Month: May 2021

SPRINGFIELD — Fitzgerald Attorneys at Law and MGM Springfield announced that attorney Seth Stratton will be leaving his position as vice president and legal counsel of MGM Resorts’ Northeast Group by mid-June to rejoin Fitzgerald as the firm’s managing shareholder. In this leadership role, he will assist the firm’s clients on a wide range of business-related matters, including corporate governance, commercial development, regulatory matters, and dispute resolution.

“We are pleased to welcome Seth back to Fitzgerald, and I am personally excited to have him working alongside me in this important new role,” said attorney Frank Fitzgerald, founding shareholder of the firm. “In the nearly 30 years since our firm’s founding, we have been fortunate to work with many businesses and individuals whose success and dedication have led to our success. It is gratifying to be recognized as a business and development law firm that treats its clients right and is committed to delivering strong results for them. We are always looking for ways to better serve our clients’ needs and expand our areas of expertise. Along with the recent additions of attorneys Joseph Collins and Andrea O’Connor, Seth’s return is another key step in this direction.”

During his time with MGM Springfield, Stratton oversaw legal affairs, regulatory compliance, and government relations in connection with the development, construction, and opening of the $950 million MGM Springfield destination resort casino in downtown Springfield. In 2019, his role expanded to serve as property general counsel and officer for two operating MGM casinos: MGM Springfield and Empire City Casino in Yonkers, N.Y. In that capacity, Stratton provided strategic oversight, management, and direction for legal, regulatory, compliance, risk, and government-affairs functions for both casino complexes and served as an officer and executive committee member for each property. He will now bring this business, development, and management experience to his work with Fitzgerald.

“Seth has played a critical role in nearly every step along the journey of the MGM Springfield project: from conception to property opening and beyond,” said Chris Kelley, president of the Northeast Group of MGM Resorts International. “On behalf of MGM Resorts, we congratulate Seth on his new position and look forward to continuing to work with him and the entire Fitzgerald team for years to come.”

Added Stratton, “I am honored to rejoin the firm and excited to work with the talented attorneys and staff to serve our many loyal clients and to continue to build on the firm’s strong foundation. I want to thank MGM Resorts for the opportunity to be a part of the team that developed and launched the single largest economic-development project in the region’s history and look forward to continuing to work with my many colleagues as valued clients.

“During my time with MGM, it became clear that Western Massachusetts is a region on the rise,” he continued. “I am now taking this opportunity to once again work closely with Frank as a valued mentor along with the entire Fitzgerald team because I believe it is the type of nimble and strategic firm that can capitalize on this potential and help propel the entire region forward.”

Greater Springfield Habitat for Humanity Wins Jerome S. Gurland Human Relations Award

WEST SPRINGFIELD — Springfield’s Sinai Temple and the Jerome S. Gurland Human Relations Award Committee recently selected Greater Springfield Habitat for Humanity (GSHFH) as the 2021 award recipient. GSHFH Executive Director Aimee Giroux met with Rabbi Jeremy Master on May 26 to accept the honor.

Award namesake Rabbi Gurland of Longmeadow, who passed away on May 20, had been a beloved member of the community and an advocate for community service and interfaith relations.

“Our committee was most impressed with your proposal for the affordable home-ownership project on Bay Street in Springfield. We are very pleased with your partnership with Putnam Vocational High School. By partnering with your organization, students will be able to help someone within their own community,” Master said on behalf of the committee. “Sinai Temple’s partnership with Habitat for Humanity a few years ago reminds us of the pride we felt working with you.”

Added Giroux, “we are honored to have been selected to receive this award. The funds will be used to promote community involvement, primarily with youth volunteers through construction on our Bay Street project. We want to create a lasting tribute to the rabbi’s memory, and we want to honor our donors and volunteers. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to reach our mission.”

GSHFH is a housing ministry dedicated to strengthening communities by empowering low-income families to change their lives and the lives of future generations through home ownership and home-repair opportunities. This is accomplished by working in partnership with diverse people, from all walks of life, to build and repair simple, decent, affordable housing. GSHFH has helped roughly 100 local families realize their dream of home ownership over the last 34 years.

Center for EcoTechnology to Present Free Webinar on Small-business Weatherization

FLORENCE — The Center for EcoTechnology will host a free webinar on “Small Business Weatherization Services, Energy Efficiency, and Incentives” on Thursday, June 17 from 1 to 2 p.m.

This webinar will discuss the benefits of weatherization for small businesses. Attendees will learn how to improve business performance, spend less on energy, increase comfort, and shrink one’s carbon footprint. Click here to register.

BFAIR Partners with Boston College School of Social Work on Redemption Center Expansion

NORTH ADAMS — BFAIR partnered with the Boston College School of Social Work on a project with graduate students this spring as part of its “Creating and Sustaining Social Enterprises” course.

This course focuses on important concepts and stages in considering revenue-producing programs in a nonprofit setting to add financial stability. Students are involved in basic data gathering and analysis and organize their conclusions in a business plan for the enterprise effort.

As such, they conducted a brief survey to provide BFAIR with information regarding its service that provides employment for people with disabilities and is beneficial to the environment. BFAIR’s Bottle and Can Redemption Center, located in North Adams, helps the community by providing residents with a way to exchange redeemable bottles and cans for cash while remaining true to its mission.

The culmination of the course resulted in an expansion of BFAIR’s Bottle and Can Redemption Center in the form of a pop-up service working with the North Adams Housing Authority, Berkshire Housing, and the city of North Adams. The pop-up service will give these locations the opportunity to redeem or donate their bottles during certain timeframes during the week at six different locations in North County starting in June.

Gaming Commission Rescinds COVID-19 Restrictions at Casinos, Racetracks

BOSTON — During a remote public meeting on May 26, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) voted to rescind COVID-19-related restrictions for gaming establishments and horseracing and simulcasting facilities.

The casino operators agreed, as part of the new guidelines, to retain a pandemic safety officer until further notice and continue to report any positive COVID tests to the MGC’s Investigations and Enforcement Bureau and their respective local boards of health.

“It’s been 15 months since the Gaming Commission convened with all three casino licensees in a virtual setting to discuss the rapid reach of the coronavirus pandemic,” said Cathy Judd-Stein, MGC chair. “The three gaming licensees have cooperated fully throughout this process, working always to serve the public’s interests and protect their patrons and employees.

“We thank Plainridge Park Casino, MGM Springfield, and Encore Boston Harbor for their compliance and dedication to health and safety during this difficult period,” she continued. “I also wish to extend my sincere gratitude to the entire MGC team for its consistent commitment over the last 15 months.”

The commission also allowed horseracing and simulcasting licensees, including Plainridge Park, Raynham Park, and Suffolk Downs, to rescind their respective MGC-approved COVID-related reopening plans, with similar agreements in place regarding pandemic safety officers and COVID reporting.

Valley Blue Sox Announce Youth Baseball Clinics in June, July

HOLYOKE — The Valley Blue Sox of the New England Collegiate Baseball League, in coordination with presenting sponsor Holyoke Medical Group, announced three youth baseball clinic dates.

At these clinics, to be held in three different locations around Western Mass., participants will hone their hitting, pitching, and fielding skills with instruction from Blue Sox players and coaches. The dates and locations are as follows:

• June 28 to July 1, 9 a.m. to noon, Hadley Elementary School fields (rain date July 2);

• July 5-8, 9 a.m. to noon, Mackenzie Stadium, Holyoke (rain date July 9); and

• July 12-15, 9 a.m. to noon, Spec Pond Recreation Area, Wilbraham (rain date July 16).

The registration cost for each clinic is $120. The clinics are open to children ages 6-13.

Youth clinics are meant to bring the community together by introducing Blue Sox players, who hail from all over the country, to the area, in addition to generating interest in the game of baseball in young children through in-depth instruction from the college athletes and their coaches.

Every child who participates in the youth clinic will receive two tickets to the Blue Sox Clinic Night on Wednesday, July 21. This night is a way to commemorate the work put in during the clinics, and every child will have the opportunity to take the field with the Blue Sox during the pregame ceremonies.

To register for these youth clinics, click www.bluesoxcamps.com for the Hadley or Holyoke clinic, or www.wilbrahamrec.com for the Wilbraham clinic. For more information, visit www.valleybluesox.com and select ‘Youth Clinics’ from the drop-down menu.

HCC Offering Free Summer STEM Classes

HOLYOKE — The STEM Starter Academy at Holyoke Community College (HCC) is offering free courses this summer for students interested in pursuing STEM majors at HCC or careers in the STEM field.

“STEM Explorations,” a four-credit lab-science class, will run from July 6 to Aug. 5 on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., with an additional lab on either Thursdays or Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The class is open to currently enrolled and incoming HCC students, dual-enrolled high-school students, and adults interested in learning more about STEM. There are no prerequisites to apply for admission, and 100% of costs are covered.

The course will meet online in real time. Lab kits and course materials are included and will be sent to students’ homes. Supplemental instructors and peer mentors will be available for tutoring and to advise students about STEM options at HCC.

“This is an excellent opportunity to get four free college credits while learning about science, technology, engineering, and math,” said Melissa Paciulli, HCC STEM Starter Academy director. “STEM Explorations is always a fun, engaging, and exciting class.”

In addition, HCC is also offering a free “Calculus 1” class this summer for currently enrolled STEM majors and students who score high enough on the college placement test. This four-credit online course runs from June 7 to July 8.

To apply for the free summer STEM classes, visit hcc.edu/stemstarter.

Bella Foodie, Tap into Wellness Announce Virtual Cooking Workshop

SPRINGFIELD — Bella Foodie LLC announced 2021 dates for its “Cook Your Way to Hormone Health” virtual cooking workshop with Renae Taply of Tap into Wellness. This event will help women in the community learn how to optimize their hormone health through foods and balancing the plate.

The workshop will be held 100% virtually, but attendees will still feel the excitement of an in-person event. During the event, participants will be guided through creating meals utilizing phase-specific foods that naturally support hormone balance. The event will take place on Thursday, June 17 and Thursday, June 24 from 6 to 8 p.m. Tickets to the event cost $45 upon registration; click here to register. After registration, participants will receive an ingredient list for the cook-along portion with Ashley Tresoline, owner of Bella Foodie.

“It’s important to do what makes you feel happy, healthy, and whole,” Tresoline said. “A big part of that is our relationship with food and how it functions in your bodies. We spend so much time obsessing over what foods are good and bad for us, we never think about using food as medicine.”

During the two-part workshop, participants will learn how food can affect the hormones; learn seasonal recipes for every phase of one’s hormone life; and engage in a talk about hormone health and wellness. The sessions will include Q&A time, a cook-along portion and demonstration, and handouts on hormones, recipes, and meal guidance.

“Spend money on yourself and the things that you enjoy, whether that is spending time reaching an exercise goal, booking a holiday to look forward to, or even simply eating five pieces of fruit each day,” Tresoline said. “These goals can all increase our sense of happiness and well-being and contribute to beating our unhealthy food habits.”

Gov. Baker Files Legislation to Extend Certain COVID-19 Emergency Measures

BOSTON — Gov. Charlie Baker has filed legislation to extend certain emergency measures currently in place via executive orders that are set to expire on June 15 when the Commonwealth’s state of emergency will be rescinded. Most restrictions, including limitations placed on businesses, will be rescinded effective May 29 as Massachusetts nears the goal of vaccinating 4 million residents.

This legislation proposes to extend measures providing for a temporary suspension of certain open-meeting-law requirements, special permits for expanded outside dining at restaurants, and billing protections for COVID-19 patients. When the state of emergency ends, these orders will expire, and temporarily extending these measures will allow time to transition. Extending these measures, which were instituted by executive order, requires legislation.

To allow public bodies to safely meet during the pandemic and ensure public access to meetings, Baker issued an executive order in March 2020 allowing these bodies to meet quorum requirements even if meetings were held remotely through electronic means as long as measures were taken to ensure the public with electronic access to the proceedings. The bill filed by Baker this week will extend these provisions related to the Commonwealth’s open-meeting law until Sept. 1, which will allow additional time to consider possible permanent changes to the open-meeting law to provide for greater flexibility in conducting open meetings through reliance on electronic streaming and similar measures.

The bill will also grant municipalities authority to extend special permits for restaurants offering outdoor dining issued under the state of emergency through Nov. 29. Under an executive order issued in 2020, municipalities were permitted to use an expedited process to approve temporary permits for new or expanded outdoor dining and alcohol service. Without a legislative extension, special permits granted under the governor’s order will expire 60 days after the end of the state of emergency.

The legislation will also extend a protection adopted in an executive order that prohibits medical providers from billing patients who have received COVID-related emergency and inpatient services for charges in excess of costs paid by their insurers. As filed, the protection would extend until Jan. 1, 2022, at which time recently passed federal legislation that included protections for both emergency and non-emergency cases will become effective. Earlier this year, Baker signed legislation establishing surprise-billing protections for patients for non-emergency services.

“Massachusetts is leading the nation in the vaccination effort, and that progress is enabling the Commonwealth to return to normal,” Baker said. “These temporary measures will help businesses and residents in this transition period, and I look forward to working on these and other issues in the week ahead with our partners in the Legislature.”

Last week, Baker announced that all industries will be permitted to open on May 29. With the exception of remaining face-covering requirements for masks in public and private transportation systems, hospitals, and other facilities housing vulnerable populations, all industry restrictions will be lifted at that time, and capacity will increase to 100% for all industries. The gathering limit will also be rescinded.

Before June 15, the administration plans to take additional steps that will permit the continuation of targeted public-health measures beyond the end of the state of emergency, including the mask requirements announced last week.

Wahlburgers Opens at MGM Springfield

SPRINGFIELD — Wahlburgers announced that its restaurant at MGM Springfield is now open to the public and ready to serve guests. The Wahlburgers MGM Springfield team is looking forward to becoming a part of the community and providing guests with an exciting dine-in experience as well as offering takeout.

“My goal for Wahlburgers has always been to combine simple and delicious food with amazing hospitality. We’re honored to have the opportunity to bring our restaurant experience to the historic community of Springfield and invite everyone to stop in, sit down, and make memories with us,” Executive Chef Paul Wahlberg said.

The popular casual dining concept founded by brothers Mark, Donnie, and Paul Wahlberg, and the subject of A&E Network’s Emmy-nominated reality show for 10 seasons, will feature a chef-inspired menu that brings guests its signature lineup of burgers along with entrée salads, sandwiches, and more. The restaurant’s full bar will offer a large selection of craft cocktails, wines, and local beers.

Wahlburgers Springfield MGM is located at 1028 Main St., at the corner of Main and Union streets in downtown Springfield. The 4,900-square-foot restaurant will be open daily for lunch and dinner. In honor of the late family matriarch, Alma Wahlberg, the chain’s Springfield location includes a special ‘Alma’s table.’ This design element is adorned with photos from her childhood through her adult life, along with snapshots of her family members.

Those who join the WahlClub rewards program by downloading the Wahlburgers app will have access to exclusive promotions, earn points for every dollar spent, and redeem rewards for free food and merchandise. Online ordering and delivery are also available via the Wahlburgers app.

Outdoor Mega Tag Sale to Benefit Dress for Success Western Massachusetts

SPRINGFIELD — Dress for Success Western Massachusetts will host another of its popular clothing tag sales — this time outside under a huge tent in the parking lot of the Eastfield Mall. The tag sale will be held on Friday, June 18, through Thursday, June 24.

Hundreds of women have refreshed their wardrobes at past tag sales, while at the same time supporting Dress for Success’ mission to empower women to achieve economic independence.

Women can choose from an extensive array of clothing, shoes, accessories, and more. These new and gently used items include selections from name-brand fashion houses such as Anne Klein, Evan Picone, Ellen Tracy, and many more. Customers can fill a shopping bag for only $25.

Individuals with clothing they would like to donate can call (413) 732-8179 to make an appointment.

Because the tag sale is outside, there will not be rooms to try on clothes. If anyone buys something that doesn’t fit, they can pass it on to friends or others in need. For everyone’s safety, shoppers are asked to wear a mask while inside the tent.

Volunteers are needed on June 14-17 to set up, June 18-24 to staff the tent, and June 25 to break down the event. Anyone interested should e-mail [email protected].

Nominations Sought for Healthcare Heroes Class of 2021

SPRINGFIELD — In the spring of 2017, the Healthcare News and its sister publication, BusinessWest, created a new and exciting recognition program called Healthcare Heroes.

It was launched with the theory that there are heroes working all across this region’s wide, deep, and all-important healthcare sector, and that there was no shortage of fascinating stories to tell and individuals and groups to honor. That theory has certainly been validated.

But there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of heroes whose stories we still need to tell, especially in these times, when the COVID-19 pandemic has brought many types of heroes to the forefront. And that’s where you come in.

Nominations for the class of 2021 are due Thursday, June 24, and we encourage you to get involved and help recognize someone you consider to be a hero in the community we call Western Mass. in one (or more) of these seven categories:

• Patient/Resident/Client Care Provider;

• Health/Wellness Administrator/Administration;

• Emerging Leader;

• Community Health;

• Innovation in Health/Wellness;

• Collaboration in Health/Wellness; and

• Lifetime Achievement.

Our Healthcare Heroes event is presented by Elms College. Nominations can be submitted by clicking here. For more information, contact Jennifer Godaire, Marketing and Events Director, at (413) 781-8600, ext. 100, or [email protected].

The Economic Factors Affecting Supply, and What They Mean for Businesses

Cover Story

The Rising Cost of … Everything

To understand what’s happening in today’s global economy, one UMass economist said it’s helpful to picture it as a grid filled with connected nodes. When one of those nodes — manufacturing, distribution, shipping, you name it — is disrupted, the impact is felt by everyone. These days, those disruptions are occurring across the supply chain, and for many different reasons, causing costs to soar — both for businesses and their customers. It’s a major concern with no simple solution, and some worry that rising prices may derail what is otherwise looking like an economy in recovery.

When people sit down at a restaurant, Bryan Graham says, they don’t usually consider how their favorite meals and ingredients get there. They just expect them to be there.

It’s not always a smooth process, and the last couple months, especially, have been a challenge.

“There have been shortages on everything — things you wouldn’t think about, everything from the beverage side to the food side,” said Graham, regional manager for the Bean Restaurant Group, which boasts a family of 11 eateries throughout the region, from Johnny’s Tavern in Amherst to the Boathouse in South Hadley to the Student Prince in Springfield.

And those shortages have a financial impact, he went on. “Increases in prices have gone through the roof — to the point where we’ve moved some things off the menu because we can’t keep up with the prices; we’re losing money.”

The company has taken to switching menu items or brands of ingredients to keep up with price fluctuations, Graham added. “We’d always purchase one brand of canned tomatoes or one brand of ketchup, but we’re seeing brands being short, so we have to switch brands to get by without running out of product day to day.”

It makes for an odd market, he said. “You place your order, and you don’t really know if it’s all coming in until you open the truck and you’re short one or two items.”

It’s not something customers typically notice — until their favorite appetizer is suddenly unavailable. “Ninety percent of our customers are really understanding. The other 10% are like, ‘what do you mean I can’t have this?’ Unfortunately, we don’t want to charge you $40 for 10 chicken wings. Most people are pretty good about it.”

Bryan Graham says high food prices have forced the occasional menu change because the Bean Restaurant Group doesn’t want to pass exorbitant costs to customers.

Nationally, food prices rose 0.4% in April, both at restaurants and on grocery shelves. Prices are up 2.4% from May 2020.

But it’s not just food. Rising prices for … well, almost everything have become one of the leading economic stories of 2021. One reason is a positive of sorts — the economy is reopening at high speed. Unfortunately, in some cases, supply chains have been slow to respond to growing consumer demand.

For example, American steel manufacturers all but shut down production last spring as the pandemic took hold and the economy imploded. But as the recovery ramped up, mills were slow to resume full production, creating a massive steel shortage, one that has severely impacted building costs.

Meanwhile, sawmills also shut down lumber production last spring to brace for a housing slump that never arrived — and now, with the housing market on fire, both in new construction and home improvement, lumber shortages have sent consumer prices soaring. In fact, the median sale price of existing homes nationwide surged by 17.2% in March to a record $329,100.

Anna Nagurney, the Eugene M. Isenberg chair in Integrative Studies at the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst, said soaring prices in construction are a natural result of home-improvement activity increasing during the pandemic, while home buying never really slowed.

“People haven’t been traveling or anything, so they’ve been improving their homes, building decks, and so on,” she said. “Now we’ve seen the price of lumber has escalated dramatically in the last couple of months.”

The pandemic messed with supply and demand in unexpected ways, but now that the economy is reopening and consumers want to go out and spend (and, in many cases, have been saving those stimulus checks for that purpose), supply has run into a number of roadblocks, from the slow ramp-up of the lumber and steel industries to serious delays in freight shipping (more on that later) to a shortage of workers putting additional strain on businesses.

“People want bigger homes, better homes, they have more money, the federal government has been pretty good to people … there’s just much more demand for products,” Nagurney said.

Anna Nagurney

“People haven’t been traveling or anything, so they’ve been improving their homes, building decks, and so on. Now we’ve seen the price of lumber has escalated dramatically in the last couple of months.”

She noted that the Trump administration was more overt about pursuing trade wars, and while back-and-forth tariffs haven’t been as much of an issue lately, the U.S. is still not on great terms with China, which significantly impacts the cost of steel, aluminum, and rare-earth metals. “The geopolitics is scary.”

Gas prices are on the rise as well, which impacts every sector of the economy, said Peter Picknelly, chairman and CEO of Peter Pan Bus Lines.

“Rising fuel has an effect on everyone — people have to ship things, produce things … it’s not just gas, but everything we buy,” he said. “Chicken and beef and produce, they all need machinery to harvest; that’s all fuel. You have to transport it; that’s all fuel. Rising fuel costs are a significant hit to the average consumer.”

Easing the Burden

In the case of lumber, the shortage has been exacerbated by existing tariffs. In the spring of 2017, the Trump administration hit Canada with tariffs of up to 24% on lumber. During the final months of his presidency, those tariffs were slashed to 9%, but the National Assoc. of Home Builders is calling on the Biden administration to temporarily remove the 9% tariff on Canadian lumber to help ease price volatility.

Supply-chain issues aren’t helping, from the six-day Suez Canal shutdown in March to clear the container ship Ever Given to the cyberattack that shut down the Colonial Pipeline earlier this month, to a critical shortage of shipping containers worldwide, particularly in Asia. Companies are waiting weeks for containers to become available and paying premium rates to secure them, causing shipping costs to skyrocket.

Peter Picknelly says fuel prices affect more than the transportation sector he works in, impacting everything from manufactured goods to the processing and delivery of food.

“The containers are not where they’re supposed to be,” Nagurney said. “It’s like a puzzle. We need to move them. That’s one of the reasons we can’t get some of the goods from China, like furniture. The prices of shipping containers have gone up as a result because they’re not where they should be.”

Margeaux MacDonald knows that well. As imports manager for East Coast Tile, which supplies Best Tile in Springfield, she is dealing with significant delays in bringing material in from Europe and Asia.

“There are huge delays right now,” she said. “We could have a booking on an actual boat and might not have a container to put the material in. Or, we’ve been bumped from boats because the vessel is overbooked. It’s frustrating — it’s taking four weeks, depending on where the stuff is. In Portugal, the booking is awful; it’s taking forever to get on the boat.”

The backups are affecting shipping costs — significantly. As one example, she cited a container from Turkey that currently costs four times as much to book as it did only a few months ago. “That’s just to pay for the container to get on the ocean carrier.”

Not all locations have gone up as dramatically, MacDonald added, noting that rates from Italy have more or less doubled — not as bad as the Turkey situation, but not ideal. “And we’re not the only ones seeing delays,” she said, citing a company she works with that’s trying to get a container of material from Brazil to New York, and has been delayed more than a month.

“I’m relatively new in this position, but I’ve definitely picked the brains of veterans across the industry, and a lot of people have said to me, ‘I’ve never seen this — I’ve been in the industry for 25 years, and I’ve never seen the volume and delays coming right now.’”

“I’m relatively new in this position, but I’ve definitely picked the brains of veterans across the industry, and a lot of people have said to me, ‘I’ve never seen this — I’ve been in the industry for 25 years, and I’ve never seen the volume and delays coming right now.’”

The problem doesn’t end when the product is shipped, she added. With huge backups in ports, truckers are sometimes waiting hours to load, and instead of hauling two or three loads a day, they might get only one. And returning empty containers to port has become more difficult as well. All these factors raise prices down the supply line. “There are a lot of moving pieces.”

It’s helpful to think about supply chains holistically to convey what’s going on, Nagurney said, describing the global economy as a grid of connected nodes representing manufacturing sites, warehouses, freight service providers, distribution centers, and demand points. A disruption at any of those nodes reverberates throughout the grid — and the economy has endured many such disruptions over the past year, on both the supply and demand sides.

“We’ve seen all sorts of shocks — supply shocks, different kinds of demand shocks, and, more recently, what’s happening with freight issues, from port congestion to the Ever Given blocking freight in the Suez Canal.

“With lumber, some of it has to do with higher tariffs on Canadian lumber,” she went on. “We don’t have containers in the right places to ship lumber. Freight costs are going up, and there’s all sorts of demand on imports from Europe.”

In short, things are chaotic right now, and that globally connected grid is under plenty of stress.

Inflation Spikes

Which brings us back to rising prices on, again, almost everything. U.S. consumer prices in April increased 4.2% from a year earlier, more than the 3.6% economists had predicted, and the largest 12-month increase since September 2008.

The biggest driver of last month’s inflation jump, CNN reported, was a 10% increase in used cars and trucks, which accounted for more than one-third of the overall inflation increase. Over the past year, used-car prices rose 21%, due in large part to a spike in demand — as people sought to travel last year without relying on public transit — just as car manufacturers were closed or running at diminished capacity.

Other factors in April’s inflation report include rising costs for furniture — a casualty of the shipping backlog — and hotels, airline tickets, and recreational activities, a trend that speaks to growing demand among Americans to get back to normal life.

Restaurants are feeling that demand, and are struggling, in many cases, to staff up to meet it.

“More places are reopening, and restrictions are being lifted,” Graham said. “That goes to supply and demand — demand was down for so long, and now it’s back up.”

However, he noted, federal unemployment benefits have kept service workers — who are in some cases, being paid more for not working — away from available jobs.

Bob Bolduc knows this story well. The CEO of Pride Stores said he recently shuttered four stores because he didn’t have anyone to staff them — and he blames unrealistically generous unemployment benefits.

“We’ve been competing with the government for 15 months now, and we’re not getting through to them,” he said. “The real story is how much the government is paying, and how that’s driving prices up unrealistically.

“We’re all paying the same people, for the same labor, two to five dollars an hour more than we normally do, and the definition of inflation is when you pay a lot more but don’t get anything more for it,” he went on. “The biggest factor is that we’re competing with the government for labor — the government is paying people to stay home, and we’re trying to get them to come back to work.”

The frustration is palpable, Bolduc said. “People say they can’t get a job, but we offer them jobs, and they don’t show up. They just want to come in and apply to say they applied. And nobody checks; they’re just giving it away. It’s been that way for 15 months now, and it’s worse than you realize. People have no idea.”

State officials have heard such complaints from business owners, however, and announced last week that, starting in mid-June, Massachusetts will more diligently require proof of genuine job-search activity as a condition of accessing unemployment benefits.

At the same time, Bolduc said, “other prices are going crazy — on everything. Convenience items and food are up at least 10%, maybe pushing 15%, and I don’t see an end in sight.”

For some industries, rising prices can be a benefit.

“We always view our largest competitor as passenger automobiles,” Peter Pan’s Picknelly said. “Historically, when fuel starts going over $3.50, we see a significant increase in passengers because it’s just too expensive for people to travel, so they look for alternatives in the bus.”

If anything, rising fuel prices — married to a desire among people to get away this summer — has benefited Peter Pan’s business, Picknelly explained, noting that Cape Cod trips are almost 100% booked, while he sees similar interest in destinations like New York and Washington, D.C. The reason is that people are looking to travel a little closer to home — in range of a drive, not a flight — and see bus travel as an affordable, low-stress option.

High gas prices should also benefit the company’s commuter buses by making public transit more attractive, he said, noting that the average city bus gets about 280 passenger miles to the gallon, as opposed to about one-tenth of that for cars.

The Struggle Continues

That makes for an environmentally friendly byproduct of a challenging economic season. And Nagurney doesn’t separate the economy from the environment — in fact, she believes business and industry leaders need to adopt techniques from disaster management because climate change remains a factor in the global economy.

“Things aren’t going to get better — we’ll see more storms, more floods, more hurricanes, sea levels rising, even more things like the fires we had on the West Coast. Climate change will lead to a greater frequency of natural disasters, and that will affect global supply chains, and it’ll take longer to get products.”

For now, though, most businesses are just focused on when the short-term stress will end. And no one really knows the answer to that.

“In January, we thought this will probably last until March,” MacDonald said of the shipping delays. “In March, we heard it might fizzle out by the summer. We’re almost to summertime, and I’m releasing things from Spain that can’t get a booking until the beginning of July.

“And we’re seeing a huge increase in sales, too,” she added. “There’s a huge need in the United States, and we’re trying to pump as much material as we can into the States, but it’s a struggle.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Western Mass. Offers Plenty of Outdoor Activity This Summer

Special Coverage Travel and Tourism

Fun in the Sun

Last year may not have been a total washout when it came to outdoor recreation and events, but many well-loved attractions and destinations had to dramatically scale back operations — if they opened at all. This year, with May 29 marking the end of most gathering restrictions in Massachusetts, there’s once again plenty to look forward to. You can read about some of them on the following pages: two local collegiate baseball teams back in action, the return of a beloved music and craft festival in Greenfield, and — as a shoutout to the governor — a baker’s dozen other options. There’s much, much more to look forward to, so get online and check out what else is happening near you, during a summer that promises to be a long-awaited breath of fresh air.

Berkshires Arts Festival

380 State Road, Great Barrington

www.berkshiresartsfestival.com

Admission: $7-$14; free for children under 10

Aug. 13-15: Ski Butternut plays host to the Berkshires Arts Festival, a regional tradition now in its 20th year. When Gov. Charlie Baker announced the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions as of Aug. 1 (since revised to May 29), event organizers moved the dates of this year’s festival to mid-August. Thousands of art lovers and collectors are expected to stop by to check out and purchase the creations of more than 175 artists and designers from across the country, in both outdoor and air-conditioned indoor exhibition spaces. “With its relaxed atmosphere, great food, exceptional art, and fine crafts, puppet shows, and live music,” the Berkshires Visitors Bureau notes, “it’s a great weekend for the entire family.”

The Big E

1305 Memorial Ave., West Springfield

www.easternstatesexposition.com

Admission: $8 and up; free for children under 5; 17-day pass $20-$40

Sept. 17 to Oct. 3: Yes, it’s happening. And as regional fairs go, it’s still the big one, with something for everyone, whether it’s the copious fair food or the livestock shows, the Avenue of States houses and parades, the local vendors and crafters, or the live music. Musical highlights this year include Machine Gun Kelly in concert on Sept. 17, and Brad Paisley performing in the arena on Sept. 24, marking the 20th anniversary of the first time Paisley played the Big E.

Crab Apple Whitewater Rafting

2056 Mohawk Trail, Charlemont

www.crabapplewhitewater.com

Admission: Varies by activity

All summer: Wanna get wet? Crab Apple is a third-generation, multi-state family business that operates locally on the Deerfield River in the northern Berkshire Mountains of Western Mass. Its rafting excursions range from mild to wild, full- or half-day runs, in rafts and inflatable kayaks. In short, Crab Apple offers something for everyone, from beginners to more experienced rafters. Starting May 29, the company will accept reservations for all group sizes. Meanwhile, waivers will be sent in advance to guests for e-signing to ensure a touch-free check-in process, hand-washing stations have been added at all building entrances, and transportation to and from the river will be offered in vans and buses.

Drive-in Concerts at the Wick

The Wick, Legion Road, Southwick

www.westfieldlivemusic.com/southwick

Admission: $25 to $45

June 11, July 9, Aug. TBA: The national touring and recording artists Beatlemania Again will headline a summer series of live drive-in concerts on to benefit the Southwick Civic Fund, which creates and produces events that provide a sense of community spirit, celebration, and civic pride. The concert will be held at the Southwick MotoX Track (the Wick) on Legion Road in Southwick on June 11 at 7:30 p.m., and will follow all current CDC and local health department guidelines. Each vehicle will have a space next to it for the occupants to set up lawn chairs or blankets to enjoy the show. A modest PA and lighting will provide a real concert feel. Upcoming concerts in the series include Foreigners Journey (July 9) and an August show to be announced.

FreshGrass Festival

1040 MASS MoCA Way, North Adams

www.freshgrass.com

Admission: $50-$150 for three-day pass; free for children under 6

Sept. 24-26: The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art is known for its musical events, and the FreshGrass festival is among the highlights, showcasing dozens of bluegrass artists and bands over three days. This year, the lineup includes Dispatch, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Béla Fleck My Bluegrass Heart (featuring Michael Cleveland, Sierra Hull, Justin Moses, Mark Schatz, and Bryan Sutton), Watchouse, Sarah Jarosz, and many more. FreshGrass features bluegrass traditionalists and innovators on four stages and platforms throughout the museum’s 16-acre campus. Festival programming also includes FreshScores, a silent film with original live music; FreshGrass commissions and world premieres; instrument and industry workshops; pop-up performances and retail; and local Berkshire food and spirits vendors.

Fresh Paint Springfield

Downtown Springfield

www.freshpaintspringfield.com

Admission: Free

June 5-13: Fresh Paint Springfield, the mural festival that began in 2019 in downtown Springfield and transformed large exterior walls into art, will return with 10 new murals downtown and in Mason Square. This year’s festival will involve members of the community in the design and painting of all 10 murals, which will result in opportunities for more than 1,000 Springfield residents to actively participate in the beautification of the city. The murals will use a technique that employs giant paint-by-numbers canvases on special polytab mural fabric for members of the community to paint at COVID-safe outdoor paint parties during the festival. New this year, the Community Mural Apprentice program will pair 10 local artists with established muralists to learn how to independently engage with the community in designing and painting large, professional murals.

Historic Deerfield

84B Old Main St., Deerfield, MA

www.historic-deerfield.org

Admission: $5-$18; free for children under 6

All summer: This outdoor museum interprets the history and culture of early New England and the Connecticut River Valley. Visitors can tour 12 carefully preserved antique houses dating from 1730 to 1850 and explore world-class collections of regional furniture, silver, textiles, and other decorative arts. Summer activities include educational lectures, cooking demonstrations, and exhibitions of period items and art. Due to COVID-19, access to the historic house museums is still restricted, but at least one historic house will open for touring each day, with wider access possible later on. Visitors should inquire on the day of their visit which house is open for touring that day.

Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival

358 George Carter Road, Becket

www.jacobspillow.org

Admission: Prices vary

June 30 to Aug. 29: Jacob’s Pillow has become one of the country’s premier showcases for dance, and this year’s festival returns with live, in-person events, but much more as well. “We will share the restorative and uplifting power of dance in person at our campus in the Berkshire Hills, on the road in our communities, as well as through live and on-demand events online to reach audiences across the world,” its directors say. “Our offerings will include commissions, premieres, Pillow debuts, talks, and workshops that take into account COVID-compliant protocols to ensure the health and safety of our community. The festival will put artists back to work after the devastation of the pandemic and remind us all of the power of dance to positively impact communities.”

Mattoon Street Arts Festival

Mattoon Street, Springfield

www.mattoonfestival.org

Admission: Free

Sept. 11-12: Now in its 48th year, the Mattoon Street Arts Festival is the longest-running arts festival in the Pioneer Valley, featuring about 100 exhibitors, including artists that work in ceramics, fibers, glass, jewelry, painting and printmaking, photography, wood, metal, and mixed media. Food vendors and strolling musicians help to make the event a true late-summer destination. Admission is free, as is parking at the TD Bank lot. Located just three blocks from I-91, this family-friendly event is ideal for holiday shopping, seeing new craft ideas, or just walking on a beautiful Victorian street.

Pedal ‘n’ Party

Brunelle’s Marina, 1 Alvord St., South Hadley

www.pedalnparty.com

Admission: $30 for 60 minutes, $15 for 30 minutes

All summer: Want to have some fun out on the water? Rent an individual hydrobike, which can be use to explore the Connecticut River and the streams that feed into it. This eco-friendly, pedal-powered vessel moves at a comfortable 4-6 mph with easy effort. From its stability to its high visibility on the water, the hydrobike is engineered for a safe, reliable ride. Its pontoons were scientifically developed by a professional canoe designer for optimum buoyancy, speed, and maneuverability, ensuring a smooth ride even in very choppy water. Stable enough to dive from, the hydrobike can also handle rough water conditions, including five-foot swells. Rent it for a beautiful day on the water, a workout, or a fun group activity.

Pioneer Valley Ballet

Park Hill Orchard, 82 Park Hill Road, Easthampton

www.pioneervalleyballet.org

Admission: $20, $10 for children and seniors

June 4-5: It’s been a year and a half since Pioneer Valley Ballet (PVB) last performed for a live audience, but that will change in June as the company welcomes spring with an outdoor, site-specific performance of one of Shakespeare’s most popular and treasured works, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. After having to cancel all of its 2020 performances, PVB is once again taking to the stage — only this time the ‘stage’ is Easthampton’s Park Hill Orchard, where for two afternoons small groups will wind through the fields, discovering scenes from the Midsummer story at sites throughout the picturesque orchard. A new audience will enter every 30 minutes. The first performance of each day will be a non-roaming, single-location performance for anyone with mobility concerns.

Six Flags New England

1623 Main St., Agawam

www.sixflags.com/newengland

Admission: $29.99 and up; season passes $49.99

All summer: Continuing an annual tradition of adding a new major attraction each spring, Six Flags New England recently unveiled Supergirl Skyflyer, a spinning, high-speed thrill ride. The main park is now open, and the Hurricane Harbor waterpark opens Memorial Day weekend. “We are beyond thrilled that we can reopen our theme park with a full complement of our more than 100 rides, attractions, and unique experiences,” park President Pete Carmichael said recently. “Now more than ever, families need an escape that is safe, accessible and fun.”

The Zoo in Forest Park

293 Sumner Ave., Springfield, MA

www.forestparkzoo.org

Admission: $5-$10; free for children under 1

Through Oct. 14: The Zoo in Forest Park, located inside Springfield’s Forest Park, is home to a wide variety of species found throughout the world and North America. Meanwhile, the zoo maintains a focus on conservation, wildlife education, and rehabilitations. The Zoo is open seven days a week, weather permitting, but all guests, including members, currently need a timed ticket to visit. Recently, state Sen. Eric Lesser and other local lawmakers announced $125,000 in pandemic recovery funding for the zoo to continue its mission of education, conservation, and rehabilitation.

Bay State’s Shift in COVID Restrictions Brings Range of Emotions

By George O'Brien May 26, 2021

Features Special Coverage

Relief, Joy … and Anxiety, Too

While it was not exactly unexpected news, in some quarters, at least, Gov. Charlie Baker’s recent announcement that he was accelerating the reopening of Massachusetts — shifting the date for removing most restrictions on businesses from Aug. 1 to May 29 and also removing most mask mandates — nonetheless sent shockwaves through the business community.

And for different reasons.

For tourism-related businesses, the announcement means they gain nine precious weeks during their peak time of the year to operate without the restrictions that have hamstrung them since March 2020. Everyone was looking longingly toward that time, but it comes sooner than most anticipated.

Indeed, for those businesses and many others, the announcement comes at a time when they’re struggling to find enough workers to handle the current pace of business, let alone the surge expected to come when the restrictions are lifted, adding another rather large dose of anxiety on that issue.

And, speaking of anxiety, for those businesses that were struggling with the challenge of when and how to fully reopen their offices and bring back employees who have been working remotely, the governor’s announcement brings more layers of intrigue to what were already-complicated decisions.

As for the lifting of the mask mandate — the governor and CDC have decided that vaccinated individuals no longer have to wear masks indoors or outdoors — it has created a whole new set of headaches for employers who already had enough to deal with, said Meredith Wise, president of the Employers Assoc. of the NorthEast, adding that faith in the honor system is not shared by many employers and employees alike.

Meredith Wise

“Things are very volatile in many respects. One of our members said, ‘we’ve gotten into a period where we’re intolerant of other people’s views and perspectives, and all this adds one more layer that can potentially cause a problem in the workplace.’”

“Things are very volatile in many respects,” she said, adding that differing opinions about whether vaccinated individuals should still wear masks in the workplace prompted a fistfight recently between two now-former employees of a company in Rhode Island, an EANE member. “One of our members said, ‘we’ve gotten into a period where we’re intolerant of other people’s views and perspectives, and all this adds one more layer that can potentially cause a problem in the workplace.’”

So it was certainly with a mix of emotions that the business community greeted the news that the state has finally reached the fourth stage of the reopening plan the governor announced almost exactly a year ago: what Baker calls the ‘new normal.’

There was definitely some joy and relief, especially in the beleaguered hospitality sector, said Rick Sullivan, president and CEO of the Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council, who predicted both a quick and profound impact on such businesses.

Rick Sullivan

“All of our destination locations are going to see a pretty quick uptick in business; I think there’s a huge amount of pent-up demand in the travel and tourism industry for people to get away.”

“I know people are pretty excited about it,” he said, adding that he’s had discussions with many in the hospitality sector who were looking forward to the day when they could be at full capacity — and now it’s almost here. “All of our destination locations are going to see a pretty quick uptick in business; I think there’s a huge amount of pent-up demand in the travel and tourism industry for people to get away.

“I think people are really ready for some quality time,” he went on. “And that means travel and taking advantage of the venues we have here in Western Mass. for day trips.”

Nancy Creed, president of the Springfield Regional Chamber, agreed, noting that gaining those two all-important summer months will provide a much-needed lift for businesses in that sector.

“This is great for the hospitality sector — they really need those summer months,” she said, adding that the difference between May 29 and Aug. 1 for that sector is immense.

That said, the governor’s announcement is only the latest of many that have caught business owners and managers by surprise and left them somewhat flat-footed, with little time to adjust to changing conditions.

Nancy Creed

“Some people were a little shell-shocked with the announcement.”

“Some people were a little shell-shocked with the announcement,” said Creed, adding that this sentiment applies to everything from restaurants and tourist attractions ramping up for full capacity to business owners of all sizes now having to deal with questions on mask wearing, requiring vaccinations, bringing remote workers back to the office, and more.

Wise agreed. She said the announcement from the governor has left some wondering just what to do, especially when it comes to many of the precautions they’ve been taking for the past 14 months.

“There are definitely factions within management teams and organizations that are saying, ‘yay … let’s throw away all the masks and do away with all the social distancing and just get back to the way we used to operate,” said Wise, noting that EANE’s hotline has been flooded with calls on various aspects of the reopening plan and mask mandates. “But then there are concerns about whether people have been vaccinated or not. Do businesses put something out that says, ‘if you’re vaccinated, you don’t have to wear a mask?’ And if they do, will there then be peer pressure for people who haven’t been vaccinated to stop wearing a mask because they don’t want to stand out?”

Changing on the Fly — Again

Peter Rosskothen, owner of the Log Cabin Banquet & Meeting House, the Delaney House restaurant, and other hospitality-related businesses, has lived through a number of announcements from the governor and has become adept at changing on the fly. Still, this change is abrupt and huge in scale.

“This reversal is traumatic in some ways,” he said the day after the announcement came down. “Everything we’ve been doing for the last year and half is out the door in 10 days. Think of all the things we were doing … and now we’re just flipping a switch and going back to the old way, like with buffets. Now it’s suddenly OK to let people serve themselves? It just doesn’t seem right mentally.”

This change has him excited on some levels — he has a number of weddings booked for those two months, and now the bride and groom can invite more people to those ceremonies — but there is some apprehension as well, especially when it comes to the daunting task of staffing up for larger volumes of business.

“This reversal is traumatic in some ways. Everything we’ve been doing for the last year and half is out the door in 10 days.”

In no way is this remotely one of those proverbial good problems to have, he told BusinessWest, adding that businesses across the hospitality sector have been struggling mightily to not just hire people, but keep them for any length of time amid immense competition for good help.

“I’ve heard that there’s one restaurant that’s paying people $1,000 if they stay for three months,” he noted, adding that many others have resorted to sign-on bonuses and other types of incentives to get people in the door.

He hasn’t taken that step yet (he’s thinking about it), but he is increasing hourly wages, a step he believes will help but certainly not solve what has been a persistent problem made worse, in his opinion and that of many others, by generous unemployment benefits and an overall relaxing of rules requiring those out of work to look for employment. Meanwhile, he’s not sure how these soaring labor costs will impact his ability to do business.

“This labor shortage is going to radically increase our labor costs,” he explained. “We were ready for a minimum wage of $15, and we were planning on that in our pricing. But $15 is not good enough post-COVID.”

As for people who are employed, the governor’s decision to move up the timetable for fully reopening the state is, as noted, bringing fresh emphasis to a problem many employers were looking to deal with later, rather than sooner.

That problem is simply deciding who comes back, when, and under what circumstances. Wise told BusinessWest several weeks ago that many employers were struggling with this issue because employees had grown accustomed to working from home and many of them would prefer to keep on doing so, even as their managers would prefer they return.

Compromises in the form of hybrid schedules are one solution, said Wise, adding that the new timetable for fully reopening the state is creating a new sense of urgency among some employers, whether they like it or not.

“Organizations probably thought they had a few more months before they had to actually roll out any new policies and procedures regarding how and when they’re going to bring people back and whether they’re going to require them to come back full-time or work a hybrid schedule,” she told BusinessWest. “Now, with everything being lifted as of May 29, do they rush this, do they put it on steroids and get it going a lot faster, or do they still take their time and be more thoughtful and more planned?”

Knowing that business owners are uncertain about how to handle this situation, EANE is preparing to survey its members on this matter, said Wise, adding that the results will be eagerly awaited by those pressed to make decisions.

“Everyone wants to know what everyone else is doing,” she told BusinessWest. “They want to know how to compare and benchmark against everyone else.”

What happens in offices in Springfield, Northampton, and other communities will certainly play a role in how quickly and profoundly some businesses bounce back, said Sullivan, adding that he expects that aspect of the economy to emerge much more slowly than the tourism sector.

“The bounceback to the office work as it was before the pandemic is going to be slower than the travel and tourism industry because everyone is going to be careful and methodical when it comes to opening back up,” he explained, adding that it might be fall or a little sooner before most offices are back to something approaching pre-pandemic conditions. “There will still be a significant amount of mask wearing and social distancing, especially in a larger office setting, even with the relaxed CDC guidelines.”

Back to Normal?

In many respects, the governor’s announcement amounts to more pivoting, said Creed, adding that, by now, most businesses have gotten pretty good at it — a trend she expects to continue into the governor’s ‘new normal’ stage of reopening the state.

“If there’s one thing we’ve learned through all of this, it’s that we can absolutely can pivot, and we’re incredibly resilient and can adjust,” she said. “So now, we just have to adjust to slowly getting back to normal.”

Meanwhile, for Rosskothen, the acceleration of the state’s reopening plan means something else — getting back to doing business as he did before the pandemic.

“The exciting thing about this is that we’re going to be real managers again,” he told BusinessWest. “Instead of thinking about how we can get free money from the government, I’m 100% switching to becoming a manager — how do we manage this labor shortage? How do we motivate staff? How do we get staff ready so we can manage this influx of business that’s right around the corner?

“It’s real management again,” he went on. “No complaining about COVID or restrictions … it’s about work, and that’s a good thing.”

That’s just one of many good things to come from an announcement that brought a large helping of joy and relief, but with some anxiety on the side.

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

Westmass Strives to Become a More Impactful Force in Economic Development

By George O'Brien May 26, 2021

Commercial Real Estate Special Coverage

Getting Down to Business

WestMass CEO Jeff Daley (left) and Sean O’Donnell (right), the agency’s Economic Development planner and leasing manager, with metal sculptor Kamil Peters, who relocated to Ludlow Mills last summer.

The primary role of the Westmass Area Development Corp. — as the agency recently stressed in a letter to area stakeholders — is to “to manage the entire economic-development process — from conception to completion.” How it performs that role is changing and expanding, however — not just in its portfolio of development and property reuse, including its industrial parks and the ever-intriguing Ludlow Mills project, but as a valuable consultant for businesses and communities with a vision.

The letters, 150 of them, went out earlier this month.

They were sent to mayors, economic-development leaders, and other officials in communities across the four counties of Western Mass., dozens of area cities and towns, and served as introductions, invitations, and reminders all at the same time.

Officials in those communities were and are being invited to take full advantage of the talent and resources available at Westmass Area Development Corp. — the not-for-profit economic and real-estate development firm established in 1960 by state-enabling legislation — to help with a wide range of projects, from urban-renewal plans to environmental permitting; from complex site-related issues to specialized tax incentives.

The reminder part? Well, Westmass has been offering this kind of assistance to area communities almost from the start, but under the leadership of Jeff Daley, who took the helm at the agency in the summer of 2019, consulting work has become a much larger part of the business plan for the agency, which is promoting such services more heavily — and in a number of ways.

Like with those those letters, which quickly get to the heart of the matter.

“Every community, no matter its size or complexity, requires an ongoing economic-development effort to ensure financial stability of that community,” it reads. “Ideally, through the public-private partnership process, commonly shared economic-development goals can be identified and ultimately achieved. The primary role of Westmass is to manage the entire economic-development process — from conception to completion — and [be] engaged throughout all stages.”

“Westmass has always had some foot in the consulting business, helping communities and developers. But given my background, what I want to bring to the table is really opening the door for businesses and communities with economic and real-estate development projects; we’re really ramping things up.”

There are already some good examples of how Westmass with worked with area communities to achieve stated goals, said Daly, citing assistance with managing grants that helped land the Green High Performance Computing Center in Holyoke and some similar assistance with bringing the Holyoke Community College MGM Culinary Arts Center to reality.

The goal moving forward is to add to the portfolio and become more of a contributing force when it comes to economic development and property reuse in the region.

“Westmass has always had some foot in the consulting business, helping communities and developers,” he explained. “But given my background, what I want to bring to the table is really opening the door for businesses and communities with economic and real-estate development projects; we’re really ramping things up.”

That background he mentioned includes his own private consulting firm, CJC Development Advisors, and a stint as director of the Westfield Redevelopment Authority, during which he worked on several projects in the city’s downtown. He is now part of a team that also includes Sara la Cour, vice president of Operations for Westmass, and Sean O’Donnell, Economic Development planner and leasing manager for the agency.

Nick Moran, founder of Iron Duke Brewing, is expanding his operation at the Ludlow Mills, making the complex more of a destination.

Overall, this consulting arm is now one of three main prongs to the Westmass operation, with the others being industrial-park management — the agency oversees several parks, including facilities in Agawam, Chicopee, East Longmeadow, Hadley, and Westfield, most of which are fully leased — and redevelopment of the Ludlow Mills site, a 15-to 20-year project that Daly believes can serve as a model for what other communities can do with old mill buildings and complex brownfield sites.

The mill now boasts 30 tenants, including a senior housing complex, a rehabilitation hospital, and a host of smaller businesses, including several recent arrivals. That list includes Kamil Peters, a contemporary metal sculptor who relocated to the mill from Holyoke (more on him later); Westnet Inc., a medical-supplies distributor, which moved in earlier this year; and Herron Automation, a machinist and CNC operator.

It also includes a tenant that isn’t new but is intriguing nonetheless. That would be Iron Duke Brewery, which almost left the mill in the protracted legal battle over whether lease conditions were violated, but wound up staying and is now in an expansion mode, with work on a new beer garden slated to begin later this year.

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, BusinessWest takes an in-depth look at how Westmass intends to broaden its impact in the region by helping area cities and towns take complex projects off the drawing board and make them reality.

Not Run of the Mill

Returning to that letter sent out to area communities, it’s part of a larger effort on the part of those at Westmass to create more visibility for the agency, make its expertise and resources known to more municipal officials and developers, and, in general, tell its story. A move downtown, to offices in Monarch Place, is part of that initiative.

“We’ve certainly experienced enough in this now that we can go in and help cities and towns with buildings like this, whether they’re mills or old dilapidated structures; we can help them go in and see what can be done.”

Other components, part of a new multi-year strategic plan being reviewed by the Westmass board, include a revamped, far more modern website and more extensive use of social media, said Daly, adding that many in the region believe Westmass is only in the business of developing industrial parks. That’s a big part of the mission, he noted, but it’s not the whole story.

And he wants to write more chapters in the broad realm of consulting, where, he believes, there is considerable room for growth. That’s because of the wide range of experience the agency can bring to the table, including assistance to both communities and developers in many realms.

These include everything from business-improvement districts (la Cour ran the Amherst BID for many years) to district-improvement financing, one of Daly’s areas of expertise.

“When I started my own private business, it was a shot in the dark because I saw what communities didn’t have and what developers were missing,” he explained. “And it proved to be very successful very quickly. I’m taking the same passion I had for that kind of work in my private practice and rolling it into Westmass’ purview to help area communities, because that’s what we’re here to do — develop properties, help communities, and create jobs.”

Daly said Westmass is targeting all communities west of Worcester when it comes to its consulting arm. And while smaller communities without economic-development staffs can certainly benefit from such services, larger municipalities can as well, and some already have.

Kamil Peters is one of a number of new tenants at Ludlow Mills that are giving the complex a different look and feel.

The full list of areas for which Westmass can assist developers and municipalities also includes strategic planning for integrated project permitting, project financing and incentives, public procurement and grant management, and site acquisition and redevelopment of historic buildings, greenfields, and brownfields.

That last category brings us back to Ludlow Mills, which encompasses all three of those types of property. It is certainly historic — the mills played a huge role in the growth and development of Ludlow, and there is a large mix of brownfields and greenfields being redeveloped.

And with its experience in redeveloping the mill complex, Westmass has established itself as a leader of sorts in this kind of large, very complex redevelopment.

“This is the biggest mill in the region, and it’s very time-consuming and capital-intensive,” he noted. “But we’ve certainly experienced enough in this now that we can go in and help cities and towns with buildings like this, whether they’re mills or old dilapidated structures; we can help them go in and see what can be done.”

Often with such projects, environmental issues are a key consideration — and a major stumbling block, he went on, adding that this was certainly the case with Ludlow Mills. Over the past 11 years, Westmass has applied for and received several million dollars worth of grants from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the state to clean the site and make it ready for redevelopment.

The latest EPA grant, totaling $461,000 (word of approval was just received), will enable Westmass to clean 10 buildings on the site with roofs loaded with asbestos, preparing them for eventual demolition and redevelopment of five to six acres of property.

“It was a competitive and comprehensive program that we applied for,” said Daly, “and we’re grateful to the EPA to get selected for exactly what we asked for.”

The property in question, just south of the Ludlow Senior Center, includes several of the stockhouses that populate the site. Some may remain standing, said Daly, but the ‘clean dirt’ that will result from demolition of those deemed unsavable will give Westmass a real opportunity to add to its eclectic mix of tenants in the mill complex.

“I was in Holyoke for 10 years. My space was starting to close in on me a little bit. I was invited to take a look here and found it had ample power, the price was reasonable, and there were already things going on here, like Iron Duke. I decided I wanted to be part of it.”

That tenant base has evolved over the years, said O’Donnell, and now includes a number of storage-related ventures, several light manufacturers, the brewery, a battery sales and servicing company, the senior housing complex, and even a wholesale florist.

Then, there’s Peters, who has transformed one of the high-ceilinged stockhouses into a new studio. On the day BusinessWest visited, he was working on a number of wooden benches (he does woodworking as well) for a new client that is transforming what was the late actor Christopher Reeves’ estate in the Berkshires into a mix of Airbnb and event space. He was also doing some work for Harold Grinspoon, one of BusinessWest’s recently honored Difference Makers, who is, in addition to being a successful business owner and philanthropist, a prolific sculptor.

Known for his metal masks, Peters said he found Ludlow Mills at the suggestion of a few friends and colleagues who thought the space would provide him space to work — and grow.

“I was in Holyoke for 10 years,” he noted. “My space was starting to close in on me a little bit. I was invited to take a look here and found it had ample power, the price was reasonable, and there were already things going on here, like Iron Duke. I decided I wanted to be part of it.”

The plan moving forward is to make the mill more of destination, which could attract many different kinds of businesses, said Daly, adding that, as noted, this is both a brownfields project — redevelopment of the old mill buildings — and greenfields, specifically 37 acres of undeveloped land which is drawing considerable interest and will certainly attract much more when a private road to that property, one of many priorities for Westmass at this site, is constructed.

Meanwhile, a $7 million project to construct a public road along the Chicopee River, which will create frontage for several properties, should also put the mill property on more radar screens.

Overall, the evolving mix of tenants is “changing the dynamic” at the mill complex, said Daly, adding that, with the beer garden and tenants like Peters, who has a goal to create an artists’ gallery in his space, the mill does become a destination.

“Businesses like this are bringing people here after work, on weekends … it’s not just a 7-to-3 manufacturing facility anymore,” he told BusinessWest. “It’s driving a different economy of scale with who comes here and the money they’re spending. It’s a neat concept that we’ve stumbled into, if you will.”

Bottom Line

It’s the kind of concept that Westmass would like to help other area communities stumble into.

With those letters that went out earlier this month, as well as other initiatives undertaken recently to improve its visibility, Westmass is not exactly broadening its mission, but rather putting more emphasis on what could be called another ‘growth area’ for the agency.

It’s all part of a larger strategic plan aimed at making an agency that has been a driving force in economic development in this region an even more powerful engine.

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

Kitchen and Bathroom Designs Reflect How People Live Today

Home Improvement Special Coverage

Upscale but Simple

While interior-design trends in homes can be slow to change — and, in many ways, have been, as evidenced by the white and grey colors that still dominate — the way people are using their homes did change somewhat over the past year. That, and a growing desire among older homeowners to age in place, has influenced what people are looking for in kitchens and bathrooms — and they have no shortage of options to achieve their vision.

By Mark Morris

With a wave of her hand, Lori Loughlin makes the water flow from a touchless kitchen faucet.

While homebuyers want to put their own stamp on a new house, Scott Keiter said, when it comes to kitchens, they tend to think alike.

In fact, the owner of Keiter Builders currently has six new homes under construction, and for every one, the owners want kitchens that provide plenty of light, an airy feeling, and enough room for people to gather.

“We’re seeing less of a distinction between the kitchen and living area and more of a merger as the two morph into one space,” he said.

In many cases, the anchor to this space is the kitchen island. While islands have been popular for years as a way to provide more counter and cabinet space, during the pandemic, they saw increased use for food preparation as people ate more meals at home. The island also served as a desk for many who suddenly found themselves working from home. As a result, Keiter said, islands have become more multi-purpose, and the kitchen is now seen as a multi-use space.

“On top of the normal cooking and food prep, we’re seeing a movement to make the kitchen a more communal room. It’s becoming a place to work from home, as well as a place for guests and friends to congregate.”

While the kitchen is becoming more of a gathering place and its form and function are changing, Dave Lloyd, manager of Budget Cabinet, said every customer looking to remodel that space shares one objective: convenience.

“While new houses allow for bigger islands, we do a lot of remodeling projects where people are limited by the footprint of their house,” he said.

Whether incorporating an island or not, one trend that addresses convenience and improved function is what Lloyd called “drawers over doors.” Many cabinet designs offer wide and deep drawers to store bulky or heavy items. That way, instead of making someone reach overhead for heavy dishes in a cabinet, a waist-high drawer allows for easier access — which becomes more important as people age.

“We’re seeing less of a distinction between the kitchen and living area and more of a merger as the two morph into one space.”

Aging in place also comes into play in bathroom design, said Lori Loughlin, manager at Frank Webb Home. These days, she noted, handheld shower heads are the choice of nearly every bathroom renovation. Also popular are shower fixtures that combine a handheld with a rainfall feature.

“We work with many people who want to age in place, so we stress that a handheld shower is more convenient to use and clean the shower stall,” she explained.

Converting old bathrooms to accommodate a lower-threshold shower for the aging or physically challenged isn’t new, she added, but the styles are changing. “There are things we can do to make a shower safe and functional without it looking institutional. For example, there will be a seat and grab bars, but they are done with more style, so the result looks more like a spa.”

Colors such as gray translucent stain are appearing in more kitchens.

Aging in place also affects kitchen design, where islands are available in multiple levels, with a lower level constructed to accommodate seniors or people in a wheelchair.

Because everyone is more aware of touching surfaces, touchless bathroom faucets and a toilet that flushes by waving one’s hand over a sensor are available as well. While once considered gimmicky, sophisticated toilet seats that have a warmer built in, along with a bidet, are growing in interest. Loughlin noted that these more premium seats also contribute to aging-in-place considerations by allowing people who might otherwise need assistance to take care of themselves.

Such bathroom renovations might seem like an indulgence, Lloyd said, but the result is a space that provides easier access and convenience, again, allowing people to live in their homes longer.

During this boom time in home building and renovations, BusinessWest caught up with several professionals who shared what their customers are looking for in their kitchens and bathrooms — for both their present and future needs.

Form and Function

Lloyd noted that today’s kitchens emphasize designs that are high-functioning and less ornate, and tastes are trending toward cabinet designs with clean lines such as the Shaker look, as well as simpler cabinet hardware.

While the overall trends haven’t changed much over the years, he added, colors have seen some changes. “Translucent cabinet stains are becoming popular because it gives you some color, but you can still see the grain of the wood. Whites and grays — both light and dark — are still very popular color choices.”

Lloyd said his customers want interesting but not ornate designs in kitchen backsplashes, while upscale appliances remain very popular in kitchen remodels, with stainless steel a popular option and black stainless on the rise as a trend.

Black may become the new neutral, Loughlin said, noting that touchless and black faucets are currently big sellers in kitchens. “For the next couple of years, I think we will be seeing a trend of faucets with mixed metals, such as black and gold,” she noted, while faucets with a black finish are trending in the bathroom as well.

Dave Lloyd demonstrates a two-level silverware drawer.

Deep drawers provide easier access for larger items.

While white farmhouse sinks remain popular, she said they are now available in black and other colors to better match darker shades of quartz and granite countertops. Speaking of which, quartz has passed granite as the most popular stone countertop material.

“People are spending more time in their kitchens, so they are getting what they want,” she explained. The styles that resonate most with her customers include the contemporary farmhouse look and industrial chic, where faucets and lighting have a stylish but industrial look to them.

Lighting also reflects black and gold color schemes, with open fixtures creating an airy look. Pendant lighting, which once featured small pendants suspended from the ceiling, have grown into larger pendants that fill more space and provide more light.

Kitchen floor upgrades were once limited to hardwoods or tile floors made of ceramic or porcelain. Eclipsing both of those choices, the current most popular trend in flooring is LVT, or luxury vinyl tile. Resembling wood planks, LVT floors click into place and are known in the industry as ‘floating’ floors, so named because they are not glued down. Jake Levine, manager of Advanced Rug and Flooring Center, said the waterproof properties of LVT make it a best seller in his store.

“Because LVT handles water so well, it is replacing other more expensive alternatives,” he said. “LVT is also 40% warmer to the touch than a tile floor, and it’s not prone to chipping, also an issue with tile floors.”

Installing a hardwood or tile floor takes real expertise, Levine explained, noting that LVT floors can be a do-it-yourself project because they allow more room for error.

“If you don’t like the direction of the planks, you can unclick them and reinstall,” he said. “I’m not saying everyone will get the same results as a professional, but a capable DIY-er can do it.”

For customers who prefer a tile look, LVT is available in 24-by-12-inch pieces featuring stone patterns that click in place similar to the planks. This style and its waterproof properties make it a good choice for a bathroom, but Levine said most people still prefer porcelain or ceramic tile.

“For many people, the word ‘vinyl’ suffers from an old stigma of linoleum floors that discolored and peeled,” he said. “The click floors are very good for bathrooms because they are designed for areas that get water.”

As Western Mass. is known for its many older homes, a bathroom renovation can often involve converting a spare bedroom into a larger, more modern bathroom, usually adjacent to the master bedroom. Lloyd said this is a popular renovation among empty-nest couples.

Mixed metals are an increasingly popular option for kitchen faucets.

“People who want to stay in their home are figuring out how to use the same square footage, but improve it,” he explained. “The idea of living space is changing, where people will give up a bedroom for a luxury bathroom with better lighting, better shower, and more storage in the cabinetry.”

While many bathroom renovations replace the tub with a more upscale shower, Loughlin said that decision is usually driven by personal preference.

“There are bath people, and there are shower people,” she noted. “People who like to take baths will spend whatever they want for a bathtub, while those who only want a shower won’t even install a bathtub in their master bathroom.”

As Seen on TV

For those considering upgrading a kitchen or bathroom, popular media such as the HGTV cable network and social-media sites Pintrest, Instagram, and others offer endless examples of what’s new in design and accessories.

“Every customer who comes in has at least one Pinterest photo on their phone, or they reference something they saw on HGTV,” Lloyd said, adding that houzz.com is another influencer.

Meanwhile, Levine credits HGTV shows with increasing the awareness of LVT flooring. “The vinyl plank is now common knowledge thanks to them.”

Loughlin said the Frank Webb showroom carries several kitchen sink styles that appear on HGTV because customers often have a vision that is influenced by the network. While helpful most of the time, however, these shows can also contribute to outlandish and unrealistic expectations.

“Some people think they can redo their house in 30 minutes; it just doesn’t work that way,” she said. “It’s not unusual for the timeframe to surprise people, especially now, when hiring a contractors is more difficult because they are all so busy.”

While new trends emerge in kitchens and bathrooms, older ones are meeting their demise. In new homes, Keiter noted, people still want bathrooms that are upscale and functional, but use less space.

“Real estate is so expensive now, some people are reassessing where they want to spend their money,” he said. “Instead of a 250 square-foot bathroom with a whirlpool tub, they are opting to lose the whirlpool and reduce the overall size of the bathroom.”

Instead, he said, customers are spending their money in the kitchen or a sunroom, where they spend far more of their time.

In the spirit of simplicity and a clean look, Lloyd said the recent trend of glass cabinet doors is on its way out because “people like to put things away and not have to keep looking at them.”

He also noted that counter space for wine bars is starting to give way to dedicated cabinetry to house an emerging trend: coffee bars. “Wine was big for a while, but coffee has become bigger of late.”

Though tastes may differ, kitchen and bath professionals all agree that customers these days have plenty of options.

“Manufacturers are expanding their product lines to accommodate many different tastes and needs,” said Loughlin, giving people the opportunity to follow their vision or create their own style.

With the Leave Bill Now in Effect, Here’s How It Works

Law

Examining PFML

Paid family medical leave is now the law in Massachusetts. And while most all employers know that, they may not know all the provisions and eligibility rules for this important piece of legislation. They need to know, because failure to abide by all those provisions may be costly, in more ways than one.

By Katharine Shove, Esq.

Back in 2018, Gov. Charlie Baker signed the Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave program (PFML) into law. That legislation has now taken effect, and many employers have questions about exactly how the law works and to whom it applies.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2021, most eligible employees who work in Massachusetts are entitled to paid, job-protected time off from work to manage a serious health condition of their own; to bond with a child following the child’s birth, adoption, or foster placement; or to care for a family member suffering from a serious health condition.

Katharine Shove, Esq

“The PFML law has strict notice requirements. Employers must provide written notice of the PFML program to all employees within 30 days of the employee’s start date.”

The PFML program is run by the state’s Department of Family and Medical Leave, providing income replacement benefits to eligible employees. PFML benefits are funded by a payroll contribution deducted from employees’ wages. Under the PFML law, employers were required to begin such contributions on Oct. 1, 2019.

Who Is Eligible?

Leave under the PFML program applies to most W-2 employees in Massachusetts, regardless of whether they are full-time, part-time, or seasonal. Unlike the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Massachusetts PFML law says an employee is not required to work for a minimum length of time in order to be eligible for leave under the PFML law. However, an employee must meet the minimum-threshold earning requirements in order to be eligible for leave under the law.

How Many Weeks of Leave Are Available?

The PFML law requires employers to provide eligible employees up to 26 weeks of leave in a benefit year. Beginning Jan. 1, 2021, eligible employees may be entitled to up to 20 weeks of paid leave to manage their own serious health condition. Eligible employees may also receive up to 12 weeks of paid leave to bond with a child who is newly born, adopted, or placed in foster care, and up to 26 weeks to care for a family member in the Armed Forces.

On July 1, 2021, employees will be able to receive up to 12 weeks to care for a family member with a serious health condition. Under the Massachusetts PFML law, a family member could be an employee’s spouse, domestic partner, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, parent of a spouse, or parent of a domestic partner.

In the aggregate, eligible employees may not receive more than 26 weeks of paid leave in a benefit year, even if they have more than one family member who may need care.

Requirement of Written Notice to Employees

The PFML law has strict notice requirements. Employers must provide written notice of the PFML program to all employees within 30 days of the employee’s start date. Such notice must include information about the benefits under the PFML program, contribution rates, and job protections under the law. The notice to employees must also include an opportunity for an individual to either acknowledge or decline receipt. In addition to written notice, employers must display posters (issued or approved by the Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave) that explain the benefits available to eligible employees under the PFML law.

Application Process

Employees must inform their employers of their need to take leave under the law at least 30 days before the start of the leave, and before filing an application for leave with the state. Where reasons beyond an employee’s control prevent them from giving such advance notice, they must inform their employer as soon as is practical. It is then the employee’s responsibility to apply for leave through the Department of Family and Medical Leave, and the department will make the decision as to whether the leave is approved or denied. Once the department receives the employee’s application, the department will request information from the employer relative to the employee’s job status.

Important Considerations for Employers

It is illegal for an employer to discriminate or retaliate against an employee for exercising any right to which he or she is entitled under the law, including the right to request PFML leave. To this end, the PFML law has a strict anti-retaliation provision. If an employer takes adverse action against an employee during the employee’s leave, or within six months after their return to work, there is a presumption that the employer retaliated against the employee for exercising his or her rights under the PFML law.

It is then the employer’s burden to prove there was some independent and justifiable reason for taking the adverse employment action. Adverse employment action can include termination of employment, disciplinary action, or reduction in status, pay, or benefits.

The PFML law runs concurrently with other applicable state and federal leave laws, such as the federal FMLA and the Massachusetts Parental Leave Act. Similar to the federal FMLA, a Massachusetts employee who returns to work after taking leave under PFML law must be returned to same or similar position as he or she had prior to their leave.

If an employee files a lawsuit against his or her employer for violation of the PFML law and the employer is found to be in violation of the PFML law, numerous remedies are available to the employee. These remedies include reinstatement of the employee to the same or similar position, three times the employee’s lost wages and benefits, and the employee’s attorney’s fees incurred in bringing the action.

Can Employers Opt Out of the Program?

Some Massachusetts employers can opt out of the PFML program and apply for an exemption from paying PFML contributions if they purchase a private plan with benefits that are as generous as the state’s plan, and which provide the same protections.

Get Assistance with Making Policy

The PFML rollout presents a great deal of new information to navigate both for employees and employers. A qualified attorney will be able to assist with interpretation of the PFML, amending current leave policies, and practical matters of doing business in this new benefit environment. For those with questions about the Massachusetts PFML program, the best protection is to seek guidance from an experienced employment-law attorney.

Attorney Katharine Shove is an associate with Bacon Wilson, P.C. and a member of the firm’s litigation team. She works on matters of employment law involving discrimination and retaliation, wage-and-hour laws, and workplace policies and compliance; (413) 781-0560; [email protected]

Teamwork Leads to Optimism in Chicopee

Community Spotlight

By Mark Morris

Mayor John Vieau says better control of COVID and the ongoing economic reopening have Chicopee officials excited about progress in the city.

After a year when everyone got used to pivoting — and got sick of that word — Chicopee Mayor John Vieau is happy to be pivoting in a different direction.

Specifically, he made some adjustments to a standing meeting with his staff — but this time for a more positive reason. Since the earliest days of the pandemic, Vieau met three times a week with a COVID-19 task force made up of city department heads. He’s still meeting with the group, but their focus has now shifted from COVID to reopening Chicopee. Among the agenda items are reinstalling basketball hoops and opening essential city buildings.

“For the last year, anyone needing services at City Hall, the library, or the Council on Aging had to make an appointment, so we’re excited about welcoming the public again,” he said.

Vieau pointed with pride to municipal employees for all their efforts during the pandemic, noting that the city made it through the last 14 months without having to furlough or lay off even one employee. “The response from everyone in Chicopee has been exceptional. Because we’ve all pulled together, there is a very bright light at the end of the tunnel.”

Moving forward, proper training and advancement of city employees is a priority for the mayor. Noting that both the fire and police chiefs worked their way into the top jobs in their respective departments, Vieau wants the same opportunities for those who follow. “I want to make sure there is always a success ladder available for employees and the right training is available for them.”

Like every community, local businesses in Chicopee were hit hard by the pandemic. That’s why the city contracted with the Greater Chicopee Chamber of Commerce to offer free grant application assistance to any Chicopee business.

“The response from everyone in Chicopee has been exceptional. Because we’ve all pulled together, there is a very bright light at the end of the tunnel.”

Julie Copoulos, executive director of the chamber, noted that, because her organization has such a large network, it’s able to get information out quickly and to find out what a small business might need.

“Many business owners just needed someone who could say, ‘hey, I think this grant application fits you and would be a good one to apply for,’” Copoulos said. “These programs can save a person’s business, but the application can be complex, so it really helps to have a person who has been through the process, to sit with you and get it done.”

Positive Shifts

Two Chicopee chamber members did not see a slowdown during the pandemic, but instead ramped up their efforts. Universal Plastics shifted its production to make COVID testing machines and face shields, while Callaway Golf manufactured the company’s top-end Chrome Soft golf ball in a year when the golf business jumped 8%.

“Universal Plastics is an excellent example of what great companies do,” Vieau said. “During a time of uncertainty, they modified their production to meet current demands.”

Copoulos credits Chicopee businesses for being resilient and adaptable during a challenging year. “It was amazing to see these folks turn on a dime and change their business model,” she said. “Now they are in the process of changing it back.”

A new Chicopee Center project conducted in partnership with MassDevelopment is designed to bring more business to downtown and support the businesses already there, the mayor noted. “I’m excited about the future of downtown. It will be a thriving area with a small-town feel, and it will be one of the coolest downtowns you’ll see.”

Chicopee officials recently selected a developer for the last parcel of the former Facemate property. Plans for the site include a 54,000-square-foot, multi-sport facility; a 102-unit residential building; and renovation of the Baskin building into a 10,000-square-foot restaurant and brewery, where Loophole Brewing is expected to locate.

An artist’s rendering of the proposed Facemate site, showing the athletic-field complex and the renovated Baskin building.

The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts recently purchased 16.5 acres in the Chicopee River Industrial Park and plans to move all its operations from its longtime location in Hadley. The Food Bank is making the move to expand its warehouse space and locate closer to major highways. “We’re going to be right at the center of the effort to solve food insecurity,” Vieau said.

In addition to businesses reopening, new ones are locating in Chicopee. On the day BusinessWest spoke with the mayor, he had just attended a ribbon cutting for La Diaspora, a new art consignment store. Vieau also noted that the pandemic did not slow down construction of a new Florence Bank branch that recently opened on Memorial Drive.

Like communities everywhere, home sales in Chicopee are booming. Copoulos said Chicopee has an advantage over neighboring communities by offering some of the lowest residential real-estate prices in the Pioneer Valley.

“Chicopee has huge opportunity right now because young families are getting priced out of towns like Easthampton and Northampton,” she said. “Chicopee is accessible for first-time homebuyers, and I look forward to young families locating here.”

Back to School

Vieau also looks forward to Chicopee students returning to their schools.

“Nearly all our classrooms are air-conditioned,” he noted, “and we’ve enhanced the air quality in all the school buildings as well.”

Both Vieau and Copoulos spoke of a general feeling of optimism now that COVID-19 is more under control and the economy is opening back up statewide. Both were excited to talk about the Center Fresh Farmers Market starting in June. Hosted by the chamber, Center Fresh represents a chance for people to get together again.

“I’m excited that we will be able to see people on the street again, face to face,” Copoulos said.

Added Vieau, “efforts like this help reignite downtown. We’ve been on pause far too long.”

While he admits the pandemic was a true test for Chicopee, the mayor pointed out that the city is finishing strong. In addition to hosting a regional vaccination site at the Castle of Knights, the city has partnered with Holyoke Health Center and its mobile vaccine clinic. Overall, he believes Chicopee’s success in weathering the coronavirus is due to efforts by people all over the city.

“It has been a team effort with different people stepping up to help,” Vieau said, citing examples like library staff who made comfort calls to check in on people and help them sign up for vaccines, and the Council on Aging providing up to 300 to-go lunches five days a week. “People all over Chicopee were willing to redefine their roles and their jobs because they wanted to do the right thing.”

Blue Sox, Starfires Ready to Kick Off Their Summer Seasons

Travel and Tourism

Play Ball!

Kate Avard says the Blue Sox have maintained strong relationships with programs that have delivered key players in its past few successful seasons.

Kate Avard first discovered the Valley Blue Sox as a summer intern with the club in 2016, while working toward degrees in sport management and kinesiology at UMass Amherst, and she was excited to return to the franchise as its general manager in 2020.

It wasn’t the experience she had hoped for, to say the least. But she’s happy to see the team finally taking the field in 2021.

“We didn’t get to play last year, and I think everyone across the league — players, staff, and interns — are all very excited to be able to play this season,” Avard told BusinessWest.

Last year’s lull particularly smarted for the Blue Sox, who were coming off three outstanding seasons — New England Collegiate Baseball League championships in 2017 and 2018 and a nailbiter loss in the division finals in 2019.

“We’ve gotten tons of interest from players wanting to get back out there for us,” she said. “The same thing with interns — we pull interns from across the U.S. Everyone wants to get back out on the field, and that goes for all the organizations in our league.”

Chris Thompson had a different pandemic experience last year. The co-founder of the Westfield Starfires was grateful that the Futures Collegiate Baseball League actually went through with a season, albeit one with strict pandemic protocols and limited fans. He, too, is looking forward to a more normal campaign in 2021.

“It’s an opportunity for kids to come together and kind of celebrate the social gathering once again.”

“We’re proud to be part of such an innovative and forward-thinking league,” he said. “In the last year, we were able to manage the intricacies of multiple states and municipalities to pull off a season — some of the only baseball played in North America. We’re pretty proud of that — of showcasing our team and being able to provide a safe, positive experience for fans at Bullens Field.”

In fact, the Futures league not only played last year, but managed to grow its footprint during the pandemic, welcoming two new teams, the Burlington (Vt.) Lake Monsters and the Norwich (Conn.) Sea Unicorns, into the fold, which speaks well of continued interest in baseball, Thompson noted. “We’ve been able to attract new ownership groups, which is really exciting for us.”

Despite the lost season of play last year, Avard said the Blue Sox’ director of Baseball Operations, John Raiola, was able to maintain relationships that have long fed Holyoke’s summer franchise. “He knows all the recruiting very well, so he was able to stay in contact with a lot of programs and schools that we’ve previously drawn from. We definitely didn’t go silent last year.”

Meanwhile, the Starfires have been in contact with college coaches around the country as well, Thompson said, though national recruiting is a little more difficult because Westfield is among many teams that have put host-family programs on hold during the pandemic. “Teams are taking a more local and regional roster approach for 2021.”

The Blue Sox, on the other hand, have continued to solicit host families to house the college players this summer.

“We rely on our host families to welcome them and show our players why Western Mass. is so great,” Avard said, while those players, in turn, help the team provide low-cost, family-friendly entertainment for local fans.

She added that the team is following all state health mandates for capacity and social distancing at MacKenzie Stadium — restrictions that were significantly loosened days before press time. Still, the park will be equipped with hand-washing and hand-sanitizer stations in a nod to the fact that the pandemic hasn’t gone away.

“It’s America’s pastime,” Thompson added. “We’re going to have a great atmosphere at Bullens Field. It’s an opportunity for kids to come together and kind of celebrate the social gathering once again, while following all the CDC protocols.”

The Starfires, which were named after a fighter jet once stationed at Barnes Air National Guard Base, will open the season with a new mascot, a black squirrel named Stanley Starfire, who shares a namesake with Stanley Park. “We continue to pay homage to the city of Westfield.”

Thompson is also excited about a partnership with Amherst Brewing Co., which created a new Starfires IPA for sale at the park and at the local Hangar Pub & Brewery. But he’s mostly excited about baseball. “The players are fired up and looking forward to getting back on the field.”

The two local collegiate teams — which both start play in the coming days and continue into August — aren’t the only options for fans, of course. The Hartford Yard Goats, the double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, still draw impressive crowds just down I-91 in Dunkin’ Donuts Park, while the Red Sox moved their triple-A affiliate to Worcester, where they recently kicked off play in Polar Park.

“I personally think baseball is integral to this area,” Avard said. “We have so many different teams in so many different levels, and I’ve seen so much support from the fans. People were reaching out to us in January, asking about the season, asking if we’d be back at MacKenzie.

“Baseball is one of the biggest sports around here,” she went on. “Everyone is so excited to be back on the field. As an outdoor activity, it’s a great way to start bringing things back to normal this summer.”

—Joseph Bednar

The ‘Bike Man’ Continues to Broaden His Mission to Give Back

By George O'Brien May 26, 2021

Nonprofit Management

Taking Things to a Higher Gear

Bob Charland

While providing BusinessWest a tour of the facilities that were once home to the makers of Absorbine Jr., Bob Charland stopped at the top of the stairs leading to the huge basement.

“You want to see what 2,000 bikes looks like … there you go,” he said, gesturing with his hand toward a room absolutely crammed with bicycles of every color, size, and shape imaginable. “And that’s just a fraction of what we have here.”

Indeed, on the other side of a wall that divides the basement are probably another 1,000 bikes, he said, adding that more are stored in a facility in Palmer and still more in a trailer. Meanwhile, in other parts of the massive home for the nonprofit known as Pedal Thru Youth, several hundred bikes are in various stages of being ready for delivery to various constituencies, including 200 that are ready for delivery to working homeless individuals in Hartford.

These rooms filled with bikes go a long way toward telling the story of this unique individual known to most as simply “the Bike Man” and the nonprofit he created four years ago. But there is much more to that story as well, as his tour makes clear.

“There’s nothing in the stores; I was in a bike shop the other day, and there were maybe four bikes there, and these were the high-end models that sell for a few thousand dollars.”

There are also large supplies of clothes for the needy here, as well as backpacks filled with health supplies bound for the homeless, wheelchairs being retrofitted, and bicycles customized for those with special needs.

There’s also a bedroom that Charland adjourns to when he’s working very late (which happens often) and is simply too tired to drive home — which happens “once in a while.”

Collectively, the stops on the tour tell of the mission and the inestimable energy and passion that Charland brings to his work, which has certainly evolved since he launched Pedal Thru Youth and evolved even further in the wake of the pandemic.

Changing Lanes

Indeed, when COVID-19 shut down schools (to which this agency provides a large number of bikes), the economy in general, and non-essential businesses and nonprofits, Charland shifted to making cloth masks and distributing them to police departments and other destinations.

“I was bored,” he said when recalling those first few weeks after COVID arrived. “I know how to sew, so I started sewing face masks at home with my stepson. We then started putting the masks, hand sanitizer, and gloves in backpacks and handing them out to police departments, because those departments certainly weren’t ready for COVID — they didn’t have enough supplies.”

Just some of the thousands of bikes waiting to be repaired and prepared for delivery to children, veterans, and other constituencies at the headquarters for Pedal Thru Youth in Springfield.

The story went viral on social media, and People magazine published a piece that caught the attention of Samsonite, which sent Charland some industrial sewing machines, fabric, and elastic so he could ramp up production of masks.

“We ended up having nine sewing machines out in the community,” he said, adding that he soon had more than 100 masks coming his way each day that he started distributing to senior centers, nursing homes, and a host of police departments.

Because of that initiative, Charland’s agency was deemed essential. And soon, most of the focus was back on bikes and other, more traditional aspects of its mission. But there was some pivoting as well.

With schools closed, many of the donations of bicycles shifted to the homeless and veterans groups, he noted, adding that he also teamed up with the Massachusetts Military Support Foundation to bring food to veterans’ organizations.

Getting back to bicycles … this is still the primary mission of Pedal Thru Youth, and the work of repairing and readying those thousands of bikes that have been donated or collected by police departments, public-works employees, and others has gone on throughout the pandemic.

The donations have mostly been much smaller in scale — again, because most schools remain closed or not open to the public — but Charland has improvised.

“There’s nothing in the stores; I was in a bike shop the other day, and there were maybe four bikes there, and these were the high-end models that sell for a few thousand dollars.”

“We did a very large donation of bikes, 169 of them, to West Springfield, but, because the schools were closed, we had to go house to house to deliver the bikes to individual families,” he said, adding that now, as the pandemic is easing, there is greater demand and an even a greater sense of urgency — if that’s possible.

That’s because bicycles — and bicycle parts — are now firmly on the growing list of items that are in demand, but also short supply. As in very short. During COVID, with children out of school, demand for bikes soared, Charland explained, adding that manufacturers have struggled mightily to build inventory amid supply-chain issues.

“There’s nothing in the stores; I was in a bike shop the other day, and there were maybe four bikes there, and these were the high-end models that sell for a few thousand dollars,” he said, adding that this dynamic is generating more individual requests for bikes from families and nonprofits in need.

Pedal Thru Youth is better equipped to handle larger requests and bulk deliveries of a few dozen or a few hundred bicycles, but, out of necessity, it has adjusted, as with those deliveries to West Springfield families. Overall, he meets roughly 90% of the individual requests for bicycles.

He tries to meet this demand not all by myself, but pretty close.

He has some help from some volunteers, including a few individuals involved in the program called Roca, which strives to end recidivism and return offenders to society through job placement and other initiatives. They assist with basic repairs to bicycles — Charland handles the more difficult work — and getting them ready for transport.

On average, he and his volunteers will get roughly 20 bikes ready for the road each day, said Charland, adding that many of the donated bikes are in decent shape, and those needing considerable work are often stripped down for parts.

In addition to traditional bicycles, requests are soaring for bikes for children with special needs. And they come from not only Western Mass., but across the country. Charland had a few ready to go out the door on the day BusinessWest visited, but there are roughly 90 requests for such bikes on his desk.

Pedaling On

Meanwhile, as he goes about meeting these requests, he battles a number of health issues, most recently three hernias, and shoulder and kidney issues that now keep him from working for a living and waging legal battles for workers’ comp. This is addition to a head injury that has long impacted his quality of life.

He said he soldiers on because of the satisfaction he gets from his various efforts, especially the delivery of a bicycle — and a helmet, water bottle, and first-aid kit — to a child in need.

“I love what I do,” he said simply. “This is a lot of fun, and to see the look on the kids’ faces … that’s what drives me.”

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

Green River Festival Returns with a New Date and New Site

Travel and Tourism

Better Late Than Never

Femi Kuti & the Positive Force entertain the crowd at the Green River Festival in 2018. (Photo by Douglas Mason)

Since its inception in the late 1980s, the Green River Festival had never been canceled. Until last year.

And Jim Olsen wanted to give it every chance to return in 2021, even if it meant moving the date from mid-July to Aug. 27-29 — which turned out to be unnecessary, but hey, better safe than sorry.

“It was definitely a challenge to plan on so many levels,” said Olsen, president of Signature Sounds, the Northampton-based company that produces the annual festival in Greenfield.

“It became apparent in January that July wasn’t going to fly — at least, it didn’t seem that way at the time,” he went on, a perception that speaks volumes about how far the state and the nation have come with COVID-19 case rates and a massive vaccination effort. At first, the move seemed prescient, especially after Gov. Charlie Baker announced the state would fully reopen, without gathering restrictions, on Aug. 1.

No one knew the governor would eventually shift that date to May 29, but Olsen doesn’t mind an extra month to get the Green River Festival right, even if the planning got a little thorny.

“We had already booked all the musicians for July, and we had to scrap that and start over again for August,” he said — a feat in itself, since musicians tend to book a series of shows in succession, and it’s not always easy to shift dates around.

“These musicians are dying to get back out there. They depend on being on the road.”

But shift they did, and this year’s festival features about 30 bands, headlined by the likes of Jon Batiste, Shakey Graves, Ani DiFranco, Valerie June, and Drive-By Truckers over the event’s three days. Check out greenriverfestival.com for the full lineup and plenty of other information.

Speaking of changes, the festival also had to find another venue after 33 years at Greenfield Community College, which announced earlier this year it would be closed for the summer. The new host is the Franklin County Fairgrounds, which actually offers more space, Olsen said. “It’s a great site, and we’re really excited about it. I feel it’s going to be a new and exciting chapter for us.”

He’s not the only one who’s excited. Musicians have struggled badly during the pandemic like few businesses have — and, make no mistake, music is a business, one that relies on live performance.

“These days, you really don’t make much money recording,” Olsen said of a market that has radically de-emphasized physical product in favor of streaming. “It’s all in the live shows. These musicians are dying to get back out there. They depend on being on the road.”

While they’re enjoying this year’s stop along that road — the event will feature music on three different stages throughout the weekend — the festival will also feature plenty of what fans have loved in the past, from Berkshire Brewing Co.’s beer and wine tent to food trucks hailing from across the Northeast to the Makers Market, a collection of regional artisans selling handmade crafts, jewelry, clothing, and more.

“We’ve worked very hard building a world-class crafts market,” Olsen said. “We like to represent the best of Western Mass. at the Green River Festival. That’s why we continue to do so well.”

Tickets cost $139.99 for the weekend, but patrons can attend Friday only for $44.99 or Saturday or Sunday for $69.99 each day. Camping is available, but RV passes are already sold out.

“Our ticket sales have been very, very strong, from the minute we announced it,” Olsen said. “There’s so much anticipation among people to get back to life, to get back out and enjoy the stuff we love. I’ve always felt like this was a big community party — and this year, it’s going to be supersized.”

—Joseph Bednar

In the COVID World, Businesses Should Examine Insurance Expenses

Law

Policy Decisions

By Timothy M. Netkovick, Esq.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many businesses to examine their balance sheets. One of the areas that could be looked at is how much benefit a business is getting from its current insurance portfolio, and whether downsizing coverage could be an option.

In today’s world, a common feature of a business-insurance portfolio is employment-practices liability insurance (EPLI), which is different than traditional liability insurance and provides coverage for discrimination, wrongful termination, and other workplace issues.

EPLI typically covers discrimination claims based upon sex, race, national origin, age, and all other characteristics prohibited by law. This includes claims made under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family Medical Leave Act, associated state discrimination statutes, and other federal laws. EPLI policies usually provide coverage to the company, management, supervisors, and employees from claims that arise under the policy. EPLI typically does not cover wage-and-hour law violations, unemployment issues, ERISA, or COBRA matters.

Timothy M. Netkovick, Esq

“COVID has prompted myriad adjustments in the business world. EPLI is one of the expenses a company will want to examine to see if it is getting the most bang for its buck.”

Perhaps your business has been fortunate enough to avoid employment litigation over the past few years. Therefore, the cost/benefit analysis to your business will be different than a business that has been tied up in employment litigation in the recent past. The first obvious cost is the cost of purchasing the policy. Higher insurance coverage costs more than a policy with a lower-policy limit. In addition to the cost of purchasing the policy, businesses will also need to factor in the cost of the ‘retention’ it is required to pay in the event of a claim.

Retention is similar to a deductible in other insurance policies, and is the amount of expenses for which the business is responsible before the insurer will begin paying for the cost of defense. Insurers use retention as a way to avoid incurring the expense of defending against nominal or frivolous claims by passing on that expense to the business. Conversely, the business will also want to evaluate the amount of their retention prior to obtaining EPLI.

A business will need to evaluate its options if it is faced with a high retention and a small amount of discrimination claims that are usually resolved at the administrative level. Has your business had EPLI for several years and never exhausted its retention? Or does your business have a high volume of discrimination cases at the administrative level and also never exhausted its retention?

Another factor to consider in evaluating the cost of EPLI is your company’s approach to employment lawsuits. Businesses will need to have a consistent strategy when it comes to employment lawsuits. Is your company going to vigorously defend against all claims? If so, that may impact your decision on the cost of the EPLI policy you intend to purchase. How many claims are made against your company? The more claims are reported, the more the policy will cost, and the higher the retention amount will be. The increased retention will have an impact on the company’s budget for the next policy period.

COVID has prompted myriad adjustments in the business world. EPLI is one of the expenses a company will want to examine to see if it is getting the most bang for its buck.

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

Employers Must Focus on Returning Women to the Workforce

Law

Changing the Dynamic

By Jeremy M. Forgue

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the workplace forever.

According to a report titled “Women in the Workplace – 2020,” women have been hit especially hard. As the report explains, “the COVID-19 crisis has disrupted corporate America in ways we’ve never seen before. No one is experiencing business as usual, but women — especially mothers, senior-level women, and black women — have faced distinct challenges. One in four women are considering downshifting their careers or leaving the workforce due to COVID-19.”

Gender and racial diversity are unquestionably beneficial to the workplace as it can lead to a wider talent pool with people who provide different perspectives and skill sets to utilize. With job rates slowly climbing back towards pre-pandemic levels, businesses need to put a conscious effort on recruiting and retaining female employees, and females of color in particular. Businesses small and large should re-evaluate their current practices and consider several ways to increase or maintain women in the workforce. Here are some suggestions from an employment-law attorney.

Flexible Schedules and Core Hours

This can be the easiest strategy, depending on your business. Allowing employees to establish their own schedules or flex the typical 9-5 business model can assist them in better balancing their home and work responsibilities. This option can allow parents to mold their schedule around daycare availability (e.g., 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. or 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.) or split their shift around home responsibilities.

Forgiving Gaps in Workers’ Employment History

According to a study by ResumeGo, applicants with work gaps of greater than six months have a 45% lower chance of receiving job interviews. Millions have lost their jobs during the pandemic and remain unemployed. With so many individuals forced to exit the workforce over the past year, accepting gaps in employment is critical to eliminating these hiring barriers.

Offering Job Training or Cross-training

The COVID-19 pandemic has made it clear that new job skills are critical in a more digitized working environment. Remote work and Zoom meetings are here to stay. Offering initial job training for skills and requirements that do not require certification or a degree will allow displaced workers a chance to gain useful skills in a new working environment. Similarly, cross-training employees to learn each other’s responsibilities (so long as their positions have enough overlap) can be effective when emergencies arise due to absences from work or other staffing challenges.

Create Mentorship Programs or Opportunities

A female-led or minority-led mentorship program can support and promote the advancement of under-represented groups within the workplace. Seasoned women employees can be great support structures for other women trying to begin their careers or advance within the company. Women who are currently excelling at their position or working in an executive-level position can assist other women dealing with similar daily challenges, such as work-life balance.

Re-evaluate the Businesses Culture

This one is more abstract and requires internal inquiries, but you should ask if your business provides a culture where women are valued or has a diverse demographic that is often desired by applicants. Ask yourself: is your workforce gender-diverse? What about the leadership positions? If the answer to these questions suggests unequal gender representation in the workplace, ask whether it is because of a culture that does not support women. Perhaps it’s more of a recruiting issue. In any event, you should dig deep for answers and insist on change.

Childcare Options

Providing on-site childcare is probably an option only for larger businesses. However, here are a few suggestions for all businesses to consider:

• Revisit your employee benefits. Do you already, or can you afford to, provide a childcare subsidy, childcare referral services for nearby locations, or extended paid leave?

• Partner with surrounding businesses. If your business space is too small to provide on-site childcare, reach out to nearby childcare locations and discuss rates and hours that could create a partnership between the businesses or, at the very least, a referral resource.

• Offer extended FFCRA benefits, which are available until Sept. 30, 2021, and can be used by employees to take time off for childcare or other COVID-19-related reasons.

Final Thoughts

After making positive strides in the workforce over the past decade, women’s participation in the workforce declined over the last year. To correct this trend, businesses will need to put a conscious effort toward recruiting women into their workforce.

Jeremy M. Forgue is an attorney with the law firm Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C. in Springfield; (413) 737-4753; [email protected]

The ‘New Normal’ Is Here

By Editorial May 26, 2021

Opinion

Editorial

The light at the tunnel that we’ve all been waiting for is essentially here.

Gov. Charlie Baker’s announcement last week that he was eliminating virtually all COVID-19 restrictions on May 29, in time for Memorial Day weekend, puts Massachusetts in the final stage of the reopening plan he announced almost exactly a year ago, which he dubbed the ‘new normal.’

But while this announcement is certainly cause for celebration and optimism, the local business community is, in many ways, still in the tunnel. COVID is not to be referred to in the past tense yet, and there are still a number of challenges to overcome, including some new ones.

Indeed, as the story on page 10 reveals, the governor’s announcement brings some anxiety to go along with the joy and relief that most business owners are certainly feeling. That anxiety comes in many forms, from finding adequate supplies of good help (a challenge confronting those in virtually every sector of the economy) to tackling the daunting task of bringing employees back to the office, to dealing with loosened restrictions on masks, which are causing confusion and considerable doubt when it comes to the ‘honor system.’

In many ways, as welcome as the governor’s announcement was and is, it’s a fact that many businesses are simply not ready to turn back the clock to the fall of 2019, when the world had never heard that word COVID.

What makes things even more complicated is that no one knows just how ready the consuming public is to turn back the clock and pick up where things left off 15 months ago. It’s safe to say it might take a little time for both constituencies to feel comfortable within the realm of the new normal.

Here’s what we do know: this region’s business community has shown remarkable resilience since the pandemic arrived in this region. We’re all tired of hearing and uttering that word ‘pivot,’ but that’s exactly what business owners and managers did, whether they’re in hospitality, manufacturing, financial services, healthcare, or any other sector.

The new normal means pivoting again. In some cases, it will actually mean simply returning to how things were in late 2019, and that can be challenging enough given the abundance of ‘help wanted’ and ‘we’re hiring: $250 sign-on bonus’ signs we’re seeing in ever-increasing numbers, as well as the skyrocketing price increases involving everything from food products to lumber to gasoline (see story on page 6).

For most businesses, though, things won’t ever be just as they were before COVID. They’ve learned new and, in many instances, better ways of doing things — out of necessity. Meanwhile, many employees will continue to work remotely, changing, perhaps forever, the dynamic of the modern office.

As we said, the region’s business community will have to pivot once again. Based on how well it did the past 14 months, we believe it will adjust quite well to the new normal. We’re not out of the tunnel yet, but the light is very, very close.

Rolling with the Changes

Opinion

By Sean Hogan

As COVID-19 winds down and we begin to go back to our normal lifestyle, I find myself asking what is next.

Let’s look back and see what has changed in the business world over the last year. The economy came to a halt, there was a major strain on the supply chain, restaurants and bars were closed, and business stopped. Certain industries, including IT, thrived, but COVID affected everyone; it missed no one.

We at Hogan Technology had to embrace meeting, selling, and collaborating over videoconferencing. This was a major shift in our protocol. We were hesitant at first, but there was not much of an option. We, like everyone else, jumped on the Zoom bandwagon. I quickly realized that Zoom had some security issues, and we moved all our collaboration to Microsoft Teams. Teams has been easy to use and efficient, and it had integration with our current voice platform. In the beginning, we were limited to viewing four participants; thankfully, MS made some changes and improved the capacity for our Teams meetings.

I have been managing and selling for more than 34 years, and shifting to video meetings with clients at first was clumsy. I was conditioned to prepping for my meetings, driving to the client site, waiting in the lobby, and then meeting face to face with my client. It took a few video calls to get into a process, but then I started to see how efficient and productive they could be. The ability to bring in my team to collaborate with my clients has worked exceptionally well.

Our sales and discovery process has completely changed, and this old dog has learned some new tricks. We now send out invites that allow our prospects and clients to log into our videoconference, and I can introduce my team and our vision. I then hand over the presentation of any software or applications to my tech team. Once the presentation is done, I can share or review any proposals or quotes though a screen share. This allows me to go line by line and make sure the client completely understands our solution.

This new style of sales has worked very well. We are printing far less, engaging the client more productively, and saving fuel and time by not driving to the site. We will still gladly meet on site, but if the client is open to meeting online, that will be our first step. Video collaboration and presentations are here it stay, and we welcome and embrace the cost-savings technology.

There were lots of new terms thrown about during the pandemic, but the two that made me think were ‘new normal’ and ‘pivot.’ The new normal, in my mind, is constant change. I like to think we all embraced the new normal, seeing that we are engaged in technology, which is constant change.

I think ‘pivot’ is what we have always internally termed ‘nimble.’ One of the advantages of being a small business is that it does not take much for us to turn our ship; we are not a large tanker, but more of a go-fast boat. We can turn on a dime, we can make changes without having to get board approval, and we can move fast when we need to get out of our own way. COVID taught us all how to be nimble and how to change the way we do business. I am amazed and proud to look at the business community and see how people have pulled together and toughed out a brutal year.

Yes, we all pivoted, and we all learned to deal with the new normal, but, most importantly, we all got up, went back to work, and supported each other.

Sean Hogan is president of Hogan Technology.

Picture This

Picture This

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

Open for Business in Chicopee

Florence Bank recently celebrated its third Hampden County branch with a ribbon-cutting ceremony highlighted by a $5,000 donation to the Boys & Girls Club of Chicopee. Pictured at top: Florence Bank staff and community leaders join bank President and CEO Kevin Day (center, flanked by Branch Manager Kimberly Downing and Chicopee Mayor John Vieau) in cutting the ribbon. Above: Day presents Lynn Morrisette, Marketing and Development director for the Boys & Girls Club of Chicopee, with the $5,000 donation.

Sock It to Stigma

Lenny Underwood, owner of Upscale Socks, teamed up with the Mental Health Assoc. (MHA) throughout May, Mental Health Awareness Month, with a new line of socks to support mental-health awareness. “I see how stigma relates to getting help — or not getting help — with mental wellness,” Underwood said. “It has been an issue I have seen and heard in my adulthood. But I’m optimistic when I see people in the public eye tell their story, being honest and vulnerable, because folks look up to others who are open and relatable. It helps to create more of a dialogue.” The socks will be available throughout the year at www.upscalesocks.com and at www.mhainc.org.

Protecting History

State Sen. Eric Lesser joined members of the Belchertown legislative delegation, local officials, and members of the community to celebrate the signing of an act providing for the permanent protection and stewardship of historic Lampson Brook Farm in Belchertown. The bill, sponsored by Lesser and supported by state Reps. Susannah Whipps, Jake Oliveira, and Thomas Petrolati, was signed into law by Gov. Charlie Baker in January. This law allows for the permanent protection of the five separate parcels that make up the 430-acre historic site.

Agenda

Agenda

Junior Achievement Golf Tournament

June 4: Junior Achievement of Western Massachusetts (JAWM) announced it will hold its 23rd annual golf tournament at the Crumpin-Fox Club in Bernardston. In addition to the golf tournament, participants can enjoy online bidding for the auction through June 3 and live bidding at the event on June 4. Social-distancing regulations will include requiring players to wear masks in common areas, providing each player with their own cart, and a scramble format with all putts inside three feet conceded, with flags remaining in the holes. Businesses can sponsor the tournament and will receive a prize package valued at over $200. The package includes a $100 gift card to the pro shop, buy-two/get-two passes for Crumpin-Fox or Fox Hopyard Golf Club in Connecticut good through the 2022 season, and other gifts, such as Yankee Candle items. If they prefer, sponsors can opt to receive a voucher for their foursome valid through the 2022 season. In addition to a round of golf, an auction, and a raffle, golfers will enjoy a gourmet boxed breakfast at 10 a.m. and lunch served on the course around noon. To learn more about registration and sponsorship opportunities, visit jawm.org/annual-golf-tournament.

Fresh Paint Springfield

June 5-13: Fresh Paint Springfield, the mural festival that began in 2019 in downtown Springfield and transformed large, exterior walls into art, will be returning to Springfield on June 5-13. This year’s festival will feature new murals in downtown Springfield and in Mason Square. Among the murals that will be part of Fresh Paint 2021 are “Pioneers Past and Present,” which will be painted by local portrait painters in Mason Square, and the repainting of a historic mural on the Mosque 13 building on State Street. For news and updates about this year’s festival, visit www.freshpaintspringfield.com.

Asnuntuck Foundation Golf Tournament

June 15: Asnuntuck Community College’s foundation and Aerospace Components Manufacturers will host a golf tournament fundraiser — the program’s 13th annual tournament and the first year the fundraiser will be held at Tunxis Country Club in Farmington, Conn. Proceeds from the event will benefit to the Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center at Asnuntuck, which features leading-edge technology and has educated more than 9,000 students since 1998. Additional sponsors committed to the tournament include Air Industries Group/Sterling Engineering, Aerospace Alloys Inc., Aeroswiss, Advance Welding, Pilot Precision Products, Kaman Precision Products, Willington Nameplate, Accu-Rite Tool and Manufacturing Co. Inc., and Jarvis Surgical Inc. Golfers will pay $150 for 18 holes of golf. The entry fee also includes a cart, goody bags, and two drink tickets. The day will also include a barbecue lunch and fountain drink, along with dinner and an ice cream sundae bar. Golfers will have a chance at door prizes, and awards will be presented to top golfers during the dinner portion of the evening. Registration begins at 11:30 a.m. with tee-off at 1 p.m. Golfers will play with a ‘shamble,’ which is a modified scramble. This format has each golfer hit their tee shot, and the group picks the best one and plays their own ball from there. The best score on the hole is recorded, allowing everyone to feel like they contributed and not putting pressure on any one golfer. Visit birdease.com/amtgolf to register and learn about sponsorship opportunities. For more information, contact event coordinator Joshua Ware at [email protected] or (203) 228-2768.

Healthcare Heroes Nominations

Through June 24: In the spring of 2017, the Healthcare News and its sister publication, BusinessWest, created a new and exciting recognition program called Healthcare Heroes. It was launched with the theory that there are heroes working all across this region’s wide, deep, and all-important healthcare sector, and that there was no shortage of fascinating stories to tell and individuals and groups to honor. That theory has certainly been validated. But there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of heroes whose stories we still need to tell, especially in these times, when the COVID-19 pandemic has brought many types of heroes to the forefront. Nominations will be accepted in seven different categories: Patient/Resident/Client Care Provider, Health/Wellness Administrator/Administration, Emerging Leader, Community Health, Innovation in Health/Wellness, Collaboration in Health/Wellness, and Lifetime Achievement. The Healthcare Heroes event is presented by Elms College. Nominations can be submitted at businesswest.com/healthcare-heroes/nominations. For more information, contact Jennifer Godaire, Marketing and Events Director, at (413) 781-8600, ext. 100, or [email protected].

40 Under Forty Gala

Sept. 23: In light of Gov. Charlie Baker’s recent announcement that most, if not all, restrictions on events will be lifted effective Aug. 1, BusinessWest has made the decision to move its annual 40 Under Forty gala, originally scheduled for late June, to Thursday, Sept. 23 at the Log Cabin Banquet & Meeting House in Holyoke. The class of 2021 was introduced to the region in the magazine’s May 12 issue, and the profiles may read online at businesswest.com. Additional details on the Sept. 23 gala will be forthcoming. Tickets, which will go on sale in June, will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

People on the Move

People on the Move

Don Eaton

Toole Insurance Agency recently welcomed Don Eaton as an account executive. With more than 20 years of experience in the insurance industry, his primary focus will be helping Toole Agency clients in construction and other related sectors in Massachusetts and Eastern New York by delivering innovative solutions through the Toole Guard risk-assessment process, allowing them to make informed risk-management and finance decisions. Eaton holds the certified insurance counselor (CIC) and construction risk insurance specialist (CRIS) designations. Eaton began his career as a direct writer for a midwestern mutual insurance company, where he received extensive training and achieved national recognition as a top performer. He then transitioned to working in the agency system as an independent agent in Western New York specializing in commercial lines before his most recent position as a regional vice president for one of the largest alliances of independent agents in the U.S.

•••••

Vince Maniaci

American International College (AIC) President Vince Maniaci announced plans to retire at the end of academic year 2021-22. At the time of his retirement, Maniaci will have served the college for 17 years. During his time as president, Maniaci successfully increased undergraduate and graduate programming through the doctoral level, resulting in robust enrollments; expanded athletic programs and improved sports venues; contributed to the revitalization of the college with new construction and renovation of campus facilities in support of academics, athletics, and student life; enhanced campus safety with increased personnel and technology upgrades; and pursued grant funding, including a $2.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education. In 2006, after an initial downsizing and retrenchment, AIC began to grow programming and enrollment. New programming in recent years has included a minor in Spanish, the addition of a master of science in cannabis science and commerce, the statewide expansion of the master’s in education program, and the establishment of a low-residency program. Health Sciences has experienced steady growth with the introduction of exercise science, family nurse practitioner, and a doctorate in occupational therapy. At the time of Maniaci’s arrival in the fall of 2005, graduate enrollment was approximately 380 students. As of the fall 2020 semester, the total graduate enrollment has expanded to nearly 1,250 and includes 22 program offerings. Undergraduate enrollment has grown as well. In recent years, despite downward trends in college enrollment in the Northeast, AIC has boasted two of its largest incoming first-year classes, with a current undergraduate population nearing 1,400 students. New construction and renovation of campus facilities in support of academics, athletics, and student life contributed to the revitalization of the college under Maniaci’s leadership.

•••••

Jason Berry

Monson Savings Bank announced the recent hire of Jason Berry as vice president and commercial loan officer. He will focus on providing customized, sensible lending and deposit solutions to businesses. He will assist in the maximization of cash flow and bringing the full scope of the bank’s products and high-tech services to the businesses he serves. He will also introduce business partners, who are experts in their field, to support businesses. Berry graduated from Westfield State University with a bachelor’s degree in political science after earning his associate degree in liberal arts at Holyoke Community College. He brings more than 15 years of banking and financial experience to Monson Savings Bank. He most recently held the role of vice president, Business Banking relationship manager at People’s United Bank. He is active in the community, offering support to various local charitable organizations and engaging with local chambers to support the local business community. He enjoys volunteering and has given his time to the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, Susan G. Komen, United Way, and Junior Achievement. Additionally, he is a member of the East of the River Five Town Chamber of Commerce and West of the River Chamber of Commerce.

•••••

After a career spanning more than three decades in public broadcasting, Martin Miller is stepping down from his position as president of New England Public Media (NEPM). He will continue in his role until a successor is named, and then will move into a senior counsel role focused on new fundraising efforts for NEPM’s music endowment, journalism, and engagement priorities. Miller led WFCR radio for more than two decades, expanding it into the 13-station New England Public Radio (NEPR) network and relocating its main broadcast facility from the UMass Amherst campus to state-of-the-art studios in Springfield. The Five College Studios, rebuilt in 2016, remain at UMass in Hampshire House. In 2019, Miller became president of NEPM after helping to orchestrate an alliance with public-television station WGBY to create New England Public Media, thus expanding journalism, community-engagement, cultural, and educational programs through multi-platform services. The successful merger of NEPR with WGBY brought together the resources of public radio and TV, creating a robust public-media organization positioned to continue its public-service mission well into the future. During his nearly 26 years leading WFCR, NEPR, and NEPM, he helped raise more than $11 million for capital improvements and new programming, developed NEPR’s Media Lab, was responsible for significant revenue and audience growth for radio, increased investments in journalism, developed a diverse board of directors and created a new community advisory board for NEPM, and, most recently, oversaw the launch of NEPM’s new local radio program And Another Thing.

•••••

Dean Marchessault

American Eagle Financial Credit Union (AEFCU) announced that Dean Marchessault, the nonprofit organization’s president and CEO, will retire at the end of 2021, allowing for a transition process over the next seven months. Marchessault’s decision to retire will conclude 22 years of service to Connecticut’s largest community credit union, including seven as president and CEO. American Eagle has selected Howard Brady to be the credit union’s next president and CEO, starting Jan. 3, 2022. Brady has served as senior vice president and chief lending officer since 2015. During Marchessault’s time as president and CEO, the credit union’s membership and footprint have also grown exponentially. AEFCU currently provides banking services to more than 160,000 members and opened its first office in New Haven County while also being granted approval to expand its field of membership into Western Mass. in 2019. In 2020 alone, AEFCU’s monetary contributions were just shy of $300,000 and included grants from American Eagle’s donor-advised fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, corporate sponsorships, and general donations, as well as those derived from AEFCU’s Cash Back to the Community program. In recent years, Marchessault has garnered several honors as a business and community leader, including a C-Suite Award from the Harford Business Journal in 2020, and the Business Person of the Year Award from the Connecticut River Valley Chamber of Commerce in 2018. In 2019, AEFCU was named one of the “Best Places to Work in Connecticut” by the Hartford Business Journal.

•••••

Michael Tucker, CEO of Greenfield Cooperative Bank (GCB) and its Northampton Cooperative Bank division, recently announced a number of promotions.

• Mary Rawls was elected executive vice president, Compliance. She also serves as the bank’s BSA officer and co-CRA officer. She first joined GCB in 1994 and has more than 26 years of experience in banking. She is a graduate of the New England School for Financial Studies at Babson College, the Massachusetts Bankers Bank Compliance Academy, and numerous Center for Financial Studies courses.

• Michael Turley was elected executive vice president and chief financial officer. He has more than 40 years of experience in banking, most recently with GCB since 2013. He is a graduate of Union College in New York and has an MBA with a concentration in finance from Western New England University. He will be solely responsible for supervising the staff in the accounting and treasury functions within the bank. He will also officially become treasurer when Colleen Bugbee retires this May.

• Janet Rosenkranz was elected senior vice president and credit officer. She joined the bank in 2016 as credit officer. In addition to her five years at GCB, she has more than 20 years of experience at two other banks before joining GCB. She has a bachelor’s degree in economics from UMass Amherst and will graduate from the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at the University of Pennsylvania this summer.

• Alyssa Dansereau was elected assistant vice president and assistant controller. She joined GCB’s Accounting department in 2016. She is a graduate of Holyoke Community College and Western New England University with degrees in accounting.

• Melissa Tetreault was elected assistant vice president, senior mortgage originator. She has a bachelor’s degree from UMass Amherst and is a graduate of New England School for Financial Studies at Babson College. She has more than 18 years of experience with GCB in two tours, having rejoined the bank in 2018.

• Deborah Marvel has been promoted to senior operations specialist. She joined GCB as a teller in 2002. Since 2009, she has worked in both the Deposit Operations department and Loan Servicing department prior to this latest role in Operations.

• Erica Josephson has been promoted to credit analyst III. She has been a credit analyst at various banks since 2016, most recently a senior credit analyst at Berkshire Bank. She joined GCB as a credit analyst II in 2019. She is a graduate of the University of Vermont.

• Marjorie Smith has been promoted to credit analyst III. She joined GCB as a teller in 2010 and has been working in loans since 2012 and in the credit department since 2016. She is a graduate of Houghton College in New York.

• Benjamin Viens has been promoted to credit analyst II. He joined GCB in 2018 as a teller and has been in the credit department since 2019. He is a graduate of Salve Regina University in Newport, R.I.

•••••

Miranda Goncalves

Gove Law Office announced that paralegal Miranda Goncalves has joined the firm as a real-estate paralegal. She has more than five years of experience as a real-estate paralegal and will be focused on residential real-estate transactions with the firm. “Miranda brings significant experience to our real-estate practice, having previously worked with a local real-estate attorney for the past five years, and will be ready to help our clients with their transactions from day one,” said Michael Gove, founding partner of Gove Law Office. Miranda received her bachelor’s degree in legal studies, with a secondary concentration in psychology and a certificate of international relations, from UMass Amherst in 2015. She is also fluent in Spanish and conversant in Portuguese.

•••••

Florence Bank announced that Kiara Sonoda, Jessica Camp, Samantha Sanger, and Lynn Formel have been selected as recipients of the 2020 President’s Award. Employees nominate their peers for this prestigious honor, which recognizes outstanding performance, customer service, and overall contribution to Florence Bank. Sonoda is a teller operations manager and customer service representative at the downtown Northampton office and has been with Florence Bank for nine years. She attended the University of Massachusetts and is a figure-skating coach for the Skating Club of Amherst. Camp is a credit analyst at the main headquarters and has been with Florence Bank for three years. She received her bachelor’s degree from Framingham State University. Sanger is a customer records analyst at the main headquarters and has been with Florence Bank for 10 years. She attended the University of Phoenix. Formel is a customer service representative at the Hadley branch and has been with Florence Bank for three years.

•••••

UMassFive College Federal Credit Union recently introduced the newest leaders of its Hadley and Northampton branches and contact center: Megan Lagoy, Eurika Boulay, and Katharine Lawton. Lagoy has expanded her role as assistant vice president of Retail Services. She began her career at UMassFive nine years ago as a call center representative, eventually taking on other various contact center roles, and most recently held the title of AVP of the contact center and interactive teller machine (ITM) department. In her new position, she will oversee the Hadley branch in addition to the contact center and the ITM department. Boulay has been promoted to Northampton branch manager. She began her career at UMassFive five years ago as a member service specialist in the Northampton branch, eventually moving on to becoming the branch backup supervisor, and most recently the Northampton VA Medical Center branch manager. In her new role, she leads the Northampton branch team in creating positive member experiences, maintaining branch compliance, and working with the Community Outreach manager to develop UMassFive’s presence in Northampton. Lawton has been promoted to contact center manager. She began her career at UMassFive in 2016 as a contact center representative and quickly progressed to lead contact center representative in 2017. In her new role, she will oversee new online membership fulfillment, onboarding, loan applications, phone-system administration, and providing resolutions to ensure positive member experiences.

•••••

Karin Jeffers, president and CEO of nonprofit behavioral-health agency Clinical & Support Options (CSO), has become the newest board member of the National Council for Behavioral Health. Jeffers earned the greatest number of votes during a recent special election to replace outgoing board member Tomas Jankowski. Jeffers will be one of two representatives for the National Council Region 1, which includes Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. She will serve out the remainder of Jankowski’s term (until June 30, 2023) and be eligible to run for two additional three-year terms thereafter. Jeffers has served as CSO’s president and CEO since 2005. During her tenure at the helm, the agency has grown from a $4 million organization with fewer than 90 employees across just three Greenfield locations to what is now a $44 million agency with more than 750 employees at 20 locations across Western and Central Mass. Joining the National Council Board is not Jeffers’ first foray into public policy. In addition to being a longtime National Council member, she also serves on the board of the Assoc. of Behavioral Health (ABH), which is instrumental in lobbying for positive change in statewide and national policies governing healthcare. In fact, she served as ABH’s board chair from 2016 to 2018, and as its children’s CEO policy committee chair from 2012 to 2020. She currently chairs the ABH CEO committee on emergency services.

Company Notebook

Company Notebook

BETE Fog Nozzle Earns MassHire Workforce Leader Award

GREENFIELD — The MassHire Franklin Hampshire Workforce Board awarded BETE Fog Nozzle its 2021 Workforce Leader Award, honoring the company’s contributions to workforce well-being, workplace, and public safety during the pandemic. BETE now employs more than 180 people at its Greenfield facility, designing, casting, and machining spray nozzles. The company garnered headlines earlier in the year for developing an innovative machine for quickly disinfecting school buses after each use with a touchless process employing BETE’s trademark fog nozzles. Working with local bus company F.M. Kuzmeskus Inc., BETE engineers designed a button-sized fogger installed in rows along each school-bus ceiling, out of reach of children. The series of spray foggers are linked and connected to a port on the outside of the bus where a mobile compressor machine mixes air and disinfectant that is pumped through a tube to the spray nozzles on the bus interior, sending an aerosol disinfectant mist throughout each bus before rolling to the next one. When the pandemic lockdown shuttered businesses in March 2020, BETE provided paid furloughs to all its employees, and the company offers regular profit-sharing bonuses. BETE is also a founding supporter of the seven-year-old Manufacturing Skills Initiative (MSI) training partnership between Greenfield Community College, the Workforce Board, Career Center, Franklin County Technical School, and area manufacturers. BETE has hired more than a dozen graduates from MSI’s 12-week CNC Operator training program, giving them a solid start toward building a rewarding, high-skill career in precision machining. Company President Tom Fitch is chairman of the GCC Future Work Advisory Council, which brings local chambers, business, employment agencies, and the college together to develop curriculum to provide training that brings additional employment and advancement opportunities to area residents.

Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin, P.C. Announces Acquisition

SPRINGFIELD — Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin, P.C. has added the Northampton law firm Etheredge & Steuer to its regional law practice. Attorneys Edward Etheredge and Shelley Steuer bring a wealth of talent, knowledge, and expertise to Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin’s business, real estate, land-use planning, permitting, estate planning, and estate administration practice areas. Both firms have deep roots in Western Mass. and similar approaches to providing service to clients. Etheredge, whose practice is principally in real estate, land use, planning, and development, began practicing law in Northampton in 1976. He is admitted to the Massachusetts Bar and admitted to practice in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts, the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Steuer, whose practice focuses on estate planning and estate and trust administration, has practiced in Northampton since 1990. She is a member of the Pioneer Valley Estate Planning Council, the Hampshire County Bar Assoc., and the Massachusetts Bar Assoc. She is admitted to practice in Massachusetts, New York, and California, as well as the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Steuer and Etheredge will be joined by members of the Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin team at 64 Gothic St., Northampton. The firm will continue to provide services to clients at 1441 Main St., Springfield.

Eversource ConnectedSolutions Earns Program Pacesetter Award

SPRINGFIELD — In recognition of its efforts to help customers reduce energy use and save money through demand response programs, Eversource’s ConnectedSolutions demand-management program received the 2021 Program Pacesetter Award from the Peak Load Management Alliance (PLMA). The energy company was recognized for surpassing enrollment goals and setting a high bar for energy-demand-management programs. Eversource’s ConnectedSolutions program provides incentives to customers to reduce their energy use at times of peak demand, which helps reduce strain on the electric grid and lowers carbon emissions by avoiding additional power generation of dirtier fossil fuels like coal that still come online in New England when demand is high. Customer enrollment in 2020 across Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire surpassed goals by more than 60 MW, reaching a total of 170 MW approved for targeted use during days with the highest energy demand and an additional 6.3 MW of storage capacity approved for daily demand reductions. ConnectedSolutions is significant not only for the large demand reductions that can be achieved, but also for the diversity of customers and devices enrolled, including more than 600 business customers using a range of demand-reduction strategies and more than 33,000 residential devices including Wi-Fi thermostats, electric-vehicle chargers, residential battery storage, and Wi-Fi-connected A/C units.

House Earmarks $50,000 for New Manufacturing Program at HCC

HOLYOKE — State Rep. Patricia Duffy announced that $50,000 has been earmarked in the House fiscal-year 2022 budget to seed the development and implementation of a new Manufacturing Training Program at Holyoke Community College (HCC). According to labor and workforce data, 9.7% of jobs in Holyoke are in manufacturing, compared to 6.7% statewide. Meanwhile, at 9.9%, the unemployment rate in Holyoke is the second-highest in Western Mass. after Springfield’s 11.2%, compared to a statewide rate of 6.6% for March 2021. The Manufacturing Training Program will join a robust stable of workforce-development programs at HCC. The program will serve up to 45 individuals in three cohorts by providing approximately 150 hours of remote and in-person, hands-on training combined with workplace experiential learning, and includes skills assessments and pre-training focused on workplace readiness in English and basic math, followed by core training in entry-level manufacturing. The manufacturing component will include modules in communication, teamwork, customer service, digital literacy, general manufacturing processes and principles, blueprints, dimensions, tolerances, instrumentation and measuring; manufacturing workplace math, lean manufacturing, problem solving, quality control, and workplace safety. Regional employers will be invited to participate in curriculum design and delivery as guest speakers, as well as in hosting tours of their facilities when possible. Participants will be connected to area employers and receive job-placement assistance through HCC and MassHire Holyoke.

Girls Inc. of the Valley Event Raises More Than $67,000

HOLYOKE — Girls Inc. of the Valley has raised more than $67,000 to date from its Spirit of Girls 2021 event, which will help support ongoing program needs. The virtual event was held on May 6 and was attended by notable women such as U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, former NASA astronaut Cady Coleman, Mount Holyoke College leadership fellow and political figure Carmen Yulín Cruz, actress Tequilla Whitfield, WWLP weeknight anchor Ciara Speller, and Girls Inc. President and CEO Stephanie Hull. Girls Inc. of the Valley has had to opt for safer, virtual options, which is why this year’s Spirit of Girls event was held 100% virtually. Attendees heard directly from girls, staff, and notable celebrities regarding the importance of celebrating their place at the table. Girls Inc. of the Valley will be posting a link to a video of the event on its YouTube channel, where it will still accept monetary gifts as well. Girls Inc. of the Valley aims to inspire all girls to see themselves as leaders with the skills and capabilities to improve and influence their local communities.

Springfield Museums Offer Sensory Friendly Saturdays

SPRINGFIELD — Springfield Museums will present Sensory Friendly Saturdays on the second Saturday of each month from 9 to 11 a.m., starting May 8. Sensory Friendly Saturdays provide less noise, dimmer light, and cool-down spaces for those who have sensory sensitivity. The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum and the Springfield Science Museum will open early, with some exhibits modified to provide an opportunity for people with a range of differing abilities to experience what the museums have to offer. Trained staff and volunteers will be on hand to answer questions and, if necessary, direct visitors to a quiet space that provides a chance to cool down and take a break. Sensory-friendly crafts for all ages will be available in the Cat’s Corner. Parents and caregivers must stay with their children at all times. The modifications are enabled until 11 a.m. Preview guides are available for those who would like to explore what to expect before arriving at the museums. If visitors find the Museums too overwhelming and need to leave before 10 a.m., the Welcome Center staff will give the family a voucher to try again on another Sensory Friendly Saturday. The Springfield Museums became universal-participation-designated two years ago as part of a Massachusetts Cultural Council program to help museums, theaters, and other cultural organizations pay particular attention to ensuring their programming is accessible to all people. The staff created preview guides for families to read together before visiting the museums and made decisions about which exhibits they could modify to be more friendly to visitors with sensitivity to noise, lights, and movement.

WNEU School of Law Adds Race-related Coursework Requirement for Graduation

SPRINGFIELD — In an effort to incorporate antiracism education and training into the student experience, Western New England University (WNEU) School of Law has added a new Antiracism and Cultural Competency (ARCC) graduation requirement beginning with incoming students in the fall of 2022. This requirement offers students more than a dozen options from substantive courses relating to legal history, structural inequality, intersectionality, discrimination, civil rights, and theories of subordination, focusing on cultural context and cultural competency. The list of eligible courses includes “Race, Racism, & the Law,” “Business Law from an Antiracist Perspective,” “Gender & the Law,” “Diversity & Inclusion in the Legal Profession,” and many others. “Western New England University School of Law has a long and proud history of incorporating social justice and antiracism into the education we offer,” said School of Law Dean Sudha Setty. “A cornerstone of our mission is the belief that the study of law must embrace the notion that different beliefs, backgrounds, and opinions are critical components of a well-rounded learning environment.” WNEU School of Law currently offers a wide range of elective courses, experiential learning opportunities, engagement opportunities through its Center for Social Justice, pro bono opportunities, student organizations, and vibrant speaker series that serve to broaden students’ knowledge on legal issues related to racial justice, as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Springfield Thunderbirds, Mass Lottery Wrap ‘Feed the Frontline’ Campaign

SPRINGFIELD — Each week during the month of April, the Springfield Thunderbirds and the Massachusetts State Lottery teamed up for the “Feed the Frontline” campaign, to thank individuals in the healthcare and service industries. The Thunderbirds worked with several of their food partners to provide lunch to some deserving individuals throughout the Pioneer Valley. Members of the Thunderbirds front office and mascot Boomer visited staff at Mercy Medical Center, Cooley Dickinson Hospital, USA Hauling, the Springfield Police Department, and the Springfield Fire Department. The Thunderbirds and the Mass Lottery will be collaborating on several initiatives throughout the spring and summer to recognize several individuals within the Western Mass. community. Meals were provided by a number of local food partners, including Nadim’s Mediterranean Grill, Buffalo Wild Wings, 99 Restaurant, Uno Chicago Grill, and Theodores’. The Mass Lottery and the Thunderbirds will continue to promote the outstanding work of those in the community throughout the summer when the Hometown Salute campaign launches in May. Individuals who are currently or have served in the military, or those working in the healthcare or public-service industries, may be nominated to be recognized by the Thunderbirds each week.

Visiting Angels West Springfield Receives Home-care Accreditation

WEST SPRINGFIELD — Visiting Angels, a private-pay home-care agency based in West Springfield, is among a select group of agencies to earn accreditation from the Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts. The alliance, which represents 180 home-health and eldercare agencies across Massachusetts, has created an accreditation protocol to promote quality services, ethical business standards, and superior employment practices in an industry that lacks meaningful licensure in Massachusetts even as it grows in popularity. The Home Care Alliance launched this accreditation program for private-pay agencies (agencies that are not paid by Medicare or Medicaid) in 2010. Agencies seeking accreditation are required to submit documentation to show that they meet standards established by the organization. The standards were developed over several months in consultation with an advisory task force representing agencies throughout the Commonwealth. Training requirements, administrative protocols, and business practices are among the categories the Home Care Alliance reviews for accreditation.

Riley Home Realty Launches Full-service Agency

CHICOPEE — Riley Home Realty announced the launch of its Chicopee-based, full-service real-estate agency. This family-owned and -operated agency will offer residents in the surrounding Western Mass. communities a comprehensive suite of services delivered with expert guidance from a team of dedicated agents. Riley Home Realty services include listing homes for sale, working with home buyers, managing rental properties and listing rental properties, and property management. It was a dream of members of the Riley family to work together to help others realize home and real-estate ownership, the company noted. “Our family-owned and -operated agency is built on the values we as a family embody. We are with each other every step of the way. Our clients get that same dedication and commitment when they work with us. When you work with Riley Home Realty, you’re family.”

Incorporations

Incorporations

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

AGAWAM

DM Transport Inc., 28 Alhambra Circle, Agawam, MA 01001. Dundar Ozdemir, same. Transport.

EASTHAMPTON

David Lepine Building Contractor Inc., 262 East St., Easthampton, MA 01027. David Lepine, same. Construction and remodeling.

EAST LONGMEADOW

Western Mass Eye Care, Inc., 46 Center Square, second floor, East Longmeadow, MA 01028. Amy Moltenbrey, 53 Court St., Westfield, MA 01085. The practice of optometry.

GRANBY

Specialty Restoration & Painting Inc., 7 Kellogg St., Granby, MA 01033. Kathleen A. Berger, same. Restoration, painting, and wall coverings.

HOLYOKE

Arpit 200 Incorporated, 550 Westfield Road, Holyoke, MA 01040. Kaur Parvinder, 1936 77th St. First Foor, East Elmhurst, NY 11370. Restaurant.

LONGMEADOW

DH Retirement Solutions Inc., 161 Wenonah Road, Longmeadow, MA 01106. Donald E. Hanifin, same. Retirement investment services.

LUDLOW

Plucky Inc., 12 Brimfield St., Ludlow, MA 01056. Semih Altay, same. E-commerce.

PALMER

Rapid Cuts Barber Shop Corp., 36 Elizabeth St., Palmer, MA 01069. Leon Marsh, same. Barbering.

SPRINGFIELD

Retro Construction Corp., 221 Hamcock St. Springfield, MA 01109. Enrique Domingo Cruz, same. Home improvement.

XP Enterprise Corp., 53 Sterling St., Springfield, MA 01107. Wellington Da Silva Peclat, same. Janitorial and cleaning services.

WEST SPRINGFIELD

DS Auto Body Repair Corp., 51 Bliss St. West Springfield, MA 01089. Dolcimar Ferreira De Sousa, 51 Bliss St. West Hartford, MA 01089. Auto body repair.

WESTFIELD

Josh, Inc., 119 Franklin St., Apt. 2, Westfield, MA 01085. Joshua Cyr, same. Creation and marketing of video content and photos.

Doing Business as Certificates

DBA Certificates

The following business certificates and/or trade names were issued or renewed during the months of April and May 2021. (Filings are limited due to closures or reduced staffing hours at municipal offices due to COVID-19 restrictions).

DEERFIELD

Back Alley BBQ
12 Railroad St.
Nathan Lynde

Hoop City Brewing
12 Railroad St.
Aloyce Assenga, Eva-Eliaike Mbuya

K Dog Auto Sales
670 River Road
Kevin Bourbeau

Steadfast Life Consulting
6 Stage Road
Jill Medina Elizalde

HADLEY

Cheesy Street Grill – Western MA
367 Russell St.
Jon Oligino

Happier Valley Comedy
1 Mill Valley Road
Scott Braidman

Kendrick Property Management
2 Bay Road, Suite 200
Donna Golec

Weber’s Lawn Equipment Repair
34 North Maple St.
Rodney Weber

LONGMEADOW

Brenda Cuoco & Associates Real Estate Brokerage
714 Bliss Road
Brenda Cuoco

Daly Appraisal Services
24 Birnie Road
James Daly

Dugubrown Construction, LLC
108 Bel Air Dr.
Joseph Aimua

Franca4design
375 Pinewood Dr.
Franca Conway

Joslad & Associates Civil Engineering Consultants
108 Bel Air Dr.
Joseph Aimua

LJCD Associates, LLC
678 Converse St.
Donald Nault

Professional Massage Works, LLC
1200 Converse St., Suite 204
Andrea Ott

RJ’s Complete Tree Service
120 Wimbleton Dr.
Joshua Rodriguez

NORTHAM1PTON

Fortuna Publica Studio
581 Burts Pit Road
Stephanie Arroyo

Good Alchemy Lands
22 Bright St.
Benjamin Covino

Katherine (Kate) Klemer
376 Pleasant St.
Kate Klemer

Liberal Arts
236 Pleasant St.
Jennifer Carr

Munificent Scribbler Press
95 Laurel Park
Tira Pandolf

Northeast Greenway Solutions
62 Chestnut St.
Craig Della Penna

Pho Boston
311 Riverside Dr.
Trinh Nguyen

Strada
108 Main St.
Anna Bowen

Strom Remodeling
80 Damon Road
Richard Strom

Sugar Maple Trailside Inn
62 Chestnut St.
Craig Della Penna, Kathleen Della Penna

SOUTHWICK

KJ Landworks
208 South Loomis St.
Joshua Arnett

Salon Amici
515 College Highway
Susan Allen

WESTFIELD

Bitcoin Depot
397 Little River Road
Lux Vending, LLC

Bombshelly Vintage
32 White St.
Lynn Wegiel

Full Gospel Christian School
110 Union St.
Kristina Podzemelnova

Giftology
99 Springfield Road
7C Diamonds Inc.

Hang-Rite Gutter Installation Co.
37 South Meadow Road
CKG Gutters, LLC

Jay’s Property Services
33 West Silver St.
Jay Larsen II

Jolene Hamilton, PhD
571 Granville Road
Jolene Hamilton

Katt’s Creations
35 Jeanne Marie Dr.
Yekaterina Panasyuk

Mam’s Creations Handmade
5 East Bartlett St.
Mayra Matos

MJH Carpenters & Contractors
41 Crown St.
Michael Helbling

Mr. Easy Shop Store
126 Union St.
Marianne Ramos

Munchy’s
24 North Elm St.
Samuel Thresher

NE Billing
15 Noble Ave., Apt. 1
Brittany Gum

New England Ammonia Safety Inc.
29 Salvator Dr.
James Burke

Pioneer Valley Property Services
87 Franklin St.
Mark Slayton

Scorzi’s Auto Detailing
270 Munger Hill Road
Richard Scorzafava

Sergey Mitev Music Studio
70 Fairfield Ave.
Sergey Mitev

Susan’s Discount Travel
33 Woodcliff Dr.
Susan Williams

Ultimate Floors
18 Cara Lane
Seth Lakin

WEST SPRINGFIELD

Cyber Exchange
1053 Riverdale St.
Stephen Buynicki

Hair and Nail Co.
1346 Elm St.
Maria Siciliano, Pamela Frappier

Jiffy Lube #2561
788 Memorial Ave.
Albert Chance

Law Offices of Michael Harty
698 Westfield St.
Michael Harty

Renew.Calm
160 Baldwin St.
Dawn Nooney

Savers
135 Memorial Ave.
Richard Nedway

Sefa C. Ongun Uber Lyft DoorDash
132 Birnie Ave.
Sefa Ongun

Springfield Lumber Co.
202 Day St.
Joseph Musco

Stella’s Bones
640 Elm St.
Lesley Maple

USA Medical Supply Inc.
1779 Riverdale St.
Richard Spafford

Your Story Counseling, LLC
116 Ely Ave.
Jennifer Lingenberg

Bankruptcies

Bankruptcies

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

Barnes, Tammy L.
2 Center St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/18/2021

BMT Lock and Key
Kulas, Walter L.
306 Hermitage Dr.
Springfield, MA 01129
Chapter: 13
Date: 04/16/2021

Dickman, Richard B.
94 Crawford Road
Oakham, MA 01068
Chapter: 13
Date: 04/22/2021

Harvey, Chelsea M.
a/k/a Clary, Chelsea M.
42 Munsing Ave.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/26/2021

Labbe, Michele L.
486 East State St.
Granby, MA 01033
Chapter: 13
Date: 04/29/2021

Le, Vincent
Bui, Sonia
782 Dickinson St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/27/2021

Martin, Carol R.
84 Penrose St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/16/2021

Martinez, Andre Hassan
a/k/a Martinez-Avalos, Andre H.
Martinez, Andrea Marie
48 Drexel St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/28/2021

Mason-Coto, Jody Lee
290A Main St.
Monson, MA 01057
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/29/2021

McFaul, Carisa M.
a/k/a Szloch, Carisa M.
a/k/a Kularski, Carisa M.
181 Osborne Road
Ware, MA 01082
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/19/2021

Morales, Linda Y.
15 Casimir St., Apt. Rear
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/27/2021

Mrozinsky, Edward F.
138 Slate Road
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/16/2021

Nasr, Georges
PO Box 148
Clarlemont, MA 01339
Chapter: 13
Date: 04/29/2021

North, Joseph John
51 Northampton St., Unit A
Easthampton, MA 01027
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/26/2021

Orrell, Jessica D.
14D Bradford Dr.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/21/2021

Ortiz, Nathan J.
260 Pleasant St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/21/2021

Peyron, Madison-Taylor
a/k/a Shobe, Madison T.
4 Acrebrook Road
Springfield, MA 01129
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/17/2021

Pluta, Kathryn E.
21 Warebrook Village
Ware, MA 01082
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/21/2021

Powell, Barbara A.
53 Druid Hill Road
Springfield, MA 01129
Chapter: 13
Date: 04/23/2021

Smith, Willie R.
275 Chestnut St., Apt. 208
Springfield, MA 01104
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/20/2021

St. Pierre, James J.
37 Dana Road
Barre, MA 01005
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/16/2021

Suckau, Jessica
19 Monroe St., Apt. 19F
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/17/2021

Sullivan, Maura J.
22 Corbett Road
Worthington, MA 01098
Chapter: 13
Date: 04/17/2021

Thomas, Timothy Lamons
Thomas, Cynthia Denise
a/k/a Taylor, Cynthia Denise
194 Somers Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/27/2021

Warren, Brittnie A.
a/k/a Roginski, Brittnie A.
45 Deroche Circle
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/19/2021

Real Estate Transactions

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

229 Norton Hill Road
Ashfield, MA 01330
Amount: $450,000
Buyer: Roy Nilson
Seller: Elizabeth D. Castro
Date: 04/26/21

BUCKLAND

4 Conway St.
Buckland, MA 01338
Amount: $537,000
Buyer: Steven J. Andrews
Seller: Singley, Chris E., (Estate)
Date: 04/30/21

CONWAY

Roaring Brook Road #1
Conway, MA 01341
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Christopher R. Waldo
Seller: Scot Millay
Date: 04/22/21

Whately Road
Conway, MA 01341
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Hitchcock RT
Seller: James E. Matus
Date: 04/28/21

DEERFIELD

15 Keets Road
Deerfield, MA 01342
Amount: $398,000
Buyer: Mark Weidenfeld
Seller: John F. Waite
Date: 04/28/21

GREENFIELD

637 Bernardston Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Janice M. Soper
Seller: Allison B. Henry
Date: 04/23/21

31 Champney Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $398,000
Buyer: Huiping Chen
Seller: Parody Builders & Sons LLC
Date: 04/22/21

51 Garfield St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $307,700
Buyer: Andrew A. Charlton
Seller: Aisha Russell
Date: 04/30/21

130 High St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $249,000
Buyer: Stephen P. Fernandez
Seller: El Gold LLC
Date: 04/27/21

98 Petty Plain Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $216,000
Buyer: Jesse W. Hastings
Seller: Mark J. Burton
Date: 04/22/21

66-68 Phillips St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $460,000
Buyer: Phillips St Greenfield Realty
Seller: Roger S. Glassman
Date: 04/30/21

70 Phillips St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $460,000
Buyer: Phillips St Greenfield Realty
Seller: Roger S. Glassman
Date: 04/30/21

55 Plantation Circle
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Tyler S. Goodnow
Seller: Sally R. Roberts
Date: 04/30/21

128 Verde Dr.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $389,000
Buyer: Tigran Ayrapetyan
Seller: John Chickanosky
Date: 04/22/21

20 Wildwood Ave.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $285,500
Buyer: Ryan T. Grady-Wagner
Seller: BT & DNG Davilli RET
Date: 04/30/21

21 Woodleigh Ave.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $236,000
Buyer: Maia L. Valcarce
Seller: Joel T. Velez
Date: 04/20/21

HAWLEY

104 East Hawley Road
Hawley, MA 01339
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Jennifer L. Lesperance
Seller: Cody M. Gerry
Date: 04/30/21

HEATH

127 Route 8A
Heath, MA 01339
Amount: $170,500
Buyer: John J. Kucich
Seller: Janet Sessions-Mello
Date: 04/23/21

MONTAGUE

5 Green Pond Road
Montague, MA 01349
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Pavel I. Lyvytsky
Seller: Sally J. Cary
Date: 04/28/21

38 O St.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $269,900
Buyer: Jacob M. Eugin
Seller: Brian Markwell
Date: 04/30/21

53 Turners Falls Road
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $305,000
Buyer: Douglas Dedischew
Seller: John Moquin
Date: 04/30/21

NORTHFIELD

68 Main St.
Northfield, MA 01360
Amount: $164,500
Buyer: Gregory M. Moretti
Seller: Porter, Mary B., (Estate)
Date: 04/30/21

ORANGE

85 Cheney St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $122,000
Buyer: Reginald Haughton
Seller: Ronald L. Marsh
Date: 04/30/21

163 Pleasant St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Daniel M. Kimball
Seller: Mission Covenant Church
Date: 04/26/21

56 Putnam St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Nicholas M. Bass
Seller: Karen M. Bass
Date: 04/23/21

77 Wheeler Ave.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Joseph A. Lanteigne
Seller: Linda M. Davis
Date: 04/30/21

39 Winter St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Happy Homes REI LLC
Seller: Catherine R. Johnson
Date: 04/26/21

ROWE

32 Davenport Branch Road
Rowe, MA 01367
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Coastline Property Renovations
Seller: Joseph E. Thane
Date: 04/30/21

SHELBURNE

3 Allen Road
Shelburne, MA 01370
Amount: $625,000
Buyer: Daniel Guzewicz
Seller: Singley, Chris E., (Estate)
Date: 04/30/21

Barnard Road
Shelburne, MA 01370
Amount: $625,000
Buyer: Daniel Guzewicz
Seller: Singley, Chris E., (Estate)
Date: 04/30/21

2-8 Bridge St.
Shelburne, MA 01370
Amount: $269,000
Buyer: High River LLC
Seller: Singley, Chris E., (Estate)
Date: 04/30/21

55 Bridge St.
Shelburne, MA 01370
Amount: $600,600
Buyer: Flowers & Falls LLC
Seller: Singley, Chris E., (Estate)
Date: 04/30/21

1 Deerfield Ave.
Shelburne, MA 01370
Amount: $550,600
Buyer: Flowers & Falls LLC
Seller: Singley, Chris E., (Estate)
Date: 04/30/21

WHATELY

37 Christian Lane
Whately, MA 01093
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: Frank R. Popkiewicz
Seller: 37 Christian Lane RT
Date: 04/27/21

HAMPDEN COUNTY

AGAWAM

15 Autumn St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Abdalrahman S. Alsaab
Seller: Robert A. Muldrew
Date: 04/21/21

47 Burlington Dr.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $595,000
Buyer: Isaiah D. Pagan
Seller: Jeffrey R. Peterson
Date: 04/21/21

25 Danny Lane
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $410,000
Buyer: Julia Park
Seller: Carol S. McGurn
Date: 04/29/21

16 Fernwood Dr.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Mark Christian
Seller: Justin S. Waterman
Date: 04/30/21

25 Franklin St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $1,850,000
Buyer: CG Foods LLC
Seller: Ferraro Foods of MA LLC
Date: 04/28/21

108-110 Moore St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: JLX 2 Properties LLC
Seller: Amanda M. Parizo
Date: 04/30/21

107 Oak Hill Ave.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $246,500
Buyer: Kathleen Hill
Seller: Carl M. Perella
Date: 04/29/21

315 Poplar St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $241,000
Buyer: Lauren E. White
Seller: David A. Robinson
Date: 04/23/21

93 Senator Ave.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $221,000
Buyer: Andrew Turner
Seller: Marlene Roberts
Date: 04/20/21

85-87 Sheri Lane
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $400,000
Buyer: Oleksandr Melnychuk
Seller: Mark J. Danalis
Date: 04/30/21

745 Springfield St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $1,850,000
Buyer: CG Foods LLC
Seller: Ferraro Foods of MA LLC
Date: 04/28/21

119 Wagon Wheel Dr.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $525,000
Buyer: Kenneth A. Keppler
Seller: Gregory A. Riberdy
Date: 04/23/21

BLANDFORD

257 Brookman Dr.
Blandford, MA 01008
Amount: $949,000
Buyer: Arlene Fishkind
Seller: Kathleen K. Bourn
Date: 04/30/21

BRIMFIELD

177 Brookfield Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $485,000
Buyer: Timothy M. Bishop
Seller: Sharon L. Morin
Date: 04/30/21

108 Cubles Dr.
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $217,900
Buyer: Joseph Lace
Seller: Shaun McLaughlin
Date: 04/23/21

15 Mill Lane
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Lindsay Fleming
Seller: Andrew J. Rasys
Date: 04/20/21

20 Prospect Hill Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $355,000
Buyer: Edward M. Morley
Seller: Johan T. Leth-Steensen
Date: 04/21/21

58 Washington Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $251,000
Buyer: Brianna S. White
Seller: Elizabeth Cebula
Date: 04/27/21

CHESTER

21 William St.
Chester, MA 01011
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Epifanio Arias
Seller: Chester S. Brett
Date: 04/20/21

CHICOPEE

376 Britton St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $154,500
Buyer: Samuel Velez-Lozada
Seller: Carol A. Laflamme
Date: 04/30/21

791 Britton St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: JSPSM LLC
Seller: Revampit LLC
Date: 04/23/21

358 Broadway St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $259,000
Buyer: Jorge A. Hernandez
Seller: Sandra D. Hernandez
Date: 04/30/21

155 Chapel St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: Betty M. Lichtenstein
Seller: David Hebert
Date: 04/20/21

370 Chicopee St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $247,500
Buyer: Dmitriy Salagornik
Seller: Lucas Real Estate LLC
Date: 04/21/21

25 Dayton St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $246,000
Buyer: Ileana M. Cruz
Seller: Juan Santana
Date: 04/20/21

East Main St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $167,000
Buyer: PBHI Properties LLC
Seller: Westmass Area Development Corp.
Date: 04/21/21

191 East St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Jonathan Giedrowicz
Seller: John C. Scribner
Date: 04/21/21

Empire St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: JBD Empire LLC
Seller: Robert P. Kardisco
Date: 04/27/21

52 Falmouth Road
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $242,400
Buyer: Agnieszka E. Wieczorek
Seller: Shawn A. Barrett
Date: 04/28/21

31 Franklin St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $243,000
Buyer: Benjamin Perez
Seller: Carl C. Nunziato
Date: 04/30/21

Fuller Road #1
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $1,900,000
Buyer: Milton Real Properties Of Mass.
Seller: JK Real Estate LLC
Date: 04/30/21

777 Grattan St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Leigha Schmidt
Seller: Brian Fournier
Date: 04/26/21

59 Higgins Circle
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $176,000
Buyer: Kody M. Anischik
Seller: Richard J. Anischik
Date: 04/29/21

261 Irene St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $234,000
Buyer: Stephanie M. Ewing
Seller: Kathy J. Trillo
Date: 04/30/21

15 Lachine St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Carolyn Martinez
Seller: Cheryl A. Budington
Date: 04/28/21

10 Lucretia Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Patrick McNamara
Seller: John C. Accorsi
Date: 04/30/21

21 Macek Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $435,000
Buyer: Patrick M. Valiquette
Seller: Volodomyr Boyko
Date: 04/23/21

38 Northwood St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $208,000
Buyer: Yolyma Montanez-Gonzalez
Seller: Raymond A. Nadeau
Date: 04/30/21

13 Park St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $189,900
Buyer: Jamellah S. Smith
Seller: Shari M. Duffus
Date: 04/23/21

23 Pembroke Place
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $243,000
Buyer: Brandon S. Ewing
Seller: Michael R. Reniewicz
Date: 04/22/21

41 Pennsylvania Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $133,000
Buyer: Kevin Randall
Seller: Bernard J. Chartier
Date: 04/23/21

40 Randall St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Krystal A. Rivera
Seller: Robert A. Tardiff
Date: 04/30/21

45 Reed St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $246,000
Buyer: Corey L. Scribner
Seller: Ronald Viens
Date: 04/30/21

56 Sesame Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $279,250
Buyer: John R. Houle
Seller: Mary E. Goulette
Date: 04/28/21

61 State St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: JBD Empire LLC
Seller: Robert P. Kardisco
Date: 04/27/21

36 Taylor St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $117,340
Buyer: R. M. Blerman LLC
Seller: Midfirst Bank
Date: 04/23/21

1559 Westover Road
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Wesley Jackson
Seller: Robert G. Shaw
Date: 04/30/21

EAST LONGMEADOW

70 Gates Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Annette Quinones
Seller: Phyllis M. Smith
Date: 04/28/21

245 Maple St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Michael J. Cook
Seller: Christine E. Disibio
Date: 04/20/21

27 Michel St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: William Nichols
Seller: Francis K. Minahan
Date: 04/30/21

291 North Main St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Regina Sibilia
Seller: Meng L. Wang
Date: 04/20/21

94 Parker St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Thomas Champagne
Seller: William J. Reilly
Date: 04/30/21

94 Porter Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: James Pikoulas
Seller: Patriot Living LLC
Date: 04/26/21

Prospect St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $2,200,000
Buyer: Marth-E LLC
Seller: Shaker Road LLC
Date: 04/29/21

30-34 Shaker Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $2,200,000
Buyer: Marth-E LLC
Seller: Shaker Rd LLC
Date: 04/28/21

60 Shaker Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $2,200,000
Buyer: Marth-E LLC
Seller: Shaker Rd LLC
Date: 04/28/21

54 Tufts St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $365,000
Buyer: Muhammad K. Khan
Seller: Colleen A. Caban
Date: 04/30/21

16 Vadnais St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Emily S. Willer
Seller: Debbie W. Lee
Date: 04/27/21

15 Westernview Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Dessire Vitorino
Seller: Mental Health Association Inc.
Date: 04/29/21

GRANVILLE

1442 Main Road
Granville, MA 01034
Amount: $200,200
Buyer: Midfirst Bank
Seller: William B. Phelon
Date: 04/28/21

HAMPDEN

113 Bennett Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $564,900
Buyer: Alan A. Lareau
Seller: Raymond J. Crane
Date: 04/30/21

381 Chapin Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Timothy Barry
Seller: Barry, William J. Jr., (Estate)
Date: 04/23/21

53 Meadow Brook Lane
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Brendan Q. Kessler
Seller: Vincent C. Perreault
Date: 04/30/21

33 Wehr Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $212,000
Buyer: Stephanie Taylor
Seller: Michelle R. MacPhail
Date: 04/30/21

HOLLAND

197 Mashapaug Road
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $372,500
Buyer: Jason Seplowitz
Seller: Brian J. Martin
Date: 04/21/21

HOLYOKE

37 Anderson Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Kathryn A. Setterstrom
Seller: John A. Ramondetta
Date: 04/29/21

28-30 Beacon Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $297,000
Buyer: Ronald G. Bell
Seller: Modesto Melendez
Date: 04/28/21

33-35 Brookline Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Jeanna Byrd
Seller: Fens Co LLC
Date: 04/28/21

77 Brookline Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Martinelli Martini & Gallagher
Seller: Barbara J. Desmarais
Date: 04/22/21

16-24 Commercial St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: 16 Commercial Street LLC
Seller: Mcmahon, Daniel J., (Estate)
Date: 04/30/21

30 Hampton Knolls Road
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $360,000
Buyer: Lee Skiffington
Seller: Gerald G. Moreau
Date: 04/30/21

276 High St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $475,000
Buyer: Pru Holyoke MA LLC
Seller: Prew LLC
Date: 04/21/21

15 Holy Family Road
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $1,100,000
Buyer: Holy Family Road LLC
Seller: Robert-Thomas Construction LLC
Date: 04/29/21

Holyoke Road #B
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $2,750,000
Buyer: Holyoke Landing LLC
Seller: BRE Development LLC
Date: 04/23/21

37 Laura Lane
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $276,000
Buyer: Matthew M. Bagg
Seller: Michael Kane
Date: 04/26/21

115 Lincoln St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $216,500
Buyer: Irene Ushomirskyty
Seller: Alex B. Morse
Date: 04/30/21

11 Linden St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Jorangel Marrero-Dejesus
Seller: Alex B. Morse
Date: 04/30/21

20 Magnolia Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $148,000
Buyer: Dugagjin Shala
Seller: Yahaira Bermudez
Date: 04/23/21

1 Meadow St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $136,000
Buyer: Kristin M. Fontaine
Seller: Candice J. Michaelsen
Date: 04/20/21

23 North East St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: David Class
Seller: Carlos J. Miranda
Date: 04/30/21

1298 Northampton St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Rebecca E. Yadegar
Seller: Ester T. Pineault
Date: 04/30/21

1889 Northampton St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Marlene Rye
Seller: Brian M. Griffin
Date: 04/27/21

2129 Northampton St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $203,500
Buyer: Frank P. Brunelle
Seller: John J. O’Connor
Date: 04/29/21

57 Norwood Ter.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Christopher M. Lynch
Seller: Ezold, Robert, (Estate)
Date: 04/28/21

235 Oak St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $262,000
Buyer: Jessica Bahadur
Seller: AAD LLC
Date: 04/30/21

145 Pearl St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Griffin A. Bazzeghin
Seller: Wayne B. Versace
Date: 04/28/21

167 Pearl St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $184,000
Buyer: Erin K. Bartuska
Seller: Daniel Bones
Date: 04/30/21

272-274 Pleasant St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: Guy C. Meade
Seller: Victoria P. Staples
Date: 04/30/21

47 Queen St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Posiadlosc LLC
Seller: Jason K. Frey
Date: 04/28/21

30-32 Ridgewood Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $298,000
Buyer: Wayne J. Caillouette
Seller: Becky A. Yacubeck
Date: 04/29/21

74 Sycamore St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Joshua Menard
Seller: David C. Bergeron
Date: 04/28/21

303 West Franklin St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $188,000
Buyer: Marianne Ortiz
Seller: Yu J. Lin
Date: 04/30/21

LONGMEADOW

173 Academy Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $505,000
Buyer: Pierre Beauchamp
Seller: Leveillee, Brad A., (Estate)
Date: 04/30/21

321 Ardsley Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $647,750
Buyer: Samuel R. Hamner
Seller: JEF Properties Inc.
Date: 04/30/21

26 Elmwood Ave.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: Meredith B. Folsom
Seller: Jason M. Lawrence
Date: 04/29/21

339 Frank Smith Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $480,000
Buyer: David S. Taylor
Seller: Francesco Ferrentino
Date: 04/30/21

361 Frank Smith Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $395,000
Buyer: Mark D. Soycher
Seller: Stanley F. Jorczak
Date: 04/23/21

37 Lincoln Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $345,000
Buyer: Ana Pereira
Seller: Rosinski Realty Inc.
Date: 04/29/21

86 Lincoln Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $332,000
Buyer: Colee Curtis
Seller: Stuart B. Gordon
Date: 04/30/21

217 Lynnwood Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $647,500
Buyer: Kiran R. Palreddy
Seller: Blair E. Vassallo
Date: 04/30/21

101 Morningside Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $446,000
Buyer: Amy E. Devoe
Seller: Robert J. Wiles
Date: 04/30/21

170 Morningside Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $475,500
Buyer: Cassandra Williamson
Seller: Craig A. Barry
Date: 04/30/21

410 Pinewood Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $530,000
Buyer: Aziz Ashirov
Seller: John B. Corcoran
Date: 04/26/21

10 Quinnehtuk Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $387,000
Buyer: Patrick J. Hurst
Seller: Behan, Barbara S., (Estate)
Date: 04/30/21

178 Redfern Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $357,000
Buyer: James A. Bouchard
Seller: Charles W. Gamache
Date: 04/30/21

71 South Park Ave.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $410,000
Buyer: Mark R. Trent
Seller: Joan A. Crowley
Date: 04/23/21

LUDLOW

19 Acorn Lane
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Steven J. Beauregard
Seller: Patricia Beauregard
Date: 04/30/21

763 Alden St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Derek Davidson
Seller: Michael A. Houle
Date: 04/30/21

30 Bridle Road
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $335,000
Buyer: Samuel D. Kopec
Seller: Paulo G. Marta
Date: 04/23/21

182-184 Cady St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $284,900
Buyer: Brett E. Provost
Seller: Cynthia L. Denucci
Date: 04/22/21

66-68 Highland Ave.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $305,000
Buyer: Jesse M. Warga
Seller: Delos Real Estate LLC
Date: 04/29/21

168 Hubbard St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Lawrence J. Pagliaro
Seller: Bruce R. Belmer
Date: 04/21/21

155 Lakeview Ave.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Ana M. Santos
Seller: Steven W. Balicki
Date: 04/27/21

56 Lillian St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $295,500
Buyer: Christopher Sarrasin
Seller: Paul Pereira
Date: 04/30/21

5 Marion Circle
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $238,500
Buyer: Dean A. Miner
Seller: Pierre E. Bertrand
Date: 04/29/21

190 Moody St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $1,175,000
Buyer: HP Rum LLC
Seller: Croteau Realty LLC
Date: 04/21/21

501 Moore St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Shawn Barrett
Seller: Ernest Watt
Date: 04/28/21

58 Mountainview St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $396,000
Buyer: Matthew V. Blanchard
Seller: Michael W. Wojtowicz
Date: 04/30/21

32 Noel St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $257,000
Buyer: Jeffrey Sheltra
Seller: James A. LaFortune
Date: 04/27/21

153 West Ave.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Cecilia Goncalves
Seller: Cristina D. Ribeiro
Date: 04/30/21

103 Williams St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $247,000
Buyer: Richard A. Thibeault
Seller: Richard A. Jodoin
Date: 04/30/21

MONSON

38 Ely Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $450,000
Buyer: Lindsey M. Garman
Seller: Charles A. Lindsay
Date: 04/29/21

79 Ely Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $308,000
Buyer: Victor M. Rivera-Perez
Seller: Brandon E. Watroba
Date: 04/30/21

13 Green St.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $259,900
Buyer: Alec Truman-Barkett
Seller: Luke Paull
Date: 04/29/21

4 Hilltop Dr.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Zachary T. Enderle
Seller: Daniel J. Enderle
Date: 04/30/21

221 Moulton Hill Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $338,000
Buyer: Sammi Liang
Seller: Ruth I. Deroy
Date: 04/23/21

32 Paradise Lake Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $282,500
Buyer: Patricia A. Finch
Seller: Robert Berns
Date: 04/30/21

129 Stafford Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $176,000
Buyer: Horizon Properties LLC
Seller: Wells Fargo Bank
Date: 04/23/21

PALMER

82 Belchertown St.
Palmer, MA 01080
Amount: $196,000
Buyer: Allen Krasnecky
Seller: Mckee, Lydia W., (Estate)
Date: 04/23/21

4045 High St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $359,900
Buyer: Shale Miller
Seller: Isaiah D. Pagan
Date: 04/21/21

3162-3164 Main St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Luke Paull
Seller: Ruby Realty LLC
Date: 04/27/21

10-12 Maple Ter.
Palmer, MA 01080
Amount: $213,000
Buyer: Remond Speight
Seller: Real Estate Investments Northeast
Date: 04/22/21

138 Mason St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $167,000
Buyer: Brendan N. Campbell
Seller: Robert B. Campbell
Date: 04/29/21

51 South High St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $395,000
Buyer: Stanley Gyamfi
Seller: Steven S. Kusek
Date: 04/26/21

1 Sibley St.
Palmer, MA 01080
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Richard J. Guimond
Seller: Nancy Guimond
Date: 04/30/21

21 West Ware St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $318,000
Buyer: Jeffrey Gonyea
Seller: Glen A. Wuerthele
Date: 04/23/21

RUSSELL

45 Blandford Stage Road
Russell, MA 01071
Amount: $1,960,000
Buyer: Charles Russell Owner LLC
Seller: Russell Retail LLC
Date: 04/21/21

SOUTHWICK

130 Feeding Hills Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: William Rivera
Seller: Samuel R. Elander
Date: 04/30/21

162 Feeding Hills Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Nancy Couturier-Stefaniw
Seller: Christian Prosper
Date: 04/20/21

29 Hillside Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $129,900
Buyer: L&A TR
Seller: Steven Zayac
Date: 04/22/21

5 Patriots Way
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $355,000
Buyer: Aleh Semenovich
Seller: Paul Watts
Date: 04/23/21

5 Pondview Lane
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $541,500
Buyer: Wilmington Savings
Seller: John Adamczyk
Date: 04/27/21

33 Ranch Club Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $737,500
Buyer: Michael T. Sheil
Seller: William A. Rodgers
Date: 04/23/21

18 Reservoir Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $565,000
Buyer: Brandan Towers
Seller: Timofey Tserkovnyy
Date: 04/30/21

Silvergrass Lane #32
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Dennis Aube
Seller: Fiore Realty Holdings LLC
Date: 04/28/21

Silvergrass Lane #33
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Dennis Aube
Seller: Fiore Realty Holdings LLC
Date: 04/28/21

5 Tree Top Lane
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $455,000
Buyer: Stephanie Jimenez
Seller: Michael T. Sheil
Date: 04/26/21

SPRINGFIELD

945 Allen St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Nasser Zebian
Seller: Todd R. Beeman
Date: 04/29/21

81 Bairdcrest Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Jorge Cadiz
Seller: Erica Cadiz
Date: 04/22/21

53 Barrison St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $189,900
Buyer: Nicholas Malafronte
Seller: Borgy LLC
Date: 04/30/21

11 Benham St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $201,000
Buyer: Duenna S. Santiago
Seller: Daniel R. Muggleton
Date: 04/27/21

274 Boston Road
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $500,000
Buyer: Grahams Construction Inc.
Seller: Centro De Restauracion
Date: 04/20/21

1211 Bradley Road
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Alberto Curbelo
Seller: Ann S. McPherson
Date: 04/28/21

88 Briarwood Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Gary Shepard
Seller: Joseph Amedeo
Date: 04/21/21

25 Brown St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $210,500
Buyer: MaCanthony Mack
Seller: Baystate Homeguard Inc.
Date: 04/30/21

59 Burghardt St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Darren Teale
Seller: Richard G. Patrick
Date: 04/30/21

70 Burnside Ter.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Micheal J. Matos
Seller: Tyron J. Zaitshik
Date: 04/20/21

160 Canterbury Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $400,000
Buyer: David Hathaway-Johnson
Seller: Moltenbrey Builders LLC
Date: 04/28/21

165 Canterbury Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $400,000
Buyer: Michael Rodriguez
Seller: Moltenbrey Builders LLC
Date: 04/29/21

809 Carew St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Onstar Properties AA LLC
Seller: Round 2 LLC
Date: 04/26/21

11 Chase Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $165,555
Buyer: Emtay Inc.
Seller: PHH Mortgage Corp.
Date: 04/30/21

80-82 Clantoy St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $375,000
Buyer: Yenmy Eneida-Dominguez
Seller: Congamond Management LLC
Date: 04/23/21

81 Corcoran Blvd.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $181,000
Buyer: Juan L. Santiago
Seller: Heather M. Thomas
Date: 04/20/21

24 Crest St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Angelica Ortiz
Seller: Santana Real Estate Inc.
Date: 04/27/21

54 Crystal Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Yrania DeLosSantos
Seller: Oussama Awkal
Date: 04/22/21

75 Deepfield Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $272,000
Buyer: Yong Kim
Seller: Michael A. Rodriguez
Date: 04/29/21

257 Dickinson St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: An Dinh
Seller: Hieu Vuong
Date: 04/30/21

88-90 Dorset St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $220,150
Buyer: Joseph A. Saracino
Seller: Marcia A. Lefort
Date: 04/23/21

74-76 Duryea St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Angel L. Ruiz-Vega
Seller: Marcus A. Wilson
Date: 04/30/21

60-62 Edgemont St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Ericka Gonzalez-Carrillo
Seller: John A. Canavan
Date: 04/23/21

43 Elaine Circle
Springfield, MA 01101
Amount: $408,000
Buyer: Bharatkumar S. Patel
Seller: Grahams Construction Inc.
Date: 04/21/21

128 Ellsworth Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Carmen M. Huertas-Deleon
Seller: Nolava LLC
Date: 04/28/21

68 Eloise St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Emily S. Banerjee
Seller: Lakeside Properties LLC
Date: 04/23/21

42 Emily St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Mboboko Elikana
Seller: James Ngugi
Date: 04/30/21

33 Farnsworth St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $229,900
Buyer: Yanira R. Maldonado
Seller: David Givans
Date: 04/26/21

76 Florida St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $340,000
Buyer: Denissa Juarez-Escalera
Seller: Albert L. Williams
Date: 04/26/21

71 Gilbert Ave.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $220,500
Buyer: Ryan Lau
Seller: Michael Simmonds
Date: 04/29/21

100 Gillette Circle
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Arielle A. Santana
Seller: Michel C. Hopkins
Date: 04/30/21

22 Hadley St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Homestead Connections LLC
Seller: Green, Shelley I., (Estate)
Date: 04/20/21

23 Halifax Court
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Steven B. Kivitz
Seller: William D. Neigher
Date: 04/23/21

132 Halifax Court
Springfield, MA 01101
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Steven B. Kivitz
Seller: William D. Neigher
Date: 04/23/21

315 Hartwick St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $244,000
Buyer: Alyssa M. Babin
Seller: Brendan Linnehan
Date: 04/28/21

203 Jewett St.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Christian J. Brouthers
Seller: Justin Henry
Date: 04/23/21

124 Joan St.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Kenneth Collins
Seller: Gail M. Corliss
Date: 04/21/21

15 Leete St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $169,000
Buyer: MPower Capital LLC
Seller: Devin F. Eddington
Date: 04/27/21

117 Leitch St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $232,000
Buyer: Omayra Guzman
Seller: Kathleen R. King
Date: 04/30/21

18 Leroy Place
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $175,850
Buyer: Jose Vazquez-Roman
Seller: Murad Drifish
Date: 04/27/21

42-44 Longhill St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Juan Rodriguez
Seller: Yanira Rentas-Maldonado
Date: 04/23/21

1592-1596 Main St.
Springfield, MA 01103
Amount: $800,000
Buyer: D&A LLC
Seller: 1670 Main Street LLC
Date: 04/28/21

86 Magnolia Ter.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $244,900
Buyer: Fyxer Up Properties LLC
Seller: Ruby Realty LLC
Date: 04/20/21

1600 Main St.
Springfield, MA 01103
Amount: $800,000
Buyer: D&A LLC
Seller: 1670 Main Street LLC
Date: 04/28/21

36 Martone Place
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Saint James Place Properties
Seller: HDC 4 LLC
Date: 04/22/21

60 Martone Place
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Saint James Place Properties
Seller: Martone Place LLC
Date: 04/22/21

204 Massachusetts Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Erik Santiago
Seller: Maribel Reynoso
Date: 04/27/21

106 Mayflower Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $229,000
Buyer: Janitza Cruz
Seller: Thomas F. Barrett
Date: 04/21/21

127 Melha Ave.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Eilleen Y. Cruz
Seller: Athan Catjakis
Date: 04/29/21

172 Middlesex St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $345,000
Buyer: Joel Nieves
Seller: William K. Butler
Date: 04/21/21

37 Normandy Road
Springfield, MA 01106
Amount: $416,000
Buyer: Leontino Piecuch
Seller: Jennifer Winkler
Date: 04/29/21

326-328 Parkerview St.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Julian D. Watts
Seller: Richard G. Johnson
Date: 04/22/21

54 Pasco Road
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: John D. Hill
Seller: Kurt Nielson
Date: 04/29/21

133 Regal St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $202,000
Buyer: Alexis Saez-Rodriguez
Seller: Crystal A. Frederick
Date: 04/21/21

38 Penrose St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $229,000
Buyer: Jose L. Hernandez-Pagan
Seller: Mirian P. Chavez
Date: 04/30/21

75 Puritan Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $193,000
Buyer: Tracy Ascolillo
Seller: Anita Clements
Date: 04/28/21

52-54 Reed St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Benjamin Nicolas
Seller: Eduard Tsikhotskiy
Date: 04/30/21

65 Rochelle St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $199,500
Buyer: Michael Fontanella
Seller: Norma H. Fraser
Date: 04/30/21

90 Rochelle St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $133,500
Buyer: Thomas P. Myers
Seller: Delno E. Clark
Date: 04/30/21

386 Roosevelt Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $250,300
Buyer: Derrick J. Hatwood
Seller: Alaina M. MaCaulay
Date: 04/29/21

405 Roosevelt Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Jose Garcia-Mercado
Seller: Joan G. Kavanagh
Date: 04/27/21

57 Signal Hill Circle
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $370,000
Buyer: Akadeth Paenmuan
Seller: Vanessa Raster
Date: 04/28/21

55 Slumber Lane
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Colleen Caban
Seller: Dorothy C. Desnoyers
Date: 04/30/21

27-29 Standish St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Ariangna Gonzalez
Seller: AJN Rentals LLC
Date: 04/27/21

305 State St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $174,500
Buyer: State 305 LLC
Seller: Avneet LLC
Date: 04/22/21

655-657 Sumner Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Elvyn A. Almarante
Seller: Alan Whitmeyer
Date: 04/26/21

1178 Sumner Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Michelle Rubiera
Seller: Lindsey L. Taylor
Date: 04/28/21

131 Sunbrier Road
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Joanna Skora
Seller: Christopher Skora
Date: 04/23/21

23 Superior Ave.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Tabitha A. Batterman
Seller: Maureen A. Burns
Date: 04/29/21

55 Sylvan St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Mar Mardiros-Varteresian
Seller: Lourdes M. Alves
Date: 04/23/21

74-76 Sylvan St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $259,000
Buyer: Nexius LLC
Seller: David Vooris
Date: 04/27/21

146 Temby St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: Humboldt Realty LLC
Seller: Roger Howland
Date: 04/30/21

38 Texel Dr.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $294,000
Buyer: Elisa M. Alvaro
Seller: Scott R. Hanson
Date: 04/30/21

191 Thompson St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Angelica Rosario
Seller: Martin Diaz
Date: 04/30/21

95 Washington St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Tovan Nguyen
Seller: My V. Le
Date: 04/30/21

25-27 Watling St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Annette Holmes
Seller: Peter C. Coolidge
Date: 04/28/21

44-46 Wayne St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Roxanne Stanford-Simpson
Seller: Denise C. Higgins
Date: 04/28/21

116-118 Westford Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Community Loan Servicing
Seller: Frankstone Group LLC
Date: 04/30/21

54 Wildwood Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $248,000
Buyer: Ashley Alvarado
Seller: Sanderson, Gerald B., (Estate)
Date: 04/20/21

9 York St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $715,000
Buyer: York Street 2 LLC
Seller: 9 York Street Family LP
Date: 04/23/21

WALES

54 Main St.
Wales, MA 01081
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Eric Maucione
Seller: Jennifer Dupuis
Date: 04/30/21

4 Monson Road
Wales, MA 01081
Amount: $209,000
Buyer: Adam J. Jackson
Seller: David M. VanWagoner
Date: 04/28/21

WEST SPRINGFIELD

9 Albert St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Stephen A. Houpert
Seller: Alex Vilkhovoy
Date: 04/22/21

79 Bridge St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Haskell Holdings LLC
Seller: KSV Realty LLC
Date: 04/30/21

150 Chestnut St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Tarik Zaitoun
Seller: Valeriy Katainikov
Date: 04/29/21

226 Circle Dr.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $268,000
Buyer: Tara M. Rana
Seller: Patricia A. Wright
Date: 04/20/21

43 Day St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Revampit Holdings LLC
Seller: Nataliya Novikova
Date: 04/28/21

202 Day St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $900,000
Buyer: J&A Aerospace Inc.
Seller: BK Realty LLP
Date: 04/22/21

60-62 Elmdale St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Mohammad Abdraba
Seller: Tiefu Shao
Date: 04/30/21

164 Ely Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $227,000
Buyer: Sarah E. Della-Giustina
Seller: Kennedy, Elizabeth A., (Estate)
Date: 04/28/21

78 George St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Damian J. Feliciano
Seller: Carlos D. Feliciano
Date: 04/27/21

92 Greenleaf Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $237,000
Buyer: Glendy M. Baez
Seller: Frederick T. Molyneux
Date: 04/23/21

65 Merrick St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Ah Bley
Seller: Petr A. Taganov
Date: 04/29/21

25 Railroad St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Cindy M. Rivera
Seller: Remoon Hawel
Date: 04/29/21

2024 Riverdale St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $2,700,000
Buyer: Riverdale Investment LLC
Seller: Naviah LLC
Date: 04/30/21

2036 Riverdale St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $2,700,000
Buyer: Riverdale Investment LLC
Seller: Naviah LLC
Date: 04/30/21

Saint Andrews Way #16
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $349,900
Buyer: Matthew M. Paige
Seller: Country Club Partners LLC
Date: 04/30/21

844 Union St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: DHJC Realty LLC
Seller: Edward F. Kelley
Date: 04/29/21

2063 Westfield St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $373,500
Buyer: Henry Romero
Seller: MAA Property LLC
Date: 04/28/21

WESTFIELD

1 Allen Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $295,000
Buyer: Mebarek Abdelkebir
Seller: Jenna K. Biscoe
Date: 04/21/21

117 Berkshire Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Matthew A. Cavallo
Seller: Frank Cavallo
Date: 04/21/21

54 Blue Sky Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $560,000
Buyer: Bruce R. Belmer
Seller: Robert C. Browne
Date: 04/22/21

29 Brentwood Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $241,800
Buyer: Robert Hamann
Seller: Donald F. Voudren
Date: 04/30/21

39 Brentwood Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $232,000
Buyer: Wayne H. Young
Seller: Stephen A. Barrup
Date: 04/26/21

8 Bush St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Evan W. Beswick
Seller: CEJ Property LLC
Date: 04/30/21

14 Crescent Circle
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $326,000
Buyer: Brandon P. Ducheney
Seller: HL Holdings LLC
Date: 04/22/21

1685 East Mountain Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $352,500
Buyer: Becky A. Yacubeck
Seller: David S. Usher
Date: 04/29/21

1768 East Mountain Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $227,000
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: John Q. Adams
Date: 04/28/21

130 Elizabeth Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Nicholas Fitzgerald
Seller: David J. Deveau
Date: 04/30/21

122 Farnham Lane
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Stephanie N. Liptak
Seller: Douglas J. Fuller
Date: 04/30/21

91 Franklin St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $279,900
Buyer: Daniel Marcoux
Seller: Stanley J. Osowski
Date: 04/30/21

27 Gloria Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $555,000
Buyer: Orville Libanan
Seller: Dinesh Mainali
Date: 04/30/21

76 Governor Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $355,000
Buyer: Jenna K. Biscoe
Seller: Daniel J. Bednarz
Date: 04/22/21

65 Hubbard St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Jessica Talbot
Seller: Craig A. Daniels
Date: 04/28/21

113 Lindbergh Blvd.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Hanming Chen
Seller: Michael P. Daly
Date: 04/30/21

59 King St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $139,291
Buyer: Charles L. Darling
Seller: Fife, Ruth G., (Estate)
Date: 04/20/21

64 Noble St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $285,500
Buyer: Nicole Knapp
Seller: Vadim Plotnikov
Date: 04/23/21

12 Northridge Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Daniele A. Demay
Seller: Robert C. Badone
Date: 04/22/21

64 Northridge Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Cindy A. Nikiforakis
Seller: Kelly A. Gourde
Date: 04/22/21

78 Otis St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Alicia Beebe
Seller: Christopher D. Roy
Date: 04/29/21

240 Russellville Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $122,000
Buyer: Angel Naula
Seller: Kathryn E. Cowles
Date: 04/30/21

15 Tow Path Lane
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $382,000
Buyer: Gary J. Sperlonga
Seller: Greg A. Bevilacqua
Date: 04/23/21

5 Willow Brook Lane
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $405,000
Buyer: Jaslin Orelus
Seller: Kevin D. O’Brien
Date: 04/23/21

WILBRAHAM

910 Glendale Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $329,000
Buyer: Ronald Venne
Seller: Jeanne E. Molinari
Date: 04/29/21

381 Main St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Matthew Murphy
Seller: Nasser Chehimi
Date: 04/20/21

77 Manchonis Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $288,000
Buyer: Krishna N. Kumar
Seller: Matthew V. Blanchard
Date: 04/30/21

207 Manchonis Road Ext.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $375,000
Buyer: Brett Basili-Wright
Seller: JR&D Properties LLC
Date: 04/23/21

11 Old Coach Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $500,000
Buyer: Mark Dore
Seller: Michael A. Pandolfi
Date: 04/30/21

24 Ripley St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Audrey Camerota
Seller: Anthony G. Camerota
Date: 04/30/21

472 Springfield St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $168,500
Buyer: Custom Home Development Group LLC
Seller: Robert T. Rudolph
Date: 04/30/21

951 Stony Hill Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $425,000
Buyer: Craig J. Siano
Seller: Nicole Murdoch
Date: 04/29/21

12 Tall Timber Dr.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $407,650
Buyer: James R. Lovotti
Seller: Kathleen M. Whitney
Date: 04/29/21

780 Tinkham Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $355,000
Buyer: Aleksandr P. Verbetsky
Seller: Jakub Muller
Date: 04/21/21

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY

AMHERST

260 Amity St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $708,895
Buyer: Andrew K. Leinung
Seller: Geoffrey M. Zucker
Date: 04/23/21

68 Country Corners Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $569,900
Buyer: Gabija Revis
Seller: Gail C. Whitlock RET
Date: 04/20/21

11 Dayton Lane
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $777,000
Buyer: Stephen B. Marcus
Seller: Richard N. Palmer
Date: 04/30/21

227 Heatherstone Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $455,000
Buyer: Michael R. Ising
Seller: Donald Weber
Date: 04/22/21

51 Jeffrey Lane
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $340,000
Buyer: Dan Wang
Seller: Dongliang Guo
Date: 04/22/21

21 Kendrick Place
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $475,000
Buyer: Narayan Sampath
Seller: Ian J. Walsh
Date: 04/29/21

762 North East St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $690,000
Buyer: Adam G. Hinds
Seller: Joseph R. Polino
Date: 04/22/21

8 Pondview Dr.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $329,500
Buyer: Shivaji Kumar
Seller: Chrystal A. George-Mwangi
Date: 04/30/21

BELCHERTOWN

93 Clark St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Barbara J. Gilbert
Seller: John R. Norden
Date: 04/23/21

29 Federal St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $1,100,000
Buyer: Btown Property Holdings LLC
Seller: Quabbin Village LLC
Date: 04/22/21

52 Howard St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Jonathan Morales
Seller: Robert L. Laurin
Date: 04/27/21

171 Metacomet St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Matthew R. Cameron
Seller: Lisa Burke
Date: 04/28/21

46 North St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $137,500
Buyer: Rachel J. Foley-Diaz
Seller: Barbara Foley
Date: 04/30/21

265 Rockrimmon St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $433,000
Buyer: Mario Nascimento
Seller: Anthony Whalen
Date: 04/30/21

120 Sabin St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $414,999
Buyer: Joseph Vicinanza
Seller: James A. McKimmie
Date: 04/22/21

560 State St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $469,000
Buyer: Jeffrey A. Francis
Seller: Samuel Winston
Date: 04/30/21

CUMMINGTON

28 Old Route 9
Cummington, MA 01270
Amount: $559,000
Buyer: Raphael Wolfe
Seller: Frances W. Henry
Date: 04/30/21

EASTHAMPTON

322 East St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $282,000
Buyer: Emily A. Moreau
Seller: Thai C. Kim
Date: 04/30/21

19 Fort Hill Road
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $407,000
Buyer: John G. Hayden
Seller: William H. Mitchell
Date: 04/30/21

19 Howard Ave.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $169,000
Buyer: William Moynihan
Seller: James M. Gosselin
Date: 04/26/21

24 Kania St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Christina M. Elman
Seller: Michael W. Buehrle
Date: 04/28/21

134 Line St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $218,000
Buyer: Brendon O’Leary
Seller: Steven J. O’Leary
Date: 04/30/21

27 Pomeroy St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $362,000
Buyer: Matthew R. Scranton
Seller: Bruce D. Campbell
Date: 04/22/21

34 Torrey St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $262,500
Buyer: Dylan Wetherlad
Seller: John C. Barnes
Date: 04/23/21

8 Searle Ave.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $530,000
Buyer: Manhan Properties LLC
Seller: Mountain View Investors LP
Date: 04/29/21

GRANBY

235 Batchelor St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $311,000
Buyer: Charles Louisraj
Seller: Joseph J. Romito-Carey
Date: 04/28/21

11 Deerbrook Dr.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $440,000
Buyer: Parinita Abbott
Seller: Thaddeus J. Pula
Date: 04/20/21

10 Griswold Circle
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: David P. Bergeron
Seller: Suzanne Brunelle
Date: 04/30/21

131-137 South St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $500,000
Buyer: DJD Real Estate LLC
Seller: Xios LLC
Date: 04/30/21

52 West State St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: L. Lands LLC
Seller: Skelskie, Jeffrey W., (Estate)
Date: 04/29/21

HADLEY

14 Frost Lane
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $424,000
Buyer: Zachary M. Testo
Seller: Kirsten Helmer
Date: 04/29/21

34 Lawrence Plain Road
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $800,000
Buyer: Tuckman LLC
Seller: Theodore R. Mieczkowski
Date: 04/20/21

36 Lawrence Plain Road
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $800,000
Buyer: Tuckman LLC
Seller: Theodore R. Mieczkowski
Date: 04/20/21

213 Russell St.
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: Richard J. Rhodes
Seller: Joyce C. Fill
Date: 04/30/21

67 Stockbridge St.
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $425,000
Buyer: Jeremy D. Ober
Seller: Henry Whitlock
Date: 04/23/21

HATFIELD

73 Main St.
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $565,000
Buyer: Joshua C. Goldman
Seller: Michael D. Waltrip
Date: 04/22/21

HUNTINGTON

5 Russell Road
Huntington, MA 01050
Amount: $154,000
Buyer: Crystal R. Jones
Seller: Estey, Joane A., (Estate)
Date: 04/27/21

MIDDLEFIELD

140 Arthur Pease Road
Middlefield, MA 01243
Amount: $380,000
Buyer: Nichole Strange
Seller: Burmer FT
Date: 04/23/21

69 Town Hill Road
Middlefield, MA 01243
Amount: $143,400
Buyer: Liam D. Betit
Seller: Tyler Main
Date: 04/30/21

NORTHAMPTON

137 Barrett St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $423,000
Buyer: Peter T. Mack
Seller: Timmon Wallis
Date: 04/30/21

102 Bridge Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $329,900
Buyer: Jason Allen
Seller: Kathleen C. Larsen
Date: 04/30/21

133 Emerson Way
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Gail M. Bienvenue
Seller: Emerson Way LLC
Date: 04/30/21

14 Ferry Ave.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Ryan M. Pelis
Seller: Andrew S. Pelis
Date: 04/20/21

7 Florence Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $244,000
Buyer: Cailin Qualliotine
Seller: Blaine R. Applebee
Date: 04/28/21

574 Haydenville Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $500,000
Buyer: Haydenville Road LLC
Seller: Pre-Cast Properties LLC
Date: 04/20/21

8 Main St.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $465,000
Buyer: Streetlight Financial Real Estate LLC
Seller: Northampton Coop Bank
Date: 04/29/21

151 Maple Ridge Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $727,000
Buyer: Philip H. Mccurry
Seller: James R. Osofsky LT
Date: 04/30/21

117 Olander Dr. #16A
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $331,192
Buyer: Barbara J. Baatz
Seller: Sunwood Development Corp.
Date: 04/30/21

117 Olander Dr. #18B
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $472,465
Buyer: Joyce Swing-Goodlatte
Seller: Sunwood Development Corp.
Date: 04/28/21

119 Turkey Hill Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $611,500
Buyer: Brett J. Reiter
Seller: William Yenner
Date: 04/29/21

62 West Parsons Lane
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $430,000
Buyer: Scott W. Smith
Seller: Nina Slovik
Date: 04/27/21

1093 Westhampton Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $163,000
Buyer: Thomas Cummings
Seller: Ian D. Premo
Date: 04/23/21

PELHAM

77 Enfield Road
Pelham, MA 01002
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Brian N. Fuller
Seller: Lorraine R. Lynch
Date: 04/29/21

SOUTH HADLEY

590 Amherst Road
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Alexander N. Rojas
Seller: Karen Rojas
Date: 04/30/21

36 Charon Ter.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Laura J. Morrissette
Seller: Paul R. Gallagher
Date: 04/23/21

41 High St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Marissa Montemagni
Seller: Carolanne Bright
Date: 04/30/21

15 Los Angeles St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Robert C. Desroches
Seller: Robert C. Desroches
Date: 04/30/21

22 Midway St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Patriot Living LLC
Seller: Swenson, Roger J., (Estate)
Date: 04/22/21

13 Pittroff Ave.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $335,000
Buyer: John W. Bauman
Seller: Paul D. Pellerin
Date: 04/30/21

8 Ralph Ave.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Mary D. Lambert
Seller: Aleksandr Verbetsky
Date: 04/21/21

27 San Souci Dr.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $495,500
Buyer: Diane C. Rossini
Seller: SEB RT
Date: 04/26/21

14 West Summit St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Antonio Turner
Seller: Britall 1987 LLC
Date: 04/23/21

SOUTHAMPTON

196 County Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $340,000
Buyer: Kevin P. Bacon
Seller: Susan Humphrey
Date: 04/30/21

78 Fomer Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Kevin Kraus
Seller: James W. Berniche
Date: 04/21/21

101 Gunn Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $420,000
Buyer: Robert J. Tilbe
Seller: Lawrence B. Roberts
Date: 04/23/21

11 Hillside Meadows Dr.
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $421,000
Buyer: Carl R. Bean
Seller: Frederick J. Trela
Date: 04/30/21

162 Pomeroy Meadow Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $360,000
Buyer: Nina Slovik
Seller: Nancy J. Matteson RET
Date: 04/27/21

55 Pomeroy Meadow Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $495,000
Buyer: Jane Howard
Seller: James F. Boyle
Date: 04/30/21

75 Russellville Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $500,000
Buyer: Ryan L. Geeleher
Seller: Neal & Jane Howard FT
Date: 04/30/21

WARE

4 East St.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $249,900
Buyer: Felix Rosa
Seller: Chad Drigo
Date: 04/20/21

30 Greenwich Plains Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Rachel Heyn
Seller: Juan Larronde
Date: 04/30/21

23 Horseshoe Circle
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $602,000
Buyer: Carolyn Leonard
Seller: Donald Moffat
Date: 04/30/21

199 Monson Turnpike Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $142,100
Buyer: Gm Properties LLC
Seller: Derek A. Ouimette
Date: 04/23/21

150 Old Gilbertville Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $380,000
Buyer: Timothy E. Wells
Seller: Carol A. Root
Date: 04/28/21

20 Parker St.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $226,000
Buyer: Troy A. Thomas
Seller: Trinity Episcopal Church Ware
Date: 04/21/21

11 Smith Ave.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Mark Trevathan
Seller: Raymond L. Donnelly
Date: 04/30/21

WILLIAMSBURG

5 Goshen Road
Williamsburg, MA 01096
Amount: $422,000
Buyer: Erin A. Slott
Seller: Jae J. Casella
Date: 04/30/21

Building Permits

Building Permits

The following building permits were issued during the months of April and May 2021. (Filings are limited due to closures or reduced staffing hours at municipal offices due to COVID-19 restrictions).

AMHERST

Amherst College
151 College St.
$30,000 — Reconstruct deteriorated concrete slab supporting brine water tanks

Amherst College
212 Northampton Road
$287,000 — Scoreboard foundation, athletic light footings and retaining walls, block wall, concrete stairs, shed

Northland Boulders, LLC
188 East Hadley Road
$209,940 — Fire-alarm system with monitoring for three buildings

Survival Centers, LLC
138 Sunderland Road
$44,457 — Install walk-in freezer, walk-in cooler with outdoor remote refrigeration system on concrete

CHICOPEE

A & B Realty, LLC
118 Lorraine St.
$25,000 — Roofing

Main Street Property
340 McKinstry Ave.
$405,000 — Roofing

RT Commercials, LLC
185 Grove St.
$26,747 — Install new NFPA #13 system within gutted building that is being renovated into a pizza shop

VSH Realty Inc.
37 Montcalm St.
$1,200 — Replace existing rooftop unit, disconnect electrical on old RTU and reinstall on new RTU

HADLEY

CHC Windfield Senior, LLC
30 Greenleaves Dr.
Replace insulation, drywall, and flooring from water damage

Hampshire Mosque Inc.
451 Russell St.
Sheetrock and painting

James Mallet
9 Frost Lane
Insulation

Target Corp.
369 Russell St.
Replace existing wall sign

LEE

Apache Oil Co.
55 Housatonic St.
$3,850 — Install chicken counter with hood and gas line installed

LENOX

Berkshire Retirement Community
40 Sunset Ave.
$73,400 — Install new bathtubs and showers in three existing shower areas

Cornell Inn Holdings, LLC
203 Main St.
$10,000 — Construct ADA ramp and rework landing to main lobby

L & S, LP
426 Pittsfield Road
$70,000 — Replace decking and steel perlings on canopy

L & S, LP
426 Pittsfield Road
$2,000 — Remove and reinstall fire-suppression cylinders after canopy work

Town of Lenox
65 Walker St.
$5,320 — Install seven vinyl windows

NORTHAMPTON

City of Northampton
80 Locust St.
$169,085 — Renovate nurse’s office at Smith Vocational & Agricultural High School

Gerald Randall
216 North King St.
$6,000 — Illuminated wall sign for Truelieve

Gerald Randall
216 North King St.
$3,000 — Awning sign for Truelieve

Gerald Randall
216 North King St.
$2,500 — Illuminated wall sign for Truelieve

Smith College
164 Green St.
$450,000 — Install replacement windows on Tyler House

Smith College
30 Henshaw Ave.
$18,250 — Roofing on Tilly Hall

Smith College
1 Paradise Road
$450,000 — Renovate first floor of Gardiner House to improve access

ZQHW Corp.
60 King St.
$58,400 — Repair damage due to car impact

SPRINGFIELD

A1 Sumner Plaza, LLC
876 Sumner Ave.
$3,000 — Alter interior tenant space for new use as Virtue Salon

Chestnut Park Preservation, LP
10 Chestnut St.
$28,000 — Remove and replace six antennas, install three RRUs and two cabinets on T-Mobile wireless telecommunications tower

CJ’s Towing
350 Pasco Road
$168,800 — Roofing

Mittas Hospitality, LLC; DD Development, LLC; Rudra Realty, LLC
1500 Main St.
$3,000 — Install fire-alarm system at White Lion Brewery

Pearson-Cooley Development Co., LP
1334 Liberty St.
$13,000 — Alter interior commercial tenant space at Prime Liquors, merging two existing spaces into one

Spring Park Properties Inc.
192 White St.
$20,000 — Remove and replace three antennas and three RRUs, install new cabinet on T-Mobile wireless telecommunications tower

Wason Avenue Partners II, LLC
80 Wason Ave.
$34,827 — Alter interior medical space for Baystate Health, rework sinks and room assignments, clinical trials suite, phase 2 reconfiguration

Live Music Returns to MGM Springfield with Free Music Fridays Concert Series

SPRINGFIELD — Live music will returns to MGM Springfield with the new Free Music Fridays Concert Series. Every Friday from June 4 to Sept. 3, some of the area’s most popular rock bands will perform on the Plaza at MGM Springfield starting at 7:30 p.m., weather permitting.

Kicking off the 2021 series is FAT featuring Peter Newland. Additional local favorites such as Trailer Trash, Darik and the Funbags, and Michelle Brooks-Thompson, among others, are scheduled to perform throughout the summer.

“MGM Springfield is known for its diverse outdoor programming with a focus on entertaining guests and bringing the community together,” said Chris Kelley, MGM Springfield’s president and chief operating officer. “We look forward to welcoming guests, as well as members of the Springfield community, every weekend this summer with an evening of music and fun. The revitalization of the downtown community continues to be a priority for our team, and we can’t wait to host guests on the Plaza for the first time in more than a year.”

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno added that “I am very happy to see the return of live music with Free Music Fridays at our world-renowned MGM Springfield. As we continue with the transitioning of a phased reopening of our city and the Commonwealth, it is exciting to see that MGM Springfield is bringing back this vibrant and festive event of live music to downtown Springfield. I want to thank MGM Springfield President and COO Chris Kelley and his leadership team for their continued commitment and investment in our city and I am looking forward to celebrating the return of these musical events once again.”

The Plaza Bar will reopen for Free Music Fridays, offering summer cocktails, beer, and non-alcoholic beverages, among other options. Guests also can enjoy MGM Springfield’s diverse food and beverage offerings before or after the concerts, with options including the Chandler Steakhouse, Tap Sports Bar, and Southend Market venues including Bill’s Diner, Jack’s Lobster Shack, Wicked Noodle, and Hearth Grill.

“I am so proud of our community and the efforts we’ve all taken to get to this point,” said Chris Russell, executive director of the Springfield BID. “As we continue along this positive path, we’re very excited to see people return to doing the things they love in downtown Springfield. Thank you, MGM Springfield, for bringing concerts back to the city.”

For additional details on the Free Music Fridays Concert Series, including lineup updates, visit mgmspringfield.com.

Nicole Domnarski Becomes Financial Advisor with FSB Financial Group

FLORENCE — FSB Financial Group, the investment division of Florence Bank, announced that Nicole Domnarski, after working two years as an assistant financial advisor, has transitioned to financial advisor.

Domnarski began her career in the financial-services industry 24 years ago and has been employed by FSB Financial Group for the past 10 years, helping advisors protect and preserve clients’ wealth. As a financial advisor, she will work directly with individuals and business owners to develop strategic, long-term financial plans to help customers achieve their financial goals and objectives.

Domnarski is a graduate of Springfield Technical Community College and is a chartered retirement planning counselor certified by the College for Financial Planning. She is an investment advisor representative with Commonwealth Financial Network, and holds Series 6, 7, 31, 63, and 65 registrations. She is also licensed to sell both life and health insurance.

“I am pleased to congratulate Nikki on her accomplishment,” said Kevin Day, president and CEO of Florence Bank. “I know she will ensure that every FSB Financial Group client receives the highest degree of service and best possible investment advice in the Pioneer Valley.”

Holyoke Community College Commencement Slated for June 5

HOLYOKE — Holyoke Community College (HCC) will celebrate the classes of 2020 and 2021 on Saturday, June 5 with a virtual commencement ceremony starting at 10 a.m. This livestreamed event will be accessible at hcc.edu and the college’s social-media channels.

The ceremony will feature introductory and concluding remarks from President Christina Royal and Robert Gilbert, chair of the HCC board of trustees. Keynote speeches will be delivered by two members of the HCC faculty: Raúl Gutiérrez, associate professor of Spanish and recipient of the 2021 Elaine Marieb Faculty Chair for Teaching Excellence; and Vanessa Martinez, professor of Anthropology and recipient of the 2020 Elaine Marieb Faculty Chair for Teaching Excellence. The student address will be presented by graduating HCC student Tugce Kuruca.

The event will include musical performances by Christian Santiago, from the class of 2020, playing the cuatro (a four-string Latin American guitar); graduating music major Chan Collins, playing the cello; and the HCC College Chorale.

The virtual event will feature a virtual procession of graduates from the classes of 2020 and 2021 and a collection of photos and short congratulatory videos from faculty and staff.

The Elaine Marieb Faculty Chair for Teaching Excellence was endowed by the late HCC Professor Emeritus Elaine Marieb. Each year, one full-time member of the faculty is recognized with the award for outstanding classroom teaching. Award recipients serve for one year and receive a small stipend for professional development and also give the keynote graduation speech. Because of the pandemic, HCC did not have a Commencement ceremony in 2020, so Martinez was invited to give her speech this year.

In addition to their classroom teaching responsibilities, Gutiérrez is chair of the HCC Foreign Languages program and co-founder and coordinator of HCC’s Latinx Studies program, while Martinez is coordinator of the HCC Honors Program.

Detailed information about Commencement can be found at hcc.edu/commencement. The ceremony will be closed-captioned and ASL-interpreted.

Median Sales Price for Massachusetts Homes Continue to Rise in April