July 9, 2019 - BusinessWest

SPRINGFIELD — Bulkley Richardson announced the launch of CyberSafe, a series of cybersecurity events and written alerts to provide critical information to businesses and organizations on topics of cybersecurity.

How will the soon-to-be implemented California Consumer Privacy Act impact businesses in Massachusetts? What are the safeguards to put in place to minimize damage caused by a data breach? What are your obligations under new Massachusetts laws? How does the General Data Protection Regulation affect your business? These topics — and more — will be covered in the first event, when Jim Duda and Lauren Ostberg, attorneys in Bulkley Richardson’s cybersecurity practice, team up with Chris Wisneski, IT Security and Assurance Services manager at Whittlesey, on Monday, July 15 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at Bulkley Richardson’s office in Springfield. Following the program will be a networking reception. Registration is required by e-mailing [email protected].

The CyberSafe series will meet quarterly to cover topics on preparation, assessment, implementation, and response to help attendees understand their legal obligations, safeguards to stay protected, and what to do in the event of a breach.

Monson Savings Bank Welcomes Darlene Mark, David Babine

By BusinessWest Staff July 9, 2019

Daily News

MONSON — Monson Savings Bank announced that Darlene Mark has joined the bank as vice president and commercial loan officer, and David Babine has come on board as the bank’s newest mortgage loan originator.

Formerly with Country Bank, Mark has been in banking for 20 years. Her entire banking career has been spent in commercial lending as a credit analyst, portfolio manager, and presently as a commercial loan officer. She has a bachelor’s degree and MBA in business administration from Western New England University and is also a graduate of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts School for Financial Studies at Babson College. Actively involved in the community, she is a finance committee member of Ludlow Boys and Girls Club and volunteers for Junior Achievement.

“We are thrilled to have Darlene join our team,” said Steve Lowell, president of Monson Savings Bank. “Her experience, perspective, and ability to develop trusted relationships will be of tremendous value to our business customers.”

Babine brings close to 20 years of experience in banking, many of those in residential lending. He is a graduate of Westfield State College with a bachelor’s degree in communications. He also obtained a master’s degree in education psychology and an advanced graduate degree in guidance counseling from the American International College. He has spent some time as a school counselor at various local high schools and volunteered as a local athletic coach.

“We are extremely pleased to have David join us,” Lowell said. “He has a wealth of knowledge and is completely dedicated to customer service and our communities, which is certainly the right fit for our team.”

Different Leaf Magazine Announces Premiere Issue

By BusinessWest Staff July 9, 2019

Daily News

NORTHAMPTON — July marks the publication of the premiere issue of Different Leaf magazine, a journal of cannabis culture. Targeted to readers 45 and over, Different Leaf’s editorial content covers the rapidly evolving cannabis industry in Massachusetts and makes it accessible for consumers who are new to cannabis and those looking for new ways to integrate it into their lives.

Launching with a quarterly publication schedule, regular features in Different Leaf will include “Merch + More,” a roundup of cannabis products from Massachusetts and beyond including smoking accessories, THC and CBD products, and books. The back of the book contains practical, educational information on using cannabis for health and wellness, cooking, nutrition, fitness, sexuality, pets, and more.

Features will look in depth at innovators in the industry, medical news, and social and cultural issues surrounding the legalization of cannabis. The premiere issue’s features include a profile of legendary cannabis activist and Harvard professor Lester Grinspoon, an exploration of equity and social justice in the cannabis industry told through interviews with entrepreneurs looking to open stores, and a visit to 3Jane, a secretive crypto-anarchist computer bulletin board for cannabis growers in Vermont who are confronting their own transition to a legal market.

“For those of us who have the experience of purchasing cannabis flower from someone operating in the traditional market, generally we had to accept what was offered. Interacting with and understanding the hundreds of legal products on sale in the typical dispensary can be an overwhelming experience,” said Michael Kusek, founder and publisher. “When I had the idea to start a cannabis magazine, I gravitated toward a gap existing in cannabis media and set out to create a guide for those of us who have limited or no experience and are looking for quality, well-researched information on the full spectrum of adult and medical uses for cannabis.”

Different Leaf will depart from the more traditional publishing model of posting text-based content online and will instead launch a companion podcast series with the October issue. The podcast will expand on the topics in the print magazine and delve into issues and stories that don’t mesh with a print publication timetable. A calendar of events that tie into the print publication is also planned.

Kusek founded the award-winning arts and culture magazine Take, published from 2014 to 2017. The bulk of his creative team of designers, writers, photographers, and illustrators who created Take will also be on the team creating this new publication.

Different Leaf will publish quarterly and will be available at Massachusetts dispensaries, independent book stores, natural food stores, and boutiques, as well as by subscription. More information is available at www.differentleaf.com.

DeVries Fine Art International to Celebrate Sculptor’s 40th Career Anniversary

By BusinessWest Staff July 9, 2019

Daily News

LENOX — DeVries Fine Art International announced it will celebrate sculptor Andrew DeVries’ 40th career anniversary with a reception on Saturday, August 10 from 2 to 5 p.m. at the DeVries Fine Art International Gallery, 62 Church St., Lenox, with picnic fare and art both inside the gallery and outside on the grounds. Rosie Porter and Tommy LeBeau will provide music.

The gallery features original bronze sculptures, pastel paintings, and watercolors by the artist. New for this year is an educational room that gives a detailed description of the lost-wax process Devries uses, with a video and examples of different works in progress.

DeVries began his career in Colorado by drawing dancers at the Ballet Denver Academy in 1978. Encouraged to try his hand at sculpture by the artistic director of the ballet company, he began to model figures in clay and wax. He went on to learn the lost-wax process under Lee Schenkeir and mold making under Raelee Frazier. In 1979, he cast and finished his first works in bronze. In 1984, he left for Europe, traveling to different museums in a period of self-study. Andrew entered the Paris – American Academy of Fine Arts for an academic year, then to the U.S. in the summer of 1985, settling in the small Berkshire hilltown of Middlefield, where he maintains his atelier and casting studio. His sculptures are in public and private collections worldwide. He and his wife, gallery Director Patricia Purdy, established DeVries Fine Art International in 2002.

Chris and Missy Thibault Chronicle a Battle Against Cancer

By George O'Brien July 9, 2019

Cover Story

Capturing a Journey

Chris and Missy Thibault

Chris Thibault has spent his professional career helping companies and institutions — from MassMutual to Spirit of Springfield — blend words and pictures to send meaningful and powerful messages. Now, he and his wife and business partner, Missy, are producing one for and about him, and certainly not the one he planned at age 36. It’s about living with, running a business with — and hopefully not dying from — a disease that’s not only attacking his body, but that recently took the life of his brother. They’re going public and telling this story to maybe help Chris and the family, but certainly to help others.

“All I know is that I have been behind on projects for the past six months. It pains me to tell clients, ‘I’m sorry, we just fell a little behind.’ And I have said that over and over again. I not only want to do good work, I want to do great work. And not only that, I want my clients to have the best customer service possible. Excellent work, done on time. I’ve created unique systems within my company to do just that. But cancer is a bitch.”

That’s just one of the many powerful passages from a blog post that Chris Thibault wrote a few weeks back at christeebo.com/.howtocancer.

It came complete with a title — “How to Run a Production Company While Living (or Dying) of Stage 4 Cancer” — that hits the reader right between the eyes and almost compels that person to move on to the next sentence and the next gripping photograph.

And that was the whole idea.

“I haven’t figured that one out yet,” wrote Thibault, 36, president of Chris Teebo Films, in reference to the question posed by that working title. “And to be honest, I wrote the title to get your attention so you actually start reading this thing.”

If one keeps reading, they’ll take in a brutally honest portrayal of what it’s like to be told that one has stage 4 cancer, in this case a return of the breast cancer that struck Chris four years ago, only this time with it spreading to several parts of his body — and then live, and work, with both that knowledge and the disease itself.

The blog post is merely the beginning — the first act, if you will — of a larger presentation intended to capture what Thibault called a “journey,” one where no one really knows what’s ahead, where the current path leads, or even whether he will stay on this path.

Elaborating, Thibault and his wife, Missy — who is also a co-worker and business partner, serving Chris Teebo Films as editor and producer, thus the title ‘preditor’ — said they will soon bring a camera directly into their home in an effort to capture this difficult but also compelling time in the lives of everyone in this family of five.

Chris Thibault titled his blog post “How to Run a Production Company While Living (or Dying) of Stage 4 Cancer.”

“It will be very weird in the beginning, but if I stick with it, it will become less weird,” he explained. “I’m going to direct it even though I’m going to be living my life.”

Missy agreed about the ‘weird’ part, but said that, ultimately, the family is doing what Chris Teebo Films asks those taking part in its productions to do.

“We’re constantly telling people to ‘just be you and tell us your story,’” she explained. “We tell them to just open up and share their story, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Before the camera starts rolling, though, Chris and Missy will be getting away for a while to the Vancouver area in Canada. It’s not a vacation, although they may try to relax a bit. Instead, they’re going for some alternative treatments for Chris, specifically hypertherapy (more on that later).

The junket to Canada and the comments you’ll hear about it speak volumes about where the Thibaults are in this journey. They’re searching — for answers, for a possible cure, and for a way a survive the disease that just claimed Chris’ brother, Brandon, a few weeks ago; he ultimately lost a lengthy, difficult fight with melanoma in mid-June.

As noted earlier, they don’t know where the journey will take them. At this point, Chris said the doctors tell him the cancer cannot be stopped; it can only be slowed. His oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has offered what Chris called a “menu” of options to battle the cancer, and none have produced what anyone would call encouraging results.

As for the ongoing efforts to chronicle this journey and the upcoming film work in the Thibault home, they are being undertaken in part to help the family. Indeed, donations are requested to help offset the costs of treatment and, really, just pay the bills at a time when Chris is forced to miss more time at work.

“We’re constantly telling people to ‘just be you and tell us your story. We tell them to just open up and share their story, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

But this effort is also intended to help others finding themselves in a similar battle by providing them with words and pictures intended to educate, but also inspire.

For this issue and its focus on healthcare, BusinessWest talked with the Thibaults about their journey and their willingness to go public, as in very public, and share their story.

The Big Picture

“Make no mistake, the cancer cells in my body are on a mission from hell to grow and kill me. Is it stage 4? Yes. Is it considered a terminal illness? Yes. Has it spread to my lungs, spine, ribs, hip, and pelvic bone? Check. Do I cough constantly and get winded from simple things like walking up the stairs? Yessir. Is there a known medical cure? Nope.”

This passage, which succinctly summed up both Thibault’s condition and thought pattern as he talked with BusinessWest, represents more of the frank, sometimes blunt commentary in his blog post, which, again, is designed to tell his story but also relay the feelings of all those who have battled or are currently battling the disease.

He said taking on cancer is, all at once, humbling, frustrating, and especially tiring — mentally as well as physically. There are, as almost everyone who has been through it has said, good days and bad days, but eventually the latter start to seriously outnumber the former. Chris said he still has a number of good days — like the one when he and Missy sat for this interview — meaning there was very little of the coughing and the pain that comes with it. But every day is clouded by the huge question marks about the future.

Chris and Missy Thibault, here with their children, Brayden, Sklyar, and Cassidy, will soon bring the cameras into their home to record their journey.

Before we talk about that, though, we need to go back to last fall and a phone call Chris said he won’t ever forget.

The person at the other end of the line wanted to know what Chris was doing at that moment. Specifically, she wanted to know if he was driving. Apparently, those in the healthcare community are trained to ask that question if they’re going to deliver bad news.

“She said the results from the scan ‘didn’t look good,’” recalled Thibault, who was on a shoot in Boston at the time, adding that she didn’t say much of anything else, which was somewhat annoying to him. And really annoying to Missy, who was, in fact, driving when Chris relayed that skimpy yet distressing news to her.

“I get a text from him that says, ‘doctor says scans don’t look good,’” she recalled. “I said, ‘what the heck does that mean?’”

What it meant was that their lives were going to change in a profound way.

The chest scan in question came after Chris started experiencing what he called “weird symptoms” during his recovery from surgery after he tore his biceps while reaching out and grabbing the treadmill he was on after it had started to tip over (a story told in great detail in the blog post).

“One day, I got on the treadmill and just did a light jog. I found that I couldn’t really catch my breath. Strange. I actually thought it was something in the air at the studio. Maybe the air was a little ‘thick’ that day? But in the coming weeks I had more and more symptoms, persistent cough, strange pain in my leg, and some vision problems.”

And with those symptoms came some commentary from the voice inside his head, commentary in the form of questions — about whether the cancer that had rocked his world years earlier might be back.

In fact, it was. It had metastasized, and there were, as those tests indeed revealed, a number of tumors, as Chris relayed in another poignant passage from his blog.

“‘Too many [tumors] to count,’ the doctor said with a sad, straight-face look that I read as ‘you’re fucked, kid.’”

Chris recalled ‘too many to count.’ Missy remembers hearing ‘innumerable.’ One phrase, one word that mean the same heartbreaking thing.

And so this journey began, and it came — not that there’s a good time — at an extremely bad time, professionally and also personally. With regard to the latter, the Thibaults were now a family of five with the birth of their daughter, Cassidy, a year earlier. Meanwhile, Chris’ brother Brandon was losing his fight with cancer.

As for the former, the business, Chris Teebo Films, was really hitting its stride, producing a wide range of work for a host of regional and national clients that included MassMutual, the pharmaceutical giant Novartis, Bay Path University, Spirit of Springfield, FastenMaster in Agawam, Mercedes-Benz of Springfield, BusinessWest (he has produced sponsor videos for many of the magazine’s events), and many others.

As noted earlier, as the cancer has spread, Chris has found it more difficult to work, although he presses on, a task made easier by the support he’s received from his clients, who have been not only understanding of missed deadlines, but willing to send him more work — including a project for Spirit of Springfield’s 25th anniversary — and assist him in his fight. Peter and Michelle Wirth, owners of the Mercedes dealership, even offered to send cars to take him to treatments.

“The support of the business community has been unreal,” said Chris, adding that he was at first reluctant to tell clients about his condition out of fear they may not have faith that he can finish projects he takes on. But those fears proved ungrounded, and he continues to get new work.

Bringing a Cancer Fight into Focus

“My skinny ass lifted weights for the first time in about 7 months the other day. I’m about 35 pounds lighter than I was back then, mostly all of it muscle weight. … I never realized how much muscle I had in my ass! After losing a bunch of weight, I was towel drying out of the shower and noticed … it wasn’t there! This was at a time when I was really feeling the effects of the tumor in my hip and couldn’t bend down at all. The atrophy in that portion of my body was really noticeable. Still is. It sucks because, a mere half a year earlier, I was physically, and probably mentally, the strongest I have ever been.”

This passage from the blog captures some of the observations, thoughts, and raw emotions that are part and parcel to a cancer fight.

So does this one.

Chris Teebo says his doctors have tried a number of steps from a menu of treatment options, but none have succeeded.

“I am bent over on a hospital chair with my right foot on the floor and my left knee resting on the chair. My pants are pulled down just below my butt. I am sitting alone in a room at Dana Farber bent over with my full ass out, waiting for the nurse to come back into the room. Oh, and the room doesn’t have real doors, just one of those thin hospital curtains. So at any point, someone could walk by and catch a glimpse. Is there anything more humiliating?

‘Did it get cold in here?’ I quietly asked myself.

It felt chilly. I might as well be bending over in front of an open fridge.

The nurse finally comes in.

‘How we doing?’ she asked with an over-the-top caring voice, like a firing squad was about to come in and put some bullets in my crack.

‘I’m fine.’

I was anything but fine, of course, mentally and physically, but that’s what you say.”

The nurse in question would proceed to administer what Chris called a large dose of a drug called Fulvestrant, being taken in combination with a newly approved drug called Piqray, made, coincidentally enough, by Novartis.

Ultimately, this combination became the third different set of chemo and hormonal treatments to have been tried, and all have failed. So Chris and Missy — the two are in this fight together, every step of the way, sharing the research, and the hope for something that will work — are on to option number four.

“At this point, they’re really throwing things at the wall; they don’t know what’s going to work, so they’re trying all these things,” said Chris. “They haven’t been able to stop it — there’s no cure for what I have — but there are drugs that will slow it down, basically.

“And these things are toxic — they ship them to me in what amounts to a haz-mat bag,” he went on. “It says ‘keep this away from people — no one can touch it’ — but I have to take it.”

And while battling the cancer with chemo and other regimens, the Thibaults are looking at alternative treatments, like the hyperthermia Chris will receive in Vancouver, designed to generate changes in the cancer cells that can (that’s can) make the cells more likely to be affected by other treatments such as radiation therapy or chemotherapy.

“As I understand it, and I don’t really understand it, cancer cells don’t survive in hot — they don’t like to be heated up, and that’s what this treatment does,” he told BusinessWest. “We did a lot of research on it, and it was recommended by our naturopathic doctor.”

“The support of the business community has been unreal.”

Missy said she understands it better because she’s taken it upon herself to do much of the research and work to understand the many new forms of treatment that are becoming available and which ones hold the most promise.

“I had heard about and read about it,” she said of the hyperthermia treatments, which focus heat on a specific area — in this case, the target will be Chris’ lungs. “I’m immersing myself in that radical-remission, naturopathic world just to inform myself as much as possible.”

Screen Test

“I love creating. If I can’t create, I’ll just load the bullet now. But this is about more than that. It is a way to potentially raise the money needed to actually sustain my life through this journey and at the same time help others going through a similar thing. We will document the process in every way we can.”

That’s how Chris described the ongoing project to chronicle the fight, the journey that he and his family are now taking.

By ‘every way we can,’ he meant videos, blog posts, pictures, and podcasts. Eventually, all of this gathered material will be molded into a feature-length documentary, designed, as noted earlier, to educate and, hopefully, inspire.

There have been many successful and poignant efforts to chronicle a cancer fight in the past, but the Thibaults intend to use their unique and considerable skills in the art of storytelling to do something different — and compelling.

This was something Chris made a plan to do four years ago with his first brush with cancer, a project that took on the working title “Breast Cancer Boy,” an obvious reference to the fact that men rarely contract this form of cancer.

There were a few blog posts and an effort to relate what he was experiencing, he recalled, but this time the effort will be much more comprehensive and personal — because it needs to be.

And, as noted, it will involve a number of vehicles for getting the message across, from blog posts to podcasts, to what Chris called “TV-show-like material.”

“Nick’s going to come in with a camera and hang out with us,” he said, referring to Nick Laroche, an editor and production assistant with Chris Teebo Films. “He’s going to come to our house and hang out.

“It will be weird, because you really put it all out there when you do it like that,” he went on. “We don’t have a big budget — we don’t have any budget — so it’s not going to be like the Kardashians. But it will be a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into this.”

By ‘this,’ he meant everything involved with a cancer fight, from the research of various treatments to the wide range of emotions experienced by all those involved.

“People can see our confusion with medications, our frustration with doctors — they’re going to see all that,” he went on. “And I didn’t want to do this; I’m doing it because I feel it’s time and I need to. It’s not because I want to.”

Missy agreed and said, again, that this bit of storytelling aims to do what they ask their many clients to do.

“We steer away from scripted video content,” she explained, adding that the company has been doing a number of documentary-style productions for clients, including the American Women’s College at Bay Path University and MassMutual, and it will put that experience to good use as they tell their own story.

Things will be much different when the camera is pointed at them, but they both believe this something they need to do.

Indeed, when Missy noted that it will be difficult to find the time to do this, given work, medical treatments locally, and trips to places like Vancouver, Chris replied simply, “we’re going to have to make the time.”

A Message of Hope

“Lastly, I love you. I mean it. The good thing about going through this is that you look at people differently. I am convinced that the majority of humanity is good, regardless of what the news tells you.

OK, get on with your day. You’ll hear from us soon.”

That’s how Chris wrapped up his blog post. Each word, each phrase was chosen carefully, and each one has meaning.

‘You’ll hear from us soon’ makes it clear that the efforts to chronicle this story are only beginning. The words that come before explain why he and Missy are doing this.

In short, it’s a story that needs to be told. And there’s probably no one in the region who can tell any story — let alone this one — in a better, more powerful way.

As for ‘OK, get on with your day’ … well, none of us are likely to take that simple assignment for granted ever again.

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

Greenfield Cooperative Bank Maintains a Solid Pace of Growth

By George O'Brien July 9, 2019

Banking and Financial Services

Steady Course

President and CEO Michael Tucker

Like most all bank presidents in the 413, Michael Tucker would concede that a great many of the region’s communities are heavily populated with financial institutions, or “overbanked,” to use the term most would put into play.

He’s inclined to include Greenfield on that list, and gestures out the window of his office to make his point. “They used to call the other end of the street Bank Row,” he said, referring to a stretch of Federal Street now occupied by what once were stately bank offices, many of them redeveloped for other uses. “They really should call this Bank Row now.”

Tucker, president and CEO of Greenfield Cooperative Bank (GCB) and Northampton Cooperative Bank (the two institutions merged in 2015, and the former name was kept) was referencing the number of competitors who call a different stretch of Federal Street home, and it’s a large number.

But, unlike most of the other bank leaders who bemoan the overbanked nature of this region, Tucker sees the landscape through a slightly different lens.

“Some bankers would say we’re overbanked; I would say we have choices,” he explained. “It forces you to be more competitive, and it gives people choices. It doesn’t hurt to have competition — otherwise, you get complacent.”

So perhaps all that competition should get some of the credit for what has been a consistent pattern of growth for the bank, especially since Tucker took the helm at GCB in 2003. Since then, the bank has seen assets rise from roughly $175 million to more than $630 million, its branch count soar from three to 10, and its commercial-lending portfolio take a quantum leap.

Overall, the bank’s strategy has been to gradually expand its footprint in Franklin and Hampshire counties, growing mostly via the organic route (although the merger with Northampton Coop certainly accelerated that process), and achieve more of the size that is needed to thrive in today’s banking landscape.

The plan also calls for seizing opportunities when and where they arise, which brings us to the institution’s latest expansion effort — a branch in South Hadley at the Woodlawn Shopping Plaza that will bear a Northampton Cooperative sign over the door and open next January.

Formerly a Bank of America branch — that institution has been closing a good number of facilities in recent years — the new location gives Greenfield Coop presence in another Hampshire County community, but one that enables it to serve residents of several nearby Hampden County cities, especially Chicopee and Holyoke.

The plan for the foreseeable future is summed up neatly in the bank’s annual report, issued just a few weeks ago.

“Our primary strategy remains to look for prudent and measured organic growth right here in Western Massachusetts,” Tucker wrote in the report, noting that many of those aforementioned competitors have ventured into Central Mass., Connecticut, or both. “We need to remain a lean organization, especially in light of the growth of mobile and electronic banking in today’s world. Our branch strategy recognizes the new world order with the continued growth of the internet.”

Michael Tucker says the GCB branch is just one of many banks located on Federal Street, a proliferation that provides competition, which he believes makes his bank better.

For this issue and its focus on banking and financial services, BusinessWest asked Tucker to elaborate on all those points and essentially draft a quick blueprint of the bank’s plans for the future. In a nutshell, it simply calls for more of what of what the bank has been achieving under his leadership — smart growth.

Points of Interest

Tucker said he ventured into banking, if that’s the word for it, while he was in law school at Western New England University.

He took a teller’s job at the institution known then as Springfield Institution for Savings (SIS), while attending night classes, not knowing this would be his employer for some time to come.

He remembers his first boss, John Collins, telling him that his law degree could be put to good use in the banking industry.

“He said, ‘I have a lot MBAs who could use some help, because we have this new thing called compliance,’” he recalled, referring specifically to the Truth in Lending Simplification Act of 1981. “That was my first foray into banking law.”

He took the title ‘counsel and compliance officer,’ and later worked his way up to senior vice president and general counsel. When Peoples Heritage acquired SIS, Tucker, like many others, was soon out of work, but he eventually landed at what is now bankESB for several years before being recruited to lead GCB.

When he arrived in Greenfield, he took over one of the smallest banks in the region with a simple goal — “I told the board I was going to keep this place mutual and hopefully leave it a better bank than I found it” — and set about a course of steady if unspectacular growth, which was by design, as he explained with a little humor.

“Our growth is roughly 4% to 6% a year,” he noted. “If we were a stock bank, they would have thrown me out the door. Because we’re a mutual bank, we can take our time. Where I see banks get in trouble is when they try to grow too fast and lose sight of their basic principles.”

GCB hasn’t done that, and its strategic goal — and operating philosophy — are summed up by its web domain name, www.bestlocalbank.com, and a comment from the annual report. “As I’ve often said before, we’ll probably never be the biggest bank,” Tucker wrote. “But we always strive to be the best bank in Western Massachusetts.”

During Tucker’s tenure, the bank has, as noted, expanded to 10 branches. There are two in Amherst (although they will soon be consolidated; more on that later), one in Florence, another in Northampton, two in Greenfield, as well as a commercial and residential and loan-services facility, and single locations in Northfield, Shelburne Falls, Sunderland, and Turners Falls.

Meanwhile, it has also greatly expanded its commercial-lending team and its commercial portfolio, which, like that at many banks in the region, is dominated by commercial real-estate loans, but also reflects the diversity of the local economy, especially in the bank’s hometown.

Indeed, this is an intriguing time for Greenfield, said Tucker, noting that the community once dominated economically by manufacturing has varied its economy, making great strides in technology and hospitality.

“Our growth is roughly 4% to 6% a year. If we were a stock bank, they would have thrown me out the door. Because we’re a mutual bank, we can take our time. Where I see banks get in trouble is when they try to grow too fast and lose sight of their basic principles.”

“There is a lot of energy in the town,” he said. “We have the new courthouse and the new parking garage; they opened the Olver [Transit Center], and there have been many other new developments.”

Still, this region, and especially Franklin County, where many communities are struggling to maintain population and especially young people, would be considered a low- or no-growth area, he acknowledged, meaning growth is a challenge for any financial institution.

This is why many area banks, as he noted in his annual-report comments, have ventured into Connecticut, Central Mass., or both, and why others have grown through acquisition or merger.

GCB has done some of that with its merger with Northampton Coop, a move that Tucker described as “logical” for both institutions because of that overbanked nature of this sector, and the lack of population growth in Franklin County.

“That’s why we looked at Hampshire County and why I talked to Northampton [Coop],” he explained. “It would have been silly for us to build another branch down in Hampshire County and fight 10 other banks for the money when we can partner with another bank.

“That worked out well for everyone because we didn’t have to lay anyone off,” he went on, adding that he spends one day a week in Northampton at that division of the institution. “It was a smooth transition. We were both very small — and we’re still one of the smaller banks — but we now have more size, and that helps. It was a good merger.”

By All Accounts

As he talked about his bank’s branch strategy, Tucker reached for his cell phone and held it aloft.

“This is our fastest-growing branch,” he said, noting that internet banking is becoming an ever-stronger force in this sector.

But brick-and-mortar branches are obviously still needed, he went on, adding that they probably don’t need to be as large as they once were, and they are far less transaction-oriented than they once were.

SEE: Banks in Western Mass.

But they serve an important purpose in that they give a bank a presence and enable it to better serve customers in a particular region or community.

Which brings us to the new South Hadley branch.

The most logical expansion point for the bank moving forward is probably Hampden County, said Tucker, adding that the South Hadley branch provides an opportunity to make some strides in that direction.

Tucker found the branch while on one of his many drives around the area looking for opportunities.

“We keep our eyes open, and I drive around the area a lot and take a look at the communities,” he explained. “South Hadley was a community that I thought had some upside, and I was surprised when I read that Bank of America was closing that branch because they had a fair amount of deposits in that office.

“With this branch, we can serve some customers that we have already in Springfield and Chicopee,” he went on. “But it also gets us to reach a base in South Hadley that BOA is telling, ‘if you want to bank with us, you have to drive over here.’”

BOA’s departure will ultimately lead to GCB’s arrival, specifically its Northampton Coop division, said Tucker, adding that, while moving into South Hadley, the bank will continue to look for other growth opportunities as well as ways to become the ‘leaner organization’ he mentioned in the annual report.

Toward that end, the bank will consolidate its two branches in Amherst into one, a nod to the fact that specific branches are simply handling fewer transactions these days.

“When I was a teller in Forest Park [for SIS], we had seven or eight tellers plus a manager and an assistant manager,” he noted, turning the clock back four decades or so. “People were lined up out the door — we didn’t have deposit — and everyone came in to cash their Social Security checks on the first of the month.”

Elaborating, he said the branches in Amherst that saw 10,000 transactions a month several years ago were down to 5,000 maybe five years ago, and are now seeing roughly 3,000 a month, thanks to ever-advancing technology.

This phenomenon will eventually lead to fewer branches, and, more immediately, smaller facilities.

“The industry is moving in that direction,” he said while again holding his phone aloft and explaining it is now a branch itself in most all respects. “But I don’t think branches will be obsolete; they will be smaller and leaner.”

As for future expansion geographically, Tucker said GCB will continue to look for potential landing spots. “We’ll continue to look south and possibly east to Worcester County,” he told BusinessWest. “A lot depends on what happens; with some of the branches we’ve opened, I didn’t anticipate doing it at that time, as in Turners Falls, but the opportunity arose.”

Bottom Line

In his annual-report statement, Tucker noted that, over the past 114 years, GCB has had three basic operating slogans.

It’s gone from ‘Traditional, Progressive, Locally Focused,’ to ‘In the Community, for the Community,’ to the current ‘Come on Over to the Coop.’

The words are different, but they say the same thing, essentially — that this isn’t the biggest bank on a block crowded with other banks, but it strives to be best, and it’s generally successful in that mission.

This is the strategy that has worked since Teddy Roosevelt was in the White House, and there isn’t any sentiment to change it, said Tucker, because it works, not only for the community, but for the institution as well.

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

Motocross at the Wick Is a Driving Force Economically

By Kayla Ebner July 9, 2019

Sports & Leisure

The Real Dirt

Keith Johnson (left, with Rick Johnson) says his passion for the Wick 338 stems from his own participation in the sport of motocross.

Motocross in Southwick is nearly a half-century-old tradition. It’s also a business and a well-tuned economic engine. Like the sport itself, this local enterprise has endured some ups and downs, twists and turns, but, thanks to a father-son team, it is now hitting on all cylinders.

When Rick Johnson relates the history of the Wick 338 motocross track in Southwick, he notes that he never thought he’d be managing the production of a national championship — let alone four of them.

But that’s what has transpired in what can only be called the latest chapter in the story of motocross in this town, perhaps best known for other forms of recreation, specifically those involving the Congamond Lakes, which give the community so much of its character.

It’s a story that, like the sport itself, features a number of twists and turns, ups and downs. With that, Johnson, track manager for the facility, flashes back almost a half-century, to 1972. That’s when the very first Southwick motocross race was held, just a few miles from the location of the Wick 338 track on Legion Road in Southwick, as in American Legion Post 338. Hosted by the New England Sports Committee (NESC), the race was held to benefit the Jimmy Fund and other town charities.

“Obviously there’s an economic spinoff, especially when you have a national race where you’re bringing thousands of people into town.”

The event was a huge success, and members of the Legion quickly developed an appetite for more motocross.

Fathers of NESC racers set their minds on building a track of their own and constructed the first version of what now stands at the Wick 338. Led by Bernie Yelin, Pat Smith, Ray Peebles, Dante Molta, Clovis Goyette, and many more, the Wick, as it would come to be called, would bring races, and then a national championship, the first in 1976, to the community. But it also brought much more, including large crowds of people and support for many kinds of businesses, especially those in the hospitality sector.

Then came some of those twists, turns, and dips. Indeed, after the 2012 national championship, the race was taken from the Wick because the track’s condition had deteriorated. Soon, the entire operation was in danger of being closed.

That’s when Mike Grondahl stepped into the picture; he worked out a lease with the American Legion to put it back in business.

The former Planet Fitness CEO had a great love for the sport of motocross, but due to a business investment he made prior to his deal with the track, he did not have the time to maintain it properly, and the track lay dormant.

Luckily for him, he knew a family who also loved the sport.

“He called me, and we agreed to do it — but not with the intent of having a national championship here,” Johnson told BusinessWest. “We just wanted to build the best track for the Northeast.”

Chris Canning (center) is the reigning motocross champion in the Northeast.

While Grondahl originally reached out to Johnson’s son, Keith, now president of the Wick 338 Promotions LLC, the father-and-son duo agreed that the best way to maintain the track was to work together. Rick would help with the business plan and work with the town, acting as the front man, and Keith would take care of things at the track.

Together, their goal was to bring the track — and the business — back to the high level of success enjoyed decades ago. And, generally speaking, they’ve succeeded in those goals, as evidenced by the national championship staged there just over a week ago. The seventh round of the 2019 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship put an exclamation point on what would have to be called a comeback for motocross racing in Southwick.

For this issue and its focus on sports and leisure, BusinessWest talked with the Johnsons and others within the community, and learned that motocross is more than a popular spectator sport; it’s also a driving force when it comes to economic vibrancy in Southwick.

Beyond the Track

The national race at the Wick 338 proves to be one of the most physically grueling races for those competing, each twist and turn more challenging than the last.

But this is not the only event that happens at the track.

Rick Johnson said the site hosts more than 40 events throughout the year, each one bringing between 500 and 3,000 people to town.

“It’s great for the town, not just because of the national, although it brings in 15,000 people in that one day,” said Keith. “For the most part, the town is a huge supporter of the entire facility.”

He noted that many business owners even plan around the track’s events.

“When I give my presentation to the town and give them my schedule, there are so many local shop owners there to learn what the schedule is all about so they can plan,” he told BusinessWest.

Southwick Selectman Joe Deedy can attest to this, and said the town simply wasn’t as vibrant when motocross races weren’t staged for a few years. “When motocross went away a couple years back, you could see a ton of people were so disappointed overall.”

Deedy also recalled that, in the old days, competitors would just show up and enjoy the race. Now, a race team might have five or six promoters they are dealing with, bringing in even more business to the local community.

“Every local little mom-and-pop business or even bigger facility that does catering, chances are, they are there catering to one race team or another,” he said.

Deedy and other town selectmen, Doug Moglin and Russ Fox, spoke highly about the track and the effect it has on Southwick, noting that everything from gas stations to breakfast shops do better business when there is a race in town.

“Obviously there’s an economic spinoff, especially when you have a national race where you’re bringing thousands of people into town,” said Fox, who has been a selectman, off and on, for nearly 40 years.

Among those people who came to town for this year’s national was a large crew from NBC, which broadcast the race nationally. This exposure, said Fox, helps bring in more people and shines a light on Southwick, home to about 10,000 people.

The Wick 338 hosts more than 40 events throughout the year, from small races to the recent national event that brought 15,000 people to town.

A national race like the one on June 29 brings in a crowd larger than the community’s population, drawing some traffic and maybe a few headaches, but any negatives are far outweighed by the positives, said those we spoke with.

Indeed, Moglin said, even during an event like the national, someone passing through Southwick wouldn’t know the event was going on, making the track a good neighbor.

Because the town has hosted the event several times before, the accumulated experience helps all those involved put on an event with minimal negative impact within the community, Moglin said, noting that the hour before the event and when it finishes are the only times traffic gets backed up, and additional law-enforcement services are not needed on the streets to help manage the crowds.

More Than Moto

While things may be quiet on the road, the track is always bustling.

Referred to as the Fenway Park of motocross, the Wick 338 hosts everything from open practices to Rugged Maniacs to an event known as Southwick Day. Track managers even volunteer their starting line to light off fireworks on the Fourth of July.

Before Rick and Keith hosted their first national event, they knew they needed to upgrade the track in order to make it the best of the best. This included installing new tunnels under the track, trimming trees to make the facility more viewer-friendly, close to 3,000 feet of fencing, a new irrigation system, a brand-new scoring and announcing tower, and more. Four days before the 2019 national, 20 truckloads of dirt were brought in.

These are just a few of the things it takes to run a successful track — and they aren’t cheap. Rick said he knew that, if the Wick charged for general admission only, it would be difficult to generate the revenue needed to pay for the upkeep of the track.

That’s why he got creative and introduced VIP seating.

“We looked and found areas of the track that weren’t being utilized, and we invested in those areas to create VIP sections,” he said, adding that these areas around the track allow ticket holders to get a whole new experience and greatly increase revenues; VIP tickets range from $90 to $375 compared to the general-admission price of $45.

All these investments have led to a four-year run of nationals for the father-and-son duo.

Before Rick and Keith took over at the Wick 338, chain-link fences stood six feet high, and tall trees made it difficult for viewers to truly feel like they were a part of the action. Now, motocross fans have the opportunity to see the dirt flying up-close and personal.

“Those were the things that we felt took away from the character of the New England track,” said Rick. “It was our intent to bring it back as it was back in the ’70s that everybody loved so much, and make it safe.”

They’ve succeeded in that mission, and in the process, they’ve helped rev up the local economy — literally and figuratively.

Kayla Ebner can be reached at [email protected]

Stigma Often Keeps Guys from Seeking Help for Mental Health

By Joseph Bednar July 9, 2019

Business of Aging

Man UP

Joy Brock says organizations like the CONCERN Employee Assistance Program can bring mental-health resources to men — if they’re willing to ask.

Behavioral health is not a male issue or a female issue — it’s a human issue. Yet, the imbalance between the problems facing men and their willingness to seek help has raised alarm bells in the field over the years.

Suicide rates provide one of the starker contrasts, with men making up more than 75% of all suicide victims in the U.S., with one man killing himself every 20 minutes on average. Substance abuse — sometimes referred to as ‘slow-motion suicide’ — follows a similar track, ensnaring three men for every woman.

And, yet, men don’t want to bring up these issues, said Sara Kendall, vice president of Clinical Operations at MHA in Springfield.

“In our society, we have expressions like ‘man up.’ So many things in our culture are geared toward men being strong, and therefore, seeking any help — especially anything behavioral-health-related — been viewed as weakness,” she told BusinessWest. “It’s often difficult for men to feel comfortable talking to someone, so there’s a disconnect with how to help. We encounter that a lot.”

Joy Brock, director of the CONCERN Employee Assistance Program, which is affiliated with River Valley Counseling Center, has battled the same tendencies in her counseling and referral work.

“Oftentimes, men have this tendency to pull back and not discuss any mental-health stuff that’s going on with them,” she said. “They might be struggling with anxiety or depression or even social anxiety, but they’ll hide it.”

“Not all families sit down and say, ‘all right, as a guy, here’s how you handle this.’ They just tell you, ‘stop crying’ or ‘you’re being weak right now’ or ‘be a man.’”

Many times, the reluctance of men to seek help begins in their youth, with stereotypes that eventually harden into personality traits.

“We’re not all taught how to deal with situations growing up,” she noted. “We all come from different families, and not all families sit down and say, ‘all right, as a guy, here’s how you handle this.’ They just tell you, ‘stop crying’ or ‘you’re being weak right now’ or ‘be a man’ — all these social norms and stereotypes, which make it even harder when something’s happening to you.”

It’s a situation that’s exacerbated when one’s peers hold the same stereotypes, Brock added.

“Where do you go for help when you can’t go to your family and friends because they’re like, ‘oh, it’s not that big of a deal’? So some guys don’t talk about it, which is tough because it’s isolating. And if we hide it or pretend it doesn’t exist, it just keeps growing and gets to a place where you’re having breakdowns or meltdowns, or you’re getting suspended from work, and part of you doesn’t understand what’s going on.”

While difficult emotions — and clinical depression and anxiety — don’t always have a specific cause, there are some common stressors, she said, noting that divorce and unemployment can strike at the identity of men by altering their traditional roles and leaving them adrift, without pride or purpose.

It’s notable that men in small towns and rural areas have particularly high rates of suicide, and flyover states such as Wyoming, Montana, New Mexico, and Utah, as well as Alaska, have the highest rates of suicide in the country — a trend that has been linked to the decline in traditional male industries such as manufacturing, forestry, and fisheries, leaving large swaths of men in certain regions jobless or underemployed.

High rates have also been observed in veterans, young Native Americans, and gay men, with one possible common thread being perceived rejection by mainstream society, leading to strong feelings of alienation and isolation.

If there is an obvious trigger to feelings of depression or anxiety, Kendall said, it’s often easier to get men in the door to talk about it.

“The referral may come from a spouse. Oftentimes, a gentleman will come in and say, ‘I have to do this or lose my marriage, or lose my family, or lose my job.’ It’s tied to the fear of losing something. But once they’re here, they’re just as inclined to stay in treatment as females. There’s so much potential to help, if we can make it more comfortable for men to talk.”

Breaking Barriers

Besides cultural factors, Mental Health America notes three elements that may feed into the reluctance of men to seek help for mental-health issues.

The first is that awareness strategies are not targeted effectively to men. Research indicates that men respond more strongly to humor (especially dark humor) and, at least initially, to softer mental-health language. But, as Kendall noted, once men are engaged enough to learn more, there is often much less resistance to continuing the conversation.

The second factor is that men ask for help differently. Men are much more likely to accept help when there is a chance for reciprocity — that is, when they perceive an opportunity to help the other person in return, which wards off the feeling of weakness that is often associated with asking for help. Men also prefer to either fix or at least try to fix issues themselves when possible, before reaching out for help.

Sara Kendall says men tend to stay with needed mental-health programs once they begin, but getting the conversation started can be difficult.

For this reason, Brock suggested that acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is an effective option for many men. Instead of putting the emphasis on talking about feelings, ACT stresses accepting the reality of one’s situation, choosing a direction, and taking specific action toward those goals.

“What is it you’re fighting for? What gives you meaning in your life? Let’s focus on that, while also acknowledging you don’t feel great about the situation you’re in,” she said. “It’s a different, more action-oriented approach, and works especially well for veterans.”

The third factor is the fact that men often express mental-health problems differently than women, leading to misdiagnosis.

Although both genders experience similar symptoms of some mental-health concerns, how they manifest and present those symptoms can vary. For example, women often respond to symptoms of depression by appearing disheartened, sad, or talking about feelings of worthlessness. Men, however, often respond with anger, frustration, impulsive behavior, or other manifestations that are often dismissed as normal male, acting-out behaviors.

“It’ll end up presenting like anger or sometimes irritability,” Brock said. “Sometimes they just get tired, they don’t want to do anything, they’re not motivated, or they’re pulling away from work or the things that normally interest them. Sometimes it’s physical — stomachaches or chest tightening, that kind of thing. Or they do a lot of risk taking or avoiding or trying to escape a situation. And they might use substances, like alcohol or drugs, to try to hide things.

“If you’re no longer enjoying activities, if it creates disruption in your life, let’s talk about that. It’s no different than a pulled back keeping you from baseball games.”

“Sometimes we don’t recognize what depression is,” she went on, “because when you think depression, you think sadness, and for guys it looks way different. If you’re finding you’re more angry or irritable, that may be depression. And if you’re pulling away and isolating from other people, that’s depression as well.”

Because depression, anxiety, and related issues can wreak as much havoc on daily life as physical problems, if not more, it makes sense to seek help, Kendall said.

“If you’re no longer enjoying activities, if it creates disruption in your life, let’s talk about that. It’s no different than a pulled back keeping you from baseball games,” she explained. “We’re all in the same boat, and it’s OK to talk about it. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness.”

Dispelling the Myths

Joshua Beharry, a survivor of suicide, has become a mental-health advocate and the project coordinator of HeadsUpGuys, which provides men with advice and resources to identify, manage, and prevent depression.

“Fighting depression is difficult. Not only do you have to fight the illness, but you also fight the stigma attached to it,” he recently wrote for the National Alliance on Mental Illness website. “For men, the fear of looking weak or unmanly adds to this strain. Anger, shame, and other defenses can kick in as a means of self-protection, but may ultimately prevent men from seeking treatment.”

He outlined several common myths that stand between men and recovery from depression, including ‘depression equals weakness,’ ‘a man should be able to control his feelings,’ ‘real men don’t ask for help,’ ‘talking about depression won’t help,’ and ‘depression will make you a burden to others.” Understanding the falsehood behind all of these is the first step toward a healthier life, he added.

“Being unhealthy and refusing to seek treatment can put pressure and stress on those that care about you, but asking for help does not make you a burden. It makes people feel good to help a loved one, so don’t try to hide what you’re going through from them. What’s most frustrating is when someone needs help, but they refuse to ask for it.”

An employee-assistance program like CONCERN, which contracts with numerous area employers, is a good place to start, Brock said. It’s intended to be a non-confrontational environment where someone can admit they’re struggling and learn about resources — such as outpatient therapy, anger-management and substance-use support groups, and perhaps more intensive treatments — that can help.

“Sometimes it’s easy to hide things under drugs and alcohol, so that men don’t even know they have a problem,” she added. “Sometimes men have trouble being assertive and communicating their needs. But when they drink, out come the feelings.”

Primary-care physicians are also a good place to bring up issues of concern, Kendall noted.

“Most of us have one — it’s someone we know and feel comfortable with, who doesn’t feel as foreign or off-putting to call,” she said. “I feel like that’s the safest place to start. They know you physically, and mental health is just as important as your physical health.”

The doctor might provide a number of options, she added, such as an outpatient behavioral-health clinic like the BestLife Emotional Health & Wellness Center that MHA recently opened in Springfield. The important thing is to get the conversation started.

“How can we make it OK for men to talk openly about this part of themselves, which is just as important as their physical health?” Kendall said. “Men need to hear that it’s OK to talk about feeling anxious or depressed, just as they’d be concerned about having a back problem or a knee injury.”

Taking the First Step

The bottom line is that mental health is a critical part of life, both Kendall and Brock said. Not only do men attempt suicide far more often than women, they tend to use more lethal means, and are successful — if that’s the right word — about two-thirds of the time.

“I think it’s just hard to talk about what’s going on with us,” Brock told BusinessWest. “We’ve been trained that we have a life to live, we have to get on with it, and we’re supposed to be productive members of society. The reality is, life is not perfect, and it’s not smooth.

“With mental health, in order to get through it, you actually have to go straight through it,” she went on, “and it takes an extraordinary amount of courage and willingness to face something that is terrifying and extremely painful. Most of us would prefer to go out the back door and say, ‘yeah, I’m not dealing with that today.’”

Those who choose to take action — to man up, if you will — are typically glad they did. But the first step, facing the truth, is often the hardest.

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Westfield Makes Connections to Spur Progress

By Joseph Bednar July 9, 2019

Community Spotlight Features

Community Spotlight

Kate Phelon and Stefan Czaporowski say the Westfield Education to Business Alliance benefits both current employers in the city and some of their future workforce.

Kate Phelon has long appreciated the spirit of collaboration between Westfield’s municipal, business, and educational leaders — and points to the Westfield Education to Business Alliance, which just wrapped up its third year, as a good example.

The alliance, WE2BA for short, connects the city’s schools, where students are beginning to contemplate their career paths, with companies that are eager to mine local talent. Last year, it launched an adopt-a-classroom program — Mestek, Forum House, and PeoplesBank were the initial adopters, and more are expected to come on board next year — while Westfield High School’s annual career fair drew a record 61 vendors.

“We want to get more people involved — more businesses adopting more classrooms,” said Phelon, executive director of the Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce. “The principals are engaged in this.”

Stefan Czaporowski, the city’s Superintendent of Schools, said those efforts can have long-term economic-development impacts.

“Whether our students go on to college or work, we realize they might not be in Westfield as soon as they graduate,” he told BusinessWest. “But we want them to come back here, live here, work here, and help grow Westfield. I think the best way to do that is to show them what Westfield has to offer — and it offers a ton.”

It’s not just WE2BA (much more on that later) that’s showcasing the city’s strengths. Take, for example, Go Westfield, a collaboration among municipal officials, Westfield Gas + Electric, Whip City Fiber, the Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce, and corporate sponsor Westfield Bank to encapsulate what makes this city a desirable landing spot, and, more importantly, tell people about it.

“The city had never really taken on the task of marketing itself until just recently,” Mayor Brian Sullivan said. “It’s a work in progress, but we’ve gotten much better at touting what we have. We’ve got a lot of things here. We have an airport, a college, a hospital. We’ve got an exit off the Mass Pike. We’ve got transportation potential, between I-91 and the Pike. We’re literally two hours away from six different state capitals; geographically, we’re situated nicely. And we have more developable land than most.”

But Go Westfield is about more than marketing; it’s also a means to continual self-improvement. Phelon cited three recent focus groups — targeting the retail, manufacturing, and nonprofit sectors — as a notable example.

“Whether our students go on to college or work, we realize they might not be in Westfield as soon as they graduate. But we want them to come back here, live here, work here, and help grow Westfield. I think the best way to do that is to show them what Westfield has to offer — and it offers a ton.”

“These are the businesses that are here, and we wanted to find out from them what’s working really well, and what keeps them up at night,” she told BusinessWest. “That helps us better market ourselves as we address concerns and find out if other businesses have the same concerns. We want to make our existing businesses happy and address their issues — and if we don’t know what those issues are, we can’t help them.”

Sullivan agreed. “We’ve gotten much better at listening to stakeholders. It used to be that the city would have an idea, and we would go after that idea. Now, it’s more reaching out to the companies in town and saying, ‘what’s working? What’s not working? What do you need?’ We’re making the companies already here a little better, and by listening to their needs, it’s helping out other companies who are saying, ‘yeah, we needed that too.’”

Sullivan hears those needs at the Mayor’s Coffee Hour, sponsored by the chamber and hosted by a different business each month.

“Those companies get to show off what they do, and we get to talk about things like construction projects, road projects, what’s coming down the pike for the City Council,” Sullivan said, adding that he often brings along other city department heads to enrich the discussions. “I don’t want to just stand in front of the room and talk; it’s got to be a two-way conversation. And an hour can fly by.”

That’s partly because there’s a lot to talk about these days in the Whip City — and the collaborations driving that progress are becoming more robust.

Welcoming Party

When someone contacts one of the Go Westfield member organizations, Sullivan explained, other members are quickly roped in, whether that’s a municipal department, Westfield Gas + Electric, or the chamber. “If some company is interested in coming here and calls the chamber, Kate’s been really good at giving me a heads-up that, ‘hey, these people are looking to come.’”

Companies like Wright-Pierce, a 72-year-old environmental/civil infrastructure engineering firm, which recently announced it will open an office in Westfield.

Or Myers Information Systems, which is relocating downtown from its previous location in Northampton, bringing 20 software-development professionals and renovating 110 Elm St., which used to be a restaurant with industrial space above it. The firm expects to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony in the coming months.

Westfield at a glance

Year Incorporated: 1669
Population: 41,552
Area: 47.4 square miles
County: Hampden
Residential Tax Rate: $19.70
Commercial Tax Rate: $38.00
Median Household Income: $45,240
Median Family Income: $55,327
Type of Government: Mayor, City Council
Largest Employers: Westfield State University, Baystate Noble Hospital, Mestek Inc., Savage Arms Inc., Advance Manufacturing Co.
* Latest information available

“Some of the reasons Myers chose here were the chamber, a bike trail, access to downtown, and fiber coming from the Gas + Electric,” the mayor said. “We reached out, wooing them to come to us. They were pretty impressed with how solidified we were as a group.”

He was referring specifically to Whip City Fiber, a division of Westfield Gas + Electric that continues to expand gigabyte-speed internet to residences and businesses across the city.

“Having access to that is huge for an awful lot of companies that are looking for bandwidth and a central location for their employees,” he explained. “Companies aren’t 9 to 5 anymore, where people come in and do their work and leave. It’s all hours of the day, it’s weekends, and if you can have access to high-speed internet, you can thrive as a company.”

The Elm Street Urban Renewal Plan, approved in 2013, continues to focus on revitalizing a two-block area in the heart of downtown Westfield running along both sides of Elm Street, the city’s main commercial thoroughfare. One recent success story is the $6.6 million Olver Transit Pavilion, which opened in April 2017.

The same year, the Westfield Redevelopment Authority demolished a former bowling alley near the transit center, with plans to create a multi-story, mixed-use building with retail, restaurants, office space, and market-rate apartments. The WRA plans to issue a request for proposals for the site — much of which used to house J.J. Newberry’s five-and-dime store — within the next month.

The mixed-use concept, Sullivan said, is an important one for a wide swath of Millennial professionals who crave city living with walkable amenities.

“They want to live downtown and don’t want cars; they want to walk or bike anywhere they want to go — a total urban lifestyle,” he told BusinessWest. “With Millennials, it’s not ‘build your house somewhere and have your two cars and go to your job.’ They want to be downtown, walk to the coffee shop, bring their laptop, do some of their work there, and go for a bike ride.

“The trend is all about internet access, getting to and from places without using a car, and downtown visibility,” he went on. “That’s what drove Myers to Elm Street, access to all these things.”

Another economic trend in Massachusetts involves the cannabis industry, and Westfield has embraced such businesses, with four available licenses for retail, cultivation, or other uses; two are currently going through the permitting process. With Southwick and West Springfield currently not in the marijuana game, Sullivan noted that Westfield is in a good spot when it comes to cornering market share, particularly from across the Connecticut border.

Brian Sullivan says city officials have become more adept at “opening up our ears” and being responsive to the needs of the business community.

“The City Council is figuring out whether we want one in downtown core district or keep them on the outskirts,” Sullivan said. “It’s such a new industry that nobody really knows what’s going to shake down. Everything is on the table right now.”

Meanwhile, initiatives like Go Westfield continue to dig into what the business community wants and how to bring new companies into the fold, with the goal of boosting economic development not only downtown, but across this sprawling city of more than 47 square miles.

“You have to adapt, and we’re getting better at adapting and opening up our ears,” he added. “And that’s what these focus groups are doing. We’re sitting there and listening to what’s lacking or what’s not working, or maybe what is working, and doing more of that.”

Back to School

Phelon and Czaporowski are excited about the potential of expanding the reach of the Westfield Education to Business Alliance, enlisting graduate students from Westfield State University to help out with programs moving forward. At a focus group in the spring, about 20 professors from various degree programs expressed an interest in working with different organizations in town, getting students into the weeds of local businesses.

“We hope they go away to college — that’s great — but come back. We have a great community. It’s pretty cool what’s happening here.”

The existing connections work on multiple levels. For instance, the students who worked with Mestek in the adopt-a-classroom program improved their presentation skills and performed, on average, markedly better than their peers in the school’s science fair. Meanwhile, Westfield teachers went to Mestek to help employees with limited English proficiency boost those skills.

“We want to expand adopt-a-classroom because getting the business community in front of the kids and sharing their expertise and their work experiences is huge,” Czaporowski said. “And we want to keep promoting what some call soft skills and we call essential skills — speaking with eye contact, how to interview, résumés, but also how to be a productive employee — things like punctuality and attendance. We call them essential skills because these are skills you’re going to need throughout life.”

Meanwhile, businesses visited elementary schools for career-day events toward the end of the school year, getting kids thinking early about career pathways and even what high school to attend to best serve those interests.

“We’re exposing kids to relevant life learning,” the superintendent said. “And it’s beneficial to the businesses too. The experience is eye-opening for them.”

That’s partly because students learn differently today — in a more interactive, collaborative style, with different tools — than they used to, Sullivan said, and it’s helpful for employers to understand that.

“It’s all about workforce development,” he said. “A lot of these companies will need their talents someday. They need those kids to walk into their business and start working. That training is now happening in the schools. And it’s a two-way street. A lot of the best companies in town are sending a representative to some of these meetings with the students because they want the students to know their product when they get out.”

Whether it’s through the career fair, adopt-a-classroom, or other efforts, Phelon noted, there are many ways to engage with students and show them what career and lifestyle opportunities exist in their own backyard — just as Go Westfield broadcasts that message to a much wider audience.

“We hope they go away to college — that’s great — but come back,” she said. “We have a great community. It’s pretty cool what’s happening here.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Body Fit Warehouse Emphasizes Mental Aspect of Fitness

By Kayla Ebner July 9, 2019

Sports & Leisure

The Shape of Things

Anna Dichner and Steve Tryon are currently the only two trainers at Body Fit Warehouse, teaching about 40 classes a week, focusing on body-weight exercises.

When a person thinks of ‘working out,’ what typically comes to mind first are the grueling physical challenges the body goes through.

However, Steve Tryon says many personal trainers at gyms today are missing a key piece of the puzzle: the mental and spiritual side of training.

This is what he and co-owner Anna Dichner try to bring to Body Fit Warehouse, a holistic lifestyle and fitness gym in Southwick.

When Tryon first started working at the gym years ago, he had no idea he would one day be buying and co-owning the facility with Dichner, his girlfriend he met seven years ago. The two have since completely transformed their own values, which they remember every day in order to give members the best training possible.

“We rebuilt the whole foundation from scratch to show people that it’s not about how you look, it’s not about how strong you are… it’s about everything else you’re able to do in the rest of your life,” said Tryon, adding that, when the couple bought the gym in February 2018, there were a lot of things that needed to be changed. “The trainers and other practitioners that were here, they weren’t looking at things from a holistic standpoint.”

He’s talking about the importance of addressing what is going on inside people’s minds before the body gets to work.

Dichner added that a key element to how successful they have been with the business so far is how they approach identifying what may be going on in a person’s life outside of the gym, and how they can help fix the problem.

“I always ask every one of my clients, ‘how was your day?’ or ‘how are you feeling?’ because that will dictate the workout and the type of session we’re going to have,” she said.

SEE: List of Fitness Centers

Tryon and Dichner are the only two trainers in the gym, with 130 regular members paying a monthly fee and 40 to 50 people going through classes each week. Even with this high volume, the two manage to spend one-on-one time with a significant number of their members, while still keeping their focus on supporting a holistic lifestyle for each individual who walks through the door.

More Than Muscle Power

Using an individual approach like the one Tryon and Dichner describe sounds like it might break the bank, but the gym gives members and visitors plenty of options when it comes to finding the right fit for them.

“When we came in, we established right off the bat that we’re going to bring a loving atmosphere to the place to show people that we’re about growth,” said Tryon, adding that he will custom-match anyone who comes through the door. “If you have $5, I’ll train you for $5. We don’t care about how much money you pay, we don’t care about how much you’re capable of or this or that. We just want to show you that we want to grow with you, not just train you and make money from you.”

The 24/7 facility offers a no-contract membership, which means people can pay on a month-to-month basis for a rate of $24.95. The gym also allows drop-ins for $10 a class, and $5 simply to use the facility. The two run about 20 group training sessions a week, and these are not your average gym classes.

Dichner says how many people show up and what kind of energy they give off during the warm-up dictates the type of movements they will do for the day, adding that it is very difficult to plan workouts in advance when she doesn’t know how members will be feeling when they walk through the door.

“We don’t stick to any strict guidelines,” she said. “The holistic practice is, we have to take everything into consideration. If one thing is off, everything is off.”

This “structureless” system, as Tryon calls it, allows the trainers to assess how someone is feeling right off the bat, giving them the ability to create the best training session as possible.

And he says the results are astounding.

The two explained that they have completely different training styles, giving members more options when it comes to choosing how they want to approach a workout.

Both Dichner and Tryon are certified personal trainers, but they credit their ability to get results not to their certifications, but to the experiences they’ve gained throughout their lives. In fact, Dichner says she hardly remembers anything from her certification.

“Once I started training myself and going through trial and error, that’s when I learned the most,” she said. “There’s so much that you learn through hands-on experience.”

Attribute Adjustment

This experience has led to a facility with a completely different mindset about fitness, and Dichner and Tryon have big plans for the future.

“We want to bring it to its full potential,” said Dichner, adding that she hopes they can one day open a much bigger facility with fields and other elements. “The vision keeps changing.”

For now, the couple say helping people grow is the best part of their business. The excitement of not knowing what’s going to happen next helps them stick to their values and continue to give people the best training possible.

“I love seeing people’s attitudes and mindsets change through the training and me helping them,” said Dichner.

“We’re really just enjoying the ride, without a doubt,” added Tryon. “We took it from a gym to a garden.”

Kayla Ebner can be reached at [email protected]

Senior Citizens Are Frequently the Targets — and the Victims

By Columnist July 9, 2019

Banking and Financial Services

The Scammers Are Out There

By Jean Deliso

Jean Deliso

Have you ever been scammed by someone or received a phone call attempting to pressure you to provide personal information or send money?

If you can say yes, have you thought about what your parents or grandparents might do in similar situations?

Senior citizens are frequent victims of these criminal activities. To help protect older family members and to safeguard yourself, everyone should be better informed about these schemes and how to help prevent becoming a victim.

Scam artists are everywhere, and they are here in Western Mass. Within the past 18 months, I personally had two different clients who were defrauded by a scam tactic that preyed on their love of their grandchildren and their innocence and confusion.

One was contacted and told their grandchild had been in an accident, he had seriously hurt someone, and he was going to spend many years in jail unless money was sent. In the other situation, it was claimed that a grandchild was in a friend’s car, which was stopped by the police, and they found drugs. The scammer stated that the grandchild was not guilty, but he would be charged unless the grandparent sent cash immediately to get him assistance in court.

Both victims were told not to tell anyone, otherwise the assistance would stop. And in both situations, the grandparents went to the bank or withdrew money from their investment accounts, converted it to cash, placed it an envelope, and sent it to these unknown addresses.

These situations are happening more often, and thus there is a pressing need to educate our senior citizens to be aware of these types of scams.

There is nothing more special than the love of a grandchild. These imposters are targeting and exploiting this love and affection.

There have been other articles written on this subject, but not everyone reads them. It is important to educate your parents or grandparents that these scams exist and that, if they ever receive a call where they are instructed to be silent, they should contact a trusted family member or the proper authorities immediately.

Not all children are comfortable talking to their parents or grandparents about these situations, but I highly recommend you do.

I’ve seen too many of these scams recently amongst my clients. As a certified financial planner, it’s my responsibility to help my clients manage their assets and finances and to help safeguard against risks to their financial well-being. If a suspicious phone call or request is unusual or confusing, it’s important for the recipient to question it and alert their loved ones.

Please speak to your parents and grandparents about these threats. If they receive such a call, have them talk to other family members or the police before providing any information to the caller. They should never send cash to someone they don’t know or if they don’t fully understand why it’s being requested. Have them call the grandchild on their personal phone number, and, most importantly, tell them never to send cash to anyone they don’t know.

Jean Deliso, CFP is a principal with Deliso Financial and Insurance Services; (413) 785-1100.

Hoop Hall, MGM, Ray Allen Team Up for Charity Golf Classic

By George O'Brien July 9, 2019

Sports & Leisure

Star Power

They’re calling it a “pairing party.”

And, as that name suggests, this is a party at which the pairings for the MGM Springfield Basketball Hall of Fame Golf Classic Hosted by Ray Allen!, will be announced.

Most golf tournaments in this region, and there are a great many of them, don’t have a pairing party. This one does, and for a good reason — players are being paired with Hall of Famers and legends of the game. The list of those signed on to participate include players such as Allen, Dominique Wilkins, Gary Payton, Dave Cowens, Rick Barry, Bernard King, Muggsy Bogues, and Alex English. And there are others coming, such as ESPN personality Jackie MacMullan.

The opportunity to play with one of these stars is just one of the intriguing aspects of this tournament, which will benefit both the Hall of Fame and local schools, said Jason Fiddler, vice president of Sales & Marketing for the Hall.

Others include the fact that this is a two-day event, with day one being the pairings party at MGM Springfield, and the second day being all golf — at the Ranch in Southwick, one of the region’s premier courses, and also the fact that, the higher the participation level, the more a group gets to choose the star they’ll play golf with.

The tournament, slated for July 25 and 26, is actually a rebirth of a fundraising tournament staged by the Hall of Fame roughly a decade ago, one that was staged in conjunction with enshrinement weekend in September, said Fiddler, adding that it is now one of three golf events the shrine conducts over the course of a year. The others are in Los Angeles in the fall, and in Phoenix in the spring.

“We wanted to bring a premier event back to Springfield — that was one of our primary missions,” he said, noting that Springfield is the birthplace of the sport and home to its Hall of Fame. “We wanted to do something that would bring our Hall of Fame talent back to Springfield on a regular basis.

“We had long conversations with various Hall of Famers to see who we could get engaged,” he went on, “and then had various conversations with local and regional parties to get a title partner involved in the event, and both kind of came together on the same day.”

Elaborating, he said MGM showed great interest in putting its name on the event, and Ray Allen, the former UConn great and key player in the Boston Celtics 2008 championship run, communicated the same level of interest in doing the same — hence the first annual MGM Springfield Basketball Hall of Fame Golf Classic Hosted by Ray Allen!, complete with exclamation point.

In addition to raising funds for the Hall of Fame, proceeds will, through Ray Allen Charities, be channeled to a Springfield-based school to be determined later.

“We’re trying to raise enough funds to revamp a computer room or robotics program here in the city,” said Fiddler, adding that $40,000 has been earmarked for such a project. “Everyone’s working behind the scenes to select an appropriate school.”

This latest addition to the Hall of Fame golf portfolio will be like the others in that it will enable participating golfers to play with a legend, said Fiddler, adding that there has been a good deal of positive response to the tournament, although there are still a few foursomes to be filled.

Foursomes cost $2,500, and, as noted, there are higher participations levels and other ways to support the endeavor. Sponsorships opportunities are also available. For more information, visit www.hoophall.com/events/mgm-springfield-hall-of-fame-golf-classic/schedule-of-events.

—George O’Brien

Online Nursing Programs Evolve to Meet Workforce Needs

By Joseph Bednar July 9, 2019

Business of Aging

Education Anywhere

Marjorie Bessette says online nursing programs are opening doors to higher degrees at a time when the industry is demanding them.

Back in 2010, the Institute of Medicine put out a call for 80% of all registered nurses to have a bachelor’s degree in nursing (BSN) by 2020. National nurse organizations picked up the goal as well — 85% is the current goal — while hospitals with ‘magnet’ status, such as Baystate Medical Center, maintain even stricter staffing goals.

One problem, though: RNs work full-time jobs, and many go home to a full slate of family and parenting obligations. And that leaves little opportunity to go back to school to take classes toward a BSN.

Enter the online model.

“The reason for the increase in online RN-to-BSN programs is the need to increase the number of BSN-prepared nurses in the workplace,” said Marjorie Bessette, academic director of Health and Nursing at Bay Path University.

“There’s a national initiative to have 85% of RNs be minimally at the BSN level by 2020, which is right around the corner,” she went on. “Nurses have full-time jobs and full-time lives. With area hospitals and work sites demanding BSNs, we’re trying to help that workforce shortage by creating accelerated programs online that nurses can take on their own schedule. They don’t have to be in class at a certain time.”

Bay Path, through its American Women’s College, launched its online RN-to-BSN program in 2015 and graduated its first class in 2017. It also offers online tracks toward master of science in nursing (MSN) and doctor of nursing practice degrees.

“Many students come in with an RN already, and they’re usually able to transfer most of their associate-degree credits toward a bachelor’s degree,” Bessette noted.

American International College (AIC) offers online programs for an RN-to-BSN degree, as well as its MSN track, which offers three concentrations: nurse educator, nurse administrator, and family nurse practitioner.

“Ultimately, both RNs and graduate-program students are already working nurses, and it can be challenging to go back to school while working on their chosen career, but the online format gives them the opportunity to do that,” said Ellen Furman, interim director for Graduate Nursing and assistant professor of Nursing at AIC.

“The reason for the increase in online RN-to-BSN programs is the need to increase the number of BSN-prepared nurses in the workplace.”

“They have to be online weekly, but when, exactly, to be online is up to them,” she went on. “So, a nurse might be working nights, or might be on days, and this gives them the flexibility to arrange their schedule to get their work done at a time that’s convenient for them.”

And convenience is paramount for young medical professionals who don’t need much more added stress on their plates.

“Many have families, and trying to balance that can be really difficult,” Furman said. “With the online forum, they can work when they want to work, or when they have time to work, rather than being at a specific place at a specific time on a weekly basis.”

And that, industry leaders believe, will lead to many more nurses seeking the higher degrees so in demand.

“There is currently an RN shortage, which seems to be cyclical. Some years, graduates are looking for jobs, and some years, there are multiple jobs per graduate,” Furman said. “Right now, there seems to be a real shortage. If you look at any healthcare institution in the region, they’re all looking to recruit nurses, and at higher levels of education, especially if they’re a magnet institution like Baystate, which is looking to increase their number of nurses with higher degrees.”

Setting the Pace

Cindy Dakin, professor and director of Graduate Nursing Studies at Elms College School of Nursing, said Elms offers all three tracks of its MSN program — one in nursing education, one in nursing and health services management, and the third in school nursing — online.

“You don’t have to be sitting in front of the computer at a specific time. Classes are not live. You can access the materials through the system,” she noted. “The faculty will load the syllabus and load all the assignments for the entire semester, so students know when each deadline is. That allows them to plan ahead if they want to get ahead. If somebody moves quicker, or if a vacation is coming up, you can get it done ahead of time if you want to. It allows flexibility when you can access the whole course and know what the requirements and deadlines are.”

Elms launched its first MSN program — a totally in-person classroom model — in 2008, then moved to a hybrid format, recogizing that nurses have busy lives, and the requirements of the job — with often-unexpected overtime shifts arising — made it difficult to come to class at times.

School nurses in particular were having a tough time making it to class for 3 or 3:30 p.m., Dakin noted. “They always had to be late, and we always made allowances for them, but they were still missing something in the first half-hour of class.”

The best option, department leaders decided, was a totally online program.

“It has helped to broaden our market,” she said. “Normally, students — even in hybrid programs — have lived within close proximity to Elms, and come on campus for classes. Being online, I have students from the North Shore, on Nantucket, and these people definitely would not have enrolled in our program if we still required face-to-face classes. Our base is much wider now.”

Bessette added that students face the same academic rigors as they would in a physical classroom, but they can complete the program on an accelerated basis to meet the requirements.

“It’s more convenient because, whatever shift you’re working as a nurse, you’re able to fit that in. When I went back for my bachelor’s degree, I did it the traditional way; we didn’t have an online program at the time. I went in the evening after work, one course, three nights a week, for 15 weeks. But I did my master’s online, and that made a huge difference.”

Most online nursing courses do require a clinical component, depending on the track. Also, “we have a few on-campus days, but those are minimal,” Furman said. “In the RN-to-BSN program, there’s no on-campus requirement.”

Breaking Through

Dakin was quick to note that, if students need to talk to faculty, the professor will schedule a session, or perhaps arrange to meet several students at once through a videoconferencing session.

In fact, technology has made the online model feel less isolating in recent years, she added. “When they load the course information, they may use PowerPoint, or they might tape themselves lecturing. Most of us, at the very least, do voiceovers, which lends a more personal aspect to it.

“Some students aren’t sure if they’ll like it,” she added. “They like the extra time, not having to travel to a specific place. But they’re also afraid of losing contact. But that doesn’t happen, and at the same time, it really broadens our base to recruit students.”

Furman agreed.

“There will be people who say, ‘I don’t think I can learn online.’ I’ve been that student who has been both online and in the classroom, and I’ll say that online education is not like it used to be,” she told BusinessWest. “Today, with technology as it is, there are so many more options to deliver content and more effectively teach students in that online room. I believe if a student says they can’t learn online, they just haven’t been engaged in the right program in the right way.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

The Changing Retail Landscape

By Editorial July 9, 2019

Opinion

Editorial

The headlines came in rapid succession, and they juxtaposed each other nicely.

The site in South Hadley’s Woodlawn Plaza that was once home to a Big Y supermarket is the proposed location of a mixed-income apartment complex. Meanwhile, in Westfield, plans were announced to convert the former Bon-Ton department store location in the Westfield Shops into a 50,000-square-foot trampoline park, complete with dodgeball courts, an American Ninja Warrior-style course, and climbing walls.

These headlines, and they’re only the latest of this nature — highlight how the retail landscape is changing, and also how this region and individual communities within it will be challenged to find new and imaginative uses for the hundreds of thousands of square feet of retail space now vacant or likely to be vacant.

This is not a local problem or a regional problem. Indeed, it’s a national problem and probably an international problem: just what do we do with all that space once assigned to retail?

It’s a question that needs to be answered because, from everything we’ve gathered and from everything the experts are saying, the pendulum is simply not going to swing back the other way on this issue. Traditional retail is shrinking, and it is vanishing.

In fact, the world of retail started to change perhaps a full decade and a half ago, and the process of change has only accelerated. Fewer people are shopping in actual brick-and-mortar stores, while many of the brands that once dominated this industry — like Sears and JCPenney — have been closing stores in large numbers.

These two forces have collided in places like the Eastfield Mall, which now boasts some of the largest and most barren parking lots to be seen anywhere. Plans are being developed to turn the mall, this region’s first real suburban shopping mall (it opened more than a half-century ago), into what is being called a ‘village,’ one where people can live, work (perhaps), drop off their children at day care, see a movie, work out at a gym, eat at a restaurant, and maybe even get on a trampoline. This sounds ambitious, but it is also reality. The Eastfield Mall can never again be what it once was, so it has to become something else.

And this same phenomenon is happening all across the region. The former Big Y supermarket in South Hadley was simply not going to become another supermarket, not that the owners of the property didn’t try to lure one there. So it has to become something else. Tower Square in Springfield is never going to be the thriving retail hub it was in the ’70s ever again, so it has become the home of two colleges — and soon it will be home to a YMCA and a brewery. The Bon-Ton site was not going to house another department store — in a year or 10 years. Hence, a trampoline park.

Let’s hope there is need for other things as well, because, as we said, this trend will only accelerate. More department stores will close, more mom-and-pop stores will close, and eventually the need for large auto dealerships will subside, and we’ll need to find new uses for them. (One auto dealership in Westfield has already been converted into a gym, a restaurant, and indoor batting cages.)

This kind of imagination is going to be needed moving forward, because there are now vacant stores in malls, strip malls, and Main Streets across the region. And there will only be more of them.

Ensuring Secure Retirement for All

By Editorial July 9, 2019

Opinion

By James T. Brett and U.S. Rep. Richard Neal

Core to the premise of the so-called American Dream is the idea that, if you work hard over the course of your career, you’ll get to enjoy a secure retirement. Unfortunately, for far too many Americans, that simply is not the case.

Consider this: nearly half of U.S. households with people age 55 and older have no savings for retirement. And almost 50% of private-sector workers — some 58 million people — do not even have access to a retirement plan through their employer, including small-business workers, self-employed workers, and gig workers.

Yet a typical Social Security check covers less than 40% of pre-retirement earnings, and that number is projected to drop to less than 28% within two years. At the same time, people are living longer. According to the World Economic Forum, a baby born in 2007 stands to live to be 103 — 36 years beyond Social Security’s current full retirement age. To further complicate matters, the student-debt crisis is also having an impact, with younger workers putting off saving for retirement because they are struggling to pay off student loans.

So how do we address this problem and ensure that all Americans are prepared for their golden years? There are several steps we can take that would have a tremendous impact.

First, we must continue to preserve tax incentives that encourage individuals to save for retirement. Allowing workers to contribute pre-tax wages to a 401(k) or other qualified retirement plan is a simple and proven way to encourage savings.

Second, it is critical that we take action to increase financial literacy — and that needs to start at a young age. It’s important that young people appreciate how student debt will affect them later in life, that younger workers understand just how much they need to be saving to be prepared for retirement, and that all employees are aware of the various tools available to them to invest in their own future.

… a typical Social Security check covers less than 40% of pre-retirement earnings, and that number is projected to drop to less than 28% within two years.

Finally, we must take steps to expand access to and increase participation in retirement-savings products and plans. In particular, we must make it easier for small businesses to offer retirement-savings plans by eliminating barriers for such businesses to band together in multiple-employer plans, thereby simplifying administration and lowering fees. It is also important to provide incentives for businesses to offer plans with automatic enrollment, and to require them to allow long-term part-time workers to have access to retirement benefits.

Congress must take bold action to bolster retirement savings and ensure that all Americans have access to the tools they need to save for their golden years. This crisis presents an opportunity for leaders in Washington to work collaboratively toward bipartisan solutions. The good news is that there already are bipartisan, bicameral efforts underway in Congress to pass legislation to bolster retirement savings.

The business community and our leaders in government must continue to work together to address and resolve the retirement-savings crisis facing our country. We owe it to the millions of Americans who work hard each and every day to keep our economy growing. We are hopeful that Congress will indeed take action on this important issue in the coming months so that all Americans will be able to realize the dream of a well-earned, secure retirement.

James T. Brett is president and CEO of the New England Council, a non-partisan, regional business association. U.S. Rep. Richard Neal represents Massachusetts’ First Congressional District and is the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Picture This

By BusinessWest Staff July 9, 2019

Picture This

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

A New Chapter

Fifth-graders at DeBerry Elementary School were honored at graduation ceremonies staged earlier this month. BusinessWest, which sponsors the school as part of Link to Libraries’ Business Book Link program, was on hand to present Most Improved Reader awards and hand out graduation presents — yes, books to read over the summer. And there was a special guest there as well. At right, Bob Charland, a.k.a. ‘the Bike Man,’ presents bicycles to most-improved readers J’Siah Turner Goode and Yaneliz Andino. They were also presented with plaques from BusinessWest. At left, BusinessWest Editor George O’Brien presents a book to fifth-grader Noah Peralta. Looking on are, from left, Maria Nunez, paraprofessional; Laura Sacco, fifth-grade teacher, and Beth Fazio, principal.

At right, Bob Charland, a.k.a. ‘the Bike Man,’ presents bicycles to most-improved readers J’Siah Turner Goode and Yaneliz Andino. They were also presented with plaques from BusinessWest

BusinessWest Editor George O’Brien presents a book to fifth-grader Noah Peralta. Looking on are, from left, Maria Nunez, paraprofessional; Laura Sacco, fifth-grade teacher, and Beth Fazio, principal

Thrive After 55

About 1,000 area residents turned out to state Sen. Eric Lesser’s third annual Thrive After 55 Wellness Fair on June 21 to learn about local resources available to help them plan for retirement. This was the biggest Thrive fair yet, with 81 organizations providing information. Health New England, Springfield College, and the New England Dermatology & Laser Center returned as sponsors of the fair this year, in addition to a new sponsor, the Center for Human Development. HCN, BusinessWest’s sister publication, was a media sponsor. This year’s program included five educational seminars, on topics including estate planning and elder law, diet and nutrition, and an interactive demonstration of chair yoga and movement.

Woman of the Year

The Professional Women’s Chamber (PWC) recently honored Denise Hurst (right), vice president of Advancement & External Affairs at Springfield Technical Community College, with its coveted Woman of the Year award at a celebration at the Springfield Sheraton. Hurst is also currently secretary-treasurer for the Massachusetts Assoc. of School Committees Inc. and has served on the Springfield School Committee since 2009. She is an inaugural graduate of the Leadership Institute for Political and Public Impact, a member of the League of Women Voters and the Collective Majority, and a graduate of the 62nd Citizens’ Legislative Seminar, Massachusetts Senate. She and her husband, Springfield City Council President Justin Hurst, are both BusinessWest 40 Under Forty alumni.

Hurst, fourth from left, with members of the PWC board.

Seeing Purple

On June 21, the Bertera Auto Group and Fedor Financial Group, LLC in West Springfield went purple in support of the Alzheimer’s Association’s “Longest Day” fundraising event. Pictured here, Michael Bertera, right, president of Bertera Auto Group; David Fedor, president of Fedor Financial Group and volunteer for the Alzheimer’s Assoc.; and Bianca Walker, director of Fundraising for the Walk to End Alzheimer’s, share a moment.

Scholarship Winners

Monson Savings Bank recently distributed more than $20,000 in scholarships to graduating high-school seniors. The students were invited to the bank’s corporate headquarters for a celebration, where President Steven Lowell, seen here with the honorees, spoke to them about their future and congratulated each on their hard work and accomplishments. They are: Edward Wurszt, Hunter Acconcio, and Timothy Connors (Minnechaug High School); Derek Joyce, Liam Metcalfe, Taylor Mitchell, and Hannah Somers (Monson High School); Shelby Tweedie, Kayla Smith, and Travis Orszulak (Ware High School); and David Krutov (homeschooled).

JGS Lifecare’s Day of Tournaments

JGS Lifecare recently staged the 39th annual Frankel-Kinsler Day of Tournaments, which raised more than $97,000 for the care of the community’s elders. The day featured a golf tournament, but also many other competitions as well, in tennis, bridge, canasta, and mahjong. The event provides JGS a way to continue to honor the memory of Michael Frankel, former chairman of the JGS Lifecare board of directors, and the families of Raymond and Herman Kinsler, longtime leaders and supporters, for their exemplary commitment to those served by JGS Lifecare.

Seymour Frankel, father of Michael Frankel, is surrounded by his family

From left, Susan Goldsmith, JGS Lifecare board chair; state Sen. Eric Lesser; and Richard Halpern, JGS Lifecare board member, share a moment at the cocktail reception

Court Dockets

By BusinessWest Staff July 9, 2019

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

Rebecca Allen v. Benchmark Holdings, LLC

Allegation: Negligence; slip and fall causing personal injury: $2,370+

Filed: 6/4/19

HAMPDEN SUPERIOR COURT

William J. Szulc Jr., personal representative of estate of William J. Szulc Sr. v. 855 Liberty Springfield, LLC; Matthew D. Campagnari; and Siciliano Plumbing and Heating Inc.

Allegation: Wrongful death: $51,257.66

Filed: 5/23/19

Manuel Portelada v. Baystate Winair Co.

Allegation: Negligence; slip and fall causing personal injury: $48,392.51

Filed: 5/28/19

Max Rutkowski v. J.R. Realty Inc. and Joseph R. Filiault

Allegation: Negligence; slip and fall causing personal injury: $144,391.17

Filed: 5/29/19

NStar Electric Co. d/b/a Eversource Energy v. Asplundh Construction, LLC

Allegation: Negligence causing property damage: $30,305.96

Filed: 6/3/19

Donna Janerico v. Yi-Lo Yu, M.D.; Jacqueline E. Brecht, M.D.; MWA, P.C. d/b/a Riverbend Medical Group; and Advanced Urology of New England, LLC

Allegation: Medical malpractice: $1,700,000

Filed: 6/5/19

Annette Gehlhausen v. R.M. Foley Inc.

Allegation: Negligence causing personal injury: $111,802.21+

Filed: 6/5/19

Troy Teal v. Amanda Jean Kravetz, M.D.; Brian C. Martin, M.D.; Baystate Health Inc.; and Baystate Medical Center Inc.

Allegation: Medical malpractice: $300,000

Filed: 6/5/19

HAMPSHIRE SUPERIOR COURT

EIS Wire & Cable Inc. v. Environmental Integrity Co., LLC

Allegation: Breach of contract: $46,949.40

Filed: 5/9/19

Robin Grady v. National Express, LLC

Allegation: Motor-vehicle negligence causing personal injury: $100,000

Filed: 5/13/19

Geraldine Swanson v. Town of Southampton

Allegation: Failure to pay wages: $25,000

Filed: 5/14/19

PALMER DISTRICT COURT

David Ouellette v. Walmart Inc.

Allegation: Negligence causing personal injury: $1,500

Filed: 6/11/19

WESTFIELD DISTRICT COURT

Daniel Ohradka v. John Doe, Ocean State Jobbers Inc., and Ocean State Jobbers Inc. d/b/a Ocean State Job Lot

Allegation: Negligence causing personal injury: $5,000

Filed: 5/28/19

Agenda

By BusinessWest Staff July 9, 2019

Agenda

Blue Sox Youth Baseball Clinics

July 8-11, 15-18: The Valley Blue Sox announced that Shriners Hospitals for Children will serve as the presenting sponsor of the 2019 Blue Sox Youth Baseball Clinics. This year marks Shriners’ second season partnering with the Blue Sox to present the team’s youth clinics. Blue Sox coaches and players will provide hitting, pitching, and fielding instruction to participants ages 6-13 from 9 a.m. to noon daily. The registration fee for each four-day session is $100. Athletic trainers will be on hand, provided by Shriners. All children participating in the clinics will receive a pair of free tickets to Blue Sox Clinic Night on Saturday, July 20 courtesy of Shriners Hospitals for Children, where they will have the opportunity to take the field with the Valley Blue Sox during pregame ceremonies. The first session will be held July 8-11 at Mackenzie Stadium, 500 Beech St., Holyoke. Interested participants can visit www.valleybluesox.com for information on how to register. The second session will be held July 15-18 at Burnham Field in the Spec Pond Recreation Area, 2540 Boston Post Road, Wilbraham. Interested participants can register by visiting www.wilbrahamrec.com. Participating children should bring their glove, a water bottle, and bat and helmet (if able). Ideal attire includes a cap, baseball pants, and cleats or athletic sneakers. Questions about this year’s clinics can be directed to the Valley Blue Sox by e-mail at [email protected].

‘Roots & Boots ’90s Electric Throwdown Tour’

Sept. 7: The Melha Shriners, in conjunction with the Three County Fairgrounds in Northampton, will present a day-long country music festival at the fairgrounds from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The “Roots & Boots ’90s Electric Throwdown Tour” will bring a full day of music with six country acts, featuring nationally renowned artists Sammy Kershaw, Collin Raye, and Aaron Tippin. Popular local bands King Kountry, Southern Rain, and Cottonwood will also perform. Ticket prices are $30 (general admission, advance sale), $35 (general admission, day of the show) and $40 (reserved seating). General admission is free for children under 5. Tickets are available online at 3countyfair.com/events. The gates will open at 10 a.m., with on-site parking available for $5 per vehicle. Food, beer, and wine will be available for purchase. No outside food or beverages will be permitted. General admission patrons are encouraged to bring chairs and blankets; however, beach umbrellas and pop-up tents are not allowed. Sponsorship opportunities are available. For more information, contact event chair Shonn Monday at (413) 800-2312.

Golf Tournament to Fight Childhood Hunger

Sept. 30: It’s a sad reality that one in six children in the U.S. goes hungry every day, but it’s a reality Feed the Kids is trying to change. The group will hold its second annual charity golf tournament to benefit No Kid Hungry and the HPS Weekend Backpack Program at Springfield Country Club, 1375 Elm St., West Springfield. No Kid Hungry is a national organization that raises funds to support school breakfast programs, summer meals, afterschool meals, and more for children throughout the country. The HPS Weekend Backpack Program distributes bags of nutritious and easy-to-prepare meals to children at the end of each week that they can enjoy over the weekend. Feed the Kids is currently seeking donations for the tournament’s silent auction, individual and corporate sponsors, and, of course, golfers. Check-in for the scramble-format tournament will begin at 10 a.m., with a shotgun start at noon. The fee is $160 per golfer, which includes greens fees, driving range, cart use, lunch, cocktail hour, dinner, and a gift bag. There will also be prizes, a raffle, and an auction. To make a cash donation, donate an item for the raffle or auction, learn more about sponsorship opportunities, or register to golf or for the dinner, visit feedthekidsgolf.com.

‘One Ocean, One People’

Oct. 24: Springfield College will host deep ocean explorer and environmentalist Fabien Cousteau and explorer and filmmaker Céline Cousteau for an evening titled “One Ocean, One People: The Cousteau Legacy and a Call for Environmental Action,” starting at 7:30 p.m. Fabien and Céline are the grandchildren of legendary explorer Jacque-Yves Cousteau. This event is free and open to the public. Both Fabien and Céline will highlight their commitment to fulfilling their family’s legacy of protecting and preserving the planet’s extensive and endangered marine inhabitants and habitats. Fabien stresses the need for bold and innovative thinking to progress conservation efforts worldwide. He encourages individuals to follow their own curiosity in developing cutting-edge solutions that can address regional and global environmental challenges. Through powerful storytelling, Céline uses her voyages around the world to offer a thoughtful perspective on the connection of the environment to populations around the world and how this knowledge is vital to the future of each person on the planet.

Chamber Corners: Upcoming Events

By BusinessWest Staff July 9, 2019

Chamber Corners

GREATER NORTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.northamptonchamber.com
(413) 584-1900

• July 10: July Arrive@5, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Miss Florence Diner, 99 Main St., Florence. A networking event sponsored by Pioneer Valley Real Estate with Meghan, Northampton Cooperative Bank, and the Hub. Cost: $10 for members.

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

• July 9: The Westfield Starfires are hosting Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce members to a complimentary game at Bullens Field, Smith Avenue, Westfield. Beginning at 5 p.m., watch the teams warm up, relax in the beer garden, or grab a bite to eat. The game against the Bristol Blues starts at 6:30 p.m. Call (413) 568-1618 to reserve a ticket.

• July 11: 42nd annual Pancake Breakfast, 7-11 a.m., hosted by Westfield Middle School, 30 West Silver St., Westfield. Pancake sponsor: BusinessWest; sausage sponsor: BMC-HealthNet Plan; placemat sponsor: Appalachian Press; ticket sponsor: Puffer Printing. This event, held rain or shine, will include pancakes, children’s activities, and vendors. Cost: $6 for adults, $5 for seniors, $3 for kids under age 10. Tickets available at the chamber office at 16 North Elm St., Westfield (check or credit), or at the event (cash only). To order a vendor table online, visit www.westfieldbiz.org/events. For sponsorships, tickets, or more information, call the chamber at (413) 568-1618.

• Aug. 7: West Meets West Business After Hours, hosted by Storrowton Tavern, 1305 Memorial Ave., West Springfield. A networking collaboration between the Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce and West of the River Chamber of Commerce. Cash bar and appetizers will be available. Bring your business cards and expand your network. Cost: free for chamber members, $10 cash at the door for non-members. Marketing table sponsorships are available for $100.

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

• Aug. 7: West Meets West Networking with Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce, 5-7 p.m., hosted by 1305 Memorial Ave., West Springfield. Join us for a night of networking with the Greater Westfield Chamber, featuring food, raffle prizes, and fun for all. Cost: free for chamber members, $10 cash at the door for non-members. Sponsorship opportunities are available. For more information about this event, call the chamber office at (413) 426-3880, or register online at www.westoftheriverchamber.com.

People on the Move

By BusinessWest Staff July 9, 2019

People on the Move

Cinda Jones

Cinda Jones, president of W.D. Cowls Inc., was awarded BusinessWest’s Continued Excellence Award at the annual 40 Under 40 Gala at the Log Cabin Banquet & Meeting House on Thursday night. Chosen by three independent judges from among 60 nominations, Jones was honored for her exceptional achievements, including her leadership in growing Cowls’ timberland base by 1,000 acres and being an advocate for conservation. She has also led development of the company’s ambitious project in North Amherst called the Mill District. BusinessWest’s Continued Excellence Award goes to a previous 40 Under Forty honoree who has continued to build his or her résumé of achievement in both business and within the community. Jones was one of five finalists for the 2019 award. The others were Michael Fenton, Anthony Gleason II, Eric Lesser, and Meghan Rothschild. Presentation of the Continued Excellence Award was the opening act of the 40 Under Forty celebration, which saw the class of 2019 join what has become a very prestigious club. Jones held positions in several nonprofits for 10 years in Washington, D.C. before she came home to manage the family business. She was marketing director for the Cato Institute, Wood Marketing director for the American Forest & Paper Assoc., vice president of the National Forest Foundation, and Northeast regional director of the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation. Jones’ focus on increasing acreage of timberland and creating diverse forest-based opportunities with a focus on solar energy have been demonstrated through her actions as president of W.D. Cowls. When she saw the sawmill had potential for better economic use, she rebuilt it as the North Square, acting as a vibrant commerce center for community members, families, and visitors. She sold the largest conservation restriction in state history, raising $8.8 million through the 3,486-acre Paul C. Jones Working Forest, named for her father. In 2019, she will add 2,000 more acres, continuing her goal of making Cowls a national conservation leader.

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Jaime Margolis

Bacon Wilson announced that attorney Jaime Margolis has joined the firm. Margolis is an associate and a member of Bacon Wilson’s domestic-relations and family-law team. Prior to joining Bacon Wilson, she worked in the Children and Family Law Division of the Committee for Public Counsel Services, and as a clerk for the Justices of the Western Massachusetts Probate and Family Courts.

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The Advertising Club of Western Massachusetts’ trustees of the Order of William Pynchon have announced their selection of three local residents as recipients of this year’s Pynchon medal. Slated to receive medals at an Oct. 10 event are Charles Casartello Jr., an attorney at the Springfield-based firm of Pellegrini, Seeley, Ryan and Blakesley, and a long-time advocate for the Open Pantry Community Service and Griffin’s Friends, nominated by Dr. Ronald Berger; Robert Charland, a man committed to providing working bicycles and other services to children in need, nominated by Marsha Montori; and Heriberto Flores, founding member of Partners for Community and advocate for the underserved, nominated by Ed Cohen. In his role as an attorney, Cassartelo has provided countless hours of pro bono services to those who couldn’t otherwise afford legal help. Counted among this number are four cases in which he represented first responders and families who suffered the loss of a loved one in the 9/11 tragedy. After years of involvement with Springfield’s Bright Nights Road Race, Casartello developed a new fundraising event for Open Pantry Community Services: the Stuffing the Pantry Thanksgiving Day Road Race. Through his leadership, the event has raised more than $200,000 and approximately 15,000 pounds of food over its first seven years, becoming the single largest fundraiser for Open Pantry. In 1994, Jim and Michelle Kelleher founded Griffin’s Friends in memory of their son. This organization is dedicated to bringing moments of joy to courageous children facing cancer and to raise funds for the Griffin’s Friends Children’s Cancer Fund at Baystate Health Foundation. Casartello was an early supporter of Griffin’s Friends and continues to be a connector for volunteers. During his time as a bouncer in one of his many jobs, Charland was assaulted with a baseball bat and sustained a brain injury that led to a cerebral cyst, giving him the cognition of a man decades his senior. His first thought was to put his affairs in order and contact Death with Dignity to avoid becoming a burden to others. But when a Springfield school counselor called him to ask whether he could refurbish some old bikes for underprivileged children, his mindset changed. Answering that request was the first step on a journey that he calls, simply, “the bike thing” — a venture that has grown into a prolific nonprofit called Pedal Thru Youth, giving more than 1,200 underprivileged children a bike of their own. Recently, Charland has included modified toy cars, or powerwheels, in his repertoire. These child-size vehicles allow young people with disabilities to become mobile and ease their fear as they drive themselves from hospital rooms to treatment. Despite the substantial time and financial commitment Charland has invested in Pedal Thru Youth (a year ago, he estimated he had spent more than $10,000 on bikes), he has created another venture delivering what he calls “safety bags” for the homeless and others in need. The Springfield Police Department has dubbed the project Operation Basic Necessities. Each bag contains items such as gloves, scarves, hats, toothbrushes and toothpaste, protein shakes, granola bars, and more. He began with the State Police, who gave them to those in need, and has since outfitted each Springfield police cruiser with two gender-specific bags, which he replaces for free as they’re needed. He has also donated bags through the Connecticut State Police Department and the Hampden County Sheriff’s department, where he serves as a sheriff’s deputy. In 1971, Flores launched the New England Farm Workers’ Council (NEFWC), a human-service agency dedicated to improving the quality of life for migrant and seasonal farm workers doing the work he knew so well. Over time, the organization provided education and skills training to thousands of low-income people living in Western and North Central Mass., Central Connecticut, Rhode Island, Southern New Hampshire, and Puerto Rico. In particular, the Farm Workers’ Council is a champion for the Hispanic communities in these regions. Flores’ early years were marked by poverty and the struggle for basic daily needs that plague too many Americans. His cumulative response to that experience was Partners for Community, a network of five nonprofit social-service agencies throughout New England, of which the Farm Workers’ Council is one. Together, these agencies provide employment, family assistance, adult education, youth development, and other services to populations with special needs. The presentation of the Pynchon Medal and celebration will take place on Oct. 10 at the Log Cabin in Holyoke. Event details and ticket information can be found at adclubwm.org or by calling (413) 342-0533.

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Maureen Freniere

Eastern States Exposition announced that Maureen Freniere has joined ESE and will serve as one of the organization’s Event Sales coordinators. Freniere comes to ESE from her position at FarmTek in South Windsor, Conn., where she served as a commercial trust specialist. Freniere has spent much of her career in the agriculture field. Previously, she served as the Livestock director for Hampshire College, where she trained students to raise livestock that in turn ended up supporting 40% of the meat that was served through campus dining services. Prior to that, she was manager of ID Services for Holstein Assoc. USA in Battleboro, Vt. For nearly a decade, she supported a nationwide radio-frequency-identification program that assisted farmers in keeping track of the health and well-being of their livestock. Her career also took her to Farm Credit East as Career Development trainer, as well as the Farm Service Agency as program technician. Freniere earned an associate degree in dairy production and management from SUNY Cobleskill and a bachelor’s degree in animal science and agricultural finance from Cornell University.

•••••

Beryl Hoffman

A professor at Elms College has received a Google computer science research grant for $145,400 to lead research designed to broaden high-school students’ participation in computer science and programming courses, especially among underrepresented populations in the field, such as women and minorities. Beryl Hoffman, associate professor of Computer Science and co-chair of the Natural Science, Mathematics, and Technology Division at Elms College, is leading the one-year project, titled “Transitioning from AP Computer Science Principles (CSP) to AP CSA Java: Learning from CSP Successes.” Advanced-placement (AP) courses prepare high-school students for college by offering challenges and stimulation beyond the standard curriculum, allowing them to demonstrate advanced knowledge of a subject and even earn college credit by taking AP exams. AP CSP provides a broad overview of computer science, including an introduction to programming with a focus on creative, collaborative, and engaging projects. Students who are introduced to computer science in a CSP course often want to continue to text-based programming in AP CSA Java, which focuses on Java programming, as found in introductory college programming courses. Hoffman’s research project will investigate how to adapt approaches used to broaden participation in AP CSP for use with the AP CSA Java course, and how to prepare and support teachers who are new to computer science as they transition from teaching the AP CSP course to the AP CSA Java course. The researchers will adapt the CSP curriculum design to CSA Java and strive to improve the retention and success of traditionally underrepresented students as they transition from CSP to CSA courses.

•••••

Josh Kelly

Josh Kelly, vice president of New Product Development and Innovation at OMG Roofing Products, has been named the 2019-20 president of the Roofing Alliance (formerly the Roofing Industry Alliance for Progress). Established in 1996 under the National Roofing Foundation, the Roofing Alliance is a not-for-profit group of roofing contractors, manufacturers, distributors, service providers, and industry professionals working to shape, improve, and advance the roofing industry. Through its programs, the Roofing Alliance has committed more than $13 million to help preserve and advance the U.S. roofing industry, and more than $5.5 million for research, education, and technical programs and projects. In his full-time position at OMG, Kelly is responsible for leading product innovation and managing OMG’s team of project managers, product engineers, and testing technicians. He has over 25 years of experience in the commercial roofing industry, and was instrumental in commercializing the RhinoBond induction welding system. He has held several positions at OMG, including marketing director, vice president of Marketing, and vice president/general manager. In addition to being president of the Roofing Alliance, Kelly is a member of the Single Ply Roofing Industry and the National Roofing Contractors Assoc.

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One of the missions of the nonprofit agency Historic Classical Inc. is to educate the general public about the history and culture of Classical High School and its rich background, as well as the history of Springfield. The newly elected officers of the board of directors are lifelong residents of Springfield, and many officers and board members have graduated from Classical High School. The incoming president is Rhonda Brace, a Classical graduate who now works for the Conn. Department of Revenue Services. Vice President Greg Metzidokis has been a resident of Classical Condominium for many years, and is a teacher in Springfield. Treasurer Carol Costa, one of the first residents of Classical Condominium since 1989, also taught at Classical when it was a school. She is now a retiree from Springfield Public Schools. Daniel Battisti, who continues his role as secretary, was an educator in Springfield Public Schools for 23 years and is a retired national world English consultant for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt publications. When the new board officers were questioned about their goals for this relatively young nonprofit, their responses echoed each other. Populations served will be those interested in the city and its history, the general public, and Classical alumni. Costa, one of the founders of Historic Classical, also noted that this is an organization that preserves the past through programs and exhibits on Springfield and Classical’s history. Each used the term “public awareness” in their description of the goals of Historic Classical Inc.

•••••

The Springfield College board of trustees recently announced the outcome of its 2019-20 board election results during its annual meeting on the campus. James Ross III, principal officer of the Hollenbach Group, LLC, enters his second year of a three-year term as chair for the board. Ross has been on the board since 2012. Also, Michele Megas-Ditomassi, a retired educator who earned her bachelor’s degree and certificate of advanced graduate study from Springfield College, returns for her second year of a three-year term serving as vice chair. The following individuals have been re-elected to serve a three-year term on the board: Denise Alleyne, a retired vice president for Student Services at Pine Manor College in Chestnut Hill; Kurt Aschermann, a marketing and resource-development professional who operates a nonprofit consulting practice called KA6 Consulting; Douglass Coupe, retired vice president of State Street Global Investor Services of Boston; Charisse Duroure, spa director of G-Spa at Foxwoods Resort and G. Group Consulting of Mashantucket, Conn.; Peter Pappas, currently a senior vice president of Morgan Stanley in Springfield; and Suzanne Benson Robotti, founder and president of Medshadow Foundation, an independent nonprofit website that gathers useful information on medicine side effects. New to the board of trustees (class of 2022) are: Pia Flanagan, chief of staff for the president and CEO of MassMutual, who works with the CEO on top priorities and is a key consultant to the company’s board of directors; Mark Elgart, founding president and CEO for Advance Education, a leader in achieving educational quality and driving education improvement through research, innovation, policy and advocacy, technology, and accreditation, serving more than 32,000 institutions and 20 million students worldwide; Alexandra Goslin, a math and secondary education major who will be entering her senior year in the fall, elected as the student trustee; and Kristian Rhim, a communications/sports journalism major who will be entering his junior year in the fall, elected as the student trustee-elect.

•••••

Robbin Vipond-Lauzon

Rediker Software announced that Robbin Vipond-Lauzon has been hired as the company’s new director of Finance. She brings nearly 20 years of experience as a financial analyst and project manager with extensive experience in operations, process improvement, analysis, budgeting and forecasting. Before joining Rediker Software, she was vice president of Finance at Healthy Living Market and Café. In her new role, she will be responsible for managing the company’s finances, tracking cash flow and financial planning, as well as analyzing the company’s financial strengths and weaknesses and proposing corrective actions. Vipond-Lauzon holds a bachelor’s degree in business and accounting from Framingham State University and a master’s degree in Finance from Georgia State University. She is also an actively licensed CPA with the state of Massachusetts.

•••••

Nefertiti Walker, a faculty member in the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst who also serves as its associate dean for an inclusive organization, has been named interim associate chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at UMass Amherst by Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy. She succeeds Enobong “Anna” Branch, who recently became the vice chancellor for Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. A national search to select a permanent appointment will commence soon. Walker has served in her current position at Isenberg since January, after holding the position of director of Diversity and Inclusion at Isenberg from 2017 to 2018. She joined the UMass Amherst community in 2011. Serving as a member of Isenberg’s senior leadership team, she focused on developing a culture of inclusion through a new diversity and inclusion curriculum, a school-wide inclusion committee, student organizations focused on diversity, and the development of an Inclusive Leadership Summit.

•••••

A prominent business owner from Holyoke and the chancellor of UMass Amherst are among 13 business leaders to join the board of directors of Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM). Pia Sareen Kumar, co-owner and chief Strategy officer of Universal Plastics Group, and Kumble Subbaswamy, chancellor at UMass Amherst, were elected to the board of the statewide business association at AIM’s annual meeting in May. AIM represents the interests of more than 3,500 employers on public policy issues affecting the Massachusetts economy.Tricia Canavan, president of United Personnel in Springfield and an incumbent director at AIM, was elected to the organization’s executive committee. Canavan is a 2018 winner of the AIM Next Century award for contributions to economic opportunity and serves as a member of AIM’s diversity, equity, and inclusion committee. Kumar leads a family of five plastics-manufacturing businesses located in the Northeast and Midwest, including Universal Plastics in Holyoke. The companies specialize in a range of processes including injection molding, gas-assist molding, heavy-gauge thermoforming, blow molding, and structural foam molding. Kumar started her career as an investment banker at JPMorgan Chase and was a global director of strategic partnerships at American Express. She holds an MBA from University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business and a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University. Subbaswamy became the 30th leader of UMass Amherst in 2012. He has emerged as a popular and well-regarded chancellor for his pursuit of academic excellence, promotion of research and outreach, and initiatives aimed at addressing campus climate, diversity, and culture. He holds a bachelor’s degree in science from Bangalore University, a master’s in physics from Delhi University, and a Ph.D. in physics from Indiana University. He was elected a fellow of the American Physical Society in 1989. Canavan is a respected business leader throughout Western Mass. She leads a second-generation family company that connects more than 700 people each day to jobs throughout Massachusetts and Connecticut. Headquartered in Springfield, the company operates additional offices in Northampton, Pittsfield, and Chelmsford, along with Hartford and New Haven, Conn. Canavan serves as on the boards of the Economic Development Council of Western Mass., the Springfield Public Forum, the Springfield Regional Chamber of Commerce, Springfield Business Leaders for Education, and the Massachusetts Workforce Development Board.

•••••

Ann Manchino

Freedom Credit Union announced that Ann Manchino will manage its new West Springfield branch, following Freedom’s recent merger with West Springfield Federal Credit Union (WSFCU). Manchino manages a staff of seven and previously worked for 18 years at WSFCU, serving as its manager for six years. She has a long history of local community involvement, having volunteered with Credit for Life, St. Patrick’s Committee of West Springfield, West Springfield Park and Recreation, and the American Red Cross.

•••••

Karin Jeffers, president and CEO of behavioral-health agency Clinical & Support Options, announced the appointment of Geoffrey Oldmixon as the nonprofit’s associate vice president of Marketing & Development. Previously, Oldmixon served as director of Marketing for public television station WGBY and director of Communications and Online Services for the Harold Grinspoon Foundation. He holds a master’s degree in interactive communications from Quinnipiac University, a bachelor’s degree in writing and public relations from Bridgewater State University, and a career certificate in grant writing from Fort Hays State University.

Company Notebook

By BusinessWest Staff July 9, 2019

Company Notebook

Wright-Pierce Opens Westfield Office

WESTFIELD — Wright-Pierce, an environmental/civil infrastructure engineering firm, announced the opening of an office in Westfield. “Opening the Westfield office is the next step in our strategic plan to better serve our expanding client base in Central and Western Massachusetts,” said Wright-Pierce President and CEO John Braccio. “We look forward to being an active community partner with municipalities throughout the region, helping to engineer environmentally sustainable and economically sound solutions to New England’s aging water, wastewater, and civil infrastructure challenges.” Thomas Hogan, regional group leader for Central and Western Massachusetts, will serve as office manager. Prior to joining Wright-Pierce, he served more than 20 years as an engineering consultant to Massachusetts municipal, institutional, industrial, commercial, and energy-sector clients. Wright-Pierce is an award-winning, multi-discipline engineering firm that has been providing water, wastewater, and civil infrastructure services since 1947. Employee-owned, Wright-Pierce’s more than 200 engineers and support professionals are strategically located in offices throughout New England and Florida.

Hampshire College Resolves to Admit Full Class for 2020

AMHERST — In a letter to the Hampshire College community, interim President Ken Rosenthal said the school is committed to admitting a full class for 2020, only a few months after the troubled institution decided to admit only a partial class this fall. “People have asked, why is the board confident they can enroll a new class next fall 2020 when they voted four months ago not to accept a full class for fall 2019 and spring 2020? What changed?” he wrote. “The answer is the remarkable, historic outpouring of support this spring from Hampshire alums, friends, and people who believe in our college. We are deeply grateful for the unprecedented energy and giving to secure an independent Hampshire.” Rosenthal said the college and its board are working on a number of fronts simultaneously. These include reinforcing its governance and leadership; defining and improving its value proposition; restructuring its business model so it is sustainable, and continuing to operate efficiently and reduce costs where possible; renewing its academic program; leading a successful fundraising campaign, including building the endowment; investing in improving the student experience on campus and upgrading campus facilities to benefit recruitment and retention; and continuing to participate fully in the Five College Consortium for the benefit of students and employees. The school is also making strides toward hiring a new president.

Open Square Creates Headquarters for VertitechIT

HOLYOKE — Architect John Aubin announced plans for the build-out of a company headquarters at his flagship mixed-use development, Open Square. Aubin is creating a new, custom-designed and custom-built workspace in his historic zero-net-energy development in Holyoke. The modern office environment will provide approximately 6,000 square feet of work and meeting space for 25 employees. Current tenant and national healthcare IT consultancy VertitechIT is expanding its presence at Open Square. The new space will also house employees of two sister companies — Akiro Consulting, a firm that facilitates medical practice transactions and acquisitions, and BaytechIT, an IT services provider to physician practices, clinics, and nonprofit healthcare companies. BaytechIT is a joint venture between VertitechIT and Baystate Health. The new space will allow collaboration between the three companies while giving each their own autonomy, said Greg Pellerin, VertitechIT’s chief operating officer.

Basketball Celebration Nets $7,500 for Five Nonprofits

SPRINGFIELD — A basketball event that celebrated the restoration of the court at the Greenleaf Community Center — just in time for summer pick-up games — netted $7,500 in donations for five area nonprofits. Roughly 50 area residents attended the festivities, which included a demonstration by a comedic basketball troupe called the Court Jesters. Several dozen adults and children took part in the Helping Hoops Challenge. As part of this game that benefited nonprofits, participants took shots at the basket from three designated points on the court — one that was kid-friendly for younger children. The plan was to give each nonprofit $100 or $25 per basket, depending on the distance from the hoop. But Florence Bank and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame were feeling generous during the event. John Heaps Jr., president and CEO of Florence Bank, ended the celebration by announcing that each nonprofit would receive $1,000 from the bank. Additionally, Jason Fiddler, vice president of Sales, Marketing and Partnerships for the Hall of Fame, offered $500 per nonprofit from his organization. The following nonprofits received the donations: Camp STAR Angelina, Dunbar Community Center, Martin Luther King Jr. Family Services, Urban League of Springfield, and Open Pantry Community Services. The event was a celebration of the rejuvenation of the basketball court at Greenleaf Community Center, which is only a few miles from Florence Bank’s new Allen Street branch. The city of Springfield and Florence Bank each contributed $15,000 to repave and paint the court at the center for young people in the neighborhood. Two new hoops and backboards were also installed.

STCC Rolls Out Child Development Associate Plus Program

SPRINGFIELD — This fall, Springfield Technical Community College will launch a new certificate program to help early-childhood educators or school paraprofessionals take their careers to the next level. The Child Development Associate Plus (CDA Plus) certificate of completion is designed for educators who want to get their CDA credential and earn college credit at the same time. An individual with a CDA credential, which is nationally recognized, has demonstrated competency in meeting the needs of children and working with parents and other adults to nurture children’s physical, social, emotional, and intellectual growth, said Nancy Ward, STCC’s Early Education and Care Pathways Grant and Activity director. The Career Pathways Grant, funded through the state Department of Early Education and Care, enables STCC to provide a range of support for CDA Plus students. STCC also has credit-earning opportunities available for educators who have earned their CDA credential or have acquired other skills in the field or from existing certifications. Students with a CDA credential can receive 17 credits toward an associate degree, Greco said. STCC has named experienced educator Aimee Dalenta as chair of the Early Childhood Education Department. Among her responsibilities, she will oversee the new CDA program.

Delaney’s Market Store Opens in Springfield

SPRINGFIELD — Owner Peter Rosskothen held a grand-opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 19 at Delaney’s Market at 1365 Main St. in Springfield. Delaney’s Market is a retail store that features chef-inspired meals that are fresh and ready to serve with little effort. It also features a selection of beer and wine. The Delaney’s Market target audience is a busy individual or family who wants to eat a quality lunch or dinner at their home or office without the hassle of long prep times and/or high costs. Delaney’s Market Springfield will also feature delivery to its immediate area, as well as curbside pick-up. “We are so excited to be part of downtown Springfield,” said Roberta Hurwitz, general manager, who oversees operations and an eight-member team at the Springfield store. “The renaissance of the city is happening; we look forward to being a great citizen and neighbor.” This is the second Delaney’s Market store; its flagship store is located at the Longmeadow Shops in Longmeadow and has been open since 2016. Additional stores will open later this year, one in Wilbraham and one in Westfield.

Greenfield Cooperative Bank Reports FY 2019 Results

GREENFIELD — Michael Tucker, president and CEO of Greenfield Cooperative Bank (GCB) and its parent company, Greenfield Bancorp, MHC, shared the operating results of the bank’s latest fiscal year as announced at the 114th annual meeting of the bank on June 18. Tucker reported that FY 2019, which ended on March 31, was very successful, and the assets of the bank grew by $26.3 million (up 4.3%) over the prior year. Also in FY 2019, GCB originated more than $117 million in loans of all types, including $30.16 million in residential mortgages, $46.02 million in commercial real-estate/C&I lending, $28.31 million in municipal lending, $11.88 million in home-equity loans and lines, and $1.05 million in Mass Save zero-interest energy loans and Mass Solar loans. GCB had an increase of $11.4 million in deposits (up 2.14%) over the past year. Interest paid to depositors of GCB increased by $531,000 (23%) over last year. Total equity grew to $73.45 million. GCB’s tier 1 capital to average assets is 12%, and total capital to risk-weighted assets is 21.40%. The bank is considered well-capitalized by all regulatory definitions. The pre-tax operating income for Greenfield Cooperative Bank was up to $5.723 million for the year ended March 31, and the net income after taxes was $4.491 million. The bank also paid its fair share of federal and Massachusetts income taxes ($1.23 million) and local property taxes (more than $133,000) in the cities and towns where it has offices. As a result of these earnings and the fact that Greenfield Cooperative Bank targets its charitable and civic giving at 5% of the prior year’s pre-tax operating income, GCB and its employees were able to contribute $224,054 to 218 charities, community groups, school events, youth teams, and cultural events throughout both Hampshire and Franklin counties during the past fiscal year. This was a 13.8% increase over the prior year. Greenfield Cooperative Bank management noted it has received regulatory approvals for opening its new South Hadley location, and the bank expects to open the office by the end of 2019.

Briefcase

By BusinessWest Staff July 9, 2019

Briefcase

Nominations Sought for 30th Annual Super 60 Awards

SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield Regional Chamber is seeking nominations for its annual Super 60 awards program, presented by Health New England.

Marking its 30th year, the awards program recognizes the success of the fastest-growing privately owned businesses in the region that continue to make significant contributions to the strength of the regional economy. Each year, the program identifies the top-performing companies in revenue growth and total revenue. Last year, total-revenue winners combined for more than $750 million in revenues, with 25% of these winners exceeding revenues of $40 million. All winners in the revenue-growth category had growth in excess of 13%, while one-quarter of the top 30 companies experienced growth in excess of 75%. To be considered, companies must be independently and privately owned, be based in Hampden or Hampshire county or be a member of the Springfield Regional Chamber, produce revenues of at least $1 million in the past fiscal year, and be in business for at least three full years. Companies are selected based on their percentage of revenue growth over a full three-year period or total revenues for the latest fiscal year. Companies may be nominated by financial institutions, attorneys, accountants, or be self-nominated, and must submit a nomination form and provide net-operating-revenue figures for the last three full fiscal years, signed and verified by an independent auditor. All financial information must be reported under generally accepted accounting principles and will be held and considered confidential and not released without prior approval. Nomination forms are available by contacting Grace Szydziak at [email protected] or (413) 755-1310. Nominations must be submitted no later than Aug. 2. The Super 60 awards will be presented at the annual luncheon and recognition program on Oct. 25 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Chez Josef in Agawam.

Municipal Utilities Support Integrating Emerging Technologies

BOSTON — Massachusetts municipal utilities are leading the way in integrating carbon-free technologies into their power portfolios, contributing significantly to achievement of the Commonwealth’s energy goals, according to speakers at a State House event sponsored by the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC), the joint action agency for Massachusetts municipal utilities. Approximately 14% of electric consumers in the state are served by municipal light plants (MLPs), a valuable part of the electric-utility industry that deliver low-cost, reliable electric service to consumers. MLPs are nonprofit and owned by the people they serve. Locally appointed or elected boards of commissioners maintain decision-making authority for each light department. MMWEC CEO Ronald DeCurzio outlined the clean-energy projects included in the MLP portfolios, dating back to the 1984 construction of a 40-kilowatt wind project built by the Princeton municipal utility. “Municipal utilities have been at the forefront of the carbon-free energy movement for some time,” he said. “MLPs have recognized trends and implemented emerging technologies in an efficient, economic manner in the best interest of their customers.” In just a few weeks, a new municipal-utility wind project will commence commercial operation. Phase two of the Berkshire Wind Power Project in Hancock will add 4.6 megawatts (MW) to the existing 15-MW wind farm. The project, the second-largest wind farm in Massachusetts, is owned by a cooperative consisting of 16 municipal utilities and MMWEC. By the end of 2019, MMWEC member utilities will have 67.8 MW of wind generation, 48 MW of solar, and 26.2 MW of energy storage — nearly 15% of the 2020 target of 200 MW of storage in place in Massachusetts. Three of MMWEC’s members utilized a total of $1.64 million in grants through the Advancing Commonwealth Energy Storage initiative, a coordinated effort between the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and the state Department of Energy Resources, to fund their energy-storage projects. A fourth municipal utility took advantage of declining energy storage costs to install an energy-storage system without the help of state grants or federal tax incentives, a first among municipal utilities in Massachusetts.

Donations of $100,000 to Help Hispanic Students at HCC, WSU

HOLYOKE – College students of Hispanic heritage from Holyoke will benefit from new scholarships established at both Westfield State University (WSU) and Holyoke Community College (HCC), thanks to $100,000 gifts to each institution from Victor and Mariellen Quillard. Victor Quillard, a retired president of Hampden Bank, and his wife, Mariellen, are both Holyoke natives, and their gifts aim to support Hispanic residents from Holyoke who are pursuing their college degrees. The $100,000 donations were given to the Westfield State Foundation and the Holyoke Community College Foundation, the nonprofit fundraising corporations of each institution. The gifts will establish two new endowed scholarships in the Quillards’ name. The Victor E. and Mariellen Quillard Scholarship at HCC gives preference to Holyoke residents of Hispanic heritage who have completed a minimum of 12 credits and maintain a minimum GPA of 2.75. The Victor and Mariellen Quillard Scholarship at WSU gives preference to Holyoke residents of Hispanic heritage who transfer from HCC to Westfield State and have a minimum GPA of 2.75. Westfield State University President Ramon Torrecilha noted that “these significant monies will support the university’s goals to offer an accessible and affordable education while supporting its commitment to a diverse and welcoming community.”

Watch, Clock Collectors Make Time in Western Mass.

SPRINGFIELD — The National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors (NAWCC) staged its national convention in Western Mass. — 39 years after its last such event in New England. The convention, which took place at the Eastern States Exposition on June 27-30, featured products for purchase along with raffles, lectures, and contests. The group was brought to Western Mass. by the Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau (GSCVB). The economic impact is estimated at $2,543,423, which includes hotel rooms, meals, and other costs associated with the convention. “The convention is unique to New England because the first clocks and watches were produced in New England in the 1700s,” said Alicia Szenda, director of Sales at the GSCVB. “This convention is all about clocks, watches, the tools used in making and repairing them, sundials, barometers, and ephemera. Members of the group share a common interest in collecting, buying, selling, trading, repairing, restoring, and studying the science of time.”

State Unemployment Rate Rises Slightly in May

BOSTON — The state’s May total unemployment rate is up one-tenth of a percentage point at 3.0%, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development announced. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) preliminary job estimates indicate Massachusetts lost 3,600 jobs in May. Over the month, the private sector lost 4,000 jobs, although gains occurred in professional, scientific, and business services; information; and manufacturing sectors. The jobs level in ‘other services’ remained unchanged over the month. Government added jobs over the month. From May 2018 to May 2019, BLS estimates Massachusetts added 26,700 jobs. The May unemployment rate was six-tenths of a percentage point lower than the national rate of 3.6 percent reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Massachusetts continues to experience a strong economy with a low unemployment rate of 3.0% percent and over 60,000 more employed residents and 17,500 fewer unemployed residents in the last year. Also, the Commonwealth’s labor force participation rate remains at a near 15-year high and is 5 points above the U.S. rate,” Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Rosalin Acosta said. The labor force increased by 600 from 3,840,400 in April, as 1,100 fewer residents were employed and 1,700 more residents were unemployed over the month.

Unify Against Bullying to Award Record $20,000 in Grants

SPRINGFIELD — Unify Against Bullying’s 2019 online grant applications are now open. All applications are due to be submitted by Aug. 14. Unify also announced it has increased the amount it is awarding this year to $20,000 — a record amount for the organization. Grant applications are available at unifyagainstbullying.org. “One of our key goals is to inspire youth of all ages to participate,” Executive Director Christine Maiwald said. “It’s our job to give life to their ideas. They know best how we can bring an end to bullying. Additionally, we are in search of parents, teachers, and community leaders who would like to help us end this epidemic. All are encouraged to apply.” To date, Unify has awarded 27 grants to students and others who have helped lead anti-bullying efforts in their schools and communities. All programs have been dedicated to anti-bullying education and furthering the Unify mission: to bring an end to bullying through the celebration of true diversity. “To encourage youth participation, the grant application process has been made very easy,” Maiwald said. “It’s a single-page form which can be filled out in a matter of minutes.” The organization has a committee of volunteers who select the initiatives which best reflect and advance their mission. “This is the fourth year that Unify will be awarding grants,” Maiwald said. “We’ve come a long way from our first year, when we were only able to provide $3,500 in grants. Although it was a modest start, it was the beginning of something very special.” Unify Against Bullying is a tax-exempt organization dedicated to bringing an end to bullying through the celebration of true diversity. To achieve this mission, Unify provides grants to students, teachers, parents, and community leaders dedicated to bringing an end to bullying. One of Unify’s core missions is to inspire youth of all ages and ignite their ideas on how to prevent or reduce bullying. Unify’s high-school students attend events and help educate their communities on the different resources available. The organization also coordinates programs where high-school students educate their younger peers on the value of celebrating each other’s differences.

Incorporations

By BusinessWest Staff July 9, 2019

Incorporations

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

AGAWAM

Pandolfi Landscape Construction Inc., 351 Walnut St., Ext., Agawam, MA 01001. Nicholas Pandolfi, 16 Corey St., Agawam, MA 01001. Landscape and construction.

BONDSVILLE

Wintergreen Inc., 3014 Pine St., Bondsville, MA 01009. Anne L. Bernardin, same. Hospitality recruiting.

EASTHAMPTON

Zusanli Acupuncture Inc., 123 Union St., Suite 101, Office 8, Easthampton, MA 01027. Sharon Esdale, same. Acupuncture.

LUDLOW

Unlimited Construction Services Inc., 267 Cady St., Ludlow, MA 01056. Neri D. Teo, same. Construction services.

MONSON

Radishes Inc., 27 Margaret St., Monson, MA 01057. Alison Metcalfe, same. Hair salon and spa.

PITTSFIELD

Unity Fellowship Church of Berkshire County Inc. (Ufcbc), 130 Elm St., Pittsfield, MA 01201. Minister Juana McFarland, same. Place of worship.

We Got the Juice Company, 61.5 Orchard St., Pittsfield, MA 01201. Martin Davis, same. Retail healthy beverage company.

RICHMOND

Pick Enroll Inc., 312 East Slope Road, Richmond, MA 01254. Patrick J. Hanavan, same. Support and operate youth basketball programs in Berkshire County, Massachusetts

SOUTH HAdlEY

One Ohana Inc., 470 Newton St., South Hadley, MA 01075. Ashley Kohl, 19 Harvard St., South Hadley, MA 01075. One Ohana Inc. will spread love, joy, and good vibes through the magic of dance, movement, and performance to those who wouldn’t otherwise have access to it regardless of age, ability, or socio- economic status.

SPRINGFIELD

Phenomenal Looks Hair Salon Corp., 10A Orange St., Springfield, MA 01108. Ysabel Santana, 55 Malden St., Springfield, MA 01108. Hair care.

Way Home Improvement Inc., 56 Mapledell St., Springfield, MA 01109. Diamond White, same. Remodel existing residential properties

Transgender Education Association Inc., 11 Tulsa St., Springfield, MA 01118. Michael Gilbert, 80 Heath Street W #10, Toronto, On., M4v 1t4. Education, advocacy, and creation of safe space for and on behalf of transgender and other gender-nonconforming people.

WALES

MSCH Inc., 2 Main St., Wales, MA 01081. George Karterakis, 77 Adams St., #1108, Quincy, MA 02169. Restaurant and bar services.

WEST HATFIELD

Wachusett Billing Company Inc., 10 West St., West Hatfield, MA 01088. Louis J.Decaro, same. Medical billing.

WEST SPRINGFIELD

US 420 Network Inc., 4 Wilder Terrace, West Springfield, MA 01089. Michael A. Skowron, same. Retail, marketing, advertising, communications, and media

Movimiento Juan XXIII Springfield Inc., 89 Merida St., Springfield, MA 01104. Nancy Ramos, same. Organization will conduct evangelistic retreats and develop and administer faith formation centers.

Doing Business As Certificates

By BusinessWest Staff July 9, 2019

DBA Certificates

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

AMHERST

El Sol Latino
221 Pondview Dr.
Manuel Frau-Ramos

Laura S. Green Editing Services
439 East Pleasant St.
Laura Green

Turbo Clean Car Detailing
44E Southpoint Dr.
Brenda Saravia, Jose Maldonado Guzman

Yellow Sabot
439 East Pleasant St.
Laura Green

BELCHERTOWN

Mill Valley Veterinary Clinic
224 Mill Valley Road
Jesse Sugrue

School Sprouts Educational Gardens
185 Summit St.
Hope Guardenier

CHICOPEE

BBig Global
211 Poplar St.
Bright Chukmikadibia Ukandu

Cote Bergeron Clean Out
62 Pine St.
Nicholas Bergeron, Isaiah Cote

Crossroads Fiber
725 Front St.
Chicopee Electric Light

J. Builders & Son
42 Chateaugay St.
Jordan Bushey

JimBuddy’s Inc.
1271 Memorial Dr.
James Robinson

Sexton Construction, LLC/D & S Home Improvement
29 Hastings St.
David Sexton

Steinmetz Photography
165 Front St., Suite 2422
Walt Steinmetz

DEERFIELD

Sassy Mama’s Delectable Cupcakes
26 Conway St.
Jennifer Remillard

EASTHAMPTON

B & D Electronic Repairs
10 Lovell St.
Bennett Hayes

Bonde Construction
205 Park St.
Mark Bonde

The Giving Tree of Massage & Reiki
384 Main St.
Janna Thomas

LifeBooch Kombucha
69 Ferry St., Unit 14
Michael Bennion

EAST LONGMEADOW

First Step Nursery School
310 Maple St.
Gina O’Connor

Wayne Portier Home Improvements
8 Linden Ave.
Wayne Portier

HOLYOKE

J. Swierzewski, DPM
10 Hospital Dr., Suite 306
John Swierzewski

Old Navy #5126
50 Holyoke St.
Mark Abraham

Sprindale Folding Box
709 Main St.
Robert Beaupre, Dale DaRosa, Brian McNaboe, Denise Wurst

Things Remembered
50 Holyoke St.
Enesco Properties, LLC

LUDLOW

K & F General Contractors
25 Essex St.
Chad Fraga

KB Carpentry
38 Lyon St.
Kenneth Butts

Michael Janeczek Photography
77 Rood St.
Michael Janeczek

Morais Concrete Service Inc.
171 Rood St.
Maria Morais

Papa Gino’s
861 Massachusetts Turnpike
New England Authentic Eats, LLC

NORTHAMPTON

Champagne Conferences & Consultation
418 Ryan Road
Tona Champagne

Eve’s Eden
20 Hampton Ave.
Eve Christoph
The Green Groomer, LLC
123 Hawley St., #5
Russell Brooks

Leeds Sunoco
430 North Main St.
Amrik Singh

OM Shell Hampton Inc.
54 Easthampton Road
Rakesh Patel

Pioneer Scoliosis Rehab
15 Conz St.
Christine Sharkey

Roland’s Motor Works
504 Easthampton Road
Pamela Tessier, Tina Champagne

Skyline Recovery Service Inc.
376 Easthampton Road
Frank Fournier IV

Sun Love Solar
20 Hampton Ave., #203
Eve Christoph

The Wallace Collaborative
110 Cardinal Way
Lynne Wallace

PALMER

Once Upon a Memory Treasures, LLC
1444 North Main St.
John Havens Sr., John Havens Jr.

PG Building and Remodeling
54 Charles St.
Peter Gorski

Pure Energy Healing and Wellness
2022 Maple St., Apt. 2
Angelica Howlett

Radar’s Pub
2052 Main St.
Danny Cropanese

Reflexions by Renee
36 Elizabeth St.
LaTonya Marsh

R3volutionary Nutrition
1418 Main St.
Jessica Ortiz-Olivencia

Salon Trendz
1005 Church St.
Theresa Thompson

Small Town Custom Treasures
1422 Main St.
Jerry Smith Jr.

Three Rivers Restaurant Inc.
2047 Main St.
Juan Larronde

Treasure Chest Emporium
1422 Main St.
Jerry Smith Jr.

VCA Palmer Animal Hospital
1028 Thorndike St.
VCA Animal Hospitals Inc.

SOUTHWICK

Pike Home Solutions
2 Field St.
Russell Pike

SPRINGFIELD

Christina’s Paw Spaw
1211 Parker St.
Erica Pafumi

Cody Tyler Morin
94 Island Pond Road
Cody Morin

Core Maintenance
59 Kerry Dr.
Joshua Core

Core Litter Service
59 Kerry Dr.
Joshua Core

D & G Jamaican Cuisine
5 Preston St.
Danail McKenzie

Hilltop Motors
167 Magazine St.
Waleed Obeid

Idoor Daycare
38 Shawmut St.
Madino Idoor

Imperio Musical
2460 Main St.
Jose Rijo

JLJ Construction
94 Lamont St.
Joe Long Jr.

Jimmy’s Auto Service
199 Laconia St.
Jimmy Pantoja

M & J Goncalves Inc.
33 Mulberry St.
Mike Goncalves

MJ’s Auto Collision
11 Pearl St.
Matthew Lucier

Mastermind Hair Studio
1655 Boston Road
Shaina Smith

Mr. Measure, LLC
92 Bairdcrest Road
Ronald Zundell

S & L Tree Service
75 Avon Place
Jose Vega

S & B Distributors
503 Newbury St.
Santiago Rondon

Sello
1 Federal St.
Lewis Boynton

Shaheer, LLC
191 Berkshire Ave.
Irum Naz

V Nails & Spa
368 Cooley St.
Thao Tran

Vietaz Inc.
377 Belmont Ave.
Tuan Dang

YG Cooling and Heat
37 Lynebrook Road
Yonny Gonzalez

WESTFIELD

Ascend Aerial Mapping
64 Blueberry Ridge
Cape Cod Design Group Inc.

AVP Transport
1000 Russell Road
Andrii Ptytsia

B & S Vending
27 Furrowtown Road
Steven Sheldon

Garcia Investment Realty
30 Noble St.
Eliezer Garcia

HaleChannel
9 Irene Dr.
Brian Hale

J & T Transports
76 Notre Dame St.
Jose Garcia

Love Always Rose Sewing
185 Russell Road
Roseanna Lacas

Path to Recovery
220 Bates Road
Annette Lally

Three Dories Brand
419 Southwick Road, H37
George DeMambro

Whip City Shields
14 Cross St.
Travis Lucia

Wicked Sisters Co.
70 Klondike Ave.
Brianne Morris

WEST SPRINGFIELD

Dirtyworks
8 Cataumet Lane
Muhammad Sabir

Discount Medical Depot, LLC
70 Windsor St.
Tammy Pierson

Essential Power Massachusetts, LLC
15 Agawam Ave.
Robert Howard

Hair East
306 Westfield St.
Claire Charland

PJ’s Electrical & Air Conditioning
220 Sawmill Road
Paul Jerome

Public Employees Retirement Insurance
37 Elm St.
Owen Freeman-Daniels

Quality Appraisal Co.
73 Rogers Ave.
Donald Pinkerman

Raymour & Flanigan
895 Riverdale St.
Neil Goldberg

TJL Charitable Foundation Inc.
250 Dewey St.
Norman Landon

Wow That Looks Good Landscaping
58 Sikes Ave.
Christopher Bellerose

WILBRAHAM

Blush Beauty Boutique
2812 Boston Road
Jennifer Bacon

HN Esthetics
70 Post Office Park
Hayley Nelson

Michael St. Marie CPA
2341 Boston Road, Unit 205
Michael St. Marie

Pat Farrow Entertainment
45 East Longmeadow Road
Patrick Farrow

Bankruptcies

By BusinessWest Staff July 9, 2019

Bankruptcies

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

Altomare, Salvatore P.
178 Shady Brook Lane
Springfield, MA 011118
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 06/06/19

Alvarado, Jesus M.
44 Craig Dr., Apt 2K
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/13/19

Audet, Timothy E.
89 Asci Dr.
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/06/19

Austin, Timothy
188 Dayton St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 06/10/19

Bature, Murtala Adamu
PO Box 1186
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/03/19

Birchenough, Kelly A.
12 Randall St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/04/19

Bonnett, Natasha A.
135 Leary Dr.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/10/19

Costa, Gaery Aaron
15 Ellington St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/04/19

Counts, Elissa M.
315 Forest St.
Apartment C
Lee, MA 01238
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/11/19

Hale, Daniel F.
180 Davis St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/04/19

Howard, Melisa S.
27B Van Buren Ave.
Springfield, MA 01104
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 06/04/19

Klimczak, Steven Michel
147 Laurel Road
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 06/15/19

Kowal, John
73 Jericho Road
Williamstown, MA 01267
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/11/19

Laurie, Paul
4 Bromley Road
Huntington, MA 01050
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 05/31/19

Leas, Brian D.
112 Oak St., #10
Florence, MA 01062
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/04/19

Lebron, Yanitza I.
36 Bennington St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/31/19

Lorenzana, Daisy Y.
a/k/a Lorenzana Ortiz, Daisy
1258 Page Blvd.
Springfield, MA 01104
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/10/19

Mandeville, Darlene Anne
520 River Glade Dr.
Amherst, MA 01002
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/31/19

Marciniec, Jeffrey
Marciniec, Stephanie
16 Memory Lane
Palmer, MA 01069
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 06/10/19

Maynard, Gary Rene
635 Springfield St.
Feeding Hills, MA 01030
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 06/03/19

McKenna, Jeanne A.
a/k/a Broderick, Jeanne
601 Main St.
Hampden, MA 01036
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/01/19

McMakin, William F.
3 Myrtle St., Apt E5
Adams, MA 01220
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/06/19

Miller, Russell A.
14 Madison St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 06/13/19

Picard, James J.
Picard, Bonnie A.
21 Connell St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/12/19

Pink, Candejah T.
43 Blunt Road
Springfield, MA 01109
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/13/19

Place, David D.
68 Better Way
Springfield, MA 01119
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 06/03/19

Porcello, Michael Vincent
11 Harwich Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 06/04/19

Redmond, Cherlyn M.
271 Roy St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/04/19

Reed, Mark
23 Giffin Place
Feeding Hills, MA 01030
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 06/14/19

Ruggeri, Janine Maria
P.O. Box 506
Palmer, MA 01069
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/13/19

Smith, Matthew J.
5 Fieldstone Dr.
Palmer, MA 01069
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/31/19

Torquato, Scott Eric
84 Union St., Apt. A
Easthampton, MA 01027
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/05/19

Trimboli, Damiano
271 North Main St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 06/14/19

Vlasyuk, Grigoriy
30 Railroad St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 06/12/19

Wassarman, Jeremy R.
Wassarman, Katherine L.
a/k/a Freeman, Katherine L.
1865 Barre Road
Gilbertville, MA 01031
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 06/10/19

Real Estate Transactions

By BusinessWest Staff July 9, 2019

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

ASHFIELD

174 John Ford Road
Ashfield, MA 01330
Amount: $400,000
Buyer: Ann Spanel
Seller: Christopher W. Farley
Date: 06/05/19

BUCKLAND

85 North St.
Buckland, MA 01338
Amount: $276,100
Buyer: Richard P. Moynihan
Seller: Gordon M. Glier
Date: 06/06/19

CONWAY

120 Parsons Hill Dr.
Conway, MA 01341
Amount: $489,000
Buyer: Anita Elise Rymer 2006 TR
Seller: Nicholas Lacasse
Date: 06/17/19

DEERFIELD

16 Beaver Dr.
Deerfield, MA 01373
Amount: $295,000
Buyer: Ross Bandouveres
Seller: Jeffrey V. Bronke
Date: 06/05/19

7 Memorial St.
Deerfield, MA 01342
Amount: $1,500,000
Buyer: Field Point Circle TR
Seller: Freccia LLC
Date: 06/10/19

GILL

46 Mountain Road
Gill, MA 01354
Amount: $305,000
Buyer: Kristie M. Timberlake
Seller: Jody Wallenius
Date: 06/14/19

GREENFIELD

808 Colrain Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $470,000
Buyer: Debra L. Boutin
Seller: Timothy C. Fish
Date: 06/14/19

380 Davis St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $189,000
Buyer: Helen M. Sprengel
Seller: Thomas H. Savage
Date: 06/12/19

31 Gold St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $177,000
Buyer: Jeffrey J. Zahradnik
Seller: Perry, Elizabeth, (Estate)
Date: 06/13/19

23 Graves Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $279,500
Buyer: Colleen R. Wiles
Seller: Scott A. Briere
Date: 06/14/19

285 High St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $500,000
Buyer: 285 High St Realty LLC
Seller: Mary E. Calagione
Date: 06/11/19

242 Mohawk Trail
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $2,517,000
Buyer: FMI US Property Holdings
Seller: Benellie Property Mgmt.
Date: 06/11/19

72 Pierce St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $236,000
Buyer: Emma Anderson
Seller: Wendy L. Miner
Date: 06/11/19

91 Verde Dr.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: Ilie Taraburca
Seller: Greenfield KMW LLC
Date: 06/05/19

LEYDEN

218 Greenfield Road
Leyden, MA 01301
Amount: $139,465
Buyer: PDV Inc.
Seller: Jan A. Kuznik
Date: 06/10/19

418 Greenfield Road
Leyden, MA 01301
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: Jack C. Cerveira
Seller: Dean Frentzos
Date: 06/06/19

55 West Leyden Road
Leyden, MA 01301
Amount: $244,000
Buyer: Jennifer A. Lobik
Seller: Colleen R. Wiles
Date: 06/14/19

MONTAGUE

33 3rd St.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $400,000
Buyer: 108 Properties LLC
Seller: Michael B. Thorn
Date: 06/07/19

50 Prospect St.
Montague, MA 01349
Amount: $252,000
Buyer: Catherine E. Dodds
Seller: John E. Cagle
Date: 06/17/19

ORANGE

14 Stone Valley Road
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $197,900
Buyer: Leo Wood
Seller: Jane L. Laferriere
Date: 06/07/19

161 Tully Road
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Marc Richardson
Seller: Albert M. Rousseau
Date: 06/06/19

SUNDERLAND

215 Hadley Road
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Daniel M. Majewski
Seller: Rita Riley
Date: 06/07/19

229 Plumtree Road
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Courtney J. Lippincott
Seller: John P. Kocinski
Date: 06/13/19

290 South Silver Lane
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: New City Properties LLC
Seller: Joshua R. Kicza
Date: 06/11/19

WENDELL

13 Old Stage Road
Wendell, MA 01379
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Hannah K. Reiff
Seller: Xiaowei Li
Date: 06/06/19

9 Stone Road
Wendell, MA 01379
Amount: $214,400
Buyer: Ariana N. Cappelli
Seller: Mary K. McNulty
Date: 06/17/19

WHATELY

Eastwood Lane #31
Whately, MA 01093
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: Kristin L. VanPatten
Seller: JAWK Inc.
Date: 06/17/19

233 Haydenville Road
Whately, MA 01093
Amount: $249,000
Buyer: Susan E. Stebbins
Seller: Geri Jennings
Date: 06/13/19

HAMPDEN COUNTY

AGAWAM

73 Adams St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $228,000
Buyer: Mario Stellato
Seller: Dana Venturini
Date: 06/12/19

84 Cambridge St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $247,000
Buyer: Amrich TR
Seller: Laurie A. Giordano
Date: 06/05/19

12 Central St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $214,000
Buyer: Andre R. Brown
Seller: Christopher J. Corriveau
Date: 06/17/19

97 Florida Dr.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $214,900
Buyer: Derek G. Parsons
Seller: Hugh R. Thomson
Date: 06/14/19

125 Franklin St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $217,000
Buyer: James Egan
Seller: Ryan D. Grealis
Date: 06/14/19

491 Franklin St., Ext.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $198,000
Buyer: Ryan Ward
Seller: Steven A. Aviles
Date: 06/17/19

1710-1712 Main St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Barbara A. Spear
Seller: Paula J. Sullivan
Date: 06/07/19

241 Meadow St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Laura R. Butman
Seller: Aleksandr V. Radionov
Date: 06/05/19

482 Mill St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Ryan W. Taylor
Seller: Moltenbrey Builders LLC
Date: 06/07/19

779 Mill St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Vineyard Magnolia Properties
Seller: Daniel S. Burack
Date: 06/18/19

781 North Westfield St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Ivonne Ortiz
Seller: Vladimir Nakhabenko
Date: 06/14/19

12-14 Orlando St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Christopher M. Izzo
Seller: Douglas H. Dreyer
Date: 06/05/19

352 Poplar St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Poplar Development LLC
Seller: Julie A. Adamski
Date: 06/05/19

108 Reed St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $238,000
Buyer: WNS RT
Seller: Benjamin E. Nuzzolilli
Date: 06/17/19

145 Senator Ave.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Victor J. Ramah
Seller: Russell L. Ramah
Date: 06/10/19

250 South West St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $226,700
Buyer: Brian D. Kibbe
Seller: Robert S. Taylor
Date: 06/14/19

100 Shoemaker Lane
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $800,000
Buyer: DMA Associates LLC
Seller: Timothy J. Ratkiewicz
Date: 06/14/19

143 South St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Steven M. Ferrisi
Seller: South Street Holdings LLC
Date: 06/14/19

131 Southwick St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Antonia C. Moore
Seller: Francis A. Collins
Date: 06/14/19

180 Southwick St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $187,000
Buyer: Ian Fecteau
Seller: Timothy A. Smith
Date: 06/11/19

BLANDFORD

2 North Blandford Road
Blandford, MA 01008
Amount: $189,900
Buyer: Peter Hawes
Seller: Tracy J. Vazquez
Date: 06/14/19

BRIMFIELD

23 Prospect Hill Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $353,000
Buyer: Heather E. Sealy
Seller: Janice Fitzgibbons
Date: 06/18/19

48 Tiderman Road
Brimfield, MA 01081
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: James A. Serrenho
Seller: Freedom Credit Union
Date: 06/14/19

CHESTER

24 Middlefield Road
Chester, MA 01011
Amount: $146,000
Buyer: JSG Holding Co.
Seller: United States Bankruptcy Court
Date: 06/12/19

20 William St.
Chester, MA 01011
Amount: $169,900
Buyer: Luke Casebolt
Seller: Rock Solid Renovations
Date: 06/12/19

CHICOPEE

69 Ames Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Aileen Laureano
Seller: Sara Bonakdar
Date: 06/07/19

36 Boylston St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $207,500
Buyer: Jay A. Labonte
Seller: Claire L. Hudson
Date: 06/07/19

24 Call St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Kurt D. Laplante
Seller: William A. Besner
Date: 06/17/19

75 Cinnamon Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Christopher R. Krupa
Seller: Kathleen P. Bineault
Date: 06/14/19

80 Dayton St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $164,000
Buyer: Christopher D. Nichols
Seller: William J. Cichaski
Date: 06/07/19

17 Eldridge St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Morgan D. Austin-Smith
Seller: Karl W. Hidden
Date: 06/14/19

71 Fairview Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $149,240
Buyer: JP Morgan Chase Bank
Seller: Kerry A. Sicard
Date: 06/14/19

456 Front St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $267,500
Buyer: Camer LLC
Seller: Petros Mirisis
Date: 06/18/19

565 Granby Road
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $212,000
Buyer: Nancy Sullivan
Seller: Tina M. Menard
Date: 06/10/19

61 Hillcrest St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $158,000
Buyer: Alicia M. Dugre
Seller: Wells Fargo Bank
Date: 06/07/19

13 Hillman St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $141,817
Buyer: PNC Bank
Seller: Scott A. Cayo
Date: 06/05/19

6 Ralph St.
Chicopee, MA 01109
Amount: $317,700
Buyer: Pablo Torres
Seller: Sodi Inc.
Date: 06/13/19

64 Sanford St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $203,000
Buyer: Illiana Martinez
Seller: Emtay Inc.
Date: 06/11/19

65 Stearns Terrace
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $186,000
Buyer: Jose R. Diaz
Seller: Stanley M. Dachowski
Date: 06/05/19

125 Ward St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Tihwdi LLC
Seller: Guy Labate 2018 LT
Date: 06/07/19

38 White St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Jacob A. Ferry
Seller: Cornerstone Homebuying
Date: 06/14/19

EAST LONGMEADOW

80 Birchland Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $202,500
Buyer: John Gurney
Seller: Lockhart, Charles J., (Estate)
Date: 06/11/19

20 Cooley Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Tracy J. Allan
Seller: Jeffrey Bouchard
Date: 06/14/19

56 Deer Run Terrace
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $491,000
Buyer: Michael W. Handfield
Seller: Charles H. Richard
Date: 06/13/19

137 Fernwood Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Michael P. Jolicoeur
Seller: HSBC Bank
Date: 06/18/19

7 Greenacre Lane
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $390,000
Buyer: Thanh Tran
Seller: Maggi D. Predmore
Date: 06/14/19

30 Holland Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Claudia F. Penna
Seller: 88 Casino Terrace LLC
Date: 06/12/19

16 Maynard St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: MTGLQ Investors LP
Seller: Francis P. Frew
Date: 06/17/19

312 Parker St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Dominic J. Nardi
Seller: Susan J. Morin
Date: 06/05/19

167 Pleasant St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Andrew S. Rinkavage
Seller: Michael P. Verteramo
Date: 06/14/19

203 Tanglewood Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $385,000
Buyer: Jeffrey A. Bouchard
Seller: Michael J. Maggipinto
Date: 06/14/19

4 Theresa St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $198,700
Buyer: Charlotte T. Dobiecki
Seller: Ryan P. Dermody
Date: 06/11/19

3 Vineland Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $154,980
Buyer: JP Morgan Chase Bank
Seller: Raymond C. Black
Date: 06/18/19

203 Vineland Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: Abigail M. Boyle
Seller: Anthony F. Grassetti
Date: 06/12/19

45 Windsor Lane
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $515,000
Buyer: Elizabeth Morgan
Seller: Vincent R. Rizzo
Date: 06/18/19

HAMPDEN

43 Chapin Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $193,000
Buyer: Lauren Johnson
Seller: Richard B. Francis
Date: 06/10/19

487 Chapin Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $211,722
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Michel P. Bearse
Date: 06/18/19

83 Chapin Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $211,000
Buyer: Casey Suter
Seller: Carroll M. Willey
Date: 06/12/19

88 Scantic Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Steven H. Sheldon
Seller: Friberg, Henry E., (Estate)
Date: 06/17/19

128 Somers Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $448,250
Buyer: Patrick H. Sisk
Seller: Bette J. Moses
Date: 06/14/19

HOLLAND

5 Deyo Dr.
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Casey Gallant
Seller: David A. Peck
Date: 06/14/19

1 Leno Road
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Denise M. Knight
Seller: Soper Construction Co Inc.
Date: 06/12/19

HOLYOKE

43 Amherst St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $340,000
Buyer: Kristen K. Iverson
Seller: James E. Durfee
Date: 06/14/19

39 Beacon Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Brianna M. Talbot
Seller: Dianne E. Murphy
Date: 06/13/19

209 Beech St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Jennifer L. Marie-Hunter
Seller: Marcela Gebara
Date: 06/14/19

60 Berkshire St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Darianna Cordero-Ortiz
Seller: Michael T. Yelle
Date: 06/18/19

10 Brookline Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $182,000
Buyer: Ethan S. Powers
Seller: Kyle Marcoux
Date: 06/14/19

56 Canal St.
Holyoke, MA 01013
Amount: $3,200,000
Buyer: Trulieve Holyoke Holdings
Seller: Frankie Chips Assocs. Inc.
Date: 06/06/19

23 Cherry Hill
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $278,000
Buyer: Colby B. Brouillard
Seller: Property 1 LLC
Date: 06/06/19

1446 Dwight St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $121,991
Buyer: Wilmington Savings
Seller: Idelis D. Soto
Date: 06/18/19

10 Edward Dr.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $218,000
Buyer: Rylee M. Lachat
Seller: Joshua M. Bean
Date: 06/17/19

61 Fairfield Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Sarah M. Center-Gray
Seller: Amer Ahmed
Date: 06/12/19

56 Jefferson St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $358,500
Buyer: Meghan Parnell-Gregoire
Seller: Lauren Scruggs
Date: 06/14/19

4 Memorial Dr.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $156,000
Buyer: Cynthia L. Walsh
Seller: Gina M. Lucido
Date: 06/14/19

138-140 Nonotuck St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Robert J. Repp
Seller: John Reidy-Treworgy
Date: 06/13/19

7 North Bridge St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $3,200,000
Buyer: Trulieve Holyoke Holdings
Seller: Frankie Chips Assocs. Inc.
Date: 06/06/19

Rock Valley Road
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $157,000
Buyer: City Of Holyoke
Seller: Gloutak, Bruce, (Estate)
Date: 06/06/19

225 Sargeant St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $163,854
Buyer: Ditech Financial LLC
Seller: Tracy E. Bergeron
Date: 06/17/19

3 Scott Hollow Dr.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $256,000
Buyer: James K. Sweeney
Seller: James H. Woods
Date: 06/17/19

98 Suffolk St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: 41 Acres LLC
Seller: Light Of Restoration Ministries
Date: 06/18/19

312 Westfield Road
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $217,000
Buyer: Gina M. Lucido
Seller: Meghan Parnell-Gregoire
Date: 06/14/19

LONGMEADOW

104 Benedict Terrace
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Bridget Roguz
Seller: Ruby C. Veitenheimer
Date: 06/13/19

258 Concord Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $474,900
Buyer: Bennett W. Sullivan
Seller: Elena M. Stukalin
Date: 06/07/19

122 Converse St.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $335,000
Buyer: Francisco P. Baltazar
Seller: Robert A. Walsh
Date: 06/07/19

182 Dwight Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Vladimir Ruha
Seller: Linda M. Beaulieu
Date: 06/11/19

45 Eastland Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $380,000
Buyer: Heather B. Gilmour
Seller: Bryan R. Kennedy
Date: 06/14/19

189 Englewood Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $414,000
Buyer: Bryan R. Kennedy
Seller: Jane S. Schwartz
Date: 06/17/19

71 Hillcrest Ave.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $347,900
Buyer: Jessica Sitzer
Seller: Brian P. Campbell
Date: 06/05/19

97 Hopkins Place
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Rebecca D. Kingston
Seller: John H. Gurney
Date: 06/10/19

259 Inverness Lane
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $318,000
Buyer: Nicholas T. Miner
Seller: Thomas L. Spiwak
Date: 06/10/19

1636 Longmeadow St.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Sean M. Brown
Seller: Christine Kardos
Date: 06/10/19

875 Maple Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $295,000
Buyer: Andre Greco
Seller: John A. Ayan
Date: 06/10/19

7 Quinnehtuk Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $360,000
Buyer: 88 Casino Terrace LLC
Seller: Gary G. Phelps
Date: 06/06/19

15 Roseland Terrace
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $406,000
Buyer: Kevin R. Gwaltney
Seller: Travis K. Jarvi
Date: 06/17/19

37 Village Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $354,500
Buyer: Nicole B. Weymouth
Seller: Kiran Mukul
Date: 06/14/19

LUDLOW

17 Arch St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $201,000
Buyer: Elizabeth D. Rodriguez
Seller: Savannah J. Stathis
Date: 06/17/19

46 Bridle Road
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Cheryl McGraw
Seller: Anne P. Musinski
Date: 06/12/19

36 Bruni Ave.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $252,000
Buyer: Maria M. Costa
Seller: Scott Pierce
Date: 06/14/19

21 Cady St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $144,500
Buyer: John Mesheau
Seller: Carl Mesheau
Date: 06/05/19

27 Canterbury St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $224,000
Buyer: Reinaldo P. Ribeiro
Seller: Rose Fernandes
Date: 06/12/19

63 Cedar St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $161,000
Buyer: Jennifer R. Kelleher
Seller: Dan Beauregard
Date: 06/14/19

178 Cedar St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Lewis Crasper
Seller: Antonio J. Aguiar
Date: 06/05/19

355 Miller St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $347,500
Buyer: Wendi E. Lawson
Seller: Mary A. Bushway
Date: 06/11/19

98 Moore St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $130,321
Buyer: Steven Wenninger
Seller: FNMA
Date: 06/14/19

68 Newbury St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: James A. Lapierre
Seller: Alves, Alfred R., (Estate)
Date: 06/07/19

134 Reynolds St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $265,115
Buyer: Julie Batista
Seller: Jose J. Batista
Date: 06/17/19

MONSON

1 Main St.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Keith Dusoe
Seller: Cynthia Demers
Date: 06/06/19

PALMER

61 Chudy St.
Palmer, MA 01080
Amount: $174,000
Buyer: David J. Blais
Seller: Patricia A. Smith
Date: 06/10/19

2028 Central St.
Palmer, MA 01080
Amount: $168,000
Buyer: Denielle Stasa
Seller: Michael J. Chalue
Date: 06/13/19

2019 East St.
Palmer, MA 01080
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Dwight B. Sturtevant
Seller: Norberto Pereira
Date: 06/14/19

254 Peterson Road
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Susan J. Morin
Seller: Linda M. Goding
Date: 06/14/19

69-A-C State St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Kevin M. Cairney
Seller: Jean M. Bubon
Date: 06/14/19

71-R State St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $274,000
Buyer: Mark R. Ricard
Seller: Jean M. Bubon
Date: 06/10/19

1850 Ware St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $224,000
Buyer: Petras Gavelis
Seller: Harry T. Herbert
Date: 06/12/19

RUSSELL

260 Blandford Road
Russell, MA 01071
Amount: $450,000
Buyer: Jason S. Fiddler
Seller: Anthony J. Scapin
Date: 06/07/19

102 Main St.
Russell, MA 01008
Amount: $183,000
Buyer: Kyle J. Love
Seller: Jason S. Fiddler
Date: 06/18/19

SOUTHWICK

3 Birchwood Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $197,000
Buyer: Cody J. Spirito
Seller: Trotter Hill LLC
Date: 06/14/19

33 Buckingham Dr.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $239,500
Buyer: Danielle L. Alderman
Seller: Vasily Vilkhovoy
Date: 06/05/19

418 College Hwy.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $377,376
Buyer: Wilmington Savings
Seller: Kenneth Lincoln
Date: 06/17/19

157 Feeding Hills Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $375,000
Buyer: Crepes Tea House LLC
Seller: Dege LLC
Date: 06/18/19

49 Fred Jackson Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $404,500
Buyer: Kerri A. Kane
Seller: Debra J. Liptak
Date: 06/06/19

100 Klaus Anderson Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Stephen G. Racette
Seller: Theodore M. Pierce
Date: 06/14/19

102 Klaus Anderson Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Stephen G. Racette
Seller: Theodore M. Pierce
Date: 06/14/19

22 North Longyard Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Anatolie Corja
Seller: Wilmington Savings
Date: 06/10/19

5 Reservoir Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $430,000
Buyer: Jonathan M. Ziemba
Seller: Robin A. Gardner
Date: 06/07/19

39 Sefton Dr.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Yamille O. Batista
Seller: John A. Devine
Date: 06/18/19

SPRINGFIELD

646 Alden St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $180,800
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Tamara W. Hill
Date: 06/17/19

67 Arcadia Blvd.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $205,500
Buyer: Sarinh Son
Seller: Carlos M. Hernandez
Date: 06/18/19

230 Arthur St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $136,000
Buyer: Tereza Perez
Seller: Elizabeth J. Bienia
Date: 06/17/19

4 Ashbrook St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Mathew A. Hathaway
Seller: William M. Igoe
Date: 06/14/19

173 Atherton St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Alisha M. Brown
Seller: Paul T. Keating
Date: 06/14/19

45 Balfour Dr.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $158,000
Buyer: Howard Jean-Denis
Seller: Corinne J. Healy
Date: 06/10/19

61 Bellwood Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Bank Of America
Seller: Alfred J. Clarke
Date: 06/11/19

22 Belvidere St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $164,500
Buyer: Terry T. Williams
Seller: Gabriel J. Martinez
Date: 06/12/19

270 Berkshire Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Wei Q. Ni
Seller: Mary H. Hurst
Date: 06/11/19

122 Berkshire St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Krystal Eichstaedt
Seller: William M. Cawthra
Date: 06/14/19

28 Blodgett St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $150,058
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Chau Nguyen
Date: 06/17/19

90 Blueberry Hill St.
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $183,000
Buyer: Jhonatan Escobar
Seller: Michelle Kelly
Date: 06/14/19

37 Border St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Xaver A. Sierra
Seller: Corey Tavernier
Date: 06/14/19

378 Boston Road
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $400,000
Buyer: Bhadresh Patel
Seller: 7-11 Inc.
Date: 06/11/19

24 California Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Daniel P. Sullivan
Seller: Mark F. Labigalini
Date: 06/10/19

704-706 Carew St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Julio C. Morel-Lora
Seller: Luis E. Liriano
Date: 06/07/19

1762 Carew St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $128,000
Buyer: MTGLQ Investors LP
Seller: Rafael Alsina
Date: 06/14/19

41-45 Carver St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Jaime Cepeda
Seller: Dorothy G. Kozlowski
Date: 06/07/19

52 Cleveland St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $209,000
Buyer: Lydiana E. Robles
Seller: Long River Partners LLC
Date: 06/14/19

104-106 College St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Donna W. Hoener
Seller: MNL Management LLC
Date: 06/14/19

41 Collins St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: F. M. Pagan-Quinones
Seller: Dillian E. Salazar
Date: 06/11/19

219 Connecticut Ave.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Camille D. Audette
Seller: Richard C. Lyons
Date: 06/05/19

47 Denver St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $127,000
Buyer: Danny R. Kettle
Seller: Joshua J. Perez
Date: 06/14/19

401-411 Dickinson St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $1,275,000
Buyer: Muayyad Realty LLC
Seller: Chapin Corner LLC
Date: 06/06/19

81 Dickinson St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Lisa Starnes
Seller: Mei N. Li
Date: 06/05/19

85 Eckington St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Trinh T. Pham
Seller: Bretta Construction LLC
Date: 06/13/19

9-11 Ellsworth Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $144,000
Buyer: M Power Capital LLC
Seller: USA HUD
Date: 06/05/19

129 Enfield St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Jasmin Ortiz
Seller: Patricia L. Letourneau
Date: 06/12/19

69 Eton St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $208,000
Buyer: Sanh N. Phan
Seller: Joan M. Clowes
Date: 06/17/19

14-16 Falmouth St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Ryan Chang
Seller: Patrick I. Phillips
Date: 06/07/19

19 Ford St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $178,000
Buyer: Dale Pierce
Seller: Ronald Cherry
Date: 06/14/19

30 Foster St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Juan C. Adames
Seller: EDA EMA LLC
Date: 06/18/19

120 Garvey Dr.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Maritza Chatman
Seller: Melvin C. Sparks
Date: 06/17/19

322 Gilbert Ave.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Zhane A. Hidalgo
Seller: Nu Way Homes Inc.
Date: 06/14/19

52 Gillette Circle
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $192,000
Buyer: Laura Fanning
Seller: Joseph Sullivan
Date: 06/14/19

68 Grand St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $158,500
Buyer: Angel G. Aviles
Seller: Norberto Cabrera
Date: 06/07/19

199 Gresham St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Chrystal L. Williams
Seller: IO Modern Renovation Corp.
Date: 06/14/19

182 Hampden St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Zongyu Xie
Seller: JVD Properties LLC
Date: 06/12/19

431 Hancock St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Briell E. Pierce-Stone
Seller: Jennifer M. Brown
Date: 06/14/19

30 Irvington St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: Marcello Deiulis
Seller: Bretta Construction LLC
Date: 06/14/19

350 Island Pond Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $143,000
Buyer: Cassandra Eliza
Seller: Annie M. Guzman
Date: 06/07/19

43-45 Jenness St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $158,000
Buyer: Sergio A. Adon
Seller: WMass Residential LLC
Date: 06/07/19

43 Longfellow Terrace
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Joseph R. Ramos
Seller: Surtan Realty LLP
Date: 06/14/19

25 Loretta St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $157,500
Buyer: Paul Matrow
Seller: US Bank
Date: 06/14/19

18 Mayflower Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Luis Velasquez
Seller: James Bertier
Date: 06/10/19

69 Maynard St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Nischal Verma
Seller: Springfield Homes LLC
Date: 06/14/19

149 Mazarin St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $192,000
Buyer: Marc C. Wheeler
Seller: Nicole B. Weymouth
Date: 06/14/19

57 Middlebrook Dr.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $181,000
Buyer: Christopher E. Tremonte
Seller: Hubert R. Scott
Date: 06/07/19

96 Montrose St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $158,396
Buyer: USA HUD
Seller: Mary E. Perry
Date: 06/11/19

196 Norfolk St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Jessica Oliveras
Seller: London Realty LLC
Date: 06/18/19

140 Oak St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $232,472
Buyer: USA HUD
Seller: Loren W. Manbeck
Date: 06/11/19

74 Oregon St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $189,900
Buyer: Justin J. King
Seller: Richard Allan
Date: 06/14/19

232 Parker St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $122,500
Buyer: Arthur Spalding
Seller: US Bank
Date: 06/10/19

1070 Parker St.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $209,000
Buyer: Michael J. Paul
Seller: Brian G. Howard
Date: 06/14/19

23 Pennsylvania Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $168,500
Buyer: Justin R. Bullard
Seller: Olivia A. Guilbert
Date: 06/13/19

197 Phoenix Terrace
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: Katherine M. Cuevas
Seller: Starzyk, Dorothy A., (Estate)
Date: 06/07/19

14 Pine Needle Lane
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Juan A. Flores
Seller: Armando Amadias
Date: 06/17/19

23 Preston St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Melvin Cordero
Seller: David Moore
Date: 06/07/19

77 Primrose St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $115,880
Buyer: Chris B. Wiernasz
Seller: Caliber Home Loans Inc.
Date: 06/07/19

17 Providence St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $128,000
Buyer: Massachusetts Mutual Life
Seller: Robert E. Reddick
Date: 06/06/19

41 Redden Road
Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Michael J. Barra
Seller: Chigos, Frances B., (Estate)
Date: 06/10/19

100 Revere St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Pat Ngo
Seller: Binh T. Nguyen
Date: 06/05/19

103 Rhinebeck Ave.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Rose RT
Seller: Gary Plamondon
Date: 06/17/19

34 Saffron Circle
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $208,000
Buyer: Jessica Martinez
Seller: Liberty Onyx LLC
Date: 06/07/19

1199 South Branch Pkwy.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $325,595
Buyer: Paul R. Wilson
Seller: Robert J. Andersen
Date: 06/14/19

70 Signal Hill Circle
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $234,000
Buyer: Darrell A. Davila
Seller: Mariluz Davila
Date: 06/14/19

16 Stuart St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $163,000
Buyer: Elsie Acevedo
Seller: Prime Partners LLC
Date: 06/05/19

520-526 Sumner Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $1,275,000
Buyer: Muayyad Realty LLC
Seller: Chapin Corner LLC
Date: 06/06/19

530 Sumner Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $1,275,000
Buyer: Muayyad Realty LLC
Seller: Chapin Corner LLC
Date: 06/06/19

1073-1075 Sumner Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Anouk RT
Seller: Frederick M. Egan
Date: 06/12/19

48 Sylvan St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $177,500
Buyer: Larrisa Palmer
Seller: Christopher M. Grant
Date: 06/07/19

129 Temby St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Jesse Picard
Seller: George Howard
Date: 06/14/19

34 Thornton St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Roberto L. Fontanez
Seller: Gerard L. Audette
Date: 06/11/19

171 Warrenton St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $157,000
Buyer: Nicole R. Lewis
Seller: Ross A. Murphy
Date: 06/13/19

64 Washington Road
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Erica D. Swallow
Seller: Michael J. Talbot
Date: 06/07/19

56 Waverly St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Felix A. Igartua
Seller: Juan A. Lugo
Date: 06/10/19

12-14 Wayne St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $197,500
Buyer: Nicole M. Sanders
Seller: Brendan Eukers
Date: 06/10/19

60 Westbrook Dr.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $189,900
Buyer: Barbara J. Miller
Seller: Paul E. Norman
Date: 06/13/19

50 Westford Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Ethel Agbarha
Seller: Olufemi Aina
Date: 06/14/19

192-194 Westford Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Njoroge Wamunyuah
Seller: Quiyonna J. Johnson
Date: 06/05/19

58 Wexford St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $213,000
Buyer: Yovannie Felix
Seller: Ian S. Hart
Date: 06/11/19

62 Wexford St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $204,900
Buyer: Wayne A. Brown
Seller: Mary L. Urbanski
Date: 06/12/19

804-806 White St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Charles D. Joyal
Seller: Dennis F. Reardon
Date: 06/07/19

25-27 Whittier St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Grisel M. Miranda
Seller: Ellen C. Owusu
Date: 06/12/19

122-126 William St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Sanshah LLC
Seller: Gerardo Scala
Date: 06/12/19

TOLLAND

84 Woodchuck Hollow
Tolland, MA 01034
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: John Sprance
Seller: John Sterritt
Date: 06/07/19

WALES

48 Tiderman Road
Wales, MA 01081
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: James A. Serrenho
Seller: Freedom Credit Union
Date: 06/14/19

WEST SPRINGFIELD

26 Abbott Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: James Basile
Seller: Linda J. Williams
Date: 06/06/19

46 Armstrong St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Mahdi S. Al Sudani
Seller: Aleksey Anipko
Date: 06/12/19

245 Ashley Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Derek Menard
Seller: Renee C. Bryden
Date: 06/18/19

115 Belknap Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $187,900
Buyer: Hayley A. McGrath
Seller: Eric J. Davidson
Date: 06/13/19

416 Brush Hill Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $148,130
Buyer: Richard W. Manser
Seller: Anthony F. Alfano
Date: 06/07/19

142 City View Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $202,500
Buyer: Timothy L. Moskal
Seller: Scott B. Miller
Date: 06/11/19

190 Great Plains Road
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $193,000
Buyer: Bryan M. Miller
Seller: Alan W. Howe
Date: 06/12/19

32 Gregory Lane
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $217,000
Buyer: Jaydipsinh P. Gohel
Seller: John Weiss
Date: 06/17/19

60 Grove St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: David M. Driscoll
Seller: Frances M. Piantek
Date: 06/12/19

92 Grove St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Anthony T. Bushey
Seller: Dong H. Kim
Date: 06/07/19

38 Kings Hwy.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $193,375
Buyer: Pamela Clark
Seller: Richard B. Skinner
Date: 06/06/19

8 Mercury Court
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $194,900
Buyer: Lisa A. Connors
Seller: Stephen M. Buynicki
Date: 06/11/19

334 Morton St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Gail A. Savoy
Seller: David K. Frasco
Date: 06/12/19

103 Ohio Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $284,900
Buyer: Kevin M. Buynicki
Seller: Thomas Fountain
Date: 06/18/19

7 Park Dr.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Nolan P. Ryan
Seller: Yellowbrick Property LLC
Date: 06/13/19

150 Pine St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $271,000
Buyer: Mandhoj Gurung
Seller: William R. Guevremont
Date: 06/11/19

130 Prospect Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $202,000
Buyer: Dominic J. Savio
Seller: David P. Teichman
Date: 06/05/19

39 Roanoke Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $179,000
Buyer: Juan R. Melendez
Seller: Tek N. Acharya
Date: 06/11/19

34 Sprague St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $218,000
Buyer: Tania Nutting
Seller: Anthony Racicot
Date: 06/07/19

60 Wilder Terrace
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Patricia E. Sheehan
Seller: Michael A. Pescitelli
Date: 06/06/19

62 Wolcott Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Kelly Alvares
Seller: Adam Delvalle
Date: 06/12/19

WESTFIELD

15 Belmont St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Alexander Maerko
Seller: Thomas Johnson
Date: 06/17/19

52 Eastwood Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $339,000
Buyer: Amanda R. Raschilla
Seller: Zachary Kandelaki
Date: 06/07/19

248 Hampden Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $158,000
Buyer: Kyle D. Bishop
Seller: Albert J. Pelletier
Date: 06/07/19

110 Joseph Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Robert M. Leduc
Seller: Andrea C. Mastroianni
Date: 06/10/19

51 Larchly Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Richard A. Brooks
Seller: Catherin Caba-Parmentier
Date: 06/07/19

66 Laro Circle
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Kathleen P. Mackechnie
Seller: Megan M. Sweet
Date: 06/06/19

181 Main St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Dale Darosa
Seller: US Bank
Date: 06/06/19

12 McKinley Terrace
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Bir Rai
Seller: Lois A. Pitoniak
Date: 06/10/19

32 Murray Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $198,000
Buyer: Chance D. Klusman
Seller: Nicholas Redfern
Date: 06/07/19

106 Old Farm Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $259,900
Buyer: Elyse C. Wheeler
Seller: William M. Hynes
Date: 06/18/19

98 Southwick Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $640,000
Buyer: Skyline Beer Co LLC
Seller: Zuber Realty LLC
Date: 06/07/19

WILBRAHAM

8 Hemingway Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $248,500
Buyer: Dan Daigle
Seller: Patricia J. Buckley
Date: 06/11/19

10 Highmoor Dr.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $317,000
Buyer: Jennifer Drake
Seller: Matthew Bahosh
Date: 06/14/19

467 Mountain Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Jeffrey Rutherford
Seller: Christian D. Lund
Date: 06/11/19

17 Nokomis Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $455,000
Buyer: Peter P. Stroganow
Seller: James B. Cooley
Date: 06/10/19

3 Oakridge Dr.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $282,000
Buyer: Stephen A. Rhodes
Seller: Cecelia M. Arsenault
Date: 06/12/19

14 Old Orchard Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $346,500
Buyer: Travis Reed
Seller: Donald J. Donahue
Date: 06/13/19

20 Red Gap Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $555,000
Buyer: Shawn N. Pace
Seller: Peter S. Fidalgo
Date: 06/05/19

5 Seneca St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Ricardo R. Garrido
Seller: Matthew J. Santos
Date: 06/05/19

112 Springfield St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Christopher Gangadeen
Seller: Church Of The Epiphany
Date: 06/07/19

24 Stonegate Circle
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $420,000
Buyer: Carlo J. Camerota
Seller: Mary E. Leahey
Date: 06/14/19

43 Stony Hill Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $199,000
Buyer: RAEV LLC
Seller: Gail Mathisen
Date: 06/14/19

201 Stony Hill Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Alexia C. Johnstone
Seller: Carmelo Toledo
Date: 06/17/19

45-47 Stony Hill Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $199,000
Buyer: RAEV LLC
Seller: Gail Mathisen
Date: 06/14/19

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY

AMHERST

904 Bay Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $390,000
Buyer: Andrey Guidera
Seller: Ann C. Levinger 2007 TR
Date: 06/07/19

15 Country Corners Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $379,900
Buyer: Daniel E. Prindle
Seller: Anela Kellogg
Date: 06/14/19

180 East Leverett Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $302,000
Buyer: Amir Mikhchi
Seller: US Bank
Date: 06/07/19

35 Farmington Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $348,000
Buyer: David L. Altabef
Seller: Joel A. Ouellette
Date: 06/17/19

28 Frost Lane
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Jane E. Sackett
Seller: David P. Sackett
Date: 06/18/19

288 Iduna Lane
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $648,000
Buyer: Bennett C. Jaffee
Seller: Brian Thompson
Date: 06/13/19

52 Jeffrey Lane
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $364,900
Buyer: Joseph G. Lugo
Seller: Hutchinson FT
Date: 06/17/19

Lindenridge Road #21
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Bercume Construction LLC
Seller: Tofino Associates LLC
Date: 06/14/19

Puffer Circle
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Aaron J. Rubin
Seller: Barbara Puffer-Garnier
Date: 06/12/19

South East St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Catherine E. Bell
Seller: Heather L. Colson
Date: 06/18/19

784 South East St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $670,000
Buyer: Catherine E. Bell
Seller: Heather L. Colson
Date: 06/18/19

823 South East St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $249,227
Buyer: USA HUD
Seller: Louise Wojtowicz
Date: 06/11/19

10 Summer St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $362,500
Buyer: Angela Russek
Seller: Laurie J. Wilson
Date: 06/14/19

1194 West St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $249,050
Buyer: Konrad Wargulewski
Seller: Apple Brook West LLC
Date: 06/07/19

BELCHERTOWN

31 Chauncey Walker St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $295,000
Buyer: Daniel A. Hevey
Seller: Susan Hevey
Date: 06/13/19

532 Chauncey Walker St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Sarah A. Clancy
Seller: Bruce A. Officer
Date: 06/14/19

10 Earley St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $359,500
Buyer: Chadwick A. Berndt
Seller: David E. Gagliarducci
Date: 06/12/19

186 Franklin St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Jennifer A. Nesteby
Seller: Nancy Sullivan
Date: 06/10/19

71 North St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $309,800
Buyer: Omar Abdelrahman
Seller: Christopher K. Wyman
Date: 06/07/19

12 Old Farm Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Christopher A. Browsky
Seller: Christopher M. Austin
Date: 06/17/19

Old Sawmill Road #156-6
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Vitaliy Anisimov
Seller: Richard F. Greene
Date: 06/13/19

Old Sawmill Road #D
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Vitaliy Anisimov
Seller: Richard F. Greene
Date: 06/13/19

14 Robin Lane
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $257,000
Buyer: Edith Burek
Seller: David J. Blais
Date: 06/10/19

144 Sheffield Dr.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $370,000
Buyer: Timothy J. Schmoke
Seller: Charles A. Arthur
Date: 06/11/19

363 South Gulf Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $629,425
Buyer: Karl Barry
Seller: Jackson Brothers Property
Date: 06/05/19

230 South Liberty St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $286,000
Buyer: Andrew P. Warren
Seller: Ruby A. Nugent
Date: 06/06/19

465 South Washington St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $393,000
Buyer: P. Gaetan-Pinsonnault
Seller: Lafleur & Son Inc.
Date: 06/06/19

108 Shea Ave.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Derek J. Stebbins
Seller: Mark A. Keroack
Date: 06/10/19

Ware Road #156-6
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Vitaliy Anisimov
Seller: Richard F. Greene
Date: 06/13/19

CHESTERFIELD

182 Old Chesterfield Road
Chesterfield, MA 01096
Amount: $315,000
Buyer: Harold M. Laflam
Seller: Peter J. Turomsha
Date: 06/17/19

EASTHAMPTON

3 Briggs St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Nicholas D. Duprey
Seller: Bachand, Michael J., (Estate)
Date: 06/17/19

2 Bryan Ave.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Jeffrey Collins
Seller: William E. Lynch
Date: 06/05/19

6 David Richardson Circle
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Laurels RT
Seller: Symancyk 2005 RET
Date: 06/13/19

67 Division St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $471,000
Buyer: Bonnie Murphy
Seller: Thomas M. Bacis
Date: 06/12/19

17 Fairfield Ave.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $292,000
Buyer: Karen Ram
Seller: Christopher Thompson
Date: 06/14/19

13-15 Federal St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: John A. Knybel
Seller: Swiercz FT
Date: 06/12/19

7 Holly Circle
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $490,000
Buyer: Esther M. Bonin
Seller: Brandy T. Clark
Date: 06/06/19

48 Parsons St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $2,410,000
Buyer: Easthampton Amba LLC
Seller: Norwich Properties LLC
Date: 06/05/19

7-11 Searle Ave.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: Nicholas D. Duprey
Seller: Scott, Dorothy J., (Estate)
Date: 06/17/19

60 West St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $243,000
Buyer: Liza M. Dube
Seller: Ora D. Gessler
Date: 06/18/19

16 Willow Circle
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $390,000
Buyer: William E. Lynch
Seller: Harold M. Laflam
Date: 06/05/19

GOSHEN

19 Berkshire Trail West
Goshen, MA 01032
Amount: $380,000
Buyer: Joshua R. Kicza
Seller: Mark D. Baldwin
Date: 06/11/19

77 Fuller Road
Goshen, MA 01032
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Marsha E. Baldwin
Seller: Christopher M. George
Date: 06/14/19

202 South Chesterfield Road
Goshen, MA 01096
Amount: $209,900
Buyer: Bruce Niemczyk
Seller: Merritt J. Loomis
Date: 06/17/19

GRANBY

656 Amherst Road
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $322,000
Buyer: Tina M. Menard
Seller: David N. Helman
Date: 06/11/19

151 Carver St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $335,000
Buyer: Cynthia Wilson
Seller: Cheryl L. Gray
Date: 06/14/19

73 Ferry Hill Road
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $548,000
Buyer: Richard B. Saunders
Seller: New Union TR
Date: 06/14/19

218 Taylor St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $228,375
Buyer: Steven M. Minkler
Seller: Bank New York Mellon
Date: 06/07/19

HADLEY

130 East St.
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Robert L. Kane
Seller: Kathleen A. Bemben
Date: 06/06/19

10 Farm Lane
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Paul F. Wanczyk
Seller: Jean J. Wolter
Date: 06/07/19

11 Grand Oak Farm Road
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: Nathaniel R. Sustick
Seller: Alan Reynolds
Date: 06/14/19

37 Huntington Road
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Susantha Karunanande
Seller: Suzanne F. Chudzik
Date: 06/07/19

25 Maple Ave.
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Anthony A. Pipczynski
Seller: George J. Kermensky
Date: 06/07/19

114 Rocky Hill Road
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Robert M. Wojtowicz
Seller: Edward J. Wojtowicz
Date: 06/14/19

HATFIELD

68 North St.
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $296,450
Buyer: Karen Przbyszewski
Seller: Hildie F. Osley RET
Date: 06/07/19

13 Plantation Road
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Macarthur LLC
Seller: Robert E. Corliss
Date: 06/07/19

MIDDLEFIELD

147 Skyline Trail
Middlefield, MA 01243
Amount: $345,000
Buyer: Matthew R. Chalifoux
Seller: Michael Feldberg
Date: 06/12/19

NORTHAMPTON

48 Austin Circle
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $136,500
Buyer: AJ Capital RT
Seller: Citimortgage Inc.
Date: 06/14/19

9 Birch Lane
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $500,000
Buyer: Kenneth G. Christian
Seller: Hilary Nancy A. Shaw RET
Date: 06/11/19

228 Cardinal Way
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $490,000
Buyer: Christopher D. Rivers
Seller: Andrea B. Stone
Date: 06/13/19

255 Coles Meadow Road
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Jessie L. Sickler
Seller: Joseph S. Barker
Date: 06/11/19

Damon Road
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Pauldin LLC
Seller: Henry J. Filkoski
Date: 06/18/19

275 Hatfield St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $217,000
Buyer: Sara E. Draper
Seller: John S. Henderson-Adams
Date: 06/10/19

10 Highland Ave.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $385,000
Buyer: Gray Min RT
Seller: Jude Demeis
Date: 06/12/19

3 Madison Ave.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $399,000
Buyer: Kate Osba
Seller: Robert C. Nagle
Date: 06/14/19

587 Westhampton Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $243,800
Buyer: Frank V. Rawlings
Seller: Edwin J. Nartowicz
Date: 06/14/19

61 Woodlawn Ave.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $606,000
Buyer: Michael A. Antonucci
Seller: M. L. Antonucci TR
Date: 06/13/19

PELHAM

41 Harkness Road
Pelham, MA 01002
Amount: $277,000
Buyer: Kevin McCarthy
Seller: Joseph Dragun-Bianchi
Date: 06/13/19

PLAINFIELD

229 West St.
Plainfield, MA 01070
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Timothy G. Mead
Seller: Alice L. Aeschback
Date: 06/17/19

SOUTH HADLEY

11 Cedar Ridge
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $410,000
Buyer: Hilary Nancy A. Shaw RET
Seller: Kenneth B. Heim
Date: 06/11/19

40 Garden St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $196,000
Buyer: Dennis R. Camuse
Seller: David J. Sloan
Date: 06/14/19

1 Gaylord St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Robert E. Ledoux
Seller: Tracey K. Holden
Date: 06/05/19

7 Greenacre Road
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Rafael Reyes
Seller: Follett, Mary J., (Estate)
Date: 06/05/19

118 Lyman St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: John W. McGrath
Seller: ARJ 15 T. B.
Date: 06/07/19

15 Lyman St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $268,750
Buyer: Sarah E. Whelihan
Seller: Robert L. Scribner
Date: 06/10/19

356 Newton St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: 356 Newton Street LLC
Seller: David A. Rosinski
Date: 06/07/19

11 Normandy Road
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $262,500
Buyer: Russell A. Wells
Seller: Jill F. Fidler
Date: 06/17/19

48 Old Lyman Road
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $337,900
Buyer: Kyarisha Ranamagarrai
Seller: Lynne E. Rogers
Date: 06/13/19

15 Stewart St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $484,000
Buyer: Jesse S. Grab
Seller: Joan Maciver
Date: 06/14/19

13 Summit St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $217,000
Buyer: Steven Tilligkeit
Seller: Jessica L. Abbott
Date: 06/14/19

16 Willimansett St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Jillian Frost
Seller: Melissa S. Austin
Date: 06/14/19

SOUTHAMPTON

139 Brickyard Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $375,000
Buyer: John E. Cagle
Seller: Gordon Grant
Date: 06/17/19

13 Cook Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $515,000
Buyer: Jennifer M. Brouillette
Seller: Paul E. Truehart
Date: 06/14/19

WARE

42 Church St.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Mariellen R. Baxter
Seller: Roger J. McCarthy
Date: 06/10/19

5 Greenwich Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Sokhan Mao
Seller: Anna R. Simons
Date: 06/07/19

5 Hillside Terrace
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Crystal Egan
Seller: William Korzec
Date: 06/07/19

11 Monson Turnpike Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $219,000
Buyer: Nicholas Applebee
Seller: Daryl L. Krantz
Date: 06/17/19

WILLIAMSBURG

67 Adams Road
Williamsburg, MA 01039
Amount: $935,000
Buyer: Amy E. Pagano
Seller: Dian Merriman-Shenberger
Date: 06/14/19

9 Fort Hill Road
Williamsburg, MA 01039
Amount: $395,000
Buyer: Amy R. Schalet
Seller: Nathaniel Sustick
Date: 06/14/19

22 Hatfield Road
Williamsburg, MA 01096
Amount: $217,000
Buyer: Amanda R. Kent
Seller: Evelyn L. Voorhees
Date: 06/14/19

Building Permits

By BusinessWest Staff July 9, 2019

Building Permits

The following building permits were issued during the month of June 2019.

AMHERST

Jonathan Gurfein
555 Belchertown Road
$5,500 — Interior demolition and site readiness, close 10 windows, replace four windows

LHB Enterprises Inc.
358 College St.
$38,000 — Sheetrock walls, new flooring, new ceiling, build dressing room and counters

Simple Gifts Farm, LLC
1089 North Pleasant St.
$35,479 — Install photovoltaic solar system on farm store roof

CHICOPEE

The Colvest Group
474A Memorial Dr.
$4,968.31 — Install low-voltage fire-alarm system

CPI 425 Meadow Street, LLC
425 Meadow St.
$275,000 — Construct metal structure

EJL Realty, LLC
1625 Memorial Dr.
$8,000 — Metal roofing

EASTHAMPTON

Eastworks, LLP
116 Pleasant St.
$40,000 — Frame partition walls for office build-out in Suite 333

KEP Holdings, LLC
99 Cottage St.
$15,000 — Install fire-suppression system

EAST LONGMEADOW

Century Fitness
491 North Main St.
$54,276 — Roofing

Cornerstone Church
15 Kibbe Road
$90,000 — Metal garage

Excel Dryer Inc.
357 Chestnut St.
$774,200 — Addition and new structure

Pioneer Valley Arms
50 Shaker Road
$2,700 — Sign

GREENFIELD

173 Main St., LLC
173 Main St.
$7,159 — Replace two windows

Franklin Regional Transit Authority
12 Olive St.
$139,000 — Replace three vestibules

Matthew Parody
21 Power Square
$15,195 — Install 46 solar panels on garage roof

Stephen Pritchard
134 Hope St.
$16,800 — Construct retaining wall

Stop & Shop
89 French King Highway
Install seven signs for online-order pickup area

Mark Zaccheo, Barbara Zaccheo
26-28 Federal St.
Attach two signs to building for Baker Financial

HADLEY

W/S Hadley Properties II, LLC
353 Russell St.
$10,290 — Tenant fit-out of L.L.Bean retail store within new-construction building

LENOX

Allegrone Real Estate, LLC
150 Pittsfield Road
$7,250 — Fit-out for new tenant, including drywall, carpet, ACT ceiling, window casing, and base

CR Resorts, LLC
165 Kemble St.
$30,000 — Replace existing air-conditioning system

GSA IV, LLC
90 Pittsfield Road
$20,000 — Sprint to add two new antennas and one remote radio head to existing tower

MRG CRW Holdings, LLC
Lee Road
$6,000 — Erect pre-engineered wood structure to be used as trash shed

MRG CRW Holdings, LLC
Lee Road
$2,000 — Erect pre-engineered greenhouse

MRG CRW Holdings, LLC
55 Lee Road
$283,600 — New guest rooms in basement and minor renovations to existing transient guest suites on upper floors, including minor updates to electrical, mechanical, and plumbing systems

MRG CRW Holdings, LLC
55 Lee Road
$143,425 — Renovate and repair all guest suites at Beechers House and repair exterior elements, including brick, windows, doors, roof, siding, and trim boards

Patriot Armored Systems
100 Valley St.
$12,950 — Tie sprinkler system into existing mains

LONGMEADOW

GPT Longmeadow, LLC
738 Bliss Road
$4,500 — New sign for J.Crew Factory

Longmeadow Mall, LP
827 Williams St.
$4,500 — New sign for AT&T store

NORTHAMPTON

Aster Associates
80 Barrett St., Unit 3
$15,500 — Roofing

Bible Baptist Church
722 Florence Road
$4,000 — Roofing

Rebecca Cochrane
264 Elm St.
$8,000 — Interior demolition of dental office

LHIC Inc.
34 North Maple St.
$103,695 — Phase 2 of tasting room

Moushabek Properties Inc.
24 Main St.
$4,300 — Roofing

Northampton Arts Trust
33 Hawley St.
$80,000 — Site improvements, concrete sidewalk, paving, bench

Smith College
College Lane
$761,000 — Renovate Room 106 in Seelye Hall

PALMER

Robin Lamica
1780 North Main St.
$1,455 — Replace face of existing sign for Robin’s Auto Body

NECR Railroad
1 Depot St.
$2,500 — Demolish small outbuilding

O’Connell Oil Associates Inc.
3086 South Main St.
$34,600 — Install new walk-in cooler, wallpaper, new cabinets

George Roberts
1415 Main St.
$1,500 — Erect two new signs for Vantage Rehab

Town of Palmer
First Street
$2,000 — Construct accessible ramp from trail to gazebo

SPRINGFIELD

Blue Tarp Redevelopment, LLC
12 MGM Way
$680,000 — Alter existing Starbucks tenant space at MGM Springfield into VIP lounge

Bridge Hillman, LLC
309 Bridge St.
$19,500 — Alter tenant space, including accessible restroom, for Granny’s Baking Table

DCX Springdale DST
1600 Boston Road
$10,000 — Alter interior space at Stop & Shop for new online-order pickup area

Five Town Station, LLC
296 Cooley St.
$10,000 — Alter interior tenant space, install new kitchen equipment and smoking bar

Five Town Station, LLC
380 Cooley St.
$18,600 — Alter tenant space at Five Town Plaza for Children and Family Dental Group

Infusion Plus Inc.
1 Stafford St.
$58,900 — Replace 16 windows

Norwest Group Inc.
125 Progress Ave.
$250,000 — Install roof-mounted solar panels on building

Rivers Landing, LLC
1150 West Columbus Ave.
$10,000 — Interior demolition for restaurant

Salmar Realty, LLC
3065 Main St.
$328,000 — Alter interior tenant space and addition to rear of building for Dunkin’ Donuts

UBS Financial
1 Monarch Place
$196,000 — Alter tenant office space on 14th floor

WEST SPRINGFIELD

Entre/Pearson Ltd.
138 Memorial Dr.
$25,200 — Reconfigure demised tenant space, including new flooring, paint, walls, and door frames

State of Connecticut
1305 Memorial Dr.
$10,000 — Install commercial hood in Connecticut building at Eastern States Exposition

Joanna Susin
935 Riverdale St.
$100,000 — Relocate customer-service department at Stop & Shop to create space to build out new online-order pickup area

WILBRAHAM

JCE Realty, LLC
1984 Boston Road
$1,000 — Re-letter standalone sign for Valley Podiatry

JCE Realty, LLC
1984 Boston Road
$1,000 — Re-letter two existing signs

Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield
42 Main St.
$45,927 — Exterior building repairs, change out four entry columns

Wilbraham & Monson Academy
423-451 Main St.
$40,000 — Ductwork for new building

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Bottom Line

The Real Dirt

Motocross in Southwick is nearly a half-century-old tradition. It’s also a business and a well-tuned economic engine. Like the sport itself, this local enterprise has endured some ups and downs, twists and turns, but, thanks to a father-son team, it is now hitting on all cylinders.

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SEE: List of Fitness Centers

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A New Chapter

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