Day: November 24, 2020

Berkshire County COVID-19 Adaptation Fund to Benefit Small Businesses

By
Daily News

PITTSFIELD — The Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC), in partnership with the office of state Sen. Adam Hinds, announced the availability of grant funds through the Berkshire County COVID-19 Adaptation Fund. Grants through this program will help businesses and organizations with up to 25 employees address expenses incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Applicants may use funds to cover a range of eligible expenses, including the purchase of PPE and other COVID adaptation supplies, as well as general business expenses such as rent, utilities, payroll, or insurance. BRPC will begin accepting applications online on Tuesday, Dec. 1.

This program will be available to both for-profit and nonprofit small businesses in Berkshire County, with maximum grant awards ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 depending on the number of employees. Preference will be given to applications from BIPOC (black, indigenous, and people of color) owned businesses.

“We understand that this current public-health and economic crisis has had an outsized impact on communities of color,” BRPC Executive Director Thomas Matuszko said. “We urge minority-owned businesses to apply for these funds and will look to issue awards as quickly as possible.”

BRPC is currently also helping to administer two regional Community Development Block Grant programs specific to for-profit businesses with five or fewer employees and low- to moderate-income owners.

The fund will also consider applications of up to $15,000 from established nonprofit organizations to support programs aimed at supporting individuals and groups of individuals impacted economically by COVID-19. Organizations seeking to apply for programmatic support should contact the BRPC directly by e-mailing Senior Planner Laura Brennan at [email protected].

Program details, including additional information about eligible expenses, are available on the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission website at www.berkshireplanning.org.

Pellegrini, Seeley, Ryan & Blakesley Donates 250 Turkeys to Gray House

By
Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — On Nov. 23, the law firm Pellegrini, Seeley, Ryan and Blakesley donated and helped distribute 250 frozen turkeys to aid the Gray House in its efforts to feed families in Springfield.

“The mission of the Gray House is critical to our community,” Partner Earl Seeley III said. “We wanted to do what we could to further their efforts and help make Thanksgiving brighter for the people they serve.”

Partner Charlie Casartello added that “the need to help people overcome food insecurity is more acute now than ever. Everyone deserves a great Thanksgiving dinner, and we were happy to have the opportunity to pass out the turkeys to our neighbors and wish everyone a happy holiday.”

Attorneys from the firm were on hand to personally distribute the turkeys to individuals who had signed up with the charity to receive one.

Pellegrini, Seeley, Ryan and Blakesley is a law firm of more than 15 lawyers who devote their practice to protecting the rights of injured individuals.

Bay Path University Welcomes Prospective Students to Visit Campus in Person

By
Daily News

LONGMEADOW — Bay Path University announced it will again welcome prospective students and their families to visit the Longmeadow campus in person. Tours will be available at designated times Monday through Saturday, and reservations must be made in advance. Detailed safety protocols will be in place to ensure the health and safety of all participants.

“We’re thrilled to welcome prospective students and their families back to campus to experience first-hand what makes Bay Path so special,” said Sarah Wisnouskas, director of Recruitment Events for Bay Path University. “We’ve spent months building and testing our COVID protocols to ensure that we can offer these tours safely. There’s nothing like walking a campus to feel the culture and climate of a college or university, and we’re confident that we can offer these tours in a way that prioritizes what is always our number-one goal — keeping students safe and cared for.”

When allowing visitors on campus, Bay Path will follow the guidelines set forth by the state of Massachusetts; as such, not all buildings will be available to tour.

To schedule an in-person campus visit, or for more information on visitation requirements, log onto baypath.edu/visit. For those prospective students or families who wish to tour campus virtually, individual guided virtual campus tours are still being held Monday through Friday. Check out baypath.edu/visit for more information or to schedule a virtual appointment.

Liberty Mutual Lends Support to Square One Campaign for Healthy Kids

By
Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Liberty Mutual Insurance is the latest corporation to lend its support to Square One’s Campaign for Healthy Kids — a multi-year fund-development initiative focused on the agency’s commitment to providing healthy meals, physical fitness, social-emotional well-being, and a healthy learning environment.

The $3,000 gift comes at a critical time as Square One recently expanded its early-education program to include full-day remote learning support for children in kindergarten through grade 5, in addition to its traditional preschool classrooms, family childcare offerings, and family-support services.

“The vital services the Square One team provide to the community on a daily basis have taken on a whole new level of importance during this unprecedented time,” said Beth Green, Liberty Mutual Insurance Contact Center Operations associate. “Early education is one of the most effective ways to improve a child’s long-term security and well-being, and the services offered by Square One are core to Liberty Mutual’s values of being there for people when they need us most. We are honored to help them fulfill their commitment to provide high-quality early education and a safe and healthy community for Springfield’s children.”

Added Kristine Allard, vice president of Development & Communication at Square One, “having the support of our business community is absolutely vital to our success in supporting children and families. We are so grateful to Liberty Mutual for recognizing the importance of our work and the need to support us financially. The past few months have greatly reinforced the demand for our programs and services. With that growing demand and the unanticipated COVID-related expenses — including providing full-day support during remote learning — we have a tremendous need to expand our donor base.”

Square One currently provides early-learning services to more than 500 infants, toddlers, and school-age children each day, and family support-services to 1,500 families each year, as they work to overcome the significant challenges in their lives. To make a donation, text ABC123 to 44-321, visit www.startatsquareone.org, or e-mail Allard at [email protected].

Iron Duke, Ludlow Mills Script an Unlikely Plot Twist

By
Nick Morin, founder of Iron Duke Brewing
Cover Story

A Turnaround Story

Nick Morin, founder of Iron Duke Brewing

Nick Morin, founder of Iron Duke Brewing, in the old stockhouse at Ludlow Mills that will remain home to his venture.

Nick Morin says he and his team are looking forward to the day when they can devote all their time and energy to just brewing beer and working on the business plan.

They’re getting closer all the time.

Indeed, after several years of court battles involving their lease at the Ludlow Mills complex and another legal fight Morin is trying to avoid involving Duke University and the name currently over the brewery — Iron Duke — there appears to be light at the end of the tunnel.

“We’re looking forward to taking all that money we were spending on lawyers and putting it back into the business and creating an experience here that’s unlike anything else in Western Mass.”

And it is certainly a welcome sight.

“We’re looking forward to being less legal-focused and doing all the fun things for our business here and out in the world that we’ve been wanting to do for years,” he told BusinessWest. “We’re looking forward to taking all that money we were spending on lawyers and putting it back into the business and creating an experience here that’s unlike anything else in Western Mass.”

It’s been more than eight years since Morin, a mechanical engineer by trade who made brewing beer his hobby and then decided to make it his vocation, started walking along the banks of the Chicopee River with his wife after relocating to Ludlow and remarking how the mostly vacant Ludlow Mills would be the ideal place to start and then grow his business.

The Iron Duke name

The Iron Duke name will have to change soon in an effort to avoid another legal battle — this one with Duke University — but the bootprint, and the mailing address, won’t.

He’s now there, expansion plans are on the table and on his computer, and the brewery is positioned to be a permanent, and important, part of the landscape. But getting to this point didn’t exactly go according to plan.

Not even close.

Instead, as mentioned, what seemed like a good story on every level turned dark in many ways as Iron Duke and landlord Westmass Area Development Corp. first had a disagreement over terms in the lease, and then fought for 18 months in court over just what the language in the contract meant.

When a judge eventually ruled that Iron Duke could finish out its lease, which expired earlier this month, what that did was eventually buy everyone some time and allow them to write what two years ago would have seemed like a very unlikely story.

Long story shorter, the two sides came to an agreement whereby Iron Duke would not only stay, but be a vital cog in the ongoing efforts by those at Westmass to make the mills not simply a home for small businesses — and residents as well — but a destination of sorts.

How did this stunning turnaround happen? Morin sums it up this way.

“We found that, although the lawyers served their purpose, just having a person-to-person conversation and understanding where each party was coming from was huge; we found some common ground,” he explained. “It was a kind of a Hail Mary, and it was a tough negotiation because there was a lot of bad blood between the two organizations at that point. But we actually had more in common with our visions than we thought.”

Jeff Daley, who was named executive director of Westmass roughly a year ago and picked up these negotiations from Bryan Nicholas, who served as interim director after the sudden passing of Eric Nelson in the spring of 2019, agreed.

“There were some bitter feelings, but Nick and I quickly agreed to operate without rear-view mirrors,” Daley explained. “We put the seatbelts on, moved forward rapidly to get them in there long term, and have an understanding that we’re going to work together to get the best for the tenant and the landlord.”

As he talked with BusinessWest, Morin grabbed his laptop and clicked his way to an architect’s images of a two-story, permanent structure that will reside where a tented beer garden, erected last summer, now sits. He expects work to start soon and be completed by next spring or summer.

As for Duke University, Morin is in the final stages of changing the company’s name to avoid another expensive court fight, this one with a university with very deep pockets and the willingness to protect its brand — that word ‘Duke’ — from any and all infringement (more on that later).

About the only thing standing in the way of Iron Duke now is COVID-19. And while it poses a series of challenges and has reduced draft sales of the company’s products by roughly 70% because bars and restaurants are not open or have cut hours way back, Morin believes the company can ride out that storm as well.

For this issue, BusinessWest takes a look back at what has been a rough ride for Iron Duke — and ahead to what promises to be, as they say in this business, a smoother pour.

 

Ale’s Well That’s Ends Well

As he talked with BusinessWest at the bar in Iron Duke’s taproom on a quiet Wednesday, Morin, a safe six feet away, referenced the one place at that end, officially outlined with blue tape, at which one could sit because of social-distancing measures forced by COVID-19.

“That space over there is too close to those tables,” he said, gesturing with his hand to another portion of the bar. “And this space here is too close to people sitting over there; it’s a no-fly zone. This is only place you can sit at. It can be a little lonely, I guess, but people still like it.”

The fact that this conversation was taking place where it was — and that there were lines of blue tape all over the bar — could be considered remarkable. And maybe 18 months ago, it would have been, well, pretty much unthinkable.

Back then, it seemed as if what started as a good marriage was going to end up in a messy, very public divorce, with Iron Duke brewing beer in Wilbraham, and Westmass looking to fill a vacancy and move on from what had become a public-relations problem.

And then … things changed.

As we retell the story of how we got here, and where we go from here, we need to go back a little further, to those walks Morin had with his wife along the river.

“My wife and I started a family about a half-mile from here,” he noted. “We used to walk our dog back here and talk about — as most in Ludlow did at the time — how it was a shame that this whole property was in the shape it was. When we put together our business plan, it just made sense to grow it here, in the town where we lived and close to our house.”

Iron Duke Brewing has added a food truck

Iron Duke Brewing has added a food truck and tented beer garden at its Ludlow location, and soon will commence work on a permanent, two-tiered beer garden that will overlook the Chicopee River.

He initiated talks with the previous owner of the sprawling complex in late 2012, and discussions accelerated after Westmass acquired the property, because with that purchase came ambitious talk of redeveloping the mills into a multi-purpose destination that would include residential, business, healthcare, and other uses.

“We wanted to be part of it because we had big plans for our small business,” said Morin, adding that what would eventually become a highly scrutinized and much-debated seven-year lease agreement was inked in late 2013.

What followed was a year and a half of construction in one of the many so-called stockhouses on the property, the century-old, high-ceilinged, 6,000-square-foot facilities in which raw materials — jute plants — were hung and dried for production in the mill complex.

The brewery officially opened on Thanksgiving Eve in 2014.

“We hit the ground running — that first year is a bit of a blur,” he recalled, noting that he quit his job that month as a mechanical engineer and made brewing his vocation — and his passion. The company steadily grew, drawing customers to its taproom in the mill and also putting its various products in cans and bottles, which were available at bars, restaurants, and some package stores.

Things were going pretty much according to the script laid out in the business plan until 2015, when the company started hitting some speed bumps, as Morin called them.

They came in for the form of differences of opinion regarding just what the lease allowed at the premises.

“We found ourselves being backed into a corner regarding our business and a disagreement over what we could do here and what we were doing here at our Ludlow location,” said Morin. “That’s how lawyers got involved — the interpretation of the lease itself.”

Elaborating, he said it all came down to one paragraph and its two sentences regarding the use of the premises and consumption of beer on and off the property. Cutting to the chase, he said Westmass held the view that such consumption would be limited — or at least more limited than what Iron Duke had in mind and needed for its venture to succeed.

“It was a kind of a Hail Mary, and it was a tough negotiation because there was a lot of bad blood between the two organizations at that point. But we actually had more in common with our visions than we thought.”

“That escalated from a conversation to litigation once the lawyers got involved,” he went on, adding that the court fight lasted from January 2016 to the summer of 2017. Westmass wanted Iron Duke evicted from the property, a fate that would have effectively scuttled the business, Morin said.

“We had already leveraged everything we had to open here in Ludlow the first time around,” he told BusinessWest. “We’re self-financed; myself and my family, we put everything we had into this. To build a brewery once was everything we had — to build it twice was something we couldn’t afford.

“We were only left with closing or fighting this thing out to save our business, so that’s what we did — we fought for a good chunk of time,” he went on, adding that the protracted and very expensive legal fight pushed Iron Duke to the very brink financially, and it only survived because of the strong and constant support from its customers.

 

Lager Than Life

That fight ended with a judge ruling that Iron Duke could essentially ride out its lease operating as it was, Morin recalled, adding that, not long after that decision, he bought property in Wilbraham with the intention of moving the company there when the lease expired — right around now, actually.

Instead, the company is staying put in Ludlow. After the passing of Nelson in the spring of 2019, discussions ensued with his immediate successor, Nicholas, who was with Westmass when Iron Duke originally signed its lease in 2013 and played a role in those negotiations. And those talks continued with Daley.

They weren’t easy negotiations, Morin said, noting that there was still considerable baggage to contend with. But, as noted above, both sides concluded they had more to gain by coming together on another lease than they did by parting ways and letting the next chapters of this story develop in Wilbraham.

“We came to common ground realizing that we’re better off with each other than we are apart,” Daley said. “It’s a great relationship now, and I think it’s going to be an even better relationship going forward; I’m excited for their future, and I’m glad they stayed at the Ludlow Mills.”

Morin agreed. From the beginning, he noted, the company wanted to be an integral part of the growth and development of the Ludlow Mills complex, and this mission, if it can be called that, had been somehow lost in the midst of the protracted legal battle.

“We always had envisioned ourselves as a showcase of what they could do with the old property here, and a lot of that, through the litigation and the filtering of what we do through other parties, just got lost,” he explained. “And once we had the opportunity to show them the plans that we had — we were going to spend millions of dollars in Wilbraham to build a showcase facility — both sides started asking, ‘why not just stay where we are?’”

So now, the company is just about at the point where it always wanted to be — focused entirely on business and its expansion plans.

“We always had envisioned ourselves as a showcase of what they could do with the old property here, and a lot of that, through the litigation and the filtering of what we do through other parties, just got lost.”

There is still the matter of Duke University and its demands that the brewery change its name. Morin has decided that, even though he has a good amount invested in ‘Iron Duke’ — literally and figuratively — this is not a fight he’s willing to wage at this time.

“It’s a common thing among these universities that they protect their mark,” he said with some resignation in his voice. “So there’s not a lot of negotiation on that front.”

So instead, he will rebrand. He’s working with a firm to come up with new name, and expects to announce it within the next several weeks. While offering no other hints, he did say the word ‘Duke’ could not be part of the equation, but he expects to be able to work the company’s very recognizable bootprint logo into what comes next.

Meanwhile, since the start of this year, the company has essentially doubled its space within its stockhouse by taking down a wall and expanding into square footage that had been unused since the mid-’90s — something it has long desired to do but couldn’t because of the litigation.

Ongoing changes at the site

Ongoing changes at the site will essentially transform it from a tasting room to more of a full-service brewpub and restaurant.

It also erected the tented beer garden and added a food truck, said Morin, noting that construction of the permanent, two-tiered beer garden, which will overlook the river, is set to commence this coming winter.

“There will be a nice concrete patio, along with the food truck we purchased in June,” he noted. “All this will enable us to essentially transform from just a tasting room to more of a full-service brewpub and restaurant.”

COVID-19 has certainly thrown the brewery some curve balls — the business was closed to on-premise business during the shutdown last March and relied entirely on distribution, delivery, and curbside purchases of its canned products until July — but Morin believes that, after all the hard fights this company has been through, it can handle a pandemic as well.

“We’ve found that, because we’ve been through so much in the past six years, we’re able to handle these larger problems pretty effectively,” he said. “We’ve got a nice, hard callus around us, and we’re pretty flexible about our business.”

 

What’s on Tap?

At the height of the legal battle that ensued between Iron Duke and Westmass, the brewer put out a product called Eviction Notice IPA (India Pale Ale).

It became an immediate hit and one of its best sellers — in part because it was a quality ale with good flavor, but also because drinking it became a way to show support for the company in its quest to stay where it always wanted to be.

“We bring it back every now and then because it is a crowd favorite, but it’s not as bitter of a beer as it once was,” he explained. “It’s a fun beer to tell our story, but we always try to finish off the story on a positive note, rather than a negative one.”

Only 18 months ago, few would have thought this story could possibly sound a positive note, but things changed quickly and profoundly — and both sides seem poised to benefit from this collective change of heart.

 

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

Region’s Tourism and Hospitality Industry Proves Resilient

By
COVID-19 Special Coverage

Survival Mode

Gene Cassidy with the ‘golden tickets’

Gene Cassidy with the ‘golden tickets’ that have generated excitement for the Big E — but also raised money at a time revenue is badly needed.

When the Big E recently announced the sale of 100 ‘golden tickets’ — lifetime passes for the holder and a guest, plus parking and other perks — for $1,000 each, it was an exciting promotion for fans of the annual fair and a way to keep the event top of mind during a year when it was called off because of the pandemic.

But it was also a way to raise money — just like other recent efforts at the Eastern States Exposition (ESE), from drive-up concession events to the opening of a cream-puff bakery over the summer.

“We’ve been busy trying to survive,” ESE President and CEO Gene Cassidy told BusinessWest. “We’re just trying to figure out ways to generate resources and pay some bills. When you’re in this business, you need people, and at this particular moment, society has had to pivot in such a way that you can’t have gatherings.”

That $100,000 infusion from the golden-ticket promotion won’t come close to making up for this year’s loss of the actual fair, but it’s not insignificant, either.

“Large fairs, by and large, are supported by taxpayers. We’re not. We have to pay our own way,” Cassidy said, citing what he calls “toxic positivity” — basically a false sense of security — by many in the fair business. “Folks have this positive outlook; they know their doors are not going to close because the state government is going to support them. Here at Eastern States, if we don’t bring people to our events, there’s no income, and there’s no Eastern States.”

Peter Rosskothen, owner of the Log Cabin, the Delaney House, and D. Hotel & Suites in Holyoke, has a hand in several types of hospitality businesses — and he’s optimistic about all of them for 2021. The challenge is getting through 2020.

“I’m not worried about the restaurant business — for restaurants that survive this,” he said, adding a sobering caveat to that first thought, and citing oft-repeated projections that one in five restaurants in the U.S. might not survive COVID-19.

“I feel the government is taking way too much time right now helping the hospitality industry. People are running out of money, and no help is coming from the federal level,” he went on. “People will go out and eat. The trick is to survive.”

Rosskothen has been creative in his operations, offering getaway packages at the adjoining Delaney House and D. Hotel where hotel guests can have a fancy dinner set up in their room, with tables, chairs, candles, and menus, and end their stay with a spa treatment. “It’s a nice, safe, romantic getaway.”

The way tourism and hospitality businesses rely on each other in Western Mass. has also come into starker relief, he added.

“ I feel the government is taking way too much time right now helping the hospitality industry. People are running out of money, and no help is coming from the federal level.”

“A lot of my peers are working hard to develop a vacation concept and attracting people from nearby, meaning Boston, Worcester, and Vermont,” he noted, adding that a family might drive in for Bright Nights and stay overnight at a hotel, eat at restaurants, and do some shopping. “Even stopping at a gas station is an economic multiplier.”

That said, Rosskothen’s hotel occupancy is running between 45% and 50% — not quite the 60% level needed to turn a profit, but a strong number during the pandemic. In fact, Mary Kay Wydra, president of the Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau (GSCVB), said the region’s hotel-occupancy rate closely tracks what D. Hotel is seeing.

“We’ve had a beautiful autumn, people have come to explore, and the hotel occupancy reflects that,” she noted. “Last September, we ran about 70%, but we also had a Big E. Taking that out, this year was still 44%. Boston was in the teens. They’re nowhere near climbing out of this. We’ve been hit, but not as hard as some metropolitan areas.”

Rosskothen said he’s encouraged by the numbers, but part of that success is due to the efforts hotels are making to keep guests safe — in his case, fogging rooms, changing every sheet and towel, and disinfecting every surface between guests — and to let visitors know that. “Staying in a hotel is, for me, a very safe thing as long as it’s a responsible hotel. If people want a break in their routine, there it is.”

 

Keeping the Lights On

In a typical year, Greater Springfield’s hotel-occupancy rate is around 64%, just a tick or two below the national average, but well below a city like Boston, which hovers around 79% occupancy. This year’s reversal represents one welcome trend this year — a perception, by families from metro areas, of Western Mass. as, well, a nice place to get away.

That phenomenon also happened when tourism and hospitality were badly dented following 9/11, Wydra said. “We’re more of a rural location, and we kind of pulled up a little sooner.”

That said, the region relies on its tourist attractions, which are “demand drivers,” she told BusinessWest. “How the hotels and restaurants do is a byproduct of those attractions — it’s the whole package. We’re trying to build on what we can and give people a reason to come to Western Mass.”

That’s why the announcement that Bright Nights would take place at Forest Park in Springfield this holiday season “is the best news we’ve had in the last 30 to 60 days.”

Other winter attractions will be open as well, albeit altered in some ways by the pandemic. At Yankee Candle Village in South Deerfield, families can still walk through the facility’s classic winter wonderland, but the visit with Santa at the end will be a video chat, followed by a photo with St. Nick taken using green-screen technology. Reservations will be required, and no walk-ins will be accepted.

For outdoor enthusiasts, Bousquet Mountain in Pittsfield will also require reservations for anyone who doesn’t have a season ski pass. The lodge will primarily be used for operational staging and employee use, and the resort will add outdoor features such as firepits and seating areas while offering outdoor food and beverage service via hot-beverage huts, a walk-up bar, and a pavilion area.

As winter gives way to spring — a time when everyone is hoping a widespread vaccine program begins to put the pandemic in the rear view — “I think there will be pent-up demand” for things to do, Wydra said. “We have quarantine fatigue right now; people want to gather, they want to be with people, and that’s our business. I’m encouraged by news of a vaccine and the progress made on that front. And people are still looking for safety protocols. We’ve got to lead with the fact that they can have a safe visit in our region.”

In the meantime, virtually everyone in the tourism and hospitality world has had to pivot, sometimes dramatically. “I’m proud of our attractions and hotels and restaurants, all of whom had to break from traditional business models and alter the way they do business during the pandemic,” she said. “We really pivoted from being destination marketers in the region to destination managers.”

Explaining that thought, she said communication was ramped up among the region’s businesses and attractions, with a lot of give and take and learning from each other’s experiences.

“For a period of time, we pulled back on the marketing because it made no sense — people weren’t traveling, and they didn’t know where they could go or what to do during the summer,” Wydra went on. “All things considered, we are holding our own. We’re nowhere near where we were in previous years, but when you look around the rest of the state and the rest of the country, we don’t look as bad as many regions. We’re coping.”

John Doleva was certainly hoping for a different sort of 2020 than the one he experienced as president and CEO of the Basketball Hall of Fame. The Hall unveiled a $23 million renovation this year, and the class of 2020 was one of the most star-studded in memory, headlined by the late Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, and Kevin Garnett. The pandemic certainly cut into the crowds that might be expected after such a renovation, and the 2020 induction was moved to Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.

The class of 2021 induction ceremony will be back in Springfield, he noted. But, perhaps more notably, after the Hall reopened on July 8 following a forced closure due to the state’s economic shutdown, visitorship has been about 55% of the prior year’s rate — a decent number, all things considered.

“Moms and dads who are at home want something to do with the kids on an afternoon when it’s raining,” he said. “And the NBA season going through the summer kept basketball top of mind.”

Despite the dueling travel advisories between the two states, the Hall has actually seen more visitors from Connecticut than Massachusetts this year. “People know they can come for a few hours, be safe, and go home,” Doleva said. “I thought 35% to 40% of the prior year would be a good year, so we are pleased with where we are right now.”

It helps that the Hall, whose revenues were nearly 100% admissions-driven when its current building first opened in 2002, operates under a much different model today, with visitorship accounting for about 16% of revenue. That’s good, Doleva added, because visitor numbers can fluctuate with something as minor as a jump in gas prices, let alone a global pandemic.

“We have forecasted we can survive in COVID mode all the way through 2021. I call that a glide path in terms of cash flow,” he told BusinessWest. “But we expect we’ll be out of this by April or May, which positions us for a great summer season.”

 

Measurable Impact

The Big E, on the other hand, can’t sustain its current level of business — meaning, if the fair gets called off next fall … well, it’s not a scenario anyone wants to think about, for myriad reasons, starting with the Big E’s annual economic impact on the region, estimated at close to three-quarters of a billion dollars, all on an operating budget just over $20 million.

“That’s what makes Eastern States so important to so many people, whether you’re somebody who loves the exposition or a neighbor providing parking or a local business providing laundry services or printing services, or a hotel,” Cassidy said. “The breadth of the impact of the fair is very profound, and when it’s been compromised, like it was in 2020 … well, it really can’t sustain much more than what it’s experienced to date.”

News on a vaccine is welcome in the fair world, he added — “it can’t get here soon enough” — but he wonders how quickly people will want to gather en masse, even after a vaccine is widely distributed.

“People’s sensibilities are clearly going to be influenced by COVID. They say if you do something for two weeks, you can create a habit. Now, add up the number of weeks we’ve been sequestered or people haven’t gone out to dinner. There will clearly be changes in people’s sensibilities. But humans are social animals, and we like being with each other. I take some comfort in that.”

Rosskothen, who hosted a Big E event at the Delaney House recently, featuring fair food and craft vendors, has pivoted in other ways as well, from letting people reserve entire small rooms at that restaurant to planning to keep the outdoor tent up — with heaters running, of course — well into the cold months.

His restaurant business is around 75% to 80% of a normal year, in fact, with the biggest change coming in the volume of takeout and delivery, which currently account for about one-third of sales. He’s also bullish on next year’s events slate at the Log Cabin, assuming crowds are able to gather once again.

“Next year could be the best year we’ve ever had, if we can do all those events. They’re social events — weddings, showers,” he said. “I feel like the social-event business will boom next year.

He’s more reserved about corporate events, feeling that companies will be more timid and want to stick with remote and hybrid events for a while. “But I feel like, when social events are allowed, people will do it. I’m optimistic that the event business will be very good next year.”

Wydra is similarly optimistic, although the region is entering a winter season bereft of large-scale events like the AHL All-Star Classic in 2019 and Red Sox Winter Weekend at the start of 2020.

Even so, she said, “we have tried to be mindful of the phases that our state is going through, and I think our attractions and hotels and restaurants have done everything they can to keep guests top of mind, in terms of offering a safe environment for them.”

Those tourist attractions have come to rely on the GSCVB more than ever for regional destination marketing, she added, because their own budgets have been stretched to the limit this year, and marketing efforts are easily cut when a business is struggling just to cover the mortgage and payroll.

“So many attractions are working so hard to make sure we’re in good shape,” said Doleva, who serves as the bureau’s board chair. “We have an aggressive plan to market and promote the region.”

Wydra agreed. “We’re trying to get the message out there, what these attractions have to offer. Our role as been heightened,” she said. “We’ve learned a lot throughout this pandemic. We’re a resilient industry, and we will come back.”

 

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Market Grows for Hemp and CBD, but So Do the Challenges

By
Tim Van Epps
Special Coverage The Cannabis Industry

Natural Resources

Tim Van Epps

Tim Van Epps with some of the ‘mother plants’ growing indoors at Heritage CBD’s Northampton facility.

Tim Van Epps volunteers with an organization called Fairways for Freedom, which helps combat-injured vets assimilate back into society through holistic initiatives and golf, teaching them the game and sponsoring trips to great courses around the world.

That’s where Van Epps, president of the Sandri Companies, first saw the benefits of cannabidoil, or CBD, a chemical compound made from the hemp part of the cannabis plant.

“I saw veterans who were taking 30 different pills a day, and a lot of these veterans are just using CBD now, and that’s it,” he told BusinessWest. “I saw 25 guys who were doctor-prescribed drug addicts, and now they’re on CBD, and their lives have changed dramatically. I saw what this could do. I saw what it did for one of my older brother’s sons, and for folks with stage-4 cancer. I’ve watched with my own two eyes what it’s done for a lot of people who had a lot of problems.”

He’s done much more than observe, however, launching a company called Heritage CBD almost three years ago with Sarah McLaughlin, a nutritionist and registered sports dietitian who had built a whole-foods company called Sun Valley Bars, sold it to Nature’s Bounty, and was looking for a new challenge in the natural-products world.

“We took the idea to start a hemp/CBD company in the carriage house on my property,” Van Epps said, and soon after moved to a 17,000-square-foot property on nearby Industrial Drive in Northampton, where the company now works with well over a dozen farms that grow hemp, which is processed into a mulch-like substance called biomass, then processed into the line of oils, lotions, tinctures, gummies, and other products Heritage sells today.

“We wanted to do everything, soup to nuts — or seed to sale,” he explained, but emphasized the company’s relationship with local farmers as a critical component to his vision.

Heritage CBD founders

From left, Heritage CBD founders Tim Van Epps and Sarah McLaughlin and President Jake Goodyear.

“Many have been hurt financially over the past 10 years, and for many, the next generation doesn’t want to go into the business, so farms out here are struggling,” he said. “We saw hemp as a value-added cash crop we could introduce to the farming community. This was all about jobs, first and foremost — creating jobs in Western Massachusetts.”

Michael Lupario’s vision was multi-faceted as well. With a degree in environmental science from UMass Amherst, he’s long been passionate about soil sciences and promoting cleaner, more sustainable ways to farm.

Meanwhile, his interest in plant-based medicine goes back to high school, when he learned to forage medicinal plants and experimented with making teas and oils. As president of Western MA Hemp, he now combines his desire to farm with the opportunity to bring plant-based medicine to a broader audience.

“My company’s focus has always been intertwining cannabis back to the larger pharmacopia that is herbal medicine — to not only show the efficacy of cannabis, but get back to this broader realm of plant-based healing,” Lupario explained. “There’s a lot of misinformation and confusion out there about hemp and CBD and cannabis, and we want to bring it to people and explain what we do and how it’s done.”

“There’s a lot of misinformation and confusion out there about hemp and CBD and cannabis, and we want to bring it to people and explain what we do and how it’s done.”

Like Van Epps, he’s seen plenty of people use CBD to relieve pain, anxiety, restlessness, and other conditions — some of the same issues for which medicinal marijuana is often used, but without the psychoactive ingredient THC (the stuff that gets users high), which is present in only the barest sense in CBD.

“I find a certain set of consumers are looking for that psychoactive side; that’s appealing for them. For others, it deters them from cannabis. Some can integrate it into their lifestyle with no problems, but others may be drug-tested on the job.”

Michael Lupario

Michael Lupario

Whether seeking out marijuana or CBD for chronic injuries or any number of other conditions, in many cases, “conventional medicine is not working, and they’re looking for something new — they’re willing to try anything,” Lupario said. “They just want to feel better.”

While providing products that many customers swear by — although the products themselves, because they’re not FDA-approved, are not allowed to make specific medical claims — companies like Heritage CBD and Western MA Hemp have set down roots (literally and figuratively) in a field that’s still rapidly changing, in ways both regulatory and otherwise.

 

Overcoming the Stigma

Jake Goodyear, who ran the Renewable Energy division at Sandri before moving into the role of Heritage CBD president, said it wasn’t initially a move he wanted to make.

“I was a skeptic,” he told BusinessWest. “I’d been brainwashed into the stigma around cannabis and marijuana. It took me a while just to get my head around the history of the plant — and then I got mad that my point of view was so twisted on this subject because of what I had been told my whole life. When I got over that, I realized there was a huge opportunity here, and there really was nothing negative about hemp and CBD, and there are a lot of positives.”

One of the first challenges was regulatory, as the federal government still listed hemp and CBD as a Schedule 1 drug, so Heritage was unable to access a bank account or merchant services for credit-card payments. That changed with the 2018 Farm Bill, though THC-rich cannabis remains federally illegal as a Schedule 1 drug. Still, the state has offered its own unique series of barriers.

“Massachusetts policy gave us a license to grow hemp and process it into specific products like tinctures and gummies and soft-gel capsules,” Goodyear said, “but there was no regulatory pathway to sell them to market.”

For that reason, product sales at both Heritage and Western MA Hemp are largely online. Both companies emphasize multiple layers of third-party testing to ensure the products are clean, free of pesticides and toxins, and contain the ratios of ingredients they claim.

“I had a cannabis background — I was a fan of cannabis, both medical and recreational; it helped me a lot,” said Lupario, who launched his business a couple years ago with mentor and arborist Jim Sweeney. “He took me under his wing and provided some finances to allow me to put to use what skills and knowledge I had.”

The company also wholesales hemp flower and biomass to various processors for industrial uses; in fact, that’s the more lucrative side of the business while Lupario continues to grow his line of wellness products.

“It takes time to build a brand. We knew we wouldn’t be able to make our operating costs with what we made from these products … so what we don’t use in our products goes into the wholesale line,” he explained. “Because we grow our own material, we can keep margins down, have competitive pricing, and still create a really high-grade product.”

Trays of CBD-infused gummies

Trays of CBD-infused gummies are ready for packaging at the Heritage plant.

On a similar note, on a tour of the Heritage plant, Van Epps paused in the room where gummies are being infused with CBD to point out a rack of the gummy substance in bulk sizes without any CBD, which Heritage sells to cannabis companies that infuse it with THC, which he is legally unable to handle.

“Right now, this is what pays the bills, our bulk formulation,” he said. “We could morph into a candy company.”

McLaughlin said she brings a strong science background to her work at Heritage, citing the six different tests — checking for everything from pesticides to potency — each product has to pass along the production journey. “We wanted everything evidence-based. We really came at this trying to make the highest-quality product possible.

“It seems like a bit of a stretch from being a dietitian, but if you think about what a dietitian does, we study the effects of what you consume and how it affects your body, and this is no different,” she went on. “I saw all the potential and all the different areas CBD could help. And since we started, more and more research has come out about the positive effects of CBD. It’s exciting work, with incredible potential to help people.”

Van Epps said a growing public awareness about the benefits of CBD helps boost sales, but competition is fierce, too. “There are so many brands. What brands do you trust? We’re seeing lot of inferior brands that tried to get rich quick fall by the wayside.”

The key for Heritage, he added, is to stand out with quality products that are tested in transparent ways.

“We had a blank slate at first,” McLaughin said. “Anything known about formulating came from the black market, and you almost had to scrap it all and start over and understand there was most likely a better way of doing it.”

 

Altered States

More industry standardization would be another ‘better way’ to do business, said all those we spoke with. For instance, while Massachusetts limits THC levels in CBD to 0.3%, Vermont allows 1%. “In a perfect world, you’d standardize the rules across the country,” Van Epps said.

Added Lupario, “you’ve got to be able to pivot and deal with all the upheaval of laws and everything that comes with the ever-changing dynamics of the agriculture industry. You’re going to see that for the next couple of years until it settles down a bit; that will come with more federal oversight. We’re getting there.”

Van Epps said it’s been a tough year for some in the hemp industry, especially for farms that planted too much, too soon. “They thought it was a get-rich-quick scheme, and unfortunately, a lot of farmers got hurt by that. Farmers who didn’t bite off more than they could chew will tell you it’s a good business, worth investing in, and they see long-term growth. It’s exciting.”

Goodyear said less than 25% of American adults have tried a CBD product, so there’s plenty of room for growth; in fact, he sees the potential for Heritage to expand from about 20 employee today to 150 in a couple of years.

The trend toward greater public awareness is certainly good for business, Lupario said, but it also boosts his mission to give cannabis and hemp a stronger connection to natural, plant-based wellness.

“It’s another plant within the herbal pharmacopeia,” he said — one whose story continues to blossom in Massachusetts and beyond.

 

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

How Independent-contractor Law May Be Loosening Up

By Contributor
Law Special Coverage

Is the Gig Up for Some Workers?

By Amy B. Royal, Esq.

Getty Stock Images

The number of gig workers has been on the rise over the past few years with the advent of many online-platform companies, such as DoorDash, Instacart, and Uber.

The notion of gig workers and a gig-worker-based economy, however, is not new. Whether one refers to such workers as gig workers, freelancers, or broadly as independent contractors, this area of employment law has been a thorn in the side of many businesses for several decades. With the significant and robust growth in the online gig-economy world, the restrictiveness of independent-contractor law on business and business growth, as well as on worker independence, has gotten a new look.

Both a recent victory in the state of California and a new proposed rule from the federal government may be signaling a change in the tide when it comes to the future of independent-contractor law.

Independent-contractor law, especially in Massachusetts, has been very restrictive when it comes to certain business models. Many industries have historically relied on the classification of workers as independent contractors to augment their operations and build capacity as well as to attract workers who want independence when delivering services for them.

For example, traditionally, the real-estate industry has classified real-estate agents as independent contractors. Similarly, tattoo parlors, hair salons, and transportation services have done the same. In these industries, oftentimes, the expectation of the worker is that he or she will be classified as an independent contractor and, thus, have the freedom and flexibility to maintain independence over their own schedule and their own craft.

Indeed, the benefit of such gig work is often mutual: the company can reduce its overhead costs in payroll, benefits, and expenses, while the workers can retain freedom and flexibility over their schedules while garnering higher compensation for the services they deliver.

Earlier this month, California voters sent a message to their lawmakers when they passed a ballot question that exempted app-based drivers working for companies like Lyft and Uber from a California law that had previously made them employees. Earlier this year, a law had taken effect in California that made it clear these drivers were to be treated as employees and, thus, were entitled to certain employment-related benefits and legal protections. The California ballot win is a significant victory for app-based companies that utilize gig workers to deliver services.

Amy Royal

“Whether one refers to such workers as gig workers, freelancers, or broadly as independent contractors, this area of employment law has been a thorn in the side of many businesses for several decades.”

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), our federal agency that enforces federal wage-and-hour laws, appears to be trending toward loosening its stance on independent-contractor law as well. This September, the DOL proposed a new rule that establishes two core factors as determinative ones in an overall five-part independent-contractor test. The two core factors are the nature and degree of the worker’s control over the work and the worker’s opportunity for profit or loss based on initiative and/or investment.

Remember, this rule is pending approval and, therefore, is not the current federal law on this matter. Our current federal rule in effect for establishing independent-contractor status is based upon a multi-factor test, which can be confusing in its application, thus prompting the proposed change. The purpose behind the newly proposed rule is to bring clarity to the confusion in the application of the test itself.

Prior to the proposed rule, there was no definitive guidance on how to go about weighing and balancing the various factors and whether there was a prioritization among them. Now, the two core factors proposed should make it easier to assess a worker’s status and, arguably, pave the way for more workers to be classified as independent contractors. The proposed rule seems to recognize the prerogative of workers who want to work independently and maintain freedom from an employer’s day-to-day control over them.

For now, whether a worker is an independent contractor or an employee is a clear question in the Bay State. Massachusetts law utilizes a clear three-part test that is otherwise very restrictive on both businesses and the workers who do not want to be considered employees. In Massachusetts, when analyzing a worker’s status, there is always a presumption of employment. This means the burden is on the company to prove why a worker is not an employee.

To establish that fact, Massachusetts companies must satisfy all three parts of a three-part test: companies must show that the work is performed without the direction and control of the company, outside the usual course of the company’s business, and by someone who has their own independent business or trade in that type of work. Again, all three parts of this test must be met for the Massachusetts worker to be deemed an independent contractor.

Where most companies fail the test is with respect to the second part — that the worker must perform work outside the usual course of the company’s business. For example, with respect to a driver for Uber, arguably, under Massachusetts independent-contractor law, the driver would be deemed an employee; the company is in the business of ride sharing, and the driver is performing that work by driving customers to and from certain locations.

The problem with the misclassification of workers as independent contractors is that it carries with it very stiff penalties and triggers several potential violations of laws. Indeed, misclassification of an independent contractor can create issues with respect to wage-and-hour law, such as minimum wage and overtime compensation, unemployment benefits, workers’ compensation coverage, and certain payroll-tax withholdings.

Furthermore, situations involving the misclassification of workers can give rise to class-action lawsuits. Companies that violate Massachusetts wage-and-hour laws alone are subject to mandatory treble damages for any unpaid wages. In addition, a prevailing employee will be awarded attorneys’ fees and costs of the litigation.

What is the takeaway on all of this for your company? While the law may be changing in other parts of the country, nothing has changed in Massachusetts (so far). Massachusetts law remains very strict and extremely restrictive when it comes to proving independent contractor status. As noted, misclassifying a worker can carry steep penalties and trigger a violation of various laws, as well as class-action claims.

But stay tuned. This area of the law seems to be evolving with the newly proposed federal rule and the California state-law change. It is estimated that, collectively, Uber, Lyft, Instacart, Postmates, and DoorDash spent approximately $200 million to lobby California voters to change their state law on independent-contractor status. That may spark more challenges to independent-contractor laws in other states, including Massachusetts.

 

Amy B. Royal, Esq. is a litigation attorney who specializes in labor and employment-law matters at the Royal Law Firm LLP, a woman-owned, women-managed corporate law firm certified as a women’s business enterprise with the Massachusetts Supplier Diversity Office, the National Assoc. of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms, and the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council; (413) 586-2288; [email protected]

A Turbulent Year Brings Many Changes and Issues to Consider

By Contributor
Accounting and Tax Planning Coronavirus Special Coverage

Year-end Tax Planning

By Kristina Drzal Houghton, CPA, MST

 

This year has been unlike any other in recent memory. Front and center, the COVID-19 pandemic has touched virtually every aspect of daily living and business activity in 2020. In addition to other financial consequences, the resulting fallout is likely to have a significant impact on year-end tax planning for both individuals and small businesses.

Kristina Drzal Houghton

Kristina Drzal Houghton

Furthermore, if the election of Joe Biden is confirmed and the Republican party does not hold a majority in the Senate following the runoff elections in Georgia, it is likely to affect the tax situation in 2021 and beyond. This article will first address 2020 planning and then summarize some of the Biden tax proposals at the end.

In response to the pandemic, Congress authorized economic-stimulus payments and favorable business loans as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The CARES Act also features key changes relating to income and payroll taxes. This new law follows close on the heels of the massive Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017. The TCJA revised whole sections of the tax code and includes notable provisions for both individuals and businesses.

This is the time to paint your overall tax picture for 2020. By developing a year-end plan, you can maximize the tax breaks currently on the books and avoid potential pitfalls.

 

BUSINESS TAX PLANNING

Depreciation-related Deductions

Under current law, a business may benefit from a combination of three depreciation-based tax breaks: the Section 179 deduction, ‘bonus’ depreciation, and regular depreciation.

• Place qualified property in service before the end of the year. Typically, a small business can write off most, if not all, of the cost in 2020.

• The maximum Section 179 allowance for 2020 is $1,040,000 provided asset purchases do not exceed $2,590,000.

• Be aware that the Section 179 deduction cannot exceed the taxable income from all your business activities this year. This could limit your deduction for 2020.

• If you buy a heavy-duty SUV or van for business, you may claim a first-year Section 179 deduction of up to $25,000. The ‘luxury car’ limits do not apply to certain heavy-duty vehicles.

• If your deduction is limited due to either the income threshold or the amount of additions, a first-year bonus depreciation deduction of 100% for property placed in 2020 is also available.

• Massachusetts does not follow the bonus depreciation, but does allow the increased Section 179 expense; however, many states do not follow that increased expense either.

 

Business Interest

• Prior to 2018, business interest was fully deductible. But the TCJA generally limited the deduction for business interest to 30% of adjusted taxable income (ATI). Now the CARES Act raises the deduction to 50% of ATI, but only for 2019 and 2020.

• Determine if you qualify for a special exception. The 50%-of-ATI limit does not apply to a business with average gross receipts of $25 million (indexed for inflation) or less for the three prior years. The threshold for 2020 is $26 million.

 

Bad-debt Deduction

During this turbulent year, many small businesses are struggling to stay afloat, resulting in large numbers of outstanding receivables and collectibles.

• Increase your collection activities now. For instance, you may issue a series of dunning letters to debtors asking for payment. Then, if you are still unable to collect the unpaid amount, you can generally write off the debt as a business bad debt in 2020.

• Generally, business bad debts are claimed in the year they become worthless. To qualify as a business bad debt, a loan or advance must have been created or acquired in connection with your business operation and result in a loss to the business entity if it cannot be repaid.

 

Miscellaneous

• If you pay year-end bonuses to employees in 2020, the bonuses are generally deductible by your company and taxable to the employees in 2020. A calendar-year company operating on the accrual basis may be able to deduct bonuses paid as late as March 15, 2021 on its 2020 return.

• Generally, repairs are currently deductible, while capital improvements must be depreciated over time. Therefore, make minor repairs before 2021 to increase your 2020 deduction.

• Switch to cash accounting. Under a TCJA provision, a C-corporation may use this simplified method if average gross receipts for last year exceeded $26 million (up from $5 million).

• An employer can claim a refundable credit for certain family and medical leaves provided to employees. The credit is currently scheduled to expire after 2020.

• Investigate Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) forgiveness. Under the CARES Act, PPP loans may be fully or partially forgiven without tax being imposed. Despite recent guidance, this remains a complex procedure, so consult with your professional tax advisor about the details.

 

INDIVIDUAL TAX PLANNING

Charitable Donations

Generally, itemizers can deduct amounts donated to qualified charitable organizations, as long as substantiation requirements are met. Be aware that the TCJA increased the annual deduction limit on monetary contributions from 50% of adjusted gross income (AGI) to 60% for 2018 through 2025. Even better, the CARES Act raises the threshold to 100% for 2020.

• In addition, the CARES Act authorizes an above-the-line deduction of up to $300 for monetary contributions made by a non-itemizer in 2020 ($600 for a married couple).

• In most cases, you should try to ‘bunch’ charitable donations in the year they will do you the most tax good. For instance, if you will be itemizing in 2020, boost your gift giving at the end of the year. Conversely, if you expect to claim the standard deduction this year, you may decide to postpone contributions to 2021.

• For donations of appreciated property that you have owned longer than one year, you can generally deduct an amount equal to the property’s fair market value (FMV). Otherwise, the deduction is typically limited to your initial cost. Also, other special rules may apply to gifts of property. Notably, the annual deduction for property donations generally cannot exceed 30% of AGI.

• If you donate to a charity by credit card in December — for example, if you make an online contribution — you can still write off the donation on your 2020 return, even if you do not actually pay the credit-card charge until January.

 

Family Income Splitting

The time-tested technique of family income splitting still works. Currently, the top ordinary income-tax rate is 37%, while the rate for taxpayers in the lowest income tax bracket is only 10%. Thus, the tax rate differential between you and a low-taxed family member, such as a child or grandchild, could be as much as 27% — not even counting the 3.8% net investment-income tax (more on this later).

• Shift income-producing property, such as securities, to family members in low tax brackets through direct gifts or trusts. This will lower the overall family tax bill. But remember that you are giving up control over those assets. In other words, you no longer have any legal claim to the property.

• Also, be aware of potential complications caused by the ‘kiddie tax.’ Generally, unearned income above $2,200 received in 2020 by a child younger than age 19, or a child who is a full-time student younger than age 24, is taxed at the top marginal tax rate of the child’s parents. (Recent legislation reverses a TCJA change on the tax treatment.) The kiddie tax could affect family income-splitting strategies at the end of the year.

 

Higher-education Expenses

The tax law provides tax breaks to parents of children in college, subject to certain limits. This often includes a choice between one of two higher-education credits and a tuition-and-fees deduction.

• Typically, you can claim either the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) or the Lifetime Learning Credit (LLC). The maximum AOTC of $2,500 is available for qualified expenses of each student, while the maximum $2,000 LLC is claimed on a per-family basis. Thus, the AOTC is usually preferable. Both credits are phased out based on modified adjusted gross income (MAGI).

• Alternatively, you may claim the tuition-and-fees deduction, which is either $4,000 or $2,000 before it is phased out based on MAGI. The tuition-and-fees deduction, which has expired and been revived several times, is scheduled to end after 2020, but could be reinstated again by Congress.

• When appropriate, pay qualified expenses for next semester by the end of this year. Generally, the costs will be eligible for a credit or deduction in 2020, even if the semester does not begin until 2021.

 

Medical and Dental Expenses

Previously, taxpayers could only deduct unreimbursed medical and dental expenses above 10% of their AGI. When it is possible, accelerate non-emergency qualifying expenses into this year to benefit from the lower threshold. For instance, if you expect to itemize deductions and have already surpassed the 7.5%-of-AGI threshold this year, or you expect to clear it soon, accelerate elective expenses into 2020. Of course, the 7.5%-of-AGI threshold may be extended again, but you should maximize the tax deduction when you can.

 

Estimated Tax Payments

The IRS requires you to pay federal income tax through any combination of quarterly installments and tax withholding. Otherwise, it may impose an ‘estimated tax’ penalty.

However, no estimated tax penalty is assessed if you meet one of these three ‘safe harbor’ exceptions under the tax law:

• Your annual payments equal at least 90% of your current liability;

• Your annual payments equal at least 100% of the prior year’s tax liability (110% if your AGI for the prior year exceeded $150,000); or

• You make installment payments under an ‘annualized income’ method. This option may be available to taxpayers who receive most of their income during the holiday season.

If you have received unemployment benefits in 2020 — for example, if you lost your job due to the COVID-19 pandemic — remember that those benefits are subject to income tax. Factor this into your estimated tax calculations for the year.

 

Capital Gains and Losses

Frequently, investors time sales of assets such as securities at year-end to produce optimal tax results. For starters, capital gains and losses offset each other. If you show an excess loss for the year, it offsets up to $3,000 of ordinary income before being carried over to the next year. If you sell securities at a loss and reacquire substantially identical securities within 30 days of the sale, the tax loss is disallowed.

• Long-term capital gains from sales of securities owned longer than one year are taxed at a maximum rate of 15%, or 20% for certain high-income investors. Conversely, short-term capital gains are taxed at ordinary income rates reaching up to 37% in 2020.

• Review your investment portfolio. Depending on your situation, you may harvest capital losses to offset gains realized earlier in the year or cherry-pick capital gains that will be partially or wholly absorbed by prior losses.

 

Net Investment-income Tax

In addition to capital-gains tax, a special 3.8% tax applies to the lesser of your net investment income (NII), or the amount by which your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) for the year exceeds $200,000 for single filers or $250,000 for joint filers. (These thresholds are not indexed for inflation.) The definition of NII includes interest, dividends, capital gains, and income from passive activities, but not Social Security benefits, tax-exempt interest, and distributions from qualified retirement plans and IRAs.

• Assess the amount of your NII and your MAGI at the end of the year. When it is possible, reduce your NII tax liability in 2020 or avoid it altogether.

 

Required Minimum Distributions

As a general rule, you must receive required minimum distributions (RMDs) from qualified retirement plans and IRAs after reaching age 72 (70½ for taxpayers affected prior to 2020). The amount of the RMD is based on IRS life-expectancy tables and your account balance at the end of last year

• Take RMDs in 2020 if you need the cash. Otherwise, you can skip them this year, thanks to a suspension of the usual rules by the CARES Act. There is no requirement to demonstrate any hardship relating to the pandemic. Finally, although RMDs are no longer required in 2020, consider a qualified charitable distribution (QCD). If you are age 70½ or older, you can transfer up to $100,000 of IRA funds directly to a charity. Although the contribution is not deductible, the QCD is exempt from tax. This may benefit your overall tax picture.

 

IRA Rollovers

If you receive a distribution from a qualified retirement plan or IRA, it is generally subject to tax unless you roll it over into another qualified plan or IRA within 60 days. In addition, you may owe a 10% tax penalty on taxable distributions received before age 59½. However, some taxpayers may have more leeway to avoid tax liability in 2020 under a special CARES Act provision.

• Take your time redepositing the funds if it qualifies as a COVID-19-related distribution. The CARES Act gives you three years, instead of the usual 60 days, to redeposit up to $100,000 of funds in a plan or IRA without owing any tax.

• To qualify for this tax break, you (or your spouse, if you are married) must have been diagnosed with COVID-19 or experienced adverse financial consequences due to the virus (e.g., being laid off, having work hours reduced, or being quarantined or furloughed). If you do not replace the funds, the resulting tax is spread evenly over three years.

• This may be a good time to consider a conversion of a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. With a Roth, future payouts are generally exempt from tax, but you must pay current tax on the converted amount. Have a tax professional help you determine if this makes sense for your situation.

 

Estate and Gift Taxes

Since the turn of the century, Congress has gradually increased the federal estate-tax exemption, while eventually establishing a top estate-tax rate of 40%. The TCJA doubled the exemption from $5 million to $10 million for 2018 through 2025, inflation-indexed to $11.58 million in 2020.

Under the ‘portability provision’ for a married couple, the unused portion of the estate-tax exemption of the first spouse to die may be carried over to the estate of the surviving spouse. This tax break is now permanent.

Finally, guidance has been published establishing that, when the exemption is decreased in the future, a recapture or ‘claw-back’ of the extra exemption used will not be required.

Update your estate plan to reflect current law. You may revise wills and trusts to accommodate the rule allowing portability of the estate-tax exemption. Additionally, consider the maximum gifting currently as allowable in your financial position.

 

Miscellaneous

You can contribute up to $19,500 to a 401(k) in 2020 ($26,000 if you are age 50 or older).

 

BIDEN’S NOTABLE TAX PROPOSALS

Business Tax

• The statutory corporate tax rate would be increased from 21% to 28%.

• The benefits of the Section 199A/qualified business-income deduction would be phased out for individuals with taxable income greater than $400,000.

• The real-estate industry will potentially be impacted. The Biden campaign had suggested potential changes to the §1031 like-kind exchange provisions as well as changes to effectively limit losses that may be utilized by real-estate investors.

 

Individual Tax

Many of the revenue-raising aspects of the Biden tax proposal for individuals apply only to those taxpayers with taxable income over $400,000. It has not been specified whether this threshold is to be adjusted for filing status.

• The top ordinary rate would be restored to 39.6% for taxpayers with income over $400,000. This reflects a return to pre-2017 tax reform when the top ordinary rate was dropped to 37%.

• For top income earners, this rate is currently capped at 20% (plus 3.8% to the extent subject to the net investment-income tax). Under the Biden plan, capital gains and qualified dividends will be subject to the top rate of 39.6% for individuals with more than $1 million in income.

• The Section 199A/qualified business-income deduction would begin to phase out for individuals over $400,000 in taxable income.

• Itemized deductions would be capped to 28% of value. Additionally, benefits would begin to phase out for individuals with taxable income over $400,000.

• The child and dependent care credit would be increased to a maximum of $8,000 for low-income and middle-class families. In addition, the credit would be made refundable.

• First-time homebuyers could receive up to $15,000 of refundable and advanceable tax credit.

• There could be temporary expansion of the child tax credit, depending on the progression of the pandemic and economic conditions. This expansion would increase the credit from $2,000 to $3,000 for children 17 or younger with an additional $600 for children under 6. The credit would also be refundable and allowable to be received in monthly installments.

 

Gift and Estate Tax

The gift- and estate-tax exemption amount would be reduced. Many are suggesting that Biden is looking to reduce the gift- and estate-tax exemption to the pre-TCJA levels.

 

Conclusion

This year-end tax-planning letter is based on the prevailing federal tax laws, rules, and regulations. Of course, it is subject to change, especially if additional tax legislation is enacted by Congress before the end of the year.

Finally, remember that this article is intended to serve only as general guideline. Your personal circumstances will likely require careful examination. u

 

Kristina Drzal Houghton, CPA, MST is partner, Executive Committee, and director of Taxation Services at Meyers Brothers Kalicka; (413) 536-8510.

Progress Continues on Projects in Longmeadow

By Contributor
Community Spotlight

Community Spotlight

By Mark Morris

For Longmeadow Town Manager Lyn Simmons, it’s been quite a first year on the job.

With 16 years of experience in municipal government in of Northampton — the last six years as chief of staff for Mayor David Narkewicz — Simmons became Longmeadow’s town manager a year ago this month. After three months on the job, Longmeadow — like the entire world — found itself in uncharted territory.

As challenging as the pandemic has been, Simmons said one positive has been the opportunity to build relationships with department heads and the emergency-management team much faster than she might have under less-hectic circumstances.

“We had to come together quickly and navigate all of this together,” Simmons said. “As difficult as the pandemic has been, the team that’s in place here and the relationships that we’ve formed have made dealing with it much easier.”

She also credits Longmeadow residents for their response in handling the pandemic, noting that people in town are adhering to public-health guidelines and taking personal responsibility. “We see people social distancing, wearing masks, and doing what they need to do to help protect themselves, their families, and our community.”

Lyn Simmons

“People like living in Longmeadow because it’s a great community, it’s very walkable, and there are lots of outdoor recreation activities. It really appeals to every generation.”

Because most residents complied with state mandates, Longmeadow experienced low numbers of the coronavirus throughout the summer. While the number of cases in town has begun to increase during the fall, this reflects the overall trend in Western Mass. and across the state, Simmons said, adding that a team of municipal employees is monitoring pandemic-related grants and other funding sources that might be available through the state and federal government.

“The pandemic has certainly been a disruption to normal life, whether it’s doing business with town offices or making adjustments to programs that are run by the Parks and Rec department, or the Adult Center,” she noted. But business not been halted, and as she spoke with BusinessWest, she outlined some of the ways progress continues in this small, residential town.

Worth Their Salt

In the midst of all the COVID-related disruption, Simmons points to two town projects she calls bright spots during these challenging times. First, a new Department of Public Works (DPW) facility — a $24 million project on Dwight Road, on the site of a former tennis club — is nearing completion.

The second project is the $14 million Adult Center, where finishing touches are being applied as it gets closer to opening day. While the Council on Aging will have a large presence, the Parks and Recreation department will also run programs and activities from the facility, making it a resource for all residents.

After COVID-19 hit, safety protocols were implemented at the DPW and Adult Center sites to allow construction work to continue and keep both projects on track to open in early 2021.

“The only disruption we had occurred earlier in the spring when the subcontractor who was providing and installing a salt-storage shed was quarantined crossing the state line from New York,” Simmons said. “We’ve been able to move past that, and the salt shed is fully constructed now.”

With 95% of property in Longmeadow devoted to residential dwellings, town officials pay close attention to activity in the real-estate market. Like most towns, the normal sales bump that occurs each spring was delayed by the pandemic. Sales activity returned in July and has remained brisk since then, with most houses selling at the asking price.

“We’ve been able to capture that strong real-estate market,” Simmons said. “On average, houses are staying on the market for about 20 days; low interest rates have certainly helped.”

The demographics in Longmeadow have remained similar to what they’ve historically been. Simmons said the town has a healthy mix of approximately 29% families and about 30% in the over-60 demographic. One key indicator that remains steady is school enrollment, where no declines have been reported.

“People like living in Longmeadow because it’s a great community, it’s very walkable, and there are lots of outdoor recreation activities. It really appeals to every generation,” she noted.

Looking to the future, the town owns a 10-acre parcel on Academy Drive known as the Water Tower property. Prior to the pandemic, the area was under consideration for an over-55 housing development. If this project moves forward, Simmons said, it might solve a dilemma for many seniors in town. Many aging residents want to continue to live in Longmeadow but would also like to downsize from their current home to one-level living, and an over-55 housing development could be a good solution.

Longmeadow at a glance

Year Incorporated: 1783
Population: 15,784
Area: 9.7 square miles
County: Hampden
Residential Tax Rate: $24.21
Commercial Tax Rate: $24.21
Median Household Income: $109,586
Median Family Income: $115,578
Type of Government: Open Town Meeting; Town Manager; Board of Selectmen
Largest Employers: Bay Path University; JGS Lifecare; Glenmeadow
* Latest information available

“Once we get the pandemic behind us, I expect our discussions of this site to be dusted off and brought back into the public sphere,” she added.

Meanwhile, conversations about two other potential projects are continuing, including development of a former church at the intersection of Williams Street and Redfern Drive with a different use, and a project on Williams Street that involves building a long-term-care facility. “As far as I know, those plans are still in the works,” Simmons said of the latter plan, “but it’s been slow-moving.”

 

Sharing Resources

More concrete progress can be found on a regional level. Last year, Longmeadow joined with Chicopee to form an emergency communications center called WESTCOMM. By taking a regional approach to emergency dispatch calls, both towns save money, increase efficiency, and have backup support when multiple calls come into either town.

Now nearly a year into the program, WESTCOMM has been a great success — and is growing, Simmons said. “Since WESTCOMM launched in December, we’ve added two more communities this year, when East Longmeadow and Monson came on board with Longmeadow and Chicopee.”

WESTCOMM currently operates out of the Chicopee Police Department, but officials are exploring a move to a larger facility as more communities come on board. Simmons said she expects to hear more about that in the coming year.

Before the pandemic, Longmeadow was looking to share some public-health services with neighboring East Longmeadow. Because the health departments and boards of health for both towns are expending all their energy on COVID-19 concerns, that project has been set aside at least until the pandemic is over, she added. “Looking at a merger of two health departments right now is a little more than we can take on at the moment.”

Simmons was born and raised in Northampton, and she first became familiar with Longmeadow while pursuing her undergraduate degree at Bay Path University.

As she completes her first year as Longmeadow’s town manager, she’s proud of how well people in the community have responded throughout the pandemic.

“I appreciate everyone’s understanding and support as we all try to get through this time together,” she said. “I am really looking forward to the new year when we will open both the new DPW and Adult Center in town.”

Simmons added that she can’t wait for the public to see both buildings and hopes to take residents on tours of the new facilities when they formally open in 2021 — a year when municipal leaders in all communities hope they can put COVID-19 behind them and are able to focus fully on the future once again.

Bright Nights Will Be a Bright Spot in a Trying Year

By
COVID-19 Features

Let There Be Light

Judy Matt says the Spirit of Springfield (SOS) exists for one reason — to entertain residents across the region and create some memories.

It hasn’t been able to do any of that to this point in 2020, obviously, and Matt, the long-time executive director of the nonprofit agency, has been frustrated and disappointed by this reality. Annual events such as the pancake breakfast (long heralded as the world’s largest), the Fourth of July fireworks, and the Big Balloon Parade have been wiped off the calendar due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and there remains uncertainty about whether any of those can be staged in 2021.

Meanwhile, at the SOS, with little revenue coming in other than a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan and the proceeds from the annual golf tournament, the staff — and that includes Matt — have been on unemployment for at least some of this year, although she has continued to come to the office every day.

But there will be one bright spot as a very trying year — for both the region and the SOS — comes to a close, as the necessary approvals (and many of them were required) have been received to stage Bright Nights in Forest Park from Nov. 25 to Jan. 6.

Things won’t be exactly the same — there will be new restrictions on everything from the hours of operation (the front gate will have to be shut at 8:45 p.m.) to how tickets are paid for (no cash, for example) — and the the gift shop in the park will be closed, although a facility will open downtown in the Springfield Visitors Center. And no one will be allowed to get out of their cars under any circumstances.

“Everyone has indicated to us that they think it’s going to be the best one we’ve had.”

But just being able to have Bright Nights will provide a huge boost for the region and the Spirit of Springfield, Matt said. “The region needs Bright Nights, now more than ever. It’s been a long, trying year for everyone.”

Bright Nights will go on in 2020

There will be some new restrictions on hours, method of payment, and other matters, Judy Matt says, but Bright Nights will go on in 2020, a bright spot in an otherwise dark year.

But while the region needs Bright Nights, so too does the Spirit of Springfield, which relies on the income from this signature event to help carry out its mission and present those other annual gatherings listed earlier.

So Matt and others will be keeping their fingers crossed on the weather — past history has shown that a few snowstorms can wreak havoc on the bottom line — while trying to make the most of the opportunity it has been given to stage Bright Nights in the middle of a pandemic.

And early indications are that, despite some restrictions on the hours and other factors, this could be one of the best seasons in the 26-year history of the Bright Nights, given what kind of year it’s been and the need for some kind of relief valve, especially as the holiday season approaches.

“Everyone has indicated to us that they think it’s going to be the best one we’ve had,” she told BusinessWest, adding that, while it might well achieve that status, this year’s Bright Nights will be challenged by the restrictions imposed upon it by city and state officials, especially the shortened hours of operation.

“We are theoretically losing 39 hours during which we could have been selling tickets — in the past, we had a lot of nights where we were open ’til 11,” she said, adding that, with vehicles going through at the rate of 300 per hour, those lost hours will hurt.

The city has allowed Bright Nights to stay open an additional three days, she went on, adding that, while this will help, the volume of traffic through the displays decreases markedly after Jan. 1.

“I can keep talking about what we can’t do and what we won’t have,” she said. “But we’re just very grateful to be able to do this; it’s important that this region has Bright Nights this year.”

As for what comes after Bright Nights … Matt said there are certainly question marks about whether the SOS will be able to get back into the entertainment business full-time next year, but she and her staff have to plan as if that is going to be the case.

But if the current conditions continue well into next year, the agency will be facing some hard questions. In addition to the events being wiped off the slate, COVID-19 also prohibited the agency from staging its annual Bright Nights Ball, which traditionally nets the SOS $50,000 to $60,000 for operating expenses.

Without that revenue, the agency needs a very solid year for Bright Nights and probably other forms of help, such as that small PPP loan it received last spring, which enabled a few of the staff members to remain on the payroll.

“We’re trying to figure it all out,” she told BusinessWest. “We’re hoping we have a good year for Bright Nights; if we have a good Bright Nights, that will take us into March or April. After that … we’ll have to see what happens.”

While the long-term picture is clouded by question marks, the immediate future is bright — or at least brighter — now that the agency has been given the green light to continue what has become a holiday tradition, not just for those in this region, but for those who travel to it to enjoy what has been recognized among the top holiday lighting displays in the country.

The pandemic has turned out the lights on a great many institutions and activities this year, but not these lights.

It won’t be exactly the same — nothing is in the middle of a pandemic — but this impressive show will go on.

 

—George O’Brien

‘Walking Wednesdays’ and Other Steps to Spread Some Cheer

By
Pam Victor
COVID-19 Features

A Week’s Worth of Happiness at Work

By Pam Victor

“Good grief, woman. How can we think about happiness at a time like this?”

That’s what you must be thinking, and as a professional improv comedian and happiness coach, I’ve been asked variations of this question a lot lately.

And it’s a totally valid query. With restructuring, layoffs, kids schooling at home, and a worsening pandemic, we’re all being stressed and stretched to our limits. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be much relief ahead any time soon.

Pam Victor

Pam Victor

How can we think about happiness at a time like this? My response is: how can we not? Improv trains me to continually jump into the unknown and to keep moving forward together with as much joy and ease and play and laughter as I can possibly cobble together. After all, what’s the other option? (I tried hiding under my covers for a while. It’s not a financially sustainable practice.)

Establishing happiness practices at work provides much-needed mental healthcare and resilience support for your teams. Because we’re collectively experiencing a marathon of stress, anxiety, and unpredictable change, with an unsettling amount of unknown ahead, prioritizing happiness at work is more than just a goofy team-building exercise.

According to research findings conducted by Julia K. Boehm and Sonja Lyubomirsky published in the​ Journal of Career Assessment,​ “happy people are more satisfied with their jobs and report having greater autonomy in their duties. They perform better on assigned tasks than their less-happy peers and are more likely to take on extra role tasks, such as helping others. They receive more social support from their co-workers and tend to use more cooperative approaches when interacting with others. Happy people are less likely to exhibit withdrawal behaviors, such as absenteeism … happy people enjoy greater workplace success, and engage in more behaviors paralleling success, than do less-happy people.”

The good news is that happiness also feels great. The even better news is that it doesn’t take much to stimulate significant well-being benefits. Whether you’re remote or at the office, here are a week’s worth of simple but profound happiness practices to bring some more joy, ease, and laughter to your workplace:

Meditation Mondays​: Start the week off with a shared, guided 10-minute meditation. Apps like Insight Timer, Calm, Ten Percent Happier, and YouTube provide a plethora of styles of meditation that start the week off with shared focus, grounding, positivity, and stress relief.

Treat-yourself Tuesdays​: Encourage employees to plan one experience of special self-care each week, such as picking up a favorite beverage from a coffeehouse they’ve been missing, a delicious dessert, an extra hour of sleep, a warm bath, or sitting in the sun during lunch hour. Generate ideas and support by inviting folks to share their treat-yourself treats on a Slack channel, e-mail thread, or during a weekly meeting.

Walking Wednesdays​: Everyone takes a 10- to 20-minute walk after lunch each week. This two-for-one happiness practice delivers both exercise and time in nature, both proven to benefit well-being. Make it a shared walk — either virtual or in-person — and now you’ve added in a third happiness enhancer: personal connection.

Thank-you Thursdays​: Each person sends a note of thanks to someone else on the team who brought them joy or ease over the course of the last week. Leadership can model the power of gratitude by incorporating regular, heartfelt thank-yous into every meeting in order to make it part of the company culture. Thank-yous could be public on a #ThankYouThursday Slack channel or private e-mails. To make it even more special, gift employees with a stack of company-branded thank-you notes to send actual handwritten thank-you notes, old-school style.

Gratitude is one of the most powerful happiness practices around. A regular gratitude practice is associated with improved mental and physical health, increased resilience, and stronger relationships. Other research has shown that managers who thank their team may result in employees feeling more motivated to work harder.

Friday Freshen Up​: In this simple but powerful practice, the team spends 10 minutes straightening up their work space at the beginning of the work day on Fridays. It’s astounding how impactful these 10-minute tidying sessions can be after a few weeks. It helps individuals start the day with an accomplishment, and it’s delightful to be greeted on Monday with a neater workspace. Add in some extra joy by playing 10 minutes of motivating, toe-tapping tunes (either in person or via Zoom) in order to make it a team-bonding experience.

It’s a common practice for improv comedians to tell their teammates, “I’ve got your back” before a show. At this challenging time, your team needs all the extra support they can get. By demonstrating the value of happiness at work, you’re showing the team you have their backs … and inviting them to bring their whole selves to their work.

 

Pam Victor is ‘head of happiness’ (president and founder) of Happier Valley Comedy; [email protected]

Cannabis Industry Promises Workforce Opportunities

By Contributor
Jeff Hayden
The Cannabis Industry

Growing a Job Market

By Mark Morris

Jeff Hayden

Jeff Hayden says the Cannabis Education Center was developed to train people for the hundreds of jobs being created in the industry locally.

When a new industry in Massachusetts reaches $1 billion in sales in only four years, it certainly gets people’s attention.

The Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) recently announced that, four years after legalizing cannabis for adult recreational use, and only two years after the first retail shops opened, this relatively new industry surpassed that $1 billion mark on Oct. 30.

“There are a lot of jobs that go along with a billion dollars in industry activity,” said Jeff Hayden, vice president for Business and Community Services at the Kittredge Center for Business and Workforce Development at Holyoke Community College (HCC).

Shortly after cannabis was legalized in the state, Hayden spoke with advocacy groups and business leaders in the industry, which led to establishing the Cannabis Education Center at HCC to provide training for in-demand occupations in the burgeoning industry.

“Our focus wasn’t on the product itself; we wanted to identify the occupations that make the most sense so we can train people for those jobs,” Hayden said.

After completing a core course to familiarize students with the cannabis industry, more concentrated training is available in four career tracks:

• Patient-service associates work behind the counter at a cannabis dispensary, interact with the public, answer technical questions, and provide information to registered cannabis patients, as well as recreational customers;

• Culinary assistants prepare cannabis-infused products such as gummy candies and baked goods infused with cannabis;

• Extraction technicians work in a lab assisting production managers in extraction, purging, oil manipulation, and quality control of cannabis products; and

• Cultivation assistants provide daily care of the crops from seed to harvest.

“Because HCC offers courses in business and customer service, culinary, chemistry, and agriculture, the career tracks for cannabis training line up well with the expertise the college already has,” said Michele Cabral, executive director of Professional Education and Corporate Learning at HCC, who worked with instructors to set up the cannabis course offerings.

As a community college, HCC doesn’t allow cannabis or associated products on campus. That means classroom instruction might involve using computer simulations to show chemical reactions, for example. When a physical demonstration is needed, legally approved items like hemp plants are used in class.

“While we will not have cannabis or related products on campus, we will still do the job education has always done: share with our students the best knowledge we can provide and the best examples,” Hayden said, noting that students can get actual hands-on experience when they land internships or get placed in a job.

He added that the courses are designed to provide an entry-level workforce for the cannabis industry. Wages are usually comparable and sometimes slightly higher than other industries at entry level.

“Even more important than landing that first job is the ability to make a career out of cannabis, because the levels of compensation can be significant,” he told BusinessWest.

Whether a person is looking for an entry-level job or a second career, Cabral said cannabis can be a “phenomenal career track” for people who have never considered it before.

For example, someone with a sales background could train as a patient-services associate training to build on the skills they already have. Or someone with a science background and wants to work in a lab could train as an extraction technician to learn about cannabis-infused products such as skin creams and shampoos.

“This person with science and lab training would find an entire industry that is exploding, where they could have an amazing career,” she said. “Who knows? They could come in at entry level and work their way up to be the head of the lab.”

There’s much more to the industry than rolling a joint, Cabral continued, noting that cannabis-infused shampoos and skin creams are only two examples of the many different items that appeal to the general public. “These products are extremely clean, closely regulated, and environmentally sustainable. It’s not just about getting high.”

 

Elevating an Industry

Elevate Northeast, a nonprofit workforce-training and cannabis-advocacy group has partnered with HCC on career-training programs at the Cannabis Education Center.

Beth Waterfall, founder and executive director of Elevate Northeast, said the program at HCC is designed to help people become familiar and comfortable with the industry. “The coursework helps people see that this is real. There’s a place for their interests and their skills.”

Elevate Northeast’s main mission is to provide opportunities for people who have been marginalized or were disproportionately harmed by previous marijuana prohibitions. The CCC administers a Social Equity Program to provide assistance and training to encourage those impacted by the ‘war on drugs’ to pursue careers as workers or entrepreneurs in the cannabis field.

Waterfall said righting past wrongs is one of the mandates of the CCC. The Certified Economic Empowerment application process is a way to encourage people from neighborhoods and communities that suffered from the impact of the war on drugs to seek licenses to open cannabis microbusinesses. She added that establishing microbusinesses also prevents larger companies from dominating the cannabis market.

“I’m excited about the cannabis industry because, through programs like social equity and economic empowerment, Massachusetts has an opportunity to be a leader in business ownership by people of color and women,” she said.

Waterfall called HCC’s Cannabis Education Center a “wonderful” way to provide people with both an initial exposure and a deep dive into the cannabis industry, as well as helping people understand how they may fit into it. “Who knows? This exposure may encourage them to someday own their own business.”

While retail cannabis operations have launched in many Western Mass. communities, the city of Holyoke has been most active, currently boasting four dispensaries, with at least two more scheduled to open in 2021. Based on workplace needs identified by these companies, the job market for cannabis looks to be healthy through 2021.

“By rough estimate, I anticipate, within the coming year, we will have 400 to 500 workers in the cannabis industry, just in Holyoke,” Hayden said.

Because Western Mass. offers both skilled workers and cheaper land compared to the eastern part of the state, Waterfall sees real growth potential and cited Holyoke as quickly becoming a center of cannabis commerce. “The city needed innovation and needed jobs. Cannabis is doing that very effectively in Holyoke.”

Such strong demand for talent would normally be an opportunity for career centers like MassHire to be involved. That’s not the case, however; David Cruise, president of MassHire Hampden County Workforce Board, noted that his organization receives most of its funding from the federal government, which has not recognized cannabis as a legal substance.

“Until laws change at the federal level, we cannot be actively engaged in getting involved with job seekers in the cannabis industry,” Cruise said. While he is aware of the increase in local job opportunities in the industry, MassHire will be taking a hands-off approach to cannabis employment.

That presents a stark opportunity for HCC’s programs. In her conversations with cannabis-industry employers, Cabral found they are looking for workers who represent the diversity of their customers. One dispensary owner said clients can range from a 40-year-old woman craving a good night’s sleep to a younger person looking for a recreational product.

“The people who use the products are as diverse as the population in general, so that’s who we want to train, and that’s who the employers want to hire,” she said.

During training, Cabral reminds her students that success means following basics like showing up on time with a good attitude, effectively communicating with the management team, and putting their cell phones away. “These are real careers in real businesses that are trying to make money, so come ready to work.”

Hayden echoes that point and noted that, while it’s not surprising for someone who has an interest in cannabis to work in the industry, employers will expect them to put in an honest effort and have an open mind to learn more and grow. He also advised they pay attention to the little things that can make a big difference.

“One employer told me, he chooses his customer-service people by whether or not they walk into the room with a smile.”

 

Cultivating an Ecosystem

While the cannabis industry offers many career pathways, Hayden said it’s easy to forget about all the traditional back-of-house functions such as accounting, marketing, and data analytics that companies need on top of the industry-specific positions.

While it’s called the cannabis industry, Waterfall added, it’s really more of an ecosystem that encourages people to bring their diverse skills to it.

“While I run a nonprofit, I pay my bills by consulting with cannabis companies on marketing communications and business development,” she said, noting that she started out doing similar work, except her clients were lawyers and accounting firms.

While COVID-19 has made it difficult to get a clear sense of job growth, Hayden said the industry is just getting off the ground and still promises a strong growth trajectory.

“Like any industry, there will be ups and downs,” he added, “but the projections post-COVID are suggesting we could hit a billion dollars a year in a short period of time.”

That kind of success helps overcome some of the stigma of cannabis use, which Waterfall admits can be very strong, whether coming from family or community. While she has been educating her own family, some are still not comfortable with cannabis use.

“Then I hear from someone who tried an infused gummy and has never slept so well, or the person who told me she drinks a CBD tincture in the morning, and it makes her a better mom.”

Anecdotes like those help debunk the stereotypes and stigmas about who uses cannabis, and why. Cabral hopes more people come to understand this is a serious industry with products that can be helpful to a wide range of customers. As such, cannabis needs a committed workforce that also takes itself seriously and moves past old stereotypes.

“Jobs in this field can be extremely technical,” she said. “It’s not just go listen to Bob Marley and have a party.”

Biden Administration Will Create a More Employee-friendly Landscape

By Contributor
Law

An Employment-law Forecast

By Andrew J. Adams, Esq.

On the heels of a fiercely contested election, President-elect Joe Biden has started his transition work, and has laid out plans that have the potential to affect business owners nationwide.

As expected, many these changes lean in favor of the employee as opposed to the employer. However, some plans should assist small businesses. While it’s difficult to predict the future, we can make some solid projections about what employers can expect from the Biden administration.

 

Workplace Safety and OSHA

Andrew J. Adams

Andrew J. Adams

The most immediate effect upon employers is likely to be a push by the Biden administration to enact emergency standards requiring employers to develop workplace-safety plans in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the current administration, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) performed the lowest number of inspections in the history of the agency and reduced the number of inspectors on staff to the lowest level in the past 40 years.

Biden will immediately address these policies, leading to increased inspections and enforcement, as was the case under the Obama administration. This means employers will likely face harsher penalties for non-compliance and more substantial fines than they have over the past four years.

Employers are also likely to encounter the return of the Obama administration’s workplace-safety reporting rule. This would require certain employers to report illness and injury information to OSHA, which will then be maintained online as publicly available information.

 

Wage-and-hour Law

President-elect Biden’s campaign has stated he will seek to address wage inequalities between black and white workers, make it easier for workers to pursue claims of discrimination, and push for a higher minimum wage. The administration would increase the funding allotted to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency tasked with enforcing employment-discrimination laws.

“The most immediate effect upon employers is likely to be a push by the Biden administration to enact emergency standards requiring employers to develop workplace-safety plans in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

In what is likely to be an immediate change, Biden is expected to rescind President Trump’s executive order banning training for federal agencies and contractors that contained “offensive and anti-American race and sex stereotyping and scapegoating.” The executive order banned training on several topics and recommended keyword searches for terms such as “white privilege,” “systemic racism,” and “unconscious bias” to identify if trainings were inappropriate under the order.

Employers can also expect a push at the federal level for a $15 minimum wage; during his campaign, Biden called for an increase to a $15 minimum wage by 2026. Another likely outcome is an increase in enforcement and compliance actions against employers for wage-and-hour violations, alongside enhanced penalties.

In a follow-up to the first piece of legislation enacted by the Obama-Biden administration (the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act), Biden will also prioritize ending paycheck discrimination, evidenced by his strong support of the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would amend federal equal-pay laws to require “a bona fide factor other than sex, such as education, training, or experience” in awarding different pay to men or women doing the same or similar work; protect workers from retaliation for discussing wages; and ban the use of salary history in the hiring process.

As an aside, Biden also supports federal legislation that would provide 12 weeks of paid leave for employees for their own or a family member’s serious health condition.

 

Small Businesses

Biden plans to restructure the existing Paycheck Protection Program by adding oversight and an approval guarantee for eligible businesses with 50 or fewer employees. The plan also calls for measures to increase small-business access to capital through an initiative called the Small Business Opportunity Fund.

 

Immigration

The president-elect has proposed a 180-degree turn from the current administration’s policies when it comes to immigration. The Biden plan would call for easing legal immigration into the U.S., including a pathway to citizenship for the large number of immigrants in the U.S. who lack legal permanent status, as well as some of those currently working illegally. Biden also proposes eliminating country-based caps on immigration and increasing the number of employment-based visas awarded each year, such as the H-1B, although those may come with stricter regulation.

 

Workplace Discrimination and Harassment

Biden supports the federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which was passed by the House in September, but has yet to be approved by the Senate. Under the PWFA, employers would be required to reasonably accommodate pregnant workers and employees with pregnancy-related conditions and would prohibit them from (1) requiring a qualified employee to accept an accommodation other than any reasonable accommodation arrived at through the interactive process; (2) denying employment opportunities to a qualified employee for the known limitations related to the pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions of a qualified employee; (3) requiring a qualified employee to take paid or unpaid leave if another reasonable accommodation can be provided; and (4) taking adverse action in terms, conditions, or privileges of employment against a qualified employee on account of the employee requesting or using a reasonable accommodation.

The Biden-Harris agenda also includes support of the BE HEARD (Bringing an End to Harassment by Enhancing Accountability and Rejecting Discrimination in the Workplace) Act, which would establish a national harassment-prevention task force and includes several mandates for covered employers, including mandatory non-discrimination training and limitations on the use of non-disclosure and non-disparagement clauses in settlement agreements.

 

Federal Agencies

Employers will likely see a return to the pro-labor days of the Obama administration’s National Labor Relations Board, which is the agency that enforces U.S. labor law in relation to collective bargaining and suspected unfair labor practices. President-elect Biden will take office and have the ability to shift the board to Democratic control within the first year of his taking office.

In addition, the administration has affirmed a strong support for the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, a substantial piece of legislation that would provide sweeping reforms, including the imposition of substantial financial penalties on companies that violate labor laws. The Biden-Harris campaign page also promises to “go beyond the PRO Act by enacting legislation to impose even stiffer penalties on corporations and to hold company executives personally liable when they interfere with organizing efforts, including criminally liable when their interference is intentional.”

All in all, employers should be ready for much more employee-friendly changes over the course of the next four (or eight) years.

 

Andrew Adams is an attorney at the law firm Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C. in Springfield; (413) 737-4753; [email protected]

Lax Approach to Snow Removal Is Like Walking on Thin Ice

By Contributor
Law

Winter Weather Advisory

By Ryan K. O’Hara, Esq.

The start of a New England winter is one of nature’s cruelest jokes — one weekend, it’s 60 degrees and cloudless, stunning foliage glinting in brilliant sun (until it sets, and at a reasonable hour, mind you); the next, it’s pitch black before 5 o’clock, and the outside world morphs into a barren, inhospitable tundra. The chill November breeze whispers: “gotcha!”

Ryan K. O’Hara

Ryan K. O’Hara

Each year, this sudden shift catches me by surprise. If you’re an eternal pessimist like me, talk of winter likely conjures unpleasant visions of storms, salting, shoveling, ice scraping, and (gulp) car cleaning. Apart from the brightness and lightness of the winter holidays, the picture for the next several months is a bit grim.

As we steel ourselves for the winter ahead, it’s a good opportunity to give a moment’s thought to another cheerful seasonal topic — the legal aspects of snow and ice accumulation and removal. Whether you love the winter weather or just love to complain about it, snow, ice, and sleet are facts of life here in Western Mass. for more than a quarter of the year. And, as with any environmental condition, they cause accidents.

When winter weather plays a role in an accident causing property damage or injury, who is responsible? As usual, the old (perhaps roasted?) chestnut of a lawyerly answer applies: it depends. Generally, most liabilities relating to snow or ice arise from claims of negligence. Negligence occurs when someone who owes a duty of care fails to act reasonably, causing harm to someone else. Everyone owes a general duty of reasonable care in their actions to all people those actions may affect.

“Negligence occurs when someone who owes a duty of care fails to act reasonably, causing harm to someone else. Everyone owes a general duty of reasonable care in their actions to all people those actions may affect.”

In practice, this means that, when any of us have snow-cleaning responsibilities, if we are negligent in carrying them out, we may be liable to others — a scary premise. However, simple steps can go a long way in avoiding accidents in the first place. An increased mindfulness of winter weather and its impact on safety will make sure you stay off your insurer’s naughty list. Below are summaries of liability concerns arising from winter weather in some common contexts, with recommendations for how you can appropriately protect yourself and others.

 

Businesses

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has established a rule that property owners must address all snow and ice on their properties, and act reasonably in removing snow and ice to make the property safe for use (see Papdopolous v. Target Corp., 457 Mass. 368 [2010]). So, for example, when a patron slips on a walkway controlled by the business and breaks their wrist, the business may be legally responsible under Massachusetts law.

In deciding whether a business was negligent as to any harm caused by snow and ice, a jury will be directed to consider the reasonableness of safety measures taken. This analysis takes into account all relevant circumstances, including the severity of the storm, the amount of snow, the amount of time the condition existed, and the cost efficiency of safety measures.

The best way for businesses to protect themselves in these circumstances is to develop a protocol for preventing accumulation of snow and ice where possible, and for prompt post-storm cleanup. A reasonable business is one that anticipates risks posed by snow and ice and takes tangible steps to mitigate those risks.

Therefore, responsible businesses should be aware of impending weather events and take pre-storm steps (such as salting) to prevent accumulation in the first place. Removal of any snow necessary to enable patrons’ access to the business should be the first post-storm step, making sure that all walkways, stairs, and ramps are cleared and fully safe for use as soon as practical. At least one method of legally compliant access should be established before opening for business.

Winter-weather safety doesn’t stop at the front door, either. The business should also be cognizant of secondary weather impacts, such as the accumulation of water from snow melt tracked in by customers. To the extent there is any dangerous condition the business can’t fix, inside or outside, it should put up signs warning patrons of the danger (especially as a court would also evaluate an injured party’s own responsibility for their harm in any claim).

The business should also monitor changing conditions throughout the post-storm period, such as snow that melts and then refreezes. Finally, the business should keep an eye out for season-long hazards, like large icicles accumulating along gutters and eaves.

Often, businesses choose to contract with an outside vendor for snow removal. Although it’s never a bad idea to put a professional in charge, be wary of relying too heavily on contractors: if the contractor is failing, the business must take appropriate steps to ensure its premises are safe.

 

Landlords and Homeowners

In general terms, landlords and homeowners owe the same duty to their tenants and guests as do businesses to their patrons: reasonable care in removing snow and ice in any area controlled by them. Many of the same considerations apply. However, unlike a business, a landlord cannot simply stay closed to the public until snow is cleared; rather, their tenants are often at the property throughout the duration of a storm.

Accordingly, responsible landlords should be especially vigilant in monitoring for storms, and especially prompt in clearing any and all common areas and accesses into the building or units.

 

Drivers

Finally, drivers should be attentive to all weather conditions. Should you be involved in any accident, the reasonableness of your driving (including your speed) will be evaluated in light of the weather and road conditions. Preventive measures such as snow tires, and using additional caution when driving during a storm, will aid you in avoiding accidents (and liability, should an accident occur).

Drivers should be sure to thoroughly clean their vehicles before hitting the road. Accumulation of snow and ice on hoods, windshields, roofs, and trunks is a hazard — who hasn’t seen a practical glacier fly off the roof of a semi on the Pike? State law makes clear that drivers are obligated to clear their vehicles before they begin driving. Scofflaws ignore this rule at their own peril: not only might you earn a fat ticket from a state trooper, but if snow and ice flies off your roof and causes an accident, your violation of state law will be evidence of your negligence (and, therefore, liability for the accident).

 

Conclusion

The law is clear: Massachusetts citizens who take a lackadaisical approach to snow removal are walking on thin ice. If you are unfortunate enough to be involved in an accident involving winter weather, you want to be sure you have taken reasonable, appropriate measures to ensure the safety of yourself and others. Fortunately, such steps are typically simple, inexpensive, and within your control.

No one likes shoveling (no one I know, anyway); however, a little shoveling beats a lot of medical bills and legal fees. Plus, you’ll even get a little exercise. Who couldn’t use that in the middle of the darkest, coldest days of the year?

 

Ryan K. O’Hara is an associate with Bacon Wilson, P.C. and a member of the firm’s litigation team. His legal practice is focused on contract and business matters, landlord-tenant issues, land-use and real-estate litigation, and accidents and injuries; (413) 781-0560; [email protected]

Amid the Pandemic, It’s Often Hard to See the Forest for the Trees

By Contributor
Accounting and Tax Planning

Review, Refocus, and Reset

By Julie Quink, CPA, CFE

Julie Quink

Julie Quink

This year has been riddled with a series of unexpected and unanticipated events for business owners and organizations, the height of which continues to be the pandemic and its continued significant impact.

With the uptick in positive cases continuing, business owners and management continue to face difficult business decisions and worries surrounding the financial and safety impacts of the COVID-19 coronavirus. With much on their minds running a business day to day, it becomes difficult for business owners, management, and even accounting professionals to ‘see the forest for the trees,’ as they say, and, as a result, they often set aside the opportunity to plan.

Using the lessons learned in 2020, there is no better time to review, refocus, and reset.

Review

Countless impacts, some quantifiable and some undocumented or unknown, exist within organizations resulting from the events thus far in 2020. Among them:

• An unprecedented amount of fraud has occurred, impacting unemployment claims, accounting systems, and data breaches, to name a few areas of concern;

• Key accounting standards that were intended to be implemented in 2019 and 2020, including the lease-accounting and revenue-recognition standards, were deferred by the standard setters to ease the strain on companies in this high-pressure economic atmosphere;

• Significant stimulus funds have been made available to the business community through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, including the Paycheck Protection Program, the Provider Relief Fund for hospitals and healthcare providers, and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program;

• Businesses that have been severely impacted by the pandemic may qualify for the Credit for Sick and Family Leave and the Employee Retention Credits;

• Remote working has become the norm out of necessity rather than convenience as businesses try to keep employees safe, while maintaining the desired level of production;

• Not-for-profit organizations are feeling the pinch of decreased donation levels at a time when their services are needed the most; and

• Interruption of business globally due to the closure of various countries, limited travel, and availability of resources has contributed to the economic challenges for businesses.

Typically, reviewing the results and events of a previous year or period is instrumental in planning for an upcoming year. For many organizations, pivoting and reframing have partially replaced planning in 2020, sometimes just to survive.

Refocus

If there is any bright spot in the current environment, it is the ability to step back and refocus. Bringing the lessons learned from 2020 thus far into clear view, organizations can’t necessarily do what they have always done and survive. Some key areas that may need a refocus include:

• Technology and security of accounting systems and sensitive data;

• The review and planning for changing accounting standards. We know there is potential for new standards or revisions of existing standards to assist in evaluating the impacts of the pandemic on financial reporting. In addition, the timeline for implementation of standards that have already been deferred may be moved even further down the road.

• The use of PPP and other stimulus funds, including employer credits, requires additional consideration from a financial-reporting and a tax-compliance perspective. Will additional stimulus funds be made available in 2021?

• Long-term remote working may encourage the movement from traditional brick-and-mortar locations going forward.

• Fundraising efforts of not-for-profit organizations may need to continue to shift and adapt to our current virtual environment, with gathering restrictions for physical events still in place. The balance of budgeting between mission and funding will seemingly continue for the next few years. Will this spur mergers of not-for-profits to allow for continued mission?

• A shift of international business perspective, including supply chain, will need to continue to occur, perhaps to source more products and services locally.

A common thread weaved in among the suggested areas of refocus is the impact they have on the financial health and well-being of an organization. Taking the time to strategize and refocus in key areas opens new opportunities to shift and reset. With many demands on business owners and management to manage day-to-day operations, this process can be easily lost but remains critical.

Reset

The resetting process is the opportunity to remove the 2020 eyeglasses and pick up a prescription with new, improved lenses for 2021. This ‘new normal’ that organizations are facing encourages outside-the-box thinking, as the original box may not exist anymore or may look entirely different than before. Resetting may continue to be critical to an organization’s success and survival. Resetting in some key areas will help the organization be agile and adaptable to change.

It is clear that business owners and management may not be able to embark on the resetting process all on their own. The reliance on IT, accounting, legal counsel, investment advisors, and business consultants, included in an organization’s team of professionals, will become increasingly important. These spokes in your professional team’s wheel are critical to maneuver through the upcoming year.

Traditionally, strategic planning has encompassed perhaps a three, five-, and 10-year plan. Internal planning — and planning externally with your accounting professionals — have moved to a shorter-term focus, including many transactional and situational planning opportunities, as a result of the continuously changing environment, additional stimulus-fund opportunities, and compliance requirements.

Business owners and management do not need to hold all the information necessary to reset and reframe, but they do need to know the appropriate people to whom they can reach out.

Takeaways

As business owners and management think about the year ahead using the 2020 rearview mirror, one thing is for sure: they should have their team of professionals on speed dial.

If they do not have the right professionals in place, now is the time to make changes. The guidance provided by the spokes on the professional wheel should not be underestimated because one thing is clear: no one of us has all the answers to navigate the new normal, but collectively the team can help provide the input needed to move the organization to the next levels.

Remember: review, refocus, and reset.

Julie Quink, CPA, CFE is the managing principal of West Springfield-based Burkhart, Pizzanelli, P.C., certified public accountants; (413) 781-5609.

Doing Whatever It Takes

By
Opinion

Editorial

As the region pauses to celebrate Thanksgiving and start the holiday season, many are counting down the days until this most painful of years comes to a close.

For the business community especially, 2020 has been a year of never-ending challenges, more uncertainty than anyone would ever want, and decisions that only come in two varieties — difficult and really difficult. Nothing has come easy.

And while none of this will magically end when the calendar gets flipped to 2021, it will be good to put this year in our collective rear-view mirror.

As we begin our work reflecting on this year — and there will be a lot of that, even as we brace for times that could be even more difficult, if that’s possible — it is easy to focus on all the negative. And we’ve done enough of that ourselves.

But we want to take another opportunity to recognize and applaud the fighting spirit of the region’s business community and the manner in which it has responded to all that has been thrown at it with imagination and true resolve.

We saw another example recently when the Big E, which has been continually hammered by state restrictions regarding large events, and had to cancel its annual 17-day fair, came up with a unique ‘golden-ticket’ promotion.

And there really is a lot that has been thrown at our businesses — including draconian measures taken in the name of flattening the curve and ever-changing guidance and regulations that often make it so what you were doing last week is impossible to do this week. But, as we said, businesses have responded, and in creative, determined fashion.

We saw another example recently when the Big E, which has been continually hammered by state restrictions regarding large events, and had to cancel its annual 17-day fair, came up with a unique ‘golden-ticket’ promotion.

Inspired by Willy Wonka, or so we’ve been told, the promotion involves $1,000 golden tickets that enable the purchaser and a companion lifetime entrance to the Big E, along with a number of other perks.

From what we hear, the 100 tickets sold in less than two minutes once they officially went on sale.

Realistically, $100,000 is a tiny fraction of the Big E’s annual budget, and this promotion is not going to make a serious dent in the staggering losses the company has suffered this year. But it helps — in this trying year, every single dollar helps. And the golden ticket is a perfect example of how companies have had to look beyond what they’ve done, look beyond what they know — and find ways to generate revenue and keep people employed until that day when the clouds will finally break.

But it’s just one example. There are plenty of others.

We’ve seen restaurants get creative and entrepreneurial in their efforts to use outdoor dining, delivery, and curbside service to somehow keep their doors open. We’ve seen event venues and production companies make the difficult adjustment to hybrid and virtual events. We’ve seen nonprofits pivot and use these virtual events to raise money so they can continue to carry out their missions. We’ve seen manufacturers retool to one extent or another and shift to making PPE and other in-demand items. Getting back to the Big E, we’ve seen it tack and put its large indoor spaces to use as storage facilities for cars, boats, and other items.

There are countless other examples of companies taking a very bad situation and making something of it. And as the year draws to a close, we believe these stories can and must serve as inspiration for what it is to come — probably several more months of challenges and those difficult decisions.

Not that anything was ever easy, but we certainly won’t see anything approaching easy for a while yet.

Which means we’ll need to keep exercising our collective imaginations and coming up with our own golden tickets.

A Plot Twist with a Happy Ending

By
Opinion

Editorial

Over the past decade or so, one of the better stories to emerge in this region has been the development of the Ludlow Mills complex in Ludlow.

Acquired by Westmass Area Development Corp. in 2012, the mostly vacant set of jute mills and storage buildings has become home to an eclectic mix of businesses, and is now the site of a residential complex, a rehabilitation hospital (Encompass), and a host of small businesses that cross several sectors.

But this solid business story had been tempered somewhat by the very public, highly visible discord (there’s a diplomatic term) between Westmass and one of its more popular tenants, Iron Duke Brewing.

A disagreement over language in the lease eventually escalated into a bitter and protracted court fight, one that led to hard feelings, plans to relocate the business in Wilbraham, and a new and popular product — Eviction Notice IPA.

For a while, it looked like this court battle was going to end like so many before it — with no one really winning, despite how the ruling came down. It looked for all the world like both sides were going to be out perhaps hundreds of thousands in legal fees, Westmass would be out a good tenant, and Iron Duke would be saddled with the expense and challenge of essentially starting over in a new town and new brewery.

And then … things changed. Not overnight, but as the story on page 6 recounts, they did change.

Amid the heavy baggage from the lawsuit and the disagreement that led to it, the two sides agreed to sit down and talk. And from those talks came some progress and eventually a path to an agreement whereby Iron Duke would not only stay in its home at the mill — one of the century-old stockhouses that stored raw material — but expand within that site and perhaps own it someday.

An agreement that didn’t seem at all possible just 18 months ago.

Maybe there’s a lesson in all this — one about communication and listening and getting to understand both sides of a disagreement, on the theory that the more people know and the more people talk, the better the odds they can work out their problems.

Maybe the lesson is to try to do that before egos take over and before the lawyers get involved because, after that happens, it becomes that much harder.

We’re not sure about the lessons. We are sure that what was a good story for the region is now an even better story. Iron Duke will stay where it is, expand, and make the mill complex a better, stronger destination, one that might help attract more hospitality-related businesses like it.

Iron Duke will soon have to change its name to avoid another expensive lawsuit, this one from Duke University as it seeks to protect its brand. But that’s another story.

This story has what certainly appears to be a happy ending, after a plot twist as welcome as it was — that’s was — unlikely.

Picture This

By
Picture This

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

 

 

 

Help Where It’s Needed

Monson Savings Bank President Dan Moriarty (left) and CEO Steve Lowell (right) recently presented a $5,000 check to Andrew Morehouse, executive director of the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. The bank made the donation to help address the food-insecurity challenges being faced by many local residents. “This year has been more difficult than ever for many residents,” Lowell said. “As a local community bank, it is our duty to help those most in need. We take our responsibility very seriously and do whatever is possible to help residents who are struggling.”

 

 

 

 

Celebrating STEM Week

As a way to celebrate STEM Week in Massachusetts last month, the Red Sox Foundation and the Museum of Science in Boston partnered to distribute nearly 650 at-home science and engineering design-challenge kits to children at Springfield’s Square One (pictured), the Lawrence YMCA, and the Lawrence Boys & Girls Club. The Try It! kits are a part of the virtual learning resources the museum has developed through its curricular division, EiE, and its MOS at Home digital platform, to provide families with all the materials needed to enjoy fun and engaging science education any time, any place.

 

 

 

Supporting Girls

The Junior League of Greater Springfield (JLGS) recently donated 90 backpacks to Girls Inc. of the Valley to be given to elementary-school girls. “The Junior League of Greater Springfield is committed to the promotion of literacy and serving women and children in our community. With the backpack-donation project, our volunteers recognized an urgent need for the girls of the Pioneer Valley and jumped into service,” said Jamie Margolis, assistant treasurer of JLGS. “It has never been more important to us to help lift and support young women in our community.”

 

 

 

 

 

Agenda

By
Agenda

Virtual Open House for Elms Graduate Education Programs

Dec. 1: The Elms College Graduate Admission Office will hold a virtual open house from 5 to 6:30 p.m. to share information about graduate programs in education (MED/MAT). This sessions will allow prospective students to meet with program directors, alumni, and graduate admission counselors. Another virtual open house will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021 from 6 to 7 p.m. to share information about all Elms College graduate programs. Elms has 30 graduate, post-graduate, and certificate programs offered in a variety of models, including hybrid, online, and on campus. To register for either session, visit www.elms.edu/graduate-studies/visit.

 

Spay/Neuter Voucher Day

Dec. 1: Second Chance Animal Services announced it will host its first Spay/Neuter Voucher Day at its Springfield Community Veterinary Hospital. The program, made possible in conjunction with the Mass Animal Fund and local animal-control officers, provides free spay/neuter services to cats and dogs owned by low-income Massachusetts residents. For those who don’t qualify for the state voucher program, Second Chance’s low-cost spay/neuter program is available to everyone. Complete information on both programs can be found at secondchanceanimals.org. The Second Chance Springfield hospital also offers full-service veterinary care for all, with subsidized rates for qualifying households, plus a weekly vaccine clinic by pre-registration offering rabies and distemper vaccines for $12, microchips for $20, and nail trims for $12. Those interested in registering for the voucher day can visit the website and check out the Spay/Neuter Information section of the registration form.

 

MCLA Virtual Information Session

Dec. 2: The Division of Graduate and Continuing Education (DGCE) at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) will hold a virtual information session at 4 p.m. This information session will offer details about MCLA’s bachelor’s degree completion program; master of business administration, master of education, and teacher licensure programs; and the MCLA Leadership Academy. Members of the community interested in pursuing a postgraduate degree, advancing in their education careers, or completing their undergraduate degree are encouraged to attend. Representatives from each postgraduate program will present information and answer questions about degree paths, enrollment, balancing responsibilities while pursuing a degree, and more. For more information or to register, visit mcla.edu/infosession.

 

Bright Nights at Forest Park

Through Jan. 3: Bright Nights at Forest Park will take place this year. Spirit of Springfield and the city of Springfield have developed protocols to provide a safe and festive event that has been a holiday tradition since 1995. They will be instituted during setup, breakdown, and during the event, and include masks, regular cleaning, online ticketing, and more. Restrooms will be for emergency use only, and the usual bustling gift shop, amusement rides, horse-drawn wagon and carriage rides, and visits and supper with Santa will not be available. This will help keep all visitors safe and socially distanced in their vehicles during the experience. Bright Nights at Forest Park is three miles of a unique holiday experience featuring more than 675,000 lights and iconic displays like Seuss Land, Everett Barney Mansion, Toy Land, Happy Holidays, Springfield, and so many more. It generates $15 million in economic impact annually and has created a lifetime of family memories in its 25-year history. It also promises to be one of the safest events, with families contained in their cars. Admission will be $23 per car weeknights, weekdays, and holidays. Discounted tickets will be available at participating Big Y World Class Markets for $16.50. Due to bus-capacity limitations in Massachusetts, admission for buses has been reduced to $100 for buses with capacity of more than 30 people. Vehicles with seating from 17 to 30 people will be charged $50 for admission.

People on the Move

By
People on the Move
Kandra Tranghese

Kandra Tranghese

Monson Savings Bank announced the recent hiring of Kandra Tranghese as vice president and chief financial officer. In that role, she will be responsible for planning, directing, and controlling the bank’s financial plans, policies, and accounting practices. Tranghese most recently served for 23 years as senior audit manager for Wolf & Co., P.C., a regional CPA firm providing financial accounting and audit services. In this role, she was responsible for managing a team of professionals and providing audit and other assurance services to financial institutions. She earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Fairfield University and is a licensed certified public accountant (CPA), as well as a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants. An active participant in the community, Tranghese currently serves as treasurer for the Wilbraham Hampden Academic Trust and previously was president of the Children’s Study Home. She looks forward to participating with Monson Savings Bank on future community-outreach initiatives.

•••••

Scott Emerson

Scott Emerson

Alyson Weeks

Alyson Weeks

Erin Skoczylas

Erin Skoczylas

Country Bank announced three recent promotions of long-time staff members. Scott Emerson was promoted to vice president, IT Security. He has more than 20 years of experience in the technology industry and has been an essential part of the Innovation & Technology team at Country Bank for 14 years. He earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from UMass Amherst and has also achieved several professional certifications, including information systems security professional (CISSP), information security manager (CISM), and GIAC enterprise defender (GCED). Alyson Weeks has been promoted to assistant vice president, Human Resources. She began her career at Country Bank 12 years ago as a teller and has worked in various other roles in the Retail Banking division, including teller supervisor, Branch Operations manager, and Retail Operations manager, before joining the Human Resources team five years ago. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Worcester State University and has a master’s degree in education from American International College. Erin Skoczylas has been promoted to assistant controller. She began her career at Country Bank 23 years ago as a part-time Operations clerk. Before transitioning to accounting in 2008, she worked in various positions throughout the Operations department. She holds an associate degree in business administration from Springfield Technical Community College and a bachelor of business administration degree from Western New England University. She is also a 2017 graduate of the New England School for Financial Studies.

•••••

Berkshire Bank announced the promotion of Jason White to executive vice president and chief information officer. He previously served as senior vice president and chief technology officer at the bank. In his new role, White will lead all aspects of Berkshire’s information-technology program and oversee the teams responsible for ACH payroll, wire room, and electronic banking. He will also continue to direct the bank’s technology investments and assets to ensure it is meeting the changing demands of customers in a digitally focused banking environment. He will report directly to acting President and CEO Sean Gray. In August, BostonCIO announced White as a winner of its 2020 CIO of the Year ORBIE Award in the corporate category. The awards recognize chief information officers who have demonstrated excellence in technology leadership. White previously served as senior vice president and chief technology officer at Berkshire Bank. He joined Berkshire in 2019 after the bank’s acquisition of Savings Institute Bank & Trust. Before that, he was responsible for streamlining the information-technology and operational workflows at Savings Institute, implementing a fully virtualized infrastructure, enhancing its overall information-security posture, and innovating customer digital channels. At Savings Institute, he served as chief information officer and information security officer. His background includes more than 25 years of experience supporting technology and operational areas within the financial industry.

•••••

Bud Williams

Bud Williams

Kareem Wedderburn

Kareem Wedderburn

The Springfield Museums announced the winners of the 29th Ubora and 11th Ahadi award winners: state Rep. Bud Williams and Kareem Wedderburn. The awards are conferred each year by the African Hall subcommittee to African-American people from Greater Springfield who have demonstrated significant commitment to community service, education, science, humanities and/or the arts. The Ubora Award recognizes an adult of African heritage who exemplifies excellence in their commitment to creating a better community through service. The Ahadi Youth Award is presented to a young African-American who excels in academics and performs admirable service to the Greater Springfield community. First elected to Springfield City Council in 1993, Williams, the Ubora Award winner, is also a member of the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus. He was instrumental in stopping TD Bank from closing the Mason Square bank branch — a closure that would have negatively impacted poor and underserved residents, particularly senior patrons. His fight to address the injustices of subpar housing and support for displaced residents of Bergen Circle housing complex is another example of his work on behalf of the community. He assisted the elderly, provided transportation, and made certain that residents were treated with dignity as they sought out shelter and other services. One of seven close-knit siblings raised by their mother, Wedderburn challenged himself throughout his high-school career with advanced-placement course work, leadership in school theater productions, and a pivotal Upward Bound (UB) program in social justice. Upward Bound’s mission is to enable first-generation and low-income students to succeed in high school and enroll in college. The program also has a significant social-justice element. Wedderburn became passionate about public transit when he started taking the PVTA to school every day. Since then he has studied, written about, and photographed transit as a hobby, and has also made it his career focus. Currently, he is a freshman at Westfield State University, majoring in regional planning.

•••••

Joshua Woods

Joshua Woods

Bacon Wilson announced that attorney Joshua Woods has joined the firm. Woods is an associate and a member of the firm’s business and commercial law team, and is licensed in both Massachusetts and Connecticut. Prior to joining Bacon Wilson, Woods practiced law in Hartford, Conn. and also in the Boston area, where he handled a wide variety of business matters including all aspects of corporate formation, franchising, joint ventures, leasing, and business and commercial litigation. He attended Western New England University School of Law, earning his juris doctor in 2017, and earned a BBA from Hofstra University in 2013. He will practice primarily from Bacon Wilson’s office in Springfield, working with clients throughout Massachusetts and Connecticut.

•••••

Gov. Charlie Baker announced the appointment of Maj. Gen. Gary Keefe and Lt. Col. Mark Bigda to the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home board of trustees. Brig. Gen. Sean Collins was appointed to the board last July. Together, these individuals represent extensive experience in the military and healthcare and have a direct connection to Western and Central Mass. Keefe will serve a seven-year term, replacing former trustee Christopher Dupont, whose term ended in July. Bigda will serve until July 2022, serving the remainder of former trustee Cesar Lopez’s term following his resignation in September. Collins will serve until July 2024, serving the remainder of former trustee Richard Girard’s term following his resignation in June. Keefe is currently assigned as adjutant general for the Massachusetts National Guard. In 1992, he joined the Massachusetts Air National Guard with the 104th Fighter Wing, and has held numerous assignments with the Massachusetts National Guard, having been appointed as adjutant general in May 2016. Bigda serves in the Massachusetts Air National Guard as a flight surgeon for the 104th Fighter Wing at Barnes Air National Guard Base in Westfield, and has practiced as a physician for 30 years at his private practice, Manhan Internal Medicine, and also served as facility physician for 28 years at Hampshire County House of Correction. Bigda founded a nonprofit organization called Mustard Seed Missions and, since 2004, has led twice-yearly mission trips to remote villages in Haiti. Collins, a board-certified nurse practitioner, currently serves as the Air National Guard assistant to the deputy surgeon general, assisting in the overall operation of the Air Force Medical Service, a 44,000-person, integrated healthcare-delivery system across the U.S. and overseas. He is also currently an assistant professor at UMass Medical School.

Company Notebook

By
Company Notebook

Two V-One Vodkas Win Top Honors at Warsaw Spirits Competition

HADLEY — Valley Vodka Inc. announced that its V-One Original and its new V-One Peppermint were honored with two of the highest awards, the Double Gold medal, at the Warsaw Spirits Competition this month. Now in its third year, the number of entries and producers in the Warsaw Spirits Competition was record-breaking, with hundreds of alcoholic beverages from more than 25 countries in this year’s tasting. Because of COVID-19, all alcohols were blind-tasted over a 45-day period. At age 27, Kozub started crafting vodka in the basement of his Hadley home to honor his recently deceased Polish grandfather and entrepreneurial father. Two years later, he took his recipe to Poland, where it has been crafted since 2005. In the summer of 2019, Valley Vodka Inc. completed a multi-million-dollar purchase and 12,000-square-foot expansion of the company’s own distillery in Kamie, Poland, about two hours southeast of the capital of Warsaw and just a few miles from the birthplace of vodka.

 

American Bus Assoc. Names Big E to ‘Best of the Best’ Listing

WEST SPRINGFIELD — The Big E, North America’s fifth-largest fair, has been named to the “Best of the Best” listing for 2020 by the American Bus Assoc. The listing includes events and attractions from throughout the U.S. and Canada. “Best of the Best” honors outstanding travel-industry members who go above and beyond for the group-tour industry. Categories include Adventure, Culture, Entertainment, Festivals & Events, Food & Beverage, Lodging, and Shopping. The Big E, which has also been named a “Top 100 Event” and an “Internationally Known Event” by the ABA in recent years, is featured in the Festival & Events category. Bright Nights at Forest Park was also named in this category. Plans are underway for the 2021 Big E, scheduled for Sept. 17 to Oct. 3. A concert by country superstar Brad Paisley was announced last month. For more information, visit www.thebige.com.

 

Monson Savings OpensEast Longmeadow Branch

EAST LONGMEADOW — In June, Monson Savings Bank announced its plan to open a full‐service branch located at 61 North Main St. in East Longmeadow. While opening a new location during the height of the COVID‐19 pandemic may seem like an uncommon move, the bank’s leaders felt it was important to serve the East Longmeadow community. The newly renovated East Longmeadow branch features an open-concept lobby layout, a team of knowledgeable and friendly banking professionals, two drive‐up lanes, a 24‐hour drive‐up ATM, and a coin machine. It also has offices specifically for mortgage lending, investment, and business-banking specialists who will be available to customers on site or by appointment.

 

UMassFive Donates $13,552 to Food Bank of Western Mass. in 2020

HADLEY — UMassFive College Federal Credit Union announced it has provided more than $13,500 in donations to the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts during 2020. These donations have been facilitated through community giving campaigns in partnership with staff and members of the credit union. Early this year, UMassFive supported the Food Bank by donating $1,000 to help offset the increase in demand presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. The credit union also sponsored and participated in the Food Bank’s annual Will Bike 4 Food event. A team of 11 UMassFive employees raised money and rode bikes as part of the event, which took place virtually, resulting in donations of $3,422. In the interest of supporting the community, UMassFive also encouraged participation from those who bank at the credit union. A campaign called “Share Your Story” allowed members to choose a local organization to receive a $25 donation from UMassFive on their behalf. A total of $5,000 in donations was split between five local organizations, of which $1,300 was donated to the Food Bank. Members were also encouraged to redeem their earned Buzz Points — a debit-card spending reward program — as charitable donations, which has contributed the equivalent of $2,830 in donations to the Food Bank this year. UMassFive’s latest endeavor was a “Spend and Give” campaign, which involved a collaboration with its members and credit-card servicer PSCU. During the month of July, 1% of every purchase made on an eligible member’s UMassFive credit card was donated to the Food Bank. Based on member purchases, the credit union met its goal of raising $2,500 and unlocked a matching grant from PSCU, resulting in a $5,000 overall donation to the Food Bank. This donation brought UMassFive’s total contribution to the organization so far in 2020 to $13,552.

 

STCC Wins Four Marketing and Communications Awards

SPRINGFIELD — Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) won four medals at this year’s District 1 National Council for Marketing & Public Relations (NCMPR) Medallion Awards. The Medallion Awards recognize excellence in design and communication at community colleges within the district, which covers the Northeast, parts of Eastern Canada, and the United Kingdom. STCC won three bronze medallions and one silver. The Communications and Marketing team was recognized for excellence in creating the following promotional products on behalf of the college: a brochure with facts about STCC and information about how to apply for financial aid (silver medallion); a spring 2020 semester newsletter (bronze); a fundraising pennant (bronze); and the “STCC Around” radio segment that airs on WTCC 90.7 FM on Thursdays at 8:30 a.m. (bronze). The work was judged by marketing and communications professionals who are members of NCMPR at community colleges. Winners are awarded gold, silver, or bronze medallions. The Communications and Marketing staff at STCC includes Paul, Media Relations Coordinator Jim Danko, and Design and Production Services Coordinator Kerry Ferrero.

 

SkinCatering Marks 10 Years with Expansion to New Location

SPRINGFIELD — SkinCatering, LLC, an all-natural skin-care brand, announced its 10th anniversary on Nov. 10. After catering to the health and well-being of busy clients for the past decade, the company is expanding to a new location in Tower Square. SkinCatering, a local, women-owned business, produces its own line of clean beauty skin care, in addition to offering a variety of high-end spa services. It uses high-quality ingredients to provide effective, cruelty-free treatments and products without the use of harmful chemicals. Everything is formulated and manufactured by the SkinCatering team to monitor every ingredient, catering to those with sensitive skin or allergies, and products are offered for retail, boutique wholesale, and private label. Leanne Sedlak founded SkinCatering in 2010, offering mobile relaxation to busy professionals in their homes. In 2012, licensed aesthetician Kim Brunton-Auger joined the company and has played a significant role in the growth of the business, now serving as vice president of skin-care development. They opened a space in Tower Square in downtown Springfield in November 2013 and have grown the business significantly over the years. Now in need of a larger space, they are expanding to include a salon and nail services in a new location inside Tower Square.

 

Colony Hills Capital Acquires Apartment Complex in Georgia

WILBRAHAM — Colony Hills Capital, based in Wilbraham, announced its recent acquisition of Lakeshire Village Apartments located at 4395 Washington Road in East Point, Ga. Colony Hills paid $22.3 million for the 284-unit, multi-family community. Built in the 1970s, Lakeshire Village was completely redeveloped in 2003 by the seller using low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs). Colony will rebrand the community and aims to reinvigorate it with fresh capital and fresh ideas. According to David Kaufman, president of Colony Hills Capital, the company will focus its capital investments on neglected community areas by adding sports courts, bringing the pool back on line, adding a dog park, and installing community picnic and grilling areas. Colony Hills will also add a fitness center, kids’ learning lab, and resident event area to the Community Center building. Lakeshire Village is Colony Hills’ second LIHTC affordable-housing acquisition in the past year.

 

Bulkley Richardson Named 2021 Best Law Firm in 11 Practice Areas

SPRINGFIELD — Best Lawyers, in partnership with U.S. News and World Report, ranks Bulkley Richardson as 2021 Best Law Firm in the following 11 practice areas: banking and finance law, bankruptcy and creditor-debtor rights/insolvency and reorganization law, commercial litigation, corporate law, criminal defense: white collar, criminal defense: general practice, litigation: labor and employment, medical-malpractice law: defendants, personal-injury litigation: defendants, tax law, and trusts and estates law. To be eligible for a ranking, a law firm must have at least one lawyer who is included on the Best Lawyers list. Bulkley Richardson has 14 lawyers included on the 2021 list, and two of the firm’s partners, Liz Sillin and John Pucci, were named 2021 Springfield Lawyers of the Year.

 

Hamre Martin Team of Rovithis Realty Names Square One a Charity of Choice

SPRINGFIELD — The Hamre Martin Team of Rovithis Realty, LLC has named Square One a charity of choice for the real-estate agency’s charitable-giving initiative.

At the closing of each real-estate transaction, clients have the opportunity to select a charity to receive a portion of the commission from the transaction. Square One has recently been added to a list of preferred organizations to receive funding. The designation comes at a critical time as Square One recently expanded its early-education program to include full-day remote learning support for children in kindergarten through grade 5, in addition to its traditional preschool classrooms and family childcare offerings. Funds raised through this undertaking will support Square One’s Campaign for Healthy Kids, a multi-year fund-development initiative focused on the agency’s commitment to providing healthy meals, physical fitness, social-emotional well-being, and a healthy learning environment. To make a donation, text ABC123 to 44-321, visit www.startatsquareone.org, or e-mail Allard at [email protected].

 

Junior League Donates Backpacks to Girls Inc. of the Valley

HOLYOKE — Girls Inc. of the Valley received a donation of 90 backpacks for their elementary-school girls from the Junior League of Greater Springfield (JLGS). Girls Inc. of the Valley aims to inspire all girls to see themselves as leaders with the skills and capabilities to improve and influence their local communities. This donation from JLGS, a nonprofit organization of women committed to promoting volunteerism, allows both organizations to accomplish their missions. The Junior League of Greater Springfield is committed to the promotion of literacy and serving women and children in the community. JLGS aims to improve the lives of children and families in the community by collaborating with other organizations to assist families in need and to promote literacy and education. This directly aligns with the mission of Girls Inc. of the Valley, helping both parties accomplish their goals.

 

Bradley Recognized by Condé Nast Traveler Readers as Eighth-best U.S. Airport

WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. — The Connecticut Airport Authority (CAA) announced that Condé Nast Traveler released the results of its annual Readers’ Choice Awards, with Bradley International Airport recognized as the eighth-best airport in the U.S. The awards are the longest-running and most prestigious recognition of excellence in the travel industry. Bradley International Airport was recognized as a top-10 airport for the fourth consecutive year. “This award is a tremendous honor during a challenging year for the travel industry, and we are proud to once again be recognized among our nation’s best airports,” said Kevin Dillon, executive director of the Connecticut Airport Authority. “We thank the travel community for their continued vote of confidence in Bradley International Airport and for underscoring the value of traveling through a smaller airport. Now more than ever, Bradley Airport stands out by always offering a clean, safe, and convenient travel experience.”

Incorporations

By
Incorporations

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

AGAWAM

Floors N More Inc., 44 North St. Agawam, MA 01001. Igor Moshkivskyy, same. Floors.

ATHOL

Los Agaves Grill Inc., 491 Main St. Athol, MA 03131. Crisoforo Lopez, 2 Washington St. Amesbury, MA 01913. Mexican Restaurant.

CHICOPEE

Iglesia Cristiana Centro Restauracion Misionera Inc., 49 Perkins St. Chicopee, MA 01013. Nelly Alvarez, 20 Mobile Home Way Springfield, MA 01119. This corporation is a church.

EAST LONGMEADOW

Advanced Remodeling and Maintenance Inc., 15 Hanward Hill East Longmeadow, MA 01028. Shawn P. Blanchard, same. Interior and exterior construction, maintenance and repair of residential and commercial property.

Burack Consulting Inc., 194 Elm St. East Longmeadow, MA 01028. Gregory Burack, same. Consulting.

FLORENCE

Build Repair Grow Inc., 9 Berkshire Terrace Florence, MA 01062. Elizabeth Valdez, 84 Allen Road, Belchertown, MA 01007. Build Repair Grow is organized exclusively for charitable educational purposes in accordance with section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code.

Unicorn Precision Inc., 34 North Maple St., Suite 7, Florence, MA 01062. Rui Fernandes, 121 Leonard Road, Shutesbury, MA 01072. Manufacturing company.

GREENFIELD

LDS Cargo Inc., 44 Oak Ct., Greenfield, MA 01301. Lidia Sofronovici, same. Transportation.

HAMPDEN

Rubner Oil Inc., 36 Allen Court Hampden, MA 01036. Todd Rubner, same. Oil delivery.

LONGMEADOW

Lawnwood Enterprises, Inc., 33 Woodlawn Place Longmeadow, MA 01106. Ian Coogan, same. Hair salon.

LUDLOW

All State Plumbing, Inc., 1400 Center St. Ludlow, MA 01056. Fernando Blanco, same. Plumbing business.

LYNN

Dino’s Auto Repair Inc., 51 Willow St. PO Box 2622 Lynn, MA 01901. Misael Colon Andino, 77 Monmouth St. 1st Floor Springfield, MA 01109. Auto repair services.

NORTHFIELD

Daniels Books, Inc., 181 School St. Northfield, MA 01360. Edward Foster, same. To engage in charitable literary and education purposes, specifically the publishing, marketing and promoting of innovative, experimental, and avant garde poetry.

NORTH ADAMS

Victory Lounge Inc., 82 Winter St. North Adams, MA 01247. Brian Intraversato, same. Entertainment, food, and alcohol services.

PHILLIPSTON

Mark E Johnson Concrete Inc., 3 Pine Meadow Road, Phillipston, MA 01331. Mark E Johnson, same. Foundations for commercial and residential.

MEJ Leasing Inc., 3 Pine Meadow Road, Phillipston, MA 01331. Mark E Johnson, same. Leasing equipment.

SPRINGFIELD

Softeye Solutions Inc., 27 Lyman St. Apt. D606 Springfield, MA 01103. Adonte Harrell, same. Provide free and low-cost technical assistance to individuals and businesses within the commonwealth for the creation of start-up business websites, hosting, and e-mail services.

Heredia Inc., 134 Woodside Ter. Springfield, MA 01108. Orlando Heredia, same. Cargo transportation in trucks.

Doing Business As Certificates

By
DBA Certificates

The following business certificates and/or trade names were issued or renewed during the month of November 2020. (Filings are limited due to closures or reduced staffing hours at municipal offices due to COVID-19 restrictions).

DEERFIELD

Impact Merchant Solutions
252 Lower Road
Michael Rifanburg

Soul Trek Coaching
9 Conway St.
William Dziura

HADLEY

Homewood Suites
340 Russell St.
Kishore Parmar

Qigong Infused Yoga
64 Comins Road
Lynne Smith

T-Mobile
344 Russell St.
Lindsey Romano

T-Mobile Financial
344 Russell St.
Lindsey Romano

T-Mobile Leasing
344 Russell St.
T-Mobile Northeast

SOUTHWICK

American Way Home Improvement
24 Eagle St.
Andrew Gorenc

Kim Hartman House Cleaning
26 Fernwood Road
Kim Hartman

Thompson Transportation
719 College Highway
Shane Thompson

WESTFIELD

Andrew York Photography, LLC
16 Union Ave.
Andrea York

Armbrook Village Senior Living Residence
551 North Road
Westfield Senior Housing I Opco, LLC

Cindy’s Cleaning
44 Laro Road
Cindy Donahue

Greg’s Auto Repair Inc.
301 North Elm St.
Greg’s Auto Repair Inc.

Quality Machining & Manufacturing
179 Joseph Ave.
Steven Sobczyk

Rovithis Realty, LLC
16 Union Ave., Suite 26
Steven Rovithis

Seven Colors Painting
26 Hunter Slope
Pavel Shevchuk

Sophy Nails and Spa
84 Main St.
Lida Lim

WEST SPRINGFIELD

Beauty Admired
1027 Westfield St.
Sapphire Torres

Becker Cleaning Services
69 Hanover St.
Anthony Becker

Big Lots #1863
1150 Union St.
Doris Greathouse

Comfort Bagel
163 Falmouth Road
Janet Blake

Taj Indian Cuisine
1506 Riverdale St.
Shambhu Rana

T-Mobile
233 Memorial Ave.
Lindsey Romano

Bankruptcies

By
Bankruptcies

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

Acevedo, Yanira
20 Blanche St., Apt 2L
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 7
Date: 10/21/2020

Allen, Kyle E.
530 Millers Falls Road
Northfield, MA 01360
Chapter: 7
Date: 10/29/2020

Ansara, Peter
P.O. Box 605
West Springfield, MA 01090
Chapter: 7
Date: 10/21/2020

Clune, Walter R.
1 Apple Blossom Lane
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Chapter: 7
Date: 10/27/2020

Dolloff, Gerald W.
Dolloff, Cynthia L.
90 Plumtree Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Chapter: 13
Date: 10/26/2020

Elim Books
Converse, Kimberley Jean
66 Glendale Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Chapter: 7
Date: 10/20/2020

Ferreira, Jonathan R.
Ferreira, Kira L.
P.O. Box 363
Gilbertville, MA 01031
Chapter: 7
Date: 10/23/2020

Hendrickson, Mark A.
111 School St., Apt 3
Greenfield, MA 01301
Chapter: 7
Date: 10/25/2020

Leahy, Dawn
a/k/a Cziraki, Dawn Mari
34 Phillips St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Chapter: 7
Date: 10/29/2020

Massage/Wellness
Esko, Mark Masao
Harrington,Lena O. LMT
30 Burr Dr.
Dalton, MA 01226
Chapter: 7
Date: 10/26/2020

Nimchick, Jill C.
Nimchick, Susan J.
362 James St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 13
Date: 10/23/2020

Quinlan, Michael L.
Quinlan, Shirley J.
5 Wright Place
South Hadley, MA 01075
Chapter: 7
Date: 10/25/2020

St.Sauveur, John Anthony
St.Sauveur, Janet Lynn
11 Ridge Road
Palmer, MA 01069
Chapter: 7
Date: 10/20/2020

Warren, John Chester
Warren, Debra Jean
4 Central Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Date: 10/29/2020

Zhee Singer Studio
Studio Works Modern
Singer, Zhee S.
Singer, Maria R.
44 Southpoint Dr., Apt. G
Amherst, MA 01002
Chapter: 7
Date: 10/23/2020

Real Estate Transactions

By
Real Estate

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

FRANKLIN COUNTY

ASHFIELD

2050 Hawley Road
Ashfield, MA 01330
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Andrew W. Misiaszek
Seller: Douglas J. Kling
Date: 10/30/20

BERNARDSTON

162 Bald Mountain Road
Bernardston, MA 01337
Amount: $295,000
Buyer: Aaron D. Budine
Seller: Pearson, Elizabeth J., (Estate)
Date: 10/28/20

590 Brattleboro Road
Bernardston, MA 01337
Amount: $435,000
Buyer: Jared N. Weeks
Seller: Beverly A. Phelps
Date: 10/22/20

BUCKLAND

5 Wilde Road
Buckland, MA 01338
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Matthew Wanamaker
Seller: Arthur H. Phillips
Date: 10/30/20

CHARLEMONT

176 Burnt Hill Road
Charlemont, MA 01370
Amount: $2,340,000
Buyer: Ekoorb LLC
Seller: MKH Burnt Hill LLC
Date: 10/28/20

192 Burnt Hill Road
Charlemont, MA 01339
Amount: $2,340,000
Buyer: Ekoorb LLC
Seller: MKH Burnt Hill LLC
Date: 10/28/20

10 Harmony Heights
Charlemont, MA 01339
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Neil F. Dargis
Seller: Frances Mary Avery LT
Date: 10/28/20

159 Main St.
Charlemont, MA 01339
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Jujus Palace LLC
Seller: Todd M. Gerry
Date: 10/21/20

CONWAY

378 Old Cricket Hill Road
Conway, MA 01341
Amount: $450,000
Buyer: W. M. Chester Jr 2018 TR
Seller: Georgette L. Devine
Date: 10/21/20

34 River St.
Conway, MA 01341
Amount: $187,000
Buyer: William D. Pease
Seller: Hay INT
Date: 10/23/20

DEERFIELD

6 North Hillside Road
Deerfield, MA 01373
Amount: $335,000
Buyer: George McCully
Seller: Yan Yan
Date: 10/29/20

6 Stage Road
Deerfield, MA 01373
Amount: $371,500
Buyer: Martin A. Medina-Elizalde
Seller: Laurence G. St.Cyr
Date: 10/30/20

22 Sugarloaf St.
Deerfield, MA 01373
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Stephen L. Grybko
Seller: Phillips, Linda M., (Estate)
Date: 10/23/20

ERVING

12 North St.
Erving, MA 01344
Amount: $183,900
Buyer: Laura Smith
Seller: William D. Pease
Date: 10/23/20

5 West Main St.
Erving, MA 01344
Amount: $345,000
Buyer: Flis Collective LLC
Seller: Frank A. Fellows
Date: 10/23/20

GILL

93 Barney Hale Road
Gill, MA 01354
Amount: $289,500
Buyer: Roger A. Witter
Seller: Ann M. McCune
Date: 10/23/20

GREENFIELD

209 Barton Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Steven H. Lepore
Seller: Douglas A. Manson IRT
Date: 10/28/20

19 Beech St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Marguerite Rancourt
Seller: Lawrence R. Dennett
Date: 10/30/20

780 Bernardston Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $365,900
Buyer: Casey A. Gilman
Seller: Steven D. Beckwith
Date: 10/28/20

80 Cleveland St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Richard P. Marsh
Seller: Timothy Bache
Date: 10/20/20

9 Greenway Lane
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: Gary Fieldman
Seller: Gail M. Bienvenue
Date: 10/23/20

97 Harrison Ave.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $218,000
Buyer: Annemarie Falvey
Seller: Falvey, Therese M., (Estate)
Date: 10/30/20

14 Kenwood St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Dorothea Melnicoff
Seller: George D. Winslow
Date: 10/19/20

86 Newell Pond Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Louis E. Soucie
Seller: Schryba, Patricia, (Estate)
Date: 10/21/20

185-A Old Albany Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $732,620
Buyer: Thomas J. Erickson
Seller: David B. Patteson
Date: 10/22/20

284 Silver St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Beverly A. Phelps
Seller: Walter F. Kasper
Date: 10/22/20

58 Smead Hill Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $269,000
Buyer: Andrew Duncan
Seller: Karen M. Fritz-O’Hare
Date: 10/23/20

63 Summer St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Ross C. Miner
Seller: James C. Rae
Date: 10/19/20

30 Woodleigh Ave.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $199,000
Buyer: Jake M. Meginsky
Seller: Edward J. Terault
Date: 10/23/20

HAWLEY

124 East Hawley Road
Hawley, MA 01339
Amount: $258,000
Buyer: Andrew F. Graves
Seller: Casey M. Peters
Date: 10/29/20

LEVERETT

36 Cave Hill Road
Leverett, MA 01054
Amount: $354,000
Buyer: Ben E. Bakker
Seller: Gary C. Maclean
Date: 10/23/20

177 Cave Hill Road
Leverett, MA 01054
Amount: $351,000
Buyer: David Hornstein
Seller: Francine C. Kirley
Date: 10/28/20

112 Old Mountain Road
Leverett, MA 01054
Amount: $227,000
Buyer: Sweet Nestled LLC
Seller: John Prodis
Date: 10/23/20

LEYDEN

298 Brattleboro Road
Leyden, MA 01337
Amount: $252,750
Buyer: Kyle D. Baker
Seller: Alice R. Klingener
Date: 10/28/20

East Hill Road
Leyden, MA 01301
Amount: $153,000
Buyer: Perry Bowen-Carter
Seller: Virginia M. Rockwood
Date: 10/23/20

178 Eden Trail
Leyden, MA 01337
Amount: $348,000
Buyer: William R. Bander
Seller: Eric D. Page
Date: 10/26/20

MONTAGUE

77 5th St.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $132,000
Buyer: Elizabeth Ramlow
Seller: Peterson M. Cunha
Date: 10/23/20

68 Dell St.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Lawrence R. Dennett
Seller: Demers, Edmund J., (Estate)
Date: 10/21/20

25 Montague St.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Kathleen McCarrick-Fagan
Seller: Jonathan B. Scully
Date: 10/30/20

66 South Prospect St.
Montague, MA 01349
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Jeremy Demers
Seller: David M. Wilson
Date: 10/23/20

410 Turners Falls Road
Montague, MA 01351
Amount: $440,000
Buyer: Norman P. Emond
Seller: Sharon M. Duval
Date: 10/20/20

249 Wendell Road
Montague, MA 01349
Amount: $233,500
Buyer: Katie Esposito
Seller: Douglas Simon
Date: 10/27/20

NEW SALEM

13 Daniel Shays Hwy.
New Salem, MA 01355
Amount: $316,000
Buyer: Karmen J. Wu
Seller: Lisa M. Jean
Date: 10/30/20

NORTHFIELD

303 Birnam Road
Northfield, MA 01360
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Peter H. Weis
Seller: Northfield Mt. Hermon School
Date: 10/20/20

15 Holly Ave.
Northfield, MA 01360
Amount: $156,000
Buyer: Rabecka L. Mitchell
Seller: Nelson, Jeri, (Estate)
Date: 10/22/20

54 Pine St.
Northfield, MA 01360
Amount: $229,000
Buyer: Steven T. Whittaker
Seller: Walter A. Smith
Date: 10/21/20

91 South Mountain Road
Northfield, MA 01360
Amount: $810,000
Buyer: Johnathan Parsons
Seller: Martha E. Stinson
Date: 10/20/20

ORANGE

43 Cottage St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $166,000
Buyer: Autumn J. Maynard
Seller: Stephen J. Oliver
Date: 10/30/20

85 East Main St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $163,800
Buyer: Athol Credit Union
Seller: John Dunphy
Date: 10/29/20

105 East Main St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $174,000
Buyer: Chelsea Amaru
Seller: Marcia A. Connors
Date: 10/30/20

36 Highland St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $172,000
Buyer: Natasha C. Kulisanski
Seller: Frances D. Hadsel
Date: 10/29/20

30 Whitney St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Nicholas Prescott
Seller: Wayne Whitmore
Date: 10/30/20

SHELBURNE

313 Colrain Shelburne Road
Shelburne, MA 01370
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Brian D. Godin
Seller: Peter G. Farrar
Date: 10/28/20

99 Main St.
Shelburne, MA 01370
Amount: $385,000
Buyer: Paul R. Bennett
Seller: Jenny New RET
Date: 10/30/20

874 Mohawk Trail
Shelburne, MA 01370
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: 4 Pleasant Street LLC
Seller: York INT
Date: 10/22/20

SHUTESBURY

16 Carver Road
Shutesbury, MA 01072
Amount: $322,500
Buyer: Steven 168 LLC
Seller: Sterling A. Lamet 2014 TR
Date: 10/27/20

105 Sand Hill Road
Shutesbury, MA 01072
Amount: $395,000
Buyer: Great Bally Inc.
Seller: Maureen A. Feyre-Febonio
Date: 10/19/20

250 West Pelham Road
Shutesbury, MA 01072
Amount: $440,000
Buyer: Jacob E. Messier
Seller: Paul C. Roud
Date: 10/29/20

SUNDERLAND

15 Bayberry Dr.
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $432,500
Buyer: Louis J. Jumonville
Seller: Robert Y. Yoon
Date: 10/20/20

146 Old Amherst Road
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Robert L. Hesseltine FT
Seller: Chanthava Chanthavong
Date: 10/30/20

50 Plumtree Road
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Alex W. Balulescu
Seller: Clifford V. Bowen
Date: 10/22/20

WHATELY

125 Haydenville Road
Whately, MA 01093
Amount: $500,000
Buyer: David Powell
Seller: Michael J. Vallee
Date: 10/19/20

5 State Road
Whately, MA 01093
Amount: $247,500
Buyer: Nathan G. Bradley
Seller: Keyes, Steven R., (Estate)
Date: 10/29/20

HAMPDEN COUNTY

AGAWAM

80 Alhambra Circle North
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Robert E. Sachen
Seller: Kacy R. Progulske
Date: 10/23/20

36 Danny Lane
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $380,000
Buyer: Donald J. Whelihan
Seller: Bradley D. Wright
Date: 10/30/20

25 Franklin St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $1,730,000
Buyer: Ferraro Foods Of Mass. LLC
Seller: Dora LLC
Date: 10/26/20

195 Leonard St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $495,000
Buyer: Agron Avdyli
Seller: Ilim Muradov
Date: 10/30/20

29 Line St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: Luis A. Melendez-Garcia
Seller: Musa Avdyli
Date: 10/29/20

29 Nolan Lane
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $420,000
Buyer: Adam B. Pudelko
Seller: Daniel J. Bousquet
Date: 10/23/20

14 North West St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $399,900
Buyer: Bryan Sohayda
Seller: MS Homes LLC
Date: 10/26/20

30 Prospect St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $315,000
Buyer: Gloria J. Mitchell
Seller: Dianne M. Bisi
Date: 10/26/20

687 River Road
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Melissa M. Gorneault
Seller: Daniel R. Tanner
Date: 10/30/20

44 Silver Lake Dr.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $267,000
Buyer: Sarah K. Lamb
Seller: Paula J. Loughman
Date: 10/30/20

80 Simpson Circle
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Edith Salgado
Seller: Brendan Culver
Date: 10/30/20

75 Springfield St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $1,730,000
Buyer: Ferraro Foods Of Mass. LLC
Seller: Dora LLC
Date: 10/26/20

71 Woodside Dr.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: M. C. Hernandez-Rodriguez
Seller: Steven Kamyk
Date: 10/28/20

BLANDFORD

9-R Birch Hill Road
Blandford, MA 01008
Amount: $239,000
Buyer: Eric Miller
Seller: John C. Sawyer
Date: 10/30/20

19 Kaolin Road
Blandford, MA 01008
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Madonna A. St.Jean
Seller: Matthew L. Puza
Date: 10/19/20

BRIMFIELD

50 Little Alum Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $409,000
Buyer: Alan Rush
Seller: Clifford G. Phaneuf
Date: 10/30/20

75 Tower Hill Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Daniel A. Guiney
Seller: Carol Allard-Vancil
Date: 10/30/20

CHESTER

29 Bromley Road
Chester, MA 01011
Amount: $465,000
Buyer: Lora L. Goldston
Seller: Thomas E. Huntoon
Date: 10/27/20

CHICOPEE

11 Arthur St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $276,000
Buyer: Jonathan P. Labonte
Seller: Andrew J. Lamothe
Date: 10/26/20

56 Austin St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $209,000
Buyer: Adam Pereira
Seller: Emilio Mancuso
Date: 10/30/20

98 Bell St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $227,500
Buyer: Antonio Roman
Seller: Susan E. Murphy
Date: 10/20/20

19 Boivin Ter.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $365,000
Buyer: Jose Saraiva
Seller: Scott F. Mason
Date: 10/30/20

131 Chapel St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $234,800
Buyer: Gina M. O’Neill
Seller: WMASS Capital Partners LLC
Date: 10/30/20

698 Chicopee St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $1,025,000
Buyer: Hurricane Properties LLC
Seller: Joyce C. Cote
Date: 10/28/20

704 Chicopee St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $1,025,000
Buyer: Hurricane Properties LLC
Seller: Joyce C. Cote
Date: 10/28/20

139 Clarendon Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $399,000
Buyer: Veronica Shippy-Josey
Seller: Vadim Plotnikov
Date: 10/21/20

96 Dwight St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Jason D. Brown
Seller: Goud Group LLC
Date: 10/29/20

672 East Main St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $228,000
Buyer: Richard B. Greenaway
Seller: Tara M. Muhlhausen
Date: 10/23/20

32 Emerald St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Freedom Spire Holding LLC
Seller: George S. Zurita
Date: 10/23/20

1048 Granby Road
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Elmadina Inc.
Seller: Joseph Coelho
Date: 10/27/20

618 Grattan St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $1,025,000
Buyer: Hurricane Properties LLC
Seller: Joyce C. Cote
Date: 10/28/20

Greenleaf St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Emtay Inc.
Seller: Kenneth G. Diegel
Date: 10/30/20

341 Hampden St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Round 2 LLC
Seller: Laferriere, Nora M., (Estate)
Date: 10/21/20

116 Harding St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $203,000
Buyer: Luis Gonzalez
Seller: Alice S. Pasterczyk
Date: 10/19/20

5 Harvey St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Alliance RE Solutions LLC
Seller: Laurie Petrie
Date: 10/29/20

8 Highland Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $158,000
Buyer: Andrew J. Rice
Seller: USA HUD
Date: 10/30/20

24 Jefferson Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $137,000
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Albert H. Roy
Date: 10/20/20

5 Laclede Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $239,900
Buyer: Linda M. Toussaint
Seller: Carol A. Sharpe
Date: 10/30/20

48 Lauzier Ter.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $219,900
Buyer: James D. Boudreau
Seller: Lyn F. Jones
Date: 10/19/20

35 Lower Grape St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $500,000
Buyer: Next Realty Inc.
Seller: Eastern Etching & Mfg. Co.
Date: 10/30/20

19 Milton St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Sergey Afinogenov
Seller: Annette T. Masaitis
Date: 10/20/20

141 Moore St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $117,800
Buyer: Peter Anipko
Seller: Thomas W. Leary
Date: 10/20/20

23 Naomi St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Joseph Morales-Caraballo
Seller: Hutheyfa F. Jameel
Date: 10/19/20

3 Naomi St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: MCN New Wave LLC
Seller: FNMA
Date: 10/19/20

34 Narragansett Blvd.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $239,000
Buyer: K. J. Jacobs-Villamil
Seller: Alexander Morozov
Date: 10/30/20

80 Parenteau Court
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $398,000
Buyer: Mohammad Azhar
Seller: Jan Poplawski
Date: 10/22/20

57 Saint Jacques Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Stephen Keith
Seller: Ann M. Atkinson
Date: 10/28/20

96 Sheridan St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Michael P. Mainville
Seller: Robert Larochelle
Date: 10/26/20

193 Skeele St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $251,000
Buyer: Medita L. Lewis
Seller: Natalie Levchyk
Date: 10/20/20

96 Telegraph Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $223,000
Buyer: MBL Management LLC
Seller: E&N Laliberte LLC
Date: 10/30/20

64 Woodcrest Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $232,500
Buyer: Deanna R. Albert
Seller: Linda L. Stec
Date: 10/29/20

116 Woodstock St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Colleen K. Kibbie
Seller: Monika M. Konopko
Date: 10/30/20

EAST LONGMEADOW

35 Ainslie Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: Mark Guthrie
Seller: Marc A. Magnani
Date: 10/23/20

59 Allen St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $334,000
Buyer: Matthew Smelcer
Seller: Kevin K. Cross
Date: 10/23/20

98 Colony Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $178,000
Buyer: Emtay Inc.
Seller: Linda G. Silansky
Date: 10/30/20

12 Cooley Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Emtay Inc.
Seller: US Bank
Date: 10/28/20

38 Donald Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $272,000
Buyer: Scott A. Spence
Seller: Anthony J. Disa
Date: 10/22/20

263 Elm St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Raymond J. Kallaugher
Seller: John D. Florence
Date: 10/30/20

1 Fairway Lane
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $469,900
Buyer: David K. Runion
Seller: Michael Carabetta
Date: 10/28/20

66 Glen Heather Lane
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $277,500
Buyer: Sean M. Coffey
Seller: Emily C. Lapointe
Date: 10/23/20

135 Lasalle St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $240,100
Buyer: Michael B. White
Seller: Sara M. Drake
Date: 10/23/20

31 North Circle Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $299,900
Buyer: W. Kurt Meier
Seller: Dorothy A. Bradley
Date: 10/23/20

116 North Main St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $236,000
Buyer: Amber Peters
Seller: Main Street Rentals LLC
Date: 10/22/20

630 Parker St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $338,000
Buyer: Christopher Spillane
Seller: FNMA
Date: 10/26/20

234 Pease Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Aeriell Spear
Seller: Lopardo, Ernest, (Estate)
Date: 10/29/20

303 Pease Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $323,000
Buyer: Emanuele Marino
Seller: Kane, Joseph R., (Estate)
Date: 10/30/20

9 Pleasant Place
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Manchester Enterprises
Seller: Heather Murphy
Date: 10/21/20

12 Pondview Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $569,000
Buyer: Irene E. Tengwall
Seller: Christopher Arillotta
Date: 10/23/20

61 Prospect Hills Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $540,000
Buyer: Sean Smith
Seller: US Bank
Date: 10/30/20

7 Scantic Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $309,999
Buyer: Justin M. Barry
Seller: Joan A. Miller
Date: 10/29/20

34 School St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Meg M. Solitario
Seller: John E. Garwacki
Date: 10/20/20

3 Vineland Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Bruno S. DeOliveira-Lemos
Seller: Anthony M. Santaniello
Date: 10/23/20

GRANVILLE

80 Barnard Road
Granville, MA 01034
Amount: $365,000
Buyer: Mindy Durgin
Seller: James N. Jensen
Date: 10/23/20

HAMPDEN

324 Chapin Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Julia M. Campbell
Seller: Chanda L. Lemire
Date: 10/30/20

457 Main St.
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Robert Gossman
Seller: Brandy K. Renn
Date: 10/23/20

1 South Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $405,000
Buyer: Victoria T. Mackay
Seller: Patricia Regan
Date: 10/27/20

HOLLAND

111 Butterworth Ext.
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $362,000
Buyer: Mark Kadlik
Seller: Christopher A. Bobowicz
Date: 10/23/20

44 Mashapaug Road
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $475,000
Buyer: Nomi C. Levy-Carrick
Seller: Robert P. Patnode
Date: 10/21/20

HOLYOKE

6 Appleton St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $1,200,000
Buyer: Qihang Zhang
Seller: 6 Appleton LLC
Date: 10/23/20

53 Ashley Road
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Jamieson Goodwin
Seller: Shea, Anita, (Estate)
Date: 10/23/20

33 Carol Lane
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $391,000
Buyer: Imo N. Imeh
Seller: James E. Jaron
Date: 10/19/20

390 Homestead Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Viktor A. Seryi
Seller: Olizarowicz, Victor K., (Estate)
Date: 10/26/20

43 Laurel St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $199,900
Buyer: Randy J. Barrios
Seller: Tracy A. Tougas
Date: 10/29/20

29 Lower Westfield Road
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $222,500
Buyer: David Benedetti
Seller: Maksim Loboda
Date: 10/29/20

60 Madison Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $319,900
Buyer: James Murphy
Seller: Dower, Paul W., (Estate)
Date: 10/26/20

225 Mountain View Dr.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $405,000
Buyer: Bruce P. Ambuter
Seller: Barbara T. Smith
Date: 10/30/20

53 Mueller Road
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Edward P. Stone
Seller: Dana B. Potter
Date: 10/23/20

2 Orchard St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $157,000
Buyer: Revampit LLC
Seller: Eugene Vinyard
Date: 10/27/20

332 Pleasant St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $242,500
Buyer: Jeffrey M. Cattel
Seller: Randolph M. Knox
Date: 10/21/20

39 Taylor St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $182,500
Buyer: Nha C. Nguyen
Seller: Nina Olender
Date: 10/19/20

LONGMEADOW

19 Barbara Lane
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $288,800
Buyer: Christopher A. Soroka
Seller: Priscilla J. Pepin
Date: 10/20/20

250 Bel Air Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $351,000
Buyer: Kelly J. Gloster-Fadden
Seller: Gerald L. Zitzelsberger
Date: 10/21/20

87 Birchwood Ave.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Tyson Fung
Seller: CIG 4 LLC
Date: 10/30/20

40 Briarcliff Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $541,000
Buyer: Monty H. Gada
Seller: Tracie Dagostino
Date: 10/29/20

362 Converse St.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $349,000
Buyer: Hang Liu
Seller: Michael F. Batchelor
Date: 10/28/20

104 Emerson Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $315,000
Buyer: Patricia A. Regan
Seller: Gerald B. Berg
Date: 10/27/20

80 Hawthorne St.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $409,900
Buyer: Peter S. Donner
Seller: Ehdaa A. Tahoun
Date: 10/30/20

205 Kenmore Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Scott P. Kosak
Seller: Andrea S. Martin
Date: 10/30/20

595 Laurel St.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $424,900
Buyer: William K. Cargill
Seller: Marilyn K. Rappaport
Date: 10/30/20

47 Lincoln Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $295,500
Buyer: Courtney Conklin
Seller: Morissa Stuhlman-Fregeau
Date: 10/30/20

1223 Longmeadow St.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $335,000
Buyer: Christine E. Mars
Seller: James R. Cook
Date: 10/30/20

70 Longmeadow St.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $324,900
Buyer: Christopher Belinda
Seller: Sianshu Tczin
Date: 10/28/20

24 Nevins Ave.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $276,000
Buyer: Joshua Romaker
Seller: Karen E. Sprenkle
Date: 10/29/20

256 Overbrook Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $650,000
Buyer: Emma Plaut
Seller: Stephen M. Wittenberg
Date: 10/23/20

224 Tanglewood Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $785,000
Buyer: Alexander Ly
Seller: John R. Anderson
Date: 10/29/20

89 Warren Ter.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $233,000
Buyer: Sarah Gernux
Seller: Emtay Inc.
Date: 10/28/20

LUDLOW

77 Allison Lane
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $438,000
Buyer: Andrew J. Lamothe
Seller: Patrick D. Meffen
Date: 10/26/20

Amherst St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Paul J. Babiec
Seller: Jane T. Savoia
Date: 10/23/20

47 Berkshire St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $229,000
Buyer: Javier A. Morales
Seller: Lee A. Freniere
Date: 10/26/20

131 Center St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $366,900
Buyer: Gelinas Print & Promotion
Seller: Susan Armentano
Date: 10/28/20

21 Chapin Circle
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $252,000
Buyer: Joao D. Bernardo
Seller: Marilee A. Acheson
Date: 10/29/20

48 Deponte Dr.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $474,000
Buyer: John D. Wilkie
Seller: Fernando M. Roxo
Date: 10/29/20

285 East St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $550,000
Buyer: JNM Realty LLC
Seller: Highland East Inc.
Date: 10/26/20

287 East St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $550,000
Buyer: JNM Realty LLC
Seller: Highland East Inc.
Date: 10/26/20

289 East St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $550,000
Buyer: JNM Realty LLC
Seller: Highland East Inc.
Date: 10/26/20

289-1/2 East St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $550,000
Buyer: JNM Realty LLC
Seller: Highland East Inc.
Date: 10/26/20

524 Fuller St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: David Echols
Seller: Chrela LLC
Date: 10/28/20

27 Greenwich St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $222,900
Buyer: Seanna E. Isaacs
Seller: Spencer Squires
Date: 10/28/20

Harvest Dr. #28
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $134,900
Buyer: Ian D. Premo
Seller: Whitetail Wreks LLC
Date: 10/26/20

1 Highland Ave.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $550,000
Buyer: JNM Realty LLC
Seller: Highland East Inc.
Date: 10/26/20

15 Highland Ave.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $550,000
Buyer: JNM Realty LLC
Seller: Highland East Inc.
Date: 10/26/20

17-19 Highland Ave.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $550,000
Buyer: JNM Realty LLC
Seller: Highland East Inc.
Date: 10/26/20

3 Highland Ave.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $550,000
Buyer: JNM Realty LLC
Seller: Highland East Inc.
Date: 10/26/20

5 Highland Ave.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $550,000
Buyer: JNM Realty LLC
Seller: Highland East Inc.
Date: 10/26/20

7 Highland Ave.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $550,000
Buyer: JNM Realty LLC
Seller: Highland East Inc.
Date: 10/26/20

126 John St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $295,000
Buyer: Hailong Piao
Seller: Valdemar Rodrigues
Date: 10/26/20

7 Laroche St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Schwarzentruber FT
Seller: Jesse Os
Date: 10/28/20

85 Main Blvd.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Austin J. Saraiva
Seller: Jose Saraiva
Date: 10/30/20

388 Munsing St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $366,100
Buyer: Beth Sparks
Seller: Brian M. Jarvis
Date: 10/30/20

69 Old Coach Circle
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $335,000
Buyer: Brian Dooley
Seller: Michael T. Doherty
Date: 10/30/20

205 Parker Lane
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $560,000
Buyer: Patrick Meffen
Seller: Ian D. Premo
Date: 10/26/20

Sunset Ridge
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $242,500
Buyer: Robert J. King
Seller: Daniel Matias
Date: 10/30/20

MONSON

256 Bumstead Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $223,200
Buyer: Joanne Ogrean
Seller: Kenneth G. Jack
Date: 10/30/20

57 East Hill Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: Allyson Leach
Seller: Erin C. Johnson
Date: 10/26/20

10 Hilltop Dr.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Thiomas M. Greene
Seller: Tina M. Keeley
Date: 10/19/20

44 May Hill Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Michele L. Mahoney
Seller: Steven Beyor
Date: 10/27/20

268 Palmer Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $1,900,000
Buyer: Monson Manufactured Housing
Seller: Rays Mobile Home Park Inc.
Date: 10/27/20

Paradise Lake Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Thiomas M. Greene
Seller: Tina M. Keeley
Date: 10/19/20

MONTGOMERY

43 Avery Road
Montgomery, MA 01085
Amount: $256,000
Buyer: Matthew A. Frye
Seller: Nora K. Cabrera
Date: 10/20/20

24 Lambson Road
Montgomery, MA 01050
Amount: $262,500
Buyer: Seth J. Green
Seller: Paul F. Senatore
Date: 10/29/20

PALMER

12 Carriage Dr.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: James Andrews
Seller: Mark J. Austin
Date: 10/29/20

28 Fox St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $226,500
Buyer: Angela M. Chartier
Seller: Philip J. McCarthy
Date: 10/28/20

2029-2031 High St.
Palmer, MA 01080
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: A. To Z. Property Mgmt. & Renovation
Seller: Hung T. Huynh
Date: 10/22/20

8 Homestead St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $371,900
Buyer: Antonio Rivera
Seller: Paul M. Dobek
Date: 10/30/20

108 Shearer St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Emily Bacon
Seller: Thomas E. Denner
Date: 10/21/20

1020 Thorndike St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $149,000
Buyer: 1020 Thorndike Street LLC
Seller: Marcia G. Rooney
Date: 10/20/20

RUSSELL

331 General Knox Road
Russell, MA 01071
Amount: $393,500
Buyer: Ashley R. St.Germain
Seller: Wayne D. Moussette
Date: 10/30/20

SPRINGFIELD

42 Alderman St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Ayeisca E. Mateo-Virola
Seller: Ramesh Biswa
Date: 10/23/20

106-108 Ardmore St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $231,000
Buyer: Anthony J. Principe
Seller: Craig M. Ashley
Date: 10/19/20

82 Arnold Ave.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Rene Vigo
Seller: Melene M. Mullings
Date: 10/26/20

179 Arnold Ave.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Carlos J. Perez
Seller: Carmen Abarca
Date: 10/22/20

17 Arthur St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $208,000
Buyer: Jenifer Lopez
Seller: Philip R. Asselin
Date: 10/28/20

60 Bairdcrest Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Jonathan D. Swan
Seller: Timothy J. Schilling
Date: 10/23/20

37 Balis St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Senquisity McGill
Seller: Yosely I. Pena
Date: 10/27/20

15 Barber St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Shamicka F. Jones
Seller: Veronica R. Shippy
Date: 10/21/20

1199 Bay St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $181,500
Buyer: Raymond Moure
Seller: Gary S. Alvarez
Date: 10/30/20

67 Berkshire St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Joemarie Lopez
Seller: JJJ 17 LLC
Date: 10/22/20

142 Birchland Ave.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $210,500
Buyer: Diomara Hernandez
Seller: Kris A. Martenson
Date: 10/23/20

55 Blake St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Sean E. Majoros
Seller: Kathleen Arroyo
Date: 10/23/20

7-9 Brandon Ave.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $179,900
Buyer: Wilmington Savings
Seller: Rosa M. Alverio
Date: 10/27/20

111 Breckwood Blvd.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $173,000
Buyer: Gabriel Montalvo-Ramos
Seller: 11 RRE LLC
Date: 10/29/20

141 Breckwood Blvd.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Miguel A. Vazquez-Rivera
Seller: 11 RRE LLC
Date: 10/19/20

43 Briarcliff St.
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $236,000
Buyer: John D. Roberson
Seller: Sabrina A. Pudelko
Date: 10/23/20

163 Bridle Path Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $159,900
Buyer: Sydney E. Peralta
Seller: Janet D. Surniak
Date: 10/20/20

101 Bristol St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Juan S. Ramos
Seller: Ronaldo M. Demelo
Date: 10/21/20

23 Brookside Circle
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Francisco J. Pena
Seller: Joe L. Cruz
Date: 10/27/20

11 Carnarvon Circle
Springfield, MA 01101
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Carmen Mendoza
Seller: Deana V. Simpson
Date: 10/29/20

134 Caseland St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Daniel M. Lantigua
Seller: John P. McKenna
Date: 10/29/20

473 Central St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Derrick C. Brown
Seller: Kenrick Williams
Date: 10/20/20

214-216 Centre St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Ashley M. Garcia
Seller: Frank J. Fortune
Date: 10/28/20

218-220 Centre St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Joshua L. Rojas
Seller: Frank J. Fortune
Date: 10/22/20

48 Chalmers St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $151,000
Buyer: Yen Nguyen
Seller: Vincenzo Ferraro
Date: 10/19/20

53 Champlain Ave.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: Deborah Magill
Seller: Terrence K. Boyer
Date: 10/29/20

71 Chilson St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $329,900
Buyer: Branden Mach
Seller: Bretta Construction LLC
Date: 10/30/20

72-74 Clifton Ave.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $247,000
Buyer: Mario J. Deshazo
Seller: JJJ 17 LLC
Date: 10/23/20

48 Clydesdale Lane
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Michael A. Dailey
Seller: Florence T. Ethier
Date: 10/30/20

616 Cooley St.
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Lessa A. McKellick
Seller: Rostin Lee
Date: 10/30/20

74-76 Cuff Ave.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Anthony R. Witman
Seller: Tracy E. Adams
Date: 10/19/20

124-126 Darling St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $207,500
Buyer: Jose L. Nunez
Seller: Thomas K. Reen
Date: 10/20/20

38 David St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: K. M. Schumaker-Robles
Seller: Chocorua Realty Investment LLC
Date: 10/20/20

11 Dixwell St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $199,000
Buyer: H. P. Cetnarowski-Colon
Seller: Bruce J. Barrett
Date: 10/28/20

24 Dover St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $525,000
Buyer: Bayview Apartments LLC
Seller: Isla Associates I LLC
Date: 10/22/20

133 Drexel St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Manuel Ibarra
Seller: Ryan McAnaugh
Date: 10/19/20

93 Emerson St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $335,500
Buyer: Luis A. Baquerizo
Seller: Anthony J. Sendra
Date: 10/27/20

20 Entrybrook Dr.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $237,000
Buyer: Dominic Serra
Seller: Peter C. Long
Date: 10/30/20

25 Eton St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $121,000
Buyer: SRV Properties LLC
Seller: Matthew A. Nolan
Date: 10/30/20

166-168 Euclid Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Christopher Hernandez
Seller: Raysa Dominquez
Date: 10/28/20

90 Fairfield St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Andrea Anderson
Seller: Lamont R. Lewis
Date: 10/30/20

97 Fallston St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Ryan Leonard
Seller: Lisa M. Gallerani
Date: 10/23/20

35 Fisher St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $197,000
Buyer: Orlando I. Guzman
Seller: Miriam Medina
Date: 10/28/20

41-43 Fountain St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Madeline J. Mendoza
Seller: Lloyd L. Harris
Date: 10/19/20

32 Gertrude St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $207,000
Buyer: Ramon Maldonado
Seller: Deshais, Alberta E., (Estate)
Date: 10/20/20

26 Glendell Ter.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: PBI Properties LLC
Seller: Annmarie Sanchez
Date: 10/30/20

5 Greentree Circle
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $143,560
Buyer: FHLM
Seller: Julie Beggs-Barlow
Date: 10/21/20

161-163 Hampden St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $185,650
Buyer: Corey Elias
Seller: Luis G. Barroso
Date: 10/30/20

11 Holly Hill Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Tierra Downie
Seller: Alice L. Teles
Date: 10/20/20

36 Hood St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Diaz Properties LLC
Seller: Ruby Realty LLC
Date: 10/23/20

83 Ingersoll Grove
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $229,900
Buyer: Tiara L. Mitchell
Seller: Paula A. Nowick
Date: 10/19/20

33 Irene St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Pierre S. Felissaint
Seller: Paul J. Cool
Date: 10/26/20

30 Jerilis Dr.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $244,000
Buyer: Mik Wedel
Seller: Daniel Dias
Date: 10/20/20

39-41 Keith St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $223,000
Buyer: Lidia E. Disla
Seller: Ronald P. Asta-Ferrero
Date: 10/22/20

161 Kensington Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: DNEPRO Properties LLC
Seller: Alberto Ortiz
Date: 10/27/20

26 Kipling St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Marc Swygert
Seller: Laura Longley
Date: 10/26/20

25 Lawn St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Crystal N. Betancourt
Seller: Ersilia M. Guillotte
Date: 10/27/20

63 Lawton St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Fidelis A. Lemchi
Seller: Olayinka Oyedele-Aina
Date: 10/26/20

184 Leopold St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $176,000
Buyer: Juan J. Marin-Pagan
Seller: Jacqueline Dieppa
Date: 10/19/20

99 Leyfred Ter.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $211,000
Buyer: Brico Properties LLC
Seller: Brico Properties LLC
Date: 10/22/20

18-20 Longfellow Ter.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $259,900
Buyer: Ramesh Biswa
Seller: Martina Perez
Date: 10/23/20

197 Mallowhill Road
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Jason J. Sleeper
Seller: James E. Menard
Date: 10/23/20

102 Melba St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $183,000
Buyer: Jacob Figueroa
Seller: Sterling Tavarez
Date: 10/30/20

90 Merida St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Sarah A. Johnson
Seller: Elayna A. Lalikos
Date: 10/27/20

94 Midway St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Maryann Munger
Seller: Jasiel, Richard C., (Estate)
Date: 10/29/20

10 Milford St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Olga Fernandez
Seller: Evelyn M. Bukowski
Date: 10/19/20

74 Monticello Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Krittika Saxena
Seller: East Coast Contracting
Date: 10/20/20

175 Myrtle St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $226,000
Buyer: Migdalia Holt
Seller: Laurie J. Roule
Date: 10/26/20

84 Navajo Road
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Vernon Griffin
Seller: McCants, Alice F., (Estate)
Date: 10/27/20

382 Newhouse St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Yerielis Rubilar-Rivera
Seller: Nicole E. Diffley
Date: 10/27/20

37 Oakwood Ter.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Gyna M. Maldonado-Santos
Seller: Carmen G. Mendoza
Date: 10/29/20

50-54 Orchard St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $315,000
Buyer: Michael Dee
Seller: Aaron J. Parker
Date: 10/30/20

12-14 Osgood St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Alexus L. Renee
Seller: Pablo F. Torres
Date: 10/23/20

140 Overlook Dr.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $308,950
Buyer: Edward Hamilton
Seller: William G. McKeown
Date: 10/22/20

Page Blvd.
Springfield, MA 01101
Amount: $304,600
Buyer: Eversource Gas Co. Of Mass.
Seller: Bay State Gas Co.
Date: 10/19/20

235 Pendleton Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: SLC Associates LLC
Seller: CIG 4 LLC
Date: 10/22/20

37 Phoenix St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $166,000
Buyer: Vincent M. Criscitelli
Seller: Elsa M. Rivera
Date: 10/28/20

1458 Plumtree Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Anne K. Snow
Seller: Edward T. Hamilton
Date: 10/23/20

34 Plumtree Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $186,000
Buyer: Jessie J. Cruz-Burgos
Seller: Overseer RT
Date: 10/23/20

76 Primrose St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $232,000
Buyer: Paul R. Lyonnais
Seller: John Sternala
Date: 10/30/20

90 Roanoke Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Jeanne T. Defalco-Downey
Seller: Mazzadra, Ann E., (Estate)
Date: 10/19/20

40 Sara Lynn Dr.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Elisha A. Jackson
Seller: Kathleen A. Solesky
Date: 10/30/20

187 Savoy Ave.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $168,000
Buyer: Doris Feliciano
Seller: Andrew M. Wheeler
Date: 10/26/20

105-111 School St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $1,032,500
Buyer: Ironsides School LLC
Seller: Providential Realty
Date: 10/29/20

146 Shady Brook Lane
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Sarah B. Jergensen
Seller: Mark R. Tyminski
Date: 10/29/20

77 Sherwood Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $169,900
Buyer: Hannah Barnard
Seller: William J. Machia
Date: 10/21/20

817 State St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: KHP Realty LLC
Seller: Yanghwa Chong
Date: 10/27/20

101 Stuart St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $177,750
Buyer: FHLM
Seller: Richard Laizer
Date: 10/19/20

1357 Sumner Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Reinaldo Guzman
Seller: Stanley J. Labrecque
Date: 10/23/20

13 Suzanne St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Yohany A. Rodriguez
Seller: Notre Dame Properties LLC
Date: 10/23/20

27 Talmadge Dr.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Marc A. Magnani
Seller: Jason Boulanger
Date: 10/23/20

76-78 Virginia St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $151,000
Buyer: CIG 4 LLC
Seller: US Bank
Date: 10/27/20

54 Waldorf St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $272,000
Buyer: Gary L. Smith
Seller: Campagnari Construction LLC
Date: 10/22/20

122 Wayne St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Julia Calderon
Seller: Domenic A. Addario
Date: 10/21/20

136 Webber St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Iveliz Perez
Seller: Briana McCarthy
Date: 10/30/20

104 Wellington St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Felicia K. Cortes
Seller: Juan A. Lozada
Date: 10/26/20

18 Wesson St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Nilda S. Paredes-Machado
Seller: David Assarian
Date: 10/19/20

105 Westford Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Edgardo Garcia
Seller: Saury N. Ramos-Leonardo
Date: 10/26/20

91 Wilber St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Tascon Homes LLC
Seller: Erik J. Pori
Date: 10/19/20

27 Wilmington St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Teresia Karanja
Seller: Bretta Construction LLC
Date: 10/28/20

9 Winterset Dr.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $289,000
Buyer: Latonia Naylor
Seller: Herman R. Little
Date: 10/23/20

SOUTHWICK

440 College Hwy.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $343,500
Buyer: RM Blerman LLC
Seller: Angelo S. Melloni
Date: 10/20/20

12 Crystal Dr.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Laurie J. Roule
Seller: Glen A. Girouard
Date: 10/26/20

15 Ferrin Dr.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $559,900
Buyer: Mandar Manohar
Seller: Vicki L. Lacapria
Date: 10/23/20

8 Great Brook Dr.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $371,000
Buyer: Michael E. Kaminsky
Seller: David E. Howes
Date: 10/21/20

11 Maple St.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $214,000
Buyer: Christopher R. Cloud
Seller: Jami D. Filiault
Date: 10/22/20

13 Overlook Lane
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $178,500
Buyer: Jesse Saliga
Seller: Michael S. Martin
Date: 10/20/20

11 Tobacco Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $365,000
Buyer: Doris P. Tipton
Seller: Nina Kulyak
Date: 10/26/20

239 Vining Hill Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $410,000
Buyer: Keith Bull
Seller: Timothy J. Sheehan
Date: 10/20/20

TOLLAND

112 Brook Lane
Tolland, MA 01034
Amount: $445,000
Buyer: Susan Chan
Seller: Michael Clarke
Date: 10/29/20

95 Lakeside Dr.
Tolland, MA 01034
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Richard S. Forte
Seller: Michael Middleton
Date: 10/28/20

The Grove
Tolland, MA 01034
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Richard S. Forte
Seller: Michael Middleton
Date: 10/28/20

WALES

Sichol Blvd.
Wales, MA 01081
Amount: $168,000
Buyer: Patricia Corso
Seller: Donna Wishart
Date: 10/22/20

WEST SPRINGFIELD

1335 Amostown Road
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: William B. Goodwin
Seller: Linda M. Boucher
Date: 10/29/20

129 Cayenne St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Damien Eisnor-Janosz
Seller: Patriot Living LLC
Date: 10/23/20

25 Clyde Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Cuixiong Lin
Seller: MTGLQ Investors LP
Date: 10/26/20

105 Hampden St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Anthony Rios
Seller: Anatoliy Paliy
Date: 10/26/20

103 Hillside Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $184,500
Buyer: Viktor Stelmakh
Seller: Darlene S. Bessette
Date: 10/30/20

93 Nelson Circle
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $297,000
Buyer: James M. Mulkerin
Seller: Michael E. Kaminsky
Date: 10/21/20

38 Neptune Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Mary E. Marchesani
Seller: Richard C. Messenger
Date: 10/19/20

85 Poplar Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Andrew E. McNulty
Seller: Marco G. Amato
Date: 10/30/20

40 Riverview Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $535,000
Buyer: Danielle R. Deangelo
Seller: Peter Gurchenko
Date: 10/29/20

68 Smyrna St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Colin Sokolowski
Seller: Sarabeth G. Haggerty
Date: 10/23/20

94 Smyrna St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $229,000
Buyer: James A. Richard
Seller: Brian P. St.Amand
Date: 10/21/20

151 South Blvd.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Melissa Hamel
Seller: Jeannine Adams
Date: 10/27/20

139 Upper Beverly Hills
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Casondra A. Johnson
Seller: MAA Property LLC
Date: 10/27/20

1614 Westfield St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Nyai W. Htet
Seller: Xuan H. Tran
Date: 10/27/20

1672 Westfield St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $227,000
Buyer: Destin Craven
Seller: Madonna A. St.Jean
Date: 10/19/20

WESTFIELD

50 Colony Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Robert C. Oliver
Seller: Christine A. Malachowski
Date: 10/23/20

6 Clinton Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Huiming Zhu
Seller: 6 Clinton Avenue LLC
Date: 10/28/20

11 Crestwood Circle
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $258,000
Buyer: Michael B. Shea
Seller: Sean M. Schnopp
Date: 10/22/20

41 Crown St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $287,500
Buyer: Emma Canales
Seller: Barbara E. Richardson
Date: 10/26/20

2 Cycle St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $198,000
Buyer: Wells Fargo Bank
Seller: Roger W. Cortis
Date: 10/21/20

9 East Bartlett St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $208,550
Buyer: Artem Krapova
Seller: Vitaliy Kazimirov
Date: 10/23/20

10 Exchange St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $251,560
Buyer: Nicholas J. Difronzo
Seller: SA Holding 2 LLC
Date: 10/20/20

350 Elm St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $222,500
Buyer: Viktorian Est LLC
Seller: Enrique O. Olivarez
Date: 10/27/20

44 Glenwood Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $326,000
Buyer: Kate Florek
Seller: Michael N. Ledoux
Date: 10/30/20

42 Grandview Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $266,500
Buyer: Elizabeth M. Colebrooke
Seller: Aaron Whitaker
Date: 10/30/20

121 Highland Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Aaron Platt
Seller: Shannon M. Bein
Date: 10/29/20

414 Holyoke Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Scott B. Demoe
Seller: Thomas Disanto
Date: 10/23/20

15 Leonard Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Joelvanna Diaz
Seller: Catherine M. Gonzalez
Date: 10/28/20

111 Llewellyn Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Colin Arnold
Seller: Kimberly A. Arnold
Date: 10/27/20

15 Madison St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Shaquille O. Figueroa
Seller: Brian P. Queenan
Date: 10/23/20

32 Pontoosic Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Hannah R. Cawley
Seller: David B. Kareta
Date: 10/23/20

Rachael Ter. #117
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $117,000
Buyer: Sodi Inc.
Seller: Gerald L. Cennamo
Date: 10/30/20

80 Radisson Lane
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $420,000
Buyer: Christopher Dunn
Seller: Gary S. Olszewski
Date: 10/30/20

7 Raymond Circle
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $421,000
Buyer: Ted R. Cruse
Seller: Kenneth P. Goudreau
Date: 10/29/20

28 Ridgecrest Circle
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: Anthony Neffinger
Seller: John E. Kane
Date: 10/28/20

132 Ridgeview Ter.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Alex Botyan
Seller: G. Logan Slinski
Date: 10/20/20

66 Ridgeway St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Justin A. Candiano
Seller: Bryon A. Candiano
Date: 10/30/20

31 Shaker Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $223,000
Buyer: Christine B. Thompson
Seller: Lingaitis, Dolores M., (Estate)
Date: 10/30/20

46 Shepard St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Perry M. Boudreau
Seller: McGinn, Timothy J., (Estate)
Date: 10/23/20

402 Southampton Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $340,000
Buyer: Jim R. Boyle
Seller: 410 Southampton Road LLC
Date: 10/22/20

410 Southampton Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $340,000
Buyer: Jim R. Boyle
Seller: 410 Southampton Road LLC
Date: 10/22/20

10 Spartan Lane
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $288,661
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Darlene J. Fernandez
Date: 10/19/20

65 Wildflower Circle
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $427,000
Buyer: James T. Hansen
Seller: Christopher J. Chaban
Date: 10/30/20

WILBRAHAM

15 3 Rivers Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $344,000
Buyer: Annabel Wangamati
Seller: Susan Lufkin-Curtis
Date: 10/20/20

5 Maynard Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $296,000
Buyer: Robert Larochelle
Seller: Maria J. Magalhaes
Date: 10/28/20

6 Maynard Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Diane Toski
Seller: Robert P. Reen
Date: 10/28/20

15 Merrill Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Gregory Westland
Seller: Justin M. Barry
Date: 10/23/20

5 Park Dr.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Diana Rodrigues-Bannon
Seller: Peter D. Schmidt
Date: 10/19/20

25 Pomeroy St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $253,900
Buyer: John J. Diffley
Seller: Cheryl Hamilton
Date: 10/27/20

8 Powers Dr.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $744,000
Buyer: Chiberry LLC
Seller: Gregory A. Pastore
Date: 10/30/20

444 Soule Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Katie Lucey
Seller: Carianne E. Haluch
Date: 10/30/20

111 Springfield St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $489,900
Buyer: Joanne Hetherington
Seller: Ronald J. Remillard
Date: 10/30/20

6 Swasey Dr.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $246,500
Buyer: Michael J. Cross
Seller: Thomas E. Nestor
Date: 10/23/20

896 Tinkham Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Sean Padykula
Seller: Jennifer L. Lee
Date: 10/30/20

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY

AMHERST

19 Ball Lane
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $351,650
Buyer: Skyway Properties LLC
Seller: Shafie FT
Date: 10/26/20

48 Curtis Place
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $296,000
Buyer: Damian Kennedy
Seller: Zlogar FT
Date: 10/21/20

980 East Pleasant St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $575,000
Buyer: Leyla Moushabeck
Seller: Dickinson Meadow LLC
Date: 10/27/20

490 Middle St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $520,000
Buyer: Talya Vexler-Nesbitt
Seller: Finnegan P. Kelly
Date: 10/30/20

1120 South East St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $475,000
Buyer: Franklin-Douglas Inc.
Seller: Collins, Robert, (Estate)
Date: 10/29/20

1164 South East St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $397,000
Buyer: Luka C. Milekic
Seller: Amy B. Ben-Ezra
Date: 10/30/20

16 Tuckerman Lane
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $468,000
Buyer: Raymond Clarke
Seller: Qiangfei Xia
Date: 10/19/20

47 Valley Lane
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $406,000
Buyer: Shafie FT
Seller: Antonio D. Vitale
Date: 10/30/20

392 West St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Robert M. Ellis
Seller: Guo Bai
Date: 10/20/20

 

BELCHERTOWN

91 Bay Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $223,000
Buyer: Courtney M. Walsh
Seller: FNMA
Date: 10/19/20

45 Eugene Dr.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $445,000
Buyer: Daniel Cousin
Seller: Daniel P. Twining
Date: 10/20/20

5 Fox Run Dr.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $322,600
Buyer: Tracy Tudryn
Seller: John G. Redmond
Date: 10/27/20

65 Magnolia Lane
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $445,000
Buyer: Lora Os
Seller: J. N. Duquette & Son Construction
Date: 10/23/20

30 Maplecrest Dr.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $293,000
Buyer: Courtney J. Marshall
Seller: Daniel Cousin
Date: 10/20/20

16 Oakwood Dr.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Pedro Mattos
Seller: Sylvia E. Ferreira
Date: 10/19/20

3 Old Amherst Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $865,000
Buyer: Christopher Wherry
Seller: Jill V. Rutherford
Date: 10/30/20

7 Old Amherst Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $865,000
Buyer: Christopher Wherry
Seller: Jill V. Rutherford
Date: 10/30/20

71 Pondview Circle
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $432,000
Buyer: Kimberly A. Hislop
Seller: Seasonn Kiesari
Date: 10/19/20

CHESTERFIELD

71 Sugar Hill Road
Chesterfield, MA 01096
Amount: $400,000
Buyer: Jane Loechler
Seller: Maureen L. Borg
Date: 10/30/20

CUMMINGTON

212 Powell Road
Cummington, MA 01026
Amount: $323,500
Buyer: M. Radgford-Riley
Seller: Christopher Heon
Date: 10/20/20

EASTHAMPTON

16 Highland Ave.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $321,500
Buyer: James F. Loprete
Seller: Irene Cloutier
Date: 10/28/20

58 Holyoke St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Sara M. Muller-Ravett
Seller: Audrey E. Maney-Hernandez
Date: 10/30/20

35 O’Neil St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $1,550,000
Buyer: HRDD 56 LLC
Seller: David J. Strong
Date: 10/30/20

40 O’Neil St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $1,550,000
Buyer: HRDD 56 LLC
Seller: David J. Strong
Date: 10/30/20

63 Plain St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $351,000
Buyer: Darshankumar I. Patel
Seller: Naresh K. Patel
Date: 10/29/20

105 Pleasant St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $134,000
Buyer: Penguins Unlimited LLC
Seller: Burek RT
Date: 10/29/20

150 Pleasant St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $1,500,000
Buyer: 150 Pleasant LLC
Seller: Ronmar LLC
Date: 10/30/20

2-4 Pomeroy Court
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $557,000
Buyer: North Harlow LLC
Seller: Maecar Realty Inc.
Date: 10/30/20

8 Princeton Ave.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $261,500
Buyer: Wish Granted Realty LLC
Seller: Stanley A. Jarocki
Date: 10/29/20

19-21 Saint James Ave.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Carolyn Gagnon
Seller: Furtek, Adela C., (Estate)
Date: 10/29/20

76 Strong St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $312,000
Buyer: Stephanie White
Seller: Carol M. Twiss
Date: 10/23/20

5 Vadnais St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $272,500
Buyer: Matthew R. Connor
Seller: Anthony Dicarlo
Date: 10/30/20

GRANBY

109 Cold Hill Road
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $337,000
Buyer: Karoline C. Piedra
Seller: Aaron M. Lombardino
Date: 10/30/20

16 Deerbrook Dr.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $430,000
Buyer: Paul F. Barba
Seller: Wayne H. Choquette
Date: 10/23/20

79 Easton St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $549,900
Buyer: Barry E. Levin
Seller: Xingcheng Hua
Date: 10/28/20

4 Lakeview Ave.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $192,290
Buyer: Austin L. Downey
Seller: Bradshaw, Charles R., (Estate)
Date: 10/27/20

109 New Ludlow Road
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $275,500
Buyer: Kevin E. Haczynski
Seller: Alexander N. Rojas
Date: 10/30/20

HADLEY

84 Mount Warner Road
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $212,000
Buyer: Jenna R. Izer
Seller: Martha B. Izer
Date: 10/30/20

HATFIELD

65 Main St.
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $475,000
Buyer: Jaime L. Ginsberg
Seller: Petcen, Paul R., (Estate)
Date: 10/23/20

3 Plantation Road
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $282,519
Buyer: Rachael Doty-Volpe
Seller: William A. Dufraine
Date: 10/30/20

10 Woodridge Circle
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $650,000
Buyer: James K. Patenaude TR
Seller: John H. Zieminski
Date: 10/22/20

HUNTINGTON

112 Goss Hill Road
Huntington, MA 01050
Amount: $322,000
Buyer: Stephen Nowak
Seller: Dennis W. Underwood
Date: 10/30/20

3 Searle Road
Huntington, MA 01050
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Danielle C. Pedelaborde
Seller: Thomas M. Handschuh
Date: 10/23/20

NORTHAMPTON

Baker Hill Road #2
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Nu-Way Homes Inc.
Seller: McCutcheon Development LLC
Date: 10/30/20

391 Brookside Circle
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $123,600
Buyer: Tracy A. Driscoll-Horton
Seller: Poole Linda J., (Estate)
Date: 10/20/20

1261 Burts Pit Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $179,000
Buyer: Homestead Connections LLC
Seller: Moors, Keith R., (Estate)
Date: 10/22/20

72 Clement St.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $355,000
Buyer: Gregory J. Morceau
Seller: Amy Hinton
Date: 10/22/20

41 Florence Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $380,000
Buyer: Catherine C. Charest
Seller: Jaime L. Ginsberg
Date: 10/23/20

985 Florence Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $149,900
Buyer: Anchor Moore Investments LLC
Seller: US Bank
Date: 10/21/20

20 Harrison Ave.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $750,000
Buyer: Casey Quinn
Seller: Janet Mix Hemminger TR
Date: 10/28/20

42 High St.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $450,000
Buyer: Jesse P. Harris
Seller: Lee W. Goss
Date: 10/20/20

Old Wilson Road #5
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: John W. Ewing
Seller: Marilyn Ewing
Date: 10/21/20

372 South St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Laurel Hootstein
Seller: Rui P. Fernandes
Date: 10/28/20

61 Warner St.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $265,100
Buyer: Nu-Way Homes Inc.
Seller: Gregory Mott
Date: 10/23/20

66 Washington Ave.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $805,000
Buyer: Michael Kelso
Seller: Lydia Kann Nettler RET
Date: 10/28/20

PELHAM

52 Amherst Road
Pelham, MA 01002
Amount: $700,000
Buyer: Laura J. Owens
Seller: James W. Casagrande
Date: 10/22/20

PLAINFIELD

118 South St.
Plainfield, MA 01070
Amount: $702,500
Buyer: Marcelo Suarez-Orozco
Seller: Sue B. Warner
Date: 10/30/20

SOUTH HADLEY

3 Benger Ave.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Jamie E. Gallivan
Seller: 3 Benger Avenue RT
Date: 10/21/20

6 Elm St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $288,000
Buyer: Stanislav Rovenskyi
Seller: Michael J. Sullivan
Date: 10/22/20

460 Granby Road
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $272,000
Buyer: C. R. Brisebois-Tetrault
Seller: 460 Granby Road LLC
Date: 10/23/20

12 Hillside Ave.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $236,000
Buyer: Shana Skubiszewski
Seller: Sarah E. Scibak
Date: 10/26/20

19 Landers St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $250,075
Buyer: Stephen Linsky
Seller: Tracy J. Tudryn
Date: 10/27/20

32 Lawn St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Audrey Maney-Hernandez
Seller: Donald Whelihan
Date: 10/30/20

2 Lithia Springs Road
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $118,500
Buyer: Milo Childs-Campolo
Seller: Barbara J. Smith
Date: 10/22/20

510 Newton St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $305,000
Buyer: Jeremiah Shrum
Seller: Diane M. Kuc
Date: 10/30/20

22 North St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Robin Sillars
Seller: David L. Bergeron
Date: 10/26/20

10 Oak Ave.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Jennifer J. Rivet
Seller: Brian T. Dooley
Date: 10/29/20

66 Park St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $250,500
Buyer: Ashley H. Rodkey
Seller: Remlin FT
Date: 10/19/20

152 Pearl St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Sandra Krider
Seller: Paul F. Barba
Date: 10/22/20

45 San Souci Dr.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $535,000
Buyer: Matthew Wzorek
Seller: Eva U. Gingras
Date: 10/21/20

18 Sunset Ave.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Nora H. Mariano
Seller: Ryan D. Spahl
Date: 10/29/20

15 West Summit St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $222,500
Buyer: Adam P. Battista
Seller: Lisa M. Tomaszewski
Date: 10/30/20

SOUTHAMPTON

387 College Hwy.
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Marc A. Labrie
Seller: David D. Eichstaedt
Date: 10/20/20

115 Crooked Ledge Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: Daniel G. Fanion
Seller: Philip A. Roy
Date: 10/27/20

5 Mountain View Circle
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Andrew Laroche
Seller: Bowers IRT
Date: 10/20/20

22 Mountain View Circle
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $269,000
Buyer: Michelle K. Santangelo
Seller: Roland Barbeito
Date: 10/30/20

19 Thomas Circle
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Dean T. Couture
Seller: Darlene Stone-Adair
Date: 10/23/20

WARE

91 Babcock Tavern Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $365,000
Buyer: Scott Seifel
Seller: Romanie Abraham
Date: 10/30/20

73 Beaver Lake Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Theresa M. Bullock
Seller: David S. Bruni
Date: 10/28/20

22 Old Poor Farm Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Peter D. Lund
Seller: Claire J. Kobis
Date: 10/30/20

17 Williston Dr.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $390,000
Buyer: Rosemary Onofri
Seller: Kyle Landry
Date: 10/22/20

WILLIAMSBURG

67 Ashfield Road
Williamsburg, MA 01096
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Jonathan M. Sullivan
Seller: Colby W. Canon
Date: 10/28/20

11 East Main St.
Williamsburg, MA 01096
Amount: $525,000
Buyer: Apostol Hoda
Seller: CDM Properties LLC
Date: 10/23/20

2 Hyde Hill Road
Williamsburg, MA 01096
Amount: $198,000
Buyer: Anne K. Wagner
Seller: Mary L. Gerken-Newcomb RET
Date: 10/29/20

WORTHINGTON

6 Higgins Road
Worthington, MA 01098
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Benjamin Green
Seller: Edward Morgano
Date: 10/28/20

Building Permits

By
Building Permits

The following building permits were issued during the month of November 2020. (Filings are limited due to closures or reduced staffing hours at municipal offices due to COVID-19 restrictions).

AMHERST

W.D. Cowls Inc.
85 Cowls Road
$88,500 — Finish interior space for general store

CHICOPEE

City of Chicopee
224 Broadway
$5,602 — Replace roof on shed

Joyce Lincourt
31 Lambert Ter.
$8,262 — Remove and replace four windows and one patio door

Joyce Lincourt
31 Lambert Ter.
$4,754 — Remove and replace four windows

Westfield Bank
435 Burnett Road
$29,823 — Roofing

LEE

Berkshire Corporate Realty, LLC
480 Pleasant St.
$1,725 — Modification to existing system for tenant fit-out

Richard J. Melluzzo Co.
236 Main St.
$14,000 — Siding

LENOX

SK Design
489 Pittsfield Road
$2,100 — Saw cut and remove existing concrete to expose sewer pipe, repour concrete when sewer line is repaired

NORTHAMPTON

Ampersand Sprout, LLC
241 Main St.
$172,913 — Convert second-floor apartment

Damon Road, LLC
391 Damon Road
$295,000 — Convert restaurant to retail cannabis store and demolish greenhouse

Claudio Guerra
1 Bridge St.
$9,200 — Accessory structure at Spoleto

Hospital Hill Development, LLC
35 Village Hill Road
$73,755 — Interior fit-out

Northampton Realty, LLC
293 King St.
$807,628 — Enclose new vehicle delivery

Smith College
186 Elm St.
$347,000 — Renovate first floor or Morrow House for improved access

SPRINGFIELD

3 Chestnut, LLC
122 Chestnut St.
$25,000 — Remove and replace first-level stairs and landing in parking garage

Baystate Medical Center Inc.
759 Chestnut St.
$3,814,234 — Alter interior space for new MRI addition to hospital

Blackened Realty, LLC
201 Worthington St.
$106,000 — Alter kitchen and two restrooms at Theodores’ restaurant

Victor Jimenez
282 Locust St.
$16,272 — Erect prefabricated tire-storage building at V.J.’s Tires and Rims

Patriot Living Properties, LLC
1007 East Columbus Ave.
$175,000 — Change of use from restaurant to office use on first floor, second floor to be converted to five residential units

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