each division, said Diane Cordeiro, the company’s marketing manager and also the integrator, or chief operating officer, for the medical-supplies division, adding that it also enables them to work better together toward the same goals.

“The integrator is the individual who is responsible for keeping all the different business units working together — finance, HR, operations, marketing — and just make sure that each unit is working to the best of their ability and that their leader is having them maximize everything they do on a day-to-day basis,” said Cordeiro, who joined the company in 1990 as a cashier and moved steadily up the ladder. “We want to have everyone working toward the same goals and being enthusiastic about their day-to-day, helping customers, working with referral groups, and enabling us to stand out from every other standard medical-supply location.”

Elaborating, she said one of the emerging priorities for the company is to make the public fully aware of all it does — and all the knowledge its employees possess, work that dovetails nicely with the main title on her business card: ‘marketing manager.’

“I want to see that part of the business grow,” she said, referring specifically to medical supply. “And, obviously, this involves making new relationships with new referral groups, maximizing outreach for relationship building, and just letting people know who we are and what we do.”

Rachel Duda, a marketing assistant for the company, said Louis & Clark has been very proactive in its outreach to a number of constituencies, including physicians’ offices, assisted-living facilities, nursing homes, and group homes, in both Massachusetts and Connecticut, in an effort to build awareness of the company as a resource.

“It’s all about education — individuals don’t know what they don’t know,” she explained, adding that the company has taken things to a higher level in recent years with a program called ‘lunch and learn.’

As the name implies, it involves lunch and learning — about Louis & Clark and its various services, said Cordeiro, adding that lunch is very often the only time to get the full attention of a staff at a physician’s office or residential facility.

“We offer these to any new opportunity or referral group,” she explained, “including doctor’s offices, home-care agencies, physical-therapy offices, rehab facilities, anyone who would be prescribing products that we dispense.”

The lunches are definitely having an impact, Cordeiro went on, adding that company is receiving prescriptions from a number of new sources. And they are just one example of more aggressive outreach that benefits both parties.

Another is a relatively new initiative involving on-site visits to senior centers and senior-living facilities for everything from ice-cream socials to hot lunches to what are known as ‘tune-up clinics.’

“Our in-house technician will go on site on a scheduled day, and any individual who is from that community can bring down their walker, their wheelchair, anything that might need some sort of adjustment, new wheels, new brakes, whatever,” she told BusinessWest, adding that for parts under $5 there is no charge, and for parts over that amount, the individual pays just the retail cost.

That explains why these tune-ups have become hugely popular and also a huge part of the company’s efforts to tell its story and build new relationships, something it’s been doing since Lyndon Johnson was in the White House.

Making More History

After Louis Demosthenous retired more than a dozen years ago and Skip Matthews took on a leadership role, there was brief — as in very brief, apparently — discussion about changing the company’s name again to Skip & Clark.

Those talks were brief because it was decided this name didn’t roll off the tongue as well and didn’t have the historical connection. Besides, Louis & Clark had become a regional brand, one that had become synonymous with service and innovation.

So, while the name hasn’t changed, the company remains, in a word, fluid as it continues to discover — pun intended — ways to better educate and better serve its customers.

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

Peter Pan Charts a Route to Continued Growth

Features

Driving Forces

Peter Picknelly says Peter Pan is taking steps that make the company more agile, a necessary trait in a changing bus business.

Peter Picknelly says the higher prices that consumers are experiencing at the gas pump are a fairly recent phenomenon, with the surge coming over the past few months or so.

But in the bus business, such changes to the landscape can, and usually do, have a quick and profound impact. And Easter weekend provided ample evidence of this.

“Business was up 18% over the same period a year ago — we were really busy over Easter weekend,” said Picknelly. “When gas prices go up, we see an increase in ridership, and they’ve been going up.

“It’s almost instantaneous — when fuel prices go up, it hurts our customers, and they look for alternatives,” he went on. “Meanwhile, holidays are generally a pretty good barometer of how business is going overall, and we saw that Easter weekend.”

Elaborating, he said that fluctuating gas prices — they come down as often as they go up — are just one of the reasons why agility is perhaps the best quality a bus company can possess these days, and also why Springfield-based Peter Pan is currently taking a number of steps to become even more agile.

“It’s almost instantaneous — when fuel prices go up, it hurts our customers, and they look for alternatives.”

Indeed, the company is expanding its fleet — five new buses were recently delivered, and 10 more are on order, far more than the number replaced in what would be considered a typical year — and also adding new routes, hiring more drivers, and utilizing technology (a revamped website and a new app) to make it easier to know where all those buses are going and to buy seats on them.

Meanwhile, Peter Pan will soon have its own ticket counter at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan, a long-awaited, very expensive, and logistically complicated undertaking that Picknelly said will give the company invaluable visibility in the city where it does its highest volume of business.

All these steps, as noted, are designed to make the company more agile and better able to thrive in an always-changing marketplace, but one where bus travel is seemingly as popular as ever, and perhaps even more so as younger generations eschew the automobile and look to other — generally simple and inexpensive — ways to get from here to there.

Peter Pan is currently in an expansion mode, adding new buses, drivers, and routes.

“What the buses specialize in is high-frequency service at very reasonable fares — and that’s what people are looking for,” said Picknelly, who described Peter Pan as “once again the fastest-growing bus line in America,” meaning it has held that distinction once, if not a few times, and he believes it does again, especially as he watches many competitors scale back.

For this issue, BusinessWest talked at length with Picknelly about why he feels he can make that claim and the specific steps that back up that boast.

Route Causes

Picknelly told BusinessWest that as part of the process of ordering those new coaches he mentioned — each with a price tag of roughly $550,000 — he a few other team members (his wife, Melissa Picknelly, vice president, and Marketing Director Danielle Veronesi, to be specific) spent a considerable amount of time recently trying out some options for the seats in those vehicles.

Decades ago, there probably wouldn’t have been a need for such an exercise — a seat was a seat. But that was then. These days, as with seemingly everything else you can buy, there are options, and lots of them.

“The average ride on our buses is three and a half hours, and we’re looking to make it as comfortable as possible,” he explained. “There’s a lot to look at with these seats — how the seatbelt clicks, how they adjust, how comfortable they are … the one I think we’re going to go with is actually an inch and a half lower than others, which we think will provide for a better ride.”

That attention to detail with seats speaks volumes about the overall mindset driving the company — pun intended. It’s a customer-based approach that is spawning a number of new initiatives, starting with the new buses and why they’ve been ordered.

Picknelly said the coaches the company buys, like workhorse planes bought by the airlines, can be in service for decades. But eventually they need to be replaced, and in a typical year the company will cycle out a least a few.
But this year’s order placed with Motor Coach Industries (MCI) is especially large and includes not only replacement buses, but ones needed to cover new routes and expected heavier traffic on some existing routes.

In that first category are new routes on Cape Cod and between New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.

On the Cape, the company, which in the past only brought riders as far as Hyannis, now services just about every community between there and Provincetown, said Picknelly, an aggressive expansion effort that began at the start of this year.

“We’re expecting that to be huge,” he said, adding that bus service can and should be viewed as an alternative to trying to drive to those communities, especially in the summer. “We’re running express service and we’re connecting in from Logan Airport, downtown Boston, and New York City — those are our biggest destinations to Cape Cod.”

Elaborating, he said the company currently runs eight buses a day between Boston and Hyannis, and will expand that number to 12 in the summer. Meanwhile, it currently runs two a day between Hyannis and Provincetown, and will at least double that with the summer schedule.

Further down the coast, the company recently (meaning just last week) expanded service between three of the biggest cities it serves — New York, Baltimore, and Washington — to essentially provide more options for customers.

“We currently serve Philly to New York, Baltimore to New York, and D.C. to New York,” he said, prior to the expansion of the schedule. “We’re now going be serving Philadelphia to Baltimore and Philadelphia to D.C.; we’re expanding our route to connect those cities together.”

The reason for such expansion is obvious — demand, he went on, adding that the company will start with seven buses a day to each city, but those numbers could rise.

And there could be still more additions to the schedule after the Encore Boston Harbor casino opens its doors next month, said Picknelly, adding that the company is in discussions with ownership about running buses from the casino to South Station and other connecting points, shuttles, and other work.

As he talked about all this growth and the potential for more to come, Picknelly said technology has played a big part in it. As one example, he cited a revamped website that went live just before Easter, one that not only heightens awareness of routes and schedules, but greatly simplifies the process of buying a ticket online.

And the buying public is moving increasingly in that direction, he said, noting that today, 80% of tickets are purchased online, a number that moves higher with each passing year, although there are still many who still walk up and buy at the counter — especially in New York, which explains the company’s huge investment at the Port Authority.

This heavy volume of online sales brings benefits for the customers, obviously, but also for Peter Pan, said Picknelly, adding that they take a lot of the guesswork out of scheduling and staffing buses.

“In the olden days, for lack of a better term, we would have a consistent schedule, seven days a week the same schedule,” he explained. “Now, because people buy tickets in advance — it’s a reservation and it’s a guaranteed seat — we know exactly how many people are going to be on the bus, and we modify our schedules accordingly.

“In many cases, our schedules are different on Tuesdays and Wednesdays than they are on Thursdays, and very different from what they are on Fridays, Saturdays, or Mondays,” he went on. “We adjust our schedule product based on consumer demand on a daily basis; before it was guesswork and ‘set it and kind of forget it.’ Now, we have staff looking at the numbers and the trends, and we adjust every day.”

Elaborating, he said that, if the 2 o’clock bus to Philadelphia is filling up, the company may well add a 2:30 run. And with a new app the company is rolling out in a few days, a customer can, among other things, change his or reservation from the 2 to the 2:30, if they know well in advance that they’re going to be running a little late.

The app will also make buying tickets even easier, because it will log previous purchases, recognize trends, and enable the consumer to rebook a schedule with one click, said Picknelly, adding that many of these developments are unique within the industry.

Also unique will be the ability to buy what Picknelly called ‘commuter tickets,’ 10 tickets at once, for example, at a discount price that consumers can load onto their phone and use whenever they want.

“No one else is doing that in our industry,” he said, using that phrase to refer to many of the recent innovations. “And these are things that we think are game changers.”

The Ride Stuff

Returning to the subject of online buying and the benefits it brings, Picknelly said the company can make adjustments for weather, holidays, special events, and, yes, soaring gas prices.

“If we know there’s a snowstorm coming, we can cut schedules and combine them,” he explained. “We’re able to forecast much better and adjust our product based on consumer demand. We’re much more agile than we used to be, and the consumer benefits from that.”

There’s that word again, and it’s a word you didn’t hear much when it came to transportation in general and bus companies in particular. But you do now, and Peter Pan keeps finding new ways to be agile and benefit from that important quality.

That’s a big reason why Picknelly believes that, once again, this is the fastest-growing bus company in the country.

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

Thriving Northampton Isn’t Resting on Its Laurels

Community Spotlight

A rendering of the rail station expansion and renovation, scheduled to be completed this summer.

A Knowledge Corridor study before the Amtrak Vermonter line opened four years ago projected 28 riders per day at the Northampton station. In fact, the average is 59 for the two trains per day — a southbound run that arrives at 2 p.m. and a northbound train at 4 p.m., noted Masterson, the city’s Economic Development director.

“And that’s inconvenient service, in the middle of the afternoon,” added Mayor David Narkewicz. “If they made it convenient — get on in the morning, go to Manhattan, and come back the same day — it would be interesting to see the numbers. Even now, on the weekend, there’s a line around the parking lot, with students and other folks trying to use the service.”

The proposed broadening of the Vermonter service, which would bring two morning trains to Northampton and two more late in the day, will be supported by the expansion of the rail platform at the station. The project to lengthen it and bring it up to ADA code is expected to be completed this summer.

That’s been complemented by a series of major projects on the Pleasant Street corridor, from a $2.9 million infrastructure upgrade, making the street safer and more navigable for motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians, to the completion of the roundabout at Pleasant and Conz streets and a number of residential and mixed-use developments along the thoroughfare.

Currently, Valley Community Development Corp. is building a $20 million, mixed-use project called the Lumberyard, which will feature 55 residential units, 3,100 square feet of retail space, and 2,200 square feet of office space.

Mayor David Narkewicz cuts the ribbon at the opening of Conway School of Landscape Design last fall.

“We’ve seen lots of development on Pleasant around the rail,” Narkewicz said, and with good reason. “Millennials and younger people want to live in a place where they don’t have to own a car — they want Uber, car share, bike share, access to rail, access to good bus service. And businesses and housing developers see that and are interested in locating here.

“The whole entrance to the city has been upgraded and improved,” he went on, “and in a way, it helps grow the downtown and creates another corridor for Northampton.”

It’s just one example, Masterson added, of the ways public and private investment spur each other, pumping new life into a city already known for its vibrant economic and cultural life.

It Takes a Village

Take, for instance, the impressive volume of work that continues in the Village Hill neighborhood, including a new, $4.1 million headquarters for ServiceNet and the $1 million renovation of a long-vacant Northampton State Hospital building that now houses the Conway School of Landscape Design.

“They used to be in Conway,” the mayor noted, “but they basically decided that students that want to go to a landscape school want to be in a more urban environment, so it’s a perfect fit, and we’re excited they’ve moved to Northampton.”

Meanwhile, the $6.5 million Columns at Rockwell Place transformed another long-dormant hospital structure into a 25-unit residence, with 12 units currently sold, five leased, and eight available. Behind that is Christopher Heights, an assisted-living facility that opened in 2016, and Village Hill Cohousing broke ground last fall.

“So you have this whole diversity of senior living, independent living, and you’ve got some commercial redevelopments, which is very exciting,” Narkewicz said. “And the campus itself has walking trails, open space, community gardens, and it’s only a 10-minute walk from downtown. So, from a sustainability standpoint, it fits the model of not wanting people building subdivisions way out on the edge of town that require roads, services, and more car trips. There’s even a bike-share station there, so you can hop on a bike and go downtown.”

In addition to the usual ebb and flow of small businesses, the Atwood Drive Business Park is fully open just off 1-91 exit 18, boasting a 60,000-square-foot building for the Family Probate Court and other judicial tenants, and two 40,000-square-foot buildings with a host of healthcare tenants, including Cooley Dickinson Health Care and Clinical & Support Options.

The $6.5 million Columns at Rockwell Place transformed a long-dormant building into a 25-unit residence, one of many recent developments at Village Hill.

Meanwhile, the venerable Autumn Inn on Elm Street was sold last year for $2.25 million to Saltaire Properties, which specializes in breathing new life into outdated hotels. At 60% occupancy, the 32-room inn — which has been renamed the Ellery — would generate annual guest spending of $500,000 and room revenues of $1.1 million, in addition to $34,000 in property taxes and $66,000 in hotel taxes to the city.

And, of course, the cannabis trade continues to be an economic driver. Masterson noted that the city’s 0.75% meals tax brought in $171,000 from November 2017 through January 2018, representing taxes on $22 million revenue. Over the same three months a year later, following the launch of adult-use cannabis sales at New England Treatment Access (NETA), the figure was $187,000, a 9.3% increase that reflected $24 million in revenue.

“One can fairly assume that people who came to NETA also spent some money in the city, and a number of store owners recently said they had seen an uptick in business, so we’ll see if that continues.”

The mayor has been quick to temper people’s long-term expectations because, for most of that recent three-month period, NETA was one of only two recreational marijuana retailers in the state. Since then, INSA in Northampton began selling, and other communities, like Amherst and Chicopee, are expecting businesses to open soon.

“It’ll be interesting to see how the market shakes out once there are more available — and Connecticut and New York are moving quickly to legalize, too,” he said. “We definitely see a lot of Connecticut and New York plates.”

What he hasn’t seen is an uptick in crime or other negative impacts. NETA has been diligent in paying police officers to help manage traffic and renting parking from surrounding businesses and property owners to manage the rush, which was especially significant early on.

That bodes well for other cannabis businesses that have approached Northampton, not only on the retail side, but also manufacturers making food products, a testing lab, and a major cultivation facility to be located at a former gravel pit in Florence.

“For whatever reason, Northampton is viewed as a good place for the cannabis industry,” Narkewicz said. “We’ve been very open and welcoming, our zoning is straightforward and not discriminatory toward cannabis, and we did not put any caps on the number of retailers we would allow here, like many communities have.

“I think people feel Northampton has a kind of built-in visitorship and vibrancy and is a regional destination,” he went on, “so I think they feel like cannabis will incorporate well into the rest of the retail and cultural market here in Northampton.”

Show Time

Speaking of culture, Northampton continues to thrive on that front, thanks to successful developments like CLICK Workspace, which has melded co-working with a robust arts calendar at its Market Street location since 2016, and the purchase of 33 Hawley St. by the Northampton Arts Trust, which is spending $6.8 million to convert it into a multi-dimensional arts, cultural, and education center.

“That’s one reason tech entrepreneurs want to be downtown,” the mayor said. “They want to be in a place that has culture.”

Meanwhile, annual visitorship to the Academy of Music, Three County Fairgrounds, the Paradise City Arts Festival, Smith College Museum of Art, WEBS, Thornes Marketplace, the city’s hotels, and its major one-day downtown events totals nearly 1.24 million annually.

Northampton at a glance

Year Incorporated: 1883
Population: 28,483
Area: 35.8 square miles
County: Hampshire
Residential tax rate: $17.29
Commercial tax rate: $17.29
Median Household Income: $56,999
Median Family Income: $80,179
Type of government: Mayor, City Council
Largest Employers: Cooley Dickinson Hospital; ServiceNet Inc.; Smith College; L-3 KEO
* Latest information available

Northampton has seen a number of generational business transactions in recent years, as entrepreneurs who were part of the city’s original renaissance 30 to 40 years ago are retiring and passing their enterprises to family. The downtown also sees continual lateral moves, and vacancies fill quickly.

“We are still viewed as a very vibrant destination downtown where people want to locate their business,” Narkewicz said. “And they’re local businesses. We do have a few national chains, but mostly locally owned businesses.”

They’re drawn by the city’s low single tax rate — $17.29, which falls well below the commercial rate in nearby communities — but also by a culture of local loyalty, he added.

“People here support local businesses. Our neighbors are running these businesses, and the people who work in them are our neighbors, too, and when you spend money in these stores, it has a multiplier effect in the community.”

He said editorial writers have occasionally written the city’s obituary over the years, or at least wondered when the decline will occur, but when he attends conferences with other mayors and municipal officials, the feeling he gets is that everyone wants to be like Northampton.

“We’re proud of what we have here, but we don’t take it for granted, and we don’t rest on our laurels,” he told BusinessWest. “We continue to do what we can to promote local businesses and make strategic investments that will help our local economy grow and thrive, and provide jobs and revenues the city needs to provide the services we want to provide.”

It’s a cycle that keeps chugging along, like the morning trains that could start pulling into Northampton’s station later this summer.

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Dakin Takes Steps to Make Facilities More Energy-efficient

Green Business

Pet Project

Carmine DiCenso stands by the solar installation on the roof of Dakin’s facility in Springfield.

Carmine DiCenso says there’s a changed atmosphere at the Dakin Humane Society facilities in Springfield and Leverett these days — in many different respects.

Indeed, due to comprehensive spaying and neutering programs, overpopulation among canines and felines is far less of a problem than it was even a few years ago, and, as a result, there are, generally speaking, fewer animals up for adoption in these centers.

Meanwhile, societal changes have made adoption a more accepted and therefore more popular practice. “Culturally, everyone wants to rescue a pet now,” said DiCenso, Dakin’s executive director, adding that, as a result, many of the pets that wind up in the adoption centers are not there for long stays.

Those that are tend to be older and often have physical and/or behavioral-health issues and thus need more time at the shelter to become ready for adoption, said DiCenso. “We’re spending more time and resources to rehab animals, and that’s a bigger challenge,” he explained, adding that the agency is shifting its focus to work with animals in the community — by providing food, vaccinations, and other necessities — with the goal of keeping them out of shelters.

But these are not the only changes to the environment at Dakin.

The others involve energy-efficiency, and while many cannot be seen (such as the solar installations on the roofs) or heard, they are important developments in Dakin’s ability to carry out its broad mission.

That’s made clear by current numbers and those that DiCenso is projecting for a few years out. He expects that, when the latest round of planned improvements — efforts to better seal skylights and windows to improve efficiency and replacement of a 21-year-old, very inefficient inefficient chiller — are implemented, the nonprofit agency will see annual energy savings approaching $50,000 at the Springfield site. In six to 10 years, he projects that the number will be closer to $200,000.

“And that money would be diverted right into director programming,” he explained, “and meeting the needs of our animals who need more from us — here in the shelter and out in the community.”

Backing up a bit, DiCenso said Dakin has undertaken a number of significant steps to become more energy-efficient over the past few years, many in what amounts to a partnership with Eversource, largely because it needed to, especially in Springfield.

The 47,000-square-foot facility, formerly home to the MSPCA, was built just over 20 years ago, a different era when it comes to energy efficiency, said DiCenso, adding that discussions about doing something with a building that had become a large drain on the budget began years ago.

And with a two-year, $95,000, no-interest loan from Eversource as part of the utility’s small-business retrofit program (see related story, page 18), Dakin has addressed many of these glaring needs. Indeed, starting in late 2016, the nonprofit has undertaken several initiatives, including:

• Lighting conversions. Dakin switched from fluorescent to LED lighting in many areas of the Springfield building. The parking-lot lights, formerly multi-vapor models, have also been converted to LED. Meanwhile, occupancy-sensor switches were installed in several rooms, replacing traditional on/off switches that are often left on long after people have left the room.

• An HVAC upgrade, specifically adding a dedicated domestic hot-water system that uses just the right amount of energy needed to have hot water on tap. Previously, Dakin relied on large boilers to heat even the smallest amounts of hot water.

• Variable-frequency drives. As part of the HVAC upgrade, Dakin added these drives to achieve more scalability in controlling indoor climate, said DiCenso, adding that it also installed carbon-dioxide detectors to control the amount of outside air (hot or cold) coming into the building to control costs.

“The fans were either on or off, and it took a tremendous amount of energy for them to cycle up and turn on fully, and that’s a waste of energy,” he explained. “What we have now are variable drives, which slowly build up to speed and only bring them to the level you need; instead of going from zero to 100 every time you turn them on, if they only need 25% of the energy, that’s what they’ll turn on to.”

As for the solar installations, installed in 2018, they were made possible by a gift from area residents Brian Adams and Morey Phippen, who have funded solar projects for a number of nonprofits in the area, said DiCenso, adding that, through these installations, both facilities are realizing substantial savings on their electric bills, especially the Leverett site.

“It will take a few years to really see those cost savings,” he said. “But we’ll get a bigger bang for our buck in Leverett because it’s a smaller building and the solar installation will be able to take more of the load; we do think our energy costs will drop 50%.”

Between the two buildings, as he noted, the overall savings will likely exceed $200,000, a budgetary windfall, if you will, that will be needed in the years to come.

That’s because, while the landscape has changed, overpopulation is no longer a real issue, and rescuing animals has become more popular, there are still many needs to be met when it comes to that constituency.

Because it now far more energy-efficient, Dakin will be better able to meet them.

— George O’Brien

Why Single-use Plastic Bags Are Increasingly on Their Way Out

Accounting and Tax Planning

Green Business

A Change at the Checkout

Volunteers at the annual Source to Sea Cleanup always seem to pick up the same amount of plastic waste, meaning something has to change further up the chain.

Americans need to start talking about plastic waste, Bob Bolduc said. For proof, look no further than the customer who visits Pride Stores regularly for lottery tickets — and wants them in a plastic bag.

“What does that tell you and me? That the world has a big education problem. We need to talk about it.”

Bolduc, who owns the Pride chain, and his team have done just that, deciding to eliminate plastic bags at checkout counters across the chain. The ban went into effect on May 1.

“We’re happy to do it,” he went on. “We’re getting mixed reviews, but we think people in time will come around. Everyone’s got to do their share. This is a little thing we should have done a long time ago.”

As part of the conversion, Pride will give away reusable bags as long as supplies last, and give a 5-cent discount whenever a reusable bag of any kind is used.

“It was the right thing to do; it’s that simple,” Bolduc said. “Anybody who cares about our planet realizes it’s one of the easy fixes, so we decided to do it right away. There have been a few customers who complained, but most customers have been understanding, some have applauded us, and some — here’s the good news — said, ‘I don’t need a bag at all.’ That’s the best response, because paper bags aren’t the solution, either.”

Pride isn’t alone. Big Y Foods recently announced it will eliminate single-use plastic bags from checkouts at its 70 supermarkets and specialty stores, along with its Big Y Express gas and convenience locations, in 2020.

“We’re getting mixed reviews, but we think people in time will come around. Everyone’s got to do their share. This is a little thing we should have done a long time ago.”

Big Y supermarkets in six area communities — Adams, Amherst, Great Barrington, Lee, Northampton, and South Hadley — have already made the switch to comply with municipal bag bans, and that got the company, which has implemented a number of sustainability-minded practices over the years, thinking.

“We have a handful of stores that are in towns with bag bans, which makes it a hodgepodge for us,” said Claire D’Amour-Daley, Big Y’s vice president of Corporate Communications. “The first stores were tougher — people got mad at us. But it’s much more commonplace now, with these town ordinances. Most people support it, and the employees support it.”

Eliminating the single-use bags chain-wide, she added, simply made sense.

“It’s a start. We continue to look at all types of packaging we can substitute — we’re looking at alternative sources of everything — but we figured we’d start with the bags.”

Massive Impact

As one might imagine, plastic bags create an inordinate amount of waste. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, more than 380 billion plastic bags are used in the U.S. each year. If not disposed of properly, this plastic can end up in waterways and forests, where it can harm fish, marine animals, birds, and other wildlife.

As a large chain, Big Y uses 100 million plastic bags and 3.5 million paper bags at its checkouts each year. The company recognizes that paper isn’t the answer to this waste problem, as the paper-production process is harmful to the environment, causing increased greenhouse-gas emissions and deforestation, which is why it’s promoting the adoption of reusable bags through in-store promotions (like buy one bag, get one free) and signage.

Signage at the South Hadley Big Y reminds shoppers they won’t be getting plastic bags there.

The Connecticut River Conservancy understands the impact of waste more than most. CRC volunteers have cleaned up more than 1,000 tons of trash over the course of 22 years at its annual Source to Sea Cleanup.

“It’s clear that repeated cleaning is not the solution to our trash problem,” said Andrew Fisk, executive director. “We need to redesign our economy so there isn’t waste in the first place.”

The CRC is taking a three-pronged approach to that campaign: corporate pressure, consumer pressure, and legislative efforts.

“We realize, by going out and cleaning it up, how big it is, but we’re still doing the same work year after year,” said Angela Chaffee, communications director.

“There are things that can be done to stop trash from ending up in riverbanks in the first place. That’s what we want to start working toward,” she went on. “Littering is definitely part of the problem, and we encourage people not to be litterbugs. But there are choices people can be making every day at the consumer level — things like reusable bottles, shopping bags, and coffee mugs. A lot of people think that doesn’t make a difference, but it absolutely does.”

On the subject of corporate pressure, she mentioned Dunkin’ Donuts as an example of a company that needs to do more — as evidenced by the countless plastic DD cups that get picked up at every cleanup.

“We see those all the time; they tend to gather in parking lots and storm drains on the street, which directly connect to our rivers. We got to thinking, why are these businesses making things that end up as trash in the rivers? They say, ‘it’s not us, it’s our consumers’ — but why not give your consumers better options? Dunkin’ does have a reusable mug program, and they could be incentivizing that a whole lot more.”

The goal isn’t to burden companies, Chaffee said, but to sit down at the table with them to formulate strategies for reducing waste. If that doesn’t work, she encourages consumers to speak up with their money.

“They can say, ‘hey, I’m a customer, and I love your coffee, and I want you to do it this way, not that way.’ That has been downplayed a little bit. The power of that dollar is more than people think. The public has a role and a voice.”

The third step is working with legislators to craft laws, like plastic-bag bans. “We support any municipality that wants to pass a ban because it does contribute,” she said. “But we feel the best way to solve the problem is a statewide ban, not different rules depending on what town you’re in.”

Northampton was among the early adopters of a plastic-bag ban about five years ago. Mayor David Narkewicz recalled that some shop owners were concerned about the impact on their business, that it might put the city at a competitive disadvantage. But they were given plenty of transition time, and the fears turned out to be unfounded.

“I don’t think anyone has been able to say it had an impact,” he told BusinessWest. “Stop & Shop totally ran with it. They switched without any issues — Walmart, too. And Big Y is voluntarily getting rid of plastic bags in all their stores. So I think we were ahead of the curve.”

He noted that entire states — California, Hawaii, and New York — have banned single-use plastic bags without much pushback from customers. “I think it’s part of the environmental ethic we have here in Northampton. On so many levels, it made sense to people here.”

Terry Masterson, the city’s Economic Development director, agreed. “My job for a while was to deal with businesses that didn’t comply — and we had one. Customers want to see it, and store owners want to provide it.”

Next Steps

D’Amour-Daley agreed that banning plastic is a positive step customers will adjust to — hopefully by embracing reusable bags, not relying on the paper bags available at checkout for 10 cents a pop. “California has had a ban for years. People get used to it once you put a line in the sand.”

Big Y has a history of promoting sustainability, she noted, including almost daily donations of unsold food to the five food banks within its marketing area. Last year, the company distributed 6.4 million pounds of food, including 2.4 million pounds of meat and 1.4 million pounds of produce. Big Y locations also participate in paper and cardboard recycling programs and composts 2,500 tons of food annually. In addition, it has championed other energy-saving initiatives, such as the use of solar arrays, LED lighting, and reclamation of heat from refrigeration systems to heat the stores during the winter.

“We continue to look for other types of packaging that are better for the environment,” she added. “People expect that now, and we recognize we have more work to do.”

Bolduc noted that Pride looks for ways to be more environmentally progressive as well, including charging stations for electric vehicles at new stores; the use of high-efficiency refrigeration, heating, and air conditioning in all stores; conversion of all hand dryers to cold air only; and climate-controlled stores for optimum energy reduction.

The bag ban, he said, was a comparatively simple step, and one that raises awareness of sustainable practices among customers. After all, he added, “we’re all in this together.”

Chaffee welcomes such moves. “The fact that we’re having this conversation at all is a good step forward,” she told BusinessWest. “Every little bit helps move us in the right direction. We want companies to step up and do more.”

As for individual consumers, “a lot of times, people think just one person won’t make a difference,” she added. “But you don’t have to do everything 100% perfectly. If you’re doing one small thing to make a difference, think about the millions of people across the country and around the world; it does add up and has a huge, positive impact.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Deducting Employee Business Expenses Under the New Tax Law

By Columnist May 14, 2019

A Proactive Step That Adds Up

By Joe Lemay, CPA

I’m sure you’ve heard by now, but there were quite a few changes to the tax law in 2018. When the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) was signed into law into December 2017, it took an axe to many itemized deductions on your personal return.

Of these, the deduction for unreimbursed employee business expenses, such as business travel or car expenses, tolls, and parking, is one of significant note. However, despite the lost deduction, there may be an alternative solution that can be a win-win for employers and employees.

Prior to the TCJA, unreimbursed employee business expenses were deductible as a ‘miscellaneous’ deduction on an individual’s return. All miscellaneous deductions were deductible in excess of 2% of adjusted gross income (AGI).

For example, if your AGI was $100,000 in 2017, you could claim only a deduction for the amount of your total miscellaneous expenses that exceeded $2,000. If you had a total of $3,200 of unreimbursed employee expenses, you would have been able to deduct $1,200 on your personal return in 2017. Now fast-forward to 2018, and the $3,200 of unreimbursed employee expenses are not deductible at all on the individual return.

The Solution

You may be thinking the changes noted above sound unfair. However, a company can establish an ‘accountable plan,’ which may serve to remedy this change. An accountable plan is a reimbursement or other expense-allowance arrangement between an employer and employee, which reimburses employees for business expenses that are not recorded as income to the employee and are generally deductible by the employer as business expenses.

If the accountable plan is followed properly, the company reimburses an employee for substantiated business expenses, and then, in turn, the company deducts those business expenses on its income-tax return. The reimbursements are excluded from the employee’s gross income, not reported as wages or other compensation on the employee’s W-2, and are also exempt from federal income-tax withholding and employment taxes.

The company can negotiate with the employee to reduce the employee’s wages in exchange for the reimbursement, thereby saving the company payroll taxes, which includes Social Security tax of 6.2% on gross wages, capped at $132,900 (for 2018) and Medicare tax of 1.45%. By executing this transaction appropriately, the employee receives full reimbursement for business expenses, while seeing no change in their overall income, and the company benefits by saving on payroll taxes.

For example, Johnson Inc. has a sales team, which includes its ace salesman, Dave. During 2017, Dave earned $105,000 in base compensation and had $7,000 of unreimbursed business expenses. Assuming Dave’s base compensation of $105,000 is also his adjusted gross income, Dave would have been able to deduct $4,900 of his unreimbursed business expenses on his personal tax return in 2017. The remaining $2,100 of unreimbursed business expenses is a lost deduction.

Now let’s assume Johnson Inc. establishes and properly follows an accountable plan in 2018. During 2018, Dave earns the same $105,000 reduced by the elective expense allowance of $7,000 to a new taxable base of $98,000. Under the accountable plan, Dave is reimbursed in full for his business expenses; therefore, his net income, subsequent to reimbursements, remains the same as 2017 at $98,000. However, in this scenario, the company saves Social Security and Medicare tax in the amount of $535 (7.65% combined tax rate multiplied by $7,000 of reduced wages). While this savings may not seem like a lot, imagine a sales team of 25 employees; that is a potential savings of $13,375. Think about what you could do with that savings as a business owner.

How to Establish an Accountable Plan

The following criteria must be met for the plan to be accountable:

The accountable plan must prove the business connection for the reimbursements and/or allowances. The typical allowable deductions are travel, supplies, local transportation, meals incurred while away on business, and lodging.

The accountable plan must also have adequate support and records (such as itemized receipts) that substantiate the expense’s amount and purpose. The substantiation should be examined and approved by a manager or supervisor. The plan also requires the employee to return any advances back to the company which are not business expenses. Excess advances must be returned to the company within a reasonable period after the expense is paid or incurred. If excess advances to employees are pocketed by the employee, the excess advances are subject to federal income-tax withholdings and employment taxes.

The business-connection requirement is satisfied if a plan only reimburses employees when a deductible business expense has been incurred in connection with performing services for the company and the reimbursement is not in lieu of wages that the employees would otherwise receive. The company cannot simply shift taxable wages to the employee to non-taxable reimbursements without adequately proving the business connection.

There is no specific IRS form used to adopt an accountable plan, nor does the tax law require an accountable plan to be in writing; however, it would behoove employers to write down a formal plan.

Costs and Benefits of an Accountable Plan

The benefits produced from an effective accountable plan are clear. The employee is reimbursed in full for business expenses, and the company can save on payroll taxes, a win all around for everyone. However, the costs of implementing an accountable plan must also be factored in.

The company must have an organized process for tracking employee reimbursements, maintaining appropriate support that substantiates the business connection of employee reimbursements and is timely with reimbursements and requests for payback from its employees.

Companies with highly functioning accounting and/or human-resource departments will not have an issue with meeting these tasks; however, companies with low-functioning accounting and human-resource departments could struggle with appropriately maintaining an accountable plan.

Conclusion

Utilizing an accountable plan is an overall win for employers and employees. But consistency must be maintained throughout the year in order to yield the benefits.

Joe Lemay, CPA is a senior associate with the Holyoke-based public accounting firm Meyers Brothers Kalicka, P.C.; (413) 322-3520; [email protected]

Even Fraud-prevention Specialists Are Not Immune to Schemes

By Columnist May 14, 2019

Accounting and Tax Planning

When Experts Become Victims

By Julie Quink

Julie Quink

As professionals who counsel clients on best practices relative to fraud prevention and detection techniques, we unfortunately are not immune to fraud attempts as well.

The schemes that individuals and companies have fallen victim to are many, but here are two schemes we feel are important to mention for which we have recent personal experience.

The Fake Check Scheme

In a fake check scheme, the fraudster can obtain a check for the company and replicate the check using software that can be acquired easily on the Internet. The replicated check may look like an authentic company check written to a legitimate vendor.

By creating a replica of a legitimate company check, the fraudster now can generate a check payable to themselves or another entity for any amount. The check is entered into the banking system, deposited or cashed like a normal, routine check. If the check is negotiated at an out- of-state bank, it can take longer to move through the clearing process, and the fraudster can get the funds before the company or bank, which the company uses, is notified.

In this scheme, the original, authentic check is kept intact, and a fake replacement is generated using the information from the original check with slight modifications.

The Forged Payee Scheme

The forged payee scheme is a scheme whereby a fraudster intercepts a company check paid to a vendor for a legitimate invoice and washes the check to remove the original payee, amount, and sometimes date. The washing is done through a chemical process that removes the unwanted information so that the check becomes ‘blank’ again and can be modified with the information that the fraudster includes.

“It is always best practice to keep blank checks secured and accessible to only those who need access, thereby limiting the opportunity to generate fake checks.”

The original, authorized check signer’s signature is still on the check, so on its face, the check appears authentic to the bank clearing the check, and the fraudster can negotiate the check through deposit or check cashing. On its face, most times the check does not look to be altered or modified, so visually it is difficult to determine that the check is not a valid, authentic check.

Effects of Fraudulent Checks

In addition to the possible loss of company funds to the fraud, a level of business interruption can occur as a result of these schemes. The fraudster now knows the company’s routing information, bank account, name, and other critical information on the check and can continue to attempt to perpetuate the fraud. It is best practice to change the bank account to assist in preventing the fraud from continuing to occur.

Changing a bank account may not seem a significant interruption, perhaps, but if you consider all the transactions that occur within that account, it can be significant. Many companies use outside payroll firms that automatically withdraw funds from their account. Clients or customers may pay their bills automatically through ACH transactions. Vendors may also be paid electronically through the bank account.

The changing of the bank account requires consideration of all the transactions and activities that occur within that account and making the appropriate notifications to those parties to ensure the correct bank account information is provided to ensure continued operations.

Detection and Prevention Techniques

It is always best practice to blank checks secured and accessible only to those who need access, thereby limiting the opportunity to generate fake checks. Internal controls over the check-processing and mailing functions within a company are preventive measures to assist in minimizing the risk of forged payees.

These techniques can include a segregation of duties in the check-disbursement process to allow for appropriate oversight and control over the process.

Keep in mind that potential fraudsters can exist within a company as employees. They can also be external to the company. Consider that it is difficult at best to contemplate when a check, which has been mailed to a legitimate vendor for a legitimate expense, will be intercepted from the time it is mailed to the time it reaches a fraudster and is then replicated. The fraudster could be employed by the vendor that is receiving the company check.

In the age of electronic banking and ease of access to information, it is critical that bank-account activity be reconciled on a recurring, consistent basis to identify any unusual items. In addition, the reconciliation will identify older checks that have not yet cleared through the account but normally would clear in a timely fashion.

Through routine and timely reconciliation of bank accounts, items such as unusual, unauthorized checks can be easily identified and quickly investigated.

Many banks offer a service, which is most commonly referred to as ‘positive pay.’ This service requires the company to send over a check-disbursement list to the bank indicating all checks written. The bank will use the list to determine which checks will clear the company bank accounts. It is a higher-level control that can assist in preventing unauthorized checks.

Bottom Line

A heightened sense of awareness and evaluation of internal controls in place, including reconciliations, in addition to feeling comfortable with your banking partners and their controls, is critical to ensuring that your accounts are protected.

Julie Quink, CPA is managing principal of the West Springfield-based accounting firm Burkhart Pizzanelli; (413) 734-9040.

PeoplesBank Issues 2019 Corporate Green Report

Banking and Financial Services

Financial Environment

PeoplesBank recently issued its annual Corporate Green Report in conjunction with Earth Day 2019. Through its green values and actions to support environmental sustainability, PeoplesBank believes it can help make the region a healthier place to live, work, and raise a family. The bank puts these values to work throughout the year through its charitable donations, volunteerism, support of green-energy projects, and construction of LEED-certified offices.

“As a mutual bank, we are focused on our values of innovation, community support, environmental sustainability, and employee engagement,” said Tom Senecal, president and CEO of PeoplesBank. “Environmental sustainability is really the meeting place of all those other values. It is a way we can be innovative, support the community, and engage our associates in a way that is meaningful.”

Added Philippe Michaud, a loan service associate at PeoplesBank and co-chair of its environmental committee, “a business’ responsibility is to try and influence its communities toward being more sustainable. The environment is a core belief that is built into the fabric of our organization. That goes a long way toward what we do in the community.”

Community banks, like PeoplesBank, are not generally known for building green offices, but PeoplesBank has a LEED Gold-certified office in Northampton, a LEED Gold-certified office in West Springfield, and a LEED Silver-certified office in Springfield. The LEED-certified office in Springfield, the first of its kind in the city, won a Green Seal from the city of Springfield.

The bank’s newest branch in Holyoke will also seek LEED certification once construction has finished. Pursuing that objective means the new branch will be constructed and operated as a green building. Some of the highlights include:

• Reuse of a portion of the existing Yankee Pedlar building (the historic Hildreth House);

• Reduction rainwater runoff on the site and use of landscaping that requires no irrigation;

• Use of low-flow water fixtures and high-efficiency HVAC; and

• Use of building materials that have low or zero volatile organic compounds and are sourced locally where possible.

In addition, the exterior wall is highly efficient and allows for the flow of air vapor in two directions, meaning the wall will ‘breathe’ throughout the year, leading to a cleaner indoor environment.

Three PeoplesBank offices (Northampton, West Springfield, and 330 Whitney Ave. in Holyoke) have electric-vehicle-charging stations. The bank is also launching a “Choose to Reuse” campaign designed to eliminate the use of disposable paper products internally.

“As a mutual bank, we are focused on our values of innovation, community support, environmental sustainability, and employee engagement. Environmental sustainability is really the meeting place of all those other values. It is a way we can be innovative, support the community, and engage our associates in a way that is meaningful.”

During the past year, PeoplesBank was recognized by Independent Banker magazine for its environmental sustainability efforts and, for the fifth year in a row, the bank was voted “Best Green Local Business” by Daily Hampshire Gazette readers. The bank is also a past recipient of the Sustainable Business of the Year Award and Associated Industries of Massachusetts’ Sustainability Award.

Over the course of the last year, PeoplesBank provided more than $58,000 in support for green initiatives in Western Mass., including:

• A mobile farmers’ market that travels to underserved and food-desert areas of Springfield and surrounding communities;

• The Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture Food for All campaign;

• The Center for EcoTechnology’s Eco Fellows and support of over 100 community education events;

• The annual Source to Sea Cleanup of the Connecticut River, which also includes hands-on participation by a team of volunteers from the bank;

• The Mount Holyoke Wetlands Restoration Project, conducted by Restoration Ecology Summer Scholars;

• Scientific environmental education at the Hitchcock Center for the Environment; and

• ValleyBike, the region’s new bike-sharing program.

PeoplesBank is also a longtime leader in sustainable-energy financing, and the bank’s commercial lenders are recognized for their expertise in creating financing packages for green-energy power generation. To date, the bank has financed more than $183 million in wind, solar, and hydroelectric power-generation projects, an increase of $17 million in just one year.

Injury Prevention Is Key at Cooley Dickinson’s New Facility

Business of Aging

Back in the Swing

Jared Bean says he’s giving people the injury-prevention education he didn’t receive as a young athlete.

Jared Bean grew up in Hampshire County and played youth sports in Easthampton. He recalls learning about how to improve his performance and conditioning — but not how to avoid getting hurt.

“I didn’t have that education, and neither did my coaches, and I ended up with injuries,” he told BusinessWest. “Now, I want to prevent that and give some more resources to this area.”

He does that as program coordinator and certified strength and conditioning specialist at the Cooley Dickinson Wellness and Sports Performance Center in West Hatfield.

Bean, who is credentialed through the National Strength and Conditioning Assoc. (NSCA), recognized early in his career how important it was for clients to achieve pain-free movement.

“I worked in the community for a while and found my way into what I call a corrective-based training system. I came across people, both athletes and non-athletes, who had discomfort or pain in a joint while moving, so I got into the process of helping alleviate that.”

“We wanted to have a place where we can focus on keeping our community healthy, and maybe prevent a visit to the doctor or the surgeon or rehab.”

On one hand, the center — the only one of its kind in Western Mass. — helps patients in Cooley Dickinson’s rehabilitation programs by serving as a connector between post-injury rehab and real-world activity. Trainers have on-site access to Cooley Dickinson’s orthopedic providers and rehabilitation therapists to collaborate on program development, striving to create a seamless transition from rehab therapy to resumed athletic training or other activity.

Andrea Noel-Doubleday, assistant director of Rehabilitation Services, noted that Cooley Dickinson supports two trainers in Northampton High School and Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School, maintains seven rehabilitation locations, and launched a walk-in orthopedic-injury clinic last year.

“We felt like, wow, we’re really supporting athletes and people in the community from the time they get injured on the field to finding their way to a doctor to finding their way to rehab, and this seemed like the next logical step,” she told BusinessWest.

“After rehab, where’s the best place to go to get that continuing work to get back to top performance?” she continued. “Then we thought, who better to do it than us? Jared knows the surgeons, he knows the therapists, he knows what we’ve been doing, so it’s a seamless recovery. That’s really what we were going for.”

But, because of its emphasis on injury prevention, it’s also a place where non-patients are welcome to work out, as they would be at any gym, while also learning proper technique. The center’s classes and programs emphasize injury prevention for athletes of all ages, as well as optimizing performance for serious athletes.

“We really wanted to offer wellness programs, and that’s why we called it the Wellness and Sports Performance Center,” Noel-Doubleday said. “We wanted to have a place where we can focus on keeping our community healthy, and maybe prevent a visit to the doctor or the surgeon or rehab. I think that’s a need in the community.”

Broad Spectrum

Bean, who earned a degree in applied exercise science at Springfield College, saw friends go into athletic strength and conditioning, often working solely with athletes on one team.

“I always had an interest in trying to help a bigger variety of people,” he went on. “I’ve seen older couples that came to me because they wanted to move well enough to hang out with their grandchildren. I had a gentleman who lost a lot of neuromuscular control through disease and wanted to go to Greece for two weeks — that was the sole reason he came to see me.”

Other clients include a 63-year-old power lifter and a ju jitsu fighter in her late 30s who just signed her first professional contract. “Definitely, being here, I’m going to see a lot of variety.”

Noel-Doubleday agreed. “It depends on what the person’s goal is. Sometimes they just want to lift their grandchild up, and sometimes they want to go out and try kayaking, and their shoulder’s been bothering them. They do a little PT, and I say the next step is to see the strength and conditioning specialist. Once I’ve gotten you to feel better and move well, he’s going to really tweak it and move you to the next level. It really is the next step, and more people are looking for that.”

Andrea Noel-Doubleday says CDH wanted a place that focuses on keeping the community healthy.

She noted one patient who had some cervical issues, but from a physical-therapy standpoint, there wasn’t much more she could do. “He said, ‘I’d like to start lifting weights, but I don’t want to get hurt.’” So the Wellness and Sports Performance Center was ideal for that — because improper technique is common to all athletic endeavors.

“A lot of times, it’s really just faulty movement,” Bean said. “That creates imbalances in the musculature, which creates discomfort and irritation. Unless it’s addressed, it’s just going to be continued discomfort, and might progress into a larger injury.”

And when someone’s technique is poor, Noel-Doubleday said, they have to be retaught. The center will film clients engaging in certain movements — jumping, for example — and the playback clearly demonstrates what’s wrong.

“When you see it, it makes sense. I can tell someone all day they’re not landing properly, but when they visualize it, especially in slow motion, they’re like, ‘oh.’”

Jumping, in fact, is something the trainers focus on, as it’s a common mechanism for non-contact ACL injuries.

“No one wants those. That’s one of those injuries that’s really devastating to an athlete. That could be the end of their career,” she said. “And there’s no reason we should have them, ever. It’s about weakness and neuromuscular control. And we know what we need to do to prevent it. So we need to really teach that.”

That education should start young, she said, which is why the center offers an injury-prevention class for athletes ages 11-14. Attendees learn positional awareness and how to move safely throughout space, and, by increasing their balance and stability, they learn how to safety build strength, endurance, speed, and agility.

“We want to prevent those non-contact ACL injuries before they happen. We know why they happen and how to prevent it, and we want to offer people a place to learn that,” she explained. “But we also offer advanced performance for the older athletes — the high-school varsity and college player who really wants to take it to the next level, and is asking, ‘how do I condition better and build strength so I don’t get injured?’ We wanted to offer a place where it’s safe to do that.”

Other classes include adult fitness, a blend of strength, endurance, cardiovascular development, and other components of physical activity; a class designed to help those who have undergone ACL reconstruction or other hip or knee surgeries return to their sport safely by focusing on restoring strength, endurance, and mobility; and a total joint class, for individuals who have undergone total joint replacement and want to maintain joint health and function through structured training.

A Vision for the Valley

Noel-Doubleday said the center has so far seen a healthy blend of CDH rehab patients and people coming from outside the system. In either case, they benefit from the expertise available to Bean, as the center is housed in the same building as Cooley Dickinson’s Orthopedic & Sports Medicine practice, the walk-in injury clinic, and the physical- and occupational-therapy suite.

“We have rehab specialists across the hall and orthopedic surgeons and sports medicine physicians downstairs,” she said. “If he needs to touch base with somebody, he’s got a whole group of resources at his fingertips.”

As it is not a physical-therapy facility, per se, the Wellness and Sports Performance Center does not take insurance, she noted. However, clients may submit their receipts to their health-insurance company to try to get reimbursed for fitness classes and services.

“It’s exciting for our organization to embrace this vision. Nobody else is doing this,” she told BusinessWest. “We’re in the business of recovering from injury, but we’re shifting the focus to say, ‘let’s not get injured in the first place.’ We want to get our rehab patients to where they want to be, but I would love to prevent non-contact ACL injuries. I would love to not see them in the Valley at all. If we can be a part of that, to me, that’s really exciting.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Nominations Sought for Healthcare Recognition Program

Business of Aging

In Search of Heroes

In the spring of 2017, BusinessWest and its sister publication, HCN, created a new and exciting recognition program called Healthcare Heroes.

It was launched with the theory that there are heroes working all across this region’s wide, deep, and all-important healthcare sector, and that there was no shortage of fascinating stories to tell and individuals and groups to honor.

Two years later, that theory has been validated, and stories that needed to be told have been told.

Some of them have involved individuals known to many across this region, such as Sr. Mary Caritas, SP, former president of Mercy Hospital and an inspirational leader for more than 60 years. And Bob Fazzi, the first leader of the nonprofit that became known as the Center for Human Development, and later the founder of Fazzi Associates, a company that provides a variety of products and services to home-care, hospice, and community-based programs.

But many have involved lesser-known individuals and groups, many of them working on the front lines of healthcare, saving lives and improving quality of life for those they touch every day.

There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of heroes whose stories we still need to tell. And that’s where you come in.

Indeed, BusinessWest and HCN are now actively seeking nominations for the Healthcare Heroes class of 2019. Nominations are due July 12, and we encourage you to get involved and help recognize someone you consider to be a hero in the community we call Western Mass. in one (or more) of these seven categories:

• Patient/Resident/Client Care Provider;

• Health/Wellness Administrator/Administration;

• Emerging Leader;

• Community Health;

• Innovation in Health/Wellness;

• Collaboration in Health/Wellness; and

• Lifetime Achievement.

Since we launched this initiative, many people have asked, ‘how do you define hero?’ We generally reply by saying, ‘what’s more important is how you define hero.’

A hero is someone you have come to recognize as a difference maker, a game changer — someone, or some group, that has stepped forward and changed the equation in a very positive way through what they do day in and day out.

People and groups like these — the Healthcare Heroes for 2017 and 2018:

Patient/Resident/Client Care Provider

• 2017: Dr. Michael Willers, owner of the Children’s Heart Center of Western Massachusetts;

• 2018: Mary Paquette, director of Health Services and nurse practitioner, American International College.

Health/Wellness Administrator/Administration

• 2017: Holly Chaffee, RN, BSN, MSN, president and CEO of Porchlight VNA/Home Care;

•2018: Celeste Surreira, assistant director of Nursing, the Soldiers Home in Holyoke.

Emerging Leader

• 2017: Erin Daley, RN, BSN, manager of the Emergency Department at Mercy Medical Center;

• 2018: Peter DePergola II, director of Clinical Ethics, Baystate Health.

Community Health

• 2017: Dr. Molly Senn-McNally, Continuity Clinic director for the Baystate Pediatric Residency Program;

•2018: Dr. Matthew Sadof, pediatrician, Baystate Children’s Hospital.

Innovation in Health/Wellness

• 2017: Dr. Andrew Dobin, director of the Surgical Intensive Care Unit at Baystate Medical Center; and Genevieve Chandler, associate professor of Nursing at UMass Amherst;

• 2018: TechSpring.

Collaboration in Health/Wellness

• 2017: The Healthy Hill Initiative;

• 2018: The Consortium and the Opioid Task Force.

Lifetime Achievement

• 2017: Sr. Mary Caritas, SP;

•2018: Robert Fazzi, founder and managing partner, Fazzi Associates.

As we said, there are many more heroes to be recognized. To nominate one, visit HERE and click on ‘Our Events’ and then ‘Healthcare Heroes.’

Lessons from a Jeopardy! Champ

By Editorial May 14, 2019

Opinion

Editorial

Those gathered around the water cooler have had to find other things to talk about in recent days, as James Holzhauer, the record-breaking, cyborg-like Jeopardy! champion was forced to the sidelines as the popular game show took a break for its teachers’ tournament.

But he’ll be back soon, and so will the talk — all kinds of talk. About his almost scary intellect, non-traditional tactics, intriguing personality, and, yes, his winnings — almost $1.7 million (in just 22 shows) when he had to take his break.

But the discussion at the water cooler, and in columns in newspapers and magazines across the country, has gone further in some cases, talking about how Holzhauer has somehow broken the popular game, ruined it, turned it into bad television, or somehow broken or distorted its rules.

Apparently, the virtues of even an incredible Jeopardy! winning streak are in the eyes of the beholder.

What we see is something quite intriguing, something that offers lessons about maybe how all of us should look at life, work, and running our businesses.

Indeed, for decades, it seemed, Jeopardy! was played one way. Contestants found a category they liked, started at the top, and moved to the bottom. When they found a Daily Double, they generally (but not always) wagered conservatively. A good day’s work was maybe $25,000 or even $35,000.

Then, along came Holzhauer, the professional sports gambler, who has obviously looked at this game and its rules and decided that there was a better, more effective, more lucrative way to play it. Before he arrived, the one-day record was $77,000. He’s averaging that — well, $76,864, to be exact — per game.

He starts at the bottom of each category with the big-money questions. He moves around the board searching for the Daily Doubles. When he finds them, he usually has a lot of money won, and then he wagers large amounts, often making them true Daily Doubles. And by hitting the $1,000 and $2,000 questions early — and getting them right — he’s building leads his opponents simply cannot overcome; there isn’t enough money left on the board.

When it gets to Final Jeopardy! the game is already won, but Holzhauer still wagers generally as much as he can, gets the question right (he hasn’t missed a final question yet), and often banks north of $100,000.

It’s radical, it’s different, but unless you’re a hopeless traditionalist who just doesn’t like the way Holzhauer is smoking his competiton every night, you have to like it, you have to applaud it — and you have to tune in to watch it. Yes, Jeopardy! ratings have been much higher since he started this remarkable run.

The lessons for managers and business owners? They’re quite obvious.

Holzhauer surveyed the scene, looked at how just about everyone before him had played Jeopardy! and decided there was a better way. And we’re willing to bet that many more people will be playing it this way from now own.

This is the way to look at your business and your role in it. The status quo is sometimes just fine. Doing things the way everyone else has done them is sometimes OK. But we always need to be searching for those better ways, those new and innovative ways, to do things.

By finding such ways, Holzhauer has set and re-set the single-day earnings record for Jeopardy! In fact, he now owns the 12 highest daily totals in the show’s history. He has, in effect, raised the bar, and he keeps raising it.

That’s the ultimate lesson from this incredible run.

A Poignant Moment in Time

By Editorial May 14, 2019

Opinion

Editorial 2

Demolition crews were hard at work at Pynchon Plaza in downtown Springfield this past week, tearing up a 40-year-old concrete park — if that’s what you want to call it — and leaving the imagination to wonder what will come next.

Demolition is always a poignant moment — something is being razed to make way for something else — and often there are mixed feelings, with many people having an attachment to what is being torn down and maybe some ambivalence about what is to come, such as when the Pennsylvania Railroad demolished majestic Penn Station in Manhattan to make way for a new Madison Square Garden and an ugly office tower.

This isn’t anything like that, believe us.

Indeed, it’s hard to believe that anyone had an attachment to Pynchon Plaza. Built in the late ’70s, it was conceived as a grand corridor, or stairway of sorts, connecting the Quadrangle with the rest of downtown.

It never became that.

Instead, it became a neglected eyesore that was essentially closed to the public for long stretches of its existence. More than that, it became one of the more glaring symbols of what happened — and didn’t happen — in downtown Springfield.

Indeed, it was conceived and built at a time when there was some momentum in the downtown — Tower Square (then Baystate West) was thriving, and new downtown office towers were on the drawing board. The Springfield Civic Center went up a few years earlier, and there was a lot of optimism about what could happen in the central business district.

The new Pynchon Plaza, a $4 million initiative, will include a new, functioning staircase, seating areas, plantings, and a refurbished elevator.

But only a decade or so later, a downward spiral began, and, well, you know what happened. And Pynchon Plaza, as we said, became a symbol of the city’s demise. It was to be a connecting point, but there wasn’t much to connect people with.

The story is much different now, and that’s why the demolition work on Dwight Street is so poignant. The dilapidated plaza was a symbol of the Springfield that was. It doesn’t fit with the current blend of momentum, energy, and vibrancy, and its demolition therefore becomes a solid metaphor for what is clearly a new era in the city’s history.

The new Pynchon Plaza, a $4 million initiative, will include a new, functioning staircase, seating areas, plantings, and a refurbished elevator. And it will link a thriving Quadrangle, which has been setting records for attendance since the opening of the Seuss Museum, with a downtown that boasts a $900 million casino, a revitalized Union Station, several new restaurants and shops, a rejuvenated Union Station, a Tower Square in the midst of an extreme makeover, and other parks (Stearns Square and Duryea Way, for example) that have been reborn.

As noted above, demolition is often a time to stop and reflect — it happened when Forbes & Wallace was torn down to make way for Monarch Place, and even when the Peter Pan bus station came down in advance of the new Way Finders headquarters building.

This time, the reflecting isn’t really about what we’ve lost, but what we’ve gained. It’s about how much the city has progressed and how it is leaving the recent past behind it.

In short, it’s a statement, and a powerful one.

Picture This

Picture This

Email ‘Picture This’ photos with a caption and contact information to [email protected]
A photo essay of recent business events in Western Massachusetts April 2019

Common Threads

Dress for Success staged its annual Common Threads gala on April 25 at the Sheraton in Springfield. The event, described as a ‘celebration of women,’ inspires supporters with stories of success and empowerment as recent program participants speak of their achievements and successes.

Wilhelmina Humphries is ushered to the stage by Werner Maiwald, president of Renaissance Insurance Benefits

Maria Pelletier is ushered to the stage by Dr. Mark Keroack, president and CEO of Baystate Health

Carla Cosenzi, president of Tommy Car Auto, Margaret Tantillo, executive director of Dress for Success Western Massachusetts, and Jessica Dupont of Health New England, chair of the board of Dress for Success Western Massachusetts

President’s Gala

Bay Path University staged its third annual President’s Gala on April 27 at the Sheraton in Springfield. The gala, which raises money for scholarships, again featured a Dancing with the Stars format that had a team of judges — and the audience — struggling to determine who should take home the coveted President’s cup. After audience voting, that honor eventually went to Julian Jusko, a community partner and long-time supporter of the gala, who earned three perfect 10s from the judges, as did fellow competitors Erin Hornyak.

Gala chairs Tim and Carrie Burr, Drew and Lauren Davis, Tiffany and Ted Madru, and Carol and Rick Steele Jr.

Jusko finishes off her routine in style

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal addresses the audience

Bay Path President Carol Leary offers a few remarks

the judges for the dance competition, from left, Lindsay Arnold, Wayne Hooker, and Kara Wolters

from left, instructor Gunnar Sverrisson, Hornyak, Jusko, Clemons, and instructor Daryll & Sverrisson gather for a final round of applause

Celebrating Entrepreneurship

The Grinspoon Entrepreneurship Initiative (GEI) staged its annual awards banquet on April 24 at the Log Cabin Banquet & Meeting House. The well-attended gathering featured an Entrepreneur Showcase featuring students attending 14 area colleges and universities, an elevator-pitch competition, the presentation of awards, and keynote speaker Wombi Rose, CEO and co-founder of Lovepop.

GEI Founder Harold Grinspoon visits with Julia Baker, Springfield Technical Community College student and founder of Media Journeys

Jarrod Coletta, Western New England University student and co-founder of Bimiitech, chats with guests about his venture

the crowded ballroom floor during the Entrepreneur Showcase

Anna Aron (left), a Hampshire College student and founder of Anna Leigh Pottery, shows some of her works to Katie Allan Zobel, president and CEO of the Community Foundation

Hampshire College student Adil Sarwar shows off his venture, the Cupcake Factory

Derby Day

Square One staged its fourth annual Kentucky Derby fundraising gala on race day at Mercedes-Benz of Springfield. More than 210 guests turned out to watch the Running of the Roses, do some networking, and raise nearly $30,000 for early-education provider Square One.

attendees watch as the horses head for the finish line

from left, Carrie and BJ Calvi, Kelli Moriarty Finn, David Finn, and Ryan McCollum

from left, Jeff and Laura Lomma, Andrew and Megan Hersman, and Dawn DiStefano

Square One President and CEO Joan Kagan addresses the crowd of race watchers

from left, Lakisha Coppedge, Margaret Tantoillo, and James Coppedge do some networking

Court Dockets

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.

HAMPDEN DISTRICT COURT

Beacon Sales Acquisitions Inc./Allied Building Products v. Rhode Island Solar Solutions Inc., Anestis Taskos, and Michael Staab a/k/a Michael D. Staab

Allegation: Money owed for goods sold and delivered, breach of personal guaranty: $20,638.93

Filed: 4/10/19

HAMPDEN SUPERIOR COURT

Bruce Langevin v. Parts Tool and Die Inc.; Cheryl Holtham Havel, CPA; Ronald D. Coleman Jr.; Red Deer Investments Inc.; Deborah L. Elias; and Aziz L. Elias, Azdeb, M.F.G. Inc.

Allegation: Employment discrimination: $25,000+

Filed: 3/18/19

Raymond E. Kemple v. Costco Wholesale Corp.

Allegation: Negligence; slip and fall causing personal injury: $23,902.72

Filed: 3/18/19

Darrian Plasse v. Merchants Metals, LLC

Allegation: Negligence causing personal injury: $20,592.72

Filed: 3/19/19

Cari Kasulinous v. Garra, LLC

Allegation: Negligence; slip and fall causing personal injury: $17,097.52

Filed: 3/15/19

Commerce Insurance Co. as subrogee of Mausela Rivie and Aisha Correa v. Pioneer Valley Transit Authority

Allegation: Negligence causing personal injury and property damage: $3,737.52

Filed: 3/18/19

Landon Lima, a minor, by and through his mother and next best friend, Liat Lima, and Liat Lima individually v. FIC Restaurants Inc. and Friendly’s Restaurants, LLC

Allegation: Negligence causing personal injury: $21,517.54

Filed: 3/21/19

Candy Fagone v. WJFP 4 Inc. d/b/a McDonald’s Restaurant and McDonald’s USA, LLC

Allegation: Negligence; slip and fall causing personal injury: $101,610.54

Filed: 3/21/19

Janet Cossette v. Costco Wholesale Membership Inc. and Costco Wholesale Corp.

Allegation: Negligence causing personal injury: $143,447.13

Filed: 3/21/19

Shonnelle Norman v. Pioneer Valley Transit Authority

Allegation: Motor-vehicle negligence causing personal injury: $26,143+

Filed: 3/26/19

Kimberly Reynolds as personal representative for the estate of Robert J. Siddell Jr. v. Amat Victoria Curam, LLC and RR and Co. Realty, LLC

Allegation: Negligence; slip and fall causing personal injury

Filed: 3/28/19

Craig E. Tirrell v. Mr. Home Inc.

Allegation: Improper deduction of wages, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment: $55,350

Filed: 4/2/19

Agenda

Agenda

‘How Will Marijuana Affect the Workplace’

May 14: MassHire Holyoke Career Center will host a workshop titled “How Will Marijuana Affect the Workplace In Massachusetts” with attorney Erica Flores from Skoler, Abbott & Presser. This free event will take place from 8 to 10 a.m. Flores will the current state of the law regarding marijuana use by employees for both medical and recreational purposes, including employers’ obligations to accommodate marijuana use by disabled employees; proposed legislation that would prohibit employers from discriminating against employees who use recreational marijuana and how this rule would affect employers’ current rights in the workplace; and the importance of reasonable-suspicion testing in this new legal climate and strategies for implementing and enforcing such testing programs.

‘Turn Up The You and Quiet The Critic’

May 15: Baystate Health’s Every Woman program will hold a special evening titled “Turn Up the You and Quiet the Critic” at 5:30 p.m. at 121 Club at Eastworks, 116 Pleasant St., Easthampton. Keynote speaker Pam Victor, president of Happier Valley Comedy, will discuss “Five Techniques for Quieting Your Inner Critic,” and there will be live music, food, women’s health information, and shopping with local vendors. Victor is a professional improviser, facilitator, teacher, and the founder and president of Happier Valley Comedy, the first improv theater and training center in Western Mass. She directs the three branches of the company: the comedy-training center, regular shows, and the Through Laughter program for professional and personal development. The event cost is $15. To register, visit turnuptheyou.eventbrite.com. For more information, call (413) 794-5200.

Maifest Block Party

May 17-18: Maifest is a colorful, joyous tradition in Germany. It celebrates the arrival of spring, when food is plentiful and spirits flow freely. The tradition will unfold in Springfield with the Maifest Block Party, a two-day community event, presented by the Student Prince & the Fort, set to take place outdoors on Fort Street and inside the restaurant. Live bands will fill the air with music while guests sip beer and head inside for a Maifest menu filled with spring delights. This year, a generous portion of the proceeds will benefit Rays of Hope to bring the organization closer to its mission of finding a cure for breast cancer. The festivities will be emceed by radio personality Lopez from WMAS. The tapping of the ceremonial keg will be headed by Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno and Denise Jordan, chair of the Rays of Hope campaign, who is also executive director of the Springfield Housing Authority. Sgt. Brian Elliott of the Springfield Police Department will host the ceremonial cheer. Rudi Scherff of the Student Prince will give a brief talk about the Maifest tradition.

Labor and Employment Law Conference

May 21: Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C. will hold a Labor and Employment Law Conference from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Springfield. “The conference will deliver an in-depth review of some of the most challenging employment-law issues organizations, human-resources personnel, and management have faced over the past year, and will provide cutting-edge insights needed for surviving challenges on the horizon,” said Partner Marylou Fabbo. Breakout sessions will include “Paid Family and Medical Leave: Change Is Coming” “Wage and Hour Mistakes,” “Harassment, Discrimination, and Why Employers Get Sued,” “Labor and Employment Law Update,” “How to Handle Requests for Reasonable Accommodations,” and “How to Conduct an Internal Investigation.” Speakers and panel-discussion participants will include Skoler Abbott attorneys and other leaders in human resources and employment law. A continental breakfast at 8:30 a.m. and luncheon are included with the conference, as well as time for networking and questions following the presentations. See the full agenda and register online at skoler-abbott.com/training-programs or call (413) 737-4753.

Social Work Conference

May 22: More than 350 professionals from throughout Western Mass. will gather on the campus of Western New England University from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the 37th annual Social Work Conference. The keynote speaker will be Jen Falcone, director of Businesses Against Human Trafficking. A survivor of child sexual abuse and trafficking as an adolescent, she will discuss her experiences and how utter devastation kick-started the healing that drives her life choices and professional work. Falcone will focus on launching a movement within the Springfield-area business community to address human trafficking. Frank Sacco will be honored with the Jim Quinn Human Service Award at the conference. In addition to a celebrated career nationally and internationally in the fields of social work and psychotherapy, Sacco has spent his life researching and authoring books and articles on bullying, teacher bullying, and building a successful anti-bullying structure within a school. He consulted for the FBI after the 1999 Columbine shooting as well as internet sexual exploitation and domestic violence. The day-long conference, sponsored by Western New England University’s Bachelor of Social Work Program, the Social Work Advisory Council, and the Office of Enrollment Management, will also feature more than 30 exhibitors from throughout the region. The conference fee is $165 and includes registration, luncheon, and six credit hours for full (100%) attendance. Lower student rates are also available. To register online, visit wne.edu/prodev, or call (413) 796-2173.

JA Inspire Career Exploration Fair

May 28: Junior Achievement of Western Massachusetts (JAWM), now celebrating its centennial anniversary, will host the JA Inspire Career Exploration Fair from 8 a.m. to noon at the MassMutual Center, 1277 Main St., Springfield. “We will host more than 500 students from seventh through 11th grades, who will have the opportunity to explore diverse career options at interactive booths featuring colleges, universities, trade schools, apprenticeship programs, companies, local law enforcement, and public-safety organizations from throughout Western Massachusetts,” said Jennifer Connolly, president of JAWM. The JA Inspire program provides students with the opportunity to learn about careers from industry representatives in time to begin planning for high-school coursework and better prepare themselves for life after graduation. The program consists of four in-class lessons, plus the career exploration fair, all designed to engage students and help them explore education and career pathways, showcase careers in Western Mass. with a focus on high-wage and high-demand industries, and connect students with industry representatives who can share career advice and offer interactive exhibits during the career fair. Exhibitor space is still available at no charge. Exhibitors will present interactive and engaging career stations, while providing volunteer mentors to staff the career stations throughout the event. To reserve a career station, contact Connolly at (413) 747-7670 or [email protected]. To learn more about the event, visit jawm.org/events or call (413) 747-7670.

Community Action Awards

June 13: Springfield Partners for Community Action will present a night of celebrating those in action within the community. The Community Action Awards will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Springfield Marriott Hotel and Conference Center. It will be a night of speakers, awards, handing out scholarships to Community Scholarship winners, and a silent auction for guests to participate in. Ticket purchase is available at communityactionevent.eventbrite.com. Springfield Partners for Community Action is the federally designated community action agency of Springfield whose mission is to provide resources that assist those in need to obtain economic stability and ultimately create a better way of life. For more information on the event, contact Natalia Arocho at (413) 263-6500, ext. 6516, or [email protected].

40 Under Forty Gala

June 20: BusinessWest will present its 13th annual 40 Under Forty Gala, a celebration of 40 young business and civic leaders in Western Mass. The lavish cocktail party, to begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Log Cabin in Holyoke, will feature butlered hors d’oeuvres, food stations, and entertainment — and, of course, the presentation of the class of 2019, which is profiled in the April 29 issue of BusinessWest and at businesswest.com. Also, the fifth Continued Excellence Award honoree will be announced. Tickets cost $75 per person; only standing-room tickets remain. For more information, call (413) 781-8600, ext. 100, or e-mail [email protected]. PeoplesBank is the presenting sponsor, Health New England is the Continued Excellence Award sponsor, and WWLP-22 News is the media sponsor. Other sponsors include Baystate Health. the Isenberg School of Management, MP CPAs, Mercedes-Benz of Springfield, Live Nation, MGM Springfield, Comcast Business, and YPS of Greater Springfield (partner).

‘Thrive After 55’ Wellness Fair

June 21: State Sen. Eric Lesser announced that he will host the third annual “Thrive After 55” Wellness Fair in partnership with Health New England, Springfield College, and the Center for Human Development (CHD). This year’s fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Field House on the campus of Springfield College, 263 Alden St., Springfield. The fair is free and open to the public. With more than 70 local organizations ranging from health and fitness to nutrition and elder law, the annual fair will connect residents of the Greater Springfield area with information and resources to help them thrive. The event will feature several educational seminars which will highlight areas of interest for attendees, including estate planning and elder law, scam avoidance, and diet and nutrition. Heart Song Yoga Center of East Longmeadow will return for a third year with an interactive demonstration of chair yoga and movement. The program includes a boxed lunch, hundreds of raffle prizes, and access to information and experts. To RSVP, call Lesser’s office at (413) 526-6501 or visit senatorlesser.com/thrive.

People on the Move

People on the Move

Michael Tucker, president and CEO of Greenfield Cooperative Bank (GCB), announced that the board of directors has approved the promotions of Christopher Wilkey to MIS officer, Adam Baker to vice president – commercial loans, Janet Rosenkranz to vice president and senior credit officer, and Erin Tautznik to assistant vice president and branch officer.

Christopher Wilkey

• Wilkey is responsible for administration of the bank’s internal network and assisting staff in technology issues. He has been with GCB since 2007 and has been lead technology specialist since 2014. He attended the accounting program at Greenfield Community College.

Adam Baker

• Baker has more than 11 years in banking, primarily in commercial credit. He is a graduate of UMass Amherst and received his MBA from Southern New Hampshire University. He is based in the King Street office of Northampton Cooperative Bank, a division of Greenfield Cooperative Bank. He is responsible for developing new commercial-loan business in the bank’s market area, with a focus in Hampshire County. He is active in Horizons for Homeless Children, the Special Olympics, and Lighthouse Holyoke.

Janet Rosenkranz

• Rosenkranz has more than 23 years in banking and has been with GCB since 2016. She is a graduate of UMass Amherst with a degree in economics. She is based at the 62 Federal St. office of GCB and is responsible for managing the bank’s commercial credit-analysis staff and assisting in managing the overall bank loan portfolio. She is active with the American Cancer Society, the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, and Safe Passage.

Erin Tautznik

• Tautznik has more than 14 years of banking experience. She is responsible for managing the 67 King St., Northampton office of the bank. She joined the bank in 2004 and has attended Holyoke Community College and numerous banking seminars and courses. She is also a volunteer with the JFK Middle School’s after-school program.

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In recognition of her leadership in supervising social-work students from Springfield College, Square One Chief Family Services Officer Jenise Katalina was recently named Field Supervisor of the Year. The award was presented by the Springfield College School of Social Work at a ceremonial breakfast on April 26. The recognition comes following Square One’s longstanding partnership with Springfield College and Katalina’s years of leading the school’s aspiring social workers by supervising their field work at Square One. Before joining Square One, Katalina served for six years as a supervisor in a Springfield-based residential program for latency-age children struggling with emotional and behavioral challenges related to trauma. Her prior experience includes the supervision and coordination of after-school programs and drop-in teen youth programs with the YMCA of Greater Springfield. She received her bachelor’s degree from Westfield State University and her master of social work degree from Springfield College. She is a licensed certified social worker in Massachusetts. Katalina is the past chair of the Springfield Department of Health and Human Services’ Maternal Child Health Commission. She currently serves in a leadership capacity for the Hampden County Perinatal Support Coalition and the Springfield Baby Bottoms Diaper Bank. She serves on the board of directors for MotherWoman and is a Baystate community faculty member for the Population-based Urban and Rural Community Health program. She is also a member of many community collaborative groups, including the Project ACCESS Maternal-Child Health Partnership and Springfield’s Project Baby.

•••••

Melissa Brunt

Coldwell Banker Upton-Massamont Realtors announced the addition of Realtor Melissa Brunt to its roster of professional real-estate agents in its Main Street, Northampton office. After working in the hospitality industry for a number of years, Brunt decided to make the switch to residential real-estate sales. Brunt is a member of the Realtor Assoc. of the Pioneer Valley, the National Assoc. of Realtors, and the Massachusetts Assoc. of Realtors. As a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Upton-Massamont Realtors, her primary focus will be residential real estate in Hampshire and Franklin counties.

•••••

Berkshire Bank announce the 2019 Volunteer Service X-ellence Award winners: Leonard O’Dea, money desk officer in Pittsfield, for his leadership and individual volunteer service activities outside of his role at the bank; Melissa Myers, compliance analyst in Pittsfield, for her leadership and service in both company-supported and individual volunteer activities; and Shanatia Bygrave, financial services representative in Hudson, N.Y., for her leadership and participation in the bank’s corporate volunteer program. Each year, the bank recognizes employees for their volunteerism in the community by naming three top volunteers. The annual awards program celebrates company employees who have made outstanding contributions to their communities. The three recipients were selected based on their strong record of volunteerism to nonprofit organizations through both company-supported activities and individual service in the broader community. Each of the award winners received a $1,000 donation that will be made to the nonprofit organization of their choice.

•••••

David Rooks

The largest healthcare IT managed-services provider in Western Mass., baytechIT, is expanding its leadership team with the appointment of David Rooks as director of Operations. A seasoned IT and telecommunications industry leader, Rooks previously served as manager of the Project Management Office at VertitechIT.

•••••

With more than 25 years of business-development and public-relations experience, Joe Mitchell has joined Eversource as its newest community-relations and economic-development specialist. He will serve as the company’s liaison for communities in Hampden and Hampshire counties. His focus is supporting Eversource’s electric service business. Mitchell is a past co-chair of the Economic Development Partners of Western Massachusetts, executive director of the Westfield Redevelopment Authority, and a graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Most recently, he served as the city of Westfield’s Advancement officer. In this role, he successfully completed numerous large, long-term projects directly related to business development and retention for the city. His previous duties involved site location, expansion, and technical assistance generating private investment, economic opportunities, and jobs. He has worked with all of the Western Mass. communities and has strong relationships with municipal officials and business leaders.

•••••

Mark Kempic will assume the role of president of Columbia Gas of Massachusetts on May 1. The role of president is in addition to his current role as chief operating officer of Columbia Gas, which he has held since January 2019. From September 2018 to January 2019, Kempic was a key part of the leadership team for the Greater Lawrence recovery efforts. Since January, he has led the team focused on restoring the communities of Andover, Lawrence, and North Andover, including overseeing the introduction of the Columbia Gas Equipment Repair Plan, the Heating Equipment Replacement Program, and the private-property restoration work that is currently underway. In his role as president and chief operating officer, Kempic will continue to focus on improvements to statewide infrastructure and implementation of a number of safety enhancements for the company’s infrastructure and operations, as well as phase-two restoration efforts. He will also focus heavily on community engagement, including planned partnerships with local schools for efforts such as career days and other STEM education programs. Kempic first started with Columbia Gas 40 years ago. His experience in the energy industry includes roles in information technology, engineering, gas supply, corporate planning, and legal and regulatory policy. Prior to his assistance in the Merrimack Valley, Mark served as NiSource’s chief transformation officer, responsible for enhancing efforts to integrate processes and technology across the company’s seven-state footprint. He also previously served as president of Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania and Columbia Gas of Maryland. He holds a law degree from Capital University School of Law, a bachelor’s degree in computer and information science from the University of Pittsburgh, and an associate degree in solar heating and cooling engineering from Pennsylvania State University. He has been licensed to practice law in four states, including Massachusetts.

•••••

The U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) announced the election of 100 new members to the academy in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. They include Lila Gierasch, distinguished professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Chemistry at UMass Amherst. The NAS is charged with providing independent, objective advice to the nation on matters related to science and technology. Scientists are elected by their peers to membership in the NAS for outstanding contributions to research. Gierasch’s research focus for decades has been protein folding — that is, how amino-acid sequence determines the three-dimensional structure of a protein. She is particularly focused on how proteins fold in the cellular environment and the role of molecular chaperones in ensuring high fidelity in the folding process. Gierasch’s honor is the latest in a recent series of recognitions she has earned from research peers and professional societies. Last year, for example, she received the American Chemical Society’s Ralph F. Hirschmann Award in Peptide Chemistry for “her seminal contributions to peptide structure and function, peptide models for protein folding and function, and roles of peptide and protein aggregation in disease.” In 2016, she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. That same year, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology named Gierasch editor in chief of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the society’s flagship journal, for a five-year term. In 2014, Gierasch was named to the National Institutes of Health Council of Councils, established to advise the NIH director on policies and activities of the Division of Program Coordination, Planning and Strategic Initiatives, which includes making recommendations on research that represents important areas of emerging scientific opportunities, rising public-health challenges, or knowledge gaps that deserve special emphasis or would otherwise benefit from strategic planning and coordination. Most recently, she was recognized for her “outstanding contributions to peptide science” by the American Peptide Society.

•••••

Fierst, Kane & Bloomberg, LLP announced that Jonathan Kane, who joined the firm in 2001 and became a partner in 2005, has been appointed associate justice of the Housing Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. His last formal day at the firm will be May 31. Meanwhile, Susan Cooper has become a partner in the firm. She has more than 25 years of experience representing businesses of all types and sizes, from sole proprietors to international corporations. Her primary areas of practice include transactional matters such as business acquisitions and sales, corporate reorganizations, advising startups, and commercial lending. She is a graduate of Cornell University and the George Washington University National Law Center. In addition, Mae Stiles has recently become of counsel to the firm. She has 11 years of experience in complex commercial litigation, including antitrust and intellectual-property matters as well as a wide variety of corporate, business, and licensing transactions. She is a graduate of the University of Vermont and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She is admitted to practice in the state and federal courts of Massachusetts, New York, and California.

Chamber Corners: Upcoming Events

www.easthamptonchamber.org

Chamber Corners

1BERKSHIRE

www.1berkshire.com

(413) 499-1600

May 29: 1Berkshire Chamber Nite, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Fairview Hospital, 29 Lewis Ave., Great Barrington. Join us for the May Chamber Nite in partnership with the Stockbridge Chamber of Commerce. Members of either organization get in free for this networking opportunity. To register, visit www.1berkshire.com.

AMHERST AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.amherstarea.com

(413) 253-0700

May 15: May After 5, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Amity Street Dental. Join us for an evening of networking at Amity Street Dental, and find out more about the work of Dr. Hunt, Dr. Castenson, and Dr. Ivancev, as well as their new ‘Amity plan’ for small businesses. Enjoy food from the Pub. Cost: $10 for members, $15 for non-members.

May 18: Amherst Downtown Lives United Day. Amherst Downtown businesses are coming together to support United Way of Hampshire County. On May 18, several businesses have pledged 5% of sales or a minimum of $250 to United Way.

FRANKLIN COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.franklincc.org

(413) 773-5463

May 26: Chamber Lunch: noon to 1:30 p.m., hosted by Greenfield Community College Dining Commons. Featuring Mike Kennealy, secretary, Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development. Sponsored by Greenfield Community College Foundation and the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce. Cost: $18 for members, $20 for non-members. Register at franklincc.org or e-mail [email protected].

GREATER CHICOPEE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.chicopeechamber.org

(413) 594-2101

May 15: May Salute Breakfast, 7:15-9 a.m., hosted by Munich Haus. Sponsored by: Westfield Bank, Holyoke Medical Center, N. Riley Construction Inc., Polish National Credit Union, USI Insurance Services, Spherion Staffing Services, PeoplesBank, Galaxy Community Council, and the Arbors Kids. Chief Greeter: Stephanie Shaw, Chicopee Veterans Services. Keynote Speaker: Col. Peters of the 439th Airlift Wing. Cost: $25 for members, $30 for non-members. Sign up online at chicopeechamber.org/events.

May 16: Chamber CheckPoint Legislative Luncheon, noon to 1:30 p.m., hosted by the Log Cabin, 500 Easthampton Road, Holyoke. This event offers chamber members and the community an opportunity to hear from state and federal elected officials. With more than 100 people expected to attend, it is also a networking opportunity. This year’s speakers include Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito and state Rep. Joseph Wagner. Cost: $35 for members, $45 for non-members. Sign up online at chicopeechamber.org/events.

May 17: Lights On Art & Culture, 5-8 p.m. Greater Chicopee Chamber of Commerce, Chicopee Cultural Council, SilverBrick Mills, and the City of Chicopee are collaborating once again to show appreciation to those who live, work, and play in the downtown area. For one evening, participating businesses will showcase an artist and/or musician. This is a free event.

May 21: Chamber Seminar: “Assessing and Developing Future Leaders” with Michael Kline, PsyD, 8:30-10:30 a.m., hosted by La Quinta Inn & Suites. Series sponsored by Westfield Bank. Cost: $30. Sign up online at chicopeechamber.org/events.

May 23: Business After Hours, 4:30-6:30 p.m., hosted by Williams Distributing. Series Sponsored by Polish National Credit Union. Monthly sponsors are Galaxy Community Council and the Arbors Kids. Cost: $10 for members, $15 for non-members. Sign up online at chicopeechamber.org/events.

May 31: Chicopee Chamber of Commerce Annual Golf Tournament, 10 a.m. shotgun start, hosted by Chicopee Country Club. Presented by Polish National Credit Union. Sponsored by First American Insurance Agency Inc., Westfield Bank, Holyoke Medical Center, Poly-Plating Inc., Hampton Inn, Residence Inn of Chicopee, Tru by Hilton, ICNE, Roca Inc., and Health New England. Cost: $125 per golfer, $500 per team of four, and/or $20 golfer package that includes 25 raffle tickets and one mulligan. Sign up online at chicopeechamber.org/events.

GREATER EASTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

(413) 527-9414

May 22: Chamber on the Vine, 5:30-8:30 a.m., hosted by Glendale Ridge Vineyard, 155 Glendale Road, Southampton. Join us for a night under the stars. The Floyd Patterson Band will provide music, the vineyard will provide wine, and food will be provided by Little Truc food truck and Crooked Stick Pops. Pre-registration is required, as tickets are limited. The deadline for refunds is May 15. This is a rain-or-shine event. No tickets will be sold at the door. Cost: $25 for music alone, $35 for music and wine. For more information and to register, visit www.easthamptonchamber.org or call the chamber at (413) 527-9414.

June 11: “In the Know” Panel Series and Networking, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Fort Hill Brewery, 30 Fort Hill Road, Easthampton. The Chamber offers the second in the “In The Know” panel series, where a panel made up of Gen Brough, president, Finck & Perras Insurance; Dave Griffin Jr., vice president, Dowd Agencies; and Matt Waugh, president, Waugh Agency Insurance will discuss insurance needs. Get the insight you need to consider to protect yourself and your business. Refreshments will be served courtesy of Nini’s. Cost: $15 for members, $30 for non-members. Pre-registration is a must. No tickets will be sold at the door. For more information and to register, visit www.easthamptonchamber.org or call the chamber at (413) 527-9414.

June 26: Speaker Breakfast: Cyber Breach Symposium, 7:30-9 a.m., hosted by Williston Northampton School, 19 Payson Ave., Easthampton. Featuring Mat Reardon, Beazley Group. Learn what steps you can take to minimize your risk. Cost: $25 for members, $35 for non-members. 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

May 15: Business After Hours at the Fishway, 5-7 p.m. Every spring, American shad, Atlantic salmon, sea lamprey, and other anadromous fish swim up the Connecticut River as they begin their spring migration. Join us to make connections and enjoy food and drink as we mingle and watch these indigenous fish make their way upstream and over the dam on the first and most successful fish lift on the Atlantic coast. Cost: $10 for members, $25 for non-members.

May 29: Business Person of the Year Dinner Reception, 5:30-8:30 p.m., hosted by the Wherehouse? Join the Greater Holyoke business community as we honor and recognize our 2018 Business Person of the Year, Barry Farrell of Farrell Funeral Home. Additionally, we will be honoring Maria Ferrer of MD Beauty Salon as our 2018 Henry A. Fifield Volunteer of the Year. Make connections and enjoy a hot, plated dinner, cocktails, and a casual program. Cost: $50.

GREATER NORTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.northamptonchamber.com

(413) 584-1900

May 14: Workshop: “Microsoft Word Tips,” 9-11 a.m., hosted by the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce, 99 Pleasant St., Northampton. Presented by Pioneer Training. This workshop contains a variety of quick tips and tricks in Microsoft Word that will save hours of time. Attendees will learn to add buttons to the Quick Access Toolbar; shortcuts for selecting words, sentences, and paragraphs; and how (and why) to display non-printing characters in a document. Practice using the Format Painter to copy formatting and fix problems with numbered and bulleted lists. Learn to create AutoCorrect entries to correct common typos, and AutoText entries and Quick Parts to easily enter frequently used text. Cost: $25 for members, $35 for non-members.

May 28: Workshop: “Upgrading to Office 365,” 9-11 a.m., hosted by the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce, 99 Pleasant St., Northampton. Presented by Pioneer Training. Cost: $35 for members, $45 for non-members.

GREATER WESTFIELD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.westfieldbiz.org

(413) 568-1618

May 14: The 58th annual Golf Tournament, hosted by Tekoa Country Club, 459 Russell Road, Westfield. Along with a round of golf and dinner, there will be raffles and a live auction to benefit three $500 student scholarships. Sign up online at www.westfieldbiz.org/events. For sponsorships, to donate a raffle prize, or for more information, call the chamber at (413) 568-1618.

May 20: After 5 Connections, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Betts Plumbing & Heating Supply, 14 Coleman Ave., Westfield. This event is co-hosted by MI-BOX of Central & Western MA. 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. Sign up online at www.westfieldbiz.org/events. For more information, call (413) 568-1618.

SPRINGFIELD REGIONAL CHAMBER

www.springfieldregionalchamber.com

(413) 787-1555

May 23: Stars & Strikes, 5:30-8 p.m., hosted by the Tap Room at MGM Springfield. Featuring celebrity bowlers, passed appetizers, and unlimited games. Cost: $20. To register, visit www.springfieldregionalchamber.com, e-mail [email protected], or call (413) 755-1310.

WEST OF THE RIVER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.ourwrc.com

(413) 426-3880

May 15: Night of Networking with YPS, 5-7 p.m., hosted by the Zoo in Forest Park. Bring lots of business cards to this co-hosted event. Mingle, tour, and network for a night of fun and business. Cost: free for members, $10 for non-members. Register online at www.westoftheriverchamber.com.

May 22: Job Fair 2019: Local Jobs for Local People, 3-8 p.m., hosted by Storrowton Tavern & Carriage House, West Springfield. The West of the River Chamber will host a local job fair. West Springfield and Agawam businesses along with other employment opportunities will be showcased for the public. High-school students, college students, and adults will attend this event looking to begin or advance their careers. This event is free and open to the public. To be a participating vendor, register at www.westoftheriverchamber.com.

YOUNG PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY OF GREATER SPRINGFIELD

springfieldyps.com

May 18: Third annual Adult Field Day, 9 a.m. to noon, hosted by Train for Life, Chicopee. Teams compete in games for prizes. Beer and food available. No athletic ability required. Special registration pricing before April 18: $20 for YPS, Train for Life, or Extra Innings members; $30 for non-members. After April 18: $25 for YPS, Train for Life, or Extra Innings members; $35 for non-members. To register, visit springfieldyps.com.

Company Notebook

Company Notebook

Homewood Suites by Hilton Hadley Now Open

HADLEY — Homewood Suits by Hilton, part of Hilton’s All Suites portfolio, announced the opening of its newest property, Homewood Suits by Hilton Hadley. With 96 new suites, the hotel is the first extended-stay property in Hampshire County. Developed and owned by the Parmar Family and managed by Pioneer Valley Hotel Group, Homewood Suites by Hilton Hadley offers a combination of studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom accommodations featuring fully equipped kitchens and separate living and sleeping areas. Guests are also provided amenities like complimentary hot breakfast, evening socials, wi-fi, and a grocery-shopping service. Located at 340 Russell St., Homewood Suites by Hilton Hadley also features an outdoor kitchen and grill area, fitness center, and indoor pool, as well as 695 square feet of flexible space for meetings and social events.

Hogan Technology Receives Top Industry Award

EASTHAMPTON — Hogan Technology recently received Technology Assurance Group’s (TAG) top award at the 19th annual TAG Convention held in Orlando, Fla. TAG, an international organization of independently owned managed-technology service providers in the U.S. and Canada, selected Hogan Technology as the winner of the TAG Champion Award. The award is based on the company’s ability to drive fellow TAG members’ growth and advancement. Hogan Technology offers an array of IT networking, voice, and video solutions all designed to increase customers’ profitability and productivity. The TAG Champion Award was accepted by Sean Hogan, president of Hogan Technology. “Our company’s goal is to always strive to be on the leading edge of technology,” Hogan said. “Through TAG, we learn best business practices for the betterment of the customers we serve. We believe in giving back to the members that have helped us along the way. We’re proud to have won this award among such a sophisticated group of managed-technology services providers.”

Registration Open for HCC Summer-session Classes

HOLYOKE — Registration is underway for summer-session courses at Holyoke Community College (HCC). Three- and four-credit summer classes at HCC are offered in two four-week sessions and one full-term, seven-week session — on campus, online, and blended. Summer session one begins June 3 (ending June 27 to July 3), while session two begins July 8 (ending Aug. 1-8). The full-term summer session begins June 3-4 (ending July 17-23). HCC’s comprehensive summer academic program comprises nearly 200 course sections in 38 academic areas, including accounting, American Sign Language, anthropology, art, biology, business administration, chemistry, communications, community health, criminal justice, culinary arts, earth science, economics, engineering, English, academic English as a second language, environmental science, forensic science, general studies, gerontology, health, health information management, history, human services, law, management, marketing, math, medical assisting, music, nutrition, philosophy, political science, SEM (science, engineering, and math), psychology, sociology, Spanish, and sustainability. A complete listing of course descriptions and summer-class schedules is available at hcc.edu/registration. To enroll, visit hcc.edu/apply. For more information, visit hcc.edu/admission or call (413) 552-2321.

STCC to Offer Summer Classes

SPRINGFIELD — Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) will offer five-week and 10-week on-campus and online summer sessions. Session one begins on June 3, and session two starts July 8. Academic subject areas include accounting, anthropology, biology, business, chemistry, criminal justice, economics, electronic systems, English, graphic communication and photography, history, information technologies, math, medical terminology, music, philosophy, physics, psychology, sign language, sociology, Spanish, and speech. Class schedules are available at www.stcc.edu/summer. Students can register online, by phone at (413) 755-4321, or in the Registrar’s Office, Student Learning Commons (Building 19), Room 169. Summer also presents an opportunity for high-school students to take free college classes and earn credit. Area high-school students are encouraged to enroll in STCC’s College Now dual-enrollment program to take summer courses. Students who begin during their junior year can enroll in up to eight free courses, which may be taken to fulfill high-school graduation requirements or to pursue an academic interest. Credits earned can also be used toward any STCC degree program. Interested students should speak with their parent or guardian and guidance counselor before the May 1 application deadline for session-one courses.

Springfield College AmeriCorps Program Receives National Funding

SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield College AmeriCorps Program will receive $1,133,274 in AmeriCorps funding spread out over the next three years from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), the federal agency responsible for AmeriCorps and other national service programs. Springfield College is one 26 Massachusetts-based organizations that received federal funding, supporting 6,611 AmeriCorps members in their efforts to tackle ongoing challenges in early-childhood education, job readiness, and environmental conservation. For 22 years, the Springfield College AmeriCorps program has provided the city of Springfield and its public schools with student-support and academic-support specialists. Its staff and student volunteers provide mentoring, counseling, social-emotional reinforcement, direct interventions, and identification of risk factors that lead to dropping out of school. The Springfield College AmeriCorps program is the largest in Western Mass., with 56 total members. Springfield College AmeriCorps members have provided an average of more than 44,000 hours of service to more than 16 of Springfield’s public schools leading to student academic success in English and math, and improved results in early literacy skills, attendance, and behavior.

Paragus Technology Drive Raises $2,445 for Dakin

HADLEY — On April 22, Paragus IT teamed with Dave’s Soda and Pet Food City and the Lexington Group for a technology-recycling drive to promote sustainability on Earth Day and to benefit Dakin Humane Society. Paragus took old, unwanted computers, laptops, printers, and other equipment to prepare them for reuse or proper disposal. In exchange, it collected $5 per piece of equipment — all of which went to benefit Dakin Humane Society. Between drop-offs at Paragus IT in Hadley and Dave’s Soda And Pet Food City and pick-ups by the Lexington Group, the technology drive raised a total of $2,445 for Dakin Humane Society.

Briefcase

Briefcase

Leadership Pioneer Valley Accepting Applications for LEAP Class of 2020

SPRINGFIELD — Leadership Pioneer Valley (LPV) is now accepting applications for enrollment in the LEAP class of 2020, a nine-month, regional leadership-development program that engages the Pioneer Valley’s most promising emerging leaders through learning and exploration. Participants are trained in leadership skills by experts in a classroom setting. They also attend in-depth field experiences across the region where they meet with local leaders and explore the region’s economy and culture. The LEAP program runs September through May. In its seven years, nearly 300 individuals representing more than 90 companies, organizations, and municipalities have participated. The program has filled a critical need for a leadership program that builds a network of emerging leaders to address the challenges and opportunities of the region. Fifty-three percent of alumni have a new leadership role at work, 64% have joined a new board of directors, and 99% made new meaningful connections. LPV is seeking applicants all over the Pioneer Valley, including Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin counties in different sectors. The program is made for those in nonprofits, businesses, and government who are eager to increase their leadership skills and take action to better the region. Applicants are considered in a competitive application process that prioritizes diversity by employment sector, geography, race, gender, and sexual orientation. Emerging leaders, mid-career professionals with leadership potential, and those looking to better the Pioneer Valley should consider applying. Those who apply by June 1 will be eligible for $100 off of their personal tuition, and companies with three or more applicants by June 1 will receive 50% off one participant. The deadline for LPV class of 2020 applications is July 1. Applications and further information can be found at www.leadershippv.org.

First-quarter Profits Up Across MGM Resorts

LAS VEGAS — MGM Resorts International reported financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2019. Consolidated net revenues increased 13% compared to the prior year quarter to $3.2 billion. MGM Springfield earned $9.38 million on $77.9 million in net revenue. That figure represents adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization, or EBITDA. “The first quarter came in slightly better than our expectations with consolidated net revenues up by 13% and adjusted EBITDA up 5%,” said Jim Murren, chairman and CEO of MGM Resorts International. “Our Las Vegas resorts experienced broad and diversified customer demand. Our non-gaming revenues grew by 4%.” Net revenues increased 21% to $804 million, including $78 million in contributions from the opening of MGM Springfield in August and $37 million in contributions from the acquisition of Empire City Casino in New York in January. “We remain focused on achieving our 2020 targets of $3.6 billion to $3.9 billion in consolidated adjusted EBITDA and significant growth in free cash flow,” Murren said. “Our strategy to achieve these goals includes the continued ramping up of MGM Cotai [in Macau], Park MGM [in Las Vegas], and MGM Springfield, and the implementation of the MGM 2020 Plan. MGM 2020 is a company-wide initiative aimed at leveraging a more centralized organization to maximize profitability and lay the groundwork for the company’s digital transformation to drive revenue growth.”

PVPC Releases Economic-development Strategy

SPRINGFIELD — The Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC) recently released its 2019 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) and Pioneer Valley Plan for Progress Five-year Update, a blueprint for economic development in the region. The CEDS features a description of regional economic-development conditions and sets forth goals and objectives for the future, as well as a list of projects seeking the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration Public Works funding in the next year. The report highlights the region’s continued decrease in unemployment, an improved workforce-talent pipeline, and increased early-education enrollment and high-school and community-college graduation rates, among others, as metrics illustrating the overall progress being made. The CEDS also lists many major committed projects of regional significance, such as the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame renovations in Springfield, North Square at the Mill District in Amherst, and the One Ferry Street mixed-use development in Easthampton. A full digital copy is available at www.pvpc.org/plans/comprehensive-economic-development-strategy-ceds. Hard copies are also available upon request.

Incorporations

Incorporations

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

CHICOPEE

Keshar Enterprise Inc., 577 East St., Chicopee, MA 01020. Ankitkumar G. Patel, 35 Montvale Ave., Woburn, MA 01801. Package store.

Lee’s Taekwondo at Chicopee Inc., 82 Main St., Chicopee, MA 01020. Suhyun Lee, same. Taekwondo cenTerrace

FLORENCE

Kiwanis Club of Northampton Inc., 138 Overlook Dr., Florence, MA 01062. Margaret Wynne-Gruszecki, same. Raise funds, organize volunteers, and conduct all lawful activities to meet the unmet needs of the populations of Northampton, surrounding communities and elsewhere.

LENOX

Lenore Property Owners’ Association Inc., 150 Pittsfield Lenox Road, Lenox, MA 01240. Louis J. Allegrone, 771 Robinson Road, Hinsdale, MA 01235. To own, manage, maintain, preserve, protect, repair, improve, use, operate, and dispose of Lenore Road in Hinsdale.

NORTHAMPTON

Landscapes Inc., 84 Conz St., P.O. Box 1332, Northampton, MA 01060. Craig Stevens, same. Landscape services.

PITTSFIELD

L & P Boston Operating Inc., 82 Wendell Ave. Ste 100, Pittsfield, MA 01201. Les Levy, same. Sales and installation of home remodeling services.

SOUTH HADLEY

Larochelle Services Inc., 23 College St., Suite 8, South Hadley, MA 01075. Colleen Miller Larochelle, 8 Briar Spring Lane, South Hadley, MA 01075. Landscaping.

SPRINGFIELD

Just B Transportation Inc., 49 Bissell St., Springfield, MA 01119. Isaac N. Teresia, same. Non-emergency transportation.

LGS Construction Inc., 26 Colonial Ave., 3rd Floor, Springfield, MA 01109. Luis Alberto Galaviz Santos, same. Roofing.

WHATELY

Kyle Monahan Trucking Inc., 305 Haydenville Road, Whately, MA 01093. Kyle Monahan, same. Trucking company.

WILBRAHAM

Kelley Management Group Inc., 931 Main St., Wilbraham, MA 01095. Daniel Kelley, same. Business management consulting services.

Kkuljaem Korean Kitchen Inc., 2205 Boston Road, Apt. A-1, Wilbraham, MA 01095. Paul J. Aust, same. Restaurant.

Doing Business as Certificates

DBA Certificates

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

AMHERST

Go Farm
211 Bay Road
Katie Bodzinski

Taylor Davis Landscape and Construction
577 West St.
Karen Davis

BELCHERTOWN

The K9 Advantage
23 Shea Ave.
Sara Birkel

Pardee Brothers Construction Co.
366 Turkey Hill Road
Stephen Pardee

Rental Solutions, LLC
18 Ledgewood Dr.
Elizabeth Villani

River Valley Craftsman, LLC
125 Federal St.
Bruce Alexander

Roger McGinnis Trucking
7 Brandywine Dr.
Roger McGinnis, Grete McGinnis

Utley Exteriors
631 Warren Wright St.
Stephen Utley

The Vintage Barn
365 Bardwell St.
Lisa Allen

CHICOPEE

Beauty Batlles Micro Hair
661 Front St.
Ashley Batlle

Frame to Finish
88 Taylor St., Apt. 2
Jeffrey Skrocki

Kevin J. White Electrician
792 Front St.
Kevin White

Phoenix Management Inc.
100 Logistic Dr.
Gary Giarratano, Donna, Giarratano

Quick Pick Convenience
452 Chicopee St.
Saima Amir

EAST LONGMEADOW

Landmark Partners Inc.
60 North Main St.
Thomas Avezzie

TigerPress
50 Industrial Dr.
Jennifer Shafii

Trinity Health of New England
98 Shaker Road
Trinity Health of New England

HOLYOKE

Adams St. Market
4 Adams St.
Rosa Parra

Dairy Market
160-162 Lyman St.
Irfan Kashif

Exclusive Cuts
118 Maple St.
Joemarie Lopez

Joy Travel Agency
177 High St.
Joimary Acevedo, Miguel Carrasco

Trinity Heating & Air Inc.
4 Open Square Way
William Pollock, Thomas Pollock

LONGMEADOW

APD Construction Services
9 Greenacre Dr.
Ashley Kauffman

AT&T Mobility
827 Williams St.
Gary Johnson

Hair by Brianna Barcomb
906 Shaker Road
Brianna Barcomb

Jeff’s Granola
87 Ellington St.
Jeff Greim

Low & Picard Real Estate Services
26 Circle St.
William Low

Pleasantview Renovations
122 Pleasantview Ave.
Heidi Kelly

Quality Brush Painting
322 Frank Smith Road
Edward Gerasimchuk

Quality Roofing
49 Cobblestone Road
Ted DeCosmo

Sparkle Time Studio
60 Cheshire Dr.
Kimberly Geisner-Gross

LUDLOW

The FitClub 24
56 East St.
Jessica Brothers

NORTHAMPTON

Chef Mally’s Table
91 Crescent St.
Jamal Jacobs

Cloverdale Cooperative Nursery School Inc.
130 Pine St.
Laura Andersen

Cornucopia Natural Wellness Market
150 Main St.
Jade Jump, Nate Clifford

The Ellery
259 Elm St.
Dierdre Savage

Jack Speyer Art & Antiques
416 North Main St.
Jack Speyer

Piece by Piece Deconstruction
755 Westhampton Road
David Giese

Rayton Logging
331 Burts Pit Road
Peter Rayton

PALMER

Burke Enterprises
115 River St.
Matthew Burke

Demore’s Automotive
1160 Park St.
Michelle Demore

Kelly’s Garden & Grow
1515 Park St.
Stacey Kelly, Brian Kelly

SOUTHWICK

Allen’s Affordable Auto Repair
96 Point Grove Road
Christopher Allen

Forastiere Family Funeral Service Inc.
624 College Highway
Frank Forastiere

Lakehouse Financial
6 North Pond Road
Melissa Garrity

SPRINGFIELD

Beautiful Garden Maintenance
34 Sumner Ave.
Juan Cardona

Blow Barber Shop
380 Allen St.
Daniel Ojeda

BMT Lock and Key
306 Hermitage Dr.
Walter Kulas

Bottom Line Body Work, LLC
2 Medical Center Dr.
Saskia Cote

Brican-Saf Joint Venture
155 State St.
Brian Gibbons

Cleaner Homes
210 Euclid Ave.
Deseree Gonzalez

Coffee Bin
680 Sumner Ave.
Binh Le

Contribution Clothing
60 Old Brook Road
Kelly Partridge

CubeSmart 6099
340 Taylor St.
Doug Tyrell

Excite Media Arts
53 Thompson St.
Edward Mayers

Extremely Clean 2, LLC
242 Dickinson St.
Martin Johnson

Faith Orange Apparel
257 Orange St.
Brittany Polk

Figlio Restaurant
286 Bridge St.
Robert D’Agostino

Foxtrot Construction Inc.
1350 Main St.
Jeffrey O’Connor

McMullen-Jones Realty
30 Hermitage Dr.
Cynthia Jones

Nextier Marketing
74 Clantoy St.
Rhojel Dixon

Omnipoint Technology Inc.
235 Eastern Ave.
Timothy Baymon

Orchard Auto Sales & Service
1307 Worcester St.
Timothy Forbes

RN Pavers
155 Drexel St.
Rafael Almengo

Rapid Cuts
1655 Boston Road
Leon Marsh

Richard G. Elfman, DDS
19 Hampden St.
Richard Elfman

RMJ Landscaping
50 Maynard St.
Rolando O’Farrill

Room Pizza and More
1655 Boston Road
Shahriar Allahyari

Thompson/Center Arms
2100 Roosevelt Ave.
Smith & Wesson

Tiffany Jones Retail
123 Kensington Ave.
Donnette Jones

Timoteo’s Grill
436 Boston Road
Carlos Martin

Weekends 246
67 Wollaston St.
Marisa Buor

Zayas Trucking
94 Draper St.
Rafael Zayas

Zodiac Trucking
63 Surrey Road
Zodiac Trucking

Zombie Hideout
1655 Boston Road
William Bullock

WARE

Kristen’s Personal Creations
11 Dale St.
Kristen Lebel

Lost & Found Mercantile
43-47 Main St.
Kristin Rosenbeck

Simply HomeMaid
100 Old Gilbertville Road
Kelly McDonell

Two Guys Haul
81 Greenwich Road
Edward Wyzik, Tonya Wiggin

WESTFIELD

Attorney Daniel R. Gintowt
112 Wild Flower Circle
Daniel Gintowt

Grizzly’s Property Maintenance
11 Sycamore St.
Scott Breveleri

Rolling Hills Lawn Care
23 Bates St.
Daniel Fontaine

Scott’s Specialties
239 Steiger Dr.
Scott Savage

Snack Attack
225 Root Road
Jason Lage

WEST SPRINGFIELD

The Crest Room
706 Westfield St.
Joseph Kelley

Infinity Auto Rental
74 Baldwin St.
Joseph Gallo

La-Z-Boy
1299 Riverdale St.
Ryan Pernice

Long Radio
1102 Riverdale St.
Matthew Imbriglio

Uptown Liquors
1122 Memorial Ave.
Emil Patel

Village Pizza
1164 Westfield St.
Eray Arslan

WILBRAHAM

AAA Games Cards and More
4 Boston Road
Michael Farnham

Confluent Sciences Consulting Inc.
255 Burleigh Road
Frederick Haibach

Home Medics
4 Tall Timber Dr.
Oussama Awkal

Luzi’s Auto Body Inc.
2650 Boston Road
Todd Luzi, Dana-Lee Luzi

Luzi’s Towing and Recovery
2650 Boston Road, Unit R
Jake Luzi

My Sister’s House
392 Three Rivers Road
Lori Mead

Bankruptcies

Bankruptcies

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

Allard, Kristin Ashley
22 Cottage St.
Ware, MA 01082
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/08/19

Bergquist, Derek
171 Shepardson Road
Warwick, MA 01378
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 04/12/19

Boisvert, Andrea
14 Westwood Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/05/19

Brown, Jacqueline L.
1076 East Mountain Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 04/12/19

Bruso, Jeremy H.
Bruso, Lindsay M.
143 Abbey St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/07/19

Bussey, Kara A.
a/k/a Fortier, Kara Ann
26 Amherst St., Unit 4
Granby, MA 01033
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/30/19

Candelaria, Rosaura
68 Church St.
Ware, MA 01082
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/13/19

Caquias, Carmen I.
43 Jasper St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 03/30/19

Cardinale, Nicholas Frank
Cardinale, Denise Marie
51 Pine Grove St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/03/19

Carrion, Joseph A.
Carrion, Marlissa G.
210 Birnam Road
Northfield, MA 01360
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/07/19

Casiello, Kimberly A.
148 Western Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/10/19

Centeno, Claribel
1122 St. James Ave.
Springfield, MA 01104
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/03/19

Clendenin, Jason
Clendenin, Kelly
11 Salem Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/08/19

Cronin-Unwin, Linda A.
53 Center St.
Granby, MA 01033
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/08/19

Crosby, William J.
Crosby, Denise A.
1246 Granby Road, #69
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/01/19

Cust, Jerry L.
36 Westerly Circle
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 04/11/19

Destiny Auto Detailing
Garcia, Miguel A.
286 Lexington St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 04/08/19

DiSciullo, Adam G.
22 Pine St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/07/19

Dragon Flamme Treasures
Laflamme, Patrick M.
Laflamme, Leah A.
37 Montville St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/05/19

Encarnacion, Edwin Ivan
Monteiro Encarnacion, Rachelle Tavares
30 Anderson Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/05/19

Expanding Views Coaching
Rosengarten, Mindy Ellen
46 Willowbrook Dr.
Springfield, MA 01129
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/03/19

Farnsworth, Robert H.
366 Loomis St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/03/19

Frisbie, Robert
85 Manchonis Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 04/04/19

Gamache, Ashley J.
a/k/a Williams, Ashley J.
9 James Ave.
Turners Falls, MA 01376
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/09/19

Gellerman, Leon
170 Nassau Dr.
Springfield, MA 01129
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 04/04/19

Gelula, Jonathan C.
25 Redfern Dr.
Springfield, MA 01109
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 04/12/19

Hamilton, Elizabeth F.
34 Howard St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/01/19

Hernandez, Javier
381 South Elm St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 04/12/19

Hickey, Christine R.
33 Hatfield St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/04/19

Higgins, Mary E.
128 Allen St.
Athol, MA 01331
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/08/19

Hill, Lance K.
P.O. Box 85
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/05/19

Holden, Terry L.
a/k/a Leary, Terry
29 Dogwood Lane
Cotuit, MA 02635
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 04/03/19

Holt, Catherine S.
14 Kowal Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/15/19

Hughes, Kelly
Hughes, Pamela J.
641 Warren Wright Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 04/10/19

Hughes, Lori A.
1608 Center St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 03/30/19

Hutchins, Rebecca
95 Maple St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/08/19

Jackson, Eileen L.
9 Montana St.
North Adams, MA 01247
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/05/19

Jordan, Jeffery Donald
21 Laurel Lane
Montague, MA 01351
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/08/19

Kimbell, Elizabeth A.
11 Lovewell St.
Ware, MA 01082
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/10/19

Lussier, Armand Vernon
510 Blisswood Dr.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/29/19

Malo, Edward P.
Malo, Julie A.
4 Newell St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/15/19

Maloney, David
160 Wood Road
North Adams, MA 01247
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/31/19

Marwick, Lynne M.
51 Worthy Ave., Apt. #11
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/15/19

Matukaitis, Paul Robert
247 Thompson St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/31/19

Morales, Joe
13 Eastern Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/11/19

Munoz, Yolanda M.
38 Exeter St.
Lawrence, MA 01843
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 04/07/19

Pierog, Kelly J.
80 Muzzy St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/05/19

Rivera, Elizabeth
35 Blanding St.
Indian Orchard, MA 01151
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/03/19

Rivera-Gonzalez, Nelson
926 Plumtree Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/02/19

Roberts, Patricia A.
1089 Park St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/30/19

Roda, Joseph P.
Roda, Julie A.
36 Beaufort Circle
Springfield, MA 01104
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 04/03/19

Rodriguez, Milagros
42 Murphy Circle
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/30/19

Salvadore, Joanne
161 East Park Terrace
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/10/19

Santiago, Jorge L.
a/k/a Cartagena, Jorge Luis Santiago
270 Sibley Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/10/19

Shaw, Allen Philip
83 Clement St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/12/19

Skok, Luann F.
418 Meadow St., Apt B-6
Agawam, MA 01001
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/15/19

Swinton, Patricia A.
50 Parkerview St.
Springfield, MA 01129
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 04/02/19

Tesney, David W.
118 Broadview Terrace
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/10/19

Tillery, Joevonne Brace
a/k/a Brace, Joevonne W.
85 Amos Dr.
Springfield, MA 01118
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/13/19

Tiraboschi, Gregory P.
Tiraboschi, Julie K.
1 Pine St.
Monson, MA 01057
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/09/19

Wallis, Howard E.
541 Nassau Dr.
Springfield, MA 01129
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/15/19

Warner, Maria Patricia
44 Evergreen Road, Unit 1
Leeds, MA 01053
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/31/19

Wright, Stephanie A.
101 Huntington Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/11/19

Woffenden, Michelle Marie
a/k/a Rivas, Michelle Marie
59 Aldo Dr.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/29/19

Real Estate Transactions

Real Estate

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

FRANKLIN COUNTY

BERNARDSTON

186 Bald Mountain Road
Bernardston, MA 01337
Amount: $134,900
Buyer: FHLM
Seller: Robert E. Graves
Date: 04/18/19

103 South St.
Bernardston, MA 01337
Amount: $279,900
Buyer: Carlos P. Young
Seller: Thomas F. Frechette
Date: 04/18/19

DEERFIELD

6 Lee Road
Deerfield, MA 01373
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Anthony Martino
Seller: Nationstar Mortgage LLC
Date: 04/22/19

GILL

17 Walnut St.
Gill, MA 01354
Amount: $158,000
Buyer: Rebecca L. Hobbs
Seller: Nancy A. Griswold
Date: 04/19/19

GREENFIELD

98 Bungalow Ave.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Andrew D. Paterno
Seller: Marc A. Greene
Date: 04/11/19

210 Elm St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Emma Lehan
Seller: Edward S. Jenest
Date: 04/17/19

3 Green St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $241,000
Buyer: Michael L. Audet
Seller: Margaret E. Kane
Date: 04/19/19

126 High St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $365,000
Buyer: Nam H. Kim
Seller: El Gold LLC
Date: 04/17/19

216 Munson St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $239,000
Buyer: Michael D. Bobb
Seller: Pavel Angelchev
Date: 04/16/19

73 Riddell St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $241,000
Buyer: Edward M. Dunn
Seller: Eric D. Lundquist
Date: 04/12/19

121 Thayer Road Ext.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Judith F. Lively
Seller: LFT Transformations LLC
Date: 04/10/19

198 Wells St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $189,000
Buyer: Richard P. Ely
Seller: Lisa A. Morrison
Date: 04/19/19

LEYDEN

134 Frizzell Hill Road
Leyden, MA 01337
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Melissa A. Osborne
Seller: Elizabeth A. Johnson
Date: 04/12/19

62 George Lamb Road
Leyden, MA 01337
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Larry Lippert
Seller: Bruce A. Kaeppel
Date: 04/18/19

MONTAGUE

83 2nd St.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $157,500
Buyer: Jonathan J. Hall
Seller: William J. Hildreth
Date: 04/10/19

59 Oakman St.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Evan M. Janes
Seller: Joseph C. Schab
Date: 04/19/19

Old Sunderland Road
Montague, MA 01351
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Elinor S. Wright
Seller: Craven, Barbara L., (Estate)
Date: 04/10/19

85 Taylor Hill Road
Montague, MA 01351
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Elizabeth O. Hopkins
Seller: Stanley Habib
Date: 04/16/19

NORTHFIELD

11 Aldrich St.
Northfield, MA 01360
Amount: $224,000
Buyer: John R. Hann
Seller: Steven C. Wiggin
Date: 04/18/19

83 Captain Beers Plain Road
Northfield, MA 01360
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Eugene Rice
Seller: Albert Krejmas
Date: 04/10/19

ORANGE

172 Chase St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Bryan E. Stewart
Seller: Pride Properties & Holdings
Date: 04/12/19

677 East Main St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Orange Properties LLC
Seller: Joanne C. Sahagian
Date: 04/12/19

96 Eagleville Road
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $172,000
Buyer: Kevin Thatcher
Seller: Cody J. Soos
Date: 04/19/19

SHELBURNE

6 Maple St.
Shelburne, MA 01370
Amount: $305,000
Buyer: David J. Feasey
Seller: Judith Whitbeck-Hoyt
Date: 04/16/19

SUNDERLAND

23 North Bears Den Dr.
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $530,000
Buyer: Loren E. Brock
Seller: Philip R. Eck
Date: 04/11/19

WARWICK

77 Hastings Heights Road
Warwick, MA 01378
Amount: $224,000
Buyer: Cody J. Soos
Seller: Shawn M. Gonynor
Date: 04/19/19

WHATELY

Grey Oak Lane #17
Whately, MA 01093
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: Hamelin Framing Inc.
Seller: Jawk Inc.
Date: 04/18/19

203 Long Plain Road
Whately, MA 01093
Amount: $490,000
Buyer: Heroes Holding LLC
Seller: Bow Wow Resort LLC
Date: 04/12/19

HAMPDEN COUNTY

AGAWAM

30 Brien St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Oscar Gomez
Seller: William Proakis
Date: 04/18/19

252 Line St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $340,000
Buyer: Eman F. Elsayed
Seller: Moltenbrey Builders LLC
Date: 04/18/19

216 Meadow St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $295,000
Buyer: Kim Czerniawski
Seller: Aravind Ganesan
Date: 04/12/19

36 Ramah Circle North
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $410,000
Buyer: 9 GK LLC
Seller: Joseph O. Chabot
Date: 04/10/19

11 Ruth Ave.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Daniel J. Cosgrove
Seller: Couture Partners LLC
Date: 04/19/19

49 Shoemaker Lane
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Danial Ghanem
Seller: Dennis N. Crowley
Date: 04/12/19

77 Valentine Terrace
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Penni A. Patuano
Seller: Margaret A. Flynn
Date: 04/10/19

BLANDFORD

33 South St.
Blandford, MA 01008
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Lawrence Hollings
Seller: Sergey Bateyko
Date: 04/16/19

BRIMFIELD

28 Dean Pond Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $409,000
Buyer: Maureen F. Caffrey
Seller: Robert L. Ross
Date: 04/17/19

CHICOPEE

153 Lawrence Road
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Chris Makusiewicz
Seller: Paul R. Brouillard
Date: 04/22/19

81 Maple St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Jose A. Lopez
Seller: James W. Fiore
Date: 04/17/19

789 McKinstry Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $163,900
Buyer: Jovanny Dominguez-Abreu
Seller: Karen L. Morassi
Date: 04/19/19

37 Mead Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $199,000
Buyer: Reinaldo Rivera-Lozada
Seller: Carmelo Dejesus
Date: 04/19/19

152 Narragansett Blvd.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $131,000
Buyer: Simon Tsyganenko
Seller: Wilmington Savings
Date: 04/11/19

13 Nonotuck Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Mark C. White
Seller: US Bank
Date: 04/12/19

35 Robert St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $166,000
Buyer: Anna M. Santaniello
Seller: Hannoush Buys Houses LLC
Date: 04/18/19

18 Saint Anthony St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $258,000
Buyer: Jesse E. Page
Seller: Brian M. Butterfield
Date: 04/12/19

207 Stebbins St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $242,207
Buyer: Scott Lorenz
Seller: Jason Root
Date: 04/19/19

43 Villa Lane
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Albert G. Weibel
Seller: Raymond L. Maynard
Date: 04/16/19

23 Walnut Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Adam Carrington
Seller: S&C Homebuyers LLC
Date: 04/22/19

EAST LONGMEADOW

95 East Circle Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $297,500
Buyer: Daniel T. Beaven
Seller: Dusenberry, Esther C., (Estate)
Date: 04/18/19

68 Gerrard Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Erick Arroyo
Seller: Louise J. Deslaurier
Date: 04/12/19

37 Holland Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $264,000
Buyer: Daniel Hegarty
Seller: Marco Scibelli
Date: 04/12/19

60 John St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $143,000
Buyer: Christina L. Johnson
Seller: Suzanne Jorey
Date: 04/16/19

15 Lombard Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Thong T. Vo
Seller: Heather R. Magnus
Date: 04/18/19

21 Lynwood Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $123,000
Buyer: Joshyan Rivera
Seller: USA HUD
Date: 04/22/19

301 North Main St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $141,000
Buyer: Aurelio R. Alberto
Seller: Bruce F. Graham
Date: 04/11/19

2 Pine St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $199,000
Buyer: Michael A. Taylor
Seller: Phyllis J. Farrell
Date: 04/12/19

106 Smith Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $277,900
Buyer: Kristen Opitz
Seller: John B. Ricardi
Date: 04/22/19

4 Waterman Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $229,000
Buyer: Thi T. Pham
Seller: Theresa T. Stellato
Date: 04/22/19

31 White Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: James Behringer
Seller: Ronald Fisher
Date: 04/19/19

45 Wood Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $195,500
Buyer: Amanda D. St. Martin
Seller: Jennifer L. Sullivan
Date: 04/12/19

HAMPDEN

153 Chapin Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: William D. Dubois
Seller: Alice K. King
Date: 04/12/19

35 Charles St.
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $252,500
Buyer: Adam M. Douville
Seller: JJB Builders Corp.
Date: 04/18/19

276 Mountain Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $470,000
Buyer: John B. Ricardi
Seller: Mario A. Ferrentino
Date: 04/10/19

HOLYOKE

212 Allyn St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $247,000
Buyer: Marcia Blomberg
Seller: Robert A. Walczak
Date: 04/17/19

6-8 Clinton Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $229,000
Buyer: James M. Huston
Seller: Roger M. Pirog
Date: 04/11/19

57 Gates St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Jennifer Uribe
Seller: Onyx Investments LLC
Date: 04/11/19

2201-2211 Northampton St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $7,600,000
Buyer: TF Holyoke MA LLC
Seller: Kmart Corp.
Date: 04/17/19

25-27 Royal Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $269,500
Buyer: Sara J. Taslitt
Seller: Timothy P. Marquis
Date: 04/16/19

74 Rugby St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $236,900
Buyer: Nicholas O. Rodriguez
Seller: Pioneer Valley Homes LLC
Date: 04/18/19

56 Woodland St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Jordana L. O’Connell
Seller: Robert N. Sullivan
Date: 04/16/19

11 Yale St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $561,500
Buyer: Mental Health Association
Seller: Angela Perrotta
Date: 04/12/19

LONGMEADOW

57 Barrington Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Rashin Ghasemi
Seller: Mine S. Kavlak
Date: 04/18/19

128 Eton Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $630,000
Buyer: Oren W. Johnson
Seller: Paul R. Gelinas
Date: 04/18/19

53 Forest Glen Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $490,000
Buyer: Joseph A. Eckerle
Seller: Gregory C. Michael
Date: 04/17/19

255 Green Hill Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $485,000
Buyer: Brian Keiser
Seller: Ilyssa O. Zippin
Date: 04/22/19

53 Kenmore Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $318,000
Buyer: Oscar RT
Seller: Robert A. Lane
Date: 04/11/19

66 Lincoln Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $134,000
Buyer: Charles A. Elfman
Seller: Patricia C. Gallant
Date: 04/17/19

103 Maple Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $305,000
Buyer: Lindsey Mathews
Seller: Michael C. Demarche
Date: 04/11/19

68 Massachusetts Ave.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $179,000
Buyer: Farrelly FT
Seller: Ruby Realty LLC
Date: 04/11/19

24 Wendover Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $460,000
Buyer: Dilpreet K. Singh
Seller: Meredith B. Hagaman
Date: 04/17/19

187 Wimbleton Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Joseph T. Sanky
Seller: Gary R. Blanchette
Date: 04/19/19

LUDLOW

57 Americo St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $304,900
Buyer: Michael J. Pietrzak
Seller: Joseph L. Queiroga
Date: 04/12/19

55 Amherst St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $192,500
Buyer: Tiffany Kenney
Seller: Anna Crescentini
Date: 04/11/19

323 Fuller St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Michael J. Smola
Seller: Karen L. Romansky
Date: 04/18/19

212 Gamache Dr.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $380,000
Buyer: Nicholas Sicard
Seller: Eric N. Gulbrandsen
Date: 04/12/19

112 Irla Dr.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Arthur W. Tardy
Seller: Kenneth J. Nagy
Date: 04/19/19

131 Jerad Dr.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $400,000
Buyer: Simao P. Cadete
Seller: Peter M. Ostrowski Inc.
Date: 04/18/19

Marias Way #10
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Rachel Wu
Seller: M&G Investors LLC
Date: 04/22/19

93 Pine Cone Lane
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $399,900
Buyer: Jason M. Clark
Seller: Andrew P. Anselmo
Date: 04/17/19

22 Quincy St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $327,000
Buyer: Armand R. Lavoie
Seller: Lavoie, Alice, (Estate)
Date: 04/18/19

Quincy St. #5
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $327,000
Buyer: Armand R. Lavoie
Seller: Lavoie, Alice, (Estate)
Date: 04/18/19

Quincy St. #7
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $327,000
Buyer: Armand R. Lavoie
Seller: Lavoie, Alice, (Estate)
Date: 04/18/19

32 West Belmont St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $168,000
Buyer: Cory J. Rodrigues
Seller: Brian Mawyer
Date: 04/11/19

41 Windwood Dr.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $345,000
Buyer: Michael C. Merson
Seller: Lucas M. Rosa
Date: 04/16/19

303 Winsor St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $151,200
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Jose J. Alves
Date: 04/17/19

MONSON

23 Country Club Heights
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Colette E. Proctor
Seller: FNMA
Date: 04/17/19

123 Ely Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: James R. Wawrzyk
Seller: Sharon A. Allen
Date: 04/22/19

70 High St.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Daniel Daymic-Gamez
Seller: Melissa A. Hibbard
Date: 04/12/19

13 Homer Dr.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $283,000
Buyer: Andre Dubois-White
Seller: Carolyn M. Bousquet
Date: 04/19/19

55 Main St.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Justin P. Desroches
Seller: Michael Vacarr
Date: 04/22/19

44 Old Reed Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $410,000
Buyer: David P. Amadei
Seller: Richard Hyszczak
Date: 04/18/19

13 Pinnacle Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $247,000
Buyer: Jasen R. Russell
Seller: Laura K. Clark
Date: 04/18/19

PALMER

117 Breckenridge St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $190,500
Buyer: Tamra L. Gates
Seller: Chaiffre, William M., (Estate)
Date: 04/17/19

3066 High St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: Jessie L. Kramer
Seller: William J. Doyle
Date: 04/12/19

5 Homestead St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $362,000
Buyer: Kim C. Fleischmann
Seller: Richard Navin
Date: 04/11/19

3092 Pine St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $138,000
Buyer: Laura Lacrosse
Seller: Joshua M. Laflamme
Date: 04/12/19

1030 Spring St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Nicholas Aldrich
Seller: Scott J. Bechard
Date: 04/22/19

SOUTHWICK

61 Buckingham Dr.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Scott H. Santoro
Seller: Brenna MacDowell
Date: 04/17/19

2 Dewitt Circle
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $385,000
Buyer: Timothy J. Skehan
Seller: Mark Richardson
Date: 04/18/19

1 Jeffrey Circle
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $154,000
Buyer: Zadkiel RT
Seller: Barbara L. Reynolds
Date: 04/18/19

4 Meadow Lane
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $420,000
Buyer: Jeffrey M. Burke
Seller: Cam C. Bienvenue
Date: 04/17/19

90 Point Grove Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: LTM Lake LLC
Seller: Pattijoe Real Estate LLC
Date: 04/16/19

SPRINGFIELD

49 Abbott St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $228,000
Buyer: Melissa Martinez
Seller: Ruby Realty LLC
Date: 04/10/19

283 Abbott St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $179,000
Buyer: Deeann M. Barrett
Seller: Michael P. Carney
Date: 04/19/19

402 Allen St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Mathew L. Palatino
Seller: Salim Abdoo
Date: 04/10/19

2031 Allen St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $251,000
Buyer: Sarah N. Mbugua
Seller: Gary M. Gaudette
Date: 04/16/19

256 Ambrose St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Anna F. Wentworth
Date: 04/18/19

62 Arden St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $163,000
Buyer: Emanual Hernandez
Seller: Linda Humphries
Date: 04/16/19

11 Aspen Road
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Caitlyn P. Julius
Seller: Dan Beauregard
Date: 04/12/19

40 Athol St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $156,000
Buyer: Angel A. Rodriguez
Seller: Rita F. Harrington
Date: 04/11/19

20 Baird Trce
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $179,400
Buyer: Stella T. Morgan
Seller: Judy A. Maisonet
Date: 04/16/19

98 Bay St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $125,900
Buyer: Daphne A. Bolden
Seller: Springfield Homes LLC
Date: 04/11/19

12 Benham St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Angela R. Jordan
Seller: Musa Dukuray
Date: 04/22/19

68 Bither St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Jose O. Rodriguez
Seller: Anthony Bourget
Date: 04/11/19

56 Blueberry Hill St.
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $154,000
Buyer: Nina Vital
Seller: Joseph F. Tomaino
Date: 04/10/19

155 Bolton St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Cynthia I. Roman
Seller: Joseph J. Giannini
Date: 04/12/19

1585 Boston Road
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $1,250,000
Buyer: TF Springfield MA LLC
Seller: Sears Roebuck & Co.
Date: 04/17/19

22 Byron St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $127,000
Buyer: Rolando Reyes
Seller: Marcia M. James
Date: 04/17/19

39-41 Claremont St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Yomarie Gomez-Correa
Seller: Amaan Realty LLC
Date: 04/12/19

56-58 Cloran St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $189,000
Buyer: Edgardo Diaz
Seller: Leonard J. Mercieri
Date: 04/17/19

211 College St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Jose L. Vazquez
Seller: Jermel Jacobs
Date: 04/19/19

100-102 Darling St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $228,375
Buyer: Fabio Paiva
Seller: US Bank
Date: 04/10/19

396 Dwight Road
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $266,000
Buyer: Elphas M. Anzeze
Seller: John Ngugi
Date: 04/19/19

139 Eddy St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $129,900
Buyer: Joel M. Marrero
Seller: Joseph A. Oliverio
Date: 04/16/19

87-89 Edgewood St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $150,900
Buyer: Jacqueline Mercado
Seller: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Date: 04/17/19

99 Embassy Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Daniel Hookailo
Seller: James J. Jerome
Date: 04/22/19

18 Forest Park Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $382,000
Buyer: Open Sesame Real Estate
Seller: JD Powers Property Mgmt.
Date: 04/19/19

43 Fort Pleasant Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: Yamilka Diaz
Seller: K&V LLC
Date: 04/18/19

54 Gillette Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $177,000
Buyer: Ulyssa Sanchez
Seller: Amy C. Aliengena
Date: 04/12/19

13 Grattan St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Rhonda Pimentel
Seller: US Bank
Date: 04/19/19

21 Greenlawn St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Terrance L. Hooper
Seller: Carmen Omer
Date: 04/11/19

87-89 Groveland St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Gisela Delacruz
Seller: Johnann Oliver
Date: 04/12/19

130-132 Johnson St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $155,500
Buyer: Mafruha Haque
Seller: Antonio R. Luis
Date: 04/19/19

15 Junes Way
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $281,500
Buyer: John Como
Seller: Lyna N. Lam
Date: 04/18/19

1103 Liberty St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Andres A. Cosme
Seller: Jennifer A. Connolly
Date: 04/17/19

29 Lillian St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $134,500
Buyer: Barbara M. Rosas
Seller: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Date: 04/12/19

251 Longhill St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Manuel A. Silva
Seller: Marcos A. Rosa
Date: 04/18/19

50 Longview St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $131,900
Buyer: Pedro Gonzalez-Madera
Seller: Raynette Cayo
Date: 04/17/19

2137 Main St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $920,000
Buyer: Lachenauer LLC
Seller: Semper Fi Properties LLC
Date: 04/18/19

3500 Main St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $3,000,000
Buyer: Springfield 3500 Medical
Seller: 3500 Main Street LLP
Date: 04/11/19

3550 Main St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $11,750,000
Buyer: Springfield 3550 Medical
Seller: 3500 Main Street LLP
Date: 04/11/19

3640 Main St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $15,467,000
Buyer: Springfield 3640 Medical
Seller: 3640 Main Street LLP
Date: 04/11/19

27 McBride St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Nehal Parekh
Seller: S&C Homebuyers LLC
Date: 04/22/19

37 McKnight St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $157,888
Buyer: Barbara McKenzie
Seller: Good Homes LLC
Date: 04/19/19

7-9 Nelson Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Jose H. Canales-Martinez
Seller: Edwin Garcia
Date: 04/12/19

91 Old Brook Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: David J. White
Seller: Stella Morgan
Date: 04/16/19

290-292 Page Blvd.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Juan A. Franco
Seller: Ryan G. Forsythe
Date: 04/22/19

299 Page Blvd.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $740,525
Buyer: 299 Page Blvd LLC
Seller: Smith & Wesson Corp.
Date: 04/18/19

38 Porter St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $166,000
Buyer: Marlon O. Murray
Seller: Reinaldo Rivera
Date: 04/12/19

150 Powell Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $159,900
Buyer: Edwin Ortiz
Seller: Sara Dion
Date: 04/16/19

1594 Saint Branch Pkwy.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $222,000
Buyer: Sandra Wahr
Seller: Timberlee Marchese
Date: 04/10/19

230 Saint James Blvd.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $202,000
Buyer: Orlando Caban
Seller: Catalino Burgos
Date: 04/18/19

22 South Tallyho Dr.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Colin M. Kendrick
Seller: Anne M. Lesueur
Date: 04/12/19

287 Saint James Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Rosemarie Oscar
Seller: Wei Q. Ni
Date: 04/12/19

Salem St.
Springfield, MA 01101
Amount: $14,500,000
Buyer: Armoury Park Gardens LLC
Seller: Armoury Commons LLC
Date: 04/11/19

123 Savoy Ave.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $168,000
Buyer: Stacey Lewis
Seller: Shu Cheng
Date: 04/16/19

108 School St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Dawn Cincotta
Seller: Hedge Hog Industries Corp.
Date: 04/10/19

53 Seneca St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Jennifer L. Castro
Seller: Wesley Blask
Date: 04/12/19

227 Starling Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $147,000
Buyer: Kelly M. Walsh
Seller: Tricia Newman-Sandberg
Date: 04/12/19

56 Tallyho Dr.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Custom Homes Development Group
Seller: Cavallini, Virginia Y., (Estate)
Date: 04/12/19

280-282 Walnut St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Scott T. Phillips
Seller: Ahmed AlZuhairi
Date: 04/10/19

68 Westbank Court
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Douglas G. White
Date: 04/18/19

373 White St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $149,000
Buyer: Sara I. Cruz-Alverio
Seller: Tenants & Landlords Inc.
Date: 04/16/19

580-582 White St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $195,500
Buyer: Jose H. Rodriguez
Seller: Kenneth C. Kerr
Date: 04/16/19

142 Windemere St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $169,000
Buyer: Jose Bautista
Seller: David Brunelle
Date: 04/16/19

WALES

55 Fountain Road
Wales, MA 01081
Amount: $264,000
Buyer: Brian S. Miller
Seller: John P. Rudiak
Date: 04/10/19

WESTFIELD

7-A&B Bates St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $161,000
Buyer: Global Realty Group LLC
Seller: Kenneth B. Beagle
Date: 04/10/19

Breighly Way
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $124,000
Buyer: Alex Boyko
Seller: DDLP Development LLC
Date: 04/22/19

Canterbury Lane #2
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Oak Ridge Custom Home Builders
Seller: Luquinn Properties LLC
Date: 04/12/19

Canterbury Lane #3
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Oak Ridge Custom Home Builders
Seller: Luquinn Properties LLC
Date: 04/12/19

Canterbury Lane #4
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Oak Ridge Custom Home Builders
Seller: Luquinn Properties LLC
Date: 04/12/19

55 Eastwood Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $297,000
Buyer: Jeffrey M. Gould
Seller: Barbara C. White
Date: 04/19/19

23 Governor Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Dawn Labbe
Seller: Young, Mildred Y., (Estate)
Date: 04/18/19

76 Governor Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $159,900
Buyer: Daniel J. Bednarz
Seller: James B. Cowles
Date: 04/18/19

88 King St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $118,500
Buyer: Herminia Malave
Seller: Tyson J. Carpenter
Date: 04/12/19

2 Lewis St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: M&C Real Estate LLC
Seller: Clifford Laraway
Date: 04/12/19

29 Livingstone Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $211,000
Buyer: Erica A. McConnell
Seller: Thomas P. Dearborn
Date: 04/16/19

649 Montgomery Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $293,000
Buyer: Crystal Bryant
Seller: KG Investments 649 LLC
Date: 04/19/19

10 Morningside Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $301,000
Buyer: Julie A. Erickson
Seller: Leland W. Wheeler
Date: 04/16/19

142 North Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $450,000
Buyer: Robert Houle
Seller: David J. Beliveau
Date: 04/12/19

45 Old Farm Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $233,000
Buyer: James Sabatino
Seller: Patricia A. Smart
Date: 04/12/19

134 Pineridge Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Ashley E. Ragusa
Seller: Paul A. Nycz
Date: 04/16/19

23 Plantation Circle
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $379,000
Buyer: Barbara Reynolds
Seller: Daniel J. Bednarz
Date: 04/18/19

138 Ridgecrest Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $327,000
Buyer: Americo Dilorenzo
Seller: Tomasz J. Serafin
Date: 04/12/19

100 Riverside Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $145,960
Buyer: Wells Fargo Bank
Seller: Alice E. Deery
Date: 04/18/19

280 Valley View Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $208,000
Buyer: James R. Lewis
Seller: Stahelski, Dorothy A., (Estate)
Date: 04/11/19

56 Yankee Circle
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: Thomas P. Dearborn
Seller: Sergey Novenko
Date: 04/16/19

WILBRAHAM

15 Brookside Dr.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $249,000
Buyer: Carrie A. Allard
Seller: William J. Bickley
Date: 04/10/19

18 Colonial Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $239,900
Buyer: James E. Clark
Seller: Jessie M. Voorhis
Date: 04/18/19

1 Eastwood Dr.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $347,000
Buyer: Kevin Aliengena
Seller: Raymond W. Drury
Date: 04/12/19

76 Old Boston Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Trevor M. Sorel
Seller: Daniel P. Fernandes
Date: 04/12/19

14 Rice Dr.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: Daniel P. Fernandes
Seller: Nancy E. Schechterle
Date: 04/12/19

305 Soule Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: Jennifer J. Ittner
Seller: Judy A. Carr
Date: 04/19/19

11 Willow Brook Lane
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $470,000
Buyer: Mario Ferrentino
Seller: AC Homebuilding LLC
Date: 04/10/19

WEST SPRINGFIELD

12 Ames Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Carlos H. Silva
Seller: US Bank
Date: 04/22/19

205 Christopher Terrace
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $535,000
Buyer: Rose-Ann Gaskin-Rice
Seller: Jeffrey C. Calvi
Date: 04/19/19

29 Church St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Robert G. Gordon
Seller: Brandon P. Lubanski
Date: 04/18/19

243 Circle Dr.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Margaret E. Kibbe
Date: 04/18/19

24 Elm Circle
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $159,000
Buyer: Samuel M. Gendreau
Seller: April M. Gardner
Date: 04/16/19

1177 Elm St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $221,000
Buyer: Hazem Alsari
Seller: Caitlin R. Menard
Date: 04/16/19

99 Hillside Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $204,900
Buyer: Angela M. Skiba
Seller: Alexina M. Fenn
Date: 04/12/19

102 Jensen Circle
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $195,900
Buyer: Jacob P. Brown
Seller: Mark A. Skiba
Date: 04/17/19

385 Kings Hwy.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $168,000
Buyer: Christopher Galus
Seller: C. A. Ventulett-Buckley
Date: 04/16/19

35 Morningside Terrace
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Nicholas Larivee
Seller: Viktor Taku
Date: 04/22/19

492 Morgan Road
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Stephanie Orion
Seller: Robert A. Granger
Date: 04/16/19

39 Neptune Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $248,000
Buyer: Richard G. Frend
Seller: John Martin
Date: 04/19/19

402 Ohio Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $351,000
Buyer: John Gallant
Seller: Jane M. Shulman
Date: 04/19/19

250 Sawmill Road
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $337,500
Buyer: George Skowera
Seller: Stephen I. Alois
Date: 04/16/19

12 Sylvan St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $340,000
Buyer: NVE Property Investors
Seller: M. Rettura-Cosentini
Date: 04/12/19

302 Woodmont St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $288,000
Buyer: Jonathan Falcetti
Seller: Michael P. Sullivan
Date: 04/19/19

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY

AMHERST

31 Flat Hills Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $529,000
Buyer: Rabia V. Ahmed
Seller: Joslad & Associates PC
Date: 04/11/19

23 Indian Pipe Lane
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $500,000
Buyer: Matthew Carlyon
Seller: Nancy J. Dann RET
Date: 04/12/19

275 Leverett Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $720,000
Buyer: Nicholas Xenos
Seller: Harald Nordtveit-Bjorn
Date: 04/10/19

70 North Whitney St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $362,500
Buyer: Key Factor LLC
Seller: Greenfield Savings Banks
Date: 04/17/19

233 Pondview Dr.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $317,000
Buyer: Dung T. Pham
Seller: Lapollo, Alexanderia S., (Estate)
Date: 04/16/19

320 West St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $359,000
Buyer: James Wong
Seller: David T. Huynh
Date: 04/19/19

BELCHERTOWN

28 Everett Ave.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Alvin Nguyen
Seller: Alex R. Jackson
Date: 04/19/19

87 Gold St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $246,500
Buyer: Sarah A. Mawson
Seller: Lucinda W. Crohn
Date: 04/10/19

63 North Washington St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $229,900
Buyer: Jeremy J. Tyler
Seller: Gerald G. Cote
Date: 04/11/19

211 Warner St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $375,000
Buyer: Thomas R. Szumita
Seller: Melissa A. Kapinos
Date: 04/18/19

60 Woodhaven Dr.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Derek M. Sullivan
Seller: Joan S. McManus
Date: 04/10/19

EASTHAMPTON

21 Carillon Circle
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $269,000
Buyer: Normandie Hand
Seller: Francis M. Hennessy
Date: 04/19/19

5 East St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: American Dream Realty LLC
Seller: Joel R. Keefe
Date: 04/16/19

87 Ferry St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: S. D. Pichazaca-Alvarez
Seller: Paul M. Gray
Date: 04/16/19

24 Holly Circle
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: John K. Paine
Seller: Joseph E. Kielec
Date: 04/22/19

8 Keddy St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $283,500
Buyer: Robert A. Porter
Seller: Joseph A. Kochapski
Date: 04/19/19

58 Pomeroy St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $510,000
Buyer: Matthew A. Rice
Seller: David A. Hardy Contractor
Date: 04/19/19

GRANBY

106 West State St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Gregg A. Lambert
Seller: Dudley, John C., (Estate)
Date: 04/12/19

HADLEY

84 Mount Warner Road
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Randall E. Izer
Seller: Katherine V. Fite
Date: 04/17/19

334 Russell St.
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $1,625,000
Buyer: 334 Russell Street LLC
Seller: Gator Pearson LLC
Date: 04/17/19

HATFIELD

14 Circle Dr.
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $348,000
Buyer: John A. Crafts
Seller: Travis J. Yagodzinski
Date: 04/18/19

54 Main St.
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $345,000
Buyer: Hadley Elmwood LLC
Seller: Kellogg Special TR
Date: 04/18/19

39 Straits Road
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $379,500
Buyer: Travis Yagodzinski
Seller: Christopher J. Rogers
Date: 04/18/19

NORTHAMPTON

99 Barrett St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Baldwin Boutiette INT
Seller: Margaret M. Murray RET
Date: 04/19/19

38 Burts Pit Road
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $319,500
Buyer: Dorrin G. Exford
Seller: Dea L. Sasso
Date: 04/17/19

30 Cherry St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Johanna Atkinson
Seller: Carol J. Lavalley
Date: 04/22/19

14 Fruit St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $475,000
Buyer: Amy L. Tayloe
Seller: Suzanne L. Krause
Date: 04/18/19

63 Ice Pond Dr.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Nicole T. Kirchen
Seller: David March
Date: 04/18/19

90 Moser St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $566,000
Buyer: Harrison Blum
Seller: Karen L. O’Brock
Date: 04/19/19

284 North Farms Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Linda M. Olbris
Seller: North Farms Land TR
Date: 04/17/19

50 Ridge View Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $489,900
Buyer: Peter Campanale
Seller: Ridgeview Development LLC
Date: 04/12/19

451 Rocky Hill Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $224,900
Buyer: Sean P. Carroll
Seller: Richard P. Ely
Date: 04/19/19

54 Sherman Ave.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $203,000
Buyer: Florian Marschoun
Seller: Ann Jolicoeur-Thomas
Date: 04/12/19

88 Washington Ave.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $760,000
Buyer: Andrew C. Huszar
Seller: Thomas H. Friedman
Date: 04/19/19

PELHAM

14 Boyden Road
Pelham, MA 01002
Amount: $315,000
Buyer: Adam S. Grabell
Seller: 14 Boyden Road LLC
Date: 04/19/19

SOUTH HADLEY

28 Fairlawn St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $154,000
Buyer: Salim Abdoo
Seller: US Bank
Date: 04/12/19

11 Laurie Ave.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $168,810
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Syanley F. Tylek
Date: 04/10/19

65 Lyman St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Notre Dame LLC
Seller: Mikuszewski, John A., (Estate)
Date: 04/10/19

208 Mosier St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $375,000
Buyer: Simon J. Neame
Seller: C. Slocum-Patriquin
Date: 04/12/19

SOUTHAMPTON

8 Old County Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $347,000
Buyer: Brian D. Jennings
Seller: Matthew A. Rice
Date: 04/19/19

29 Pequot Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $575,000
Buyer: Nina D. Fountain
Seller: Rodney J. Faille
Date: 04/12/19

3 Pine Meadow Dr.
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Joel R. Keefe
Seller: Matthew Howard
Date: 04/16/19

WARE

10 Dunham Ave.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $193,900
Buyer: Ralph T. Worden
Seller: Michael J. Keddy
Date: 04/19/19

93 Old Poor Farm Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $211,560
Buyer: Bank Of America
Seller: Rosary Fumo
Date: 04/18/19

4 Old Stagecoach Road
Ware, MA 01585
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Jay Mooney
Seller: Theodore B. Lincoln
Date: 04/18/19

17 Smith Ave.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $156,000
Buyer: Donna Brunelle
Seller: Erik T. Trudeau
Date: 04/17/19

WESTHAMPTON

371 Main Road
Westhampton, MA 01027
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: William T. Bell
Seller: John J. Williams
Date: 04/22/19

WORTHINGTON

45 Conwell Road
Worthington, MA 01098
Amount: $244,500
Buyer: John M. Robards
Seller: Roger R. Baldwin Sr. RET
Date: 04/22/19

Building Permits