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Year: 2020

More Business Dreams Are Dying

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Opinion

Editorial

 

While the arrival of vaccines is fostering some optimism across this country and we’re hearing phrases like ‘beginning of the end’ (for the pandemic) and ‘light at the end of the tunnel,’ the sad fact is that relief won’t come soon enough for some businesses in this region.

The latest victim of the COVID-19 crisis is Gateway City Arts in Holyoke. Owners Lori Divine and Vitek Kruta announced they can longer continue operating their cultural-arts center, which had become such a critical part of Holyoke’s resurgence, and will now attempt to sell the complex.

Their message to the community sums up the plight of so many businesses in this region and the frustration that has accompanied the restrictions, shutdowns, and general lack of support from state and federal officials.

“We have reached the point where we just don’t have the resources and energy to try to survive,” they wrote, echoing the sentiments of many who have been trying, unsuccessfully, to hang on. “It took us 10 years to start feeling that we could make it, and then COVID took it all away.”

The two went on to talk about life just before they were forced to close their doors. There was a sold-out concert with more than 500 people in the Hub (and an impressive upcoming slate of big-name artists), a theater production with more than 100 people, and a full house in Judd’s restaurant. And in the veritable blink of an eye, it was all gone.

Like most small businesses in this region, Gateway City Arts received a PPP loan last spring. It was intended to provide eight to 10 weeks of support and keep people paid — and that’s exactly what it did. The problem, as everyone knows, is that the pandemic has lasted far longer than a few months. No further relief, other than a GoFundMe campaign, was forthcoming, and with no end to this crisis in sight, Divine and Kruta had to let their dream die.

As we all prepare to turn the calendar to 2021, many businesses are some state of peril — and many more dreams may have to die. If there is a lockdown or further restrictions, as many fear is possible, if not imminent — or even if the status quo continues — many more small businesses will be forced to close their doors.

Yes, the vaccines are coming, and yes, there just might be some light at the end of this incredibly long, exceedingly dark tunnel. But for many, it won’t come soon enough. As this issue was going to press, Congress was making some progress toward a new stimulus package, one we have to hope will include some relief to embattled small businesses.

But these companies need more than that. As we’ve written on many occasions, they need the support of the community, in any way it can come, to get through this.

We were encouraged to see that a number of businesses were stepping up during the holidays to help. Indeed, instead of sending the traditional gift basket or tray of cookies to an office where few if any people are working anyway, some businesses have sent gift certificates or even small, pre-paid credit cards, with instructions to use them to support local businesses.

Likewise, instead of having that holiday party at a local venue, some businesses are instead giving employees gift certificates for local restaurants, a step that shows appreciation not only for valued workers, but for the local eateries that have been devastated by this pandemic.

It’s unlikely that such steps would have saved Gateway City Arts, a intriguing, potential-laden business that was just hitting its stride when the rug was pulled out from under it. Unless the region rallies around the still-surviving small businesses, other dreams may die as well.

Coping with Loss During the Holidays

By
Opinion

Opinion

By Stuart Anfang, M.D.

The holidays are supposed to be ‘the most wonderful time of the year,’ as one song notes. But for some, it may be the most difficult time of the year after the loss of a loved one.

The holiday season can be especially difficult for those who are preparing to spend these joyous occasions for the first time without a spouse, child, or other beloved family member or friend by their side. These feelings of grief are only exacerbated this year by COVID-19, which has taken the lives of so many, plus the general stress of dealing with the pandemic.

It’s only natural to experience a range of emotions such as sadness, loneliness, and even helplessness and hopelessness while navigating the hustle and bustle of the holidays. But you don’t have to suffer alone. Recognize that you are not alone, and that mixed or sad feelings during the holidays are not uncommon. Do not suffer in silence, and watch for the tendency to isolate or withdraw from others. Denying or bottling up your feelings — or self-medicating with alcohol or drugs — are worrisome signs.

As you prepare for the holidays, include activities that are important to you and your family. Share the load and accept offers of help. If some activities are too difficult or draining, set limits or decide to drop them. Remember, it’s OK and not a sign of weakness to ask for help.

It is always important to remember that you have options. You can change routines. Modify past traditions or join your family in creating new traditions. If you wish, you can find a way of formally remembering your loved one who is not physically present with you — for example, serving their favorite dessert and reflecting on the joy that it brought to your loved one in the past. It is stressful to experience the holiday without your loved one, but you can find ways to honor and include them.

Together, you can share a holiday that is different, but still meaningful and hopeful. As a family, you can add a memory ritual into your holiday by including a special activity such as looking at old photo albums or making and displaying a special holiday decoration with significant ties to the deceased. Given the current COVID-19 circumstances, make sure to follow public-health recommendations about masking, social distancing, and gathering in limited numbers.

Many people also find solace in generosity, as this is the ‘season of giving.’ Many people also volunteer during the holidays, such as serving meals at a local shelter or distributing toys to needy children.

For some, the holidays may offer a reprieve from sad feelings, and you may find yourself caught up in the moment as you experience the joy of family and friends around you. But if you are noticing more significant symptoms causing impairment at work, school, or home — problems with sleep, low energy, dramatic change in appetite or weight, inability to concentrate, frequent crying, easy irritability, thoughts of hurting yourself, or wanting to die — that may be time to seek some professional evaluation. A good place to start can be your primary-care provider or a trusted clergy.

The bottom line is, help is available. Do not suffer in silence.

 

Dr. Stuart Anfang is vice chair of Psychiatry at Baystate Health.

Agenda

By
Agenda

Difference Makers Nomination Deadline

Dec. 29: Do you know someone who is truly making a difference in the Western Mass. region? BusinessWest invites you to nominate an individual or group for its 13th annual Difference Makers program. Nominations for the class of 2021 must be received by the end of the business day (5 p.m.) on Wednesday, Dec. 29. Difference Makers was launched in 2009 as a way to recognize the contributions of agencies and individuals who are contributing to quality of life in this region. Past honorees have come from dozens of business and nonprofit sectors, proving there’s no limit to the ways people can impact their communities — and the ongoing pandemic has no doubt shed a spotlight on other ways to make a difference. So, let us know who you think deserves to be recognized as a Difference Maker in our upcoming class by completing the nomination form at businessWest.com/difference-makers-nomination-form. Honorees will be profiled in an upcoming issue of BusinessWest.

 

Small Business Legal Clinic Application Deadline

Jan. 1: The Western New England University Small Business Legal Clinic is accepting applications from entrepreneurs and small-business owners seeking legal assistance for the spring semester 2021. Under faculty supervision, law students assist clients with legal issues including choice of entity, employment policies, contract drafting, regulatory compliance, and intellectual-property issues relating to trademark applications and copyright. This is a free service available to local businesses that might not have the resources to obtain such services. The Small Business Clinic has assisted more than 350 small businesses since it opened. The clinic requests that small-business owners submit their applications by Friday, Jan. 1. Applications received after that date will be considered if additional resources are available. Students will begin providing services in late January. For more information, call the Legal Clinic at (413) 782-1469 or e-mail Marie Fletcher, Clinical Programs administrator, at [email protected]. For more information or to complete an online application, visit www1.wne.edu/law/centers/small-business-legal-clinic.cfm.

 

Women’s Leadership Training Program

Starting Jan. 6: Building on the success of its popular Women’s Leadership Luncheon Series, Holyoke Community College (HCC) is launching an eight-week training program for women who want to develop and enhance their leadership skills.

For convenience, the program, “Women Leaning Into Leadership 2021: Empowering Your Voice,” is being offered over Zoom in two separate, eight-week sessions. One meets on Wednesdays, Jan. 6 through Feb. 24, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., while the other meets on Thursdays, Jan. 7 through Feb. 25, from noon to 1:30 p.m. The interactive workshops will be facilitated by Annie Shibata, owner of Growth Mindset Leadership and Communication Coaching. Enrollment is limited by design. In addition to weekly 90-minute group seminars, each participant can schedule a private, 30-minute session of personalized coaching with the instructor. During the program sessions, participants will learn to evaluate their communication skills and apply new communication techniques, practice the power of mindfulness, distinguish forms of influence and persuasion to create powerful messages, assess their leadership strengths, and create short- and long-term plans for career development. To register for the Wednesday program, visit hcc.edu/women-2021-1. To register for the Thursday program, visit hcc.edu/women-2021-2.

 

Asnuntuck Super Saturday

Jan. 9: Asnuntuck Community College (ACC) will hold a virtual Super Saturday event from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., aimed at helping new and continuing students who have questions about how to apply, would like to speak to an advisor, or have questions regarding financial aid and registering. The college’s spring semester begins on Friday, Jan. 22. New and continuing students are invited to attend the event. Participants will also be able to virtually meet with Asnuntuck’s Manufacturing department, as well as speak with staff from ACC’s Continuing Education and Workforce Development Office to learn about our non-credit certificate options. Anyone who is interested in attending the online event, but has not yet applied, should complete the application ahead of time to maximize their time during the event. Participants may pre-register at asnuntuck.edu/virtualsupersaturday if there is a specific department they plan to meet with. If seeking to meet with an advisor during the event, it is strongly encouraged to pre-register ahead of time at asnuntuck.edu/student-resources/casa to request an appointment.

 

Healthcare Heroes

Jan. 14: Due to spikes in COVID-19 cases across the U.S. and beyond, BusinessWest and the Healthcare News will celebrate this year’s Healthcare Heroes with a virtual event. They include Mark Keroack, president and CEO of Baystate Health; Christopher Savino, Emeline Bean, and Lydia Brisson, clinical liaisons for Berkshire Healthcare Systems; Friends of the Homeless; the Nutrition Department at Greater Springfield Senior Services Inc.; the staff at Holyoke Medical Center; the Institute for Applied Life Sciences at UMass Amherst; Rabbi Devorah Jacobson, director of Spiritual Life at JGS Lifecare; Maggie Eboso, Infection Control and Prevention coordinator at Mercy Medical Center; Jennifer Graham, home health aide at O’Connell Care at Home; and Helen Gobeil, staffing supervisor at Visiting Angels West Springfield. The Healthcare Heroes program is sponsored by Elms College (presenting sponsor), Baystate Health and Health New England (presenting sponsor), and partner sponsors Bulkley Richardson, and Trinity Health Of New England/Mercy Medical Center. More details about the event will be announced soon.

 

Women of Impact

Jan. 28: Due to spikes in COVID-19 cases across the U.S. and beyond, BusinessWest will celebrate this year’s Women of Impact with a virtual event. They include Tania Barber, president and CEO of Caring Health Center; Carol Campbell, president of Chicopee Industrial Contractors; Helen Caulton-Harris, Health and Human Services commissioner for the city of Springfield; Pattie Hallberg, CEO of the Girl Scouts of Central & Western Massachusetts; Andrea Harrington, Berkshire County district attorney; Toni Hendrix, director of Human Services at Loomis Lakeside at Reeds Landing; Christina Royal, president of Holyoke Community College; and Sue Stubbs, president and CEO of ServiceNet. The event is sponsored by Country Bank, Health New England, and TommyCar Auto Group (presenting sponsors), Comcast Business (supporting sponsor), and WWLP 22 News/CW Springfield (media sponsor). More details about the event will be announced soon.

 

Picture This

By
Picture This

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

 

Celebrating Heroes

Supporters were out bright and early in the morning cold last week to cheer Hillcrest Commons staffers during a shift change for their tireless efforts the last several weeks caring for residents through the coronavirus surge. They planned to be out the following day for a similar morale-boosting event during the afternoon shift change.

 

 

 

 

I Can See Clearly Now

Several months ago, Jackie Santana (left), a deaf woman who depends on lip reading as well as sign language, wrote about her frustrations communicating with people wearing face masks in a newsletter published by the Holyoke Community College Ludlow Area Adult Learning Center, where she is a student. Inspired by Santana’s essay, Ash Aliengena (right), a literacy specialist at the center, started making masks with clear plastic windows and created a website offering free, accessible face-mask patterns, where people can “Click. Print. Cut. Trace. Go.” To date, Aliengena has hand-sewn more than 60 masks and donated most of them to people at the center and to public-school teachers in Holyoke.

 

 

 

 

Provider of Choice

 

Golden Years Home Care Services recently received the 2020 Best of Home Care – Provider of Choice Award, which is based on client satisfaction scores gathered by Home Care Pulse, an independent satisfaction-research firm for home care. Best of Home Care – Provider of Choice award-winning providers have contracted with Home Care Pulse to gather feedback by conducting live phone interviews with their clients each month. Because Home Care Pulse is a third-party company, it is able to collect honest and unbiased feedback.

 

 

 

People on the Move

By
People on the Move
Brian Thompson

Brian Thompson

Springfield College Director of Strength and Conditioning Brian Thompson has been named the National Strength and Conditioning Assoc. (NSCA) College Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year as part of the 2021 NSCA awards announcement. Thompson was selected by his peers from a list of nominees that represented Division I, II, and III colleges and universities from throughout the country. The NSCA College Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year Award is given to one outstanding certified strength and conditioning specialist, recognizing his or her dedication to improving athletic performance with safe and effective science-based programs. Since 1998, Thompson has served many roles at the college, including associate director of Strength and Conditioning, head Strength and Conditioning coach, professor of Exercise Science, and the graduate Strength and Conditioning program director. In addition to teaching in the Applied Exercise Science program, he is responsible for the Strength and Conditioning program design and implementation for 26 sport programs at Springfield College, as well as teaching and advising in the graduate Strength and Conditioning program. Thompson first started working in the field of strength and conditioning in 1987 and has trained athletes at the elementary-school, middle-school, high-school, collegiate, professional, Paralympic, and Olympic levels. He has presented and conducted strength-and-conditioning-related workshops in Australia, China, Mexico, Taiwan, and throughout the U.S. In 2016, Thompson received an official appointment as an expert technical consultant to the Chinese National Fitness Trainers Assoc. by the Chinese Sports Bureau, the only non-Chinese citizen ever to receive this status.

•••••

Sara Rodrigues

Sara Rodrigues

Monson Savings Bank recently announced the promotion of Sara Rodrigues to Commercial Loan Operations officer. In her new role, she is responsible for managing the commercial-loan administrative team and servicing team at Monson Savings Bank, as well as planning, organizing, and directing all commercial-lending operations. Rodrigues has been with Monson Savings for eight years, previously serving in the role of Commercial Loan Operations manager. She has more than 20 years of experience in the banking industry, with 19 of those years within the commercial-lending sector. Prior to working with Monson Savings Bank, she worked with TD Bank, N.A. as a commercial-loan document supervisor. A believer in giving back to the communities she works and resides in, Rodrigues is a volunteer with Link to Libraries and the Monson Schools Read a Loud program. She reads to schoolchildren and helps the organization with its mission to distribute new books to the school and home libraries of children in need. She also serves on the Monson Savings Bank community reinvestment committee.

•••••

 

Bacon Wilson announced that attorney David Lavenburg has joined the firm as of counsel and a member of the litigation team. He will practice primarily from Bacon Wilson’s Springfield location. Lavenburg represents creditors of all kinds, such as banks, credit unions, and debt purchasers, in loan-recovery and collection matters. He also litigates extensively for commercial property landlords and tenants, management companies, and large and small businesses. His legal work spans a variety of areas, including complex commercial litigation, lease disputes, commercial collections, real-estate foreclosure, and bankruptcy litigation. He is admitted to practice in the state and federal courts of Massachusetts and Connecticut, appears regularly in the trial and appellate courts for both states, and has argued in the Connecticut Supreme Court. Prior to joining Bacon Wilson, Lavenburg was a partner with Kroll, McNamara, Evans & Delehanty, LLP, of West Hartford, Conn., preceded by his partnership with the Springfield law firm Gold & Vanaria, P.C. He received his juris doctor in 1990 from Capital Law School of Columbus, Ohio, having earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1987 at Ohio Wesleyan University. He also chairs Longmeadow’s Zoning Board of Appeals.

•••••

Eleanor Williams

Eleanor Williams

Eleanor Williams, a lawyer who now works for MassMutual, has been appointed to the Holyoke Community College (HCC) board of trustees by Gov. Charlie Baker. Her term will expire on March 1, 2024. She attended her first HCC board meeting on Nov. 24 over Zoom. Williams has worked for MassMutual since 2011, starting as assistant vice president and counsel in the company’s dispute-resolution group. From 2017 to 2019, she served as chief of staff to the executive vice president and was part of the senior leadership team. She is now the business leader working with the Product and Marketing business units to drive product development and efficiency. Prior to that, she worked at Choate Hall & Stewart LLP in Boston as an associate in the law firm’s finance and restructuring practice group. Williams holds a bachelor’s degree in foreign service from Georgetown University, a law degree from Boston College School of Law, and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

•••••

Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin, P.C. announced that attorney Mark Esposito has taken on an expanded role within the firm, now serving of counsel. Esposito joined the firm in 2017 and has a wide-ranging, litigation-focused practice. He represents clients in general, commercial, and probate litigation; labor and employment matters; administrative law; and criminal cases. After graduating magna cum laude from Williams College, Esposito graduated summa cum laude from Boston University School of Law. He is admitted to practice in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the U.S. District Court, the District of Massachusetts, and the U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit.

•••••

The Executive Office of Health and Human Services announced that Glen Hevy will join the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home as its new, permanent deputy superintendent on Dec. 21. Hevy, a retired U.S. Army Infantry Officer, joins Holyoke from the Bedford VA Medical Center, where he was the senior operations official for Patient Care Services at the 400-bed VA hospital. Also at the Bedford VA Medical Center, he held the roles of chief of the Sensory and Physical Rehabilitation Service and an investigator for Equal Opportunity Employer policies in the Office of Resolution Management. Before his time at the Bedford VA, Hevy held other public-service positions, including unit manager at the North Central Correctional Institute, program director at the Department of Youth Services, and as program director at human-services agencies in the Commonwealth. Hevy served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army. During his 10 years in the Army, he was a rifle platoon leader, senior instructor, company commander, and academic chairperson. He is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Northeastern University and a master’s degree in criminal justice from Troy State University.

•••••

Six campus researchers in the College of Natural Sciences (CNS) at UMass Amherst have been recognized among the world’s most highly cited researchers in 2020 by London-based Clarivate Analytics, owner of the Web of Science. They have consistently had high citation counts over a decade. Now in its seventh year, the citation analysis identifies influential researchers as determined by their peers around the world. They are judged to be influential, and their citation records are seen as “a mark of exceptional impact,” the company says. The six from UMass Amherst are environmental chemist Baoshan Xing in CNS’s Stockbridge School of Agriculture, Distinguished Professor of Food Science David McClements and food scientist Hang Xiao, microbiologist Kelly Nevin Lovley, materials scientist Thomas Russell, and Vincent Rotello, the Charles A. Goessmann Professor of Chemistry and a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry. All are repeat members of the list. McClements is internationally known for his cutting-edge work in food design and nanotechnology, including encapsulating nutraceuticals in nanoparticles to preserve nutrients. Xiao’s lab focuses on molecular mechanisms and interactions of possible disease-preventing nutraceuticals to enhance nutrient bioavailability through food processing and nanotechnology, among other topics. Nevin Lovley’s lab, part of the Geobacter Project, works to determine the electron transport chain in these bacteria with a goal to develop techniques to optimize the cells’ electrical production for better fuel-cell performance, among other goals. The Rotello lab takes a multi-disciplinary approach, bringing chemistry, biology, and biomedical engineering to tailor nanomaterials to develop new biological applications. Russell, internationally known as an inventor, names his lab’s research interests in polymer phase transition, polymers’ surface and interfacial properties, directed self-assembly processes, and using polymers as scaffolds and templates to generate nanoscopic structures. Environmental scientist Xing’s lab focuses on protecting the environment by maintaining and improving soil and water quality. This includes investigating the behavior and agricultural application of engineered nanomaterials and using spectroscopic and analytical instruments to study interactions among organic compounds, natural organic matter, and mineral particles. Two years ago, Highly Cited Researchers introduced a new cross-field category to identify researchers with substantial influence across several fields during the data census period. At UMass Amherst, Nevin Lovley and Rotello appear in this category for 2020.

Company Notebook

By
Company Notebook

Women’s Leadership Conference to Be Held in Person in 2022

LONGMEADOW — Bay Path University will host its 25th Women’s Leadership Conference (WLC) in person at the MassMutual Center in Springfield on Friday, April 1, 2022. The decision comes nine months after the March 2020 event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The annual conference brings more than 2,000 attendees to downtown Springfield for a day of speakers and workshop sessions devoted to professional development and personal goals. After weighing several options for hosting the annual conference, the university decided to forgo a 2021 event and wait until the event could take place in person. With an extended timeline, social media and digital forums will serve as virtual hubs to generate conversations and share thoughts and information that will carry over to the WLC. More information on speakers and schedules is forthcoming and will be posted at baypathconference.com.

 

Freedom Credit Union to Match Donations to Pioneer Valley USO

SPRINGFIELD — Throughout the month of December, Freedom Credit Union will partner with its members and the local community to raise funds to benefit the Pioneer Valley USO. Freedom will match total donations made through Dec. 31 up to $2,500. The mission of the USO (United Service Organizations) is to strengthen America’s military service members by keeping them connected to family, home, and country throughout their service to our country. The Pioneer Valley USO, located at Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee, provides more than 102,000 pounds of food to more than 3,200 individuals annually through the Emergency Food Pantry, supports more than 600 families annually with holiday food baskets for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and sends more than 500 care packages to deployed military men and women around the world. Funded entirely by private donations, sponsorships, and grants, it supports both Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee and Barnes Air National Guard Base in Westfield. Donations can be made to Freedom’s matching drive online at bit.ly/393WCzo.

 

STCC Creates Affordable Transfer Agreements with Post University

SPRINGFIELD — Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) partnered this fall with Post University in Waterbury, Conn. to offer seamless transfer pathways in six programs. Students in the following STCC associate-degree programs have an opportunity to transfer to Post University and pursue a bachelor’s degree: applied psychology, business transfer, communication and digital media, criminal justice transfer, early childhood education transfer, and human services/social work. Post University offers classes online but also has a 58-acre main campus that includes six student residence halls, an admissions building, a library, a fitness center, and a multi-purpose sports facility. The main campus classes for spring 2021 will be online in response to risks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. STCC is also planning online classes this spring with a mix of low-density, in-person labs for health and manufacturing programs. STCC and Post University signed the agreements in September. STCC offers dozens of pathways for transferring to a four-year college or university. Students who take advantage of the transfer pathways can see significant financial savings, said Matt Gravel, dean of Academic Initiatives at STCC.

 

 

Comcast Supports MHA Programming, Families of Staff

SPRINGFIELD — Comcast recently awarded a $5,000 grant to MHA, which includes $2,000 to fund the purchase of school supplies for children of MHA staff dealing with hybrid and remote learning models as a result of the pandemic. Supplies for the children include face masks, hand sanitizer, pencils, pencil sharpeners, notebooks, erasers, and pocket folders. The remaining $3,000 will underwrite a Room to Recover at MHA’s Safe Haven program for a year. Safe Haven offers transitional housing support to people served by the Department of Mental Health who are experiencing chronic homelessness, including those in recovery. Since a large proportion of the staff have school-aged children, and with so many schools either remote or hybrid, providing these supplies helps ensure that kids are prepared for school, said Kimberley Lee, vice president, Resource Development & Branding for MHA.

 

Holyoke Medical Center Earns Leapfrog Top Hospital Award

HOLYOKE — Highlighting its nationally recognized achievements in patient safety and quality, Holyoke Medical Center was named a Top General Hospital nationally by the Leapfrog Group, a national watchdog organization of employers and other purchasers widely acknowledged as the toughest standard setters for healthcare safety and quality. More than 2,200 hospitals were considered for the award. Among those, Holyoke Medical Center received a Top General distinction. A total of 105 hospitals were selected as Top Hospitals, including nine Top Children’s Hospitals, 29 Top General Hospitals, 19 Top Rural Hospitals, and 48 Top Teaching Hospitals. The quality of patient care across many areas of hospital performance is considered in establishing the qualifications for the award, including infection rates, practices for safer surgery, maternity care, and the hospital’s capacity to prevent medication errors. Holyoke Medical Center also received the Top General Hospital recognition from the Leapfrog Group in 2014 and 2016.

 

Six Flags New England Sends Holiday Thrills to Square One

SPRINGFIELD — Six Flags New England will donate more than 200 toys valued at more than $1,000 to Square One’s children. “Six Flags New England is honored to support Square One this holiday season,” said Jennifer McGrath, the park’s Communications manager. “Now more than ever, we need to rally as a community and support causes and families here in Western Massachusetts and beyond.”

 

Girls Inc. of the Valley Receives Grant from Rotary Club

HOLYOKE — Girls Inc. of the Valley received a $2,000 grant from the Rotary Club of Springfield to support Girls Inc. of the Valley’s “Bridge the Digital Divide” project. This donation will help girls and their families overcome social and economic stressors during this pandemic. In the midst of the upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for positive, girl-focused, youth-development programming is stronger than ever. Girls who were already dealing with adverse childhood experiences like poverty and racism need additional support during these challenging times, and this donation from the Rotary Club of Springfield will allow both organizations to help serve the community. Many of the girls have been asking if Girls Inc.’s Eureka! STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education program will happen during the summer of 2021. To ensure the safety of their participants, staff, and volunteers, Girls Inc. will provide Eureka! University, a virtual version of the program, this summer.

 

EforAll and EparaTodos Holyoke Looking for Volunteer Mentors

HOLYOKE — EforAll and EparaTodos Holyoke are actively seeking volunteers to participate as mentors in this winter’s business-accelerator program. Accelerator mentors come from a variety of backgrounds and use their business and leadership experience to guide new entrepreneurs through the process of turning their idea into a growing business. Mentors work in teams of three and are matched with an entrepreneur based on schedule availability and the desire to work together. The team meets as a group to help reaffirm topics and themes raised during classes, while also strategizing with the entrepreneur on how to reach their specific goals during the program. This is a high-touch, year-long commitment, and everything is virtual. Mentor teams have 90-minute meetings for three months and then meet once a month for the following nine months. Anyone who is looking for an interactive and meaningful volunteer opportunity and is interested in learning more about EforAll should e-mail [email protected].

 

Local College Students Compete in Online Grinspoon Pitch Contest

AGAWAM — The Grinspoon Entrepreneurship Initiative’s first online, fully remote regional pitch competition took place on Nov. 17. Twenty-one students from area colleges delivered 60-second pitches to an audience of their peers in Zoom breakout rooms. After a popular vote, four finalists were selected to receive $50 each. Next came the final competition. Winning the grand prize and a total of $150 was Jenny Jung, a junior at Amherst College. Her idea is PressBeta, a beta-testing platform for independent game developers to be connected to beta testers for $59 per month. Passionate gamers can test out interesting, pre-launch games and give feedback in exchange for limited, early access.

 

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

WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. — The Connecticut Airport Authority (CAA) announced that t 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.

AMHERST

Free Journal Network, Inc., 710 North Pleasant St., Dept of Math&Stat c/o Mark Wilson Amherst, MA 01003. Mark Curtis Wilson, 40 Summerfield Road, Amherst, MA 01002. Promotion of the theory and practice of publishing scholarly research without financial barriers to readers or authors (“diamond open access” or “platinum open access”).

ASHFIELD

Mozaik, Inc., 947 Apple Valley Road, Ashfield, MA 01330. Abigail K. Straus, same. Management Consulting and Systems Development.

ASHLEY FALLS

High Five Inc., 20 Hillside Lane Ashley Falls, MA 01222. Christos Christodoulou, same. Applying for a license with the CCC.

CHICOPEE

Kings Student Transport Inc., 975-A Springfield St. Feeding Hills, MA 01030. Dennis King, 40 Mountainview St., Agawam, MA 01001. Transportation services.

Ramcity Corp., 40 Dale St., Chicopee, MA 01013. Vadzim Loban, same. Trucking.

EASTHAMPTON

Abbetor Inc., 3 Zabek Dr. Easthampton, MA 01027. Andrea A. Przybyla, same. Express employment franchise.

Chemetal, Inc., 51 Ferry St. Easthampton, MA 01027. H. Michael Schaefer, 16 Pleasant St. Southampton, MA 01073. Metal laminate business.

GRANBY

Rightwise Inc., 362 East State St. Granby, MA 01033. Sarib Nawaz Ma, 1 Eagle Dr., South Hadley, MA 01075. Retail convenience store.

GREENFIELD

Beckwith Electric Inc., 780 Bernardston Road, Greenfield, MA 01301. Steven Beckwith, same. Electrical services.

Greenfield Makers Co-operative Inc., 231 Main St., Second Floor, Greenfield, MA 01301. Adrienne LaPierre, 20 Union St., Montague, MA 01351. P.O. Box 8, Montague, MA 01351.

Grew-It-Yourself Hydroponic Consulting, Inc., 39 Abbot St. Greenfield, MA 01301. Devin William Joseph Duval, same. The purpose of Grew-It-Yourself Hydroponic Consulting Inc. is to provide to people from marginalized groups, no-cost equipment and training to grow their own hydroponic plants, including but not limited to, fruits and vegetables for those seeking food security, medical cannabis for those who qualify under Massachusetts statute, and otherwise therapeutic hydroponic plants.

HAMPDEN

Roots to Ends Hair Salon Inc., 346 Bennett Road, Hampden, MA 01036. Stephanie M. Guyer, same. Conduct and carry on business of a hair salon.

LONGMEADOW

National Fitness and Wellness for the Blind Inc., 127 Bel Air Dr., Longmeadow, MA 01106. Payman Sadeghinejad, same. Be devoted to providing blind and legally blind people with a means to exercise their right to safely and independently maintain their physical and mental health by providing safe, regular, and convenient physical training services, wellness service, and related services.

LUDLOW

E&S Consulting, Inc., 77 Howard St. Ludlow, MA 01056. Suzette F. Batista, same. Consulting services for business management.

PITTSFIELD

Benjamin Builds Inc., 82 Wendell Ave., Suite 100 Pittsfield, MA 01201. Andrew Benjamin, 47 Upland Ave. Haverhill, MA 01835. Woodwork, construction, property management.

Delivering Hope Inc., 82 Wendell Ave., Suite 100 Pittsfield, MA 01201. Victor Aleman, same. Delivering backpacks and schools supplies to children in need.

Doing Business as Certificates

By
DBA Certificates

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

DEERFIELD

Scott & Sons
604 River Road
Meredith Williams

NORTHAMPTON

Ambient Oaks Photography
239 North King St.
Karissa Rigali

Caroline Ruderman Reiki
16 Center St., Suite 515
Caroline Ruderman

Eversource
351 Earle St.
Eversource Gas Co. of Massachusetts

Eversource Energy
351 Earle St.
Eversource Gas Co. of Massachusetts

Flower & Frequency, LLC
129 North St., Apt. 2
Nora Toomey, Joshua Bruner

Mouse Collectibles
343 Glendale Road
Kari Nykorchuk

The People’s Contract
92 Laurel Park
Matthew Herschler

RiverMind Virtual Assistance
239 North King St.
Karissa Rigali

Sunflower Massage and Reiki
19B Hawley St.
Jane Harris-Toomey

VNA & Hospice of Cooley Dickinson Inc.
168 Industrial Dr.
Priscilla Ross

SOUTHWICK

Boston Window Fashions
24 Shore Road
Andrew LeBlanc

Tynic Landscaping
22 Tannery Road
Scott Lamon

WESTFIELD

Bags Baubles & Chocolate
256 Union St.
Bags Baubles & Chocolate

Close to Body
30 White St.
Lyubov Shevchenko

Cornerstone Diving Club
247 Munger Hill Road
Scott Pierson

David M. Ritchie Plumbing & Heating
35 Barbara St.
David Ritchie

Furrow Engineering
199 Servistar Industrial Way, Suite 2
Frank DeMarinis

JC Snacks
225 Root Road
James Gumlaw

Photography by Tiffany K
8 Whitaker Road
Tiffany Knurek

Rob Alberti Event Services
1310 Russell Road
Robert Alberti

Southern States Coop Inc.
323 Lockhouse Road
Southern States Coop Inc.

The Spa at Little River
38 Elm St., #11
The Spa at Little River

 

WEST SPRINGFIELD

ATC Group Services, LLC
73 William Franks Dr.
Sheree Garber

Foxy Nails
589 Westfield St.
Vananh Nguyen

Fransua Massage
411 Main St.
Francheska Boria

Matt’s Auto Mall
2405 Westfield St.
Matthew Jensen

Pension & Benefits Associates Inc.
131 Wayside Ave.
Mark Shea

Bankruptcies

By
Bankruptcies

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

Alonso, Steven James
Alonso, Beth Ellen
232 West St.
Ware, MA 01082
Chapter: 7
Date: 11/25/2020

Bailey, Mark Alan
Bailey, Bunny, Lynn
120 Cheney St.
Orange, MA 01364
Chapter: 7
Date: 11/18/2020

Banas, Andrea L.
49 Old South St., Apt. 704
Northampton, MA 01060
Chapter: 7
Date: 11/27/2020

Barker, Laura A.
1147 Elm St., Apt. 1-L
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 7
Date: 11/24/2020

Bugli, Brian G.
a/k/a Bugli, Brian J
135 Riviera Dr.
Agawam, MA 01001
Chapter: 7
Date: 11/17/2020

Canning, Joanne M.
337 Commonwealth Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Chapter: 7
Date: 11/30/2020

Cary, Gail M.
10 Comanche Dr.
North Adams, MA 01247
Chapter: 7
Date: 11/23/2020

Cruz, Sonia, D.
39 Leitch St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Chapter: 7
Date: 11/30/2020

Ferrigno, Maryann A.
148 Pleasant St.
Athol, MA 01331
Chapter: 7
Date: 11/17/2020

Grant, Nicole R.
Grant, Jerome E.
138 Clarendon Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 7
Date: 11/28/2020

Hannah, Bonnie S.
501 Hancock St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Chapter: 13
Date: 11/30/2020

Henry, Marshawn C.
77 Humbert St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Chapter: 7
Date: 11/23/2020

Holmes, Russell A.
Holmes, Susan M.
a/k/a Evitts, Susan
21 Alma St.
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Chapter: 7
Date: 11/28/2020

Kalogerakos, Demetrios
2C Mansionwoods Dr.
Agawam, MA 01001
Chapter: 7
Date: 11/17/2020

Knowlton, Patrick
124 Exchange St., Apt. 2R
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 7
Date: 11/23/2020

Koske, Rebecca Anne
49 Pynchon Road
South Hadley, MA 01075
Chapter: 7
Date: 11/25/2020

Lacasse, Lincoln A.
Lacasse, Kimberly A.
2115 Old Keene Road
Athol, MA 01331
Chapter: 7
Date: 11/27/2020

Lavigne, Joseph N.
22 Marguerite St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Date: 11/25/2020

Lefsyk, William E.
Lefsyk, Linda S.
15 Beach St.
Athol, MA 01331
Chapter: 7
Date: 11/25/2020

Lynch, Lisa A.
420 Hillside Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Date: 11/25/2020

Nater, Jose Angel
64 Cherry St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Chapter: 7
Date: 11/17/2020

Ojeda, Daniel E.
41 Stony Brook Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Chapter: 13
Date: 11/21/2020

Peralta-Ortiz, Michael
49 Decatur St., 2nd Fl.
Indian Orchard, MA 01151
Chapter: 7
Date: 11/30/2020

Perea, Louann Alice
a/k/a Holden, Louann Alice
a/k/a Ridgeway, Louann Alice
519 East River St.
Chapter: 13
Date: 11/30/2020

Perez, Jose M.
62 Farnum Dr.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Date: 11/17/2020

Restivo Cournoyer Margaret S.
15A Mill Village Road
South Deerfield, MA 01373
Chapter: 7
Date: 11/25/2020

Rydzak, Jason
Rydzak, Meaghan
17 Aldrew Ter.
Springfield, MA 01119
Chapter: 7
Date: 11/23/2020

Williams, Clifton E.
79 Pleasant St., Apt. G110
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Chapter: 7
Date: 11/16/2020

Yanbul, Metin William
7 Belmont St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 7
Date: 11/25/2020

Yvon Jr., Larry R. UBER Driver
Yvon, April R.
a/k/a Blais, April
52 Phelps St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Chapter: 7
Date: 11/19/2020

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

24 Baptist Corner Road
Ashfield, MA 01330
Amount: $467,500
Buyer: Joshua Soper
Seller: Michael L. Skalski
Date: 11/24/20

1637 West Road
Ashfield, MA 01330
Amount: $174,000
Buyer: Randy J. Gobeil RET
Seller: Robert J. Wigmore
Date: 11/20/20

BERNARDSTON

50 Bald Mountain Road
Bernardston, MA 01337
Amount: $262,000
Buyer: Michael Kosloski
Seller: Kristina L. Woods
Date: 11/19/20

86 South St.
Bernardston, MA 01337
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Kyle J. Matteson
Seller: David W. Streeter
Date: 11/30/20

28 Turners Falls Road
Bernardston, MA 01337
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Larry Downing
Seller: John S. Cyhowski
Date: 11/30/20

BUCKLAND

13 South St.
Buckland, MA 01330
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: David E. Chaplin
Seller: Donald G. Churchill
Date: 11/20/20

CHARLEMONT

Warner Hill Road
Charlemont, MA 01339
Amount: $226,000
Buyer: John H. Sargent TR
Seller: Molly Scott
Date: 11/18/20

COLRAIN

16 Leon Herzig Dr.
Colrain, MA 01340
Amount: $409,000
Buyer: Mickayla M. Dilorenzo
Seller: Ruby S. Rice
Date: 11/30/20

CONWAY

234 Mathews Road
Conway, MA 01341
Amount: $334,000
Buyer: Sara Coblyn
Seller: Lisa Fortin
Date: 11/23/20

43 Stetson Brothers Road
Colrain, MA 01340
Amount: $302,000
Buyer: Casey M. Peters
Seller: William C. Cole
Date: 11/16/20

DEERFIELD

13 Eastern Ave.
Deerfield, MA 01373
Amount: $297,075
Buyer: Cheryl R. Roberts
Seller: Christopher J. Harris LT
Date: 11/19/20

25 Meadow Wood Dr.
Deerfield, MA 01373
Amount: $307,500
Buyer: Caryn Gardner
Seller: Hayes-Forsythe, P. (Estate)
Date: 11/20/20

GREENFIELD

1124 Bernardston Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $241,800
Buyer: Lisa S. Cecala
Seller: Steven Dedinas
Date: 11/23/20

79 Birch St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $237,000
Buyer: Emily Bassarear
Seller: Mary B. Konieczny IT
Date: 11/16/20

36 Brookside Ave.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $267,750
Buyer: Jon Huer
Seller: Kimberly A. Storey
Date: 11/24/20

40 Brookside Ave.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: John R. Keir
Seller: Cheryl E. Brissette
Date: 11/19/20

22 Conway Dr.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $537,500
Buyer: Jennifer M. Frangie
Seller: David A. Conway
Date: 11/19/20

3 Devens St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $138,900
Buyer: Francisco Cosme
Seller: Pucko, Richard G., (Estate)
Date: 11/23/20

56 Freeman Dr.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Amy Anderson
Seller: Maureen Forrestall
Date: 11/17/20

50 Lincoln St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Alix E. Sorrell
Seller: Michael J. Holden
Date: 11/30/20

57 Madison Circle
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $297,000
Buyer: William Carlino
Seller: Jeffrey D. Reed
Date: 11/25/20

17 North St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Gregory A. Cote
Seller: John M. Sundell
Date: 11/20/20

56 Wisdom Way
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Franklin County & North Quabbin
Seller: Green River Cemetery Co.
Date: 11/24/20

LEYDEN

30 Laurel Hill Dr.
Leverett, MA 01054
Amount: $710,000
Buyer: Michael Schvarczkopf
Seller: Karin M. Gravina RET
Date: 11/16/20

296 River Road
Leyden, MA 01337
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Ramani M. Dayon
Seller: Sue E. Sojka
Date: 11/30/20

MONROE

7 School St.
Monroe, MA 01350
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Diann M. Noren
Seller: Gail Dieter
Date: 11/18/20

MONTAGUE

45 Dell St.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $162,500
Buyer: Alyson M. Wickline
Seller: Donald A. Baker
Date: 11/30/20

75 Dell St.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Nora M. Maynard
Seller: Cole J. Johanneck
Date: 11/30/20

11 Green Pond Road
Montague, MA 01349
Amount: $178,000
Buyer: Edward J. Terault
Seller: Philip M. Cyhowski
Date: 11/19/20

117 L St.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $192,000
Buyer: Benegan 2 LLC
Seller: Edward F. Wilcox
Date: 11/18/20

54 Prospect St.
Montague, MA 01349
Amount: $239,700
Buyer: Ryne Hager
Seller: Edward S. Shamo
Date: 11/25/20

358 Turners Falls Road
Montague, MA 01351
Amount: $172,000
Buyer: Tia E. Collins
Seller: Richard F. Caldwell
Date: 11/20/20

478 Turners Falls Road
Montague, MA 01351
Amount: $457,500
Buyer: Marie T. Sullivan
Seller: Jennifer M. Frangie
Date: 11/19/20

NEW SALEM

219 West St.
New Salem, MA 01355
Amount: $355,000
Buyer: Thomas G. Vinciulla
Seller: Lynnette M. Goodnow
Date: 11/16/20

 

NORTHFIELD

50 Main St.
Northfield, MA 01360
Amount: $242,000
Buyer: Nicholas M. Andrews
Seller: Anne Trimmer-Shepard
Date: 11/24/20

ORANGE

161 Drew Blvd.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Scott A. Marigliano
Seller: James P. Gebo
Date: 11/19/20

690 East Main St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Alberto L. Salome
Seller: Loren Scott
Date: 11/23/20

Flagg Road
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $158,000
Buyer: Channel Z. Seismometry Inc.
Seller: Heyes Family Forests LLC
Date: 11/24/20

92 Fountain St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Tyler W. Hauth
Seller: Laurie L. Chiasson
Date: 11/18/20

218 Holtshire Road
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $209,000
Buyer: Andrea J. McGrath
Seller: Lisa A. Kidwell
Date: 11/23/20

33 Kelton St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Corey R. Ellis
Seller: Patricia A. Bushey
Date: 11/20/20

15 King St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $194,000
Buyer: P. Valiquette-Lalonde
Seller: Charles L. Hunt
Date: 11/24/20

138 Royalston Road
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Samuel Hurtado
Seller: Gretel L. Schatz
Date: 11/25/20

231 South Main St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: Leslie Proctor
Seller: Michael S. Lehmbeck
Date: 11/20/20

358 Tully Road
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $237,000
Buyer: Nicholas Jamieson
Seller: Douglas R. Jillson
Date: 11/24/20

159 West River St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Peggy Bruso
Seller: Roxanne Butler
Date: 11/18/20

ROWE

Davis Mine Road
Rowe, MA 01367
Amount: $226,000
Buyer: John H. Sargent TR
Seller: Molly Scott
Date: 11/18/20

SHELBURNE

Bardwells Ferry Road
Shelburne, MA 01370
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Jeffrey Bellino
Seller: Kayel G. Deangelis
Date: 11/30/20

108 Colrain Shelburne Road
Shelburne, MA 01370
Amount: $390,000
Buyer: John N. Waynelovich
Seller: Barbara A. Bishop
Date: 11/23/20

SUNDERLAND

Cross Mountain Road
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $272,000
Buyer: Sunderland Water District
Seller: Kestrel Land TR
Date: 11/19/20

56 Plumtree Road
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $295,000
Buyer: Kamolluk Puch
Seller: Vincent J. Tran
Date: 11/30/20

152 Russell St.
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $654,000
Buyer: Galina B. Agapov
Seller: Andrei Agapov
Date: 11/25/20

WENDELL

331 Lockes Village Road
Wendell, MA 01379
Amount: $320,650
Buyer: Elizabeth R. Lewand
Seller: Ellen Newcombe-Trousdale
Date: 11/30/20

WHATELY

179 Chestnut Plain Road
Whately, MA 01093
Amount: $306,000
Buyer: Maida D. Goodwin
Seller: Christopher C. Rose
Date: 11/18/20

HAMPDEN COUNTY

AGAWAM

578 Cooper St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $283,600
Buyer: Vicki A. Brown
Seller: Thai V. Bui
Date: 11/19/20

15 Ellington St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Samar Kamil
Seller: Marco A. Scibelli
Date: 11/16/20

48 Logan Place
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $390,000
Buyer: Andrii Pikulskyi
Seller: Mark S. Tetrault
Date: 11/20/20

5 Maple Meadows Lane
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $335,000
Buyer: John Ferrero
Seller: Agnes T. Puricelli
Date: 11/23/20

19 Meadowbrook Road
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Christopher Nascembeni
Seller: Scuderi, Maria, (Estate)
Date: 11/24/20

91 Mill St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $158,026
Buyer: Gorete S. Goncalves
Seller: NJRE Property Group LLC
Date: 11/18/20

6 North West St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $394,500
Buyer: Jason Perez
Seller: MS Homes LLC
Date: 11/16/20

9 Poinsetta St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $276,200
Buyer: Ilo B. Gassoway
Seller: Christine M. Moauro
Date: 11/25/20

323 Poplar St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $239,000
Buyer: Kelly A. Miller
Seller: Jillian Pena
Date: 11/17/20

70 Raymond Circle
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Mathew Waskiewicz
Seller: Elizabeth A. Gamelli
Date: 11/24/20

45 Rhodes Ave.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Kashieka T. Thomas
Seller: Nils Pilotte
Date: 11/25/20

1244 Suffield St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Amy Morgan
Seller: Stapleton, Margaret K., (Estate)
Date: 11/25/20

45 Vassar Road
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Cory J. Pike
Seller: Janice A. Deveno
Date: 11/23/20

299 Walnut St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: 12 Doors LLC
Seller: Gary Block
Date: 11/20/20

BLANDFORD

54 Gibbs Road
Blandford, MA 01008
Amount: $480,000
Buyer: Michael Peay
Seller: William B. Hull LLC
Date: 11/23/20

BRIMFIELD

19 Brookfield Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $336,000
Buyer: Anthony C. Samuel
Seller: Robert C. Cheney
Date: 11/16/20

11 Sutcliffe Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Marc D. Foley
Seller: Wendy Thomas
Date: 11/24/20

CHICOPEE

24 Blanchard St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $187,000
Buyer: Joseph Frasco
Seller: Andrew M. Chagnon
Date: 11/30/20

33 Calvin St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Jeffrey Hines
Seller: Raymond F. Wenninger
Date: 11/18/20

31 Charpentier Blvd.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Narine L. Hastings
Seller: Christopher Vega
Date: 11/20/20

38 Cherryvale St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $263,000
Buyer: Douglas J. Furkey
Seller: John C. Kisiel
Date: 11/16/20

128 Davenport St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Jose Rodriguez
Seller: Pamela B. Davis
Date: 11/19/20

23 Fernwood St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Alexandra M. Rodriguez
Seller: Jeremy J. Lavigne
Date: 11/16/20

53 Fredette St.
Chicopee, MA 01022
Amount: $400,000
Buyer: George L. Johnson
Seller: N. Riley Development Inc.
Date: 11/24/20

65 Frederick St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $221,000
Buyer: SAW Construction LLC
Seller: Saw Construction LLC
Date: 11/19/20

1122 Granby Road
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Marisol E. Manners
Seller: Rita M. Romero-Demetriou
Date: 11/30/20

140 Hendrick St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Joseph J. Tiroletto
Seller: Evan T. Berneche
Date: 11/20/20

13 Hillman St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $136,000
Buyer: MPower Capital LLC
Seller: PNC Bank NA
Date: 11/18/20

24 Jefferson Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $127,000
Buyer: Tho Le
Seller: US Bank
Date: 11/24/20

22 Lawrence Road
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Joann M. Riley
Seller: Theodore Pienkos
Date: 11/25/20

106 Mandalay Road
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $246,000
Buyer: Jeffrey M. Welch
Seller: Adam Tetrault
Date: 11/30/20

136 Manning St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $223,000
Buyer: Sayeh Bonakdar
Seller: Maciejewski, Joseph, (Estate)
Date: 11/30/20

70 Mathieu Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Brian Mateo
Seller: Deborah J. Warwick
Date: 11/25/20

99 Mayflower Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $405,000
Buyer: Rosa I. Rivera
Seller: Juliette Son
Date: 11/24/20

62 Montgomery St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Controlled Chaos RE LLC
Seller: Mya K. LLC
Date: 11/23/20

101 Pendleton Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $278,800
Buyer: Carl S. Williams
Seller: Lorraine P. Lachowetz
Date: 11/24/20

1102 Sheridan St.
Chicopee, MA 01022
Amount: $3,300,000
Buyer: YUT Realty LLC
Seller: 1102 Sheridan Street LLC
Date: 11/23/20

39 Sunnyside St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Felicia Rodrigues
Seller: Green Fields Inc.
Date: 11/23/20

EAST LONGMEADOW

115 Elm St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $380,500
Buyer: Luz M. Gonzalez
Seller: Jason Whitaker
Date: 11/30/20

141 Elm St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $274,800
Buyer: Jeffrey D. Rega
Seller: Stephen E. Steitz
Date: 11/18/20

12 Holly Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $261,000
Buyer: Alan Notre
Seller: Judith A. Mazzaferro
Date: 11/18/20

56 Lynwood Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $242,000
Buyer: Justin R. Gloster
Seller: Dennis J. Reyes
Date: 11/25/20

150 Patterson Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $405,000
Buyer: Bao T. Vu
Seller: William R. Ludkiewicz
Date: 11/30/20

27 Pioneer Circle
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $253,000
Buyer: Ryan J. Quimby
Seller: Stephen R. Quimby
Date: 11/20/20

75-79 Pleasant St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $2,765,692
Buyer: Brownstone Gardens Inc.
Seller: Brownstone Gardens 1 Inc.
Date: 11/23/20

23 Sanford St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $256,000
Buyer: John F. Albano
Seller: Amy J. Barron
Date: 11/30/20

126 South Brook Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $608,000
Buyer: Daniel S. Tarbell
Seller: Charles T. Lanigan
Date: 11/20/20

316 Westwood Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Rachel C. Loiselle
Seller: Frank A. Demarinis
Date: 11/19/20

GRANVILLE

383 Granby Road
Granville, MA 01034
Amount: $438,000
Buyer: Rockwood Pallet Co. LLC
Seller: Wackerbarth Box Mfg. Co.
Date: 11/20/20

427 Main Road
Granville, MA 01034
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Cynthia T. Levasseur
Seller: Craig Perras
Date: 11/20/20

799 Main Road
Granville, MA 01034
Amount: $167,700
Buyer: Michael Bascom
Seller: FNMA
Date: 11/16/20

HAMPDEN

294 Ames Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $585,000
Buyer: David W. Jackson
Seller: Ty A. Alexander
Date: 11/24/20

295 Chapin Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $305,000
Buyer: Shelby Schmeelk
Seller: Christopher M. Barden
Date: 11/16/20

479 Glendale Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $439,000
Buyer: John Goda
Seller: Laurie M. Sullivan
Date: 11/24/20

530 Glendale Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $365,000
Buyer: Edward Kennedy
Seller: Andrei V. Guidette
Date: 11/25/20

18 Greenleaf Dr.
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $427,500
Buyer: Michael J. Edgett
Seller: Joseph A. Pantuosco
Date: 11/30/20

116 Sessions Dr.
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Casey Papineau
Seller: Fumi Realty Inc.
Date: 11/30/20

170 Wilbraham Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $194,000
Buyer: Clark B. Kadis
Seller: Mark G. Casey
Date: 11/17/20

HOLLAND

5 Birch Dr.
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $201,000
Buyer: Joseph T. Coolins
Seller: Betty A. Brown
Date: 11/20/20

19 Forest Dr.
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $267,000
Buyer: Sean J. O’Brien
Seller: Mandi L. Ortega
Date: 11/18/20

10 Hisgen Road
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Joseph Tavernier
Seller: Theresa Johnson
Date: 11/20/20

19 Island Road
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $550,000
Buyer: Ernest M. Riley TR
Seller: Paul J. Les
Date: 11/20/20

53 Mashapaug Road
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $531,500
Buyer: Howard Kogan
Seller: Steven M. Digeronimo
Date: 11/20/20

168 Stafford Road
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $229,900
Buyer: Adam D. Grimes
Seller: Joel Wilson
Date: 11/16/20

112 Wales Road
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Patrick Marino
Seller: Casey A. Ledger
Date: 11/16/20

HOLYOKE

170-172 Allyn St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $146,000
Buyer: Sokham Sing
Seller: Tammy A. Lieber
Date: 11/16/20

100 Appleton St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $1,277,000
Buyer: Edaron Reh LLC
Seller: Edaron Inc.
Date: 11/17/20

58 Arthur St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Paul W. Bonatakis
Seller: Stanley J. Hilton
Date: 11/20/20

69 Beacon Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Herbin T. Diaz
Seller: John T. O’Connor
Date: 11/18/20

149 Beech St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $123,000
Buyer: Christopher Cappucci
Seller: Rony E. Galindo
Date: 11/30/20

18 Canby St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Amer Ahmed
Seller: Abdulla A. Arman
Date: 11/18/20

10 Charles Hill Road
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Polly Campbell-Kelley
Seller: Lynch, Joseph P., (Estate)
Date: 11/24/20

43-45 Cherry St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Adele Stiles
Seller: Victor H. Rodriguez
Date: 11/23/20

28 Clinton Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Montserrat Centeno
Seller: Polly Campbell-Kelley
Date: 11/24/20

1289 Dwight St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Christian Zayas
Seller: Paul R. Laclair
Date: 11/20/20

75 Elmwood Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $167,000
Buyer: Jose D. Membreno-Garcia
Seller: Susana E. Navarro
Date: 11/16/20

89 Franklin St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $236,000
Buyer: Gladis Duran
Seller: Rosa I. Rivera
Date: 11/23/20

172 Homestead Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Felipe Morales
Seller: Gary Gaudrault
Date: 11/18/20

15 Howard St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $277,500
Buyer: Richard M. Lee
Seller: Nilda Wotton
Date: 11/19/20

234 Madison Ave. West
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: Susan L. Goldman
Seller: Denise D. Cantin
Date: 11/24/20

1150 Northampton St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $525,000
Buyer: Robert J. Lyons
Seller: Michael J. Sullivan
Date: 11/20/20

2055 Northampton St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $194,000
Buyer: Carlisle W. Baskin
Seller: Chelsea M. Derouchey
Date: 11/24/20

39-41 Portland St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $272,000
Buyer: Andre Gamble
Seller: Dara N. Davignon
Date: 11/20/20

59 Queen St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Frances Martin
Seller: Pedro L. Ruiz
Date: 11/20/20

272 Sargeant St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $168,500
Buyer: Theo F. Lefevre
Seller: Mark H. Harrison
Date: 11/17/20

60 Sherwood Ter.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $216,000
Buyer: Shannon K. Brisbois
Seller: Robert J. O’Donnell
Date: 11/20/20

395-1/2 South Elm St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Lorena Avendano
Seller: Kaplan, Rita M., (Estate)
Date: 11/23/20

46 Taylor St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Rolando Muniz-Lopez
Seller: Brian E. Robinson
Date: 11/18/20

95 Vermont St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Brittany S. Masse
Seller: Katie Goshea
Date: 11/23/20

32 West Glen St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $231,000
Buyer: Jacob D. Champagne
Seller: Ryan D. Tabb
Date: 11/19/20

LONGMEADOW

168 Dunn Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $630,000
Buyer: Caiying Liang
Seller: Patrick Gottsclicht
Date: 11/20/20

113 Ely Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $620,000
Buyer: Nelson M. Vieira
Seller: Greg S. Scyocurka
Date: 11/20/20

124 Englewood Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $615,000
Buyer: Paul G. Silvi
Seller: Mark A. Flavin
Date: 11/20/20

410 Frank Smith Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Kayla A. Basile
Seller: Joejoe Properties LLC
Date: 11/23/20

73 Green Hill Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $495,000
Buyer: Jessica Dean
Seller: Scott A. Vuori
Date: 11/20/20

24 Lincoln Park
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $277,500
Buyer: Tracy B. Jeanis
Seller: Trisha D. Ripton
Date: 11/24/20

186 Lynnwood Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $475,000
Buyer: Juan C. Restrepo
Seller: Timothy C. Greenman
Date: 11/24/20

6 Meadow Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Andrea S. Martin
Seller: Tracy B. Jeanis
Date: 11/24/20

45 Prynnwood Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $650,000
Buyer: Michael S. Ferguson
Seller: James R. Thomas
Date: 11/30/20

764 Shaker Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $480,000
Buyer: Tushin Shah
Seller: Daniel Tarbell
Date: 11/20/20

51 Wilkin Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $362,000
Buyer: Ahmed Mostafa
Seller: Robert D. Fusaro
Date: 11/24/20

LUDLOW

202 Cady St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: David Demmon
Seller: Antonio Aleixo
Date: 11/25/20

484 Center St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $2,970,297
Buyer: A&L Property Group LLC
Seller: Restaurant Holdings LLC
Date: 11/18/20

686 Chapin St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Joao A. Gomes
Seller: Jonathan Jorge
Date: 11/30/20

58 Cislak Dr.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $630,000
Buyer: David J. Fonte
Seller: Judith Chiasson
Date: 11/24/20

39 Cypress St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Andrew Collette
Seller: Andrew Fenton
Date: 11/19/20

19 Eden St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Sara E. McCollum
Seller: Susan L. Bergeron-West
Date: 11/24/20

78 Georgetown Road
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $224,000
Buyer: Gregory Cormier
Seller: Patrick A. Roy
Date: 11/16/20

28 Grandview Ave.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $116,000
Buyer: Janosik Realty LLC
Seller: John W. McCarthy
Date: 11/24/20

172 Highland Ave.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $255,500
Buyer: Jason M. Pagan
Seller: Misty L. Haynes
Date: 11/16/20

132 Holy Cross Circle
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Lisa L. Botha
Seller: Matthew H. Cloutier
Date: 11/19/20

21 Leland Dr.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $602,000
Buyer: Loic R. Assobmo
Seller: Brian L. Page
Date: 11/24/20

77 Mountainview St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Daniel Goggins
Seller: Terry Randall
Date: 11/30/20

85-87 Oak St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $281,000
Buyer: Louis Thouin
Seller: 85-87 Oak Street LLC
Date: 11/20/20

29 Pinewood Road
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $305,000
Buyer: Dominic M. Puntillo
Seller: Angelique A. Pasquale
Date: 11/23/20

68 Pleasant St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $305,000
Buyer: William G. Davidson
Seller: Jose C. Leandro
Date: 11/18/20

228 Sewall St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $119,000
Buyer: Robert N. Ely
Seller: Nicholas A. Matthess
Date: 11/20/20

Sunset Ridge #11
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Sergii Bonchukov
Seller: Baystate Developers Inc.
Date: 11/25/20

Sunset Ridge #12
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Lorrijane Massa
Seller: Baystate Developers Inc.
Date: 11/20/20

MONSON

20 Cedar Swamp Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $219,100
Buyer: Edward J. Bird
Seller: Robert H. Bird
Date: 11/24/20

72 Fenton Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Megan E. Ruscio
Seller: Steven R. Marcotte
Date: 11/19/20

88 Lakeshore Dr.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Gabriel Darco
Seller: Michael J. Edgett
Date: 11/30/20

51 Stafford Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $271,000
Buyer: Anthony Poehler
Seller: Jake T. Janas
Date: 11/18/20

40 Washington St.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: John W. Hodgdon
Seller: Mile Properties LLC
Date: 11/16/20

PALMER

40 Beverly St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $225,800
Buyer: Jessica Libiszewski
Seller: Norman A. Tworek
Date: 11/23/20

4049-4051 Church St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Ricardo M. Cedeno
Seller: Lylian Floyd
Date: 11/17/20

190 Emery St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $340,000
Buyer: Alex R. Thomson
Seller: Roger W. Barnes
Date: 11/17/20

1022 School St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $254,900
Buyer: Jason B. Pietrewicz
Seller: Richer, Paul J., (Estate)
Date: 11/20/20

RUSSELL

488 Blandford Road
Russell, MA 01071
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Veaceslav Dragnea
Seller: Angela Cross
Date: 11/19/20

557 Dickinson Hill Road
Russell, MA 01071
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Nathan R. Lepage
Seller: Edward S. Thomas
Date: 11/16/20

SPRINGFIELD

975 Allen St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Jennifer Gardner
Seller: Daniel J. Duncan
Date: 11/19/20

70 Amore Road
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Joshua Cruz-Birriel
Seller: Casa Trio LLC
Date: 11/17/20

868-870 Armory St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $259,000
Buyer: I. Y. Benitez-Carradero
Seller: Karen L. Dougherty
Date: 11/23/20

186 Arnold Ave.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $274,900
Buyer: Tek B. Gurung
Seller: Nu-Way Homes Inc.
Date: 11/27/20

106 Bacon Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Martin Tejada
Seller: Rosa M. Burgos
Date: 11/30/20

135 Bartels St.
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Anthony D. StAmand
Seller: Joseph M. Paixao
Date: 11/18/20

1455 Bay St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $128,000
Buyer: Luis A. Gonzalez-Cortes
Seller: Dona J. Bluteau
Date: 11/16/20

15 Berard Circle
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $233,500
Buyer: Kevin Estrada
Seller: Cindy A. Wodecki
Date: 11/23/20

52 Bronson Ter
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Timothy Ramgren
Seller: Kevin M. Lalime
Date: 11/20/20

102 Burns Ave.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $223,500
Buyer: Brian S. Peloquin
Seller: Revitalized Renovations
Date: 11/23/20

120 Calhoun St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Damaris Echevarria
Seller: Yaril Castro
Date: 11/23/20

38 Castle St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Diana Dillon
Seller: Mary H. Amato
Date: 11/17/20

108 Clayton St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Ivonne Padilla
Seller: James W. Fiore
Date: 11/16/20

123 Clearbrook Dr.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $207,000
Buyer: Yaril K. Castro
Seller: Martha M. Waters
Date: 11/23/20

131 Clement St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Thi L. Mai
Seller: Bao Vu
Date: 11/30/20

64-66 Cleveland St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Maria J. Cruz
Seller: Jocelyn M. Desjarlais
Date: 11/20/20

236 Connecticut Ave.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Stephanie Deleon
Seller: Anthony Gladden
Date: 11/24/20

272 Connecticut Ave.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Celany Z. Valdez
Seller: USA HUD
Date: 11/25/20

24 Crest St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: William Rivera
Seller: Michelle Y. Sanabria
Date: 11/30/20

93 Creswell Dr.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $132,000
Buyer: Meadowbrook Property Solutions
Seller: John F. Hennebery
Date: 11/24/20

24 Crosby St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $775,000
Buyer: Monnay Miller
Seller: ANHS Inc.
Date: 11/17/20

18 Cuff Ave.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $163,000
Buyer: Krystal R. Duncan
Seller: Mary M. Caplette
Date: 11/19/20

40-42 Daniel St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Henry C. Buckle
Seller: Kevin S. Mcnamara
Date: 11/24/20

9 Dayton St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Maryellen Little
Seller: Santander Bank
Date: 11/17/20

55 Delaware Ave.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $344,000
Buyer: Amy Breus
Seller: Bretta Construction LLC
Date: 11/24/20

18 Donbray Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $229,000
Buyer: Andrew Aldrich
Seller: Nancy D. Oconnor
Date: 11/30/20

58-60 Dresden St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $185,650
Buyer: Wayne Mitchell
Seller: Sharayah A. Rodriguez
Date: 11/19/20

82 East Canton Circle
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $198,000
Buyer: Cassandra M. Santos
Seller: Mary G. Morgan
Date: 11/23/20

225 El Paso St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Eddy A. Hodge-Demota
Seller: Gary Daula Property LLC
Date: 11/25/20

200 El Paso St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $177,000
Buyer: Jessie L. Medina
Seller: Juan Santana
Date: 11/20/20

20 Emeline Ctourt
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $292,000
Buyer: Priscilla Baah
Seller: Tianyi Zhou
Date: 11/23/20

53 Felicia St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Amado Perez-Hernandez
Seller: Alan H. Mowry
Date: 11/18/20

161 Fernbank Road
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $242,820
Buyer: Raymond L. Cooper
Seller: Robin H. Fowlkes
Date: 11/18/20

11 Filmer St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Maricely Vega
Seller: Lauren M. Lemon
Date: 11/18/20

493 Forest Hills Road
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Bethanie L. Calvanese
Seller: Joseph Kusnierz
Date: 11/19/20

271 Gifford St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $273,000
Buyer: Emanuel Vazquez-Rivera
Seller: Abrah N. Orth
Date: 11/18/20

214 Gilbert Ave.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $135,200
Buyer: Alberto Ayala
Seller: Norma I. Torres
Date: 11/20/20

328-A Gilbert Ave.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $289,900
Buyer: Hieu Nguyen
Seller: Nu-Way Homes Inc.
Date: 11/30/20

93-95 Governor St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Juan Sanchez-Hernandez
Seller: Sullivan, Jeremiah F., (Estate)
Date: 11/18/20

117 Governor St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $154,900
Buyer: Anne Furtado
Seller: Sheila A. Powers
Date: 11/23/20

5 Greentree Circle
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $125,133
Buyer: Matadormus RT
Seller: FHLM
Date: 11/30/20

360-362 Hancock St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $775,000
Buyer: Monnay Miller
Seller: ANHS Inc.
Date: 11/17/20

41 Harrison Ave.
Springfield, MA 01103
Amount: $3,500,000
Buyer: Massachusetts Convention Center
Seller: Springfield Parking Auth
Date: 11/23/20

36 Harvard St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $174,250
Buyer: Lavagn S. Claudio
Seller: Ramil LLC
Date: 11/20/20

70 Jeffrey Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $216,500
Buyer: Yamil M. Maldonado
Seller: Maureen E. Williams
Date: 11/16/20

19 Judson St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $227,000
Buyer: Sherron Colgram
Seller: Nasser Zebian
Date: 11/19/20

64 Kathleen St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $232,000
Buyer: Alexander Ortiz
Seller: Patriot Living LLC
Date: 11/17/20

56 Kazbeck St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Erin E. Daley
Seller: Angela M. Burke
Date: 11/20/20

49 Kenwood Park
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $233,000
Buyer: Marisol Torres
Seller: Orange Pk Management LLC
Date: 11/25/20

46 Kimberly Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $253,000
Buyer: Noel A. Rodriguez
Seller: Juan M. Barrera
Date: 11/25/20

59 Knox St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Ruberqui A. DeRodriguez
Seller: Posiadlosc LLC
Date: 11/17/20

88 Lakeside St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $189,000
Buyer: Wanda Resto
Seller: Ruben V. Rosa
Date: 11/30/20

47 Laurence St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Kevin J. Catapang-Adona
Seller: Miguel A. Vasquez
Date: 11/24/20

34-36 Lawndale St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Ernest Smith
Seller: Yohanka M. Siceron
Date: 11/25/20

61-63 Leete St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $775,000
Buyer: Monnay Miller
Seller: ANHS Inc.
Date: 11/17/20

16 Loretta St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $194,000
Buyer: Jackeline I. Velazquez
Seller: Robert E. Werner
Date: 11/16/20

2273 Main St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $1,200,000
Buyer: Trolley Barn Property LLC
Seller: Park View South LLC
Date: 11/17/20

260 Mallowhill Road
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Devon M. Bourget
Seller: Roger H. Bourget
Date: 11/30/20

14 Mansfield St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $137,700
Buyer: Mortgage Network Inc.
Seller: Jermaine Rodriguez-Smith
Date: 11/16/20

31 Maple St.
Springfield, MA 01001
Amount: $5,350,000
Buyer: Chateau Apartments LLC
Seller: Tema LLC
Date: 11/23/20

16 Marsden St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: Joe Joe Properties LLC
Seller: Richard S. Mongeau
Date: 11/16/20

9-11 Massasoit Place
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $214,000
Buyer: Natasha M. Rosado
Seller: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Date: 11/17/20

41-43 Mazarin St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Jose L. Mendez
Seller: Walski, Allen, (Estate)
Date: 11/24/20

149 Melville St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $153,000
Buyer: Jonathan Labarre
Seller: Cynthia G. Gow
Date: 11/25/20

77 Methuen St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Ivelisse Colon-Ortiz
Seller: James Fiore
Date: 11/25/20

25-27 Montcalm St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $244,000
Buyer: Crisalis Sanchez
Seller: Jonathan Cabrera
Date: 11/20/20

46-48 Montgomery St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $244,500
Buyer: Shawn Mitchell
Seller: Brennan Properties LLC
Date: 11/24/20

96 Montrose St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Albert Smoak
Seller: JJJ 17 LLC
Date: 11/17/20

64-66 Mooreland St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Joel Rodriguez-Puello
Seller: Daniel W. Goggins
Date: 11/24/20

70 Nagle St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $128,000
Buyer: MS Homes LLC
Seller: Barbara A. Stadnicki
Date: 11/20/20

114-116 Noel St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Huy H. Lam
Seller: Huy H. Lam
Date: 11/16/20

49 Northway Dr.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $233,000
Buyer: Alfred Cole
Seller: Dennis F. Pimental
Date: 11/17/20

71 Oak Grove Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $775,000
Buyer: Monnay Miller
Seller: ANHS Inc.
Date: 11/17/20

73 Oklahoma St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Kalvin I. Torres-Ortiz
Seller: Wendi L. Tatro
Date: 11/18/20

161-163 Oklahoma St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Nicholas A. Maratea
Seller: Tracy Adams
Date: 11/23/20

103 Ontario St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Gillian Peters
Seller: Brital 1987 LLC
Date: 11/25/20

212 Osborne Ter.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $197,500
Buyer: Patrick J. Saramago
Seller: Chad M. Jacobs
Date: 11/23/20

577 Page Blvd.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Lilliam Aponte-Bermudez
Seller: Michael Katsounakis
Date: 11/30/20

32-34 Parallel St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Denise Morales
Seller: Brital 1987 LLC
Date: 11/20/20

49 Parker St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $193,000
Buyer: Ian Fowler
Seller: Mondry, Agnes B., (Estate)
Date: 11/30/20

380 Plainfield St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $1,407,500
Buyer: Baystate Medical Center Inc.
Seller: Centro De Salude Medico
Date: 11/20/20

31 Pomona St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $219,150
Buyer: Carmen Y. Rosario
Seller: Nhung T. Ngo
Date: 11/18/20

34 Revere St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Felicia R. Barber
Seller: VDS Properties LLC
Date: 11/17/20

78 Sherbrooke St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Tascon Homes LLC
Seller: Jenni Manfredi
Date: 11/30/20

77 Somerset St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Katherine R. Kayser-Hirsh
Seller: H. Alez Weck
Date: 11/17/20

58 Sparrow Dr.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $173,000
Buyer: Jose A. Colon
Seller: Gilbert L. May
Date: 11/20/20

25 Spear Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $188,000
Buyer: Jon Martin
Seller: Krista Stott
Date: 11/17/20

67 Steuben St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Sandra A. Houle
Seller: Alberto Olivera
Date: 11/23/20

75 Strong St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Ricardo Velasquez
Seller: Roger Belliveau
Date: 11/30/20

51 Stuart St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Lasharia Coleman
Seller: Donald Coleman
Date: 11/17/20

159-163 Sumner Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $1,553,500
Buyer: 2 Stroke Holdings LLC
Seller: Stoneridge Realty LLC
Date: 11/16/20

83-91 Sumner Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $2,486,500
Buyer: Palpum Raw LLC
Seller: Kevin H. Knight
Date: 11/16/20

128 Tallyho Dr.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Minh Q. Ha
Seller: Helena N. Davis
Date: 11/24/20

5-15 Temple St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $5,350,000
Buyer: Chateau Apartments LLC
Seller: Tema LLC
Date: 11/23/20

120 Tioga St.
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $228,000
Buyer: Brian T. Drinkard
Seller: Anne C. Joy
Date: 11/30/20

84 Upland St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $197,000
Buyer: Qualazale Jones
Seller: John M. Goda
Date: 11/23/20

12-14 Virginia St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Lee E. Moonan
Seller: John J. Ragno
Date: 11/23/20

19 Warner St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $502,000
Buyer: 15 Warner Street LLC
Seller: Luxiana Property LLC
Date: 11/23/20

4 Washington St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $198,000
Buyer: Vanessa I. Alfaro
Seller: Pamela J. Coon
Date: 11/18/20

144 White St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $1,082,000
Buyer: Pioneer Housing LLC
Seller: Arch Properties LLC
Date: 11/20/20

363 White St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Carlos J. Morales
Seller: Daisy J. Hernandez
Date: 11/30/20

1725 Wilbraham Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Laurie M. Goulet
Seller: Keroack. Mary M., (Estate)
Date: 11/20/20

239 Windemere St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Yesenia M. Rodriguez
Seller: Stacey Hurley
Date: 11/20/20

92 Winterset Dr.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Pierre Manga
Seller: David J. Cieboter
Date: 11/17/20

111 Winterset Dr.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $267,000
Buyer: Stephen Farr
Seller: Antoinette M. Litrenta
Date: 11/23/20

107 Winton St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Liana S. Morrison
Seller: Cynthia R. Carbonneau
Date: 11/17/20

1105 Worthington St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Dorothy P. Gaby
Seller: Ruby Realty LLC
Date: 11/20/20

SOUTHWICK

3 1st St.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Kristeen Nero
Seller: Richard R. Labarre
Date: 11/25/20

758-770 College Hwy.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $650,000
Buyer: Whalley Properties Inc.
Seller: Fiore Realty Holdings LLC
Date: 11/16/20

Honey Bird Run #2
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Hamelin Framing Inc.
Seller: Fiore Realty Holdings LLC
Date: 11/19/20

Honey Bird Run #5
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Hamelin Framing Inc.
Seller: Fiore Realty Holdings LLC
Date: 11/19/20

18 Kimberly Dr.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: David Quaglini
Seller: Timothy J. Carreira
Date: 11/25/20

1 Pine Knoll
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $420,000
Buyer: Elizabeth A. Gamelli
Seller: Carole L. Janicki
Date: 11/24/20

1 Saw Mill Park
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $19,085,000
Buyer: Southwick Care LLC
Seller: GKS Corp
Date: 11/30/20

WALES

56 Fountain Road
Wales, MA 01081
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Thomas Smith
Seller: Sharon L. Shoar
Date: 11/30/20

WEST SPRINGFIELD

258 Bear Hole Road
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $380,000
Buyer: Noah P. Menard
Seller: Jensen, Diana J., (Estate)
Date: 11/16/20

204 Belmont Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $262,000
Buyer: Loan Tran
Seller: Nancy A. Mcnulty
Date: 11/18/20

212 Bosworth St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $305,000
Buyer: Winners O. LLC
Seller: William V. Sinico
Date: 11/30/20

143 Brookline Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $254,000
Buyer: Gerald K. Noah
Seller: Cynthia A. Reardon
Date: 11/16/20

271 Cold Spring Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $305,000
Buyer: Winners O. LLC
Seller: William V. Sinico
Date: 11/30/20

20 Connecticut Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Gregory T. Chartier
Seller: KSC Holdings LLC
Date: 11/16/20

144 Connecticut Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Maureen F. Moynihan
Seller: Maureen F. Moynihan
Date: 11/24/20

29 Glenview Dr.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $226,000
Buyer: Heidi E. Doten
Seller: Kristopher M. Carrington
Date: 11/24/20

141 Highland Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Eliezer Lopez
Seller: Michael J. Stimpson
Date: 11/16/20

40 Johnson St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Oscar A. Mena-Gonzalez
Seller: Nicholas M. Belanger
Date: 11/17/20

550 Kings Hwy.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Michael Laflamme
Seller: Nancy B. Delbuono
Date: 11/16/20

1490 Memorial Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Michael Masciadrelli
Seller: Marc T. Bergeron
Date: 11/20/20

124 North Blvd.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Steven Fraga
Seller: Robert J. Mcnamara
Date: 11/23/20

65 Ohio Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $349,900
Buyer: Pedro L. Ruiz-Montes
Seller: Karen L. Smith
Date: 11/20/20

36 Old Orchard Road
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Janet R. Lynch
Seller: Katherine R. Lyman
Date: 11/20/20

117 Pine St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Cheryl Charko
Seller: Eric J. Ehle
Date: 11/20/20

37 Sherwood Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $237,000
Buyer: Peter C. Marino
Seller: Mabel T. Balboni
Date: 11/30/20

16-18 Southworth St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: Emtay Inc.
Seller: Daniel L. Montagna
Date: 11/25/20

47 Sprague St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Olmstead RT
Seller: Michael Donskoy
Date: 11/16/20

31 Sunnyside St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $366,000
Buyer: Anthony Boido
Seller: Vyatcheslav Tsukanov
Date: 11/25/20

18 William St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Michelle Sorcinelli
Seller: Dustin P. Summers
Date: 11/24/20

WESTFIELD

71 Beverly Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Daniel D. Grabowiec
Seller: Adam T. Grabowiec
Date: 11/23/20

20 Crescent Circle
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $397,000
Buyer: Donald C. Jones
Seller: Paul Longtin
Date: 11/19/20

291 East Main St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $640,000
Buyer: Absak LLC
Seller: Donald W. Obitz
Date: 11/19/20

122 Farnham Lane
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: Douglas J. Fuller
Seller: Knowlton, Kenneth C., (Estate)
Date: 11/24/20

3 Hanover St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $267,000
Buyer: Merveil Meyitang
Seller: Tighe R. Dudeck
Date: 11/23/20

21 Jeanne Marie Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $430,000
Buyer: William K. Majurinen
Seller: David F. Potts
Date: 11/30/20

22 Lynnwood Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Jonathan Cabrera
Seller: Lance F. Hedge
Date: 11/20/20

131 Main St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $194,000
Buyer: Tyler R. Grono
Seller: Teresa D. Fitzgerald
Date: 11/20/20

16 Maple St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $188,500
Buyer: Paul J. Russell
Seller: Peter E. Strniste
Date: 11/25/20

24 Mullen Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Oleksandr Stets
Seller: Robert J. Sorcinelli
Date: 11/23/20

183 Munger Hill Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $535,000
Buyer: Drew Strandness
Seller: Kimberly S. Cameron
Date: 11/17/20

61 Old Farm Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $276,700
Buyer: Kelly M. Robinson
Seller: Gary W. Hall
Date: 11/17/20

3 Progress Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $2,350,000
Buyer: Function Of Time LLC
Seller: Stellwagen Realty Group Inc.
Date: 11/20/20

73 Ridgecrest Circle
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $281,000
Buyer: Tracy Houle
Seller: Kimberly A. Perron
Date: 11/25/20

237 Russellville Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $439,000
Buyer: Rodney F. Perez
Seller: Andrea C. Perez
Date: 11/24/20

101 Shaker Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $247,000
Buyer: Tricia Goodreau
Seller: Molly P. Hansen
Date: 11/20/20

76 South Maple St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $207,500
Buyer: Aaron M. Barden
Seller: Douglas W. Webb
Date: 11/23/20

439 Springdale Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $345,000
Buyer: Ranju Gurung
Seller: Lisa Totz
Date: 11/17/20

48 Westwood Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $332,500
Buyer: Rajinder Kaur
Seller: William F. Barry
Date: 11/24/20

120 Wyben Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $299,900
Buyer: Dennis W. Underwood
Seller: James Lefebvre
Date: 11/20/20

WILBRAHAM

2 Bittersweet Lane
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $380,000
Buyer: Brian Decker-Lenahan
Seller: Jamie J. Mastrio
Date: 11/16/20

1997 Boston Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $1,350,000
Buyer: 1997 Boston Road LLC
Seller: Peoplesbank
Date: 11/24/20

11 Cadwell Dr.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $451,500
Buyer: William Dupuis
Seller: Stephen D. Lowe
Date: 11/20/20

176 Cottage Ave.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $1,155,000
Buyer: Monnay Miller
Seller: Wilbraham Land & Development LLC
Date: 11/18/20

104 East Longmeadow Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Coury RET
Seller: Matthew J. Brodeur
Date: 11/20/20

8 Maiden Lane
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $248,000
Buyer: Benjamin Rios
Seller: Sharma Realty LLC
Date: 11/17/20

17 Oldwood Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $425,000
Buyer: Evan T. Berneche
Seller: Richard W. Stoddard
Date: 11/17/20

15 Pleasant View Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $383,000
Buyer: Patricia A. Pastoreck
Seller: Kendra P. Duffy
Date: 11/20/20

680 Ridge Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $489,000
Buyer: Sidney M. Madison
Seller: William F. Camerlin
Date: 11/16/20

443 Soule Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $418,000
Buyer: Abrah N. Orth
Seller: Jessica Leblanc
Date: 11/18/20

192 Stony Hill Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $385,700
Buyer: William Wardlaw
Seller: Susan M. Barcomb
Date: 11/19/20

22 West Colonial Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $368,500
Buyer: Scott A. Vuori
Seller: Vinculum LLC
Date: 11/23/20

20 Westernview Dr.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $370,000
Buyer: James Gibbs
Seller: Tony Desousa
Date: 11/25/20

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY

AMHERST

48 Berkshire Ter.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Alexander Pham
Seller: Dorothy A. Baronas
Date: 11/20/20

151 Columbia Dr.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $455,938
Buyer: Wenjun Xing
Seller: Eric Engelson
Date: 11/30/20

116 Glendale Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Maida B. Ives
Seller: Sergey Glebov
Date: 11/18/20

31 Jeffrey Lane
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $233,500
Buyer: Steven Ozcelik
Seller: Wendy Simpson
Date: 11/20/20

72 Larkspur Dr.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $615,000
Buyer: Ionel Halaciuga
Seller: Colleen M. Osten
Date: 11/20/20

35 Logtown Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Charmaine Koo
Seller: Ann L. Wood
Date: 11/16/20

756 South East St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $353,000
Buyer: Meredith S. Simpson
Seller: James W. Wentworth
Date: 11/24/20

1006 South East St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $450,000
Buyer: George R. Hoffeditz
Seller: Rachel T. Mustin TR
Date: 11/16/20

BELCHERTOWN

210 Bardwell St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $455,000
Buyer: Tyler M. Lazarz
Seller: Christopher J. Twining
Date: 11/30/20

340 Cold Spring Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $405,000
Buyer: Liguang Huang
Seller: Katherine G. Simard
Date: 11/24/20

15 Crestview Dr.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $475,000
Buyer: Bryan Williams
Seller: Stephen M. Delude
Date: 11/17/20

726 Franklin St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Luke Paull
Seller: Ruby Realty LLC
Date: 11/18/20

34 Juckett Hill Dr.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $246,000
Buyer: Carisa C. Rehbein
Seller: James J. Hummon RET
Date: 11/18/20

15 Main St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Robert H. Adair
Seller: Arthur R. Lemire
Date: 11/24/20

17 Maplecrest Dr.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $340,000
Buyer: Andre D. Remillard
Seller: Carla L. Brodeur
Date: 11/20/20

148 Metacomet St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Nichole Lee-O’Hearn
Seller: Melanie S. Lewis
Date: 11/16/20

260 North Liberty St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: Eric Engelson
Seller: Jeremy Duchesne
Date: 11/30/20

36 Oakridge Dr.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: Reid J. Collins
Seller: Richard W. Noble
Date: 11/20/20

7 Old Farm Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Barbara L. Hawley
Seller: EDC Real Estate LLC
Date: 11/23/20

Shea Ave.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: M&G Land Development LLC
Seller: Mark A. Keroack
Date: 11/18/20

50 Sheffield Dr.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $412,000
Buyer: Ron E. Gielgun
Seller: Silvio Depalma
Date: 11/16/20

365 South St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $431,000
Buyer: Mary M. Lamica
Seller: Carl R. Nolan
Date: 11/20/20

345 Springfield Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $355,000
Buyer: Andrew Fenton
Seller: Gordon Richards
Date: 11/20/20

CHESTERFIELD

7 Bissell Road
Chesterfield, MA 01096
Amount: $288,275
Buyer: Sarah J. Aftab
Seller: Charles L. Valencik
Date: 11/20/20

702 Main Road
Chesterfield, MA 01012
Amount: $520,000
Buyer: Victoria A. Lawrence
Seller: Helen Steiner-Copp
Date: 11/20/20

6 South St.
Chesterfield, MA 01012
Amount: $547,500
Buyer: James L. Thomson
Seller: 6 South Street RT
Date: 11/24/20

EASTHAMPTON

11 Davis St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Kevin C. Netto Construction Inc.
Seller: City Of Easthampton
Date: 11/20/20

7 Gaugh St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Karel S. Rescia
Seller: Michael S. Demarey
Date: 11/16/20

243 Hendrick St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: David A. Dembowski
Seller: Timothy S. Rogers
Date: 11/17/20

6 Pine Hill Road
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $379,000
Buyer: Cory G. Larochelle
Seller: Robert M. Buckingham
Date: 11/20/20

13 Water St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $291,000
Buyer: Jennifer L. Cotton
Seller: Jessica Spaulding
Date: 11/18/20

 

GOSHEN

27 Fuller Road
Goshen, MA 01032
Amount: $569,900
Buyer: Barbara A. Bishop
Seller: Michael Enright
Date: 11/23/20

GRANBY

121 Amherst St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $266,000
Buyer: Serenity Farm NT
Seller: Axel B. Hellstrom
Date: 11/18/20

84 Batchelor St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $383,000
Buyer: Hilary N. Piquette
Seller: David J. Anderson
Date: 11/17/20

108 Batchelor St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $337,000
Buyer: Richard Filiault
Seller: Natalia P. Trznadel
Date: 11/30/20

208 Batchelor St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: Thomas Duda
Seller: Rifkin, Alan, (Estate)
Date: 11/30/20

4 Ken Lane
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $239,000
Buyer: Michael J. Brassil
Seller: Kristen M. Killeen
Date: 11/25/20

177 Kendall St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $409,000
Buyer: Christina Anastasovites
Seller: Ann M. St.Germain
Date: 11/20/20

131 New Ludlow Road
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $301,100
Buyer: Kelly C. Coelho
Seller: Edwin J. Feliciano
Date: 11/17/20

HADLEY

12 Indian Pipe Dr.
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $799,000
Buyer: Shaun McConkey
Seller: Eagle Pine Holdings LLC
Date: 11/30/20

12 Ladyslipper Lane
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $512,000
Buyer: Sergey Glebov
Seller: Claire Aniello
Date: 11/18/20

305 Russell St.
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Frontage Inc.
Seller: RC Building Inc.
Date: 11/20/20

HATFIELD

46 North St.
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $484,000
Buyer: Joanne Chan
Seller: Jason D. Charpentier
Date: 11/30/20

181 West St.
Hatfield, MA 01088
Amount: $309,900
Buyer: Seth C. Kielbasa
Seller: Richard Giusto
Date: 11/30/20

HUNTINGTON

115 County Road
Huntington, MA 01050
Amount: $286,000
Buyer: Lisa Fortin
Seller: Gastone, Geraldine S., (Estate)
Date: 11/23/20

21 Goss Hill Road
Huntington, MA 01050
Amount: $227,900
Buyer: Melissa R. Pike
Seller: Cory G. Larochelle
Date: 11/20/20

17 Kennedy Dr.
Huntington, MA 01050
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Peter H. McCready
Seller: Jordan INT
Date: 11/25/20

MIDDLEFIELD

55 Town Hill Road
Middlefield, MA 01243
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Kurt J. Bergemann
Seller: David C. Nurse
Date: 11/30/20

NORTHAMPTON

380 Chesterfield Road
Northampton, MA 01053
Amount: $472,000
Buyer: Joy H. McGaugh
Seller: David C. Atwell
Date: 11/20/20

91 Chestnut St.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $425,500
Buyer: Clara W. James
Seller: Sandra A. Worden
Date: 11/25/20

42 East Center St.
Northampton, MA 01053
Amount: $329,000
Buyer: Sarah Mazza
Seller: Tyler E. Boudreau
Date: 11/17/20

17 Hawthorne Ter.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $618,000
Buyer: Juan D. Rumpf
Seller: Mark W. Jankowske
Date: 11/19/20

5 Highland Ave.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $484,500
Buyer: Justin T. Serpone
Seller: Donna M. Bliznak
Date: 11/16/20

44 North Farms Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $425,000
Buyer: Theodore Q. Hughes
Seller: Kately Smithling-Kopcsay
Date: 11/20/20

450 Spring St.
Northampton, MA 01053
Amount: $299,900
Buyer: Eve Lytle-Rich
Seller: Donald Rogers
Date: 11/20/20

50 Olive St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $935,000
Buyer: Luke C. Brown
Seller: Barbara R. Cruikshank
Date: 11/23/20

PELHAM

215 North Valley Road
Pelham, MA 01002
Amount: $529,900
Buyer: Eric D. Klopfer
Seller: Stanley J. Swiercz
Date: 11/23/20

PLAINFIELD

615 West Main St.
Plainfield, MA 01070
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Michael J. Slocum
Seller: Edward J. Kaplita LT
Date: 11/20/20

SOUTH HADLEY

72 Charon Ter.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $228,500
Buyer: David J. Cook
Seller: Daniel J. Pease
Date: 11/23/20

51 East St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $309,270
Buyer: Andrew Neil
Seller: Peter D. Bishop
Date: 11/30/20

26 Edison Dr.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $323,000
Buyer: Jonathan Scully
Seller: Vladimir Telelyuyev
Date: 11/18/20

5 Enterprise St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $166,500
Buyer: Jacob Saleh
Seller: Citimortgage Inc.
Date: 11/20/20

10 Glenn Dr.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $311,000
Buyer: Daniel J. Pease
Seller: Gary F. Cloutier
Date: 11/23/20

296 Hadley St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $340,000
Buyer: Corey Moquin
Seller: Arthur A. Carrington
Date: 11/24/20

9 Lorraine Ave.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Jack R. Kearney
Seller: Roman J. Milos
Date: 11/16/20

113 Lyman St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $217,000
Buyer: Jacob Woodruff
Seller: Sally Granada-Smith
Date: 11/18/20

25 Tampa St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $243,000
Buyer: Jeanna Krasin
Seller: Lynn A. Carboneau
Date: 11/19/20

SOUTHAMPTON

156 East St.
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $499,900
Buyer: Angel Maldonado
Seller: Fuller, Brendan P., (Estate)
Date: 11/25/20

Fitch Farm Way #6
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: Thomas A. Fuller
Seller: RGB Industries Inc.
Date: 11/24/20

Fitch Farm Way #7
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $138,500
Buyer: David A. Hardy Contractor
Seller: RGB Industries Inc.
Date: 11/19/20

Fitch Farm Way #8
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $138,500
Buyer: Ryan L. King
Seller: RGB Industries Inc.
Date: 11/19/20

1 Halon Way
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $459,900
Buyer: Matthew Malo
Seller: Bellinger Const Inc.
Date: 11/17/20

4 Hawthorne Dr.
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $442,900
Buyer: Erin F. Obrien
Seller: Rebecca A. Fisher
Date: 11/16/20

10 Hillside Meadows Dr.
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $360,000
Buyer: Bernadette Stark
Seller: Sandra L. Carboneau RET
Date: 11/30/20

Valley Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Jonathan P. Labrie
Seller: Robert D. Peloquin
Date: 11/16/20

WARE

7 Beach Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Marjolin Ehlert
Seller: James R. Nowakowski
Date: 11/24/20

716 Belchertown Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $262,000
Buyer: Joseph A. Routhier
Seller: Katie M. Desantis-Falvo
Date: 11/19/20

31 Coldbrook Dr.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $345,000
Buyer: Judith Duffy
Seller: Joshua A. Bowie
Date: 11/20/20

22 Highland St.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $269,000
Buyer: Bruce K. Darrah
Seller: Christine A. Buchanan
Date: 11/20/20

60 Morse Ave.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $176,000
Buyer: Jared D. Juelke
Seller: Goodreau, James M., (Estate)
Date: 11/20/20

41 Pine St.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Damian S. Cieszkowski
Seller: Wells Fargo Bank NA
Date: 11/30/20

59-63 Pulaski St.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $174,900
Buyer: Luke Paull
Seller: Ruby Realty LLC
Date: 11/18/20

33 Sorel Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $194,600
Buyer: Eric J. Moulton
Seller: Charles A. Moulton TR
Date: 11/16/20

WESTHAMPTON

21 Tob Hill Road
Westhampton, MA 01027
Amount: $1,137,000
Buyer: Samuel Ostroff
Seller: William H. Truswell
Date: 11/16/20

WILLIAMSBURG

68 Nash Hill Road
Williamsburg, MA 01096
Amount: $577,000
Buyer: Danielle Peloquin
Seller: Peter A. Arts
Date: 11/23/20

WORTHINGTON

68 Witt Hill Road
Worthington, MA 01098
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Emma Tanner
Seller: Knickerbocker, Alice K., (Estate)
Date: 11/24/20

Building Permits

By
Building Permits

The following building permits were issued during the month of December 2020. (Filings are limited due to closures or reduced staffing hours at municipal offices due to COVID-19 restrictions).

AMHERST

100 Sunderland Road, LLC
100 Sunderland Road
$20,000 — Install two ADA-compliant bathrooms

Grover Ballou Jr.
754 Main St.
$12,000 — Reroof building

Lundgren Honda of Greenfield
409 Federal St.
Erect new sign on existing foundation

CHICOPEE

Joao Fernandes
77 South St.
$9,000 — Install fire-alarm system in common areas

Joyce Lincourt
31 Lambert Ter.
$8,262 — Remove and replace four windows and one patio door

GREENFIELD

ServiceNet
60 Wells St.
$105,000 — Renovate second-floor space for expansion of homeless shelter

Tapestry
278 Main St.
$2,500 — Replace six and install three cellular antennas at existing site

LEE

Lee Bank
102 West Park St.
$6,756 — Install fire-alarm system

LENOX

Overlee Property Holdings, LLC
65 Church St.
$1,074 — Repipe wet chemical fire-suppression system to cover changes appliances

NORTHAMPTON

American Tower
123 Haydenville Road
$30,000 — Modify existing wireless telecommunications facility equipment

Bowles Enterprises
235 Main St.
$122,435 — Renovate first-floor space for retail cannabis store

DAS Property Group, LLC
108 Main St.
$22,250 — Construct pergola on rooftop deck

Eversource
Easthampton Road
$1,478 — Non-illuminated wall sign

Jordi Herold
7 Pleasant St.
$15,200 — Roofing

Kendrick Properties
17 New South St.
$89,940 — Roofing

Perfect Properties, LLC
1 Corticelli St.
$29,000 — Roofing

SNF Enterprises
123 Hawley St.
$21,000 — Roofing

PITTSFIELD

Mirabito Holdings Inc.
25 Downing Parkway
$3,000 — Install twin-pole, double-faced, non-illuminated sign

Miss Hall’s School Inc.
498 Holmes Road
$37,494 — Emergency radio responder communication system

Small Block, LLC
561 Dalton Ave.
$4,000 — Demolish external salt shed

 

SPRINGFIELD

Eight Iron, LLC
145 Armory St.
$10,000 — Repair exterior wall of City Coal building damaged by car

Financial Plaza Trust
1350 Main St.
$7,505 — Remove portion of partition wall and convert to soffit at ceiling level in Suite 1350 of MassLive building

Lingo Associates, LLC
20 Carando Dr.
$220,994 — Remove glass-block window infills and install insulated metal panels for Carando Foods

Peter Merwin
187 Main St.
$32,000 — Renovate interior space at Reevx Labs; demolish wall and partition, build stage, and sheetrock walls

Juan Salmeron
229 Hancock St.
$50,000 — Repair fire-damaged restaurant, repair ceiling rafters

For This Dental Practice, COVID Has Brought Myriad Challenges

By
Dr. Ronald Goldsher
Coronavirus

Root Causes

Dr. Ronald Goldsher

Dr. Ronald Goldsher says COVID has brought a host of new challenges for his practice, but also some rewards in the form of being able to help patients in need.

In many ways, Dr. Ronald Goldsher says, dentists and periodontists were better-prepared for COVID-19 than many others in healthcare, and certainly most business owners not in that sector.

“In some respects, dentists are way ahead of the curve because of what happened years ago with the AIDS epidemic,” said Goldsher, owner of Pioneer Valley Periodontics, which operates offices in Northampton and Greenfield. “At that time, there were a lot of mandated changes in infection control, so we’re used to sterilizing everything, using barriers on equipment, wearing masks, and disinfecting surfaces between patients; we may have ramped things up a bit [since COVID], but we were used to doing all that.”

But being better prepared certainly didn’t mean Goldsher and others in this profession were fully prepared for all that COVID-19 would throw at them — from the trepidation of patients to seek needed care to the equipment that would have to be purchased (from PPE to special air filters) to keep staff and patients safe; from confusion regarding what procedures could be carried out (and when) to the sharp reduction in overall business volume.

Add it all up, and it’s been ultra-challenging and even unnerving, said Goldsher, before adding quickly that it has also been rewarding at times. Indeed, to be open and able to provide needed services to those in need, especially those with emergencies, has been gratifying, he told BusinessWest.

“Every day, I have patients thanking me for being open and doing what I’m doing,” he said. “Some people tell me stories about how they have food delivered outside their home, their mail goes into plastic bags and they wait several days until they open it, they don’t exchange any money and they don’t leave their house — but they come to their dental appointment because it’s been eight months, and they used to come every two or three months to get their teeth cleaned, and they haven’t had a cleaning in a year. They’re so happy we’re open and providing this service, and, in their words, we’re taking risks to see patients. That’s brings a lot of lot of joy to my practice and my staff.”

Playing back the tape from a trying 2020, Goldsher said he was skiing in Colorado in late February as the news about the virus started to intensify. By the time he returned in early March, things were still normal, but soon began to change in a profound way — for both his business ventures; he and his sons also operate the entertainment venue Hawks & Reed in downtown Greenfield.

“In some respects, dentists are way ahead of the curve because of what happened years ago with the AIDS epidemic.”

Hawks & Reed had to close down, as all indoor performance venues did, and the periodontal office did as well, starting March 13.

“We shut down for what we thought would be two weeks, and two weeks turned out to be almost three months,” he explained, adding that the green light to reopen came in late May, only to have that date come and then be moved back another week, forcing the practice to reschedule a number of appointments and inconvenience several patients — and staff as well.

“There was a lot of confusing information, even when were ready to reopen Pioneer Valley Periodontics; the timelines that were given us by the governor were convoluted and confusing,” he said, noting that these adjectives also describe the information coming out about which procedures fell into the category of ‘essential’ — those that could be undertaken at that time — and which ones didn’t.

But gaining clarification on such matters was just one of the struggles, he went on.

“We were available on an emergency basis, but that comes with a lot of other issues,” he explained. “Like having staff that can come in in an emergency — they can’t be there all the time — and preparing the office for those emergencies.”

As noted earlier, Goldsher said dental practices in general were in some ways better-prepared for this pandemic because of safety measures that have been in place for some time. And his practice was even better-prepared than that in some respects because of the way he had stockpiled PPE over the years.

“I had thousands of surgical gowns that I collected over the years from doing implants,” he explained. “They come in a pack — there would be four or five in a package; we’d use two, and there would be two or three left over. The staff would always say, ‘let’s just throw these away,’ and I would say, ‘put them in a bag.’ We had garbage bags filled with gowns, so we were able to donate several thousand of them to Baystate Franklin Medical Center.”

Still, the pandemic has tested this practice in myriad ways, he went on, speaking for all those in healthcare when he mentioned everything from maintaining adequate staffing to coping with sharply reduced patient volumes, to simply dealing with all the unknowns, not to mention the emotional trauma of seeing patients in the middle of a pandemic.

“Despite all those precautions we were taking, it was still a little unnerving, and it took a couple of weeks for people to settle down because the psychological impact of the virus was there; you can’t see it, but it’s there,” he noted, adding that the spouse of one patient treated by the staff developed COVID-19 and eventually died.

As the calendar turns to 2021, the practice is coping with patient volumes far below what would be considered normal, said Goldsher, mostly due to a fear factor that has always been prevalent, but has kicked into an even higher gear amid the recent spike in cases.

“Patients will cancel at the very last minute depending on the news of the day,” he told BusinessWest, adding that overall revenues are down probably 35% or more for the year, this on top of all those additional expenses. “And from the top levels on down, there has been a lot of confusing information that’s been disseminated.”

He’s not sure when something approaching normal will return, but he does know that challenges remain and it will be some time before there is significant improvement for those in the field.

As he said, being better-prepared certainly helped, but it didn’t fully prepare anyone for what this unforgettable year has brought.

 

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

At Hadley Printing, the Presses Have Started Rolling Again

By
Coronavirus

The Latest Word

Chris (left) and Greg Derosiers

Chris (left) and Greg Derosiers say Hadley Printing is back to something approximating normal, and employees have actually logged some overtime.

 

Chris Derosiers was searching for a way to describe what things were like last spring, at the height of what’s now being called the first COVID-19 surge.

And he found an analogy that probably works for just about every small-business owner in this region.

“It’s like being on the highway … you’re going to 65, 70 miles an hour and cruising along nicely, but with three-quarters of your trip still in front of you,” he said, effectively summing up how things were going during Q1 at Hadley Printing, the family-owned venture he serves as president. “And then … it’s like hitting a wall of traffic, and you don’t know how long that wall of traffic is. And six or seven months later, we’re just finally getting to the other side of that traffic jam.”

By that, he meant the company has been experiencing gradual improvement over the past several months, and is approaching something approximating normal: business that is off perhaps 10% from last year. Recently, and for the first time since the pandemic started, the workflow was such that team members were actually able to earn some overtime, a much-celebrated milestone because of what they believe it indicates.

What isn’t known is whether the company will hit another wall of traffic, or when, said Chris’s brother, Greg, the company’s vice president, adding quickly that this puts Hadley Printing in the same position as just about every company during the pandemic — an unsettling place, to be sure.

“What we don’t know is whether this ‘back to normal’ will stay that way, or whether there will be another cycle where people pull back a little bit,” he told BusinessWest, adding that the best this company, or any company, can do is find ways to cope and persevere until times improve.

Flashing back to mid-March, a painful exercise for most every business owner in the region, the brothers Derosiers recounted how their venture hit that proverbial traffic jam.

“When this thing broke back in March, we were doing just great; everything was rocking and rolling, and we had a ton of work in here,” said Greg, adding that things changed abruptly and profoundly. “Every time we picked up the phone or answered an e-mail in the second half of March, it was ‘cancel this,’ or ‘please put this on hold.’ Literally, everything was just getting stopped in its tracks.”

Elaborating, the two said that print jobs of all kinds and sizes were being shelved, and for various reasons. Cost was one of them, obviously, but in the case of the 2020-21 schedule for the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, for example, it was a case of need — or lack thereof. Organizers had no idea when they could next stage live concerts, so there was no need for a schedule. And in the case of annual appeals launched by colleges and nonprofits (and there are traditionally many of those throughout the year), those leading area institutions decided the peak of a pandemic was certainly not the time to be waging such a campaign.

“Every time we picked up the phone or answered an e-mail in the second half of March, it was ‘cancel this,’ or ‘please put this on hold.’ Literally, everything was just getting stopped in its tracks.”

Add it all up, and the phone kept ringing, and each time it did, the person at the other end was canceling an order.

“And Chris and I looked at each other and went, ‘whoa.’ We didn’t know whether to look left or right; we didn’t know what was going on,” he went on, adding that, by late April, relief, in the form of PPP and other measures, had been rolled out with the intention of helping companies like Hadley — and the businesses that form their customer base — through what was projected to be eight to 10 weeks of very rough water.

“We all know now that it wasn’t an eight- to 10-week problem,” Greg continued, adding that one of the biggest challenges for this company was not knowing if printing would be deemed essential — status that was eventually earned.

“A lot of the printers rallied together to fight and make the case that printing was essential,” Greg said. “When the governor initially sent out the guidelines on this, the lines were a little blurred; it didn’t say in black and white whether commercial printing was essential.

“The few orders we did get were communication and mailing pieces focused on how to deal with COVID,” including man from hospitals and other healthcare providers, he went on. “Chris actually sent a letter to Governor Baker explaining why printing wasn’t an essential business.”

From the start, the priorities, the two said, were to be conservative with spending and watch every dime, and do everything they could to hang onto to talented, hard-to-replace printing professionals.

“The difficulty that we have in the manufacturing world is that we have some pretty highly trained people who are very good at what they do,” Greg explained. “Finding these people is very difficult, so we don’t want to let our workforce go. And so, for us, the last resort was to lay people off or furlough them; we hung on for as long as we could before we made any decisions like that.”

Fortunately, the company has historically been conservative fiscally, he went on, and had the ability to put money aside and weather a storm of this consequence, although it certainly hasn’t been easy.

“That part has been a blessing, but we need to make that back up,” he went on, adding that the company, which turned some type of corner in September, believes its improved situation is part of a broader pattern within the business community — and society in general — to find ways to cope with the pandemic and not merely cancel or put things off, as was happening in the second and third quarters.

As for 2021, Greg said no one really knows what to expect. He does believe that, because of what businesses went through in 2020, and because they don’t know when ‘normal’ will return, many will remain conservative in their approach — right down to print jobs.

“It’s like walking on a sidewalk on an icy day,” he explained. “You’re going to be careful where you walk and what you do, as opposed to proceeding as usual. I think 2021 will be that way — like walking on ice.”

 

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

Greenfield Recorder Stays Locally Focused on Pandemic — and Everything Else

By
Joan Livingston
Coronavirus

Words to Live By

Joan Livingston

Joan Livingston says reporters are working hard remotely, but she’s looking forward to the unique energy of a full newsroom.

Late last winter, Joan Livingston and her team at the Greenfield Recorder were planning a comprehensive, multi-part series of articles marking the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote in the U.S. But, as businesses of all kinds can attest, plans made in February had a way of shifting in March.

“We were planning a series on suffrage; it was going to run, and we stopped that immediately,” said Livingston, editor in chief of a daily publication that covers some 30 communities in Franklin County and the North Quabbin region. But while the editorial focus may have changed — we at BusinessWest also remember, quite clearly, those early days of all COVID stories, all the time — the Recorder’s philosophy of hyper-local coverage did not change.

“That has remained our focus, how those communities have been impacted,” she said. “We had to shift gears pretty fast. We weren’t expecting this; no one was expecting this.”

Michael Moses, publisher of the Recorder and several other community newspapers in Western Mass. and New Hampshire, remembers closing all the buildings on March 16 and setting up reporters, designers, salespeople, and others at home.

“At that point, everyone wanted to work remotely, so we took steps to make sure they were able to work from home,” Moses said. “Like everyone else, we didn’t have a lot of time for planning for that, but everything came together pretty well. From an IT perspective, we were already teed up with our front-end system for the news to operate from anywhere, and that flexibility certainly helped us. So it was an essentially seamless transition.”

Since then, the newspaper offices have been open to employees who need to use them, from customer-service staff to the business offices, as well as some reporters, but in general, much of the work of producing these daily and weekly publications has continued remotely.

“A few people work only from home, some are hybrid and come in half the week, and then there are people like myself, who work in the newsroom all the time,” Livingston said of the environment at the Recorder, which is headquartered in downtown Greenfield. “We wear masks when we talk to each other, and we practice safe-distancing rules, but I miss that camaraderie, reporters just sitting around and swapping stories. I look forward to getting that back when things turn around eventually.”

That said, “I’m impressed with our hardworking staff,” Livingston went on. “They continue to generate coverage — that’s one good thing the pandemic did not stop. They’ve been great.”

Like all community newspapers with a wide coverage area, the reporters tend to stick to specific geographic beats, getting to know their communities intimately. The pandemic has shuttered municipal offices to the public and canceled annual events, making a reporter’s traditional in-person contacts harder to come by.

“I miss that camaraderie, reporters just sitting around and swapping stories. I look forward to getting that back when things turn around eventually.”

However, “business hasn’t stopped in terms of what’s happening in town governments, which we cover pretty heavily,” she added. “Some of it’s done virtually, we’ve had annual town meetings in cars or a field, and people have been inventive about trying to be safe during this time. That has been nothing like being in person, but we’re doing the best we can with what we have right now.”

At the same time, readers’ reliance on locally generated news is more critical than ever, especially in a year when locals need to understand how COVID-19 affects them personally, yet messages from national media sources and (especially) the internet have ranged at times from sensationalized to misleading.

That reporters are delivering that news by communicating with team members remotely is all the more impressive, Livingston noted. “Our computer system allows us to work anywhere, and that’s really helpful.”

It’s a slightly smaller team these days, too, she added.

“We had some layoffs after a few months [of the pandemic], and the paper got smaller because businesses are struggling and advertising is not their priority. But I’m impressed by the work ethic of the staff because we are down a few people, and hopefully, when things change, we’ll be able to restock those positions. But they’ve picked up the slack, and I’m impressed.”

Moses sees a silver lining in this year’s shifts in the way people work, because the industry was already moving in some ways toward more remote work, or at least asking questions about the best use of physical space.

“This has allowed us to accelerate where we were going anyway, so there are some positives to all this,” he said. “Like everyone else, we’re always trying to find efficiencies, and I want to be able to draw on those efficiencies.”

That’s not to say publishing hasn’t been challenging this year; it certainly has. “No surprise there, but, thankfully, we’ve been able to manage through it, and as difficult as it’s been, everyone has stepped up pretty well, regardless of which part of the business they’re functioning in.”

The Recorder did eventually get to that series on suffrage over the summer, examining the issue over a period of weeks, not only from a national perspective, but also — and maybe more importantly — through the lens of local history, local organizations, and local viewpoints.

That’s how the newspaper has continued to handle COVID-19 as well.

“I’m reminded every day that, on a whole range of subjects, whether or not they’re health-related, we’re helping readers manage through this, giving them critical news they need, and trying to provide them the right local information they wouldn’t be able to get anywhere else,” Moses said. “That’s even more critical now.”

 

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

 

Pandemic Has Forced This ‘Pet Resort’ to Consolidate and Pivot

By
Chris Pratt, right, and Tracy Faulstick
Coronavirus

COVID Tails

Chris Pratt, right, and Tracy Faulstick

Chris Pratt, right, and Tracy Faulstick have had to pivot and create new revenue streams, because COVID-19 has left fewer dogs home alone.

“Because no one wants to be left home alone.”

That’s the marketing tagline for a venture called Wagging Tails Pet Resort, and until the middle of last March, it effectively summed up what this company was all about and why it was so successful; dog owners wholeheartedly agreed with that sentiment.

That was true for the boarding side of this operation, obviously, but the day-care component as well, said owner Chris Pratt, who told BusinessWest that many professionals had come to understand the value of leaving a dog in a day-care facility — for companionship and also, in the case of larger, athletic breeds, to work off some off their considerable energy before their master gets home at the end of the day.

But starting in March, most dogs didn’t have to be left home alone. Their owners were working remotely for the most part, if they were still working at all. Meanwhile, very few people were traveling anywhere.

Almost overnight, business for the day care, boarding, and other components of the multi-faceted Wagging Tails operation plummeted, said Pratt, noting that the COVID-19 pandemic could not have come at a worse time for her — not that it’s come at a good time for anyone.

“Going into March, we were overbooked in Hadley … by March 15, we had one dog left, who actually went home with me at night. I called the owner and said, ‘your dog is the only one here; do you mind if I take him home?’ They said, ‘no, please do.’”

That’s because business had been so good at her resort on Russell Street in Hadley that she moved aggressively and opened a second location on Florence Road in Easthampton — the Heritage Farm — last February to handle what had become an overflow.

Just a few weeks later, though, there was no overflow. She said she kept operating both locations as long as she could, but when Thanksgiving came and the numbers of boarding and day-care dogs were just a fraction of what they were a year ago — and not able to generate enough revenue to pay the staff — Pratt was forced to shut down the Hadley operation, with the intent of reopening when things get better.

“We’re combining our resources to get through the winter,” she explained. “And we’ve been very fortunate that a number of customers have decided to make the 15-minute journey across the bridge to bring their dogs here to the farm.”

That farm, all 30 acres of it, like the Hadley setting, is described by Pratt as a one-stop shop for dogs and their owners, offering everything from boarding to grooming; from day care to retail sales of food and other pet supplies; from walking to training. But because there’s less of all that, there’s now even more that people could do during one stop — or a few.

Indeed, Pratt is making the most of the indoor and outdoor spaces at the farm, and now offering new services ranging from horse boarding to riding lessons, to animals (such as several goats that arrived recently) that children and families can visit with.

“There’s a lot of things going on here that families can take part in,” said Tracey Faulstick, a business consultant working with Pratt to revise the Wagging Tails business plan. “There’s farm animals … there’s a lot that families can participate in in terms of training, horse lessons, and more. There’s an entire community here that’s dedicated to taking care of animals and people in a very safe environment.”

Creation of this community is a classic case of pivoting, making do, and trying to earn a living and keep people employed until things get better — a business survival plan, if you will. It’s also another case — among a great many in this region — of a company doing very well and expanding its operations … until the word COVID became part of our lives.

Indeed, as dogs barked parked consistently — and loudly — in the boarding area, Pratt recounted how and why she amended her business plan more than a year ago and put some ambitious expansion plans on the table.

“Hadley was full at the time … we had a waiting list,” she noted, adding that, essentially, all aspects of the business were booming, from the grooming to the training to the boarding and day care. But COVID-19 changed things in a hurry.

“Going into March, we were overbooked in Hadley … by March 15, we had one dog left, who actually went home with me at night,” she recalled. “I called the owner and said, ‘your dog is the only one here; do you mind if I take him home?’ They said, ‘no, please do.’”

But that was just the start. Indeed, restrictions imposed by the governor essentially shut down the grooming and training operations, two reliable revenue sources, for two months. Meanwhile, as noted, few people were traveling anywhere, for work or pleasure, putting a deep dent in the boarding side of the venture.

Some aspects of this business have returned to one extent or another — grooming and training, for example — and the day-care side has bounced back somewhat, as some dog owners realize the value of that service, even if they are home working all day. Pratt is hoping more people get that message.

“Dogs still need to socialize,” she explained. “Even if people are home working and with their dogs, they should still bring them to day care occasionally, to keep them socialized and keep them from getting separation anxiety; it’s better for the dogs. We were seeing, with people who hadn’t been here for weeks, that when they brought the dog back to day care, the dog was so happy, so excited, and so energetic that they lost most of their socialization skills — so we had to reteach them.”

This reteaching is just part of the COVID story at Wagging Tails, an intriguing saga that, like many in this region, involves imagination, perseverance, and entrepreneurial spirit, all of which are needed to get to other side of this pandemic.

 

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

Hot Oven Cookies Seizes Growth Opportunities During Pandemic

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For Sheila Coon and her husband, Dan, the pandemic has been a time to expand
Coronavirus

Things Are Heating Up

For Sheila Coon and her husband, Dan, the pandemic has been a time to expand

For Sheila Coon and her husband, Dan, the pandemic has been a time to expand, not retrench, and set new and ambitious goals for the future.

For many small-business owners, 2020 has been a year to hunker down. To focus on survival. To put plans for expansion on hold and devote time and energy to simply getting to next month, or even next week.

Not so for Sheila and Dan Coon, owners of Hot Oven Cookies.

For them, 2020 has been a year to take their brand to places, and a level, it had never been before, and to foster plans to take it further still in the years to come. It’s been a time to establish themselves downtown and uptown, as they like to say (we’ll explain later), and expand not only the footprint, but also the product lines, including cookie dough by the pint — ‘dough to go,’ as they call it.

There has been some good fortune, or serendipity, if you will, along the way, and some strong evidence that cookies have become a comfort food in the midst of this global pandemic — there’s even talk of a possible cookie shortage for the holidays. But mostly, this has been about entrepreneurial spirit and seizing opportunities when they have come about — traits that have defined this venture from the start.

About a year or so ago, none of what has transpired since seemed likely or even possible. In fact, as Sheila recalls, the husband-and-wife team were thinking about packing it in and turning the oven off for good.

Indeed, by late 2019, the company, then located at 1597 Main St. in Springfield, had endured several months of turmoil with its landlord over conditions that had made it increasingly difficult to do business — no heat in the winter, no air conditioning in the summer, for example. By mid-November, matters had come to a head, and the company had essentially ceased activity in that location, operating for a time out of its Cookie Cart (a food truck of sorts) until its pipes froze in the winter.

The two partners eventually went back to their storefront at the behest of customers, but when they did, it was late February, just before the pandemic arrived and a wave of restrictions on small businesses like this one went into effect.

“My husband and I were thinking, ‘we should probably close and collect unemployment, because this is going to be bad,’” she recalled, adding that, instead of shutting down, they decided to hang in — mostly due to the strong loyalty displayed by long-time customers.

That decision to persevere became just the first of many watershed moments over the past nine months or so. The company has since opened two new locations — one in Sixteen Acres at the Bicentennial Plaza (that’s the ‘uptown’ location) and then another (a replacement for the old site) further south on Main Street in Springfield, in a location formerly, and briefly, occupied by a Delaney’s Market. Both opened just last month.

Sheila knew about the downtown location and had her eye on it — sort of. She had long thought it out of her reach price-wise, but then, there was some of that serendipity.

“My husband and I were thinking, ‘we should probably close and collect unemployment, because this is going to be bad.’”

“I remember saying to someone, ‘if I could open up where Delaney’s was, I would do it in a heartbeat,’” she told BusinessWest. “It was wishful thinking, but two days later I got a phone call, and someone said, ‘hey, we have the keys, would you like to go see it?’

“We came to see it a few days after we opened Allen Street, and we thought, ‘this is beyond our reach,’” she continued. “But our brand reputation preceded us, and the landlord was extremely willing to work with us because he wanted us here. And here we are.”

In addition to those two locations, the company still operates the Cookie Cart, which has been parked at a number of area colleges, businesses, and even private residences for birthday parties and anniversaries, and also has a kiosk at Bradley International Airport, which has been idled by the pandemic — the one aspect of the venture to be slowed by COVID-19.

As BusinessWest talked with Sheila at the downtown location on a Thursday afternoon a few weeks before Christmas, customers steadily filed into the store. At one point, the line became long enough that she hit pause to go help her employee behind the counter.

It has been like this pretty much since the location opened, she said, adding that the Hot Oven brand — featuring more than 100 flavors, including staples like Dark Chocolate + Seal Salt Chip, Boozy Cake Batter Sugar, and Coquito Snookerdoodle — has always been popular and sought out by those in this market and others residing well outside it.

And the pandemic has made it even more popular, she believes, theorizing that the cookies provide a measure of comfort, a measure of normal, at a time when people are craving both.

Indeed, when asked how the downtown was doing since opening, she started with “wow,” paused for a second, and put it in perspective.

“My husband and I had a logistical meeting before we opened both the shops,” she recalled. “And the conversation went something like this: ‘we’re moving two blocks over to a new location and new customer base, and we’re moving uptown to another location; it’s going to take a while for people to catch on that we’re here.’

“Nope … that hasn’t been the case,” she went on. “Business down here for us has been double or triple what we’re doing two blocks over. And uptown is a beast of a shop — we sell out every day.”

Looking ahead, Sheila said the company is looking forward to the day when the kiosk at Bradley can open and become a strong source of revenue that can finance future expansion — perhaps into Worcester, Boston, and other cities. And there has long been talk of franchising this brand and taking it well beyond its Western Mass. roots.

For the immediate future, though, the two have their hands full with the two new locations and the brisk business they are witnessing.

There have not been too many business-expansion stories during this pandemic, but this is certainly one of them.

Call it a feel-good story if you like, but this is also, and especially, a taste-good story. And a very intriguing one at that.

 

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

Princeton Review Recognizes UMass Amherst for Graduate Entrepreneurship Studies

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Daily News

AMHERST — For the first time, UMass Amherst has earned recognition in Princeton Review’s annual selection of Best Graduate Entrepreneurship Programs. In the publication’s 2021 list, the university ranks 40th among 50 colleges and universities.

Based on survey data from more than 300 schools, the rankings encompass a broad range of entrepreneurial activities inside and outside the classroom. The catalyst for student entrepreneurship at UMass Amherst is the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship. The center serves the entire campus through a wealth of activities and resources.

“Our mandate emphasizes participation and synergies on a pan-campus level,” said Gregory Thomas, executive director of the Berthiaume Center. “We may be physically based in Isenberg School of Management, but our mission is campus-wide.”

A former member of the UMass Amherst Foundation, Thomas was hired several years ago because of his extensive relationships with the campus’s deans and administrators. Since then, Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy and campus leaders have supported the center’s campus-wide vision, including creation earlier this year of a 13-member pan-campus team to foster innovation and entrepreneurship.

“We want innovation and entrepreneurship to be more,” Thomas said. “To accomplish that, you have to start walking like you’re number one.”

Thomas noted that entrepreneurship courses and scholarships, faculty who focus on entrepreneurship, student competitions, student mentorship by entrepreneurs, and ventures by alumni and non-alumni all fall within the center’s purview. Its annual Innovation Challenge propels student startups through pitch contests and a final competition judged by entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. Last year, the finals awarded $65,000 in seed money to student startups. The center brings student innovators together from different disciplines for entrepreneurial collaborations and offers networking and mentorship with entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and academics, as well as an incubator space for student startups.

Massachusetts Unemployment Rate Creeps Down in November

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Daily News

BOSTON — The state’s November total unemployment rate was down 0.7 percentage points at 6.7%, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development announced.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ preliminary job estimates indicate Massachusetts added 12,200 jobs in November. This follows the previous month’s revised gain of 9,500 jobs. Over the month, the private sector added 15,600 jobs as gains occurred in trade, transportation, and utilities; professional, scientific, and business services; construction; education and health services; leisure and hospitality; information; financial activities; manufacturing; and other services. Government lost jobs over the month.

From November 2019 to November 2020, BLS estimates Massachusetts lost 337,900 jobs. Losses occurred in each of the private sectors, with the largest percentage losses in leisure and hospitality, construction,education and health services, and other services.

The November unemployment rate was the same as the national rate of 6.7% reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Over the year, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased by 3.9 %.

The state’s labor-force participation rate — the total number of residents 16 or older who worked or were unemployed and actively sought work in the last four weeks — dropped to 63.1%. Compared to November 2019, the labor-force participation rate was down by 4.8%.

American Eagle Financial Credit Union Donates $3,000 to Diaper Banks

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Daily News

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. — In the spirit of the holidays and to reinforce its long-term commitment to assisting families in need, American Eagle Financial Credit Union awarded $3,000 in grants from its donor-advised fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving to three nonprofit diaper banks in Connecticut and Western Mass.

Square One Diaper Bank in Springfield, the Diaper Bank of Connecticut, and Gentle Love Diaper Pantry, a youth-led nonprofit organization at Manchester (Conn.) High School, each received $1,000 to purchase and distribute diapers to needy families in their respective communities this holiday season.

“This year has been a challenging one for many families across our service region, so we felt compelled to bring some relief to them during a time of year when people come together to help others,” said Dean Marchessault, president and CEO of American Eagle Federal Credit Union. “Our donations reinforce our commitment to the health and well-being of children and families.”

Square One bills itself as a provider of a range of family-friendly education and support services; its programs include early education and care at centers in Springfield, home-based care settings located throughout Greater Springfield, and out-of-school-time care for elementary-age children.

“More than ever, our families are struggling to meet their basic needs. The cost of diapers can be as high as $100 per month for some families,” said Dawn DiStefano, executive vice president of Square One. “Thanks to the generosity of American Eagle Financial Credit Union and other community partners, we can continue to lessen this burden by supplying emergency diapers to those in need.”

Difference Makers Nomination Deadline Extended to Dec. 29

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Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Do you know someone who is truly making a difference in the Western Mass. region?

BusinessWest invites you to nominate an individual or group for its 13th annual Difference Makers program. Nominations for the class of 2021, originally due on Dec. 23, will now be accepted through the end of the business day (5 p.m.) on Tuesday, Dec. 29.

Difference Makers was launched in 2009 as a way to recognize the contributions of agencies and individuals who are contributing to quality of life in this region. Past honorees have come from dozens of business and nonprofit sectors, proving there’s no limit to the ways people can impact their communities — and the ongoing pandemic has no doubt shed a spotlight on other ways to make a difference.

So, let us know who you think deserves to be recognized as a Difference Maker in our upcoming class by clicking here to complete the nomination form. Honorees will be profiled in an upcoming issue of BusinessWest.

BusinessTalk with Sheila Coon

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Business Talk Podcast Special Coverage

We are excited to announce that BusinessWest, in partnership with Living Local, has launched a new podcast series, BusinessTalk. Each episode will feature in-depth interviews and discussions with local industry leaders, providing thoughtful perspectives on the Western Massachuetts economy and the many business ventures that keep it running during these challenging times.

Episode 44: Dec. 21, 2020

George O’Brien talks with Sheila Coon, co-owner, with her husband, Dan, of Hot Oven Cookies

BusinessWest Editor George O’Brien talks with Sheila Coon, co-owner, with her husband, Dan, of Hot Oven Cookies, one of the more intriguing stories of entrepreneurship playing out in the region.  The two discuss how, in the middle of a pandemic, the company has greatly expanded its footprint and has even more ambitious plans for the future. They also talk about the constant challenges confronting entrepreneurs, and how they have multiplied during these difficult times. It’s must listening, so join us on BusinessTalk.

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JKirley Collective Launches with Pilot Program

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Daily News

NORTHAMPTON — JKirley Collective, a new, local collaborative offering personal and professional development courses, is making its debut with the launch of a virtual pilot program, “Dignity in Conversation,” to kick off its “Dignity Series” offerings.

JKirley Collective collaborates with others who share the mission of helping people unlock their potential to build the lives they want through transformative action, founder Jessi Kirley said.

“When the coronavirus pandemic hit, I was the executive director for the Family Business Center of Pioneer Valley, which has now closed its doors permanently, like so many other valuable businesses in Western Mass.,” she said. “In response to this forced disruption and global tragedy, I found myself asking what really matters — to me, and to this world. I started a business to pursue my passion of helping people unlock their potential, to craft the lives they want.”

JKirley Collective aims to help the community navigate disruptions and build resiliency skills, by accessing self-worth as a foundation for making choices to reach desired goals. Kirley holds a bachelor’s degree from Smith College and an MBA from the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst. Currently a business advisor for the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center, she has been committed to serving this community in various capacities for more than 20 years.

“I had the fortunate opportunity to go through a Foundations course with the Institute for Generative Leadership, which helped me clarify my offering and build a collaboration model for my business,” Kirley said.

JKirley Collective programs will offer a variety of tools and practices for transformative change, including dignity embodiment, conversational techniques, and financial empowerment, and will connect participants to an ongoing peer cohort for expanding network support and deepening agency. To truly be successful, individuals must learn and practice dignity-awareness skills so they can live and lead from an authentic, embodied space.

Valley Health Systems Appreciates Employees by Supporting Locally Owned Eateries

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Daily News

HOLYOKE — Valley Health Systems Inc., which consists of Holyoke Medical Center, Holyoke Medical Group, Holyoke VNA Hospice Life Care, and River Valley Counseling Center, will express appreciation to employees by providing a voucher to use at locally owned food establishments.

“Normally, we would celebrate the season by serving a holiday meal with all the trimmings to employees in our cafeteria,” said Spiros Hatiras, president and CEO of Holyoke Medical Center and Valley Health Systems. “Because of the challenges presented this year due to COVID-19, we are unable to carry out this tradition. However, we wanted to recognize staff for their tireless efforts by giving each employee this voucher. Not only will they be able to enjoy a well-deserved meal, we are also supporting locally owned establishments.”

Each $50 voucher can be redeemed at one of the participating food establishments which were selected based on employee feedback. The custom vouchers are printed on special Holojet paper donated by Holyoke-based Hazen Paper Co.

“These are difficult financial times for many, and we are pleased to be able to support our local businesses,” Hatiras added.

Country Bank Supports Food Pantries with $130,000 in Donations

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Daily News

WARE — Country Bank donated more than $130,000 to local food pantries throughout the year to assist with supplying food to its communities.

The Greater Boston Food Bank recently reported that food insecurity in Massachusetts reached an all-time high in November. The state has experienced a 59% increase since 2018, representing more than 1 million people in need of food assistance. Most people are using food pantries for the first time, and food insecurity is projected to increase to 81% for children.

As part of Country Bank’s “Season of Giving” campaign, it donated additional funds to the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts and the Worcester County Food Bank. The donation was to honor its banking customers and partners in place of traditional holiday gifts. “This was such a great idea and so wonderful to help others at this difficult time,” said Therese Rakouskas, owner of Five Star Gardens in Palmer.

Added Andrew Morehouse, executive director of the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, “we’re so grateful to Country Bank for its social investment of $20,000 in the Food Bank’s mission to feed our neighbors in need at this critical time. With this support, we’ll be able to provide 40,000 meals to households struggling to make ends meet and put healthy food on the table. For every dollar donated, we provide the equivalent of four meals,.”

Jodie Gerulaitis, vice president, Community Relations at Country Bank, noted that “the pandemic has undoubtedly placed a strain on our local food pantries. As a community partner, we are fully committed to helping those in need throughout this pandemic.”

Valley Health Systems Employees Fulfill Wishes at Boys & Girls Club

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Daily News

HOLYOKE — The Boys & Girls Club of Greater Holyoke will help distribute gifts to 122 children and their families today, Dec. 18. Nearly 385 employees of Valley Health Systems Inc., which includes Holyoke Medical Center, Holyoke Medical Group, Holyoke VNA Hospice Life Care, and River Valley Counseling Center, donated all the gifts.

“We are incredibly appreciative of the generosity expressed by the employees of Valley Health Systems. We have partnered with the hospital and affiliate agencies for four years, and every year they help make the holiday season for the children and families involved,” said Eileen Cavanaugh, executive director of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Holyoke. “Some of these families would not be able to celebrate the holidays at all if it were not for the amazing people who have gone above and beyond fighting the pandemic. They truly are heroes.”

In past years, Valley Health Systems employees would deliver the gifts to the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Holyoke and have a small celebration, sometimes with some of the families receiving the gifts. Last year, the celebration also included musical entertainment from Holyoke High School. Due to COVID-19, all the presents this year will be collected at Holyoke Medical Center and delivered to the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Holyoke without additional celebrations.

“We love this partnership with the Boys & Girls Club and are so excited to be able to help so many families,” said Kathleen Anderson, director of Community Benefits at Holyoke Medical Center. “This year, we asked staff to concentrate on getting each child a toy or game, a hat and mittens or boots, a book, and some arts and crafts. Because food insecurity is such a challenge for so many families right now, each family will receive a gift certificate at a local grocery store to be able to purchase their holiday dinner or whatever they need for their family.”

M. L. Schmitt Electric Owner Transfers Business to Two Long-time Employees

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Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — The longtime owner of M. L. Schmitt Electric Inc., has transferred his business to two electricians who have worked for him for many years.

Thomas Schmitt transferred the electrical-contracting firm that performs residential, commercial, and industrial construction projects to new co-owners Peter Coppez and Jean Pierre Crevier.

Coppez joined M. L. Schmitt as an apprentice in 2000. He’s a graduate of Springfield Technical Community College, the Local IBEW #7 apprenticeship program, and Wentworth Institute of Technology, where he graduated this spring with a bachelor’s degree in project management.

Crevier joined M. L. Schmitt as an apprentice in 2004. He earned his bachelor’s degree in communications from UMass and completed the Local IBEW #7 apprenticeship program. He graduated this spring with a master’s degree in project management from Wentworth Institute of Technology.

Schmitt was President of M. L. Schmitt Electric for 31 years, propelling the business forward under his father and grandfather’s business values grounded in fairness, honesty, quality, and commitment to its workers, he said.

“It has been a great career, and I’m proud of the growth we have accomplished — not only in size, but in quality, professionalism, and character,” Schmitt said. “Watching Jean and Pete mature during their tenure at the company has been a real treat. I have all the faith in them that they will continue the success of M. L. Schmitt for decades to come.”

M. L. Schmitt employs around 50 people and works together with Local IBEW #7, #35, #96, and #103, which provide large pools of licensed electricians to meet the company’s demanding construction needs.

M. L. Schmitt Electric Inc. is located at 371 Taylor St. in Springfield. Since 1923, it has performed industrial, commercial, and residential construction projects, working in areas including renewable energy; hospitals; transportation, educational, and assisted-living facilities; data centers; fuel dispensaries; dormitories; residential complexes; and more.

UMassFive Promotes Gina Maroni, Kathi Bates

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Daily News

HADLEY — UMassFive College Federal Credit Union announced the recent promotions of Gina Maroni and Kathleen (Kathi) Bates.

Maroni was promoted to senior vice president of Finance and chief financial officer (CFO). This promotion acknowledges her commitment and contributions to UMassFive, and is a better reflection of her level of authority. In her new role, she will maintain her current responsibilities, including financial oversight, strategizing, and budgeting for the credit union. Maroni previously served as UMassFive’s vice president of Finance and CFO for the past nine months and as assistant vice president of Finance and controller for 18 months. Prior to joining UMassFive, she was the senior vice president of Finance and chief financial officer at Athol Credit Union.

Bates was promoted to Worcester branch manager. She began her career at UMassFive 18 years ago as a part-time teller, eventually becoming a member service specialist, and most recently the backup supervisor for UMassFive’s Worcester branch. In her new position as branch manager, she will continue making a difference in the financial lives of members by identifying and providing solutions for their financial needs and making sure the Worcester branch runs smoothly.

Thunderbirds Foundation Donates More Than 1,000 Stuffed Animals to Charitable Partners

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Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield Thunderbirds Foundation announced a donation of more than 1,000 teddy bears and stuffed animals to local charitable partners, the culmination of a successful drive-thru Teddy Bear Toss presented by Teddy Bear Pools & Spas and held on Dec. 12 outside the MassMutual Center in downtown Springfield.

This week, the Thunderbirds’ mascot, Boomer, along with staff members, made deliveries of hundreds of stuffed animals to Square One, the Center for Human Development (CHD), the Boys & Girls Club of Springfield, and the Boys & Girls Club Family Center in Springfield.

“Our holiday celebrations are looking much different this year, but the Springfield Thunderbirds have proven that, with a bit of creativity and careful planning, the children in our community can still experience the magic of the season,” said Kristine Allard, vice president of Development & Communications at Square One. “We are so grateful to [Thunderbirds President] Nate Costa and the entire Thunderbirds community for keeping the tradition of the Teddy Bear Toss alive. Our children will be overjoyed.”

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual Teddy Bear Toss event was much different than in previous years. Instead of tossing the bears onto the ice after the T-Birds’ first goal during a home game in December, fans brought their new teddy bears or stuffed animals and ‘tossed’ them out of their vehicles as part of the drive-thru Teddy Bear Toss at the MassMutual Center. Boomer, the Nicebox Icebox, and front-office staff were present to collect donations and properly package and sanitize them. Those that couldn’t make it that day also donated at the Thunderbirds office, Teddy Bear Pools & Spas in Chicopee, the Springfield Visitor Center, or at New Valley Bank’s headquarters in Monarch Place in downtown Springfield.

“The T-Birds and their loyal fans have again stepped up to bring holiday joy to children and families receiving services in CHD programs across Western Massachusetts,” said Ben Craft, CHD’s vice president of Community Engagement. “We deeply appreciate the Thunderbirds organization’s partnership and strong commitment to our community, and we can’t wait to get back to the arena to cheer them on when it’s safe to do so.”

The Thunderbirds thank their partners that stepped up and were able to make this event a reality, including Teddy Bear Pools & Spas, Balise Auto Group, Western Mass News, the Springfield Business Improvement District and downtown Visitor Center, New Valley Bank & Trust, and Dunkin’ Donuts, as well as their tedd- bear delivery partner, BMW of West Springfield.

“We are amazed and grateful at the outpouring of support for the drive-thru Teddy Bear Toss” Costa said. “Teddy Bear Toss is a staple event for the Thunderbirds, and our fans came out in full support. We can’t thank our fans, partners, and those that donated to our foundation enough to be able to bring smiles to children at this time of year.”

AIC Student Nurse Assoc. Donates Toys to Brighten Holidays for Children in Foster Care

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Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Despite a pandemic and remote learning, Santa received a little help in spreading holiday cheer to children in foster care this year courtesy of American International College’s (AIC) Student Nurse Assoc.

For the fifth consecutive year, the AIC Student Nurse Assoc. (SNA) sponsored a holiday toy drive for children in foster care through the Center for Human Development (CHD). This year, although the toy drive was virtual, spirits and determination were high in continuing the tradition. In previous years, a tree was set up in the lobby of Courniotes Hall on the AIC campus decorated with tags bearing the first name of a child, age, and hoped-for toy.

Not to be deterred, SNA Co-president Estera Janik explained that “we weren’t able to set up the tree with the tags [this year], and so we created a Google Docs spreadsheet with all the children’s names and what they had on their wish list. People were able to go into the spreadsheet and pick gift tags that way. We had an absolutely amazing turnout, and we were able to help more than 90 kids from CHD.”

Fellow SNA Co-president Andrea Mazzarella added that “this toy drive wouldn’t have been possible without everybody that compassionately donated the presents. We all know that kids are kids, and for them to get what they wanted for Christmas means so much and gives them happiness on this important holiday.”

Most of the toys were collected in advance of Thanksgiving, followed by a dropoff at the Center for Human Development in West Springfield before the semester’s end.

Coldwell Banker Community Realtors Welcomes Courtney Kinney

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Daily News

AMHERST — Coldwell Banker Community Realtors (CBCR) announced the addition of Realtor Courtney Kinney to its roster of professional real-estate agents serving Franklin and Hampshire counties.

Kinney attended UMass Amherst from 2007 to 2011 and later worked at the university in Student Affairs for eight years. During that timem she earned a master’s degree in applied data science from Bay Path University.

“We’re happy to have Courtney on our team,” said Brian Megliola, owner of Coldwell Banker Community Realtors. “She has already bought and sold three homes over the past few years through Coldwell Banker, giving her first-hand knowledge of the processes involved in the buying and selling of homes. You will definitely want her on your team if you’re thinking about buying or selling a home.”

Kinney decided to make the move to real estate and the Coldwell Banker brand not only for the company’s industry innovations and technology, but also because locally owned Coldwell Banker Community Realtors has a marketing department, agent support, and training, while most real-estate companies do not.

She is a member of the Realtor Assoc. of Pioneer Valley, the National Assoc. of Realtors, and the Massachusetts Assoc. of Realtors.

Aegis Energy Welcomes Richard O’Hearn as CHP Specialist

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Daily News

HOLYOKE — Aegis Energy, EDF Group, a leading provider of co-generation technology, announced that Richard O’Hearn has come on board in the role of CHP specialist. His hire comes during an extended period of growth; Aegis recently hired 12 employees and plans to continue to add to the team.

A certified energy manager by the Assoc. of Energy Engineers, O’Hearn informs customers about the benefits of combined heat and power (CHP), building strong relationships with new and existing clients in the process. A former employee of Siemens, he is no stranger to the energy industry or green technology.

“Richard has an uncanny ability to translate technical elements into financial metrics,” Aegis President Lee Vardakas said. “This proves especially valuable during energy assessments, allowing customers to understand the significant financial benefits of CHP to their facilities and bottom lines.”

Tighe & Bond Receives 2021 ACEC/CT Engineering Excellence Award

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Daily News

WESTFIELD — Tighe & Bond was recently recognized by the American Council of Engineering Companies of Connecticut (ACEC/CT) with an Engineering Excellence Award. The project team received the award for the design of phosphorous-removal upgrades at the Water Pollution Control Facility (WPCF) in Plainville, Conn.

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection set new phosphorous limits after it was determined the nutrient was negatively affecting water quality in the state’s freshwater rivers and streams. While phosphorus is a naturally occur­ring element that is an essential nutrient to support plant growth, excessive amounts contribute to dense growth of algae and suffocation of marine life. This meant the Plainville WPCF needed to reduce the amount of phosphorous leaving the facility by 88%. In anticipation of these changes, Tighe & Bond prepared a phosphorus-removal plan to determine how best to meet the new phosphorus limits.

The plan recommended the addition of a filter building that would house new, multi-point chemical-addition and disc-filtration processes to reduce the amount of phosphorous from the facility’s water. The design also included cost-effective improvements to the existing WPCF, including a larger sludge-processing system, raising the facility’s existing UV disinfection system for improved flood resiliency; new flow-equalization tanks to stabilize the effluent from the facility’s sequencing batch reactors (SBRs); and filter influent pumps to lift the flow up to the disc filters.

The project was completed four months ahead of schedule and $1 million under budget. The upgrades have enabled the town of Plainville to meet its phosphorous limits. The new system continues to remove phosphorus from the treated water the facility discharges daily into the Pequabuck River, which joins the Quinnipiac River and Long Island Sound. The renovations to the WPCF also meets all state and federal environmental regulations and ensures the protection of surrounding bodies of water.

Tighe & Bond and its project partners will be honored at the ACEC/CT Engineering Excellence Awards Gala in June.

Christopher Heights of Northampton Welcomes Amie Miarecki

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Daily News

NORTHAMPTON — Christopher Heights of Northampton, an assisted-living community, recently welcomed Amie Miarecki as its new marketing and admission director.

Miarecki brings nearly 20 years of experience working in the health and human-services field in both Greater Springfield and Greater Boston, providing marketing, community-relations, and development expertise. She will promote the company’s mission by engaging with the community and healthcare partners to help individuals find their next home while maintaining their independence and a dignified quality of life.

“I am enjoying building more relationships in the Northampton area and beyond. It has been very rewarding helping people and their loved ones plan their next step to live with us,” she said. “They have real peace of mind knowing they made the right decision.”

Miarecki holds a master’s degree in corporate and organizational communication with a specialization in leadership from the College of Professional Studies at Northeastern University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in sociology from UMass Amherst. She is the president of the Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield, a board member of the Professional Women’s Chamber, and a committee member for both the civic and community-engagement committee of the Springfield City Library and the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce community-engagement committee. In addition, she holds memberships with Hampshire County Young Professionals, the Western Mass. Elder Professionals Assoc., and the Retirement Marketing Directors Assoc. of Western Mass. She is also a past recipient of the BusinessWest 40 Under Forty award.

STCC Recognizes English Professor Daisy Flaim with Faculty of the Year Award

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Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — When Denise “Daisy” Flaim started as an adjunct professor at Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) in 2004, she couldn’t wait for the day a full-time position would open at the college.

“I fell madly in love with the school,” Flaim said. “I wanted to teach full-time at STCC so badly.”

Her opportunity to teach full-time finally arrived in 2008. Hired as an English professor, Flaim focused on connecting with students to help transform their lives. She demonstrated a dedication and commitment to her craft that did not go unnoticed; earlier this month, STCC Vice President of Academic Affairs Geraldine de Berly announced Flaim was the recipient of the Faculty of the Year Award for 2019-20.

De Berly said the award recognizes Flaim’s teaching techniques to accommodate a variety of learning styles; her efforts to build an inclusive classroom; her work with students outside of the classroom; support letters from colleagues, students, and supervisors; as well as her service contributions to STCC.

“Congratulations to Daisy Flaim,” de Berly said. “Her dedication and commitment to supporting students demonstrate she is well-deserving of this award.”

Richard Greco, dean of Liberal and Professional Studies, described Flaim as an excellent teacher who has a unique way of inspiring students. He recalled observing Flaim leading a class in which she introduced a poem that describes the journey of refugees.

“Students felt comfortable and began sharing their experiences,” Greco said. “One particular student spoke of her journey, and I could not help but notice that over half of the class was tearing up, and everyone in the class was on the edge of their seats.”

Flaim has taught several writing and literature classes at STCC in addition to serving as chair of the Liberal Arts/General Studies Program for one year. She applies her past work experience, which included professional writing jobs.

Flaim has drawn inspiration from her students over the years. She recalls meeting a student who struggled when he started at STCC. But with hard work and persistence, he ended up receiving an A. She also makes a point to get to know her students outside the classroom.

“I offer all of my students a conference for every paper we do. I meet with them if they’re distressed,” she said. “I spend most of my work day meeting with them individually. That’s probably the core of what I believe in as an instructor. I learned when I was starting out that students who know a professor outside of the classroom do better not just in that professor’s classroom, but in all of their classes.

“I made a promise to myself,” she added, “that I would try to be that professor who knew people outside of the classroom.”

Furnari Jewelers Opens at Holyoke Mall

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Daily News

HOLYOKE — In time for holiday shopping, Furnari Jewelers recently opened its doors at Holyoke Mall at Ingleside. Furnari carries fine gold and silver jewelry, wedding sets, gemstones, pearls, watches, and more, and has a gold and silversmith on premises who can do repairs while customers wait. Furnari also offers customers the ability to design their own ring for a special touch.

Known in the region for decades, Anthony Furnari opened his first store 40 years ago and says it was built on the foundation of customer service. Anthony’s son, Joey Furnari, decided to follow in his father’s footsteps. Starting with an undergraduate degree from Kenyon College in Ohio, Joey went on to become a certified bench jeweler at the American School of Jewelry, and opened his first store in May 2012 in Enfield, Conn.

The 1,400-square-foot Furnari Jewelers is located on the upper level of the mall, near Apple. The store was formerly occupied by Kay Jewelers until Kay relocated its store earlier this year to the lower level, next to Round1 Bowling & Amusement. Furnari has hired seven employees for this location.

“While Holyoke Mall is made up of many national retailers, we are also home to numerous locally owned businesses, such as Theory Skate & Snow, the Greek Place restaurant, Graphic Stop, and A Touch of Beauty Salon, so it’s nice to welcome another local family to the shopping center,” said Bill Rogalski, general manager of Holyoke Mall at Ingleside.

Furnari joins a list of new tenants at Holyoke Mall over the last five months, including Cinnabon, which opened in June; EA Teriyaki, which opened in October; and Wings Express, which opened in November.

Pioneer Valley Federal Credit Union Wishes Iggy Collura Well in Retirement

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Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Pioneer Valley Federal Credit Union (PVCU) wishes Iggy Collura, a member of the board of directors for almost 40 years, well in retirement. Collura began on the board around 1980, providing leadership and exuding a volunteer spirit with PVCU for almost four decades. He served on multiple committees throughout his time and was an integral part of the local credit union’s history throughout the years.

Recently, Collura was invited to the Brookdale branch to receive a memory photo book and a plaque to honor his time spent with Pioneer Valley Credit Union. Socially distanced, with masks, CEO Anabela Grenier and board member Kathy D’Angelantonio handed Collura his commemorative gifts and reminisced with smiles as Collura shared his favorite memories.

Collura served as chair of the policy committee and was a member of the nominating and asset/liability committee. He also participated in legislative efforts both locally and nationally.

Opinion: More Business Dreams Are Dying

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Daily News

While the arrival of vaccines is fostering some optimism across this country and we’re hearing phrases like ‘beginning of the end’ (for the pandemic) and ‘light at the end of the tunnel,’ the sad fact is that relief won’t come soon enough for some businesses in this region.

The latest victim of the COVID-19 crisis is Gateway City Arts in Holyoke. Owners Lori Divine and Vitek Kruta announced they can longer continue operating their cultural-arts center, which had become such a critical part of Holyoke’s resurgence, and will now attempt to sell the complex.

Their message to the community sums up the plight of so many businesses in this region and the frustration that has accompanied the restrictions, shutdowns, and general lack of support from state and federal officials.

“We have reached the point where we just don’t have the resources and energy to try to survive,” they wrote, echoing the sentiments of many who have been trying, unsuccessfully, to hang on. “It took us 10 years to start feeling that we could make it, and then COVID took it all away.”

The two went on to talk about life just before they were forced to close their doors. There was a sold-out concert with more than 500 people in the Hub (and an impressive upcoming slate of big-name artists), a theater production with more than 100 people, and a full house in Judd’s restaurant. And in the veritable blink of an eye, it was all gone.

Like most small businesses in this region, Gateway City Arts received a PPP loan last spring. It was intended to provide eight to 10 weeks of support and keep people paid — and that’s exactly what it did. The problem, as everyone knows, is that the pandemic has lasted far longer than a few months. No further relief, other than a GoFundMe campaign, was forthcoming, and with no end to this crisis in sight, Divine and Kruta had to let their dream die.

As we all prepare to turn the calendar to 2021, many businesses are some state of peril — and many more dreams may have to die. If there is a lockdown or further restrictions, as many fear is possible, if not imminent — or even if the status quo continues — many more small businesses will be forced to close their doors.

Yes, the vaccines are coming, and yes, there just might be some light at the end of this incredibly long, exceedingly dark tunnel. But for many, it won’t come soon enough. Congress needs to end the stalemate on a new stimulus package and provide relief to individuals and small businesses — not after Jan. 20, not next month, but right now.

Bacon Wilson Announces David Lavenburg as Of Counsel

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Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Bacon Wilson announced that attorney David Lavenburg has joined the firm as of counsel and a member of the litigation team. He will practice primarily from Bacon Wilson’s Springfield location.

Lavenburg represents creditors of all kinds, such as banks, credit unions, and debt purchasers, in loan-recovery and collection matters. He also litigates extensively for commercial property landlords and tenants, management companies, and large and small businesses. His legal work spans a variety of areas, including complex commercial litigation, lease disputes, commercial collections, real-estate foreclosure, and bankruptcy litigation. He is admitted to practice in the state and federal courts of Massachusetts and Connecticut, appears regularly in the trial and appellate courts for both states, and has argued in the Connecticut Supreme Court.

Prior to joining Bacon Wilson, Lavenburg was a partner with Kroll, McNamara, Evans & Delehanty, LLP, of West Hartford, Conn., preceded by his partnership with the Springfield law firm Gold & Vanaria, P.C. He received his juris doctor in 1990 from Capital Law School of Columbus, Ohio, having earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1987 at Ohio Wesleyan University. He also chairs Longmeadow’s Zoning Board of Appeals.

Virtual Super Saturday Planned for Asnuntuck Community College

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Daily News

ENFIELD, Conn. — Asnuntuck Community College (ACC) will hold a virtual Super Saturday event on Jan. 9. This event will take place online from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will help new and continuing students who have questions about how to apply, would like to speak to an advisor, or have questions regarding financial aid and registering. The college’s spring semester begins on Friday, Jan. 22.

New and continuing students are invited to attend the event. Participants will also be able to virtually meet with Asnuntuck’s Manufacturing department, as well as speak with staff from ACC’s Continuing Education and Workforce Development Office to learn about our non-credit certificate options.

Anyone who is interested in attending the online event, but has not yet applied, should complete the application ahead of time to maximize their time during the event.

Participants may pre-register at asnuntuck.edu/virtualsupersaturday if there is a specific department they plan to meet with. If seeking to meet with an advisor during the event, it is strongly encouraged to pre-register ahead of time at asnuntuck.edu/student-resources/casa to request an appointment.

Students do not need to wait until Jan. 9 to enroll. Registration is now open for the winter session, which starts on Dec. 22, and the spring semester. Visit asnuntuck.edu to apply and register.

Difference Makers Nominations Due by Dec. 23

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Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Do you know someone who is truly making a difference in the Western Mass. region?

BusinessWest invites you to nominate an individual or group for its 13th annual Difference Makers program. Nominations for the class of 2021 must be received by the end of the business day (5 p.m.) on Wednesday, Dec. 23.

Difference Makers was launched in 2009 as a way to recognize the contributions of agencies and individuals who are contributing to quality of life in this region. Past honorees have come from dozens of business and nonprofit sectors, proving there’s no limit to the ways people can impact their communities — and the ongoing pandemic has no doubt shed a spotlight on other ways to make a difference.

So, let us know who you think deserves to be recognized as a Difference Maker in our upcoming class by clicking here to complete the nomination form. Honorees will be profiled in an upcoming issue of BusinessWest.

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