October 1, 2019 - BusinessWest

WEST SPRINGFIELD — In celebration of its 30th anniversary, Lexington Group will host an Aeron chair hockey tournament on Wednesday, Oct. 2 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at its showroom located at 380 Union St., West Springfield.

For this first-of-its-kind event in New England, Lexington Group has invited players, and their administrative staff, from elite area hockey teams — American International College and UMass Amherst — to battle it out in a friendly competition on the ‘ice.’ The winning team from the first round will play against members of the Springfield Thunderbirds. The tournament will be incorporated into an After 5 networking event, with about 300 business and community professionals expected to attend. West Springfield Mayor William Reichelt will serve as referee of the tournament. Pat Kelley of Lazer 99.3 will emcee and provide entertainment. Complimentary refreshments will be provided by Log Rolling.

The event will help raise funds and awareness for the Foundation for TJO Animals. Founded in 2007, the Foundation for TJO Animals is dedicated to raising much-needed funds to help the local, homeless animals at the Thomas J. O’Connor Animal Control and Adoption Center, which serves the cities of Springfield, Holyoke, and Chicopee. With a focus on providing financial assistance and grants for veterinary care, the foundation has had a direct impact on saving the lives of animals at the shelter.

“We hope you will join us as a spectator or as a sponsor to ensure that we raise much-needed funds for Thomas J. O’Connor Animal Control & Adoption Center,” said Mark Proshan, president of Lexington Group.

Admission to the event is complimentary, but registration is required and can be made at lexington-aeronhockey.eventbrite.com. Donations to the Foundation for TJO Animals are appreciated and can be made in advance directly through the foundation’s website, www.tjofoundation.org, or may be made at the event.

The event is currently sponsored by MP CPAs, St. Germaine Investments, Sitterly Movers, and Sheraton Springfield Monarch Place Hotel (cup sponsors); bankESB, Behavioral Health Network, Complete Payroll Solutions, Dietz & Co. Architects, Fire Service Group, HUB International New England, Massachusetts Fire Technologies, Mercier Carpet, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, and New England Promotional Marketing (chair sponsors); AIS, Baystate Ob/Gyn, Contract Sources, Excel Dryer, Lexington Group, KI, Paragus IT, People’s United Bank, the Republican, and Westfield Bank (rink sponsors); Go Graphix and Herman Miller (goods sponsors), and BusinessWest, ERC5, and West of the River Chamber of Commerce (event partners).

HCC Welcomes Adrienne Smith as Interim STEM Dean

By BusinessWest Staff October 1, 2019

Daily News

HOLYOKE — Holyoke Community College (HCC) recently welcomed Adrienne Smith as interim dean of its division of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).

Smith brings 13 years of community-college experience to HCC, most recently as the dean of the School of Engineering, Technologies, and Mathematics at Springfield Technical Community College. Prior to that, she served as associate professor and coordinator of Electronics Technology at Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester. Her professional accomplishments span many areas of academic program development and enhancement, enrollment management and retention, diversity responsiveness, and regional and community partnership coordination.

Smith holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a master’s degree in science, engineering, and math from Western New England University, where she was the first African-American woman to graduate with a degree in engineering, and she earned a doctorate in education from UMass Amherst with competencies in community-college leadership, educational polices, and administration.

“I love being in STEM,” she said. “I’m very passionate about STEM, but I’m more passionate about increasing the numbers of women and underrepresented minorities in STEM. That was the subject of my dissertation.”

A graduate of Springfield Technical High School, Smith started her professional life as an electrical engineer (and the first female engineer) at Digital Equipment Corp. in Springfield.

“I am quite confident that Adrienne’s depth of experience and knowledge as an engineer, as a full-time faculty member at a community college, and her administrative and management skills in the STEM disciplines will make her an asset to the HCC community,” said Monica Perez, HCC vice president of Academic Affairs.

GCC Professor Alyssa Arnell Earns African American Female Professor Award

By BusinessWest Staff October 1, 2019

Daily News

GREENFIELD — Alyssa Arnell, chair of the History Department at Greenfield Community College (GCC), was awarded the African American Female Professor Award by the African American Female Professor Award Assoc. (AAFPAA) in a ceremony at Bay Path University on Sept. 26.

Formerly a history teacher at Dillard University and educational-outreach coordinator and historical interpreter for the National Park Service, Arnell joined the faculty at GCC in 2017. In just two years, she has modernized GCC’s history curriculum, infusing it with a social-justice focus and adding courses such as “The Legal History of American Civil Rights” and “North American Indigenous History.”

“We are building out a program that incorporates the voices of different people,” Arnell said, “so whoever walks into the classroom can see themselves represented and respected in the narratives.”

Arnell was nominated for the award by Leo Hwang, GCC’s dean of Humanities, Engineering, Math, and Science. “Alyssa is looking to create the kind of world she wants to inhabit,” he said. “She does not see the world as only problems, she sees it as something she can be an active member in helping to build and transform.”

For many of Arnell’s classes, she has integrated a public history component that brings her classes out of the classroom and to the lobby of the main building, where her students give presentations on their projects throughout the day — a way to let other faculty, staff, and students see the kinds of work her students are engaged in, and see the kinds of research that can happen in a history course.

In addition to teaching, Arnell has created programming that reaches beyond the classroom with talks on the removal of confederate statues, a lecture on the life Frederick Douglass, a panel discussion with students about the movie Black Panther, and a conversation on immigrant rights. She also adapted a format of Facilitated Dialogues used by the National Park Service to launch a series of conversations about race and ethnicity at GCC.

Arnell is also a core member of Greenfield Community College’s Racial Equity and Justice Institute Team, a part of the Leading for Change Higher Education Diversity Consortium. As part of the Racial Equity and Justice Team, she has worked to learn best practices to support students of color, helped the college identify specific areas where achievement gaps exist, and will continue in the coming year to work to identify specific action steps to try to address those achievement gaps.

United Way of Pioneer Valley Celebrates $653,825 in Prescription Savings

By BusinessWest Staff October 1, 2019

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — United Way of Pioneer Valley announced that Hampden County residents have saved $653,825 on their prescription medications thanks to its partnership with FamilyWize, an organization focused on improving the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities.

Through this partnership, the United Way has helped promote the free FamilyWize Prescription Discount Card, which has helped more than 15 million Americans save more than $1.7 billion on their prescriptions.

“People should never have to choose between putting food on the table or taking their prescription medication,” said Paul Mina, president and CEO of United Way of Hampden County. “That’s why we formed a partnership with FamilyWize. Their free prescription discount card can reduce the costs of prescriptions for anyone who uses it. It’s an extremely valuable resource that everyone, regardless of their financial situation, should use.”

The FamilyWize card immediately lowers the cost of prescription medications by an average of 45% percent for people with and without insurance. By presenting the FamilyWize card or mobile app at their local pharmacy, people can save on the cost of their medicine, with no strings attached.

“We’re excited to see the people of Hampden County realize the benefits of our prescription discount card,” said Vickie Nisbet, director of Community Relations at FamilyWize. “We hope that they continue to use the card and share it with others, as it can provide a significant savings.”

The free FamilyWize Prescription Discount Card can be used by anyone: uninsured, insured, and even people with Medicaid or Medicare. The use of the card is unlimited, does not require any personal information from the user, and has no eligibility criteria.

To take advantage, consumers can print a card from familywize.org, call (866) 810-3784 and request a card be mailed to them, contact the United Way of Pioneer Valley, or download the free FamilyWize app.

Brynn Cartelli Takes Her Career — and Life — Beyond The Voice

By Kayla Ebner October 1, 2019

Cover Story

Walking Her Way

Brynn Cartelli knows that most of the 13 people who emerged victorious on The Voice before her had seen that triumph be the defining moment in their life. She is determined not to let that happen to her. With several hit singles out already, like “Walk My Way” and “Grow Young,” she is making strides in her quest to make The Voice just the start of her career.

When Brynn Cartelli walked on stage to do a soundcheck on March 8, she looked up and saw Bruins and Celtics banners and 20,000 seats that would soon be filled with people waiting for her to open a performance that would also include Grammy Award winner Kelly Clarkson.

All of a sudden, it dawned on her where she was: TD Garden in Boston, a place iconic artists like Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran had sold out countless times. A place where she used to go to watch her favorite artists, such as the two just mentioned, perform. A place where she sat a few months ago to see Sam Smith sing.

“I forgot where we were because I was in my dressing room all day getting ready,” she told BusinessWest. “I looked at my guitar player, and I was like, ‘holy crap.’”

There have been quite a few ‘holy crap’ moments, and at least a few other instances of maybe forgetting where she was, since Cartelli burst onto the scene — and into the nation’s cultural consciousness — with her stunning win on NBC’s The Voice roughly 15 months ago.

“I forgot where we were because I was in my dressing room all day getting ready. I looked at my guitar player, and I was like, ‘holy crap.’”

Since that triumph at age 15 — yes, she was the youngest winner in the show’s history — life has changed in all kinds of ways, essentially because music went from being something she did well to something she essentially does for a living.

Now 16, Cartelli is finishing high school online, and she flies back and forth to Los Angeles and Nashville regularly while recording an album she hopes to release during the first half of 2020.

Those recording sessions have been mixed with a host of live performances — such as the one at the TD Garden and several shows at the recently concluded Big E — and myriad other developments to create a hectic, exciting lifestyle marked by a seemingly endless run of learning experiences for Cartelli and her family.

The Cartellis pose with pop singer Kelly Clarkson following Brynn’s victory in season 14 of The Voice.

“The process is amazing,” said Brynn’s father, Damon, owner of the Fathers & Sons auto dealerships. “We had really no idea what to expect; we’re still learning stuff.”

The learning curves involve everything from hiring an agent (more on that later) to filling — and then living — a crowded schedule; from building a wardrobe to building what is becoming a recognized brand.

But for Brynn, one of the biggest challenges — and opportunities — lies in moving beyond The Voice and no longer being defined by that singular moment, as proud of it as she is, and also forging an identity through her music.

“I like telling stories through my music,” she told BusinessWest. “I use music as a diary. My fans are growing up with me as the story grows up. If a song feels like mine, I’m really happy about it.”

For this issue, BusinessWest talked at length with Cartelli and her parents about the journey thus far and where the opportunity-laden road ahead may take them.

Achievements of Note

Many aspiring musicians and singers make it a stated goal to try out for shows like The Voice or American Idol. That certainly wasn’t the case for Brynn Cartelli.

This despite the fact that she had been singing for as long as her family could remember, and friends and relatives had been pushing the family to find an outlet — and a larger stage — for the emerging talent.

“People have been telling me for a long time, ‘you need to do something with her,’ and we didn’t know exactly what that meant,” Brynn’s mother, Deb, told BusinessWest. “It just didn’t feel right to push her, so the fact that this happened the way it did is really a testament to her gift.”

“I like telling stories through my music. I use music as a diary. My fans are growing up with me as the story grows up. If a song feels like mine, I’m really happy about it.”

By that, she meant The Voice experience came about “organically,” as family members like to say.

The story begins at the Sandbar restaurant (formerly Jetties) on Nantucket in 2016. Cartelli got up to the mic and sang a few songs for the crowd. Unbeknownst to her, a bartender recorded her performance and posted it to Facebook. It quickly went viral around the island. After meeting up with a local blogger, Cartelli was encouraged to post the video on YouTube, and did.

Then, the e-mail came.

The writer claimed to be from NBC’s The Voice, said Brynn, adding that she and her parents were all initially skeptical. But after doing more research, they realized it was not a scam.

“It took a little bit of convincing and looking into it to realize that it was an actual casting agency for The Voice,” said Brynn, adding that she traveled to New York City for a private audition.

She made it all the way through to the show’s so-called blind auditions — judges face away from those performing and focus only on what they hear — but did not “turn any chairs,” meaning the judge’s chairs, which one must do to get on the show.

A few weeks later, however, representatives of the show called back and asked if she’d return for another audition for season 14.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Brynn Cartelli performs “Don’t Dream It’s Over” with Kelly Clarkson on The Voice’s finale.

“We did not go searching for this,” said Deb. “Even when she didn’t get through the first time, we kind of thought, ‘OK, that’s fine.’ She had this great experience, she left with her head high, and ultimately that’s a great life lesson no matter what you’re doing.”

The experience was rewarding on a number of levels, said Brynn, adding that it gave her a taste of the business and an opportunity to meet and learn from people with similar goals, ambitions, passion — and talent.

“It was the first time I’ve been around a lot of musicians, singers, and songwriters, so it was the first time I felt like I was in a group of people that were like me,” she told BusinessWest.

Brynn certainly made the most of her second chance, and, as noted earlier, is now determined to move beyond The Voice and make it more than just one line on her résumé.

“I was super happy to win the show, but now I hear that phrase and I want to not just win the show; I want to make a career,” she said.

A Different Tune

This next stage in her life, as noted, is one that’s been marked by countless challenges and learning curves. One of the first involved building a team to help her manage her goals and career, and especially an agent.

After winning the show, Cartelli decided she wanted to hire Clarkson’s husband, Brandon Blackstock, as her manager, so she spent months trying to break out of contracts she signed when coming onto The Voice in order to make sure she had a team behind her that she could trust.

“After the show, when it seemed like I disappeared for a while, I was really just stuck in contracts,” she explained. “I took a lot of that time to really learn what kind of music I wanted to write and put out and what kind of sound I wanted.”

Elaborating, she said this was hard to do at first. Being a young girl in a room that was oftentimes filled with businessmen, it was difficult for her to tell them what she wanted to do and how she wanted to do it. But now that she has found her core group, she is confident and ready to move forward.

“We finally found a really great group of people and a really great label [Elektra Records] and team that supports my vision entirely,” Cartelli said. “They want to win with me; they don’t want to just win for themselves. They want to see a career happen, not just a couple songs or an album.”

But for now, much of the focus is on that first album, which translates into a considerable amount of travel, specifically to L.A. and Nashville.

That’s one of the many adjustments she’s has to make, and she credits the team she has behind her — led in many ways by Clarkson, who rose to fame as the winner of the first season of American Idol and was a judge for the 14th season of The Voice — with helping her navigate a host of challenges.

“She’s been so incredibly giving and such a good example of someone who passes it down,” Cartelli said. “She knows a lot of the same things I know of what it’s like to come off a show and have to try to build a career that makes you not just defined by the name of the TV show. She’s such an amazing mentor, you can’t not love her.”

Cartelli and her parents said NBC and The Voice have also been in her corner, ready to help whenever she needs it.

“You hear some horror stories about Hollywood, but the people that we encountered have all been great,” Damon said.

Meanwhile, the local support has never wavered, and a few recent performances made Cartelli feel grateful for all the support she’s received throughout her journey so far. She most recently performed at the Big E on Sept. 13-15 and drew fans in from all over New England to see her.

During her stint on The Voice, The Big E held watch parties so fans could gather to see the local star take the stage. While Cartelli was in L.A. for the show, she remembers being amazed at the pictures and videos of local supporters she saw from back home. Now, as she sang on the stage live and in person at the Big E, she reflected on a journey that wouldn’t have been possible without her fans.

“It was really nice to use that as a thank you,” she said.

Charting Progress

Now, it’s full speed ahead for the potential future superstar.

Cartelli admits she feels like she’s been home a little too long and is “itching” to get back to L.A. to record more music, but is taking her time with the process.

“I’m definitely taking my time and making this album really special so the people who voted for me get more than just a trophy,” she said. “I want them to get someone that they feel proud of.”

Cartelli’s parents joked that, while they know how talented their daughter is, they never expected her to actually win the show — or make music a career.

“I don’t think either of us had any expectation that it was going to go the way it went,” Damon said. “This whole road, everything seemed like it was aligned; everything is falling into place.”

And with the way the stars have aligned for Brynn already, it certainly seems like this is the path she is meant to take.

Indeed, Cartelli is doing what she loves and gets to share her music with more than just a crowd at a restaurant. She said she is constantly reminded of why she is passionate about singing, like the moment she realized she was about to perform at TD Garden — and never gets tired of the rush.

“I know I have to keep doing this so one day, it’s not just me opening up for someone,” Cartelli said. “Maybe one day, I get to design my own stage and have my own thing.”

With her attitude, passion, and determination, there is little doubt she will be seen headlining her own tour in the near future.

Kayla Ebner can be reached at [email protected]

Library Land Project Catalogs the State’s Vast, Often Hidden Resources

By George O'Brien October 1, 2019

Business Innovation

A Novel Approach to Co-working

Greg Peverill-Conti, left, and Adam Zand stand on the steps of the Lenox Library

In many respects, public libraries were the original co-working spaces, and they’ve always been a good place to get some work done. To bring attention to these sometimes hidden, unappreciated resources and actually rank the state’s 450 or so public libraries, two business partners have embarked on a unique endeavor they call the Library Land Project.

Greg Peverill-Conti says a few of the locals have called it “a library for bears — right in the forest.”

He was referring to the tiny — as in tiny — municipal library in the Berkshire County community of Mount Washington in the southwest corner of the Commonwealth.

“It’s located within a town hall built in the 1780s or 1770s; it’s maybe 25 feet by 18 feet — it’s just a big empty hall with a little office built out in the corner and three or four bookshelves,” said Peverill-Conti. “There’s no librarian there, so when you take a book out there, you have to take the slip out of the book, write your name and the date, and when you bring the book back, you put in a pile.”

The library in tiny Mount Washington, located in Town Hall.

Still, there are tables and benches at which people can work, and municipal wi-fi with which to stay connected. And so, this facility in Mount Washington is becoming another intriguing chapter — yes, that’s an industry term — in an ongoing story (there’s another one) called the Library Land Project.

Peverill-Conti and Adam Zand, co-owners of a PR agency called SharpOrange, are criss-crossing the state in an effort to visit, catalog, and rank each library they visit as a co-working space. It’s an endeavor that started, well, because they like working in libraries — as opposed to an office, home, Starbucks, WeWork, or other monthly-fee shared spaces — and they firmly believe that others should be working in them as well.

“Libraries will say that they’re the original co-working spaces, and they are,” said Peverill-Conti, adding that they are accessible, public, generally quiet, almost always equipped with wi-fi, and will loan visitors everything from books to telescopes to carpet cleaners, as the two have learned in their travels. And they provide all this free of charge.

“Libraries have always been a place where people can go and do work,” he noted. “And the best thing about libraries is that very town in Massachusetts has at least one. Commercial co-working spaces can be few and far between, especially when you get into more rural areas.”

Zand told BusinessWest there are somewhere between 450 and 480 public libraries in Massachusetts (the number varies, because some don’t count branches and community libraries toward the total), and he and Peverill-Conti are determined to visit every one of them and rate them on a host of criteria, from parking to noise to restrooms. A of their journey, their rankings, stories about their visits, and more can be found by visiting librarylandproject.com.

They’re about halfway to that goal, and recently began to add libraries in the 413 to the list of those visited.

Indeed, during a three-day blitz through Berkshire County, they visited more than 20 libraries, including the one in Mount Washington, and are in the process of adding them to the map and a grid of ranked libraries.

A look at that map reveals that most of the facilities in Hamden, Hampshire, and Franklin counties have yet to be visited, and the partners plan to add them to the list in the coming months.

The library in Monterey is one of more than 200 that have now been visited during the Library Land Project.

To date, their work has revealed a number of architectural gems, somewhat hidden treasures, and, yes, a host of intriguing places where people can bring a laptop — or not — and get some work done.

To get that point across, they summoned an anecdote they retell often as they explain their project and the value of public libraries.

“We had one particular client contact … he was always just really busy when we met with him in his office,” said Zand. “He was distracted by his desktop computer, requests for meetings, and phone calls. So we said, ‘there’s a beautiful library in Lincoln,’ which is one town over from where he was. ‘ Come with us and we’ll meet there.’ We got him out of the office, and we were super-productive, and we have a lot of stories like that.”

For this issue and its focus on business innovation, BusinessWest talked with Zand and Peverill-Conti about the Library Land Project and what they seek to accomplish through this massive undertaking.

Volume Business

Peverill-Conti said this project — this journey — began, essentially, because he and Zand didn’t have a traditional office as they carried out their work at SharpOrange, so named because they both like the color —Peverill-Conti wears something orange every day, and Zand went to Syracuse University — and SharpOrange was considered the most attractive among the options for which they could still get a URL.

“When we started, we didn’t have offices, and we still don’t,” said Peverill-Conti. “We didn’t want to work from home; I live in Natick, and Adam lives in Arlington, so we decided to meet somewhere in between — the Newton Free Public Library in Newton.

“It was great — they had nice study rooms, fast wi-fi, plenty of parking, and we had a very successful meeting there,” he went on. We decided to do it again, but, because we’re curious people, we decided to try a different library.”

Zand said this collective curiosity took them to neighboring communities such as Wellesley, Weston, Wayland, and others, and each visit essentially inspired more.

“Both of us have been in the PR and marketing business for more than 25 years each,” he told BusinessWest. “And there’s something about the excitement of visiting a town we knew of but maybe had no idea what the library was like and finding out if they had study rooms, finding out what the libraries were like.

“We started noticing differences in the libraries, whether that was parking or access to wi-fi or things like study places and quiet places to work,” he went on. “And Greg is kind of a quantifier by nature, so we came up with a formal approach to rank them.”

Adam Zand, left, and Greg Peverill-Conti inside the Mount Washington Library.

Indeed, inspired by these experiences, the two essentially made a pact to visit and rank every public library in the state. On the website, a map traces their progress. Each public library in the state has a pin; unvisited facilities are blue, while those that have been toured and ranked are — you guessed it — orange.

When Zand and Peverill-Conti visit a library, they rate it on 11 criteria, many of them somewhat subjective in nature — parking/transportation, wi-fi, meeting rooms, condition, ‘completeness,’ community, friendliness, restrooms, noise, comfort level, and a category they call ‘good place to work?’ Up to five points are awarded for each category.

Thus far, just one facility — the Gladys E. Kelly Public Library in Webster, southeast of Worcester — has earned a perfect 55, but several, including the Woburn Public Library, the Hamilton-Wenham Library in Hamilton, the Cambridge Central Library, and the Groton Public Library, have just a 4 or two on their scorecard, with the rest 5’s. At the other end of the spectrum, several branches of the Boston Public Library and facilities in Lynn and Belmont did not score very high. In the 413, Pittsfield’s facility was toward the bottom of the list, with decent scores in most categories, but poor showings in work space and friendliness.

As for the library for bears in Mount Washington, as one might expect, it didn’t get high scores for meeting rooms and completeness, but it earned a 5 for wi-fi, friendliness, noise, and comfort level, and, overall, a 3.91 rating, putting it firmly in the middle of the pack.

In 2018, the two visited roughly 100 libraries, and by June of this year they had doubled that number, picking up the pace, as Peverill-Conti noted, adding that, as they met with clients at their places of business in various communities, they would make an effort to also visit that town’s library, thus turning another pin orange.

And while ranking the libraries, they will also write what amount to reviews, also posted on the website. Here’s what they had to say about that library with the perfect score:

“The Gladys E. Kelly Public Library in Webster has everything we look for in a library — and then some. Plenty of free parking? Check. Fast and easy wi-fi? Check. Comfortable study rooms? You bet! The scorecard says it all — and yet there’s so much more to say.

“The exterior is glass and dark wood and slate and brushed metal, rising up from a grassy area, and older town buildings and a gazebo. It’s stylishly modern, but the materials make it feel almost classical in a way, especially the tall, dark, and handsome wooden columns. Once inside, you find yourself in a big, bright, open space with tons of natural light pouring in from above. Before you is the circulation desk, which has some amazing bevels…

“Another thing that makes the Webster library so stunning is the fact that this isn’t a big city or super-affluent suburb. It’s an old mill town that managed to secure solid funding from the state, raised additional funds through active friends’ efforts, and won the support of voters. The result of these efforts is a truly amazing library — the nicest new construction that we’ve seen here in Massachusetts. The staff is rightly proud of their library, and while it may be a bit off the beaten path for some, it’s well worth the effort to visit if you love libraries.”

Tale End

Overall, Peverill-Conti and Zand note that, while they are, indeed, rating each of the facilities they visit to provide a resource to those who might use them, perhaps their larger goal is to simply bring attention to public libraries as an attractive alternative workplace.

While there are still a number of libraries to visit, especially in this region, they believe they’ve already accomplished that mission.

As Zand said, libraries may be the original co-working spaces, but they’re still among the best.

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

St. Germain Investments Is with Its Clients for the Long Climb

By George O'Brien October 1, 2019

Wealth Management

Reaching the Summit

Several of those who hiked Mount Washington as part of a team-building exercise at St. Germain Investments pose for a photo at the summit.

For a good part of its 95-year existence, St. Germain Investment Management has been focused on the last two words in its name. But over the years, it has evolved into a financial-planning company that will take a check and invest it, but also help clients with everything from devising a plan to pay for college to determining when someone can retire.

Mike Matty was dressed casually on this Friday, which was unusual, because, in general, he doesn’t do casual Friday — or casual any other day, for that matter.

But there was a reason.

In a few hours, he would be heading up to Mount Washington in the Presidential Range to do some advance work — such as collecting the keys for the rented condos and other logistical matters— for a rather unique team-building exercise, with the emphasis squarely on exercise.

“A lot of those rules of thumb came about decades ago, back when there were traditional pensions and people retired at 65. And if you did retire at 65, you didn’t have 15 years worth of traveling ability in front of you because you didn’t have artificial knees and hips and stents; all that has changed.”

Indeed, as he did last year, Matty, a seasoned climber who has accomplished the rare feat of summiting the highest mountain on every continent, would be leading a team of employees at St. Germain Investments, spouses, and even a few children on a hike up Mount Washington, the 6,288-foot peak — the highest in the Northeast — famous for everything from its cog railway to its notorious, quickly changing weather.

“You’re not starting at zero, you’re starting at 2,600 feet or so, but it’s still a good hike up, and it’s a great challenge for people,” said Matty, president of St. German, who could have used those same words (and does) to describe the task of financial planning. “There are a lot of people here who have never done anything like this.”

Matty told BusinessWest that, while it might seem natural that he would take the point, as they say, in this climb and lead his team up the mountain from the front, he would instead be “leading from behind,” as he put it in an e-mail to the roughly 30 people, representing all age groups, who would be joining him.

“I’m back there cheering on the people who are having a hard time and struggling a bit and feeling that maybe they should turn around or that they’re going too slow and holding everyone up,” he said, adding that the first mile or so “isn’t bad,” then the next mile is very steep, then there’s another generally flat portion, and then it gets quite steep again.

Listening to this, one could, and should, see myriad parallels between what Matty was doing for his employees on the Mount Washington climb and what his team at St. Germain does for clients on a daily basis — provide advice and encouragement, help others take advantage of accumulated knowledge and experience, and yes, assess risk.

SEE: List of Financial Services/ Brokerage Firms

“It is a lot like financial planning and investing,” he said. “You set a goal and a path for getting there. And if conditions aren’t right, you pull back and turn around; it’s all about risk assessment and doing everything you can to be ready. That’s what we help people do.”

These thoughts sum up what has been a significant change at St. Germain, one that has taken place over the past few decades or so. In the past, the company was strictly as asset manager, while today it is engaged in virtually every kind of financial planning, right down to the well-attended seminar on Medicare planning that it staged recently.

“Years ago, this was an asset-management business,” he explained. “It was really just ‘come in, give us a check, and we’re going to manage the assets for you.’ Today, we’re much more actively involved with the financial-planning side of it.”

Elaborating, he said the company is now involved with helping clients decide when they can retire, when they should start taking Social Security, whether they can afford a vacation home, whether they should invest in municipal bonds in the state they intend to move to, and myriad other aspects of financial planning for today and especially tomorrow.

Mike Matty says climbing a mountain is a lot like financial planning — they both involve setting goals, devising strategies for meeting them, and assessing risk.

It’s a sea change of sorts, and the evolutionary process continues — the company recently hired someone to exclusively develop financial plans for clients through the use of acquired software, a hire that speaks volumes about how the company has grown and evolved in recent years, said Matty.

For this issue and its focus on financial planning, BusinessWest talked at length with Matty about how the company serves clients on perhaps the most important climb of their lives, and how it works with them to help ensure that achieving financial security isn’t necessarily an uphill climb.

Upward Mobility

Like anyone who has climbed Mount Washington a number of times, Matty has his own large supply of stories about the peak — and especially about its famous weather and measured wind speeds well north of 100 miles per hour.

“I have a video that I took two years ago,” he said. “I’m literally standing on top of Mount Washington; there’s a 50-mile-per-hour wind, a few inches of snow on the ground, there’s snow blowing by me — and it’s September 1st!”

That anecdote provides yet another parallel between climbing a mountain and achieving financial security for the long term, said Matty, adding that life, much like the weather on Mount Washington, can change quickly and, quite often, unexpectedly.

Thus, the very best strategy is to have a good plan and be prepared — for anything.

And that, in a nutshell, is what St. Germain Investments has been helping its clients do for nearly a century now — the company is marking its 95th anniversary this year.

Much has changed since 1924, as Matty noted, and even over the past few decades, as the company’s focus has shifted from simply managing money to assisting clients with the myriad aspects of financial planning — from determining how college can and should be paid for (often, several generations of a family share the load these days), to determining when to sell the family business, to deciphering how Medicare works, hence that aforementioned seminar.

Which was not your run-of-mill Medicare seminar, such as the one you might see at the local senior center, said Matty, but rather one led by experts who can speak to questions and concerns raised by the typical St. Germain client, a couple or individual who has managed to accumulate some assets and save successfully for retirement.

That seminar, as well as the recently hired financial planner — who was among those on the hike to the top of Mount Washington — are some of the many obvious indications of change and growth at the firm, said Matty, who said there are a number of ways to measure success at St. Germain.

He listed such things as profound growth in assets under management (the number is now just over $1.5 billion) to similarly profound growth in the workforce — there are now 23 employees. There’s also a new satellite office in Lenox with its own brand (October Mountain Financial Advisors) and consistent presence — four years in a row — on the FT (Financial Times) 300 list of the top financial advisors in the country.

“There’s a lot of stuff out there you can get named to because you paid 50 bucks — this list isn’t one of them,” he said, adding that there is a very rigorous set of criteria that must be met to be so honored and there are only a few firms in this region on that list.

But the best measure of success is clients’ ability to successfully navigate their climb to financial security, he said, adding that the firm helps them accomplish this by first getting to know them and their specific circumstances, and then leading from behind, if you will, by providing guidance and working in what amounts to a true partnership with the client.

As Matty noted, this is a long way from the days of taking a check and investing the amount written on it.

Peak Performance

As he talked about financial planning and how his company goes about serving clients, Matty noted there are, or were, several rules of thumb, if you will, in this business, regarding everything from life expectancy to retirement age, to the percentage of money in one’s portfolio that should be invested in stocks.

He believes most of them are obsolete and that, in general, as people live longer and are able to do more in retirement than they were a generation or two ago, there are no more rules.

“A lot of those rules of thumb came about decades ago, back when there were traditional pensions and people retired at 65,” he told BusinessWest. “And if you did retire at 65, you didn’t have 15 years worth of traveling ability in front of you because you didn’t have artificial knees and hips and stents; all that has changed.

“You have 70-year-olds getting new knees and going skiing,” he went on. “That was unheard of 30 or 40 years ago; people didn’t ski at 70, let alone take up skiing at 70.”

When the company runs financial plans for couples now, said Matty, it does do knowing that the odds are good that one of the spouses will live until age 95.

“So if you want to retire at 65, you need to be planning on 25 to 30 years of your money working for you,” he continued. “That’s a long time. I get it — you want to travel for the next 10 to 15 years, when you’re between the ages of 65 and 80. How do we structure a plan that’s going to support all that?”

Overall, Matty said, as his firm works with clients in this environment, there are certainly talks that are financial in nature. But an equal number of them — if not a greater number of them — are “psychological” in nature.

And they involve everything from often-complicated end-of-life matters to simply convincing people who have, indeed, done very well when it comes to saving for retirement that, when they get there, it’s OK to spend the money they’ve accumulated.

And there are many people who need convincing, he told BusinessWest.

“People get to that stage [retirement] by foregoing and saving for the future, foregoing and saving for the future,” he explained. “At a certain point, you have to flip that switch a little bit and say, ‘it’s OK; this is why I did all that — I don’t have to keep doing this for the rest of my life.’ Sometimes, your job really is to tell people, ‘it’s OK to spend it.’”

As for end-of-life issues, Matty said these emotional times are often made even more difficult by uncertainty about whether survivors will be adequately taken care of, and the pressing need to make sure they are.

“Often, you’re having a conversation with them, and one of them is lying in a bed they’re never going to come out of,” he said. “And often, it’s the one in worse health, the one who’s passing away, who wants to make sure that the other one is OK financially, and they really need that assurance.

“It’s a fairly easy financial conversation to have at times, because the money is there,” he went on. “But it’s really, really, really about trying to make that heartfelt assurance to someone to things are going to be OK, especially if the one who’s passing is the one who made all the financial decisions.”

Matty said he’s had a number of these discussions, and he remembers one instance where he was called to a home for a talk with a woman who was about to enter hospice and wanted assurances that her husband, suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, would be OK.

“She knew nothing about the financial situation, she knew nothing about how their will was structured, etc., etc.,” he told BusinessWest. “I called back to the office and asked the receptionist what I had on the schedule, and then I told her to call and cancel.”

He spent the next several hours going through the will, looking over insurance policies, and making sure all questions were answered and every matter was resolved.

There have been a number of cases like that, he said, adding that all the financial advisors at the company have what amounts to a license to clear their schedules in such instances because they’re paid a salary, not commissions.

Getting to the Top

These anecdotes show clearly just how much St. Germain has changed over the years.

Instead of taking a check and investing the money, the company is leading from behind and guiding clients on a certainly challenging trek, one in which a plan has to be made, risks have to be assessed, and unforeseen circumstances — life’s equivalent of 50- or even 100-mile-per-hour winds — are anticipated and accounted for.

Returning to the hike up Mount Washington, Matty said his goal for the day “was not to make good time, but to have a good time.”

That’s the goal for retirement as well, and this company has moved to the top within this industry when it comes to helping people do just that.

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

Sexual Harassment in Education

By Columnist October 1, 2019

Law

The #MeToo Movement Has Vast Implications in This Sector

The #MeToo movement has brought about change and challenge — from a liability standpoint — in workplaces of all kinds. And this includes the broad spectrum of education. Indeed, recent cases indicate that courts may soon hold schools, colleges, and universities strictly liable for any sexual misconduct by their staff toward their students.

By Justice John Greaney, Jeffrey Poindexter, and Elizabeth Zuckerman

By now, we’ve all seen the #MeToo movement change how Massachusetts and the nation are talking about sexual harassment and other misconduct in the workplace, in schools, in social settings, on sports teams, in public places, and in our private lives.

Justice John Greaney

Jeffrey Poindexter

Elizabeth Zuckerman

The movement has ended careers, felled prominent figures, and made many newly aware of the great number of people — men and women — who face sexual harassment at some point in their lives. It has also reminded students, teachers, professors, administrators, and parents that schools and institutions of higher education are far from immune to this type of misconduct, and that students are sometimes victims of the very staff, faculty, and coaches expected to educate, guide, coach, and protect them.

Against this backdrop, administrators of Massachusetts schools, colleges, and universities have a special reason to take note of the rising tide of complaints about sexual harassment and other gender-based discrimination. The sea change in how sexual harassment is viewed, along with the development of Massachusetts law surrounding sexual harassment in schools, colleges, and universities, suggest that Massachusetts courts may soon hold these institutions strictly liable for any sexual misconduct by their staff toward their students.

That means, whether or not the school, college, or university knew about the conduct, whether or not the institution was negligent in any way, it could be on the hook for substantial damages if a staff member commits sexual harassment. In other words, even without doing anything wrong, or knowing anything wrong was happening, an educational institution could be liable for the entirety of the harm that befalls a student.

As a result, schools, colleges, and universities need to act now to implement policies which provide the best defense if a claim of sexual harassment is made.

In Massachusetts, Chapter 151C of the General Laws, the Massachusetts Fair Educational Practices Act (MFEPA), provides students who have been subjected to sexual harassment by a teacher, coach, guidance counselor, or other school personnel with a cause of action against the educational institution. MFEPA declares that “it shall be an unfair educational practice for an educational institution … to sexually harass students in any program or course of study in any educational institution.” In conjunction with General Laws c. 214, § 1C, the right for students to be free of harassment can be enforced through the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) or through the Superior Court.

“Administrators of Massachusetts schools, colleges, and universities have a special reason to take note of the rising tide of complaints about sexual harassment and other gender-based discrimination.”

The statutes also define sexual harassment broadly, including “any sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when: (i) submission to or rejection of such advances, requests, or conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of the provision of the benefits, privileges, or placement services or as a basis for the evaluation of academic achievement; or (ii) such advances, requests, or conduct have the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s education by creating an intimidating, hostile, humiliating, or sexually offensive educational environment.”

SEE: List of Law Firms

Chapter 151C has been interpreted several times in the courts in Massachusetts, including when:

• A male athletic director of a Massachusetts community college was reported to have provided alcohol to female students in exchange for sexual favors. Several years later, more complaints about his behavior led the college to implement a policy to prevent sexual harassment.

Reports of further inappropriate conduct led to an investigation and agreement that he would no longer coach female athletic teams. However, he continued to work at the school and, eventually, resumed coaching a women’s basketball team. Students who had been coached by the athletic director brought claims against both him and the school.

• During the investigation into a rape of a student by a teacher at a Massachusetts high school, it was disclosed that a male guidance counselor had been involved in sexual misconduct with students. The superintendent of the school district acknowledged that he was aware of continuing reports about the guidance counselor’s inappropriate relationships with students after a female student alleged that the counselor had brought her to his home on two occasions and attempted to coerce her into having sex.

• Parents reported the inappropriate conduct of a male middle-school science teacher to the vice principal and a guidance counselor. The teacher had made inappropriate comments and touched female students, and had been told by school officials to stop on three occasions. The teacher was fired after an internal investigation, but not before he allegedly molested an 11-year-old student.

Despite occasions to consider the applications of Chapter 151C, Massachusetts courts have not yet decided whether schools, colleges, and universities will be held strictly vicariously liable for sexual harassment. In the cases referenced above, it appears the schools or colleges knew about the misconduct and, at least passively, allowed it to continue.

That means that the schools or colleges could be considered negligent, because they knew, or should have known, an employee’s behavior was problematic, but they failed to act, or failed to take adequate measures to remedy the situation. However, if Massachusetts courts rule for strict liability under Chapter 151C, it will mean that it is no defense that the institution did not know what its employee was doing, or even that it took reasonable measures to screen that employee before hiring.

Instead, the mere occurrence of sexual harassment by an employee will be enough to make the institution liable to the victim.

There are indications this may be the direction in which the courts go, because a closely related statute, Chapter 151B, which governs sexual harassment in the workplace, does impose strict liability. It seems entirely possible that the courts will conclude that liability under Chapter 151C should be no different, given that the two statutes relate to the same subject matter and share a common purpose.

Furthermore, because the operative statute is clearly intended to protect vulnerable students from abuses of power by those entrusted with their well-being, it seems likely that the courts may conclude that a strict standard of liability is consistent with the underlying purposes of the statute.

“The rising awareness of the problem of sexual harassment and assault appears to make it more likely that courts will conclude that the only way to stem the tide of abuse is to put the burden on those in the best position to protect vulnerable students — the schools they attend.”

This argument seems strengthened by the popular mood regarding sexual harassment. The rising awareness of the problem of sexual harassment and assault appears to make it more likely that courts will conclude that the only way to stem the tide of abuse is to put the burden on those in the best position to protect vulnerable students — the schools they attend.

Two recent decisions suggest this result may be coming. In a 2016 federal court case, Doe v. Brashaw, Judge Douglas Woodlock gave the first indication that the courts may come down on the side of strict liability under Chapter 151C. He noted there was no clear guidance in the text of the law on whether negligence was required to hold the school, college, or university liable.

Weighing the arguments on each side, he concluded it made sense, at least at the early stage in the case at which he was reviewing the matter, to apply a strict vicarious liability standard.

More recently, in 2017, another federal judge again noted that the standard was unsettled and deferred considering the argument, made by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as defendant, that it was entitled to a more favorable standard than strict liability.

Given the significant risk that Massachusetts schools, colleges, and universities will be considered liable for their employees’ misconduct, regardless of what they knew, or didn’t know, about it, how can these institutions respond? The answer is that schools, colleges, and universities need to ensure their sexual-harassment, disciplinary, and hiring policies are up to date.

This will allow these institutions to avoid hiring or retaining employees who show any indication that they will engage in sexually harassing behavior, and also allow the institutions to respond rapidly and effectively if any employee does. In addition, schools, colleges, and universities need to appropriately train and supervise all employees.

For many institutions, this will mean implementing new requirements for training and new policies for ensuring sexual harassment cannot go on in a school, college, or university without rapid detection. In addition to in-house training, the institutions should consider learning sessions taught by outside consultants, particularly law firms, with experience in handling sexual misconduct in the educational environment.

Outside investigations by impartial law firms will, when appropriate, removed the inference of bias on the part of the educational institution when considering possible misconduct by a teacher, administrator, or staff member. In sum, educational institutions need to be prepared to act quickly and decisively when faced with a complaint of sexual harassment in order to remediate any misconduct.

Justice John Greaney is a former justice of the Supreme Judicial Court and senior counsel at Bulkley Richardson. Jeffrey Poindexter is a partner and co-chair of the Litigation Department at Bulkley Richardson. Elizabeth Zuckerman is an associate in the Litigation Department at Bulkley Richardson.

Springfield Thunderbirds Aim Higher in Team’s Fourth Season

By Joseph Bednar October 1, 2019

Sports & Leisure

Raising Their Game

Team President Nathan Costa

When the Springfield Thunderbirds hit the ice for the first time three years ago, its management team heard plenty of skepticism about whether hockey could truly thrive and grow beyond a certain ceiling in the city. While there’s still plenty of room for growth in ticket sales, attendance surged last season to a two-decade high, with Saturday nights in particular routinely selling out. In short, there’s a lot of optimism inside the Thunderbirds offices — and a refusal to get complacent.

If Springfield is in the midst of a renaissance, Nathan Costa says, the Springfield Thunderbirds are a large part of the reason — even if not everyone thought they could be.

“I told the staff recently, ‘I think we’ve been able to do this because we came in with a chip on our shoulder.’ We wanted to prove we could do it here and that, if we did it the right way, it could work,” said Costa, the team’s president. “When we first came in, a lot of people said, ‘teams haven’t always had success here — what’s different about you guys?’”

At the start of their fourth season in Springfield, the Thunderbirds — the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Florida Panthers — have slowly raised what was, in some eyes, a low bar when Costa and a team of local investors brought hockey back to Springfield in 2016 following the departure of the Falcons.

Perhaps most strikingly, the team averaged more than 5,000 fans per night last season — a number no Springfield hockey team had achieved in more than two decades.

“At first, there were low expectations for the marketplace, and it was easier to meet those expectations,” Costa told BusinessWest two weeks before the team begins its 2019-20 home campaign on Oct. 5. “Now we’ve set a high bar. We need to work with the same urgency we’ve always had to keep this moving forward.”

This year’s squad hits the ice for a practice session last week.

Above Costa’s office door is painted the number 6,793. That’s the sellout number at the MassMutual Center, and it’s a number the team reached on about a dozen occasions last season, mostly Saturday nights. With a friendlier home schedule this year (more on that in a bit), the goal is to record even more sellouts and get that average attendance closer to 6,000 than 5,000 — and Costa thinks it’s reachable.

“In the past, you could always walk up and buy a ticket here. Now, if you don’t get a package, or you don’t get a ticket early on, especially for those Saturday nights in the second half of the season, you can’t find a ticket. And that’s what we wanted to create,” he said. “But it’s not easy to do.”

Last year, preparations to host the AHL All-Star Classic (a significant feather in the franchise’s cap) knocked out home games the weekend before, traditionally one of the league’s busier weekends, cutting down the total number of weekend dates. But for the 2019-20 season, the Thunderbirds will host 15 Saturday-night and 14 Friday-night tilts, as well as four Sunday-afternoon games, in all accounting for 33 of the schedule’s 38 home games.

“At first, there were low expectations for the marketplace, and it was easier to meet those expectations. Now we’ve set a high bar. We need to work with the same urgency we’ve always had to keep this moving forward.”

Still, “we’re continuing to put an emphasis on getting to the point where we’re filling the building every single night,” Costa said, adding that season-ticket sales have increased every year. So have the team’s fortunes on the ice, as it posted a winning record last year, although it has missed the playoffs all three years.

“The Panthers had quite a few injuries, so they called up a number of our players around the all-star break, which was challenging on the hockey side,” he explained. “But on the business side, we continue to do what we’ve talked about from the very beginning, which is focus on the family-fun, entertainment aspects of coming to games.

“People want to see a winning product, obviously — especially in this market, where people are spoiled with winning teams,” he went on. “So we’re hoping that comes with time. But we’re also trying to lay a foundation where we’re providing a professional, awesome experience here in the arena, and I think we’re doing that and creating events and promotions people are connecting with.”

From the start, Costa and his team tackled some common gripes from the Falcons’ tenure, including lowering concession prices, negotiating a deal for free parking in the neighboring garage, building a richer schedule of promotions — even ramping up video production to make sure season-ticket holders are watching fresh videos on the big screens as the season moves along.

Being granted last year’s all-star events was a signal, he said, that the AHL recognized what was happening and how fans were responding. So were a series of league awards last year, from Costa being named outstanding executive to honors for the team’s digital-media presence and marketing efforts.

“The All-Star Classic was an absolute home run — it raised our profile locally and within the AHL,” Costa said. “Springfield wasn’t necessarily viewed as a place where you could see best practices or have a full building, but now, we’ve changed the perception of Western Mass. among the AHL board and really rejuvenated the city from their perspective.”

And the perspective of others as well — about 5,000 a night.

Lacing ’em Up

When the Portland Pirates left Maine for Springfield three years ago, the City of Homes was no doubt on the rise, but pieces were still falling into place downtown, and the MGM Springfield casino was still more than two years from opening.

“That was a challenge, when there wasn’t as much life and things going on,” Costa said. “We really wanted to face a lot of the hurdles that we heard about head-on, much of which was parking, safety, or that it costs too much to come to a game. We were trying to bring people downtown.”

Some of those concerns were more reputation than reality, he added. “I’ve worked downtown more than 10 years, and I’ve never not felt safe. And I think that perception is gone now. We don’t hear it at all anymore. It is a testament to the city.”

Part of that change is the simple fact of more feet on the street, especially at night.

“There’s a lot more going on. Restaurants are buzzing. People are walking around. There’s life, there’s energy. The city was primed for that,” he said, crediting entities like MGM and the Springfield Business Improvement District and efforts in the realms of public safety and downtown beautification.

Still, selling a new team to the public after the Falcons took flight was a challenge initially. “But we were confident in our business plan and stuck to what worked in other AHL cities; we stuck to providing value to ticket holders and in the arena. The league started feeling good about us, and it’s steadily grown over three years.”

The franchise is always feeling out new promotions, although a few have become regular events, including 3-2-1 Fridays ($3 beers, $2 hot dogs, and $1 sodas) and a Friday-night concert series; March’s Pink in the Rink event to celebrate breast-cancer survivors and raise funds for treatment and research; and December’s Teddy Bear Toss, where fans bring stuffed animals and throw them on the ice after the home team’s first goal, to be collected and donated to underprivileged children.

Visits from David Ortiz and Pedro Martinez have proven hugely popular as well, and while the team doesn’t have someone of quite that stature stopping by this year, it has planned four guest appearances, including former Florida Panther goalie Roberto Luongo in November; Mike Eruzione from the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team in February, marking the 40th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice; and Brian Scalabrine from the Celtics’ 2008 NBA championship team in March.

The fourth guest is a little more outside the box: actor Leslie David Baker, who played Stanley Hudson in the hit TV show The Office, will visit in December for what the team is labeling its Office Holiday Party, inviting local businesses to basically celebrate the season at the MassMutual Center, watch a game, and meet Baker.

“We’re trying to provide more value to ticket holders, and letting them know we continue to invest in the game experience,” Costa said.

Another returning promotion is a Blast from the Past night in January, when the team reverts to 1990-era Springfield Indians jerseys, celebrating the 30th anniversary of that team’s Calder Cup win.

“We’re trying to tap into that old nostalgia; that’s a fun part of what we do,” Costa said, noting that the team still owns the Springfield Indians trademark. “We made the decision not to rebrand to that when we purchased the franchise. But using it here once in a while is fun, and we can create an event around it that people look forward to.

“I think we’ve done a good job of recognizing the past but also creating our own brand,” he went on. “We obviously still hear about the Indians quite a bit — there’s a lot of romanticizing around the Indians, and obviously they had some really good, successful years — but it wasn’t all roses during that time. They had their ups and downs.”

The goal with the Thunderbirds, obviously, is to have far more of the former than the latter.

“There’s been a tendency in the past to have a negative viewpoint about downtown Springfield,” he told BusinessWest. “We want create a positive experience. It’s a perfect size city for AHL franchise. Now we have to keep that trajectory moving forward and continue to sell tickets and show value. The minute we take our foot off the gas, our business is going to suffer.”

Community Goals

The Thunderbirds have been equally aggressive about community involvement, Costa said, with Boomer, the team’s mascot, making more than 200 appearances a year at businesses, schools, and organizations, and each player making at least three appearances as well, in addition to team events. The franchise has also developed a charitable foundation and youth-oriented outreaches like a reading program, a kids club, and a partnership that creates positive connections between area youth and the Springfield Police.

“Being here in this marketplace, there’s a duty for us to give back and truly be a part of the community,” Costa said. “So a lot of this stuff is focused on giving back and doing the right thing by our community in general.”

He’s gratified by the growth of the brand and the deepening of its civic roots, but admits he’s driven somewhat by anxiety and fear of failure, and still carries that chip on his shoulder from the early days. He also credits a hardworking staff willing to roll up their sleeves, hit the phones and the streets, and do the often-tedious work it takes to increase ticket sales and awareness of what’s happening on the ice.

“It’s awesome to see how the community has surrounded us and supported what we’re trying to do,” he said. “But we’ve never said, ‘hey, let’s just open the arena and see who comes out.’ We’ve always been proactive about getting out and telling our story. Now, we’re so well-positioned that, if the team has some success on the ice, it’s ready to take off. It’s palpable. If you come on a Saturday night, you can feel the energy.”

With so many entertainment options available — and a deep mesh of TV programming that makes it easier for families to just stay home — Costa and his team certainly aren’t letting up on the gas. In short, that number 6,793 continues to drive them.

“There’s nowhere else to go but up,” he said. “If we keep doing the things we’re doing, it will happen, and I think we’re seeing that now — that doing the right thing and working hard will lead to success.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Southwick at 250 Has Plenty to Celebrate

By Joseph Bednar October 1, 2019

Community Spotlight

Russell Fox (left, with Karl Stinehart) says Southwick’s slate of 250th-birthday events will be family-friendly and honor the town’s past while looking to a promising future.

Nov. 7 will be a big day in Southwick — and the start of a big year.

Starting that day, a year-long series of events — including holiday festivals, history tours, parades, concerts, and more — will culminate in the Taste of Southwick Gala on Nov. 7, 2020, the 250th anniversary of the town’s incorporation.

Southwick officials and volunteers have been meeting to plan this broad slate of birthday events for some time, much of the planning guided by the nonprofit Southwick Civic Fund.

“It’s an ambitious plan for a smaller community,” said Russell Fox, who chairs the town’s Select Board. “We’re actively raising money, not just from businesses but residents also. And we have some very generous residents — one resident gave us $1,000. So it’s coming along. We’d like these events to be kid-oriented. We want young people to feel like they’re part of the community and learn something about the history of the community and have a good time.”

And there’s a lot to celebrate, as Southwick continues to grow its business base, housing options, and especially its reputation as a recreation destination, Fox said. That Taste event alone speaks to what he calls a recent “restaurant renaissance” in town, with recent additions like Crepes Tea House and Wok on Water, the conversion of Chuck’s Steak House to Westfield River Brewing (which hosts concerts during the summer), and new Crabby Joe’s Bar and Grill owner Mark O’Neill’s plans to tear down that establishment and rebrand it as a state-of-the-art restaurant and brewery that may use wind turbines for electricity.

A 250th-anniversary celebration is an opportunity for a town like Southwick to show how far it has come in the realms of history, population growth, economic development, and cultural and recreational draws, said Karl Stinehart, the town’s chief administrative officer.

On the latter front, Southwick has become a mecca for recreational offerings, like boating on the Congamond Lakes, motocross events at the Wick 338, town events at the 66-acre Whalley Park, and a well-traveled rail trail frequented by bicyclists, hikers, and dog walkers.

As for its population, Southwick still boasts around 10,000 residents, and work continues at two significant new neighborhoods, a 26-home subdivision off Vining Hill Road called Noble Steed, and Fiore Realty’s project to develop about 65 homes at the former Southwick Country Club site. Meanwhile, the town made zoning changes near that site to expand commercial developments along College Highway, including a possible medical facility.

On the infrastructure front, the town is planning to improve sidewalks on Depot Street to provide easier access to downtown, and is currently improving the roadway and drainage on Congamond Road — a key entry into town from Connecticut — aided by more than $4 million in state funds.

“When that’s done, it’ll have a bike lane and sidewalk, and connect the neighborhood both to Gillette’s Corner and to the rail trail,” Stinehart said. “There are businesses that abut the rail trail, and if you go there on certain days, on the weekend, you’ll see people on the trail using those businesses.”

Stinehart noted that the town’s single tax rate of $17.48 continues to be a draw for new businesses, which is good considering the potential development opportunities along College Highway and at the Southwick Industrial Park on Hudson Drive.

“We try to balance residential growth and the business sector, which is an important thing because it keeps our tax rate competitive,” he said. “When you’re a businessman looking to site in a community and you see you’re going to be treated equally as every other taxpayer, you take notice of that.”

Fox agreed. “We try to keep that balance. We’ve got a graying population, with more people on fixed incomes. So the tax rate is a big deal to us. We don’t want to tax people out of the community they grew up in or want to retire in.”

He recalled a business owner looking to move into town from a neighboring community a couple decades ago. He was offered some tax incentives but was angling for more, but instead Fox reminded him of the town’s quality schools, low traffic, reasonable tax rate, and recreational opportunities, and that sold him. “He’s been in Southwick 20-plus years, doing very well.”

Those selling points have only expanded since then, Fox said, and that’s reason enough to celebrate 250 years.

Fun in the Sun

There’s plenty for outdoor enthusiasts to enjoy in Southwick, including three golf courses (Edgewood, the Ranch, and a par-3 track at Longhi’s) and the aforementioned 6.5-mile-long rail trail that runs through town from the Westfield border to the Suffield border.

“People in town love the bike trail — it’s just a beautiful area,” Fox told BusinessWest. “When that first started, there were some naysayers, but I think most of those people have gone away.”

“Or they’re on the trail using it,” Stinehart quickly added.

Meanwhile, the lakes on the south side of town — featuring two boat ramps, a fishing pier, and a town beach — provide plenty of activity for residents. A $275,000 project renovated the south boat ramp on Berkshire Avenue last year, making it more modern and handicap-accessible, and the beachfront was recently renovated as well.

Southwick at a glance

Year Incorporated: 1770
Population: 9,502
Area: 31.7 square miles
County: Hampden
Residential Tax Rate: $17.47
Commercial Tax Rate: $17.47
Median Household Income: $52,296
Family Household Income: $64,456
Type of Government: Open Town Meeting; Board of Selectmen
Largest Employers: Big Y; Whalley Computer Associates; Southwick Regional School District
*Latest information available

Stinehart said the lakes and their environs are an important aspect of Southwick’s outdoor culture and worthy of investment, being, among other things, a major destination for freshwater fishing tournaments.

Then there’s the Wick 338, the motocross track behind the American Legion, which abuts the Southwick Recreation Center and Whalley Park. The complex hosts the annual Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship — which is broadcast live on NBC and draws some 15,000 to 18,000 people to town — as well about 25 other races throughout the year and a host of other events, including Rugged Maniac New England, a challenging, mud-splattered 5K obstacle course. That continual flow of visitors to town benefits a host of other businesses, from gas stations to restaurants, Stinehart noted.

As for Whalley Park itself — which was donated to the town by the prominent Whalley family and developed using municipal and Community Preservation Act funds — it includes a full-size soccer field, baseball field, and softball field, lighting for the fields, a huge kids’ play area, and a pavilion.

The town also recently acquired a 144-acre parcel on North Pond at Congamond Lakes. The Mass. Department of Fisheries and Wildlife awarded Southwick money to help purchase it, and the Franklin Land Trust conducted a fund-raising effort to make up the difference in price. The parcel is abutted by two areas owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the state of Connecticut.

Even before that, Stinehart said, Southwick had preserved more than 1,000 acres of open space, not including the lakes themselves, and has been active in buying up development rights to farmland, ensuring that they can’t be developed, but must remain agricultural land.

“We’re proud of our agricultural roots, and we still have a lot of farms,” Fox said. “Now we have farms protected in perpetuity.”

Also in the realm of preservation, the town’s Cemetery Commission continues its work to restore the Old Cemetery, which dates to 1770, and the town recently sold its old library, built in 1891, to an investor who intends to partner with the Southwick Historical Commission to preserve it while putting it back on the tax rolls.

Change Is Good

The town’s modern schools — the complex on Feeding Hills Road that houses Woodland Elementary School, Powder Mill Middle School, and Southwick Regional School underwent significant additions and renovations in recent years — have also been a draw for new residents, and they have the capacity to house a growing student population, Fox said.

All this has contributed to Southwick being honored this year by the Republican’s Reader Raves program as the best area town to live in.

“It’s taken a lot of hard work to get to that point,” Fox said of the award. “Some people don’t like change at all, but not all change is bad. This is a community we can be proud of. I think we doing a good job of keeping things in balance — commercial, industry, and residential.

“We’re not sitting back; we’re growing,” he went on. “We know people want to move here, and we’re proud of that. We’re going to make sure Southwick remains the town it always has been.” u

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

With Unemployment Low, Employers Must Alter How They Recruit

By Joseph Bednar October 1, 2019

Business Innovation

Best of Times, Worst of Times

From left, Amy Roberts, Sarah McCarthy, and Carol Fitzgerald discuss why and how recruiting is more difficult in the current economy.

As one of the region’s largest employers, the Center for Human Development is constantly hiring; in fact, it has about 100 job openings right now, said Carol Fitzgerald, vice president of Human Resources.

At a time of low unemployment, CHD isn’t the only company that has to be focused and creative when it comes to filling those open positions.

“I think it’s a candidate’s dream right now,” Fitzgerald said. “We’re finding that people are coming to us with multiple offers. They’re playing the field, trying to figure out who’s going to get them not just the best compensation, but the best schedule, all these extra benefits. And they often don’t decide until the very, very end. Who’s going to win that race?”

Amy Roberts, chief Human Resources officer for PeoplesBank, tells a similar story.

“I’ve never experienced a market where you almost have to aggressively make sure someone shows up for an interview,” she said. “We’re finding, when people are looking, they’re looking in multiple places, so you’re not the only game in town. So we’ve seen an increase in people not showing up to a scheduled meeting.”

Fitzgerald and Roberts detailed the challenges of the current recruiting landscape at a morning-long workshop, titled “Attracting the Best Candidates in Possibly the Worst of Times,” presented on Sept. 20 by Garvey Communication Associates and BusinessWest. Specifically, they took part in a panel of human-resources professionals who explained how the market has shifted and why recruiters have to do things differently than they may be used to in order to land the best talent.

“I think it’s a candidate’s dream right now. We’re finding that people are coming to us with multiple offers. They’re playing the field, trying to figure out who’s going to get them not just the best compensation, but the best schedule, all these extra benefits. And they often don’t decide until the very, very end. Who’s going to win that race?”

“You need to know your market — and we’re in a tough market — and know what your company offers and provides as well as being very focused on the type of individual you want to have work for you,” said Sarah McCarthy, senior Human Resources business partner for Commonwealth Care Alliance, the third member of that panel. “It’s not an environment where people are coming to you; you have to do some mining and find these individuals and encourage them to come work for you, and in doing that, you need to provide context for them — why should they want to come work for you?”

In short, companies need to sell themselves — and their company culture — to job seekers more aggressively than ever before, said John Garvey, president of GCAi, adding that this doesn’t mean catering to stereotypes about young professionals.

“For a while, we heard, ‘Millennials need nap rooms, they have to play foosball, have dance parties,’ all this crazy stuff. I don’t think any of that is true,” he said. “I think people want to be a part of something they’re passionate about. That’s important. And that requires us to talk to them in different ways and develop talent in different ways — and also to reach out in different ways.”

Baiting the Hook

It also means thinking differently about who the perfect candidate is, said McCarthy, adding that flexibility is key — not only in which skills the job requires up front and which can be trained, but what schedule and work-life balance a talented candidate is looking for.

“How can the work be done?” she went on, noting that not every job needs to be 8 to 5, and many employees have needs when it comes to dropping off or picking up kids or caring for a parent. “As an employer, you’re investing in your employees and looking what their needs are, but also what the organization’s needs are. At the end of the week, is the work getting done?”

Darcy Fortune and James Garvey say websites, video, and social media are more effective recruiting tools when they clearly showcase a company’s culture.

There was a time when employers had most of the leverage in these situations, but when unemployment is at all-time lows in Massachusetts, that’s no longer the case, which forces companies to think outside the box more than they’re accustomed to.

“You can train for technical skills, but it’s harder to train for what we would call soft skills — somebody who shows up on time and gets along with everybody and their team,” Fitzgerald said. “Those are the things that are harder to find. If you can find that and train up, you broaden the number of candidates you’re able to consider.”

That said, Roberts added, “it really is about getting the right person in the right job, and not getting hung up on the fact that you have so many openings and it’s so difficult to find people that we’re just going to put anyone in the role.”

The goal, then, should be attracting as many qualified candidates to apply as possible. That starts with the posting itself, said Tiffany Appleton, recruiter and director of the Accounting & Finance Division at Johnson & Hill Staffing Services, who gave a separate presentation on the mistakes companies make in their hiring process.

How to Ensure Your Hiring Process Stinks

Tiffany Appleton, recruiter and director of the Accounting & Finance Division at Johnson & Hill Staffing Services, took a tongue-in-cheek approach to effective hiring practices with a list of 10 surefire ways a company can turn its hiring process into a crushing disappointment.

• Write a boring job description. “Just give them the specifics of what they need to have before they walk in the door, and say, ‘if you don’t have these, don’t bother sending your résumé because I’m never going to look at it.’ Just list the facts, and don’t make it sound fun.”

• Take your time reviewing résumés. “Say, ‘some of those look pretty good, but I should wait a few more days because I might get another one that’s even better.’ Candidates love writing off a job, and then you call them a month later and say, ‘we’d like to have you in for an interview.’ That surprise factor is amazing.”

• Save time when you’re scheduling interviews. “Be efficient. E-mail the people you like — ‘I’d like to have you in for an interview; here are the dates and times that are available.’ Let them get back to you and tell you which ones they want. And to make sure you’re saving time, use a form-letter e-mail template.”

• Interviewers should talk only about the job specifics. “They should not talk about anything about the culture of the company, about it being a fun place to work, about any of the growth opportunities that might be available. They should definitely not talk about any fun projects you might get to work on. Just the facts.”

• Take your time after the interview. “You need that time to make sure you’ve arrived at a consensus, that you know who the right people are, and everyone on your team agrees. Candidates really like it when they hear from you weeks after your interview, saying, ‘yeah, we’d like to have you back.’”

• Reach out only to those who made the cut to schedule a second interview. “Don’t worry about those who didn’t make the cut. They’ll figure it out eventually. Don’t waste your time talking to those people. You’d never want them in the future anyway.”

• Make sure the second interview is long and tedious. “Make sure the candidate meets every person they may ever work with in the office in that second interview. Take your time. You need to have that group consensus, remember? Time is on your side.”

• Even if by now you’re feeling confident about whom to hire, be sure to schedule a third interview — or a fourth, or a fifth. “If you want to be sure, you have to ask them every question you’d ever want to know the answer to before you make an offer.”

• When it comes time to make an offer, figure out the lowest possible salary you think will be accepted. “There is no need to waste any money. What is that lowest number they’ll say yes to? What if you start high and they say yes? Why would you do that? They could have said yes to less money.”

• After that offer is accepted, consider your job done. “You don’t need to congratulate them. Don’t say you’re happy they’re joining the team. Don’t give them any guidance. You don’t need to tell them anything. Just assume they’re going to show up. And look at all that time you have to fill that next position!” u

“A job description is that thing you use internally to use as metrics … while a job advertisement is the thing you share with the public that makes them go, ‘wow, that looks amazing; I want it,” she said. “You’re trying to get somebody to read something and go, ‘ooh, that interests me.’”

Later in the morning, GCAi’s James Garvey, digital marketing analyst, and Darcy Fortune, digital public relations analyst, talked about the communication tools companies need to be using when recruiting, including social media, video, and websites that are optimized for mobile devices, because that’s where they’ll reach the most top talent these days. Those channels are also an opportunity to showcase some of that all-important company culture before a candidate ever walks in the door.

“It’s all about the candidate experience now,” Garvey said. “Folks are comparing you to your competition, and they’re going to think about how the process of applying for this position makes them feel. If you can use that as a competitive advantage, that’s a significant opportunity.”

Companies can express a concern for culture in many ways, some as simple as providing employees with breakfast, something Commonwealth Care Alliance does, McCarthy said. “I can’t tell you what a difference that’s made in our organization, especially for young professionals entering the market who don’t have a lot of money.”

Or, it can be expressed in the way a new hire is treated, Roberts said, noting that PeoplesBank sends its new hires a package from Edible Arrangements — a simple gesture that can resonate right off the bat.

“It’s amazing how many people will come in their first day and say, ‘oh my gosh, I got the gift, thank you.’ They just appreciate it — and the other side of it is, their family sees that,” she said. “We’re setting that standard right out of the gate that now they’re part of an organization that cares about them and wants to make them feel welcome.”

Reeling Them In

That’s especially crucial when the job market is so tight for employers that there’s no guarantee someone even shows up after accepting a position, if they find something they like better in the interim.

“I hope they show up,” Roberts said. “Most times they do, but it’s definitely a unique thing I haven’t experienced in my career in HR and recruiting.”

Fitzgerald said it’s no longer enough to post a job and watch the résumés pour in; now companies have to actively court the candidates they prefer.

“The biggest challenge for us is to get the managers to realize it’s not about them anymore,” she said. “We’re trying to tell them, ‘you have to respond within 24 hours to something, or else you’re absolutely going to lose people.’”

It’s a speed game these days, she added, one in which candidates are in effect interviewing companies, seeking the best fit for them of perhaps multiple offers.

Recruiters have to keep in contact and keep top candidates engaged even after coming to an agreement, McCarthy added. “You can’t just make a job offer and walk away now. It’s about the engagement after they’ve accepted.”

That engagement doesn’t end after the first day on the job, she added. “Now the burden is on the organization — now that they’re an employee, how are you going to retain them? Which is very different than a few years ago, when there was a surplus of candidates, and we were hiring and just waiting a month or two, before they came to orientation, to engage them.

Employers that take these steps stand the best chance of landing their top choice to fill a position, rather than just securing warm bodies, Roberts added. “It’s about focusing your attention instead of posting and praying and then deciding 30 days later you have to have that dialogue because it just didn’t work the way you hoped it would.”

And if a top candidate turns a job down? It’s OK to ask why — and learn from the rejection, Fitzgerald said.

“What we’re trying to find out is, what’s the differentiation between us and anywhere else? Sometimes it’s about salary, but mostly it’s about their experience, and it’s really about culture. So we’re really trying to look at total rewards in a way that speaks to individual employees.”

In addition, parting on good terms may lead to a change of heart down the road.

“We want them to have a good experience with us so we can make that next connection. It’s about long-term connections with people,” she went on. “Our managers may be mad they didn’t take our offer, but it’s OK. Maybe it’s not the time now for CHD, but there will be a time when this will work out, or we might have a different opportunity. So let’s stay in touch.”

In a morning filled with stark reality checks and myriad good ideas for facing that new reality, Fitzgerald acknowledged that her own job has become more critical than ever — and her fellow panelists agreed.

“Certainly,” she said, “it’s job security for all of us.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Advice Investors are Hearing Amid Turbulence

By George O'Brien October 1, 2019

Wealth Management

Stay the Course

Jean Deliso, CFP said she started calling her investment clients several days ago to gauge how they’re feeling amid some growing turbulence for the economy — and on Wall Street.

As she talked with BusinessWest about this initiative, she paraphrased the message she would leave if she encountered voicemail. “We just want to check in to see how you’re doing. The market has done very well, but we’ve seen some volatility in the market, and want to know how comfortable you are. On a scale of 1 to 5 (with ‘5’ representing the highest level of anxiety), how are you feeling about volatility, because there’s a political environment going on, we have China going on. Are you comfortable that your assets are positioned well?”

Again, that was the gist of the call. Deliso, owner of Agawam-based Deliso Financial and Insurance Services, said the firm has contacted about half the investment clients, and so far, there have a lot of 1’s and 2’s and generally nothing higher than a 3. And she’s not exactly surprised.

She believes those numbers tell her she’s doing a good job of helping her clients not just invest, but create and execute a plan. It also means she’s done well explaining to people that volatility — and yes, the markets have seen some this year amid trade turmoil, interest-rate movement, the dreaded inverted yield curve, and recession talk — is part of investing and nothing to really be feared.

“It’s important to keep their timeline in mind and not panic,” said Deliso, adding quickly that matters change the closer one is to retirement. “If you have 20 years … take a long-term perspective, don’t panic, don’t sell, and learn to live with volatility, because you can benefit from it because there are opportunities.”

That last comment is a perfect segue to the three words investment managers and financial planners always summon at times like these, especially for people with a long time window — ‘stay the course’ — as well as the seven words they also put to frequent use — ‘you shouldn’t try to time the market.’

“My job is to make sure, when these clients go into retirement, or are in retirement, that they have peace of mind. I want to make sure they’re not going to be emotional when the market drops. I want them to be secure that they know that, if it drops, they’re OK.”

Karen Dolan Curran, MBA, CFP, a principal with the Northampton-based firm Curran & Keegan Financial, used both phrases, and turned the clock back to 2008, the start of the Great Recession, to get her points across.

“In 2008, most portfolios lost an average of 30% to 40% of their value,” she recalled. “But if you stayed in those portfolios, they fully recovered after close to 18 months; you had to play the cycle out. And if you tried to go or if you tried to time the market as to when to go and when to jump back in, most people failed — because the most challenging part is trying to figure out when to jump back in. Those who stayed did fine.”

Neither Curran nor anyone else we spoke with is predicting anything close to 2008 again. In fact, some are hedging their bets on whether there will be a recession, not only this year but next year.

“In 2008, most portfolios lost an average of 30% to 40% of their value. But if you stayed in those portfolios, they fully recovered after close to 18 months; you had to play the cycle out. And if you tried to go or if you tried to time the market as to when to go and when to jump back in, most people failed.”

“We don’t believe that recession is coming necessarily in the next 12 months,” said Curran, noting that, while there a number of matters contributing to tension nationally and globally, overall, the economy is quite solid and unemployment and interest rates remain quite low, and investors should keep this in mind moving forward.

Still, the dreaded ‘R’ word is being heard and read more frequently these days, and that’s one of the reasons why Deliso launched her survey, noting that it’s a good conversation to have and she has it at least annually with clients.

The results of her polling, as noted, show there is not a high level of fear, a reaction that seems to mirror what’s happening on Wall Street, where, despite some turbulence and uncertainty, the S&P is up nearly 20% (or was at press time; things can change quickly), and when most of those ‘fear/greed’ gauges are tilting more toward the latter.

Beyond that, the comments seem to indicate that she’s doing well with what she considers her primary assignment. And that is to take fear out of the equation for her clients, even at times, like this one, in some respects, when one might be tempted to show some fear.

“That’s how this practice works; we provide a tremendous amount of education,” she explained. “And we make sure clients are positioned well with fixed assets and investment assets, because when we set people up for success, there’s a balance between the two.

“My job is to make sure, when these clients go into retirement, or are in retirement, that they have peace of mind,” she went on. “I want to make sure they’re not going to be emotional when the market drops. I want them to be secure that they know that, if it drops, they’re OK.”

Curran said her firm works in much the same way, with an emphasis on financial planning, not simply investing. As a result, she said she rarely gets a ‘panic’ call from an investor when the market takes a tumble, as it’s done a few times this year, or even when it takes a hard fall, as it did in the fourth quarter of last year.

She told BusinessWest that her firm helps clients plan against the backdrop of what she called the ‘worst-case scenario,’ meaning what happened in 2008.

“We do a lot of stress-case analysis,” she explained. “Saying, ‘well, what is the basic assumed market return? What if the market fluctuates downward during a particular time? What if it is nothing but positive for a particular time?’ And in certain cases, we replay 2008 right at a point of retirement, because that is the worst-case scenario — the moment you retire and you draw on your investment, the market comes down.

“We do all those simulations with clients so, when there are swings, like that 800-point drop recently, we get few, if any, calls, because we’ve already considered the worst-case scenario,” she went on, adding that, when people retire, they have more free time and spend some of it watching — and worrying about — the markets and their investments. “We don’t want them to have those reaction swings.”

Thus, the firm, like Deliso’s, recommends that those entering retirement do so with six months or perhaps a year’s worth of cash reserves to draw on, rather than their retirement savings.

Curran said effective planning, not to mention a willingness to stay the course, or “play the cycle out,” as she called it, is critical in this environment where interest rates on CDs and other very conservative forms of investing are far too low to generate real returns.

“The new norm is that people can’t go to a conservative portfolio of bonds and cash in retirement and live comfortably,” she said. “They have to be in the market, and they have to feel the weight of the ebb and flow of the market and understand that, if they stay long enough, the market will give them a positive return.”

Deliso agreed and reiterated that a big part of her job is to remove fear from the equation through proper planning and an effective mix of investments and fixed assets.

That’s why she hasn’t had anything over a 3 yet from her phone poll, and why she isn’t expecting any, either.

— George O’Brien

Things Employers Need to Consider When Employees Take Parental Leave

By Columnist October 1, 2019

Law

What to Expect When…

By John Gannon, Esq.

My wife and I recently welcomed our first child into the world. We are over the moon in love with our daughter and excited to see where this amazing journey will take us.

John S. Gannon

As an employment attorney, this process got me thinking about the topic of parental leave. That’s the legal term for providing job-protected time off from work to employees so they can bond with a newborn or newly adopted child.

Massachusetts state law requires almost all businesses to provide some job-protected leave for the birth or adoption of their child, and the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) obligates employers with 50 or more employees to provide additional time off and protections to new parents. Although at first glance these laws may seem easy to administer, there are plenty of traps for those who do not have a deep understanding of how parental leave needs to be administered. Here are a few things employers should be aware of when an employee requests and takes parental leave.

What Does Your Policy Say?

Hopefully, you have a policy that addresses parental leave. If not, it’s time to get one on the books. Even if you have a policy, it’s never a bad idea to be make sure the language is up to date and consistent with state and federal laws governing time off to bond with a child. For example, the Massachusetts Parental Leave Act (MPLA) requires employers with six or more employees to provide eight weeks of unpaid leave to full-time employees for the purpose of giving birth or for the placement of a child for adoption.

If you have more than six employees, you need to have a policy and practice that addresses parental leave. Notably, up until a few years ago, this law was commonly referred to as the Massachusetts Maternity Leave Law, because the language of the statute provided leave protections for female employees only. The law was amended a few years ago to expand parental-leave protections to employees in Massachusetts of all genders.

If your policy refers to maternity leave instead of parental leave, it’s time to update your handbook as several employment laws have probably been added or changed since your last review.

Intersection of the FMLA

Employers covered by the FMLA have additional obligations that go beyond the requirements of state-mandated parental leave. For starters, under the FMLA, eligible employees are entitled to take up to 12 work weeks of FMLA leave in a 12-month period for a number of different reasons, including the birth of a child and to bond with a newborn or newly adopted child.

Both mothers and fathers have the right to take FMLA leave to bond with a child. Importantly, when an employee takes time under the FMLA to bond with a child, the eight weeks of state-mandated MPLA runs concurrently. This means that an employee with 12 weeks of available FMLA is entitled to 12 total weeks of parental leave, as the MPLA is used at the same time as the FMLA is used. However, questions arise when employees use FMLA for a reason unrelated to the birth or adoption of their child.

For instance, suppose an employee used 12 weeks of FMLA earlier this year to care for a sick parent. This month, the employee approaches you requesting leave to care for a child who is expected next month. That employee would no longer be entitled to 12 weeks of FMLA to care for the newborn, but would still be entitled to the eight weeks of MPLA under state law.

Leave Employees on Leave Alone

They call it leave from work for a reason. Employers need to resist the urge to contact employees on leave with work-related questions, especially if the leave is unpaid.

A call or two about something basic, such as the location of a file or document on the system, is probably fine. However, requesting attendance at meetings or on phone conferences will cross the line, as will the assignment of projects or other tasks. Not only are you taking parents away from a special and important time in their lives, but you are also potentially creating a situation where you are unlawfully interfering with an employee’s right to take time off under the FMLA or MPLA.

Plus, if the employee is taking unpaid parental leave, which is typically the case, you will need to be sure that the employee is compensated for any work performed during parental leave, including answering calls or responding to e-mails. This can be tough to account for, so the best practice is to let employees on parental leave enjoy their time off without work-related distractions.

Final Thoughts

I learned firsthand that parental leave was a special time for me and my newborn. Employers need to openly encourage employees to take all available parental leave, and should consider offering benefits that go beyond those required by state and federal law.

The U.S. Department of Labor reported in a policy brief on parental leave that longer leaves promote better child bonding, improve outcomes for children, and even increase gender equity at home and at the workplace.

A generous parental-leave policy is also a fantastic recruiting and retention tool, as it sends a message that the business values its workforce and is committed to bettering employee work-life balance.

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

Any Issue or Dispute Can Be Resolved with This Process

By Columnist October 1, 2019

Law

Mediation: Art of Compromise

By Julie A. Dialessi-Lafley, Esq.

Mediation. Most, if not all of us, have heard the word, but what does it really mean to engage in mediation?

Many people familiar with mediation may think of it in the context of divorce or family-law matters, and, indeed, the process often provides families in conflict with meaningful solutions. But families aren’t the only ones who can benefit from the skills of a trained mediator. In fact, almost any issue or dispute that might be addressed in court could also potentially be solved by mediation.

Mediation is a process in which two or more parties discuss their disputes with the assistance of an unrelated third party — a trained mediator. The mediator assists the disagreeing parties with communication and with the terms of any settlement of the disputed issues. Resolution by agreement is the goal.

Mediation can be used for all kinds of disputes. Many couples facing divorce choose to engage in mediation rather than a court process. Issues of neighbor-to-neighbor disputes are ideal for mediation, and many schools use mediation internally to resolve student-to-student conflicts. Mediation can also address disputes involving business transactions, accidents or injuries, construction, workers’ compensation, employment issues, or labor and community relations. Almost any matter that does not involve complex procedural or evidentiary issues could be addressed through mediation.

Another appealing aspect of mediation is the relatively low cost. Mediation is normally more cost-effective than litigation in court, and certainly it is far less formal than a court process.

Mediation can take place at nearly any stage of a dispute. Conflicting parties may be able to avoid litigation altogether by mediating disputes prior to filing a court action. However, even once litigation is filed, mediation is usually still an option. If the parties agree to engage in mediation while a case is pending, they can do so in a good-faith effort to find a solution outside the courtroom. The parties can also opt out of the mediation process at any time.

Here in Massachusetts, the courts generally cannot order parties to engage in mediation. However, if an existing agreement, contract, or other independent rule requires mediation prior to litigation, the court may be precluded from hearing a matter until the parties attempt to resolve their dispute in mediation.

In fact, the courts tend to favor the mediation process and encourage parties in civil disputes to work toward their own agreements. If litigation is pending, but the parties come to an agreement through mediation and present it to the court, that agreement is likely to become the official order or judgment of the court. If only this writer had a quarter for every time a judge said to litigants, “you are better off trying to come to an agreement you can live with than to let the court decide.”

Unlike a judge or arbitrator, mediators do not decide the outcome of the dispute. They assist the parties to air their differences, identify the strengths and weaknesses of their respective sides, and find a resolution that everyone can live with.

For some people, a common misconception is that by going to mediation they will be giving up rights or forced into an outcome with which they don’t agree. For other people, a desire for the proverbial ‘day in court’ may be enough to keep them from engaging in mediation. In fact, the mediation process allows for a considerable amount of flexibility, and the mediator will design the process around the needs of the participants.

But what is the actual process like? For a typical day-long mediation, the experience normally follows six stages, each with a specific purpose.

Mediator’s Opening Statement

With everyone in the same room, the mediator makes introductions; explains the goals, expectations, and rules of the mediation; and encourages respectful dialogue with the goal of resolution.

Parties’ Opening Statements

Each party has an opportunity to give their perspective of the dispute without interruption. This can include the facts, impact, and general ideas about resolution.

Joint Discussion

Parties may remain together to begin dialogue on the issues, respond to opening statements, and engage in more in-depth work with the mediator. Normally this is determined by the conduct and emotions of the people in the room, and the mediator’s perception of their ability to work together respectfully in the same room.

Private Caucuses

Parties are placed each in separate rooms, and each is given time to meet privately with the mediator. This may continue for the majority of the in-depth work. The mediator, through this private discussion, determines the appropriate way to proceed.

Joint Negotiation

After private caucuses, parties may come back together to communicate directly. However, this does not usually happen until a settlement is reached, or the time scheduled for the mediation ends.

Closure

If the parties reach an agreement, the mediator will likely put the main provisions in writing and ask each side to sign it. If the parties are unable to agree at the time, the mediator will help determine if they want to work toward a solution within mediation.

Conclusion

Mediators are normally patient, persistent, and have plenty of common sense. Effective mediators are good listeners and negotiators, and they’re understanding of human nature. A mediator has to be articulate in order to accurately restate and relate to the positions of the conflicting parties. They may be attorneys, laypeople with training or certifications, volunteers in court-sponsored programs, privately retained, or even retired judges. Attorneys who are also mediators cannot represent one side or another, nor can they give legal advice while in the role of mediator.

One of the most important roles of the mediator is to help the parties understand that accepting less than what they may feel they ‘deserve’ is essential to a fair settlement. As the old saying goes, ‘if everyone walks away feeling slightly unhappy with the agreement, it is probably a fair agreement.’

Despite everyone walking away slightly unhappy, mediation is typically successful and satisfactory. Statistically, parties are more likely to abide by an agreement they reach on their own than an order from a court. The nature and structure of the mediation process results in its high success rate.

Attorney Julie Dialessi-Lafley is a certified mediator and a shareholder with Bacon Wilson, P.C. She has extensive experience with all aspects of family law, including pre- and post-nuptial agreements, separation, divorce, child custody and parenting time, and grandparents’ rights. In addition to family law, she represents clients in matters related to accidents and injuries, civil litigation, and probate and estate planning; (413) 781-0560; [email protected]

Northampton Jazz Festival Highlights All the City Has to Offer

By Kayla Ebner October 1, 2019

Sports & Leisure

Striking a Chord

Ruth Griggs’ passion for jazz music and a desire to give back to the community is what inspired her to reboot the festival.

One of the many things that is most loved about the city of Northampton is its walkability, allowing both residents and visitors to appreciate the uniqueness of this eclectic community with ease. On Oct. 4, jazz music will radiate from several corners of the city, signaling the start of the annual Northampton Jazz Festival.

Founded in 2011, the festival was conceived by five people who wanted to find a way to combine their passion for jazz with their love for Northampton. So they put together an event complete with food trucks, vendors, and, of course, lots of jazz.

But their operating model became too expensive to maintain, so the festival was discontinued after its 2015 show.

After a two-year hiatus, however, a team of dedicated individuals determined to bring it back, and thus, the Northampton Jazz Festival 2.0 was born.

Thanks to the hard work of a small but dedicated team, a beloved event is back and better than ever, they say, and in a more sustainable way to make sure the festival is here to stay.

“We came up with a new model which is less expensive and is much more inclusive of as many different constituents downtown as possible.”

Indeed, when Amy Cahillane, director of the Downtown Northampton Assoc., approached Ruth Griggs about bringing the festival back, Griggs considered the proprosition a no-brainer. Now president of the festival, Griggs said Cahillane presented a model that offered everything that was lacking before, including strong relationships downtown and with city government.

When Cahillane told her she could help with these missing pieces, Griggs recalled, she said, “you’ve got yourself a deal.”

“I knew one of the things that was lacking in the former iteration of the jazz festival was the kind of support they needed to make this viable,” Griggs told BusinessWest. “We came up with a new model which is less expensive and is much more inclusive of as many different constituents downtown as possible.”

She said the idea for this new model is for people to enjoy Northampton and encourage those attending the concerts to stop at the shops downtown.

The Jeremy Turgeon Quintet performs at the Jazz Strut. (Photo by Bobby Davis)

What remains from the old model, however, is the core goal that was established when the festival began: to expose people of all generations, ethnicities, and orientations to jazz music, while also bringing more visitors to the city.

“We want people to walk from concert to concert and get a cup of coffee at the Roost or have lunch at Paul and Elizabeth’s or one of the many restaurants in town,” Griggs said. “We want them to enjoy Northampton and enjoy the jazz.”

More than 2,000 people took in the 2018 festival, coming from across Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, and Connecticut to see locally, regionally, and nationally recognized musicians perform. Twenty jazz performances took place at 17 different venues around downtown Northampton over the course of four days, another twist on the new version of the festival. Previously, the event was staged behind Thornes Marketplace in a parking lot, but Griggs said the new model encourages people to explore the city and gives them a chance to patronize all the shops and restaurants.

With the opening of MGM Springfield in August 2018, one of the stated goals of the festival was to help mitigate the impact of the casino on Northampton, which has, for four decades now, boasted the region’s most vibrant downtown.

In 2018, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission allocated $100,000 to the city to develop and implement marketing strategies to keep Northampton a well-known and popular destination for arts and entertainment, shopping, and dining.

“One of the challenges that merchants are facing all around the country is a lack of foot traffic because people are shopping online,” Griggs said. “There’s nothing that’s more important to a retailer than people walking by their store.”

This is especially true for many of the mom-and-pop shops that rely on local business to stay open. Griggs maintains that jazz music lifts people’s spirits and often encourages them to go into a store.

“When you either have music playing in the store or right outside the store, it makes people stop and look and listen and walk into the store in many cases,” she said. “I’ve seen that with my own eyes.”

She also said merchants were happy with the festival last year and thought the festival brought business to the downtown area.

“It exposes Northampton to people that may not have otherwise known about the town, and it reinforces for the community downtown how wonderful it is to be there,” Griggs said. “It’s walkable, it’s friendly, it’s accessible, it’s beautiful. It reinforces what is unique about Northampton.”

Indeed, the show is carefully orchestrated to do just that. Organizers deliberately leave time in between each set of acts so people have an opportunity to walk around and enjoy the city. Beginning with the Jazz Strut on Friday, Oct. 4, free jazz performances will be staged from 5 to 10:30 p.m. at seven Northampton restaurants, bars, and pubs. Each performance lasts two hours and starts at half-hour intervals so festival-goers can walk a short distance and see all the acts if they choose.

“We want people to have an hour to kill in Northampton,” said Griggs. “We build that into the schedule.”

Saturday features jazz musicians at several different venues across town beginning at noon and ending at 6:30 p.m. The headliner, the Kurt Elling Quintet, will perform from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at the Academy of Music to close out the performances.

Sunday is reserved for the Jazz Brunch at the Delaney House in Holyoke, which serves as a fundraiser for the Jazz Artists in the Schools Program at JFK Middle School.

All this planning is conducted by a team of locals with a passion for jazz. Griggs and Cahillane are joined by Al Blankenship, Mary Lou Rup, Kathy Service, Carol Abbe Smith, Paul Arslanian, Frank Newton, George Kaye, and a dedicated group of volunteers to get the new show on the road.

And since the inaugural run of the new festival went so well last year, Griggs said there was no need to rethink it in any kind of major way.

“I like this festival for Northampton because it’s doable … it’s not too huge, it’s not too complicated, it’s not too expensive,” she said. “I think it’s more important to have a festival that is right-sized for the community so that it can be sustained, rather than having something that’s growing and getting more complicated and this and that. Before you know it, it becomes top-heavy, and you can’t handle it anymore.”

With overwhelmingly positive feedback from last year’s festival, there is little doubt that the 2019 festival will once again prove to be an outstanding event for this unique city.

“That combination of the good feelings that music can engender, combined with being in a town like Northampton … that ultimately has an economic impact,” Griggs said. “You’re setting the stage for success.”

— Kayla Ebner

Commercial Real Estate

By BusinessWest Staff October 1, 2019

Commercial Real Estate

For Sale, for Lease

A listing of available commercial real estate properties

View/download the PDF HERE

For Employers, a New Norm

By Editorial October 1, 2019

Opinion

They call it ‘employee ghosting.’

By now, just about everyone has heard the phrase, and most employers have actually experienced it. While definitions vary, the most common form of ghosting occurs when an individual is offered a job, accepts it, and then, on what would be their first day on the job, doesn’t show up, because between the time when they accepted the job and when they were supposed to start, something better came along.

But it also happens with interviews — a candidate will agree to one and just not show up for it — and with already-hired employees — they’re in the office one day, and the next day they’re not, usually without explanation.

Ghosting is a byproduct of a tight unemployment market, immense competition for good talent, and, maybe (according to some) a desire for payback among individuals who applied for a job, interviewed for it (maybe a few times, even) and then never heard from the potential employer again.

In any case, while ghosting is a fairly recent phenomenon and a sign of the current times, it is also part of what we believe will be a new norm for employers, and not a temporary inconvenience. That’s because demographics certainly favor employees; Baby Boomers are retiring, and the generations following them are considerably smaller.

Yes, we know that advancing technology will eventually reduce or eliminate certain types of employment opportunities — depending on whom one talks with, we won’t have much need for truck drivers or even lawyers soon — those days are a ways off. For now, employers must cope with this new norm. And that’s why BusinessWest partnered with Garvey Communication Associates Inc. (GCAi) this month to present a morning-long series of workshops called “Attracting the Best Candidates in Possibly the Worst of Times”.

Whey these are, indeed, the worst of times — for employers, anyway; for candidates, it’s the best of times — things are probably not going to change much moving forward. Yes, the economy will eventually decline, and yes, the unemployment rate will climb, but for a host of reasons, including demographics, employers shouldn’t expect to be in the driver’s seat anytime soon.

In this environment, they have to do things differently than they have for decades. In short, they have to create an attractive culture — one people want to be part of — and then sell that culture.

Sarah McCarthy, senior Human Resources business partner for Commonwealth Care Alliance and member of a panel at the Sept. 20 event, probably summed things up best when she said, “it’s not an environment where people are coming to you; you have to do some mining and find these individuals and encourage them to come work for you, and in doing that, you need to provide context for them — why should they want to come work for you?”

Indeed, why should they? Employers will have to come armed with reasons, and they must involve more than a number on the paycheck — although that’s always important. And it will have to involve more than flex time and casual Fridays.

As John Garvey, president of GCAi, put it, “people want to be a part of something they’re passionate about. That’s important. And that requires us to talk to them in different ways and develop talent in different ways — and also to reach out in different ways.”

Note that word ‘different.’ That’s the key. Companies can’t do things the way they used to, they can’t talk to candidates like they used to, and they can’t sell themselves like they used to.

These are different times, and in most ways, they represent what is a new norm. And if companies don’t understand this, they will soon come to understand what employee ghosting is all about.

Accountability Key to Education Reform

By Editorial October 1, 2019

Opinion

By John Regan

Massachusetts is about to undertake the most sweeping restructuring of public-education funding since 1993. What does it mean for employers?

The 3,500 member companies of Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM) who depend upon the public schools to prepare the workforce of the future support education reform that contains specific and measurable performance objectives. Anyone who owns or manages a business tracks return on investment, and the investment we make in our public schools and students should be no different.

However, employers do not support the sort of reform being promoted by some advocates who have been calling at rallies for a ‘blank check’ of billions of dollars of state aid with no accountability.

While the National Assessment of Education Progress indicates that Massachusetts has the best public schools in the nation, that same assessment shows significant achievement gaps between white students and black and Latino students. Massachusetts finds itself in the bottom half of states with respect to black-white achievement gaps across almost all grades in reading and math and in the bottom third of states with respect to Latino-white achievement gaps across all grades in both reading and math. The achievement gap matters to employers confronting a persistent shortage of qualified workers in an economy running at 2.9% unemployment.

Reforming the school funding formula will probably cost taxpayers around $1 billion. Employers understand better than anyone the importance of making strategic investments, but they also know that pouring money into a broken system is not the answer. Employer support for education reform hinges on the establishment of clear and measurable standards that will allow everyone to determine whether changes are working for students, teachers, and the Commonwealth.

The evidence is clear that more money does not equal better educational performance. AIM insists the following accountability measures be part of any education funding reform:

• Fully implement the recommendations of the Foundation Budget Review Commission through a multi-year, fully funded revision to the Chapter 70 formula that will achieve adequacy and equity for all students.

• Maintain and enhance the state accountability system to ensure new funds go to those students who need them the most and are used effectively to close achievement gaps, set statewide and district targets for closing those gaps with annual reporting on progress, and collect and report on data related to college and career readiness.

• Add a new Chapter 70 enrollment category for Early College and Career Pathways to enable replication and expansion of these high-school reform strategies.

• Provide significant and supplemental funding for innovation and the implementation of best practices in underperforming schools.

• Enact Innovation Partnership Zone legislation to provide communities with a new tool for empowering schools and educators to address persistent low performance and encourage innovation.

John Regan is president and CEO of Associated Industries of Massachusetts.

Picture This

By MikeN October 1, 2019

Picture This

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

Dig In

With the help of local dignitaries, the Walhburgers chain broke ground on Sept. 20 at its newest location at the corner of Union and Main streets in downtown Springfield. Wahlburgers at MGM Springfield will be a casual-dining eatery, featuring its signature burgers and full bar. Founded by brothers Mark, Donnie, and Chef Paul Wahlberg, Wahlburgers will be filled with photos and memories celebrating the brothers’ life journeys from Dorchester neighborhood kids to rising chef and international celebrities.

The 4,400-square-foot space, set to open in 2020, will provide 120 jobs to the community.

Sweet Harvest

Loomis Village installed two beehives this spring with the help of the Hampden County Bee Keepers Assoc. The hives were tended to throughout the summer, and residents also had the chance to learn about beekeeping. By summer’s end, the facility harvested 54 pounds of honey, with the possibility of another harvest later in the year.

Pictured: resident Karen Hyvonen helps Hampden County Bee Keepers Assoc. members remove the caps from the combs. From there, the honey is extruded and strained before being bottled.

Car Wash for a Good Cause

During the weekend of Sept. 7-8, Mercedes-Benz of Springfield hosted a car-wash fundraiser benefiting Chris Thibault and his family. Thibault and his wife, Missy, own and operate Chris Teebo Films, a local production company that helped Mercedes-Benz get its start in Western Mass. more than two years ago. Chris has been diagnosed with stage-4 cancer and is fighting hard for his life.

Pictured, from left: dealership co-owners Michelle and Peter Wirth; Missy and Chris Thibault with son Brayden; and Rich Hesse, co-owner of the dealership, with son John.

Launching Women Luncheon

Carla Oleska, principal of Carla Oleska & Co. and former executive director of the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts, leads an exploration of glass ceilings women often don’t think about — the one within ourselves, the one they construct for other women, and, of course, the big, systemic one. The talk was part of the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce’s Launching Women Luncheon.

More than 50 women leaders in business, government, and nonprofit organizations attended the first of the series at the Inn on Boltwood.

Revitalizing a Community

On Sept. 20, Revitalize CDC held its annual Green N Fit event. The organization and hundreds of volunteers rebuilt four homes throughout Holyoke in one day. Three out of the four homes are owned by military veteran families.

Pictured: Jeremy Ducharme from Blue Cross Blue Shield helps to paint the home of Carol LaBoursoliere, an 80-year-old widow of a military veteran who has lived in her home on Brown Avenue for 53 years. Other homes renovated were on Homestead Avenue and Norwood Terrace.

Open for Business

Architecture Environment Life President Kevin Rothschild-Shea (left) and architect Rick Morse stand in front of New Valley Bank’s first location, a building they designed. The office, located at 1930 Wilbraham Road in Springfield, opened the week of Sept. 9 and is the first new bank to open in Massachusetts in a decade.

Sixteen Acres banking veteran Kimberly Marion will oversee the location and lead the bank’s retail efforts in the market as vice president and personal banking officer

New Life for the Pedlar

The Hildreth House, built in 1882 and home for more than 70 years to the Yankee Pedlar Inn, is now the Pedlar Banking Center, restored and renovated by PeoplesBank. The interior of the LEED-certified building now houses a community room, which will be available to nonprofit organizations free of charge. A new addition was added in the rear of the Hildreth House to provide space for the bank lobby, service counter, and support offices, as well as the drive-through canopy.

Pictured: Mason Lebron of Dowd Insurance Agency and Victor Rodriguez, mortgage consultant at PeoplesBank, celebrate the building’s grand opening.

Climate Strike

Organizers encouraged those attending to call their representatives and demand action be taken to mitigate the warming of the planet.

The Interfaith Council of Springfield and the Unitarian Universalist Society of Greater Springfield organized a ‘solidarity vigil’ in collaboration with the global Climate Strike on Sept. 20 in Springfield’s Court Square. Members of the community gathered to speak on the issue of climate change and joined in song.

Back(pack) to School

First American Insurance Agency, an independent insurance firm, recently donated more than 200 backpacks to nine Chicopee elementary schools. Notebooks, pencils, and glue sticks filled each bag, along with Kleenex and a bookmark.

Pictured, from left: First American’s Noni Moran, Julianne Rossi, Dennis Murphy, Jenna Dziok, and Katelyn Morgan.

Bridging the Generations

Springfield College and Loomis Lakeside at Reeds Landing have developed an intergenerational Students in Residence program for graduate students in the School of Health Sciences. Julie Torchia and Allie Tupaj, both doctor of physical therapy students, moved into a two-bedroom apartment at Loomis Lakeside this fall and will contribute to social and educational aspects of community living at the facility, logging eight hours of community-engagement project work each week.

Pictured, from left: Brooke Hallowell, dean of the School of Health Sciences at Springfield College; Torchia; Tupaj; Springfield College President Mary-Beth Cooper, Loomis Communities President Lauren Scruggs; and Loomis Lakeside at Reeds Landing CEO Craig Johnsen

Real Estate Transactions

By BusinessWest Staff October 1, 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

421 Beldingville Road
Ashfield, MA 01330
Amount: $475,000
Buyer: Brieanna McKinnon
Seller: James P. Cutler
Date: 08/30/19

BERNARDSTON

50 Bald Mountain Road
Bernardston, MA 01337
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Kristina L. Woods
Seller: Jane M. Kuznik
Date: 08/30/19

3 Eden Trail
Bernardston, MA 01337
Amount: $325,500
Buyer: William Murray
Seller: Steven Kubisch
Date: 08/29/19

DEERFIELD

80 Boynton Road
Deerfield, MA 01373
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Corey John
Seller: Tatsushi Arai
Date: 08/30/19

138 North Main St.
Deerfield, MA 01373
Amount: $216,000
Buyer: Allison L. Howard
Seller: Jaime M. Zgrodnik
Date: 08/27/19

175 North Main St.
Deerfield, MA 01373
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Robin J. Karlin
Seller: Mark Bartos
Date: 09/05/19

121 Sandgully Road
Deerfield, MA 01373
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Felix Rodriguez
Seller: Kaywin R. Tessier
Date: 08/30/19

GREENFIELD

39 Beacon St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $2,275,000
Buyer: 39 Beacon Street LLC
Seller: D&G Holding Co. LLC
Date: 08/29/19

20 Birch St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Diane C. Haslett
Seller: Edward S. Burakiewicz
Date: 09/09/19

11 Dickinson St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $196,000
Buyer: Kevin A. Kennedy
Seller: Frederick J. Ackermann
Date: 08/30/19

58-60 Elm St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $197,183
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Shawn W. Bowman
Date: 09/05/19

48 Federal St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $974,300
Buyer: Franklin & Main LLC
Seller: MECPC LLC
Date: 08/30/19

60-1/2 Federal St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $974,300
Buyer: Franklin & Main LLC
Seller: MECPC LLC
Date: 08/30/19

397 Federal St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $2,275,000
Buyer: 39 Beacon Street LLC
Seller: D&G Holding Co. LLC
Date: 08/29/19

5 Ferrante Ave.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $227,000
Buyer: Ada L. Langford
Seller: Cameron M. Kehne
Date: 08/30/19

46 French King Hwy.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $164,000
Buyer: Oleksandr Lyvytsky
Seller: Conti, Teresa A., (Estate)
Date: 08/28/19

190 French King Hwy.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $116,000
Buyer: Michael M. Williams
Seller: Kristy L. Hamilton
Date: 09/03/19

51 Highland Ave.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $399,000
Buyer: Kira A. Coopersmith-Funk
Seller: Douglas L. Welenc
Date: 09/03/19

74 Homestead Ave.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $166,000
Buyer: Tory E. Decker
Seller: Lani M. Kiernan
Date: 09/09/19

156-158 Main St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $974,300
Buyer: Franklin & Main LLC
Seller: MECPC LLC
Date: 08/30/19

265 Main St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $974,300
Buyer: Franklin & Main LLC
Seller: MECPC LLC
Date: 08/30/19

9 Norwood St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Jon M. Kelly
Seller: Jeremy M. Gauthier
Date: 09/10/19

13-15 Spruce St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Joudy-Ann Dinnall
Seller: Louis W. Peck
Date: 09/05/19

HEATH

117 Colrain Stage Road
Heath, MA 01346
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Barry Fitzpatrick
Seller: John M. Schnorr
Date: 09/06/19

85 Number 9 Road
Heath, MA 01346
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Laura Ward
Seller: Konstantin Khodunov
Date: 09/06/19

LEVERETT

51 Juggler Meadow Road
Leverett, MA 01054
Amount: $397,500
Buyer: Daniel G. Mendelsohn
Seller: Gay Hapgood
Date: 08/28/19

LEYDEN

37 Alexander Road
Leyden, MA 01337
Amount: $710,000
Buyer: David Campbell
Seller: James Schoolenberg
Date: 08/30/19

MONTAGUE

122 Dry Hill Road
Montague, MA 01351
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Suzanne M. Reder-Delano
Seller: Eric Heinzman
Date: 08/28/19

341 East Chestnut Hill Road
Montague, MA 01349
Amount: $338,500
Buyer: Jamie T. Beauchesne
Seller: Douglas Simon
Date: 09/10/19

16 Hatchery Road
Montague, MA 01351
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Big Foot Food Forests LLC
Seller: Robert L. Adams
Date: 08/30/19

17 Park St.
Montague, MA 01349
Amount: $199,000
Buyer: Gerald Gowdy
Seller: Robert J. Gabry
Date: 08/28/19

102 Turnpike Road
Montague, MA 01351
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Alan H. Blanker
Seller: Whiteman, Phyllis S., (Estate)
Date: 08/30/19

NORTHFIELD

361 Millers Falls Road
Northfield, MA 01360
Amount: $206,000
Buyer: Jeremy W. Hemphill
Seller: Hall RT
Date: 09/04/19

501 South Mountain Road
Northfield, MA 01360
Amount: $205,500
Buyer: Mark Seebeck
Seller: Steven E. Dejoy
Date: 08/29/19

ORANGE

48 Canon Lane
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $166,000
Buyer: Mark S. Stoddard
Seller: Adrian S. Manning
Date: 09/06/19

156 Drew Blvd.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $356,400
Buyer: Ny Vongkaysone
Seller: Blast-Tech Inc.
Date: 09/06/19

24 Maple St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $229,900
Buyer: Jacques DuPerez
Seller: Cate, Leon I., (Estate)
Date: 08/29/19

28 Maynard St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $226,000
Buyer: Ryan T. Boisvert
Seller: Christopher Marshall
Date: 08/30/19

31 Memorial Dr.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Vincent A. Cerez
Seller: Laura A. Lorenzo
Date: 08/29/19

54 Prentiss St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Zachary J. Favreau
Seller: Robert F. Carey
Date: 08/27/19

67 Putnam St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $231,000
Buyer: Raymond P. Bourque
Seller: Miguel A. Serrano
Date: 08/27/19

341 South Main St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $116,000
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Scott J. Nelson
Date: 08/28/19

395 South Main St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Nicholas McGovern
Seller: Michelle Johnson
Date: 09/10/19

324 Tully Road
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Howard G. Jillson
Seller: Dennis Dupuis
Date: 08/28/19

430 Walnut Hill Road
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Jason M. Normandin
Seller: Patricia M. Hoxie
Date: 08/30/19

SHELBURNE

3-7 Bridge St.
Shelburne, MA 01370
Amount: $555,000
Buyer: You Are Here LLC
Seller: 3 Bridge Street LLC
Date: 08/30/19

SHUTESBURY

85 Locks Pond Road
Shutesbury, MA 01072
Amount: $227,500
Buyer: Christopher Harris
Seller: Alec E. Jillson
Date: 08/29/19

541 West Pelham Road
Shutesbury, MA 01072
Amount: $375,000
Buyer: Jill M. Buchanan
Seller: Robin S. Demartino
Date: 09/06/19

SUNDERLAND

226 Plumtree Road
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Jeremy L. Roberts
Seller: Nancy A. Rule
Date: 08/27/19

456 River Dr.
Sunderland, MA 01035
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Amherst Real Estate Services
Seller: Justin D. Killeen
Date: 08/29/19

WARWICK

30 Dusty Lane
Warwick, MA 01364
Amount: $204,500
Buyer: Thomas M. Payne
Seller: Theresa L. Foster
Date: 09/09/19

285 Orange Road
Warwick, MA 01378
Amount: $212,000
Buyer: Kevin McCabe
Seller: Cynthia J. Day
Date: 08/27/19

365 Wendell Road
Warwick, MA 01378
Amount: $153,500
Buyer: Debra Kelly
Seller: Timothy Williams
Date: 08/30/19

WENDELL

145 West St.
Wendell, MA 01379
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Micah G. Suprenant
Seller: Milton H. Bergmann
Date: 08/29/19

WHATELY

136 North St.
Whately, MA 01093
Amount: $385,000
Buyer: Stephen D. Mikesell
Seller: Nancy H. August
Date: 08/28/19

HAMPDEN COUNTY

AGAWAM

12 Country Road
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $219,900
Buyer: Yury Bortnikau
Seller: Linda A. Noftall
Date: 09/10/19

41 Elm St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $207,000
Buyer: CIG 4 LLC
Seller: Gary F. Janulewicz
Date: 09/05/19

102 Florida Dr.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $212,000
Buyer: Maheen Chaudhry
Seller: Stephen M. Allen
Date: 08/30/19

23 Janelle Dr.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $328,000
Buyer: Muhammet Dogan
Seller: Peter Debarros
Date: 08/29/19

397 North Westfield St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $392,000
Buyer: Dennis Cahalan
Seller: AAD LLC
Date: 08/30/19

189 South Westfield St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $257,000
Buyer: Theodore P. Pienkos
Seller: Diane M. Juzba
Date: 08/27/19

982 Springfield St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Kseniya Klimova
Seller: US Bank
Date: 08/30/19

42 Tina Lane
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Jonathan Mitchell
Seller: Sharol A. Menard
Date: 08/30/19

83 Valley Brook Road
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $262,000
Buyer: Kara Wayte
Seller: Nathan Auger
Date: 09/04/19

22 Virginia St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Laura E. Bucalo
Seller: Thomas J. Davis
Date: 08/30/19

378-384 Walnut St. Ext.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $405,000
Buyer: Shree Nyalkaran LLC
Seller: F. Fiore LLC
Date: 09/06/19

51 Winterwood Lane
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $164,000
Buyer: Dustin L. Ruby
Seller: Deutsche Bank
Date: 08/30/19

BLANDFORD

1 Julius Hall Road
Blandford, MA 01008
Amount: $460,000
Buyer: M. Scott O’Connor
Seller: Thomas E. Agan
Date: 09/05/19

BRIMFIELD

32 Lyman Barnes Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $295,000
Buyer: Gina Salmon
Seller: Matthew P. Beaudry
Date: 08/30/19

98 Wales Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $257,000
Buyer: Andrew L. Doyle
Seller: Danielle E. Kornacki
Date: 08/30/19

CHESTER

295 Bromley Road
Chester, MA 01011
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Victoria L. Bergeron
Seller: Andrew D. Kurtz
Date: 08/28/19

CHICOPEE

58 Ames Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $142,500
Buyer: Fallah Razzak
Seller: Wells Fargo Bank
Date: 08/30/19

15 Arcade St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $224,500
Buyer: Keith Pronowicz
Seller: Paul R. Wilson
Date: 09/04/19

52 Berger St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Nicole Perez
Seller: Tatyana Onufriycnuk
Date: 08/30/19

203 Blanchard St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $164,000
Buyer: Caitlyn M. Bennett
Seller: Josephine Sulenski
Date: 09/09/19

89 Carriage Road
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $400,000
Buyer: CIL Realty Of Mass Inc.
Seller: Therese D. Laflamme
Date: 08/27/19

Carriage Road #17
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $400,000
Buyer: CIL Realty Of Mass Inc.
Seller: Therese D. Laflamme
Date: 08/27/19

Carriage Road #18
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $400,000
Buyer: CIL Realty Of Mass Inc.
Seller: Therese D. Laflamme
Date: 08/27/19

801 Chicopee St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $500,000
Buyer: Hurricane Properties LLC
Seller: Kevin P. Corley
Date: 09/06/19

127 Clarendon Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Julie L. Rodriguez
Seller: Johane L. Fortin
Date: 08/30/19

32 Clark St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $219,900
Buyer: Bernise Calderon
Seller: David A. Carpenter
Date: 08/28/19

127 Cobb Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $186,000
Buyer: Ivelisse Baerga
Seller: Patricia R. Iserman
Date: 08/29/19

58 Cyran St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Christian Pagan
Seller: Peggy A. Breault
Date: 08/27/19

45 Ducharme Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Enrique Santiago
Seller: Amber M. Drake
Date: 08/28/19

17 Greenleaf St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Mustafa Al-Samirraie
Seller: Emery, Helen T., (Estate)
Date: 08/27/19

7 Hamel St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Teresa Hajduk
Seller: Volodymyr Boyko
Date: 08/27/19

40 Haynes Circle
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $510,000
Buyer: GAP Real Estate Inc.
Seller: Chicopee Welding & Tool Inc.
Date: 08/28/19

54 Highland Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $295,000
Buyer: Trong Danh
Seller: Zdzislaw Rakowski
Date: 08/30/19

45 Holmes Dr.
icopee, MA 01013
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Eduard Yanyuk
Seller: Alla Yanyuk
Date: 09/10/19

715 Lombard Road
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $251,000
Buyer: Jared Debettencourt
Seller: Raymond W. Cartier
Date: 09/03/19

166 Loomis Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Timothy L. Brodeur
Seller: Christopher J. Spano
Date: 08/27/19

38 Martha St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $211,000
Buyer: Darin M. Boronski
Seller: Andrew D. Billeter
Date: 08/28/19

175 McCarthy Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $204,000
Buyer: Christopher J. Nally
Seller: Christopher Snodderley
Date: 09/06/19

651 McKinstry Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Alex Alvarez
Seller: Live Well Financial Inc.
Date: 09/04/19

795 McKinstry Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Properties Plus LLC
Seller: Ralph H. Squires
Date: 08/27/19

20 Moore St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Melissa M. Clark
Seller: Steve Przezdziecki
Date: 08/30/19

101 Northwood St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Elizabeth A. Crowley
Seller: Amy Marchacos
Date: 09/03/19

66 Orchard St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $222,500
Buyer: Jose Julio
Seller: Diane O. Rowe
Date: 08/30/19

245 Rolf Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Lisa M. O’Sullivan
Seller: Amy R. Carey
Date: 08/29/19

82 Saint Jacques Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Dany V. Guzman
Seller: Kevin Montemagni
Date: 08/29/19

43 Saint James Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Issa S. Sultan
Seller: Peter J. Gabis
Date: 09/05/19

33 Sandra Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $229,500
Buyer: Bradley T. Harrington
Seller: Nathan D. Shaw
Date: 08/30/19

35 Sherwood St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Patrick T. Duffy
Seller: Matthew J. Bilodeau
Date: 08/30/19

564 Springfield St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $172,000
Buyer: Ruby Realty LLC
Seller: Richard J. Parker
Date: 09/10/19

28 Stockbridge St.
Chicopee, MA 01103
Amount: $302,000
Buyer: Jeanne M. Young LT
Seller: Waycon Inc.
Date: 09/06/19

16 Upton St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $161,000
Buyer: Richard S. Kusyk
Seller: Bernice Kusyk
Date: 08/29/19

EAST LONGMEADOW

24 Anna Marie Lane
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $505,000
Buyer: Christopher Fenton
Seller: Coyne, Sheryl A., (Estate)
Date: 09/06/19

29 Anne St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Michael R. Copeland
Seller: Charlotte W. Danner
Date: 08/30/19

25 Athens St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01108
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Julia A. Santaniello
Seller: Peter G. Garreffi
Date: 09/03/19

15 Benton Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $600,000
Buyer: Action Business Services
Seller: Diane Nadeau
Date: 08/30/19

107 Chestnut St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: Jenna L. Marra
Seller: Zadkiel RT
Date: 08/30/19

210 Chestnut St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Hayden C. Smith
Seller: Nathan Marinone
Date: 09/10/19

62 Gerrard Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: CIG 4 LLC
Seller: Kathleen E. Corbisiero
Date: 08/30/19

31 James St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $384,900
Buyer: Bianca Farber
Seller: Christopher M. Fenton
Date: 09/06/19

9 Redin Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Joanne M. Jenkins
Date: 09/04/19

92 Rogers Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Dung H. Pham
Seller: Lisa A. Natario
Date: 09/05/19

63 Thompkins Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $258,000
Buyer: Richard J. Ritz
Seller: Mary L. Kennedy
Date: 08/29/19

HAMPDEN

179 Allen St.
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $192,000
Buyer: Tania Airoldi
Seller: Frank Demarinis
Date: 09/04/19

34 Main St.
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $7,931,296
Buyer: Massachusetts SNF 1 LLC
Seller: WHC Hampden Inc.
Date: 09/05/19

HOLLAND

38 Island Road
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $262,000
Buyer: Douglas H. Robidoux
Seller: Matthew S. Barth
Date: 09/06/19

55 Island Road
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $295,000
Buyer: Carrie-Lynn Saunders
Seller: James V. Iancale
Date: 08/30/19

34 May Brook Road
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Danny A. White
Seller: Steven C. Ross
Date: 09/09/19

11 Old Acres Road
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $140,364
Buyer: PNC Bank NA
Seller: Leo R. Vachon
Date: 08/30/19

11 Shore Dr.
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $368,000
Buyer: Ann E. Markman
Seller: Richard L. Olewnik
Date: 08/30/19

7 Williams Lane
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: David B. Wakefield
Seller: William W. Wakefield
Date: 09/04/19

HOLYOKE

200 Apremont Hwy.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $169,900
Buyer: Katherine L. Paul
Seller: Sean P. Cahill
Date: 08/28/19

38-40 Calumet Road
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Juan J. Ortiz-Perez
Seller: Daniel B. Bresnahan
Date: 08/29/19

74-76 Eastern Promenade St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $284,900
Buyer: Dennies O. Jones
Seller: Julia Ortiz
Date: 09/09/19

16 Evergreen Dr.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $187,000
Buyer: Ashley L. Beaulieu
Seller: AEM Property Investment
Date: 08/29/19

18-20 Greenwood Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $144,458
Buyer: MHFA
Seller: Daniel L. Regan
Date: 08/28/19

642 High St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Holyoke Real Estate LLC
Seller: Anjana International LLC
Date: 08/27/19

648 High St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Holyoke Real Estate LLC
Seller: Anjana International LLC
Date: 08/27/19

51 Hillview Road
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: David B. Grey
Seller: Jody M. Cutler-Lussier
Date: 08/29/19

44-46 Pearl St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $236,000
Buyer: Leo M. Lacwasan
Seller: Roland J. Clark
Date: 08/28/19

608 Pleasant St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Gail Taft
Seller: Erik T. Ward
Date: 09/06/19

4 Richard Eger Dr.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $246,000
Buyer: John Occhiuzzo
Seller: Donna M. Sefcik
Date: 09/03/19

73-75 Saint James Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Carlos A. Ramos
Seller: Catherine Lamirande
Date: 08/29/19

2-4 Saint Jerome Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $312,000
Buyer: Ayshia Stephenson
Seller: Vitaliy V. Gladysh
Date: 09/09/19

LONGMEADOW

57 Canterbury Lane
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $601,000
Buyer: Ashley Martin
Seller: Evan T. Robinson
Date: 08/27/19

92 Concord Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $442,000
Buyer: Justus Guerrieri
Seller: Per Nilsson
Date: 09/04/19

359 Converse St.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Etabav RT
Seller: Richard L. Herbert
Date: 09/04/19

62 Ellington St.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $435,000
Buyer: Derek R. Weston
Seller: Ellen B. Wolak
Date: 08/30/19

120 Ely Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $590,000
Buyer: Natalie Thovmasian
Seller: Lenore Thompson
Date: 08/30/19

64 Franklin Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Kevin M. Leonard
Seller: Edhaa A. Tahoun
Date: 08/30/19

758 Laurel St.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Michael J. Davis
Seller: Marcia K. Hale
Date: 09/05/19

82 Lincoln Park
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $199,900
Buyer: R2R LLC
Seller: CIT Bank
Date: 08/29/19

93 Overbrook Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $580,000
Buyer: Overbrook Partners LLC
Seller: Edward L. Mazer
Date: 08/29/19

140 South Ave.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $322,000
Buyer: Annemarie Kelley
Seller: Christopher M. Hebert
Date: 08/30/19

56 Sylvan St.
Longmeadow, MA 01108
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Emtay Inc.
Seller: Allan Wittenberg
Date: 09/06/19

38 Twin Brook Circle
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $525,000
Buyer: Tri M. Tai
Seller: Katarzyna Lameka
Date: 09/10/19

LUDLOW

58 Allison Lane
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $339,500
Buyer: Christopher M. Hebert
Seller: Matthew R. Cognac
Date: 08/30/19

55 Arbor St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Germano A. Andre
Seller: Thomas M. Korzec
Date: 08/30/19

32 Bristol St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Nydia I. Ruiz
Seller: Maria C. Ferreira
Date: 08/29/19

296 Colonial Dr.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $337,400
Buyer: Michael A. Brown
Seller: Elaine M. Carlson
Date: 09/05/19

38 Goddu St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $219,900
Buyer: William R. Copson
Seller: Erica L. Dos-Santos
Date: 09/04/19

17 Grandview Ave.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $229,900
Buyer: Christopher Gilham
Seller: JJB Builders Corp.
Date: 08/27/19

141 Kirkland Ave.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Paula R. Purdy
Seller: Allen M. Stefanowich
Date: 09/06/19

67 Laurel Lane
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Elizabeth M. Gromack
Seller: Michael J. Capek
Date: 08/30/19

42 Longfellow Dr.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $400,000
Buyer: Edward C. Authier
Seller: Bruce R. Dziura
Date: 09/05/19

40 Miller St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $194,900
Buyer: Stephen Dias
Seller: Millerwood Properties Inc.
Date: 09/06/19

58 Pleasant St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Allen M. Stefanowich
Seller: Pleasant C. & S. LLC
Date: 09/06/19

72 Pondview Dr.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $234,000
Buyer: Jack R. Murphy
Seller: Mislimoski, Gladys M., (Estate)
Date: 08/28/19

14 Salli Circle
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $219,000
Buyer: Chocorua Realty Invests
Seller: Molly A. Sadler
Date: 09/04/19

Sunset Dr. #18
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Jeremy J. Procon
Seller: Baystate Developers Inc.
Date: 09/04/19

89 West Ave.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Poyo RT
Seller: Stoner, Janice H., (Estate)
Date: 09/05/19

126 Winsor St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $175,950
Buyer: Nicholas J. Charest
Seller: Irene K. Setterstrom
Date: 09/06/19

MONSON

110 Lakeshore Dr.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $248,500
Buyer: Daniel R. Sullivan
Seller: Raymond B. O’Connor
Date: 08/30/19

67 Lakeshore Dr.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $176,000
Buyer: Tim Real Estate LLC
Seller: Wayne S. Hill
Date: 08/30/19

65 Lakeside Dr.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $222,500
Buyer: George Graham
Seller: Pauline Y. Gagne
Date: 08/29/19

30 Lower Hampden Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $256,000
Buyer: James Gunther
Seller: Adam Dempsey
Date: 08/27/19

60 Palmer Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Richard B. Francis
Seller: Evan P. Brassard
Date: 08/30/19

39 Pease Ave.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $179,900
Buyer: Carolyn H. Bodwell
Seller: Christine Reardon
Date: 09/04/19

253 Stafford Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Evan P. Brassard
Seller: Joel D. Keller
Date: 08/30/19

117 Town Farm Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $400,000
Buyer: Nicole A. Wawrzonek
Seller: Mario F. Torchia
Date: 09/09/19

146 Wilbraham Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Jason M. Young
Seller: Kathleen A. Garner
Date: 09/06/19

MONTGOMERY

141 Pomeroy Road
Montgomery, MA 01050
Amount: $258,000
Buyer: Darren D. Rahilly
Seller: Danielle K. Cross
Date: 08/29/19

PALMER

250 Breckenridge St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $172,500
Buyer: Nicholas Piechota
Seller: Lisa Desroches
Date: 08/30/19

9 Coache St.
Palmer, MA 01080
Amount: $207,000
Buyer: Suzanne M. Larro
Seller: Donna M. Weeks
Date: 08/30/19

15 Dublin St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $149,000
Buyer: Amanda J. Ciecko
Seller: Bruce P. Bacon
Date: 08/30/19

2009-2019 High St.
Palmer, MA 01080
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Green Apple Manor Properties
Seller: Silvestre M. Gama
Date: 09/06/19

1015 Hillside Dr.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $214,900
Buyer: Timothy Reddington
Seller: US Bank
Date: 08/30/19

1475 North Main St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $850,000
Buyer: FPG Massachusetts LLC
Seller: Wendy L. Story
Date: 09/04/19

144 River St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $229,900
Buyer: Kevin A. McCollum
Seller: Eric J. Granger
Date: 09/10/19

315 Shearer St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Matthew R. Gates
Seller: Nicole A. Wawrzonek
Date: 09/09/19

Squier St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $850,000
Buyer: FPG Massachusetts LLC
Seller: Wendy L. Story
Date: 09/04/19

53 Vicardav Ave.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Marisol Aponte
Seller: Glenn G. Powis
Date: 08/29/19

SOUTHWICK

215 College Hwy.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $3,300,000
Buyer: 2033 Southwick LLC
Seller: SFK LLC
Date: 08/27/19

642 College Hwy.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Zuber Realty LLC
Seller: David Killam
Date: 09/05/19

12 Cottage St.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Tracey L. Adoretti
Seller: Carol A. Norrie
Date: 08/29/19

135 Feeding Hills Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $197,500
Buyer: Jennifer L. Simone
Seller: Rebecca J. Rivenburgh
Date: 08/29/19

Grove St.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: Edward Taravella
Seller: Norman H. Storey
Date: 08/27/19

3 Hidden Place
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $410,000
Buyer: Henry G. Koloski
Seller: Richard Gordon
Date: 08/30/19

7 Pauline Circle
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Viktoriya Viktorchuk
Seller: David A. Connolly
Date: 08/30/19

Point Grove Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: Edward Taravella
Seller: Norman H. Storey
Date: 08/27/19

2 State Ave.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: Edward Taravella
Seller: Norman H. Storey
Date: 08/27/19

39 Tannery Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $249,000
Buyer: Jeffrey A. Wert
Seller: Richard A. Zink
Date: 09/10/19

SPRINGFIELD

1288 Allen St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $295,000
Buyer: Namanh Phan
Seller: Joseph Ngaruiya
Date: 08/30/19

940 Allen St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Vanessa A. Piris
Seller: Jose R. Diaz
Date: 08/29/19

81 Amore Road
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $186,000
Buyer: Jose Ortiz
Seller: Giovanni Carrino
Date: 08/29/19

64 Amos Dr.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Nicola S. Thomas
Seller: Bandhu Adhikari
Date: 09/09/19

124 Appleton St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $156,500
Buyer: Katharine A. Lynch
Seller: William A. Townsend
Date: 09/05/19

24 Arcadia Blvd.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $335,000
Buyer: Toan M. Nguyen
Seller: Ling Xiao
Date: 08/29/19

27 Ashley St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $119,500
Buyer: Kiplin R. Samuels
Seller: Marrieta Shattelroe
Date: 09/04/19

65 Beverly Lane
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Emelissa C. Santiago
Seller: Nery Bernal
Date: 08/29/19

261 Bolton St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $249,900
Buyer: Tommy Hoang
Seller: Notre Dame Properties LLC
Date: 09/06/19

142 Bridle Path Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $220,500
Buyer: Matthew Geanacopoulos
Seller: US Bank
Date: 09/05/19

47 Brunswick St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $183,000
Buyer: Miguel A. Rivera-Molina
Seller: Anh Nguyen
Date: 09/09/19

36 Buick St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $276,776
Buyer: Marcus Cameron
Seller: Melissa A. McCoy
Date: 08/30/19

49 Burton St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $167,000
Buyer: Arelis M. Tejeda
Seller: Ricardo Collins
Date: 09/04/19

850-852 Chestnut St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $121,000
Buyer: Aguasvivas Realty LLC
Seller: JP Morgan Chase Bank
Date: 08/30/19

107 College St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Lachenauer LLC
Seller: Boardwalk Apartments LLC
Date: 09/09/19

196-198 College St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $172,070
Buyer: AAD LLC
Seller: AAD LLC
Date: 08/29/19

22 Colorado St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Dale H. Bolton
Seller: William T. McCarry
Date: 09/03/19

52 Corona St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $167,500
Buyer: Teresita Rivera
Seller: Johanna Rodriguez
Date: 09/05/19

35 Daytona St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $139,000
Buyer: Mamba Capital LLC
Seller: Peter A. Albano
Date: 09/05/19

19 Eckington St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $161,900
Buyer: Sugeily Rodriguez
Seller: Hickling, Jennifer L., (Estate)
Date: 08/30/19

147 Ellsworth Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $189,500
Buyer: Barbara J. Williams
Seller: Jeremy L. Rudzik
Date: 08/28/19

66 Fairfield St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $284,900
Buyer: Geraldine M. Warton
Seller: Joseph Rosinski
Date: 08/30/19

84 Fern St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $171,000
Buyer: Luis Torres
Seller: Julian Ortiz
Date: 08/30/19

19 Ferris St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Nanishy V. Franco
Seller: Constance A. Canuel
Date: 08/30/19

41 Florida St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Sariann Figueroa
Seller: Dennis Thomas
Date: 08/30/19

55-57 Forest Park Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Gennaro Moccia
Seller: Yun H. Han
Date: 09/09/19

52 Freeman Terrace
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Sheila Rivera
Seller: Wei Q. Ni
Date: 09/06/19

156 Garland St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Earl R. Rule
Seller: Juan A. Maldonado-Morales
Date: 08/28/19

328 Gilbert Ave.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $119,000
Buyer: Minerva Aponte
Seller: Christopher M. Maschi
Date: 08/30/19

23 Grandview St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $121,000
Buyer: 48-50 Stockman St RT
Seller: Nadine Crawford
Date: 08/27/19

94-96 Hancock St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $147,000
Buyer: Willie Lopez-Colon
Seller: Ahmed Radi
Date: 08/29/19

69 Harrow Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Jeffrey L. Vanderscoff
Seller: Fritz Wolf
Date: 09/09/19

40 Holy Cross St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: Christina M. Greenleaf
Seller: Luz A. Olivera-Rodriguez
Date: 08/30/19

40-42 Home St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Pedro L. Terrero-Sanchez
Seller: Sandra M. Vickers-Welles
Date: 09/03/19

99 Island Pond Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Jonathan Villegas-Lugo
Seller: Gieng V. Bui
Date: 08/30/19

183 Jewett St.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $146,275
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Alicia E. Powers
Date: 08/30/19

14 Junes Way
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $287,000
Buyer: Hung A. Ly
Seller: Robert S. Sanville
Date: 08/30/19

11 Kenwood Park
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $195,900
Buyer: Renee Saenz
Seller: Thomas C. Sullivan
Date: 08/27/19

45 Ladd St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $147,000
Buyer: Franchezka Castaneda
Seller: Aguasvivas Realty LLC
Date: 09/04/19

21 Ledyard St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: MJ Ledyard NT
Seller: Lachenauer LLC
Date: 08/27/19

23 Leyfred Terrace
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Rosa A. Linares
Seller: Jose R. Abreu
Date: 08/28/19

19 Lucerne Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $154,900
Buyer: Ana A. Perez
Seller: Imadeddine A. Awkal
Date: 09/03/19

71 Manitoba St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Beverly Kelly
Seller: Jill M. Bonavita
Date: 09/05/19

25-27 Merwin St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Peter J. Nunez-Nova
Seller: Izabet Rodriguez
Date: 08/30/19

128 Middlesex St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $181,000
Buyer: Eleuterio L. Santana
Seller: Yolanda Daley
Date: 08/30/19

45 Middlesex St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $231,000
Buyer: Victoria L. Walker
Seller: JJS Capital Investment
Date: 08/27/19

40 Montgomery St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $182,500
Buyer: Nilsa L. Ramos-Monge
Seller: Denis M. Semiryazhko
Date: 09/04/19

27 Mountainview St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $186,000
Buyer: Natalie A. Williams
Seller: Israel R. Willard
Date: 08/30/19

243 Naismith St.
Springfield, MA 01101
Amount: $328,000
Buyer: Cynthia Osei-Tutu
Seller: Yanfeng Liu
Date: 09/05/19

252 Naismith St.
Springfield, MA 01101
Amount: $345,000
Buyer: Nicola T. Edwards
Seller: Bretta Construction LLC
Date: 08/30/19

441-443 Newbury St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Juan Santana
Seller: Christopher Benevento
Date: 09/05/19

323 Nottingham St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $137,500
Buyer: Nartine Elysee
Seller: Alex Owusu
Date: 08/30/19

45 Oregon St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Andrew Manzi
Seller: Elizabeth M. Gromack
Date: 08/29/19

16 Oxford Place
Springfield, MA 01020
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: John M. Robinson
Seller: Melissa Benoit
Date: 09/05/19

227 Prentice St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $159,900
Buyer: Edward A. Couture
Seller: Debra M. Soucia
Date: 09/04/19

187-1/2 Quincy St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Diana Rivera
Seller: JJS Capital Investment
Date: 08/30/19

54 Regal St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: James J. Magrath
Seller: Timber Development LLC
Date: 08/28/19

29-31 Rittenhouse Terrace
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $182,000
Buyer: James P. Hager
Seller: Martin Nieves-Arroyo
Date: 08/29/19

114 Riverton Road
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $235,200
Buyer: Timothy M. Nourse
Seller: DTA LLC
Date: 09/05/19

49 Rochelle St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Omar Loaiza
Seller: US Bank
Date: 08/29/19

58 Roosevelt Terrace
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $171,500
Buyer: Christine Oppenheimer
Seller: John L. Moylan
Date: 08/30/19

241 Rosewell St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $168,500
Buyer: Areliz O. Barbosa
Seller: Cristina Y. Moran
Date: 09/10/19

247-249 Roy St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $172,000
Buyer: Carmen Vega
Seller: Hector L. Lopez
Date: 09/10/19

30 Russell St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Mason Davis
Seller: Brandon G. Butcher
Date: 08/30/19

244 Russell St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $295,000
Buyer: George L. Reyes
Seller: Paul McNaughton
Date: 09/10/19

761 Saint James Ave.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $237,000
Buyer: Larry Lawson
Seller: Margarita P. Mateo
Date: 08/27/19

74 Sierra Vista Road
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Kelley Conrad
Seller: Ralph H. Draper
Date: 08/30/19

135 South Shore Dr.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Edward J. Boutin
Seller: James Niedbala
Date: 09/04/19

74 Tilton St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $147,000
Buyer: Timothy C. Walker
Seller: Leonard P. Madzy TR
Date: 08/30/19

117 Tioga St.
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Brittney N. Baker-Johnson
Seller: Heidi E. Drawec
Date: 08/27/19

71-73 Tulsa St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $251,000
Buyer: Eric D. Ainsworth
Seller: Dalh H. Bolton
Date: 08/29/19

149-151 Tyler St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $162,500
Buyer: Claudia C. Lora
Seller: Ana Rivera
Date: 09/06/19

715 Union St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $148,000
Buyer: Yamilex M. Romero
Seller: Yolanda Delacruz-Perez
Date: 08/29/19

31-33 Virginia St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $237,000
Buyer: Ruth M. Olmeda
Seller: Phillip C. Loukellis
Date: 09/10/19

76-78 Virginia St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $131,912
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Elizabeth I. Carmenatty
Date: 09/05/19

17 Washington Road
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $156,000
Buyer: Ruby Realty LLC
Seller: Adrienne C. Mitchell
Date: 09/10/19

25 West Canton Circle
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $173,000
Buyer: Angelina V. Estrada
Seller: Michael Rego
Date: 08/29/19

123 White Birch Dr.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Migdalia Rivera-Ortiz
Seller: Michael Shepard
Date: 08/28/19

279-281 White St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Yadira Rivera
Seller: Marvin Hunt
Date: 08/30/19

13-15 Wilcox St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $357,000
Buyer: Modica T
Seller: A&L Enterprises LLC
Date: 08/30/19

TOLLAND

135 Owls Nests Lane
Tolland, MA 01034
Amount: $199,900
Buyer: James M. O’Neill
Seller: Melissa L. Saulenas
Date: 08/30/19

WESTFIELD

2 Canterbury Lane
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $370,000
Buyer: Philip J. McKay
Seller: G&F Custom Built Homes
Date: 09/09/19

17 Denise Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $156,000
Buyer: Scott Haber
Seller: Shelley I. Haber
Date: 09/10/19

21 Egleston Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Christopher L. Snodderley
Seller: Geoffrey Parenteau
Date: 09/09/19

452 Falley Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $529,900
Buyer: William Tattan
Seller: George Salem
Date: 09/06/19

34 Grandview Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $266,000
Buyer: Brendan L. Kilrain
Seller: Patrick E. Sullivan
Date: 08/27/19

196 Granville Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $239,000
Buyer: Brandon N. Paquette
Seller: Judith B. Paquette
Date: 08/28/19

2 Greylock St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Brie K. Muth-Kimball
Seller: Barbara J. Williams
Date: 08/28/19

265 Hillside Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $450,000
Buyer: Richard P. Letellier
Seller: Jennifer B. Stasio
Date: 08/29/19

326 Lockhouse Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $810,000
Buyer: KSK RT
Seller: Tell Tool Inc.
Date: 08/30/19

51 Loomis Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Lynne Killam
Seller: David Killam
Date: 09/05/19

10 Main St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $186,375
Buyer: Johnston Holding Co. Inc.
Seller: Bank Of Ameica
Date: 08/29/19

174 Main St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Kaben RT
Seller: Fenton Leasing Inc.
Date: 08/30/19

3 Montgomery St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Nathan Halla
Seller: David R. Jarret
Date: 09/06/19

36 Moseley Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Kelly R. Henderson
Seller: Steven L. Henderson
Date: 09/10/19

132 Northridge Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Timofey V. Tverdokhlebov
Seller: Jenney, Eric S., (Estate)
Date: 09/10/19

10 Old Holyoke Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Raymond Kopyscinski
Seller: Stella A. Chmura
Date: 08/29/19

353 Root Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Matthew M. Linnell
Seller: John M. Occhiuzzo
Date: 08/29/19

24 Sunbriar Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $315,000
Buyer: F. D. Rivera-Sanchez
Seller: Brent J. Kowal
Date: 09/05/19

80 Susan Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: North Fund 6 LLC
Seller: William T. Weidler
Date: 09/04/19

WILBRAHAM

80 3 Rivers Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $139,500
Buyer: Wilmington Savings
Seller: Mary I. Shaw
Date: 09/06/19

13 Cooley Dr.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $267,500
Buyer: James A. Gianfelice
Seller: Cynthia G. Burk
Date: 09/06/19

260 Crane Hill Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Alicia Pontes
Seller: Richard A. Lewenczuk
Date: 09/09/19

9 Maple St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $6,338,467
Buyer: Massachusetts SNF 3 LLC
Seller: WHC Wilbraham LLC
Date: 09/05/19

255 Maynard Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $394,500
Buyer: Joel D. Keller
Seller: Richard J. Wheway
Date: 08/30/19

48 Old Boston Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $144,200
Buyer: Robert E. Dupuis
Seller: Ann M. Skrzyniarz
Date: 08/30/19

664 Stony Hill Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Flippin Good Home Buyers
Seller: Ahmad A. Habboub
Date: 08/29/19

87 Stony Hill Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Shantaya M. Williams
Seller: Garnett Martin
Date: 08/28/19

WEST SPRINGFIELD

58 Amherst St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $302,580
Buyer: Embrace Home Loans Inc.
Seller: William C. Della-Giustina
Date: 08/30/19

1002 Amostown Road
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Kyle Felsentreger
Seller: Andrew Howes
Date: 08/30/19

232 Ashley Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $137,000
Buyer: Revitalized Properties
Seller: Damato, Patricia A., (Estate)
Date: 09/06/19

204 Baldwin St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $292,000
Buyer: New Heights Realty LLC
Seller: Gil FT
Date: 08/30/19

71 Bosworth St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Ahmed Hussein
Seller: Salim Radzhabov
Date: 08/27/19

446 Brush Hill Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $224,900
Buyer: Jessica R. Blanchard
Seller: Daniel E. Williamson
Date: 09/10/19

225 Circle Dr.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $123,000
Buyer: CIG 4 LLC
Seller: Morgan Group LLC
Date: 09/05/19

19 Colony Road
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Tomasz Komar
Seller: Angela Greco
Date: 09/06/19

71 Colony Road
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Tomasz Komar
Seller: Angela Greco
Date: 09/06/19

222 Ely Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $241,000
Buyer: Christine R. Brassil
Seller: McCarthy, Thomas F., (Estate)
Date: 09/06/19

78 Hampden St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $206,400
Buyer: Ada Castro
Seller: Deborah A. Watson
Date: 08/30/19

123 Interstate Dr.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $2,300,000
Buyer: Viability Inc.
Seller: 123 Interstate Drive LLC
Date: 09/09/19

43 Lowell St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: Koch Real Estate Corp.
Seller: Glenna J. Tobey
Date: 08/28/19

38 Lower Massachusetts Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $440,000
Buyer: Salim Radzhabov
Seller: Mikhail Sergeychik
Date: 08/27/19

28 Mosher St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Vadim Botezat
Seller: Andri Zhyhaniuk
Date: 09/10/19

83 Northwood Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Jason E. Desrosiers
Seller: William J. Maloney
Date: 09/03/19

879 Piper Road
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $188,000
Buyer: Sarah S. Naylar
Seller: Redwood Properties LLC
Date: 08/30/19

80 Prince Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Ratna Basnet
Seller: Nicholas P. Biuso
Date: 08/30/19

142 Prospect Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Liliya Bogomaz
Seller: Roy E. Beusee
Date: 08/29/19

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY

AMHERST

340 Amity St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Christopher J. Lloyd
Seller: Oscar Liang
Date: 09/06/19

110 Bridge St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $338,600
Buyer: Lisa Williams
Seller: Christopher B. Pile
Date: 09/10/19

Canton Ave. #2
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Wilson Property Group LLC
Seller: Julius G. Fabos
Date: 08/29/19

Canton Ave. #3
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Wilson Property Group LLC
Seller: Julius G. Fabos
Date: 08/29/19

Dana Place #154
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Elizabeth Dufresne
Seller: Alison Curphey LT
Date: 09/06/19

30 Dana Place
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $895,000
Buyer: Matthew Dufresne
Seller: Alison Curphey LT
Date: 09/06/19

275 East Pleasant St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $217,000
Buyer: Pioneer Property Services
Seller: Janice O. Fair
Date: 08/30/19

18 Edge Hill Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $259,900
Buyer: Joe Deng
Seller: Robert A. Beaulieu
Date: 08/28/19

37 Hunters Hill Circle
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: John D. Sansoucy
Seller: Dabo Shi
Date: 08/30/19

Lindenridge Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Bercume Construction LLC
Seller: Tofino Associates LLC
Date: 08/30/19

66 Longmeadow Dr.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $229,900
Buyer: Joyce M. Southwell
Seller: Victor Kudrikow
Date: 08/29/19

8 McClure St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $363,000
Buyer: John W. Kinchla
Seller: Nestle, Dorothy, (Estate)
Date: 08/27/19

1530 South East St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: William T. Tunnell
Seller: Jason R. Edwards
Date: 08/28/19

BELCHERTOWN

620 Amherst Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $271,000
Buyer: Gabriel Ting
Seller: Nathan N. Kapoor
Date: 09/05/19

25 Depot St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: East Green Street Properties
Seller: Nicholas J. Chiusano
Date: 09/05/19

675 Franklin St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $335,000
Buyer: Ivan D. Aguilar
Seller: Michael D. Brown
Date: 08/30/19

10 Maple St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $810,000
Buyer: FPG Massachusetts LLC
Seller: Wendy L. Story
Date: 09/04/19

65 Meadow Pond Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $520,000
Buyer: Matthew P. Beaudry
Seller: Richard A. Lehouillier
Date: 08/30/19

50 North St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Jose C. Perez-Curry
Seller: Carol A. Bloem
Date: 08/29/19

10 Sheffield Dr.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $368,000
Buyer: David A. Carpenter
Seller: Lynn M. Drawec
Date: 08/29/19

438 State St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Alyssa Maggi
Seller: Gina Maggi
Date: 09/06/19

206 Stebbins St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $218,500
Buyer: Kelli M. Waskiewicz
Seller: Daniel B. Desrochers
Date: 09/06/19

CHESTERFIELD

67 Damon Pond Road
Chesterfield, MA 01012
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Stephanie B. Barker
Seller: Joseph S. Barker
Date: 09/10/19

108 East St.
Chesterfield, MA 01012
Amount: $360,000
Buyer: Andreas A. Gamborg
Seller: Mary Regan
Date: 09/09/19

EASTHAMPTON

11 Ballard St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Ryan McLaughlin
Seller: David W. Brown
Date: 09/05/19

34 Briggs St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Roxanne C. Mariani-Prall
Seller: Keith D. Wintle
Date: 09/09/19

19 Carillon Circle
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $322,600
Buyer: Corinne M. Ebbs
Seller: Robin A. Mercer
Date: 09/06/19

8 Chapel St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Ninis Real Estate LLC
Seller: Giovanni Daniele RET
Date: 09/09/19

7 Deerfield Dr.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $327,500
Buyer: Marc Friedman
Seller: Sara J. McGuire
Date: 08/27/19

8 Lord St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $292,500
Buyer: Pamela J. Linscott
Seller: James P. Haggerty
Date: 09/06/19

82 Lovefield St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $131,250
Buyer: Patricia G. Dougherty
Seller: Teri L. Koopman
Date: 08/28/19

68 Oliver St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $329,000
Buyer: Margaux Lanoie
Seller: Daniel P. Heitz
Date: 09/06/19

37 Pine Hill Road
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $445,000
Buyer: Elizabeth Kemp
Seller: John L. Morin
Date: 08/27/19

93 Pomeroy St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Wilmington Savings
Seller: Diane L. Pratt
Date: 09/05/19

15 Prospect St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $295,000
Buyer: Greta G. Shwachman
Seller: Jonathan R. Polgar
Date: 08/28/19

21 Vadnais St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Kathay W. Parker
Seller: Crysti D. Jillson
Date: 09/03/19

54 West St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $315,000
Buyer: Raymond Soares-Pierson
Seller: Megan J. Owens
Date: 08/30/19

70 West St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $430,500
Buyer: Andrew C. Keller
Seller: David A. Campbell
Date: 09/06/19

GOSHEN

169 Berkshire Trail East
Goshen, MA 01032
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Francis E. Dunham
Seller: Peter J. Normandin
Date: 09/06/19

75 Lake Dr.
Goshen, MA 01096
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Heffernan FT
Seller: Abel FT
Date: 08/28/19

96 Sears Road
Goshen, MA 01032
Amount: $242,000
Buyer: Gary J. Lane
Seller: Rory Zononi
Date: 09/06/19

1 Williams Dr.
Goshen, MA 01096
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Timothy J. Rockett
Seller: William A. Carey
Date: 08/30/19

GRANBY

31 Amherst St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Luindy M. Espinal
Seller: Christine M. Maheu
Date: 09/04/19

130 Amherst St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Michael Peltier
Seller: Michael J. Breault
Date: 09/04/19

589 Amherst Road
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $405,000
Buyer: Quyen Nguyen
Seller: Teresa Hajduk
Date: 08/27/19

10 Jackielyn Circle
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $199,900
Buyer: David P. Twohig
Seller: Ronald J. Pedersen
Date: 08/30/19

Pleasant St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $139,900
Buyer: C. M. Hurley-Boucher
Seller: Bonneterre LLC
Date: 09/10/19

118 Pleasant St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $279,000
Buyer: Andrew D. Kurtz
Seller: Michelle G. Willette
Date: 08/30/19

HADLEY

10 Laurel Dr.
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $425,000
Buyer: Beth Goldberg-Shaine
Seller: Michael P. Sarsynski Jr. TR
Date: 08/30/19

456 River Dr.
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Amherst Real Estate Services
Seller: Justin D. Killeen
Date: 08/29/19

200 Venture Way
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Venture Way Collaborative
Seller: Westmass Area Development
Date: 08/30/19

HATFIELD

61 North Hatfield Road
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $248,500
Buyer: Nicholas J. Dunn
Seller: Brandon H. Poe
Date: 08/30/19

164 West St.
Hatfield, MA 01088
Amount: $4,007,500
Buyer: Gleason Johndrow Group
Seller: Jade Realty LLC
Date: 09/05/19

188 West St.
Hatfield, MA 01088
Amount: $2,200,000
Buyer: Freedomroads Property Co.
Seller: Saint Jude LLC
Date: 09/05/19

192 West St.
Hatfield, MA 01088
Amount: $2,200,000
Buyer: Freedomroads Property Co.
Seller: Saint Jude LLC
Date: 09/05/19

HUNTINGTON

18 Laurel Road
Huntington, MA 01050
Amount: $202,500
Buyer: Ashleigh M. Bushey
Seller: Debra A. Petrovsky
Date: 08/30/19

77 Searle Road
Huntington, MA 01050
Amount: $226,000
Buyer: Daniel P. Heitz
Seller: Kathryn McKenna-Weiss
Date: 09/06/19

MIDDLEFIELD

99 Skyline Trail
Middlefield, MA 01011
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Michael F. Pensivy
Seller: Darren D. Rahilly
Date: 08/28/19

NORTHAMPTON

227 Bridge St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $410,000
Buyer: Kilerine Properties LLC
Seller: Huong C. Chow
Date: 08/28/19

581 Burts Pit Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $460,000
Buyer: Margaret A. Arroyo
Seller: Michael P. Szostak
Date: 08/29/19

56 Crestview Dr.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Yao Wu
Seller: Timothy D. Armstrong
Date: 08/27/19

57 Dryads Green
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Simon J. Salloom
Seller: Smith College
Date: 08/30/19

205 Emerson Way
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $675,000
Buyer: Christopher D. Bascomb
Seller: Sovereign Builders Inc.
Date: 08/30/19

78 Fern St.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Eliza J. Bradley
Seller: Todd D. Ford
Date: 08/30/19

58 Front St.
Northampton, MA 01053
Amount: $616,000
Buyer: Scott S. Benton
Seller: Turomsha 2014 RET
Date: 09/06/19

47 Henry St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $425,000
Buyer: Daniel Bensonoff
Seller: Margaret Rice-Holden
Date: 08/27/19

130 Hillcrest Dr.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Carolyn D. Davies
Seller: Randel & Deborah Davies TR
Date: 08/30/19

51 Hillcrest Dr.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $580,000
Buyer: Susan L. Macrae
Seller: Nancy B. Flickinger 2015 TR
Date: 09/03/19

50 Market St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Open Gate Market LLC
Seller: Joseph A. Wisneski
Date: 08/30/19

201 North Elm St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $339,000
Buyer: Michele Ronco
Seller: Joseph O. Hebert
Date: 08/30/19

710 North Farms Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $545,000
Buyer: Keith W. Brierley-Bowers
Seller: Robert E. Bates
Date: 08/30/19

160 North Maple St.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $327,500
Buyer: Richard L. Gerstein
Seller: Timothy J. Rockett
Date: 08/30/19

29 Pleasant St. #6
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $312,000
Buyer: Laura A. Jurkowski
Seller: Elizabeth A. Klemer
Date: 09/06/19

53 Rick Dr.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Mark S. Bonde
Seller: Wheeler, Ruth L., (Estate)
Date: 08/29/19

329 Rocky Hill Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $479,900
Buyer: Vikram Sood
Seller: Vincent R. Snyder
Date: 09/03/19

7 Rust Ave.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Alan R. Colson
Seller: Charles H. Elliott
Date: 09/09/19

30 Ryan Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Heather Hamel
Seller: John P. O’Leary
Date: 09/09/19

55 South Park Terrace
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: W&N Summer LLC
Seller: Donald Horton
Date: 08/27/19

72 Spring St.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $297,500
Buyer: Caitlin Thomas
Seller: Catherine A. Kenneally
Date: 08/30/19

51 Summer St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $487,000
Buyer: Abraham Ravett
Seller: Sarah R. Partan
Date: 09/03/19

28 Sylvan Lane
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $574,000
Buyer: Bradley J. Levay
Seller: Karen S. Kuhr
Date: 09/06/19

23 West Center St.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $329,500
Buyer: Alexia Manin
Seller: John F. Kingsley
Date: 08/30/19

41 Walnut St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $319,970
Buyer: Xian Dole
Seller: Michael J. Skubiszewski
Date: 08/28/19

21 Wilson Ave.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $345,000
Buyer: Christopher M. Hellwig
Seller: Catherine L. Anderson
Date: 09/03/19

77 Winterberry Lane
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $547,500
Buyer: Jill Palmer-Howard
Seller: Michael W. Howard
Date: 09/06/19

SOUTH HADLEY

41 East St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Melanie E. Laurin
Seller: Joshua E. Raskin
Date: 08/30/19

1 Ethan Circle
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $420,000
Buyer: Matthew Rheault
Seller: Homes By Leblanc Inc.
Date: 09/06/19

573 Granby Road
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $5,419,237
Buyer: Massachusetts SNF 2 LLC
Seller: WHC South Hadley LLC
Date: 09/05/19

81 Hadley St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $271,450
Buyer: Ruili Fitzgerald
Seller: Gregory E. Quill
Date: 09/05/19

12 Hillside Ave.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $127,000
Buyer: Sarah E. Scibak
Seller: John W. Scibak
Date: 08/30/19

21 Judd Ave.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $229,500
Buyer: Michele Maznick
Seller: Jennie I. Cwieka
Date: 09/05/19

19 Lexington Ave.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Jason A. Germain
Seller: Germain, Joan A., (Estate)
Date: 08/27/19

200 Morgan St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $373,300
Buyer: Sam Lemanski
Seller: Maura G. Campbell
Date: 09/06/19

646 Newton St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $940,000
Buyer: FPG Massachusetts LLC
Seller: MWA Realty LLC
Date: 09/04/19

229 North Main St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Leeanne Leclerc
Seller: June B. O’Connor
Date: 08/30/19

WARE

65 Anderson Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Donald Desautels
Seller: Frank P. Desantis FT
Date: 09/10/19

12 Aspen St.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: David O. Hung-Tien
Seller: Scudder Bay Capital LLC
Date: 08/30/19

29 Beach Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $440,000
Buyer: John W. Collins
Seller: Richard J. Davitt
Date: 09/06/19

145 East St.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $192,000
Buyer: Leigh A. Parkins
Seller: Jessica Powers
Date: 09/06/19

67 Old Poor Farm Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $234,000
Buyer: Douglas B. Meekin
Seller: Nicholas P. Fluegge
Date: 08/30/19

15 Pointview Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Jeffrey Grantz
Seller: Tracy A. Wehr
Date: 08/30/19

1 Walter Dr.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $312,000
Buyer: Nicholas P. Fluegge
Seller: Phoebe R. Rondeau
Date: 08/30/19

WILLIAMSBURG

51 Hyde Hill Road
Williamsburg, MA 01096
Amount: $451,000
Buyer: Anthony Parillo
Seller: William R. Lockwood
Date: 09/06/19

201 Main St.
Williamsburg, MA 01096
Amount: $700,000
Buyer: Rosana P. Duval
Seller: Hiroshi Akimoto
Date: 08/27/19

25 South Main St.
Williamsburg, MA 01096
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Gerald M. Shattuck
Seller: Lisa N. Abend
Date: 08/27/19

WORTHINGTON

89 Lindsay Hill Road
Worthington, MA 01098
Amount: $295,000
Buyer: Nancy N. Brown
Seller: William H. Gebel
Date: 08/30/19

Court Dockets

By BusinessWest Staff October 1, 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.

FRANKLIN SUPERIOR COURT

Massachusetts Property Insurance Underwriting Assoc. a/s/o Eric and Jacquelean Henderson v. DiGeorge Builders

Allegation: Negligence causing property damage: $73,419.41

Filed: 8/29/19

HAMPDEN DISTRICT COURT

Christine Glossier v. Complete Aesthetics, P.C.; George P. Grillo, M.D.; and Kiersten Wine

Allegation: Negligence causing personal injury: $25,000

Filed: 8/20/19

HAMPDEN SUPERIOR COURT

Paul Fink v. BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. and Jane Doe

Allegation: Negligence causing personal injury: $116,606.18

Filed:

7/25/19

Laurel Sanchez v. Baystate Health Inc. and John Doe

Allegation: Civil battery, negligence causing personal injury: $100,000

Filed: 7/25/19

Lori Leblanc v. Pioneer Valley Transit Authority and Springfield Area Transit Authority

Allegation: Motor-vehicle negligence causing personal injury: $12,602.89

Filed: 8/7/19

Elaine Letendre v. 135 Benton Drive Operating Co., LLC d/b/a Care One at Redstone

Allegation: Negligence; trip and fall causing personal injury: $45,000+

Filed: 8/9/19

Oscar Collins v. University of Massachusetts

Allegation: Employment discrimination: $100,000

Filed: 8/20/19

HAMPSHIRE SUPERIOR COURT

Johnson Controls Fire Protection, LP v. Coghlin Electrical Contractors Inc., Bar & Barr Inc., Fidelity and Deposit Co. of Maryland, and Zurich Insurance American Insurance Co.

Allegation: Breach of contract, unjust enrichment: $225,902.53

Filed: 8/30/19

WESTFIELD DISTRICT COURT

Luicia Lumber Co. Inc. v. Devine Construction Inc. and Forrest Devine

Allegation: Breach of contract, unjust enrichment: $7,797.47

Filed: 8/16/19

Agenda

By BusinessWest Staff October 1, 2019

Agenda

Aeron Chair Hockey Tournament

Oct. 2: In celebration of its 30th anniversary, Lexington Group will host an Aeron chair hockey tournament from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at its showroom located at 380 Union St., West Springfield. For this first-of-its-kind event in New England, Lexington Group has invited players, and their administrative staff, from elite area hockey teams — American International College and UMass Amherst — to battle it out in a friendly competition on the ‘ice.’ The winning team from the first round will play against members of the Springfield Thunderbirds. The tournament will be incorporated into an After 5 networking event, with about 300 business and community professionals expected to attend. West Springfield Mayor William Reichelt will serve as referee of the tournament. Pat Kelley of Lazer 99.3 will emcee and provide entertainment. Complimentary refreshments will be provided by Log Rolling. The event will help raise funds and awareness for the Foundation for TJO Animals. Admission to the event is complimentary, but registration is required and can be made at lexington-aeronhockey.eventbrite.com. Donations to the Foundation for TJO Animals are appreciated and can be made in advance directly through the foundation’s website, www.tjofoundation.org, or may be made at the event. The event is currently sponsored by MP CPAs, St. Germaine Investments, Sitterly Movers, and Sheraton Springfield Monarch Place Hotel (cup sponsors); bankESB, Behavioral Health Network, Complete Payroll Solutions, Dietz & Co. Architects, Fire Service Group, HUB International New England, Massachusetts Fire Technologies, Mercier Carpet, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, and New England Promotional Marketing (chair sponsors); AIS, Baystate Ob/Gyn, Contract Sources, Excel Dryer, Lexington Group, KI, Paragus IT, People’s United Bank, the Republican, and Westfield Bank (rink sponsors); Go Graphix and Herman Miller (goods sponsors), and BusinessWest, ERC5, and West of the River Chamber of Commerce (event partners).

Jazz Brunch

Oct. 6: Tickets are now on sale for the 2019 Northampton Jazz Festival Brunch, a fundraiser to benefit the Jazz Artists in the Schools Program at John F. Kennedy Middle School, which exposes Northampton’s student musicians to the valuable mentorship of professional jazz artists. The DeChamplain Quartet, based out of Hartford, Conn., will perform their gypsy-style music from noon to 2 p.m. with Atla DeChamplain on vocals, Matt DeChamplain on piano, Chris Morrison on guitar, and Matt Dwonszyk on bass. Thanks to donations from the Davis Financial Group of Hadley, the program has been able to offer unique workshops with professional jazz artists to the jazz-band students at JFK and Northampton High School. The jazz brunch will be held at the Delaney House, 3 Country Club Road in Holyoke, starting at 11 a.m. Tickets to the brunch cost $40, and $10 from each purchase will benefit the Davis Financial Group Jazz Artists in the Schools Program at JFK Middle School for the 2019-20 school year. The brunch will wrap up the 2019 Northampton Jazz Festival, set for Friday, Oct. 4 through Sunday, Oct. 6. The event features three days of live music at various venues in downtown Northampton, including the main-stage act, the Kurt Elling Quintet, which will perform on Oct. 5 at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy of Music. For more information, to purchase tickets, or to donate to the Jazz Artists in the Schools Program, visit northamptonjazzfest.org.

EforAll Berkshire County Caravan, Pitch Contest

Oct. 7, 23: Entrepreneurship for All (EforAll) Berkshire County is officially launching on Monday, Oct. 7 with a Berkshire County Caravan, bringing community leaders, volunteers, and would-be entrepreneurs together for free introductory events all day, starting at 8:30 a.m. in Great Barrington, 11:30 a.m. in Pittsfield, and 5 p.m. in North Adams. Details and registration for the caravan are available on the EforAll website, eforall.org/ma/berkshire-county. It all leads up to bringing the All Ideas Pitch Contest to the Pittsfield area for the first time ever on Tuesday, Oct. 22. The program will be held at the Berkshire Museum, 39 South St., Pittsfield, from 6 to 8 p.m. Sometimes described as ‘Shark Tank without the teeth,’ the friendly, free event features seven pre-selected contestants and an eighth that will be added by audience vote on the night of the event. Each participant is given two and a half minutes to pitch a business or nonprofit idea to a panel of judges and the audience. At the end of it, EforAll will give away $2,750 in seed money to help launch these ideas. The first place finisher wins $1,000, second place $750, third place $500, and audience favorite $500. The event is an example of EforAll’s mission of using innovative means to foster entrepreneurial growth throughout Berkshire County. Applications and audience registration are both available online at eforall.org/ma/berkshire-county.

Series on Elder Law, Estate Planning

Oct. 7, 21, 28: Attorney Karen Jackson of Jackson Law, an elder-law and estate-planning firm, will teach a series of classes at Holyoke Community College highlighting the latest developments in elder law and estate planning. The six-hour course, called “Elder Law and Estate Planning: What You Need to Know,” will be presented in three two-hour sessions from 6 to 8 p.m. The cost is $99. In the first session, Jackson will explain each document in the core estate plan and discuss the problems that can occur when proper documents are not prepared before a loss of mental capacity or physical health or before sudden loss of life. The second session will address trusts, the probate-court process, Medicare hot topics, and options for community care and home care. Jackson will provide pertinent information and details about each to assist attendees in their planning now. In the third and final session, Jackson will introduce the various Medicaid programs that provide long-term skilled nursing-home care in Massachusetts and the financial assistance associated with each. While participants may attend as many sessions as they choose, they must still pay the full course cost of $99. To register, call (413) 552-2500 or visit www.hcc.edu/bce.

Healthcare Heroes Gala

Oct. 17: The third annual class of Healthcare Heroes will be honored at the Sheraton Springfield from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Healthcare Heroes, a recognition program involving the Western Mass. healthcare sector, was launched in 2017 by HCN and BusinessWest. The program was created to shed a bright light on the outstanding work being done across the broad spectrum of health and wellness services, and the institutions and people providing that care. The class of 2019 was profiled in the Sept. 2 issue of BusinessWest and on businesswest.com. Tickets cost $90 or $900 for a table of 10. To reserve a spot, visit www.businesswest.com/healthcare-heroes-2 or e-mail [email protected]. Healthcare Heroes is sponsored by American International College and Baystate Health/Health New England (presenting sponsors), Behavioral Health Network, Comcast Business, and Development Associates (partner sponsors), and Bulkley Richardson, Design to Finish, Elms College, Keiter Builders, Loomis Communities, and Mercy Medical Center/Trinity Health (supporting sponsors).

Unify Against Bullying Awards, Fashion Show

Oct. 21: Unify Against Bullying announced it will award $21,000 in microgrants to 22 recipients at its combination grant awards ceremony and all-inclusive fashion show. The event, which coincides with National Bullying Prevention Month, will be held at the Log Cabin in Holyoke. Those who attend will have an opportunity to meet all 22 grant recipients and talk with each of them about the work they are doing to combat the pervasive bullying issue. To purchase tickets, visit www.unifyagainstbullying.org and go to the events page and click on ‘tickets.’

Business Woman of the Year Celebration

Oct. 24: The Women’s Business Owners Alliance of the Pioneer Valley (WBOA) will hold its 2019 Business Woman of the Year Celebration at 5:30 p.m. at the Delaney House in Holyoke. Patricia Banas, owner and president of Latka Printing in Westfield, will be named the 2019 Business Woman of the Year, an honor given to a member who has contributed to WBOA in a significant way and is a role model who inspires other women to be successful. Also during this event, the WBOA will recognize its 2019 Outstanding New Members: Lori Novis, owner of Mango Fish Art in Easthampton, and Andrea Kennedy of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Chicopee. The celebration will carry a Roaring Twenties theme and will include live entertainment provided by Steve and Roxann Bailey. The Baileys will offer a dance demonstration and a dance lesson for attendees to learn about styles from the period. A portion of the event proceeds will benefit the WBOA Cheryl Reed Loan Fund, which offers low-interest loans to members for seed money, expansion, or other worthy business purposes. For more information or tickets, visit www.wboa.org or contact Carleen Fischer Hoffman, event chair, at (413) 525-7345 or [email protected].

Women of Impact Luncheon

Dec. 4: The keynote speaker for the 2019 Women of Impact luncheon will be Lisa Tanzer, president of Life Is Good. Tanzer has more than 25 years of consumer brand experience. Prior to becoming president, she served as the company’s head of Marketing after spending more than 20 years on the board of directors of the Life is Good Kids Foundation. She’s held executive positions in the entertainment, e-commerce, and education sectors. Earlier in her career, she held marketing and strategy roles at Hasbro, Staples, Gillette, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. The 2019 Women of Impact honorees will be announced in the Oct. 14 issue of BusinessWest and feted at a celebration on Dec. 4 from 11 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. at Sheraton Springfield. Tickets cost $65 per person, or $650 for a table of 10. To purchase tickets, visit www.businesswest.com/women-of-impact or e-mail [email protected]. The Women of Impact program is sponsored by Country Bank and TommyCar Auto Group (presenting sponsors), Comcast Business (supporting sponsor), New Valley Bank & Trust (speaker sponsor), and WWLP 22 News/CW Springfield (media sponsor).

Chamber Corners: Upcoming Events

By BusinessWest Staff October 1, 2019

Chamber Corners

EAST OF THE RIVER FIVE TOWN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.erc5.com

(413) 575-7230

• Oct. 2: Inaugural Lexington Group Aeron Chair Hockey Tournament, 5:30-8 p.m., hosted by Lexington Group, 380 Union St., West Springfield. Co-hosted by BusinessWest, ERC5, and the West of the River Chamber of Commerce. In celebration of its 30th anniversary, Lexington Group is hosting this tournament benefiting the Foundation for TJO Animals. This will be an after-5 anniversary celebration and networking event. Players and administrative staff from area elite hockey teams, American International College and UMass Amherst, will battle it out in a friendly competition on the rink. The winning team of the battle round will play against the Springfield Thunderbirds. Cost: free, but registration is required. Register at lexington-aeronhockey.eventbrite.com.

GREATER EASTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.easthamptonchamber.org

(413) 527-9414

• Oct. 8: Networking In the Know Panel Series, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Abandoned Building Brewery, 142 Pleasant St., Unit 103A, Easthampton. We will go deep into what and your business needs to be diligent about and why. Topics include the latest on banking and credit-card scamming, business e-mail compromise, check ACH fraud, and direct deposit of payroll e-mail scam technology. A panel of experts — Linda Schwartz, of Westfield Bank, Martha Rickson of Polish National Credit Union, and William Judd of bankESB — will explain how to protect yourself and your business from these types of scams. Refreshments will be served courtesy of Hamel’s Creative Catering. Cost: $15 for members, $30 for non-members. Pre-registration is required, and no tickets will be available at the door. For more information and to register, visit www.easthamptonchamber.org or call the chamber at (413) 527-9414.

• Oct. 23: Cybersecurity Chamber Breakfast, 8:30-10 a.m., hosted by the Greater Easthampton Chamber of Commerce, 33 Union St., Easthampton. Suite 3 President Dave DelVecchio will guide attendees through a security-awareness training review in three easy steps: identify the cybersecurity problem, create a security framework, and define what you as a user can do to help. This session is loaded with content and many actionable takeaways to improve the security awareness level within the attendee’s organization. Cost: $15, which includes a light breakfast. Pre-registration is required, and no tickets will be sold at the door. For more information and to register, visit www.easthamptonchamber.org or call the chamber at (413) 527-9414.

GREATER NORTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.northamptonchamber.com

(413) 584-1900

• Oct. 2: Schmoozapalooza, 5-7:30 p.m., hosted by Greater Northampton Chamber, 99 Pleasant St., Northampton. An annual networking party bringing business and community together, featuring food, wine, and cold brews donated by local restaurants. Sponsored by Florence Bank, CopyCat Ink, Pioneer Training, and Christopher Heights of Northampton. Cost: $10/ for members. RSVP at northamptonchamber.com/connect-campaign-2019.

• Oct. 8: “Digital Marketing Demystified” with Rhyme Digital, noon to 2:30 p.m., hosted by Coldwell Banker Training Center, 112 Main St., Northampton. Join us for the first workshop in the Greater Northampton Chamber 2019 Connect Campaign Event Series. Presentation by Blair Winans of Rhyme Digital in Easthampton. Cost: free. RSVP at northamptonchamber.com/connect-campaign-2019.

• Oct. 22: “Sync Up with the Chamber and the Downtown Northampton Assoc. – A Conversation with Health, Wellness, and Beauty Businesses,” 8-9:30 a.m., 33 Hawley St., Northampton. Join us for a conversation among professionals and business owners within the health, wellness, and beauty sector. Cost: free. RSVP at northamptonchamber.com/connect-campaign-2019.

• Oct. 22: “Social Media in the Workplace” with Daniel Carr of Royal, P.C., 8:30-9:30 a.m., hosted by Greater Northampton Chamber, 99 Pleasant St., Northampton. Cost: free. RSVP at northamptonchamber.com/connect-campaign-2019.

• Oct. 24: “Marketing and Advertising: What Works and What Doesn’t?” 8-9 a.m., hosted by Greater Northampton Chamber, 99 Pleasant St., Northampton. Join Joe O’Rourke of Northampton Radio Group for an informative talk on what works and what doesn’t in marketing and advertising. Cost: free. RSVP at northamptonchamber.com/connect-campaign-2019.

• Oct. 28: “Nonprofit Resource Roundtable with Jenny Ladd: Fundraising as Program, Program as Fundraising,” noon to 1:30 p.m., hosted by the Garden House at Look Memorial Park. How can our fundraising be a form of our programming, and how can programming be part of fundraising? All too often, the person, people, or department doing fundraising are off in a corner separate from the programmatic workings of a nonprofit. Cost: free. RSVP at northamptonchamber.com/connect-campaign-2019.

• Oct. 29: “Health Connector for Small Business,” noon to 1 p.m., hosted by Greater Northampton Chamber, 33 Hawley St., Northampton. Join us for an informative session with Rich Cahillane of American Benefits Group and Chaitra Sanders, account manager for the Health Connector for Business Distribution Channel. Cost: free. RSVP at northamptonchamber.com/connect-campaign-2019.

GREATER WESTFIELD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.westfieldbiz.org

(413) 568-1618

• Oct. 7: Mayor’s Coffee Hour, 8-9 a.m., hosted by Western Massachusetts Hospital, 91 East Mountain Road, Westfield. Join us for coffee with Westfield Mayor Brian Sullivan. The event is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is requested so we may give our host a proper head count. For more information and to register, visit westfieldbiz.org/events or call (413) 568-1618.

• Oct. 9: Lunch & Learn: “Talk Saves Lives: A Community Introduction to Suicide Prevention,” 11:30 a.m to 1:30 p.m., hosted by Western Massachusetts Hospital, 91 East Mountain Road, Westfield. Presented by Heather White, area director, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Massachusetts and Vermont Chapter. This workshop will discuss the shockingly large scope of suicide, current research on prevention, suicide risk and warning signs, and how, together, we can help prevent it. Box lunch provided by Peppermill Catering. Cost: free for members, $40 for non-members. For more information and to register, visit westfieldbiz.org/events or call (413) 568-1618.

• Oct. 17: Lunch & Learn: Hemp CBD Educational Seminar, 11:30 a.m to 1:30 p.m., hosted by Western Massachusetts Hospital, 91 East Mountain Road, Westfield. Presented by Kathleen Angco-Vieweg of Rehab Resolutions. This workshop is for everyone interested in learning basic information regarding CBD oil, the difference between hemp and marijuana, benefits of CBD oil, and what CBD oil can help with. Lunch provided by Peppermill Catering. Cost: free for members, $40 for non-members. For more information and to register, visit westfieldbiz.org/events or call (413) 568-1618.

• Oct. 21: After 5 Connections, 5-7 p.m., hosted by East Mountain Country Club, 1458 East Mountain Road, Westfield. The event will include a cash bar, refreshments, and a 50/50 raffle to benefit the chamber scholarship fund. Bring your business cards and make connections. Cost: free for members. For more information and to register, visit westfieldbiz.org/events or call (413) 568-1618.

PROFESSIONAL WOMEN’S CHAMBER

www.springfieldregionalchamber.com

(413) 787-1555

• Oct. 17: Renaissance of Springfield Leadership Forum, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., hosted by Springfield Museums. Panelists will include female leaders in Springfield who will share their visions and contributions to the current Springfield renaissance. Kay Simpson, president of Springfield Museums, will moderate the panel. Cost: $35 for members, $40 for non-members. To register, e-mail [email protected].

SOUTH HADLEY & GRANBY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.shgchamber.com

(413) 532-6451

• Oct. 17: Business After 5, 5-7 p.m., hosted by TD Bank, Newton Street, South Hadley. Network with area businesses and business people. The event will include cider tastings, a cash bar, and light refreshments. Cost: $10 in advance, $15 at the door. Register online at shgchamber.com.

SPRINGFIELD REGIONAL CHAMBER

www.springfieldregionalchamber.com

(413) 787-1555

• Oct. 2: “Rise and Shine: Differentiate Yourself – It’s YOU They Buy,” 7:15-9 a.m., hosted by Crestview Country Club, 281 Shoemaker Lane, Agawam. Cost: $25 for members ($30 at the door), $35 general admission ($40 at the door). To register, visit www.springfieldregionalchamber.com, e-mail [email protected], or call (413) 755-1310.

• Oct. 25: Super 60, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., hosted by Chez Josef, 176 Shoemaker Lane, Agawam. Cost: $60 for members, $75 general admission. To register, visit www.springfieldregionalchamber.com, e-mail [email protected], or call (413) 755-1310.

WEST OF THE RIVER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.ourwrc.com

(413) 426-3880

• Oct. 14: Annual Scholarship/Business Grant Golf Tournament, hosted by Springfield Country Club, West Springfield. Registration at 11:30 a.m., lunch at noon, shotgun start at 1 p.m. Register online at www.westoftheriverchamber.com. For more information or tickets, contact the chamber office at (413) 426-3880 or [email protected].

• Oct. 23: Mingle with the Mayors VIP Luncheon, noon to 1:30 p.m., hosted by Carrabba’s Italian Grill, West Springfield. Join us for an update from the mayors of Agawam and West Springfield over lunch, and mingle with the mayors afterward during this private, VIP event. Seating is limited. For more information, contact the chamber office at (413) 426-3880 or [email protected].

• Nov. 7: Food Fest West, 5:30-8 p.m., hosted by Springfield Country Club, West Springfield. Local restaurants and eateries show off their cuisine at this well-attended event. Vote for your favorite restaurant. A DJ, raffle, and entertainment will round out this event. Proceeds raised by Food Fest West will go toward the Partnership for Education and the WRC Educational Fund, which provides grants to businesses for on-the-job training and continuing-education needs. Tickets may be purchased online at www.westoftheriverchamber.com. For more information, contact the chamber office at (413) 426-3880 or [email protected].

People on the Move

By BusinessWest Staff October 1, 2019

People on the Move

Michele Feinstein

Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin, P.C. announced that attorney Michele Feinstein, a shareholder in the firm, has been certified as an accredited estate planner (AEP) by the National Assoc. of Estate Planners & Councils (NAEPC). The AEP designation is a graduate-level, multi-disciplinary specialization in estate planning that requires estate-planning professionals to meet special education, experience, and knowledge requirements, as well as ongoing continuing-education requirements. The NAEPC is a national network of affiliated estate-planning councils and credentialed professionals. It includes more than 270 estate-planning councils and provides services to an estimated 30,000 individual members. It has nearly 2,000 active AEP designees with representation in nearly every state of the country. The professionals are typically within the accounting, insurance, legal, trust-services, philanthropic, or financial-planning fields, all of whom spend at least a third of the time on estate planning. In addition to estate-planning administration, Feinstein concentrates her practice in the areas of elder law, health law, and corporate and business planning, including all aspects of planning for the succession of business interests, representation of closely held businesses and their owners, and representation of physicians in their individual and group practices. Feinstein has received many professional recognitions, including repeated selection to Super Lawyers of Massachusetts, Top Women Attorneys of New England, Best Lawyers in America, and Top Women of Law by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.

•••••

The Amherst Business Improvement District (BID) recently announced Gabrielle Gould as its new executive director. Gould’s appointment followed a two-month search after the departure in May of long-time Executive Director Sarah la Cour. A recent Amherst transplant, Gould has extensive executive leadership background in the nonprofit sector with significant fundraising experience and a record of success in building successful organizations. Along with her husband, she has started and operated two successful small businesses on Nantucket and served as vice president for Business Development at Nantucket Bank. Gould and her family moved to Amherst this past January after 20 years as Nantucket residents. Since moving to Amherst, she has been active on the Jones Library SAMMYs events committee and the Amherst Regional Middle School PGO. According to Roberts, Gould’s early goals have been to familiarize herself with downtown landlords and businesses, institutional partners at UMass Amherst and Amherst College, and partners in Town Hall and the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce. She has also jumped headfirst into helping plan the BID’s fall events.

•••••

Tim Armstrong

Berkshire Design Group (BDG), a landscape-architecture, civil-engineering, and survey firm, recently welcomed Tim Armstrong, PLS in the role of survey manager. Armstrong comes to BDG with more than 20 years of land-survey experience, and has experience managing staff and data on small and large projects from local boundary surveys to interstate energy-transmission projects. Prior to joining BDG, he was the chief land surveyor at Hill Engineers, Architects, Planners in Dalton.

•••••

The Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield (YPS) board of directors elected Amie Miarecki, director of Community Relations at Sunshine Village, as the new board president. Miarecki is the former vice president and will serve a two-year term, succeeding Ashley Clark, Cash Management officer at Berkshire Bank, who has six years of board service and leadership, including a two-year term as president. As provided by the organization’s bylaws, Clark has reached her maximum consecutive years of board service and will remain an advisor to the board of directors. The YPS board of directors also elected Meredith Perri, High School Sports editor for MassLive, to a two-year term as the vice president, and Andrew Mankus, director of Operations for Residential Dining at UMass Amherst, to a two-year term as treasurer.

•••••

Joanne Marqusee

Greenfield Community College (GCC) recently welcomed Joanne Marqusee, president and CEO of Cooley Dickinson Health Care (CDHC), to its board of trustees. One of 11 trustees, she was officially appointed by Gov. Charlie Baker on Aug. 30 and will replace former trustee Elizabeth Sillin. Marqusee has been a respected healthcare leader for over three decades. Before coming to Cooley in 2014, she served as chief operating officer and executive vice president of Hallmark Health, after having spent 15 years at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston as senior vice president. With a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University, her career began in government, where she served in agencies including the New York City Health and Hospitals Corp. and the New York State Department of Health.

•••••

Michael Dias

LUSO Federal Credit Union announced the promotion of Michael Dias to assistant manager of its Ludlow and Wilbraham branches. In his new role, Dias will be responsible for overseeing member service and daily branch operations, as well as increasing business-development efforts. Dias began his banking career at LUSO as a Member Service representative in early 2018 and has most recently served as Member Service Department supervisor and lead VIP banker. In addition to his role at the credit union, he is working on obtaining his MBA in business analytics from Western New England University and serves on the board of directors for the Our Lady of Fatima Festival.

•••••

Brooke Thomson, most recently vice president of Government Affairs for AT&T and a former senior official with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office, will become executive vice president of Government Affairs at Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM). Thomson is no stranger to AIM. She has served as a member of the its board of directors and executive committee and chaired the board’s government affairs committee for the past year. She replaces John Regan, who took over as president and CEO of the 3,500-member business association in May. Thomson joined AT&T in 2013. Her duties for the telecommunications company include legislative and regulatory affairs in both Massachusetts and Rhode Island. She came to AT&T after six years in the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office, where she served as chief of the Business, Technology and Economic Development Division. Prior to that, she worked as legal counsel to the Massachusetts Legislature’s Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy. She is a graduate of Northeastern University School of Law and Mount Holyoke College. Her political experience includes managing the successful campaign of Martha Coakley for attorney general in 2010.

Company Notebook

By BusinessWest Staff October 1, 2019

Company Notebook

UMass Amherst Ranks 24th in U.S. News Rankings

AMHERST — UMass Amherst has climbed into the top 25 of the nation’s premier public universities, coming in 24th among the approximately 130 public institutions ranked in the “Best Colleges 2020” guide published by U.S. News & World Report. The Commonwealth’s flagship campus moved up two slots this year. With student success, graduation rates, and other key metrics on the rise, the university continued its ascent as one of the fastest-rising, top-tier public-research universities in the country, advancing from 52nd in 2010 to 24th in 2020. For six years running, UMass Amherst has been ranked in the top 30 public universities. UMass Amherst also ranks 64th in the U.S. News & World Report Best National Universities category, moving up six places from last year’s rankings among 312 public and private institutions rated by U.S. News. The U.S. News rankings are based on a variety of weighted factors: graduation rate, undergraduate academic reputation, faculty resources, graduation and retention rates, social mobility, alumni giving, financial resources, student selectivity, and high-school counselor ratings.

UMassFive Voted Best Credit Union in Poll

HADLEY — UMassFive College Federal Credit Union has once again been honored with the title of Best Credit Union in the Valley Advocate’s annual reader voting poll, extending its streak in the number-one position to 13 years in a row. The credit union was also favored in multiple categories in the Hampshire Gazette’s Reader’s Choice poll, where it took home the titles of Best Credit Union for the sixth year in a row, the Best Place to Get an Auto Loan, and Best Financial Planning. Jon Reske, vice president of Marketing, attributes UMassFive’s success in the polls to a company culture centered on personalized experience that has created a loyal community of members.

Hampshire College to Reinvent Its Academic Program This Fall

AMHERST — Hampshire College announced a major effort to reinvent its pioneering academic program, engaging its campus community and 12,000 alumni in ongoing meetings this fall and promising to publish a plan by November. The initiative, called Hampshire Launch, marks the college’s 50th anniversary next year and the launch of its second half-century. The effort is led by President Ed Wingenbach and supported by a campus planning group, who are facilitating weekly meetings with students, faculty, and staff, as well as virtual meetings with alumni. The intensive community discussions will lead to board of trustees action on a plan in October. The college is exploring new academic and financial models as it creates a vision and roadmap for its future, an effort critical to its admissions recruiting and fundraising. The goal is to produce an inspiring, realistic plan, which also exemplifies its identity and reputation as an experimenting college and presents a model for others in higher education. The academic plan will be accompanied by a sustainable financial plan.

Third Delaney’s Market Opens in Wilbraham

WILBRAHAM — The third Delaney’s Market store opened on Tuesday at 2030 Boston Road, Wilbraham. 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 wine and craft beers. Delaney’s Market strives to assist the busy individual or family that wants to eat a quality lunch or dinner at their home or office without the hassle of long prep times and/or high costs. The first Delaney’s Markey store opened in 2016 at the Longmeadow Shops in Longmeadow. The Springfield location opened just two months ago downtown on Main Street. One more store will open later this year in Westfield.

Elms College Ranks Highly in Northern Region, Social Mobility

CHICOPEE — Elms College ranks in the top half of schools in U.S. News & World Report’s 2020 list of Best Regional Universities (North). Elms College improved significantly in the 2020 rankings, moving to 86th among regional universities in the northern U.S. region, up from 99th in 2019. Elms College also was named in the top 20% (37th) among Regional Universities (North) in a new category, Top Performers on Social Mobility, which ranks schools for enrolling and graduating large proportions of students who have received federal Pell Grants. U.S. News ranks Elms College as a university because of changes to the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education’s basic classification system and the number of graduate programs Elms offers. The Carnegie categories are the accepted standard in U.S. higher education.

Springfield College Earns Top-20 Ranking from U.S. News

SPRINGFIELD — Springfield College has advanced into the top 20 in its category in the 2020 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings. In the Best Regional Universities – North category, Springfield College is ranked 19th. This year’s position represents a continuing rise in the rankings for Springfield College over the last 10 years. The college’s overall Best Colleges score has increased each year since the 2011 rankings. Also, Springfield College has moved up in the rankings in nine of the last 10 years, including jumping up nine spots from last year. The college has moved up 48 spots from its ranking in 2011. The college’s constant ranking in the top tier in its category is spurred by improved graduation rates and improved retention of first-year students. The ratings are based on such variables as peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, student selectivity, class size, alumni giving, and student-faculty ratio. Springfield College was also ranked 15th in its category of the U.S. News Best Values rankings that showcase colleges with high quality and a lower cost, up four spots from last year. This is the fourth consecutive year that Springfield College has been listed in the Best Values category, which takes into account a college’s academic quality and net cost of attendance. Springfield College was also ranked once again in the U.S. News A+ Schools for B Students category. Colleges in this category have strong ratings and accept a significant number of students with non-stratospheric transcripts.

Country Bank Recognized for Charitable Giving

WARE — Each year, the Boston Business Journal celebrates Massachusetts corporations and nonprofits for their contributions in giving back to communities in Massachusetts. During this year’s celebration held on Sept. 5, Country Bank was recognized as one of the Top Charitable Contributors in 2019 and received a Corporate Citizenship Award. A total of 105 companies were recognized during the evening; Country Bank ranked 62nd with total donations of $1 million to various nonprofits within the region. Country Bank employs 235 staff members within Hampden, Hampshire, and Worcester counties. In 2018, staff members actively promoted the bank’s mission of giving back to the communities they serve by volunteering more than 1,100 hours in community service.

UMass Amherst Startup a Winner in Technology Transfer Contest

AMHERST — Ernest Pharmaceuticals, a startup venture based at UMass Amherst’s Institute of Applied Life Sciences (IALS), is one of four companies to win $2,500 from the Massachusetts Technology Transfer Center (MTTC) in a business-pitch poster competition in Boston. This recognizes the groundbreaking young biotech firm as it brings its research on programmed bacteria that deliver anti-cancer treatment to tumors from lab to market. Ernest Pharmaceuticals CEO and bioengineer Nele Van Dessel presented the poster at MTTC’s 12th annual Massachusetts Life Sciences Innovation Day; the company was one among 30 vying for four prizes. She said she and co-founder Neil Forbes, a professor of Chemical Engineering at UMass Amherst, believe the company’s association with IALS has been a crucial factor in its steady success. Van Dessel, who earned a Ph.D. in bioengineering at home in Belgium, came to UMass Amherst looking specifically for Forbes after she read all his published papers on what she calls his unconventional but effective use of Salmonella bacteria to deliver cancer-busting compounds to kill metastatic breast cancer tumors from inside. Forbes named the company after his grandfather Ernest, who died of prostate cancer. Since co-founding Ernest Pharmaceuticals with Forbes, Van Dessel has talked with a large number of oncologists to learn where the greatest need is in cancer treatment today, in particular which metastatic diseases are the hardest to treat. In this way, she and Forbes identified an urgent need for new tools to treat metastatic liver, ovarian, and pancreatic cancers. Also benefiting from the UMass Amherst – IALS Business Innovation Fellows program, Ernest and three other campus startups received Small Business Innovation Research phase I grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health in 2018, bringing them into this year with significant funding.

United Way of Pioneer Valley Announces Thrive To Go!

SPRINGFIELD — The United Way of Pioneer Valley announced the expansion of its successful Thrive Financial Success Centers with Thrive to Go!, a mobile version of the same one-on-one financial coaching that has been available in Holyoke, Westfield, and Springfield. This free program served 585 low- to moderate-income residents of Hampden County last year and, with Thrive to Go!, aims to reach even more residents in a wider area within the United Way service footprint. At Thrive, the client works one-on-one with a financial coach, who offers assistance with setting financial goals, opening bank accounts, budgeting, building credit and credit repair, reviewing credit reports, debt reduction, building assets, referrals to social services, and assistance with income-support applications. Thrive provides services in a bundled, sequential manner so that clients can build on their knowledge for their future successes and goal completion.

Incorporations

By BusinessWest Staff October 1, 2019

Incorporations

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

AMHERST

Pre-Scientist Inc., 15 Smith St., Amherst, MA 01002. Lucy Madden, 125 London St. #2, East Boston, MA 02128. To connect scientists and students, to support and develop teachers and students, to raise awareness and educate the public about the challenges facing teachers and students in low-income communities.

BELCHERTOWN

Other Side Agronomy Inc., 44 Depot St., Belchertown, MA 01007. Emmet McMahon, 27-21 44th Dr., Apt. 2501, Long Island City, NY 11101.Agricultural endeavors.

EASTHAMPTON

Qiaoting USA Holding Inc., 63 Main St., Easthampton, MA 01027. Chenglan Lin, same. Restaurant investment and management.

GREAT BARRINGTON

Play to Lead Foundation Inc., 342 Main St., Great Barrington, MA 01230. Robert L.W. Mcgraw, same. To support youth athletics and athletes; and to provide leadership, development, and educational opportunities and training for student athletes.

Sisters for Peace Foundation Corp., 76 Townhouse Hill Road, Great Barrington, MA 01230. Caroline Ruth Wheeler, same. Empower women and girls through education, training, and community development.

HATFIELD

Precision Swabs of North America, Ltd., 95 Prospect St., Hatfield, MA 01038. James B. Finn, 526 East St., Easthampton, MA 01027. Manufacturing of industrial swabs.

HOLYOKE

Plush Beauty Studio Inc., 49 Cherry St., Holyoke, MA 01040. Rosa Pantoja, same. Esthetics and makeup.

NORTH ADAMS

North Branch Property Management & Development Inc., 40 River St., North Adams, MA 01247. North Branch Property Management. Property management and real estate development.

NORTHAMPTON

School Local Northampton Inc., 145 State St., Northampton, MA 01060. William Scher, same. To promote traditional public-school enrollment in Northampton.

PALMER

Sit, Stay, N’ Play Corp., 1 Chamber Road, Palmer, MA 01069. Shari-Ann Murphy, 6 Beverly St., Oxford, MA 01540. Pet daycare, boarding, and training.

PELHAM

Socrasoft Inc., 375 Amherst Road, Pelham, MA 01002. Daniel Levesque, 375 Amherst Road, Pelham, MA 01002. Technology services.

PITTSFIELD

Papa Joe’s Inc., 107 Newell St., Pittsfield, MA 01201. Cheryl A. Colombari, same. Restaurant.

SPRINGFIELD

Pioneer Valley Musicians and Artists Booster Network Inc., 120 Powell Ave., Springfield, MA 01118. Donna Lee A. Deprille, 117 Little River Road, Westfield, MA 01085. Provide and carry out a social and networking community which assists working artists and musicians in the Pioneer Valley.

WILBRAHAM

S and N Westfield Corporation, 19 Grove St., Wilbraham, MA 01095. Nirav Patel, same. Convenience store.

WILLIAMSTOWN

Real Global Blockchain Solutions Inc., 63 Spring St., Suite 2F, Williamstown, MA 01267. Joshua Fredette, same. Research, consulting, software development.

Doing Business as Certificates

By BusinessWest Staff October 1, 2019

DBA Certificates

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

AMHERST

All Around Handyman, LLC
278 Strong St.
Yosef Nimni

Debcor Homecare Inc.
19 Forestedge Road
Deborah Patulak

Made: Cozy
146 Shays St.
Haviland Justice, Oliver Reams

Touchpoints
409 Main St., #256
Katarina Hallonblad

BELCHERTOWN

New England Veterans’ Chamber of Commerce
219 Federal St.
Lisa Ann Ducharme

Relentless Towing & Recovery, LLC
111 Sargent St.
Travis Watts

Station 5 Salon Inc.
5 Jabish St.
Deborah Lowe

Tabs
69 Gold St.
Timothy Banks

TMD Automotive
147 Bay Road
Todd Diederich

CHICOPEE

Dance Party Productions
109 Jean Circle
David Klinkowski

Eric B. LaChapelle
94 Marion St.
Eric LaChapelle

Grid North Outdoors
54 Helen St.
Stephen Gallant

N.J. Sweeney Co.
340B Dale St.
Richard Sweeney

Sazón Latino
129 Broadway
Leonarda Mosquea

EASTHAMPTON

Attack Bear Press
107 Ferry St.
Jason Montgomery, Alexandra Woolner

EmbodyMind Therapeutics
89 Northampton St.
Danielle Martineau

EAST LONGMEADOW

Letourneau and Sons
57 Edmund St.
James Letourneau

O’Neil Baseball
10 Lessard Circle
Matthew O’Neil

PeoplesBank
201 North Main St.
PeoplesBank

White’s
41 Maple St.
Lewis White

GREENFIELD

Adhikara Yoga School
16 Federal St.
Molly Kitchen

Baystate Medical Practices Inc.
48 Sanderson St.
Kristin Delaney

D & D Ventures
161 High St.
Donna Mowry

Franklin Chiropractic Center
77 Mohawk Trail
Jeffrey Denny

JL Martial Arts, LLC
531 Country Club Road
Jeffrey Chaisson

Lawn Service, Etc.
24 Plantation Circle
Michael Terounzo

My Mary Way
44 Chapman St.
Mary Murphy

Smoke Heaven
239 Main St.
SS Dudes, LLC

Sojee Raymond
28 Federal St., Suite 3
Sojeong Raymond

Wicked Good Cleaning
10 Euclid Ave.
Fawn Kuzontkoski

HOLYOKE

Amedeo’s Pizza & Restaurant
8 North Bridge St.
Antonio DiBenedetto

MoBeauty Supply
50 Holyoke St.
Maureen Washington

Subway
330 Main St.
Daisy Florek

Walgreens #04967
1588 Northampton St.
Walgreen Eastern Co. Inc.

LONGMEADOW

Abracadabra Painting
189 Englewood Road
Bryan Kennedy

Armata’s
901 Shaker Road
Good Food People Inc.

Dandelion Counseling, PLLC
734 Longmeadow St.
Bonnie Connell

Gianna Brassill
945 Shaker Road
Gianna Brassill

LUDLOW

Lavoie Family Chiropractic
733 Chapin St., Suite 200C
Christopher Lavoie

Marta Law Offices
77 Winsor St.
Paulo Marta, Lori Marta

NORTHAMPTON

ARK Dental, LLC
41 Locust St.
Ali Kasemkhani

Bang Bang Body Arts
7 Armory St.
Tiffany Matrone

H2H
260 Main St.
Thomas Rozene

The Hempest
2 Conz St.
Northampton Enterprises Inc.

Hiffman National, LLC
766 North King St.
Hiffman Asset Management, LLC

Life Law Publishing
92 Laurel Park
Matthew Herschler

Lilly’s Restoration, LLC
11 Cedar St.
Dri Klibansky

New England Community for Emotionally Focused Therapy
53 Center St.
Nancy Knudsen

NGK Designs
206 South St.
Nanut Kaye

Symbols & Cymbals
415 Prospect St.
Nerissa Nields-Duffy

PALMER

Palmer Pro Bike Corp.
1438 North Main St.
Jeffrey Soja

Reflexology Inc.
1026 Central St.
Zhanhua Wu

Thorndike Mills and Martin Importing
25 Ware St.
Mitchell Garabedian, Edward Garabedian, Anna Garabedian

SOUTHWICK

ACO Masonry, Heating & Air Conditioning
14 Hillside Road
Adam Quimette

Alison Marie Photography
208 College Highway, Suite H
Alison Alger

William Russell Photography
105 Coes Hill Road
William Gorman Jr.

SPRINGFIELD

Bossibella
112 Victoria St.
Anita Sorrell

Bravo’s Painting & Power Washing
38 Brookline Ave., Apt. 2
Osman Gabino Bravo

Bumpy’s Natural and Organic Foods
908-914 Allen St.
Derryl Gibbs

Cantina Curbside Grill
1242 Main St., Suite 211
Rashad Ali

Casino Island Bar
One MGM Way
Blue Tarp Redevelopment, LLC

Dewdney Enterprises
36 Kimberly Ave.
Anthony Dewdney

Erica’s Tax Services
26 Weymouth St.
Erica Floyd

Four Seasons Buffet
1714 Boston Road
Liyu Qui

Franklin Market
412 Franklin St.
Zahoor Haq

Good Karma Eco-Cleaning
93 West Canton Circle
Holly Paquette

The Greenhouse
170 Lucerne Road
Shavonne Lewis

J & D Polishing & Deburring
33 Mohawk Dr.
Dennis Nelson

Legend TV Co.
34 Front St.
James Cummings

Likkle Jamaican Cuisine
664 Page Blvd.
Caroll Cohen

Liranzo Mini Market
544 Worthington St.
Andrea Liranzo

The Markens Group Inc.
1350 Main St.
Bennett Markens

OneDigital Health and Benefits
1500 Main St.
Digital Insurance, LLC

Plaza Bar
One MGM Way
Blue Tarp Redevelopment, LLC

Raven’s Loft
115 Sumner Ave.
Stephanie Erbe

Savmore Auto Repair
351 East Columbis Ave.
Vladimir Krokhmalyuk

Springfield Diocesan Cemeteries
421 Tinkham Road
Joseph Kostek

WESTFIELD

B-Ton Construction Inc.
120 Mullen Ave.
Olessya Kondrotyev

CBD413
13 Dubois St.
Andrew Carmel

Chris’ Lawncare & More
54 Rosedell Dr.
Christopher Fay

J. Cruz Consulting
137 Whitaker Road
Jose Cruz

J. Goss Construction
12 Glenwood Dr.
Jarrod Goss

L.J. Avionics
1430 Russell Road, Apt. 14
Pablo Marquez

State of Art HVAC
20 Pauline Lane
Dustin Cupak

WEST SPRINGFIELD

Metro by T-Mobile
935 Riverdale St.
Brian Conway

Rite Aid #10061
99 Westfield St.
Michelle Mazzenga

Royal Nails
935 Riverdale St.
Hoang Vo

Speedway #2496
341 Memorial Ave.
Speedway, LLC

Verizon Wireless
1123 Riverdale St.
Karen Shipman

WILBRAHAM

Murray Financial Group
2341 Boston Road, Unit A120A
Kevin Murray

The Scented Garden Gift Shop
2341 Boston Road, Unit A110
Sandra Polom

Bankruptcies

By BusinessWest Staff October 1, 2019

Bankruptcies

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

Allsop, Jennifer A.
735 Memorial Dr., #4
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/20/19

Bernier, Robert J.
36 A Hadley Village Road
South Hadley, MA 01075
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/27/19

Boynton, Deborah A.
1501B North Main St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/27/19

Cheeseboy, LLC
264 Main St., Unit A
Great Barrington, MA 01230
Chapter: 11
Filing Date: 08/27/19

Cini, Becket E.
a/k/a Cini-Drury, Becket
119 Sheri Lane
Agawam, MA 01001
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/27/19

Dusty, James G.
Dusty, Karen L.
PO Box 1598
Warren, MA 01083
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/20/19

Elliott, Kristin A.
1105 James St.
Chicopee, MA 01022
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/21/19

Galica, Vanessa L.
P.O. Box 842
Palmer, MA 01069
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 08/27/19

Guindon-Couture, Jennifer A.
59 Hampden St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 08/20/19

Hammond, Susan M.
PO Box 143
Ashfield, MA 01330
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/28/19

Harris, Isaiah L.
99 Commonwealth Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/28/19

Hernandez, Rio
Hernandez, Kasira Jerena
73 Barrett St., #5188
Northampton, MA 01060
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/20/19

Hume, Bethanie L.
a/k/a Hume-Easton, Bethanie L.
124 Log Plain Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 08/21/19

Kane, Sean P.
904 Brimfield Road
Warren, MA 01083
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/19/19

Karella, Anthony Henry
Karella, Linda Louise
78 East St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/20/19

King, Lillian J.
41 Everett Ave., Apt. 20B
Belchertown, MA 01007
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/27/19

Landry, Christopher J.
83 Shady Knoll Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/20/19

Lapointe, Jonathan D.
140 Chestnut St., Apt. 310
Springfield, MA 01103
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/26/19

Lebel, Angela M.
29 Bourne St.
Three Rivers, MA 01080
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/21/19

Manley, Katelyn E.
172 Maple St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/19/19

Manning, Christopher S.
27 Shoemaker Lane
Agawam, MA 01001
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/27/19

McIntosh, Mellesha M.
a/k/a Brooks, Mellesha M.
121 Wayne St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 08/28/19

Neuhlin, Jeffrey R.
50 Lehigh St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/20/19

Pacitti, Diane F.
19 Pilgrim Road
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/23/19

Paul, Daniel L.
14 Blodgett St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/26/19

Przybyla, Celina Irene
45 Depot St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 08/19/19

Raineault, Laura A.
157 Haven Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/20/19

Serrazina, Rui
726 Franklin St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 08/27/19

Sikandar, Nadeem
22 Crestview Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/26/19

Vicente, Andres
Rodriguez, Amparo
20 Gerard Way, Apt. G
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 08/23/19

Zalucki, Gerald
Zalucki, Suzanne L.
2 Canal Dr.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 08/23/19

Building Permits

By BusinessWest Staff October 1, 2019

Building Permits

The following building permits were issued during the month of August 2019.

AMHERST

Amherst College
220 South Pleasant St.
$512,522 — Replace existing air-handling unit

Jones Properties, LP
34 Spring St.
$29,000 — Roofing

Northampton Cooperative Bank
390 College St.
$6,600 — Replace cubicle wall with wall to ceiling, fixed laminate glass with door

Northland Builders, LLC
188 East Hadley Road, Unit 156A
$40,000 — Office renovation

Sixty-Nine Ninety-One Main St.
79-91 Main St.
$48,750 — Roofing

Slobody Development Corp.
85 University Dr.
$374,000 — Build-out existing building for medical-marijuana facility

Town of Amherst
76 Mill Lane
$1,000,000 — Demolish and install playscapes, splash pad, new walk, trees, landscaping, shed, pavilion, and three shade sails at Groff Park

Trolley Barn Development, LLC
68 Cowls Road
$6,000 — HVAC work

CHICOPEE

672 Fuller, LLC
672 Fuller Road
$11,625 — Retrofit existing sprinkler system to new tenant fit-out

Meadow Street Partners, LLP
307 Meadow St.
$15,000 — Install partition wall, install new overhead door, replace two existing overhead doors

Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield
534 Front St.
$594,820 — Roof replacement at St. Stanislaus School

DEERFIELD

Eaglebrook
259 Pine Nook Road
$8,500 — Shed

EASTHAMPTON

Eastworks, LLP
116 Pleasant St.
Install projecting wall sign

Hilltown Cooperative Charter Public School
1 Industrial Parkway
Install wall sign

EAST LONGMEADOW

Ronald Paasch, M.D.
265B Benton Dr.
$3,600 — Sign at Pioneer Spine & Sports Physicians

Town of East Longmeadow
175 Mapleshade Ave.
$96,000 — Doors at Mapleshade School

Town of East Longmeadow
150 Somers Road
$6,782 — Roof overlay at Fire Department

GREENFIELD

Community Action of the Franklin, Hampshire, and North Quabbin Regions, LLC
326 Deerfield St.
$29,646 — Install solar panels on roof

Greenfield Dental
126 High St.
Erect free-standing sign

Greenfield KMW, LLC
107 Verde Dr.
$10,000 — Install ductwork

HADLEY

Amherst Development Assoc., LLC
329 Russell St.
$25,000 — Telecommunications equipment swap

I.M. Real Estate, LLC
10 Mill Valley Road
$1,800 — Roofing

W/S Hadley Properties II, LLC
353 Russell St.
$4,000 — Wall-mounted sign

W/S Hadley Properties II, LLC
7 South Maple St.
$291,000 — New tenant fit-out for fitness gym

LENOX

Davidson Family Nominee Trust
2 Crystal St.
$1,500 — Replace back stairs

MRG CRW Holdings, LLC
55 Lee Road
$10,000 — Install fire-suppression systems in kitchens

Valley Mill Corp.
60 Willow Creek Road
$200,000 — Construct new garage as accessory to Lenox Valley Waste Transfer Facility

LONGMEADOW

Bell Atlantic Mobile of Mass. Corp., Ltd.
307 Academy Dr.
$20,000 — Removing antennas and remote radio units; install antennas, remote radio units, and hybrid fiber cables

GPT Longmeadow, LLC
674 Bliss Road
$137,772 — Convert tenant space to med spa

GPT Longmeadow, LLC
722 Bliss Road
$4,500 — New sign for Posto Restaurant

NORTHAMPTON

Richard Cooper, Catherine Cooper
3 Main St.
$20,000 — Demolish bike shop

Kendrick Properties
53 Clark Ave.
$22,400 — Repair columns in basement

Northampton Montessori Society
51 Bates St.
$8,766 — Remove modular building

Safe Journey, LLC
13 Munroe St.
$63,000 — Enclose existing porch for three-season room

SPRINGFIELD

600 Berkshire Ave., LLC
616 Berkshire Ave.
$30,000 — Demolish building

600 Berkshire Ave., LLC
616 Berkshire Ave.
$24,000 — Demolish building

Tania Barber
142 Hancock St.
$28,000 — Modify commercial building for use as a church

Boston Road/Pasco Rt. 20 Retail, LLC
1340 Boston Road
$70,000 — Partial demolition of front and rear portions of former carpet warehouse

J & J Verge Street, LLC
190 Verge St.
$43,565 — Alter interior space at Fighting Arts Academy for architectural access compliant restrooms, small changing room, and mechanical room

Liberty Medical Building Associates
125 Liberty St.
$17,623 — Alter former office space for new accessible toilet room and replace two door openings with accessible doors on first floor

RR & Co.
169 Maple St.
$38,785 — Roofing

Springfield Investors, LLC
1105 Boston Road
$225,000 — Alter commercial tenant space for use as dental office

WARE

Kanzaki Specialty Paper Co.
20 Cummings St.
$10,500 — Remove and replace stairs and platforms

ReEnergy Ware, LLC
198 East St.
$25,000 — Modify equipment for T-Mobile at existing cell site

WEST SPRINGFIELD

274 Westfield Street, LP
274 Westfield St.
$38,000 — Remove and replace exterior doors with sliders

Agri-Mark Inc.
958 Riverdale St.
$209,965 — Remove and dispose of three silos, replace concrete slabs, reconfigure catwalks, install new access ladder, install new silos

Anderson Cleaning Realty, LLC
103 Wayside Ave.
$50,000 — Update old offices and kitchenette; remove and replace doors, trim, toilets, and vanities; patch and paint drywall; clean HVAC

Balise Automotive Realty
122 Doty Circle
$82,500 — Roofing

Briarwood Fifteen, LLC
109 Ashley Ave.
$60,000 — Roofing

Century Investment Co.
95 Ashley Ave.
$15,000 — Erect walls to separate office spaces, add individual entrances

Eastern States Exposition
1305 Memorial Ave.
$45,000 — Construct partitions, replace exterior doors

Westside 55 Circuit, LLC
55 Circuit Ave.
$12,000 — Remove and dispose of silos and conveyor from west side of building

WILBRAHAM

Kyung Won Kim
Stony Hill Road
$61,595 — Roofing

Trending Now

Walking Her Way

Achievements of Note

A Different Tune

Charting Progress

A Novel Approach to Co-working

Volume Business

Tale End

Reaching the Summit

SEE: List of Financial Services/ Brokerage Firms

Upward Mobility

Peak Performance

Getting to the Top

The #MeToo Movement Has Vast Implications in This Sector

SEE: List of Law Firms

Raising Their Game

Lacing ’em Up

Community Goals

Community Spotlight

Fun in the Sun

Southwick at a glance

Change Is Good

Best of Times, Worst of Times

Baiting the Hook

How to Ensure Your Hiring Process Stinks

Reeling Them In

Stay the Course

What to Expect When…

Intersection of the FMLA

Leave Employees on Leave Alone

Final Thoughts

Mediation: Art of Compromise

Mediator’s Opening Statement

Parties’ Opening Statements

Joint Discussion

Private Caucuses

Joint Negotiation

Closure

Conclusion

Striking a Chord

For Sale, for Lease

A listing of available commercial real estate properties

Opinion

Dig In

Sweet Harvest

Car Wash for a Good Cause

Launching Women Luncheon

Revitalizing a Community

Open for Business

New Life for the Pedlar

Climate Strike

Back(pack) to School

Bridging the Generations

FRANKLIN SUPERIOR COURT

HAMPDEN DISTRICT COURT

HAMPDEN SUPERIOR COURT

HAMPSHIRE SUPERIOR COURT

WESTFIELD DISTRICT COURT

Aeron Chair Hockey Tournament

Jazz Brunch

EforAll Berkshire County Caravan, Pitch Contest

Series on Elder Law, Estate Planning

Healthcare Heroes Gala

Unify Against Bullying Awards, Fashion Show

Business Woman of the Year Celebration

Women of Impact Luncheon

EAST OF THE RIVER FIVE TOWN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

GREATER EASTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

GREATER NORTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

GREATER WESTFIELD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

PROFESSIONAL WOMEN’S CHAMBER

SOUTH HADLEY & GRANBY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

SPRINGFIELD REGIONAL CHAMBER

WEST OF THE RIVER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

UMass Amherst Ranks 24th in U.S. News Rankings

UMassFive Voted Best Credit Union in Poll

Hampshire College to Reinvent Its Academic Program This Fall

Third Delaney’s Market Opens in Wilbraham

Elms College Ranks Highly in Northern Region, Social Mobility

Springfield College Earns Top-20 Ranking from U.S. News