Day: January 20, 2020

SPRINGFIELD — MassHire Springfield Career Center held a grand opening celebration at its new facility on Jan. 14. Located on the third floor of 95 Liberty St., the larger space better serves job seekers and business customers, due to more efficient flow of people through the space, improved meeting rooms, an upgraded computer lab, increased internet speed, and better wi-fi coverage.

Kevin Lynn, executive director of MassHire Springfield Career Center, said the new facility was well-received. “People were excited to the see our upgrades and their impact on our customers. The professional environment sends a positive message about our mission to develop our local workforce.”

About 125 people attended the event, which included guided tours of the 13,200-square-foot facility. The career center offers a variety of services designed to meet the needs of customers. People looking to advance their career can take advantage of job-search and computer-skills training workshops, and also learn about career-training programs. Businesses can post jobs at no cost as well as participate in various recruiting activities and programs.

MassHire Springfield Career Center serves 12,000 job seekers and more than 600 businesses annually. Opened as FutureWorks Career Center in 1996, a rebranding under the MassHire name took place in September 2018 as part of a statewide effort to unify the workforce-development system.

SPRINGFIELD — Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) will offer a certified auto-damage appraisal course for insurance-claims professionals and auto-body technicians beginning Feb. 4.

The 60-hour course is the first step to becoming an auto-damage appraiser in Massachusetts. The training through STCC’s Workforce Development Center prepares students for the exam to be a licensed appraiser.

Classes will be held Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., through April 9.

Approved by the Massachusetts Division of Insurance, the training offers an in-depth discussion of insurance regulations, policy arbitration, and work-completion forms. The instructor has more than 40 years of experience in the collision-repair and insurance industry in Massachusetts and Connecticut and holds auto-appraiser licenses in both states. The course will include the use of flat-rate manual, collision diagnosis, cost estimation, and preparation of written estimates.

To become licensed, students will need to complete the course and a three-month apprenticeship with a licensed Massachusetts automobile appraiser. In addition, they will need to obtain a certified letter verifying the apprenticeship. The apprenticeship must be completed prior to applying to take the Massachusetts Automobile Damage Appraisers License Examination.

For more information and to enroll online, visit www.stcc.edu/autoappraisal. To contact the Workforce Development Center Office, call (413) 755-4225.

CHICOPEE — The Borgia Gallery at Elms College will present an exhibition of artwork by Andrae and Priya Nadkarni Green, married painters from Springfield.

“Ambidextrous” will be on display in the gallery from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, Feb. 4 to March 2, except college holidays and school closures. An opening reception will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 4 from noon to 1 p.m. 

“After working on their individual practices over the past decade or more, Andrae and Priya are now showing their work together for the first time,” said Borgia Gallery Curator Cecily Hughes. “The exhibition began at two locations in Springfield last year and continues to various locations in the region, including Elms College.” 

Andrae and Priya have been married for the better part of the last decade. Although they work separately in their respective styles, they find inspiration in similar experiences and concepts. The couple recently began working together through public art projects, teaching together, as well as challenging each other to ‘paint battles’ where they both paint the same image in their own styles. 

This exhibition celebrates the spirit of competition, camaraderie, and partnership. Each time the show travels, the work changes, and it is a chance to see their works in conversation with each other — to observe the similarities, differences, and the overall effect of the two bodies of work in harmony.

Admission to the Borgia Gallery is free and open to the public. The gallery is located on the second floor of the Dooley College Center on the Elms College campus at 291 Springfield St. in Chicopee.

SPRINGFIELD — The Western Massachusetts Lions will hold its 61st annual Midwinter Convention on Friday, Jan. 24 through Sunday, Jan. 26 at the Sheraton Springfield. Lions is an international service organization that serves its local community and supports programs within the region, state, and internationally. One of the primary goals supported by Lions worldwide is to end preventable blindness and support the hearing impaired.

In keeping with this goal, the Western Massachusetts Lions will offer a free vision pre-screening during its Midwinter Convention. Members of the community from age 2 through adult can attend this pre-screening, to be held on Saturday, Jan. 25 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the third-floor lobby of the Sheraton Springfield, located at One Monarch Place.

This pre-screening can help detect seven vision problems, including nearsightedness, farsightedness, blurred vision, unequal refractive power, eye misalignment, unequal pupil size, and lazy eye. The screening is done with the use of a non-invasive scanning device and takes only seconds to complete. If a vision problem is indicated, a report is generated for the individual to take to an eye-care professional for further testing and correction.

Lions supports any individual who may need financial assistance with vision and/or hearing services. No appointment is necessary for this pre-screening. Parking for the event is the responsibility of the attendee.