Greenfield Savings Bank’s State House Visit Emphasizes Collaboration

By Joseph Bednar June 22, 2026

Features Special Coverage

Back on the Bus

Secretary Eric Paley says Massachusetts will not thrive as it should unless all regions of the Commonwealth, from the 413 to the 617, are doing well.

Eric Paley calls it “one of my biggest concerns — maybe my biggest concern that keeps me up at night.”

Specifically, “we have a very robust economy, but there’s tremendous economic dispersion. So how do we handle the fact that we have this K-shaped economy throughout Massachusetts?” said Paley, Massachusetts’ secretary of Economic Development, using a term for an uneven growth environment where different segments of the economy or population experience different outcomes.

And in grappling with that question, he knows he’s accountable to not only dozens of sectors, but 351 municipalities.

“The people on the ground, they’re the ones who know what matters in their community,” he went on. “So we can’t sit here thinking we know all the answers to solving the problems in those communities.”

In the spirit of mutual education, communication, and collaboration, Greenfield Savings Bank hosted its third annual bus tour to the State House on June 3, bringing about 50 regional business and nonprofit leaders to Boston to speak with legislators and department and committee chairs about economic development, discuss issues ranging from housing to clean energy to transportation, and hear about the legislative process that moves the needle on all of it.

The importance of those “people on the ground” is why Paley conducts roundtables in local communities, he said, in addition to the one that came to him on this occasion, as he gave the main address over lunch in a Senate meeting room.

“It’s why I want to talk to the bankers — because the bankers tend to invest in and support businesses that, on paper, make no sense whatsoever. It’s because they know the people, and they’re willing to commit and support those people,” he said. “Sometimes people have misconceptions about bankers, but community banks step up in ways that are extraordinary, and I see it all the time.”

Tara Brewster, Greenfield Savings Bank’s vice president of Business Development and director of Philanthropy, said the annual trip keeps building on previous successes.

“We have new people on the bus each year, making meaningful connections with each other in the 413 as we travel to the 617, to the State House, to make meaningful connections with the elected officials there,” she told BusinessWest on the ride home. “We heard from so many amazing elected officials, senators, representatives, chairs, all listening about how they want to help all of Massachusetts strengthen each other.

“We have amazing elected officials, and we know they do the hard work every day, every week, every month, to really champion us in Western Massachusetts, and it was time for us to start doing some of our own heavy lifting for them,” Brewster added, describing how the annual trip came together two years ago. “So this has been such an incredible trip, so meaningful, toward collaboration, friendship making, bridge building, and convening of Western Mass. constituents, both nonprofit and for-profit.”

“The people on the ground, they’re the ones who know what matters in their community. So we can’t sit here thinking we know all the answers to solving the problems in those communities.”

Paley pointed to a February report by JPMorgan Chase & Co. that surveyed business owners nationwide. Among Massachusetts employers, positivity about their own business was well above the national average, but when asked about the overall economy, they were much less positive than the national average.

“When I go to groups of business owners, a lot of people start shaking their heads and tell me, ‘I worry about it.’ But why are we so negative?” he went on. “I think some of it is, we are disproportionately affected by a lot of the federal policies today. The whole country’s felt a lot of volatility around this. You think of something like tariffs — we are a very heavy exporter of money. That doesn’t explain it alone, but that is key.

“Then there’s immigration — we are a top five immigration state. I didn’t know that we have more immigration per capita in Massachusetts than Texas does; that kind of blew me away. But as we’ve seen ICE crackdowns and all this anti-immigration stuff, the sense that people can’t get visas, borders are closed … I think that’s created a lot of anxiety. Some people are not coming to work because they’re so worried about raids.

“And then the biggest one that I think is unique to us is our research economy, which is a huge engine of our overall economy,” Paley explained. “We get more federal research dollars than any state in the country, and there’s been a huge cutback in federal research. So a lot of the universities are really struggling. UMass is a really great example of that, but every major research institution has massive uncertainty.”

Developing Matters

Peter Albero says legislators have responded positively to Greenfield Savings Bank’s annual bus trip.

In another session on June 3, Carole Fiola, House chair of the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, addressed a number of topics, including the importance of both collaboration and persistence when it comes to getting things done — because no projects move as quickly as their proponents would like.

As one example, she cited South Coast Rail, a $1 billion project connecting Boston and Southeastern Mass. that was 30 years in the planning and development before coming to fruition last year.

“With 351 cities and towns, everyone wants the attention of the administration; everybody wants that infrastructure grant, right?” Fiola said. “So you’ve got to be focused, you’ve got to have a good message, you’ve got to have an idea of how the funding streams can work, and the private-public partnerships that would be needed.”

Especially over a 30-year timeline, she added, “administrations change. Some of the community leaders change. And as elected officials move and change, priorities can change — but if your priority hasn’t changed, you’ve got to stay with it. I can’t repeat that enough because, finally, after 30 years, it happened.”

Later, Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities Juana Mattias said constituents need to bring similar energy and persistence to matters like housing stock, which has become a serious concern for communities of all sizes across Western Mass.

“Showing up to those town meetings, showing up to those discussions and saying, ‘this is where the business community stands,’ ‘this is where the nonprofit community stands,’ writing op-eds in your local newspaper, all makes a huge difference,” Mattias noted. “We have to organize and understand, who are the partners at the state level, at the regional level? What are the stories we’re bringing to the forefront?

“It’s reminding [state and local leaders], ‘you had an opportunity to raise your family. Your kids had an opportunity to leverage the public school system. What we want to do is make sure that other people have the same opportunity.’ It has huge implications on our ability to remain the state that we are. So organizing and leveraging your voices is critically important.”

Others who spoke to the bus trip participants included state Sens. Jo Comerford and Barry Finegold and state Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, and the day concluded with a tour of the State House. But the liveliest conversation emerged from Paley’s talk, which touched on everything from Community One Stop for Growth, a streamlined application portal and collaborative review process of grant programs, to a recent effort to lower LLC filing fees for small businesses.

“We are a global competitor. People don’t even realize, if Massachusetts were a country, we would be the fourth most productive economy in the world by GDP per capita,” he said. “So we want to attract global investment. We get a lot of it anyway, but we need to really build business development programs and activities around this.”

He also touted a ‘one Massachusetts’ model, noting that “people in Greater Boston need to understand Boston ultimately will not thrive if the whole state is not thriving. The rest of the state also needs to appreciate it; if the region inside 128 or 495 is not thriving, the rest of the state won’t. We are one state.”

“We have amazing elected officials, and we know they do the hard work every day, every week, every month, to really champion us in Western Massachusetts, and it was time for us to start doing some of our own heavy lifting for them.”

Paley also discussed continuing conversations around affordability in Massachusetts and how that affects outmigration, and, as a related matter, the importance of talent capture amid all that movement. “We think we have the best talent engine in the world,” he noted, “but a disproportionate percentage of it leaves.”

Keeping the Conversation Alive

State Sen. Jo Comerford addresses a gathering of about 50 Western Mass. business and nonprofit leaders at the State House.

A former venture capitalist who shifted to a career in public service, Paley said he’s constantly learning new things every day, and those emphases on learning, communication, and listening framed a busy day in Boston for the Western Mass. contingent.

“I’m learning stuff I’ve never seen before, being challenged in ways I’ve never been before,” he said. “I literally feel like the limit might be my capacity to learn as fast as I want to learn. I remember feeling like that in college, wishing there was a way to inject the knowledge. I feel that way again. It’s been incredibly exciting and challenging.”

Peter Albero, president and CEO of Greenfield Savings Bank, said he hoped all the guests on the bus trip embraced the same spirit of learning and collaboration.

“We think it’s important for Greenfield Savings Bank to bring all these organizations in Western Massachusetts to Boston to voice their concerns and hear directly from the legislators about what they’re doing to address those concerns,” he told BusinessWest.

“We think, as a community bank, one of our main missions is to bring the community together, and we think this is one of the best ways we can do it,” he added. “This is our third year in a row doing this, and when we talk to legislators, they think it’s important for us to continue to do this year in and year out. So we’ll be back next year and in the years to come.”

Firm Commitment

By Joseph Bednar June 22, 2026

Features Law Special Coverage

From left: Frederick Sullivan, Meghan Sullivan, Gordon Quinn, and Layla Taylor.

Early in 2000, on one of her first days on the job at Sullivan, Hayes & Quinn, Meghan Sullivan visited a lead smelting and refining plant in New York, one of the firm’s clients.

Her father, Frederick, the founding partner who co-created the firm in 1976, asked the plant manager to give her a tour.

“I thought, all right, I’m going to go walk around the plant. And all of a sudden, I’m being sized up for the respirator mask for my face,” said Meghan, now managing partner. “I was in there climbing ladders to look down into smelters, and when I came out, I asked, ‘why did you make me spend three hours doing that?’ And he said, ‘so you understand.’

“It was a wonderful learning moment — that we are obligated to understand a client, more than just what their statement of purpose is when they file their incorporation, and to have as broad an experience as possible, so we can picture it when our client calls and says, ‘this is the issue we have today.’ We’re able to understand it and picture it so that we can give relevant advice, not just something out of a book that’s theoretical.”

And plenty has changed in the 50 years since Frederick Sullivan and Dick Hayes hung a shingle in Springfield. As the firm reflects on this milestone year, its attorneys also recognize the many changes that have emerged in labor and employment law over a half-century.

“When I joined the firm in 1990, there was no Family Medical Leave Act. The American Disabilities Act came online later in the year I joined,” Partner Gordon Quinn said. “The whole concept of sexual harassment in employment, was still a novel legal claim. And there’s been an explosion of laws that have happened since then.

“Just look at the leave laws,” he went on, citing not just the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, but Massachusetts’ Earned Sick Time and Paid Family and Medical Leave laws. “It’s become a much more challenging environment for employers because of this mushrooming of laws.”

“We’re able to understand it and picture it so that we can give relevant advice, not just something out of a book that’s theoretical.”

Frederick couldn’t have predicted all of that, but said he fell in love with this area of the law at at an early age and found someone equally enthusiastic when he met Hayes, and the rest is history — a constantly changing, evolving history.

In the beginning, he said, the primary focuses were union organizing, collective bargaining, strikes, and wage and hour issues, all working on behalf of the employer, as remains the case today. “But we have seen great changes within the discipline. And we were able to stay abreast of it — and try to stay ahead of it.”

“We’re all nimble,” Partner Layla Taylor said, and that goes for tools of the trade as well as ever-changing laws and regulations. “One of the things I’ve appreciated since I’ve been here is, whenever there’s a new technology or there’s a new thing that we need to adopt, we’re pretty quick to adopt it. We all recognize that we need to be able to speak with the same tools as our peers.”

The firm is also deeply collaborative, Quinn said.

“If I have an issue or a question about immigration law, I know I’m going to be talking to Layla. Or if there’s something that could involve a criminal issue, I’ll talk to Meghan. If it’s a really heavy-duty labor law issue, I’ll talk to Fred. We all have open-door policies, and we’re all in constant communication. We talk to each other.”

“We always looked upon ourselves as the partners of the entrepreneur, trying to accomplish what the entrepreneur sought, but to do it in a lawful way, in a way that was really the right way when it came to employees.”

And not only at formal meetings, he added. “We just go into each other’s offices. If it’s a complex issue, I’ll say, ‘have you handled an issue like this before?’ And that’s invaluable. We’re not all cubbyholing in our offices. We all interact with each other, ask each other questions. And I’ve found that very rewarding. I’ve always felt secure in the advice I give, not only from the research I do, but also being able to talk to people and work it out and think about things from a different perspective.”

Proactive Strategy

The partners emphasized that their roles don’t stop with actual issues that arise, and the negotiation and/or litigation that follows. That’s where experiences like the lead plant tour come in — Sullivan, Hayes & Quinn prioritizes understanding a client’s business inside and out, so they can identify potential employee issues and legal landmines that might arise, before it’s too late.

“As much as everyone wants to avoid litigation, we all feel very fortunate that we consistently have clients who are just inclined to do what they’re supposed to do — to do the right thing and be fair,” Meghan said. “So that’s nice, when we come in and navigate situations that can feel very complex. We also know that our clients are partners with us in trying to make sure that the way that they’re treating their employees is the way that they would want to be treated, or would want their own family members to be treated.”

Quinn agreed. “A typical question might be, ‘we have an employee, and there’s an absentee issue there.’ We try to be proactive, obviously, to help them navigate those laws to avoid what we call landmines — a misstep that could lead to costly litigation and vast defense costs. So the proliferation of all these laws — and that’s just in the leave and absence area — have made it a lot more interesting for us, and a lot more challenging for our clients.”

From the very beginning, Frederick said, “going back to the days of Dick Hayes and myself, we always looked upon ourselves as the partners of the entrepreneur, trying to accomplish what the entrepreneur sought, but to do it in a lawful way, in a way that was really the right way when it came to employees, because that went to the question of productivity, too.

“So it’s been an interesting 50 years, with the people that we’ve met. We’ve worked with casinos. We’ve worked with convents. We’ve worked with zoos, hospitals, colleges, museums, public sector employers in schools and towns … just about every type of employer. And we’ve met wonderful people along the way who basically wanted to do the right thing. They wanted to be successful, and they realized there is a real art to managing people.”

Meghan said she enjoys the educational aspect of the job, as it applies to helping companies understand how — and why — to do the right thing.

“I love doing trainings. Whether I’m presenting to college professors or third-shift factory workers, I know that I have an ability to take this abyss of legal compliance and make it understandable.

“Every employment law, just like every labor law, gets presented as if it’s an employer’s obligation and an employee’s right,” she went on. “But frequently, they’re mutual rights and mutual obligations. So I love that part of the work that we do, where we get to go into this diverse set of workforces with vastly different types of jobs and talk about what it means to be an employee or a supervisor and the fact that it is mutual.”

And she understands the limits of legal consulting, especially when it runs into bottom-line issues. “I very much appreciate when we are dealing with people who want to do the right things. But we know they can’t just do everything that someone demands because every budget is only so large, and they need to have the ability to make payroll after that.

“But when we help a client navigate a murky situation, and the result of it is satisfactory to the employer, but also satisfactory in a way that that employee-employer relationship is not completely disturbed or that doesn’t lead to a massive morale issue, that’s always a happy day. To resolve a situation artfully means considering the bigger picture of what it means to be a manager or a supervisor, and you still need a workforce that wants to continue.”

Never a Dull Moment

Whether it’s working with issues of discrimination and harassment, wage and hour, labor relations, workplace safety, or any number of other employment matters, the constant evolution of workplace laws is, on a personal level, very intellectually fulfilling, Taylor said.

“If you’ve been doing this long enough — and all of us here have been — you start seeing the history of the American workforce, and how that evolves. And it’s a really fascinating thing.”

Indeed, the team brings plenty of institutional knowledge to work every day; Taylor came on board in 2003, the most recently of the four.

“Not only has there been a proliferation of laws, but the administrative agency involvement in the legal process has evolved,” she said. “And now we’re starting to see emergent things that we hadn’t seen before. AI is one of them — and the impact that’s having on the workplace. So, intellectually, you’re not going to get bored because there’s always going to be something new.

“Sometimes we’ll start with a client from its business inception, so we’re looking at compliance; we’re looking at getting things right from the start,” Taylor added. “But sometimes we’re actually helping clients at the end of their life, in their succession planning and how that’s going to work. We get involved with purchase and sale. We get involved with reductions in force. It’s a really fascinating thing we do. Every day we come in, it’s a little bit different.”

“I’ve always felt secure in the advice I give, not only from the research I do, but also being able to talk to people and work it out and think about things from a different perspective.”

Frederick praised not only the experience of his team, but their creativity.

“It takes creativity, it takes foresight, it takes anticipating where the judicial boards are going to be going, how people are going to be thinking. And 99% of the professionals are routine in their approach: the law says yes, the law says no,” he explained. “I think what has made the people who have worked for this firm different is that they are creative in how to accomplish what should be accomplished.”

That’s part of why so many clients are long-term — including the firm’s very first client, a third-generation metallurgy enterprise, which is still on board.

“It’s very rewarding, working with the variety of clients that we have, not just private sector, but public sector as well,” Quinn said. “And when you have public sector clients in towns and cities and schools, they have another layer of laws that regulate how they interact with their employees. Whether it’s collective bargaining or dismissal decisions or disciplinary decisions, being able to work with them and guide them through that process is … well, they say variety is the spice of life. And we see a lot of variety here.”

Sharing the Wealth

By Joseph Bednar June 22, 2026

Features Special Coverage Wealth Management

Merrill Gagne knew his $10,000 matching investment in a Franklin County gift card promotion last year — making each $25 card worth $50 at participating stores, restaurants, and other businesses — was going to be popular when one woman wanted to buy 200 of them.

“She basically wanted to use it to pay for her wedding venue,” he laughed. “That’s smart — I get it. So we had to put a limit on it.”

The more obvious sign the promotion was a hit was the fact that the 400 cards sold out in three hours. Earlier this month, the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce Gagne issued a second round of gift cards doubled by another $10,000 donation from Gagne, and they sold out as well — this time, in just 17 minutes.

The idea — like other such programs in the Valley, like the doubled gift card Scott Keiter has funded with the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce for a few years now — is to use philanthropy to boost local businesses. And for Gagne, president of Gagne Wealth Management Group in Greenfield, who has given back like few business owners have over the years (much more on that later), it just made sense.

“It’s just the idea of trying to infuse some cash into the businesses so that people are buying gift cards and then spending it locally,” he said. “You’re really benefiting local businesses because people are coming back and spending their card, and the money goes back into the community.”

Jessye Deane, executive director of the Franklin County Chamber, has worked with plenty of nonprofits and sees the good that can come from giving — and the joy of celebrating that support in a public way.

“But with Merrill, it’s less about celebration and more about the impact. That’s always what stands out,” she said, adding that this is the only countywide gift card match in the Pioneer Valley, encompassing 26 towns.

“Instead of a generic gift card or an Amazon gift card, this is a card that guarantees the money secures local spending in a way that’s really unique. People can choose where to spend it, but also find new favorite businesses to fall in love with, and really increase their foot traffic.”

Hannah Rechtschaffen says Merrill Gagne’s philanthropy not only benefits the GBA, but inspires others to do the same.

Hannah Rechtschaffen, director of the Greenfield Business Assoc., is celebrating Gagne’s community support as well, touting a challenge grant created last year whereby he donated $10,000, which the GBA then had to match through its own fundraising, followed by another $15,000, which it again had to match, for a total of $50,000 toward the association’s work to promote the economic and civic vitality of the Greenfield business community.

“People want to feel a part of something,” Rechtschaffen said. “You need that leader. You need someone to say, ‘I will take a gamble on you, on your organization, on what you’re telling me you’re going to accomplish.’ Without that person, it is harder to go after other large gifts. But when I can go to someone and say, ‘look, Merrill Gagne is willing to vote confidently in our favor. Will you join him in that?’ — it puts me in a different position as a fundraiser. So it is a gift in itself for him to take that kind of chance.”

The success of that $25,000 challenge gift has already helped catalyze a broader wave of support for the GBA’s vision. In February, it inspired a successful fundraising event at JaDuke Center for the Performing Arts (co-sponsored by Gagne), where business owners, community members, and local leaders came together to dance, sing, and raise more than $31,000 to support the next phase of the association’s organizational growth.

“I just think Merrill is a real standout when it comes to the way he sees his business fitting into the greater ecosystem,” Rechtschaffen said, adding that Franklin County may not have as much investment capability or as many angel investors as larger counties, but they exist, and may just need motivating.

“Merrill is part of this conversation of who could be involved more, and how do we get them involved? How do we get them thinking about themselves as philanthropists, as impact investors, and really being a part of things? In that way, he’s driving a lot here — it’s not just simple sponsorship.”

National Reach, Local Impact

Jessye Deane says Merrill Gagne’s gift card match not only excites local consumers, but keeps money circulating at local businesses.

When BusinessWest sat down recently with Gagne in his Main Street office in downtown Greenfield, he said giving back has long been part of his business model, especially with a concept he calls philanthropic marketing.

“That is, putting as much good out into the world as possible without expecting any return, just assuming that it’ll eventually all be paid forward, as they say,” he explained. “And living in this community, I grew my whole business over the last two decades under the premise, and the promise, that we were going to give back and do good things.

“We’re licensed in 42 states,” he went on. “So it allows us to not only draw from Boston, but we have clients all over the country, as far as Alaska. We can literally jump on a Zoom or a Teams meeting at any time. It’s fantastic. But all of those dollars that those clients are paying come back to Franklin County.

“That allows us to grow from an economy of scale perspective — I mean, we’re just shy of a billion dollars in assets under management. And that gives us the ability to have all that revenue come back here and support the local community in as many ways as we can.”

Gagne’s community efforts include fully sponsoring the Learn to Skate program with the Franklin County Hockey Assoc., backing Greenfield Minor League Baseball, spearheading holiday food drives, generating support for the Greenfield Public Library, and serving as a leader and donor for the YMCA, the United Arc, Rachel’s Table, and the Children’s Advocacy Center.

He has also established match incentives for the Children’s Advocacy Center, Community Action Pioneer Valley, and, as noted, the GBA and the chamber.

Meanwhile, he has developed a relationship with JaDuke since it opened its Greenfield location in 2025.

“I worked with [executive director] Kim Williams right away in order to foster a program where we would pay for any kid that doesn’t have access to the money to be able to pay for dance classes, and then pay for their dresses and their dance recitals, so they can go perform on the main stage,” Gagne said. “So it’s not their parents choosing whether they’re going to spend the money on it or not, because we’re going to cover that cost for them.”

And on Monday, Sept. 28, the Gagne Wealth Impact Invitational will debut — a first-of-its-kind golf tournament at the Crumpin Fox Golf Club in Bernardston. All tournament expenses, including lunch, dinner, and an open bar, have been underwritten by Gagne Wealth Management, and 100% of all entry and raffle fees are awarded to the top three nonprofit organizations selected by participating players.

“We always started with children and local families,” Gagne said. “Like, 10 years ago, with the Franklin County Hockey Association, we decided we were going to pay for all of the ice time for the Learn to Skate program — because if a family has to choose between spending 500 bucks on ice time or not, they’ll choose not. But if it was free, it would provide access, and those kids then go on to feed the hockey program — which has literally quadrupled in size in the last five years.

“People don’t always put their money where their mouth is. They always have an opinion, but they’re not willing to listen, step up, and be the difference in the world. So that’s what we’re trying to do, and it’s really easy to start out with children and families,” he went on.

“I’ve been told, ‘my kid just loves hockey now. He’s changed. He doesn’t want to be on video games anymore; he just loves being out there on the ice. And I never would have had the money to be able to do that. It’s really changed our family.’ I’ve heard that story dozens of times.”

Future Focused

Gagne didn’t wait for his degree from the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst to start working; he paid his way through college by interning as a financial advisor.

“I grew up very poor in downtown Springfield, so I knew that the only way [to attend college] would either be to take on debt, or to work. And I always knew, early on, that I’d be good at managing money.”

Now, about 20 years into his business, he has evolved from an early focus on estate planning to a wide-ranging, higher-end, boutique wealth management firm, one that serves both individuals and businesses. “We do full-level estate planning, financial planning, and then income and wealth management all together.”

The average client, he added, is past what’s known as the accumulation phase and into the distribution phase — in other words, figuring out what to do with their money.

“That’s the fun part. And then also, how do I leave it to my kids? How do I leave it to charity?” he said. “Most of my clients don’t even know what a qualified charitable donation is — at age 70½, you can take IRA money pre-tax and give it to charity at $100,000 a year and never pay taxes on it. I see people all the time who take all the money out, then cut a check out of their checkbook. It’s after-tax money, they do the donation, and they never get to deduct it.”

“With Merrill, it’s less about celebration and more about the impact. That’s always what stands out.”

Besides this educational aspect, Gagne enjoys the fact that no day is the same — because all clients are different. “I have a CFA, a CFP, a full suite of advisors in my office who all work for me only, and only my clients. And we customize every single person’s portfolio to their risk tolerance, where they’re at, their goals, what they care about. There’s not a single client in my books that’s the same. I mean, the concepts are the same, but the stories are different.

“My job is being with people,” he went on. “And when I’m in front of people, we talk about finance for, like, three minutes, and the other 97% of the meeting is therapy. We’re talking about how you’re feeling, what’s going on, divorces, children, grandchildren, babies, all that stuff. It’s almost like going to like a family reunion every time I see a new client. We catch up on life. It’s such a rewarding thing, being able to be there for people when they need you the most.”

As for business clients, Gagne is gratified to help them strategically grow, figure out what their markets are, and work effectively in that space as well. Rechtschaffen sees him as a local success story, one who wants to pay that success forward.

“Merrill has been in this community for a very long time. And he’s choosing to be here,” she said. “He could take his business anywhere. And I hear a lot of business owners say that: ‘I could do this anywhere.’ But people are choosing to be here.”

And some of them are choosing to do good outside their office walls.

“I think,” Gagne said, “if more people just gave because they want to be here and they want to be community-driven, it would be better for everybody.”

Experts Warn Against Six Common Insurance Mistakes

By Joseph Bednar June 9, 2026

Insurance

Reinforcing the Safety Net

Beth Pearson understands insurance isn’t anyone’s favorite topic.

“Insurance is something people don’t love to talk about, but it’s so key,” she said — and she speaks not only as president of Pearson Wallace Insurance in Amherst and Pittsfield, but from personal experience.

“I was in a car accident — I was hit head on,” she said, but she was able to sleep at night knowing she had the protection she needed.

“Insurance is a financial tool, and sometimes people forget that,” Pearson noted, adding that policies are dense and complicated, and people don’t always want to read them or have tough conversations with their agents, or they just take out policies with direct writers online and don’t worry about it — until they have reason to worry, anyway.

Beth Pearson

“Everything has gotten incredibly expensive lately. And people think they can save on their insurance — but skimping on insurance, or having a strategy of bare minimum coverage, can really backfire when a loss occurs.”

For this issue’s focus on insurance, we spoke with four local insurance experts on the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to insurance coverage and claims. Most of what they had to say fell into one of six categories.

1. Not Covering Full Replacement Cost

Pearson has heard plenty of questions regarding why clients need so much coverage on their home, and in this economy, she gets it.

“Everything has gotten incredibly expensive lately. And people think they can save on their insurance — but skimping on insurance, or having a strategy of bare minimum coverage, can really backfire when a loss occurs,” she said. “Your biggest investment is your home. So you don’t want to compromise on the coverage.”

And that means insuring not for the assessed value of a home, but the potential cost of replacing it — and everything in it — in the event of a total loss, Pearson explained.

“Someone might say, ‘my house was only appraised at $550,000; why do I want insurance for a million dollars?’ Well, it’s because you want the full replacement cost. And the elements that make up the replacement cost valuation include the cost of construction, the cost to meet all the new green standards, the cost of materials, and the time it takes to rebuild,” she went on, noting that even a current circumstance like the Strait of Hormuz disruptions could cause supply delays.

Meanwhile, fire, smoke, and water damage can wipe out almost all one’s possessions — and items like furniture, clothing, and others are more expensive to replace these days, she added. “If you’re only getting the cash value instead of the replacement cost, you don’t have the ability to recreate your home as it was before the fire.”

Christine Bey, Personal Lines manager at Encharter Insurance in Amherst, agreed.

“Most companies like to insure a home to replacement cost value — not what you purchased it for, not what you think the value of it is, but what it would cost to rebuild that home from the ground up at today’s building costs,” she explained. But there are other costs to consider as well.

“We can add other bits and pieces to a policy, like loss of use. So if you can’t stay in your home because of a covered claim, they will pay for you to stay in another home or rent a hotel. Loss of use includes coverage for all of your belongings in your home, too. Then there’s liability on top of it. There’s so much that goes into the policy above just insuring to the value of the home.”

Christine Bey

“Most companies like to insure a home to replacement cost value — not what you purchased it for, not what you think the value of it is, but what it would cost to rebuild that home from the ground up at today’s building costs.”

2. Not Including Specific Coverages

“Do you have a dog? What kind of dog do you have?” asked Michael Long, CEO of the AXiA Group in West Springfield. Those are important questions, he added.

“Some insurance companies exclude certain types of dog, and some require you to tell them if you’ve got a dog — and if you don’t, they might not pay the claim. And the average dog bite claim is over $50,000.”

Or take e-bikes, which have become very popular, selling in the seven figures annually.

“Most insurance companies do not cover liability that’s created on an e-bike,” Long said. “So if you’re driving down the road and you take a right and cause a car to smash into another car and somebody’s injured, you have no coverage. If you’re on a bike path and you hit somebody and they fall down and bang their head, you have no coverage.

“That’s a big problem — and, unfortunately, it’s not talked about very often,” he continued. “Some insurance companies say they will cover it, but if I read their policy, it’s not clear. So you’ve got to get something from your agent in writing that they’re covering that. I don’t care about the $3,000 for the bike. I mean, that’s important. But the $100,000 lawsuit, the $1 million lawsuit, that’s more important.”

On the commercial insurance side, there are a host of considerations businesses might not consider, some of them involving leases, Long said.

For example, “we’ve seen cases where there’s damage to a strip mall. Our customer is on the end — no damage on his property. The city comes in and says, ‘building law says, since half of this building is destroyed, we have to tear it down.’ The guy on the end, whose building did not have any damage, goes to turn a claim in, and the insurance company says, ‘where’s your damage? The fire didn’t cause any damage to your place. No coverage.’”

Pearson brought up a few specific commercial insurance products worth having, including employment practices liability insurance, which protects against worker claims that their legal rights have been violated; hired and non-owned auto coverage, which applies when, for example, a manager runs to the store for supplies and gets into an accident; and business interruption and extra expense coverage, which kicks in if, say, a fire shuts down a restaurant for five months.

“The property coverage kicks in as you start to rebuild the exterior and the interior, but you still have bills, you still have key employees that you want to keep, you need to pay yourself, maybe you have credit card debt,” Pearson said. “With business interruption coverage, the carrier pays the costs to maintain the business while you’re rebuilding.”

And it should be adequate coverage, she added. “If you have $2 to $3 million in sales, but your business interruption coverage is $100,000 and you’re paying the rest out of the pocket, that can go very quickly.”

3. Underinsuring for Personal Liability

Speaking of adequate coverage limits, personal liability in an accident — whether at home, at work, or on the road — is an extremely critical component of insurance, Bey said.

“Choosing price over coverage is probably the biggest mistake we see. We like to tell people that price isn’t always as important as that coverage. For example, the state requires you to have $35,000 worth of property damage on an auto policy. In reality, increasing that coverage is minimal in pricing. We always tell people, ‘if you go up to that larger limit, that $250,000, you’re only going pay maybe $50 more a year.

“It’s the same with a homeowner’s insurance policy. Liability is really important,” Bey added. “I feel like, these days, everyone is a little sue happy. We see a lot more liability claims coming through — dog bites, people being injured on someone else’s property, things like that. So if you have $500,000 worth of coverage on your policy, to increase that to a million, it’s only about $30 more a year.”

Pearson agreed. “If you’re putting on minimum liability, it’s easily exhausted by a serious accident. If somebody’s injured on your property, or if you cause a major, multi-car accident, the medical bills and legal fees can skyrocket way past your limits.”

And that applies to circumstances people might not even think about, she added.

“If somebody’s overserved at a party and goes out and kills someone, you’re liable. If you have teenagers, you might say, ‘hey, they’re 18 years old; they’re very responsible,’ and go to Aruba for a week. And the teenager has a massive party, and someone dives into the pool and breaks their neck — you’re liable. I tell people, ‘these are not just fictional events — they can happen.’”

4. Not Taking Simple Risk Mitigation Steps

The policy and premium comprise just the start of a good insurance strategy, the experts we spoke with said. Equally important are the steps a customer can take to reduce the risk of an incident in the first place.

“Anytime we write a new policy or we go over a renewal with a customer, we want to talk about all the options that companies have out there when it comes to discounts — and a lot of those discounts are related to mitigation of losses,” Bey said.

For example, “companies are giving better pricing to people who have newer roofs, or who have water leak detection, or a burglar and central fire alarm. There are discounts for all of that — and some of those discounts are pretty substantial.”

Michael Long

“Some insurance companies exclude certain types of dog, and some require you to tell them if you’ve got a dog — and if you don’t, they might not pay the claim. And the average dog bite claim is over $50,000.”

Long also noted the importance of automatic water shutoffs.

“The average water damage claim is over $100,000. But there are water sensors, and some insurance companies offer a reasonable discount for water damage coverage if you have them,” he said. “And most fires are created by electrical problems — not by lightning, not by discarding smoking materials, but electrical. And there are companies right now that are offering discounts for systems that examine your wiring by plugging something in, testing the wiring throughout your house.”

Pearson said people sometimes neglect easy fixes — such as an automatic water shutoff valve or Wi-Fi leak sensors by the washing machine and water heater — because there’s a little cost and set-up time involved. “But the impact can be huge. If you’re catching a leak early, it transforms a major mold remediation nightmare into a simple plumbing fix.”

On the commercial side, “you really should have a lawyer look over your contracts, and you should have safety meetings with your employees. Those are really big, and are going to help everybody be on the same page,” said Linda Eichstaedt, Commercial Lines manager at Encharter. “And document everything — keeping really good records is so important.”

She told BusinessWest she just had a conversation with a client about cyber coverage for a business. “They were asking, ‘why would we really need cyber coverage?’ We have tons of educational material, and I sent them examples of things that can happen if you don’t have it.”

The general consensus in the industry these days is that it’s not only big companies that are targets of cybercrime; anyone can be.

“Phishing attacks are going out all the time to all kinds of people. They don’t really distinguish between what type of business you have,” Eichstaedt said, which is why businesses should not only have a cyber policy, but takes steps to train staff to avoid becoming the reason a hack gets through, from multi-factor authentication to training on phishing emails. “So many businesses are working online, and with so much online presence, they don’t always realize the risk.”

5. Filing Too Many Small Claims

And when it’s time to file a claim … well, it might make more financial sense not to.

“Another thing people do too much is filing small claims,” Bey said. “Especially on a home policy, when you have a claim on your file, your insurance premium is going to go through the roof.

Linda Eichstaedt

“Phishing attacks are going out all the time to all kinds of people. They don’t really distinguish between what type of business you have.”

“So when insured calls us and asks, ‘do I have coverage for this tree that just fell?’ we’ll have the discussion that ‘yes, you do have the coverage, but you have this deductible on your policy. And then on top of that deductible, if you do file a claim, you’re going to see a surcharge on your insurance the next couple of years,” she explained.
“So sometimes, it’s just not worth it to file a claim that’s under, say, $5,000 because, in the long run, you’re going to end up paying more in your premium.”

The idea behind avoiding smaller claims, Bey added, is that insurance is mainly for large losses, when a policyholder really needs the payout.

“If somebody has two losses, chances are the insurance company is going to non-renew them. And if you’re non-renewed, chances are nobody’s going to take you in the standard market, and you can expect somewhere between a 50% and 100% increase for three years,” Long said, laying out the actual impact of too many small claims.

“So if you’re paying $1,500 for your insurance policy, which is probably a reasonable average, and you have a $3,000 loss that you put in, and then you have somebody steal something, so you put in another $2,000 claim in, you’re going to be canceled, and your premium will double for the next three years at least — so you’ve lost money. It’s going to penalize you in the end.”

So if a customer calls to report the theft of a couple bikes worth $1,500 and has a deductible of $500 or $1,000, Long said, “I’m going to say, ‘you’d be crazy to turn in a claim.’”

6. Not Adjusting Coverage as Circumstances Change

The local insurance experts we spoke with all emphasized the importance of the client-agent relationship, and one time when it comes in handy is when life circumstances change.

“If you improve the value of your house by 5% — you put a deck on, or you put a sunroom on — and you don’t notify your insurance company, you’ve actually voided some of your coverage,” Long said.

Other changes that warrant a talk with the agent, Bey said, are a teenager getting a driver’s license (they should be put on the parents’ policy); the purchase of jewelry, art, or other items of high value; or brining home a motorcycle or boat.

“Some people buy a new toy, and maybe it’s not super valuable, but at the same time, you want to make sure you’re carrying that liability coverage in case someone gets injured while you’re using it,” she explained. “You may not want the collision coverage for it, but you’re going to want the liability.”

At the end of the day, it’s about clear communication, Pearson said, not only on the personal lines side, but for business clients.

“I’m big on sitting down with a commercial client once a year, or more, to do a review. ‘What are your goals? What are you planning for next year? What were the challenges this year?’ Insurance is an important financial safety tool. It’s incredibly important to your success.

“A great insurance expert is not just someone who sells the policy and disappears, but who acts as a chief risk officer for you,” she added. “It’s not just a piece of paper; it’s a promise to help clients, to give our expertise, and to make sure you’re actually covered when the worst case scenario might happen.”

What’s Behind bankESB’s Pending Name Change to TruNorth Bank

By Joseph Bednar June 8, 2026

Features Special Coverage

All Together Now

Dig into the term ‘true north,’ and you’re bound to find multiple definitions — at least when used metaphorically.

The phrase can refer to finding a sense of purpose, or pursuing an important goal, or even adhering to one’s true values.

All of that resonates with the leadership team at Hometown Financial Group that chose the name TruNorth Bank — which, later this year, will be the new name of Hometown’s family of banks.

It is, in fact, the name above the door (and on the checks) at the former North Shore Bank and Abington Bank, two Hometown acquisitions in Eastern Mass.; later this year, bankESB and bankHometown will undergo the same name change, casting a single identity across Hometown Financial’s network of 55 branches.

Matthew Sosik, president and CEO of bankESB and CEO of Hometown Financial Group, said the multi-name approach wasn’t sustainable, so the holding company set out to find a new identity, which it did last year, applying it first to the aforementioned pair of Eastern Mass. banks and eventually moving to convert all of them.

“It’s a lot of work to find a brand that works for you, but we were fortunate to come up with the TruNorth brand,” he told BusinessWest.

“Here we are in little Easthampton, sleepy Easthampton, with a $7 billion company, one of the largest banks in the region, one of the most successful banks in the region. I think our financials speak for themselves.”

This month, bankESB will begin talking to customers about what the bank is doing and why, and what the transaction will look like, Sosik said, adding that the data conversion — moving from separate databases of customers at each bank to one central database — will follow.

“When we’re done with this entire project, the combined company, with the new TruNorth brand, is going to be headquartered here,” Sosik said, before stressing the significance of a Western Mass.-based bank with that kind of reach and scale.

“At $7 billion or so, we’re probably top 200 in the country, while regionally, we’re easily one of the top 10. Here we are in little Easthampton, sleepy Easthampton, with a $7 billion company, one of the largest banks in the region, one of the most successful banks in the region. I think our financials speak for themselves. And regionally, we’re one of the largest employers — all based right here in Easthampton. I think that’s a cool story.”

Sosik said the official transaction is slated for Aug. 21 if everything goes smoothly.

“Obviously, we have separate bank boards, and communicating the rationale to our bank boards and then ultimately our staff, communicating what our strategy was, was all a big part of that. But now we have the green light.

“You might have seen the public notice of our application to merge the banks and rebrand as TruNorth,” he added. “That’s still pending with the two regulatory bodies, the Division of Banks and the Federal Reserve, but we’re not anticipating any issues with that. It’s an internal merger; it’s not something that would particularly catch their attention. So we expect approvals from them within a reasonable time.”

Sosik said he understands that people get nervous about name changes over bank doors. “They go, ‘wait, who’s buying whom?’ Obviously, there’s none of that here, but still people get anxious about it. In fact, it’s a converse story to that — we are pulling this company together, from Boston to Easthampton, and keeping it right here in Easthampton.”

Changes will be minimal for customers, he noted. “Obviously, there will be a new sign over the door and a new debit card with the TruNorth logo. The logo looks similar to bankESB’s and Hometown’s, just with that new TruNorth name. And the mobile app will have a new look to it. But other than that, it’s the same places, same people, new name over the door.”

“This rebrand, while it’s a name change over the door, also represents a significant nod to our history and the combined many hundreds of years of legacies within our company. We didn’t want to — and we don’t want to — forget that. We’re carrying that forward into the future with something that’s aspirational.”

And the idea is to make the transition as seamless as possible for those customers, he added.

“We have an unbelievable team that pulls everything together each time we do one of these. So this one will be no different — except this one’s a lot easier because it’s all internal,” he said.

Meanwhile, from that internal perspective, operating under one brand and one database will make the company easier to manage, he added. “We have been happy to run our multi-bank company, but this company will be a simpler day-to-day operation for us.”

Steady On

As for the TruNorth name, Sosik is grateful the team wound up with a name he considers apt and meaningful.

“Branding is important. And the reality is, in today’s world, in this day and age, unless you’re just going to pick a bunch of consonants and run them together, everything’s pretty much been used or taken in some fashion or form. At the onset of a project like this, a huge governor of where you can go is simply what’s available,” he explained.

“That said, we didn’t want just a word or a name that doesn’t have meaning to our present customers and our prospective customers. So we went through an exhaustive process, and when we landed on TruNorth, it was all about what that connotes to somebody who’s viewing our company, not just from an image perspective, but what do we stand for?”

What emerged was the idea of the true north directional signifying moving forward — in business growth and in the community — and expressing that idea succinctly.

“In marketing, you can’t have five-word name — you want something bite-sized, but that really does mean something and represents what this company is all about, legacy-wise, and speaks to both that legacy and a wide-open future,” Sosik went on. “So when we landed on TruNorth, that’s what it was all about for us. It just means something.

“It’ll be a change, of course. But as I said, this rebrand, while it’s a name change over the door, also represents a significant nod to our history and the combined many hundreds of years of legacies within our company,” he added. “We didn’t want to — and we don’t want to — forget that. We’re carrying that forward into the future with something that’s aspirational.”

With that, he came back to the importance of community connections in a bank’s legacy.

“Think of a vibrant New England community that is really economically successful, that does not have a community bank in it. It’s a small number, if there’s any.”

“One thing that these towns` need — and I say these towns very generically, not Easthampton only by any stretch, but every town that we’re in — they need a community bank,” Sosik said, with everything that definition entails, from the financial services business to how the institution supports local nonprofits and other organizations.

bankESB has done so consistently through its Giving Tree initiative, which distributed more than $716,000 in 2025 and more than $4.4 million over the past 10 years, with a focus on basic needs, financial literacy, economic development, youth and education, and the arts across the region.

“When we think about fulfilling those needs, we don’t think about our business like, ‘are we going to open tomorrow?’ We think about it in much larger chunks of time; at least I do, and our board does,” he added. So when the company makes a big change like the rebrand to TruNorth, “it’s all to ensure our long-term viability and relevance in every single market, Easthampton included, so that we can be here 10 years and 20 years and decades from now. That perspective really drives some of what people see as robust growth — and some might call aggressive growth. To us, it’s absolutely necessary if our goal is to be here for the long term for our communities.

“So, sometimes it takes rebrands and things like this to ensure all that. It’s all in the name of serving the very long-term needs of communities,” Sosik went on. “Think of a vibrant New England community that is really economically successful, that does not have a community bank in it. It’s a small number, if there’s any. So these community banks are super important to the success of communities in general. And, again, our goal is to be committed long-term to these communities. It takes some bold strategies and some difficult decisions, but we’re happy to do it.”

Looking Forward

After growing through multiple acquisitions, Sosik said bankESB — well, TruNorth — isn’t done, though no news of that nature is expected over the next several months.

“We obviously have a full plate of stuff here; you have a certain level of capacity, and you respect that; you don’t stretch it too far, so 2026 is spoken for. But we are working on other projects that will continue to grow us in size and footprint. We’ll have some really cool stuff going on for 2027.”

And that growth is necessary, he said, to provide the kind of scale necessary to be profitable in what he described as a low-margin business. The latest move to the TruNorth name is simply a way to become more efficient as well.

“Our multi-bank holding company strategy served us really well; it’s allowed us to to attract like-minded independent bankers. And now is the time to put it all together, to gain the rest of those cost efficiencies, so we’re getting that,” Sosik explained. “This gives us a jumping-off point to continue to grow, and, as I said, we have some really interesting projects heading into 2027 that’ll allow us to do that. So there’s lots of bright sunshine ahead in our news feed.”

Northampton Builds Connection Through Arts

By Joseph Bednar June 8, 2026

Community Spotlight Community Spotlight Features Special Coverage

Northampton at a glance

Year Incorporated: 1883
Population: 29,571
Area: 35.8 square miles
County: Hampshire
Residential Tax Rate: $13.67
Commercial Tax Rate: $13.67
Median Household Income: $56,999
Median Family Income: $80,179
Type of Government: Mayor, City Council
Largest Employers: Cooley Dickinson Hospital;
ServiceNet Inc.; Smith College; L-3 KEO

* Latest information available

Having been with CLICK Workspace for more than a decade, Mary Yun has seen ebbs and flows in its business, the most notable decline being during the pandemic.
“Like all businesses, we took a huge dip. But by the summer of ’24, we were almost back to our pre-pandemic numbers,” she recalled.
But in the fall of 2024, another drop in numbers began — actually, “a really steep nosedive,” as Yun characterized it. “There were a few reasons. That fall, there were some tech layoffs that affected us. The interest rate dropped a tiny bit in the fall of ’24, and three members were able to get into homes, and had rooms in their homes for home offices. And with the election, there was so much uncertainty about business.”
Now, as CLICK is celebrating 10 years in its current space on Market Street in downtown Northampton — it will host a reception,featuring an art exhibit and live jazz music, to mark the occasion on Friday, June 12 from 6 to 8 p.m. — not all of that business has come back, said Yun, executive director of the facility.
“Co-working spaces are ever-changing, and our membership had a big shift. Before the pandemic, it was predictable: about a third of the membership were consultants, about a third had their own small businesses, and another third were true remote workers, with parent companies that supported their membership. Since the pandemic, it’s less predictable. And with AI coming on, businesses aren’t able to plan as easily, and a lot of businesses that went remote have started to go hybrid. There’s so much uncertainty with the way people are working.”

“We opened not just a co-working space, but a place where people could celebrate their arts and have community activities — and we’ve continued to do that.”

That said, one thing that has not wavered at CLICK is its commitment to connecting the space to the local arts scene. The facility frequently hosts art openings by local and regional artists on Arts Night Out, on the second Friday of each month, complete with live jazz musicians, food, and beverages. Also featured are performance groups from Northampton High School and the Community Music Center. Arts organizations, such as the Northampton Jazz Festival, and music teachers from the area regularly rent the first-floor gallery space for live music concerts and student recitals.

CLICK Workspace has regularly hosted music recitals, art exhibitions (like the one pictured here), and other events.

“We opened not just a co-working space, but a place where people could celebrate their arts and have community activities — and we’ve continued to do that,” Yun said. “Co-workspaces are doing as robust business as they used to be. We’re trying to get support from the community so we can continue to do these events.
“I never thought this space would be just about co-working. I believe it has to have another mission,” she added. “We are mission-driven; we’re a nonprofit, and the arts have always been a part of the mission. We have a wall of art, gallery space, that’s integral to the design of the physical space itself. I always saw the space as bringing art to people, so our membership gets exposed to art. It really is a little microcosm of what Northampton is all about.”

Art and Commerce

Amanda Shafii, owner of the CopyCat commercial print shop in Northampton and president of the Downtown Northampton Assoc. (DNA), agrees that the arts are integral to the city’s identity.
“Northampton is a very special place. We have super unique businesses and a huge concentration of arts and culture,” she told BusinessWest. “Also, Northampton is a lot about relationships — about collaboration and networking and community coming together.”
Meanwhile, she said, the DNA aims to support businesses downtown, and create conditions for businesses to succeed throughout Northampton, through events, marketing partnerships, and other means to draw people downtown.
For example, the Ice Art Festival in January saw a lot of foot traffic, with visitors coming in from as far away as Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Eastern Mass., and even New York, Shafii said. “It brought in a lot of people, and that really sums up one goal of the DNA: to create fun events for people to attend.”
She’s especially looking forward to Taste of Northampton on the weekend of Sept. 12-13, and said the monthly Arts Night Out has become a highlight in the city.
“Where there’s success downtown, everyone benefits,” Shafii said of the DNA’s impact on the entire city. “If you have a thriving, vibrant downtown, whether it’s retail, restaurant, or service businesses, it has an impact on everyone.
“One of the really special things the DNA does is, we host a downtown business owners forum, a space for downtown business owners to get together and discuss things in a safe setting, talk about how last month went, or about upcoming events we should be aware of. Like, if Smith College is having a big event, maybe the downtown restaurants could have more staff to accommodate more foot traffic. We’re keeping everyone in the loop.”
As for music, the Northampton Jazz Festival is slated for Sept. 26-27, with Friday featuring the Downtown Jazz Strut, with jazz emsembles playing at breweries, bars, and restaurants across town, and Saturday featuring a free lineup of performances throughout the day followed by a ticketed evening concert with Lakevia Benjamin at the Academy of Music.
Meanwhile, the Iron Horse Music Hall continues to thrive two years after its reopening, having presented hundreds of shows and generated, according to economic models, more than $2.4 million in annual impact on Northampton’s broader economy.

“Northampton is a very special place. We have super unique businesses and a huge concentration of arts and culture. Also, Northampton is a lot about relationships — about collaboration and networking and community coming together.”

The Parlor Room Collective, the nonprofit that purchased and renovated the historic venue on Center Street, is currently operating an $800,000 “Playing It Forward” campaign to pay off construction debt, build reserve funds, and support free programming, among other goals.

Music to Her Ears

Meanwhile, over on Market Street, Yun is grateful for the opportunity to host the arts, especially the young people who use the space.
“In the school districts, art has been on the chopping block for years now. And no matter what kind of business you’re in — whether it’s tech, industry, financial, not just artistic professionals — it’s so integral to our culture, how we understand the world,” she said.
“Our mission here is to bring art to a nice environment. And when the community comes in and joins together, art and music can be a part of everyday life. The spirit of CLICK is all about making a community.”

The Reality of Dementia Can Be Overwhelming for Families

By Joseph Bednar June 8, 2026

Features Healthcare News Special Coverage

Overcoming the Stigma

When Michele Anstett recently attended an Alzheimer’s Assoc. leadership luncheon called the Power of Now, speakers talked about how so many people with dementia are not identified as such because of a persistent fear of talking to a doctor — or even family members — and the general stigma that exists around those discussions.

It all hit home for Anstett, president of the home care agency Visiting Angels West Springfield, because her father, who lived in Florida and had dementia, recently passed.

“They talked about how people with Alzheimer’s hide it. And that’s exactly what my father did. But I knew. I tried to get him some help. He wouldn’t do it,” she said. “When you’re older, and you’re afraid of losing your independence, when your memory is going, a lot of people are going to try to stuff it away and be the same person they’ve always been.

“They’re scared of losing their independence, that their family members may find out and just stuff them away somewhere, and they’re afraid of losing their entire mind and not being able to recognize people. They’re scared to death.”

“It was frustrating for me, watching him go through each stage, and yet he still wasn’t fessing up to anybody. Even the VA didn’t know he had dementia. I got him to do the very first test, and they said there’s a probability of a memory issue, and we were supposed to go to a neurologist. But he knew, and he wouldn’t go any further because it would be like opening Pandora’s box.”

Mary-Anne Schelb, regional director of JGS Lifecare in Longmeadow, has encountered this reluctance to talk about dementia on numerous occasions.

“One family comes to mind immediately. Their father had passed away a few months earlier, and what they later realized was that he had quietly been compensating for their mother’s cognitive decline for quite some time. Once he was gone, the cracks began to show — but not right away,” she recalled.

The woman was living alone, and on the surface, everything appeared fine, Schelb said; the family visited weekly, prepared meals for her refrigerator, filled her pill boxes, and checked in by phone. Their mother was always well-dressed and could hold a pleasant conversation.

“To them, she seemed independent — until she wasn’t,” Schelb continued, explaining that a urinary tract infection — and resulting hospitalization — left her weak, dehydrated, confused, and no longer functioning at her baseline, and it eventually became clear she likely needed a secure memory-care setting. But even the family resisted that recommendation.

That is, until they learned from a neighbor that their mom had been feeding stray cats with the meals the family prepared, watering her plants instead of drinking enough fluids herself, and had a shoebox overflowing with untouched medications.

Mary-Anne Schelb

“We helped them understand that mom was not being difficult or stubborn intentionally. Her brain was changing.”

Today, she lives within the secure memory-care neighborhood at Ruth’s House Assisted Living at JGS Lifecare, and the family often visits. “They tell us they have never seen her happier. She participates in activities, engages socially, laughs, and has meaningful friendships. In many ways, she regained a quality of life the family did not even realize she had lost.”

They also expressed gratitude that the team there took the time to educate them — not only about memory care itself, but about dementia as a disease process, Schelb said. “We helped them understand that mom was not being difficult or stubborn intentionally. Her brain was changing.”

And that gets to the heart of what people with emerging dementia — and their families — fear when they’re avoiding those tough conversations.

“They’re scared of losing their independence, that their family members may find out and just stuff them away somewhere,” Anstett said. “And they’re afraid of losing their entire mind and not being able to recognize people. They’re scared to death.”

Accepting the Truth

For many families, the signs of dementia do not appear all at once. They emerge quietly — missed medications, forgotten meals, confusion disguised as normal aging, or subtle changes hidden behind familiar routines. Often, families are doing everything they can to support a loved one while still hoping life can continue as it always has.

“Accepting that a loved one has dementia can be one of the most emotional and difficult experiences a family will ever face,” said Kathy Walker, executive director of Ruth’s House Assisted Living. “Frequently, families are trying to balance what they are seeing with the hope that things have not truly changed. Many families wait until they are emotionally or physically exhausted before seeking outside support, and by that point, they are often carrying tremendous stress and uncertainty.”

When they seek help, Walker explained, many families initially focus on traditional assisted living rather than a memory support neighborhood because they are trying to preserve a sense of normalcy for as long as possible.

“There is often fear surrounding memory care because families are unsure what it will look like for their loved one. Part of our role is helping families understand that memory care is not about limiting independence — it is about supporting quality of life in a safe and meaningful way,” she said. “A large part of our role is helping families recognize the cognitive changes their loved one is experiencing while also educating them on how the right environment can do far more than simply keep someone safe — it can help them truly thrive.”

Families often struggle to accept these recommendations, said Stacy Kenworthy, Admissions director of the Jewish Nursing Home at JGS Lifecare — but that’s understandable.

“Dementia is complicated and deeply emotional. Families are often processing grief, denial, fear, and exhaustion all at once,” she explained. “Sometimes families become upset when we recommend a secure unit. Occasionally they tell us they no longer want admission. But many times, after speaking with other facilities or after difficult experiences elsewhere, they come back and realize we were trying to guide them toward the level of care their loved one truly needed.”

Kenworthy added that families sometimes think a secure memory care setting means someone is being restricted, when in reality it is about protection, supervision, and specialized support.

“Memory care units have higher staffing ratios, specialized programming, and activities designed specifically for residents living with cognitive impairment. These environments are created to reduce confusion, anxiety, wandering risks, and unsafe situations.”

Schelb said the team at JGS Lifecare understands families’ concerns and anxieties, and even empathizes with them.

“Families need patience, understanding, and grace — especially for themselves,” she told BusinessWest. “Almost every family experiences guilt. They say things like, ‘we should have known,’ or ‘how did we miss the signs?’ Sometimes siblings blame one another. One child may live closer and feel responsible, while another wonders why something wasn’t noticed sooner.

“But the truth is, families are not healthcare professionals,” she went on. “Dementia can be incredibly subtle in the beginning. Many individuals become experts at masking symptoms. A parent may still appear polished, conversational, and independent in public while internally struggling with confusion, medication management, nutrition, or safety concerns.”

Schelb noted that families also don’t always realize how much routine and muscle memory can compensate for cognitive decline. Someone may function well within the familiarity of their own home because they have repeated the same routines for years. But when they are suddenly hospitalized or moved into a rehabilitation setting, that familiarity disappears, which is often when families first witness behaviors such as increased confusion and wandering.

“We also spend time educating families about sundowning, which can be difficult to recognize if visits typically happen earlier in the day,” she said. “Many families tell us, ‘mom just gets tired early,’ without realizing that increased confusion, anxiety, agitation, or restlessness later in the afternoon and evening can be very common in individuals living with dementia.”

But importantly, she added, “we spend a great deal of time reassuring families that they should not blame themselves.”

Let’s Talk

The Alzheimer’s Assoc. luncheon got Anstett thinking about breast cancer 20 or more years ago, and how far that topic has come.

“I remember when nobody talked about breast cancer. Everyone was hush-hush about it,” she recalled. “And then suddenly, awareness was brought out, and the benefits of being aware and getting checked. Lives were saved, and that stigma was erased. Now, people want to make sure they get that diagnosis immediately while they can do something about it.

“That’s where we need to be with dementia. People now are afraid to get the diagnosis,” she went on, and one of the reasons is an image they have of what a memory care unit looks and feels like — not realizing that the model has come a long way, and there are many more options for care than there used to be.

“There are so many opportunities to keep this at bay and then, maybe in our lifetime, eradicate it,” she said, and in the meantime, it’s going to take a lot of people working together to create a climate in which people seek help earlier and wind up with longer life and better quality of life — not only for themselves, but for their family members.

Kathy Walker

“Frequently, families are trying to balance what they are seeing with the hope that things have not truly changed. Many families wait until they are emotionally or physically exhausted before seeking outside support, and by that point, they are often carrying tremendous stress and uncertainty.”

One of the luncheon speakers, Anstett recalled, was a man in his 50s who wound up with an early dementia diagnosis.

“He was telling us he’s going to fight this thing. He’s going to do every single thing he can do. I love his attitude. So, how can we switch the mindset? How can we do some kind of publicity campaign to say, ‘hey, we see you, we get you are scared to death. However, it is a better solution to tackle it head on right away.’”

After all, she added, “breast cancer was considered a death sentence, and now, how many people survive because women don’t hide it and disappear?”

As the average age of the U.S. population continues to creep up, dementia will only increase in prevalence, barring a cure, Anstett noted. “I don’t believe there’s a person who doesn’t know a person who’s been affected by this.”

And when they seek help? Walker said one of the biggest changes families notice is relief — for both themselves and their loved one.

“Families often tell us they finally feel at peace knowing their loved one is safe, socially engaged, and supported by people who understand dementia care. They are able to step back from the exhausting role of caregiver and return to simply being family again,” she said. “That emotional shift can be incredibly powerful.”

MassCEC Grants Aim to Boost Clean Energy Workforce

By Joseph Bednar May 26, 2026

Workforce Development

Powering the Future

The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) recently issued $13.4 million in grants to 13 Massachusetts community colleges to expand career training programs in clean energy fields.

Greenfield Community College (GCC) was awarded $810,000, and Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) received $809,989, both to launch and expand workforce training in HVAC and heat pump technologies, creating new career pathways in the growing clean energy sector.

MassCEC’s latest heat pump and HVAC training grants will benefit students at Greenfield Community College and other institutions.

Meanwhile, Holyoke Community College (HCC) was awarded $455,000 through a different MassCEC grant program to continue and refine its clean energy career training programs.

“Massachusetts is leading the nation in clean energy and climatetech, and that leadership depends on a strong, skilled workforce,” Gov. Maura Healey said. “These investments will connect residents across the state to good-paying careers while helping employers meet growing demand. We are building a clean energy economy that creates opportunity in every region and real jobs for Massachusetts workers.”

Beyond funding, MassCEC will ensure program quality and consistency through the development of a universal heat pump curriculum, a shared instructional framework, and contextualized English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) resources. Together, these efforts represent a coordinated, statewide push to expand training capacity, improve program quality, and create accessible pathways into clean energy careers for Massachusetts residents.

“We need training that keeps pace with how the energy industry is evolving,” Massachusetts Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Rebecca Tepper said. “These grants give community colleges the tools to deliver hands-on, modern instruction that prepares students for the work happening today and what’s coming next.”

“By pairing funding with a shared approach to curriculum and training, we’re helping to build an integrated system that can better support our workers and a clean energy future.”

MassCEC CEO Ben Downing added that “the Heat Pump and HVAC Training Network is focused on what happens after the investment — more trained workers and closer alignment with employer demand. By pairing funding with a shared approach to curriculum and training, we’re helping to build an integrated system that can better support our workers and a clean energy future.”

Heating Up

Jayshawn Brown, a student in HCC’s solar tech training program, works on a solar panel installation project at Dean Technical High School.

GCC’s grant will provide its division of Workforce Development with funding to train 40 students in HVAC skills. It is anticipated there will be two cohorts of entry-level HVAC training and two cohorts of incumbent worker heat pump training; each cohort will include up to 10 students.

Across the state, this program, supported by the Department of Energy Resources, aims to train 500 additional HVAC workers to meet the Commonwealth’s growing demand for clean heating and cooling systems. Greenfield Community College will use this funding to continue training programs for new HVAC technicians as well as work with local employers to provide heat pump installation and maintenance training for their current workforce.

“This funding allows us to continue to offer a full range of HVAC and heat pump training through our Workforce Development division, creating excellent opportunities for residents to enter and advance in clean energy careers,” said Kristin Cole, vice president of Workforce Development at GCC. “With these programs, we can address the urgent needs of local employers and equip our community with the skills necessary for success in a sector that supports both economic growth and clean energy.”

Since launching the HVAC training program in fall of 2024, GCC has graduated 27 individuals from the program with several industry certifications; 85% of those graduates are currently working in the industry. On May 29, the third cohort of students will graduate and transition into employment or paid internships with local employers. This new grant will fund training for additional students.

“We are building a pathway that supports our community, meets employer needs, and connects workforce training to college and long-term economic growth.”

Meanwhile, STCC’s funding supports a comprehensive clean energy training strategy centered on high-efficiency heating and cooling systems and modern heat pump technologies.

Through six workforce development programs, STCC will provide Springfield residents and regional workers with free, hands-on training aligned with employer demand, industry certifications, and the Commonwealth’s clean energy goals. Together, these programs prepare both entry-level learners and incumbent workers for employment, advancement, and credential attainment in a rapidly changing workforce.

Gladys Franco, assistant vice president of Workforce Development at STCC, noted that “we are building a pathway that supports our community, meets employer needs, and connects workforce training to college and long-term economic growth.”

The initiative strengthens STCC’s existing HVAC and energy systems programs while creating a flexible workforce training model that helps participants quickly gain skills, credentials, and access to employment opportunities. The program also creates a pathway into STCC’s associate degree programs in energy systems technology and building automation.

MassCEC funding has made it possible for STCC to launch and scale six targeted training programs that would not otherwise be available. Investments in lab upgrades, modern equipment, and instructional delivery are significantly increasing training capacity, expanding access for underrepresented populations and accelerating entry into clean energy careers. Meanwhile, the college is working closely with MassHire, regional employers, and community-based organizations to support recruitment, training, and job placement.

The Next Phase

At HCC, the MassCEC grant will pay for two free training programs for up to 30 individuals: introductory training in construction, electricity, and clean energy systems in the fall of 2026, and a solar installer/electrical pre-apprenticeship program in the spring of 2027.

HCC piloted both programs in 2025 after receiving a $1.42 million grant from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Education for climate-related workforce training initiatives. The new award is part of a $7 million allocation in clean energy and climatech grants announced last month by the Healey-Driscoll administration.

“The first grant was really to design, develop, and essentially figure out what would work in our market,” said Kermit Dunkelberg, HCC’s assistant vice president of Adult Basic Education and Workforce Development. “Now, we’ll not just be continuing, but refining these programs to achieve even stronger outcomes.”

The MassCEC grants will support 17 organizations through four programs: Equity Training Implementation; Climate Critical Training, Equipment, and Infrastructure; Climate Critical Underrepresented Business Support; and Student and Young Adult Career Awareness and Training. They are designed to help local organizations expand inclusive training, career awareness, and business support for jobs such as electricians, solar technicians, HVAC-R technicians, energy auditors, refrigeration technicians, and EV charger technicians.

“Through our programs and partnerships, students are introduced to building trades unions — in particular, the electrical workers union and carpentry union — as well as solar installer and electrical apprenticeship opportunities.”

HCC was the only community college in Massachusetts to receive a dedicated grant, while the Massachusetts Assoc. of Community Colleges, a consortium of all 15 community colleges in the state, received $120,000 to support HVAC programs across the community college system.

HCC’s key partners in the grant are Holyoke’s Dean Technical High School, where the clean energy training classes meet, and solar industry companies PV Squared and SolaBlock. Other partners include the MassHire Hampden County Workforce Board, the Coalition for Equitable Economy, Springfield Works, Browning the Green Space, and the Entrepreneurship & Business Collaborative.

“Thanks to these grants, we’ve been able to connect students to career pathways that can be very challenging to get into,” said Mary Wagner, HCC’s Workforce and Economic Development training manager. “Through our programs and partnerships, students are introduced to building trades unions — in particular, the electrical workers union and carpentry union — as well as solar installer and electrical apprenticeship opportunities.”

Since 2025, HCC has run the introductory clean energy program three times, the solar tech program once, a weatherization program two times, and recently introduced an Introduction to Manufacturing and Clean Energy Applications pilot program.

“These programs are creating opportunities for underserved populations,” Dunkelberg said. “It’s not just opening the pathways, but reaching deeply into the community to create the access that’s been missing.”

Ciara Speller

By Joseph Bednar May 25, 2026

Alumni Achievement Award

Evening Anchor, WWLP-22 News

When Ciara Speller thinks back to 2023, she remembers a bittersweet year.

That’s the year she was elected to 40 Under Forty due to her success at WWLP-22 News — not just in front of the camera, but also away from it, with all the preparation, writing, editing, and more that goes into airing a newscast every weeknight — as well as her work in the community.

But her father, who was battling a rare form of bile duct cancer called cholangiocarcinoma, couldn’t attend the 40 Under Forty gala that June.

“He wanted to make it to the awards, but unfortunately he was too sick to make it. But he came down with my mom that weekend, so when I got home, I got to tell him all about it,” she recalled. “That was my last award that he saw.”

Ciara Speller when she was named to the 40 Under Forty class of 2023

That’s because Jeffrey Speller passed away just a few months later.

Ciara knew she wanted to turn her grief into something meaningful and impactful. So she and her mother launched the Jeffrey Speller Foundation ‘4 Change’ in his honor. Having raised and donated more than $50,000 over the past two years, the foundation’s mission is centered around creating opportunities for underserved youth to participate in golf programs.

“He was an avid golfer who had a dream of providing resources for economically challenged youth,” Speller explained. “Golf is a really expensive sport. His own father passed away when he was a child, unfortunately, so he never got to experience the game until he could afford to do so as an older adult.

“He really credited golf with positively shaping his life, allowing him to climb up the corporate ladder, meeting so many great people — both in business and as friends,” she went on. “Golf is one of those sports that creates amazing partnerships and connections. And he said, ‘how great would it be if our underserved and economically challenged youth were exposed to the game at a younger age? Imagine what their lives could be.’”

These days, Speller doesn’t have to imagine — she’s already impacting those young lives through the game.

The foundation’s main fundraiser is an annual tournament that started with 80 golfers its first year, and will assemble 140 for the third annual event this Aug. 8 at Wyckoff Country Club in Holyoke — the track where her father’s ashes were scattered under a tree near the first hole.

“Golf is one of those sports that creates amazing partnerships and connections. And he said, ‘how great would it be if our underserved and economically challenged youth were exposed to the game at a younger age? Imagine what their lives could be.’”

That annual fundraiser has turned into a series of donations — to a local middle school golf program, the Springfield Ballers’ golf program, a nonprofit organization called the First Tee, and more, including donations of golf clubs to kids of all ages.

“Our motto is, ‘together, we’re changing lives for good,’” Speller said. “And we’ve expanded to helping families and children in need. For the holidays, we fully decorated a Christmas tree and outfitted it with gift cards — that landed with a mother who has cancer as well, somebody who understands what we went through, whose family is going through the same thing. Just to give them a little holiday cheer was amazing.”

Speller is also a dedicated cholangiocarcinoma advocate in other ways. In February, she spearheaded an awareness event and flag raising in Springfield, bringing the community together to honor those impacted by the disease; as part of the initiative, several landmarks across the city were illuminated in green. That same month, the Jeffrey Speller Foundation ‘4 Change’ hosted a celebrity bartending event, raising $10,000 to support patients, families, and programs in her father’s memory.

Fast Facts

Age: 33

40 Under Forty Class: 2023

Title Then: Evening Anchor,
WWLP-22 News

Title Now: Evening Anchor,
WWLP-22 News

Walk-up Song: “Golden”
by Jill Scott

Years an AAA Finalist: 1

All that is deeply gratifying, but so is Speller’s career anchoring the weeknight newscast at WWLP, for which she recently received a Merit Award from the Massachusetts Broadcasters Assoc. for her feature story on internationally acclaimed fashion designer (and Springfield native) Justin Haynes. In her role as anchor, she has reported on some of the region’s most impactful events, and has also contributed to the station’s Black history initiatives, hosting and producing segments that highlight the local community.

“I’ve always been a storyteller,” she told BusinessWest. “I have a degree in dance as well, and I found at a young age that I could tell stories with my words and with my emotions — and now, I can bring attention to communities that may not have a light shining on them,” she said, adding that her work often draws the attention of local leaders and decision makers, effecting positive change. “Just being able to highlight the good work that people are doing, the needs of the community, that’s been incredibly impactful.”

Meanwhile, this October, Speller will be honored at the 11th annual 100 Women of Color Gala, which recognizes high-achieving, community-minded women from across Connecticut and Massachusetts — a major recognition, to be sure.

“To think that what I’m doing — what I feel is a regular day in my life — speaks to people, that’s pretty cool,” she added. “And the foundation has become a huge part of who I am and my identity. I’m just happy to keep giving back and making a difference — and I hope to grow more and impact even more people’s lives.”

—Joseph Bednar

Modesto Montero-Forman

By Joseph Bednar May 25, 2026

Alumni Achievement Award

Executive Director, Libertas Academy Charter School

When Modesto Montero-Forman was named to the 40 Under Forty class of 2020, the school he founded — Libertas Academy Charter School in Springfield — was already a burgeoning success story, expanding from just 90 sixth-graders at its start in 2017 to a full middle school. But plenty of growth was still to come.

“We found a building on Chestnut Street that served as our starter home — an office building that we converted into a school and blew out some walls to open a number of classrooms,” he recalled. “And the focus for the first portion of our history was really getting the school off the ground and getting the right academic performance.”

Modesto Montero-Forman when he was named to the 40 Under Forty class of 2020

Today, after adding a grade each year — with a slight pause for the pandemic — and expanding to both a middle and high school, Libertas Academy now serves just under 600 students in grades 6-12, having graduated its first senior class in 2025.

“As a college prep school, our goal is to prepare our students academically, socially, and emotionally for the demands of college. And last year was the first year that we got to do that. We’re proud to say that 100% of our students were accepted into a four-year college,” Montero-Forman explained, with 87% of them choosing to follow that higher-ed path.

While opening a school almost a decade ago was a major challenge, he added, “in the second half of our founding story, the focus has been on getting the high school right, ensuring that we have a robust college prep program and support. Our college team supports our students throughout the entire process, everything from SAT preparation to crafting their college list to writing the personal statements for their applications and working with families on the FAFSA.”

It all culminates in an energetic ‘senior signing day’ when the students’ achievements and future plans are celebrated. That all resonates with Montero-Forman, who has always described himself as forward-looking.

He said his upbringing — in a low-income, Christian home — fostered a sense of focus and a dedication to finding a way to make a difference in his community.

As an immigrant, he initially thought about becoming an immigration lawyer, but while in college, he worked for an Upward Bound program as a mentor and tutor, and was instantly drawn to working with young people in communities like the ones Libertas now serves, he told BusinessWest, explaining his path into the education world.

Part of that trajectory, in recent years, has been securing the school’s current home on Liberty Street, a new structure that Libertas leases, and raising $3 million from private individuals and foundations to outfit for its March 2025 opening.

“We just had classrooms before, no specialty spaces, and we knew that our students deserved and needed so much more than that,” he said. “So we were able to secure a partnership with a private developer here in Springfield who was able to work with us to design a school to fit our model. So now we have a gym, a cafeteria, an art room, a weight room, a music room, a library — all those things that we didn’t have before. And this is our permanent home.”

“Now we have a gym, a cafeteria, an art room, a weight room, a music room, a library — all those things that we didn’t have before. And this is our permanent home.”

Fast Facts

Age: 37

40 Under Forty Class: 2020

Title Then: Executive Director,
Libertas Academy Charter School

Title Now: Executive Director,
Libertas Academy Charter School

Walk-up Song: “The Realness”
by RuPaul featuring Eric Kupper

Years an AAA Finalist: 1

It’s also one of the highest-performing charter schools in Massachusetts. In the most recent MCAS results, students have shown dramatic increases in proficiency; the school ranks first in Massachusetts for student growth in math and third for growth in English language arts (ELA). Libertas is also one of only 13 school districts that is outperforming pre-pandemic performance in both ELA and math.

“Seeing our mission come to fruition — getting students to graduate from high school and, more importantly, persist in college — has been very gratifying,” Montero-Forman said, adding that those efforts include a scholarship program and other supports for alumni that help them stay on their path in college.

“Most of our students are, like me, first-generation college students. And that may not have been the trajectory they would have experienced in a different school system. I think we’ve played an integral role in showing them what was possible and preparing them academically, and then providing the right supports along the way so that not only could they envision themselves in those spaces, but they could actually be admitted into those institutions and now persist.”

Montero-Forman is persisting in other ways; he’s currently board president of the Healing Racism Institute of Pioneer Valley, and he was chosen for a program called the North Star Fellowship, through which he has worked to research and understand the education landscape in Connecticut, specifically Hartford, since it’s close to Springfield and serves a similar population.

“We are very much considering opening a second school in the Hartford community, hopefully by the fall of ’28,” he said.

He has also married since his 40 Under Forty recognition. “We are hoping to adopt,” he told BusinessWest. “I will continue to do good work here at Libertas, but growing my family and thinking about legacy and impact … that’s what I’m really excited about.”

—Joseph Bednar

Cornering the Market

By Joseph Bednar May 25, 2026

Features Special Coverage

Baystate Merger Is a Lifeline for Mercy —
but Poses Some Risks, Too

At a recent community forum where leaders of Baystate Health and Mercy Medical Center discussed why Mercy will be absorbed into the vast Baystate system later this year, Dr. Robert Roose positioned the move as a matter of survival.

“Mercy treats a population with the greatest proportion of Medicaid and Medicare patients of any hospital in the entire Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” said Roose, president of Community Hospitals for Trinity Health Of New England.

“That’s a community that needs care, but it’s one where the reimbursement does not match the cost of care,” he went on. “Medicaid reimburses, on average, about 62 cents on the dollar, Medicare about 85 cents. So there’s a financial equation that can be difficult to sustain. In addition to that, we know, with federal funding cuts and other changes to payments, that revenue will continue to decrease while costs continue to rise.”

Dr. Robert Roose

There’s a financial equation that can be difficult to sustain. In addition to that, we know, with federal funding cuts and other changes to payments, that revenue will continue to decrease while costs continue to rise.

At the same time, he said, Mercy has struggled with recruitment of critical specialties of providers — a reality that played out late last year when Mercy shuttered its obstetrics services, with most of those patients moving to Baystate Medical Center.

“So really, for the last decade, there have been questions around the long-term viability of Mercy Medical Center,” Roose went on. “Even as part of a large system like Trinity Health … it makes sense to strengthen the network of care here in Western Massachusetts.”

For Baystate, having a facility the size of Mercy — with its 191 licensed beds, 7,800 discharges per year, and 45,000 emergency room visits per year — simply close its doors would put far too much strain on other Baystate facilities, said Dr. Scott Lichtenberger, chief operating officer for Baystate Health.

“Springfield needs two hospitals, full stop,” he noted. “If Mercy Medical Center didn’t exist, Baystate could not absorb — not only at Baystate Medical Center, but even across our system — that kind of volume. So, to preserve services in the community and to be able to provide that kind of access, we have to have two hospitals.”

Those, in effect, are the arguments for a merger scheduled to take effect on Nov. 1: if Mercy can’t survive on its own, and if Baystate Health believes bringing a fifth full-service hospital into its system makes economic sense from a scale and efficiency perspective, then the move simply makes sense.

Not everyone is sure, however. Michal Horny, assistant professor of Health Policy and Management at UMass Amherst, told BusinessWest that there’s a good amount of evidence from across the U.S. that, when two hospitals very near each other merge, and are no longer in competition with each other, costs inevitably rise for patients.

“Any health plan that operates primarily in the Springfield area, before the merge, they had some leverage over hospitals — if you don’t strike a deal with one hospital, you can go to the other,” he explained. “After the merger, with two main hospitals in Springfield now part of a single system, no health plan can afford to operate in the Springfield area without having a contract with both those hospitals. So that gives the hospitals some very good bargaining power when negotiating prices.

“So what starts to happen is prices, on average, at both hospitals go up. I don’t know how much, but we’ve seen in other markets an average increase of about 6%. So that affects everyone with private insurance,” Horny explained (more on that later).

Dr. Scott Lichtenberger

“If Mercy Medical Center didn’t exist, Baystate could not absorb — not only at Baystate Medical Center, but even across our system — that kind of volume. So, to preserve services in the community and to be able to provide that kind of access, we have to have two hospitals.”

At the same time, while Baystate and Mercy leaders tout potential efficiencies, he noted, “as far as quality of care, the argument from the hospitals is that there’s better coordination and shared resources. Economists have studied this; it’s theoretically a valid point — but the evidence is not there. There doesn’t seem to be any improvement in quality.”

But for proponents of the merger, the survival of Mercy and its services in a community that needs them is an overriding positive.

“I am pleased that Baystate Health and Trinity Health have reached an agreement that will allow these two vibrant hospitals to continue serving our communities,” U.S. Rep. Richard Neal said, noting that, at a time of serious federal spending cuts, “this acquisition will expand access to healthcare and improve services throughout the Pioneer Valley and beyond.

“Together, these institutions represent more than three centuries of service to Western and Central Massachusetts,” Neal added. “Ensuring their viability and continued success is vital to the health of our families and our local economies, and this announcement represents a critical step in strengthening our regional healthcare system for generations to come.”

Local Impacts

In their announcement on April 28 that Baystate Health and Trinity Health Of New England had signed a definitive agreement to transition Mercy Medical Center, its joint venture affiliates, and medical group entities in Massachusetts to Baystate Health, pending regulatory approvals, they made it clear that Trinity Health will continue to own and operate Brightside for Families and Children, Mercy LIFE, Mary’s Meadow at Providence Place, Beaven Kelly Home, and Saint Luke’s Home.

They also asserted that “Baystate Health will preserve Mercy’s nonprofit mission, community commitment, and legacy of high-quality care.” Both entities will continue to operate independently until the transition is complete this fall.

“Mercy and the Sisters of Providence have been a fixture in our community since 1874,” said Peter Banko, Baystate Health president and CEO, in a statement on April 28. “This is an investment in both the past and the future of healthcare and economic development in Western Massachusetts. Today, access forces too many patients to leave the region to seek care, and we need to ensure that care is compassionate, high quality, affordable, and local. We have been and will continue to be a pillar of our community — rooted here, serving here, and helping generations thrive here.”

One topic raised at the May 12 community forum — and one discussed at length in the article on page 22 about the region’s workforce outlook — is the difficulty recruiting people into a healthcare system that desperately needs them, and how the Baystate-Mercy merger will impact that equation for both institutions.

During the forum, Tania Barber, president and CEO of Caring Health Center in Springfield, asked what Baystate expects to happen when the most severe impacts from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) come to fruition next year and area residents start losing health coverage.

“The health safety net cannot absorb it. We know that there’s going to be an influx of individuals that will be coming to the hospital, coming to community health centers, and we know there will be staffing shortages — provider shortages, nursing shortages, it goes on and on,” Barber said. “Recruitment continues to be a challenge, so I’d like to learn a little bit more about how you will address the enormous amount of individuals who are going to utilize hospital services because they’re losing their insurance.”

Lichtenberger countered that frontline staffing levels are up at Baystate despite a recent series of high-profile layoffs, mostly administrative, throughout the system. “And as we get bigger, I think it becomes a more attractive place to recruit physicians. We’ve just got to make sure that this remains a destination place that people want to work and that people are proud to work.”

Despite a challenging landscape for healthcare staffing, he noted that Baystate plans to keep Mercy’s critical services operating — and having two hospitals within a mile of each other will bring advantages of efficiency — and even grow them.

For example, “the emergency room at Mercy Medical Center — again, pending regulatory approval — will remain open 24 hours, seven days a week,” Lichtenberger said. “And about half of the beds at Mercy are now available — we want to fill those beds. We want to grow services so that we keep more care here locally. And when we talk about filling those beds, that’s creating jobs.”

But the cost issue for patients — again, when health plans lose leverage in a less competitive environment — is still a matter of concern, Horny said.

“Even when insurance pays for a portion of their healthcare, if prices are higher, that inevitably translates to higher premiums. Insurance doesn’t absorb the increased costs — it shifts them to consumers. So eventually, you can expect premiums for plans in the Springfield area to go up.”

Drawing on data from the Health Care Affordability Lab, a Yale University-based group of economists who study healthcare markets and translate their research for various audiences, Horny noted that, while healthcare consumers and payers initially absorb health cost increases, it eventually hits employers as well.

“Employers usually don’t cut wages, but they’ll cut the number of available positions, so one of the downstream effects is fewer employment opportunities,” Horny said, which eventually translates to decreased state and federal revenues, and more uninsured people going without care — which could increase mortality.

Challenges Continue

Dean Sanpei, chief administrative officer and chief strategy officer for Baystate Health, also addressed the community forum, noting that virtually all Mercy employees that work specifically for that
hospital, and not in an administrative role at Trinity, will come over in the deal.

“We do think this can improve community care and our provision of care in the area,” he said. “There are synergies that are created when institutions are able to come together. You’re able to create more hubs and spokes. You’re able to create centers of excellence and places where you can focus higher specialties of care and get better outcomes. And you’re able to distribute services as needed, and effectively. So we’re hoping to bring all these synergies together and create a better process and better care for our community.”

Michal Horny

“No health plan can afford to operate in the Springfield area without having a contract with both those hospitals. So that gives the hospitals some very good bargaining power when negotiating prices.”

Sanpei also agreed with Lichtenberger that the expanded Baystate footprint in Springfield will make the system more attractive and an easier place to recruit physicians.

“As we recruit more physicians, we can open up more beds, and we can have more capacity,” he went on. “And as we’re able to do that, it enables those who live here, who want to have care here, to get care here — which helps all of us. It helps residents locally, but it also helps the health system because those dollars are not going to go east, they’re not going to go south; they’ll stay here. So that’s an opportunity for us as well.”

That said, Baystate certainly continues to face headwinds, like an expected $150 million impact from the OBBBA.

“This transaction doesn’t occur for us until November. Until that time, we will continue to have the challenges that we’ve had to date, and we’re going to continue to have to do the efficiencies that we’ve done to date. Those things, in many ways, are separate. Those challenges are going to continue,” Sanpei said.

To that end, he continued, “we’re going to have to continue to increase our operating efficiency. We’re going to continue to have to look at our expense structure, and that won’t necessarily change overnight. Once we have the joint entity, the synergies we have then will come into play, and it will be better moving toward the future.” ◆

Hire Concerns

By Joseph Bednar May 25, 2026

Features Special Coverage Workforce Development

Numerous Factors Are Complicating the Region’s Job Market

Whatever else can be said for the job market — both nationally and in Western Mass. — job seekers have lost some leverage. Specifically, job openings aren’t as plentiful (in most sectors, anyway) than they were a year or two ago, meaning it’s tougher to hold out for a better offer, and not as easy to move around.

“What we’re seeing is a retraction of people moving jobs right now. Employees are staying put,” said Allison Ebner, president of the Employers Assoc. of the NorthEast. “We’re seeing that for a variety of reasons today; the economy is certainly one reason why employees are staying with the devil they know instead of jumping ship for a different job.”

Specifically, she noted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported earlier this month that, for the first time since 2023, the cost of living has outpaced wage growth in the U.S.

“Basically, the inflation rate has outpaced the cost-of-living adjustment, that 3.5% average that many people probably got at the beginning of the year. It’s not even covering the cost-of-living increase today, between the rising gas prices and the rising food prices.”

At the same time, Ebner said, wages are leveling off after jumping up for a while post-COVID. “The only outlier we’re seeing is some variable pay for AI skills in general.”

Kevin Lynn, executive director of the MassHire Springfield Career Center, said the local labor market has seen a broad contraction in job opportunities, and cited a number of factors that have been problematic.

“What we’re seeing is a retraction of people moving jobs right now. Employees are staying put. We’re seeing that for a variety of reasons today; the economy is certainly one reason why employees are staying with the devil they know instead of jumping ship for a different job.”

“We have a benefits cliff here affecting both hiring and retention,” he told BusinessWest. “We have a federal immigration policy that is contracting our labor market. We have population decline locally and outmigration. We have a childcare crisis that is tamping down the available labor market. We certainly have developing AI/automation anxiety out there. We have federal funding uncertainty. We have a local criminal justice issue, getting ex-offenders re-employed. And we have this totally egregious Iran war which is causing our economy to slow.

“Judging from the most recent [BLS] Producer Price Index, we’re running into a really fun June, if not July, with a rise in prices,” Lynn added. “We’ve got all that around us, which gives us a picture of what I would term a struggling regional economy.”

In fact, he said, Hampden County has one of the weakest labor markets in the state, with a relatively high unemployment rate continuing to climb, and average weekly wage rates below the national average.

All this has contributed to a slowdown in employee movement, where both workers and companies are loath to make moves.

“Companies are making slower hiring decisions, when they have hiring decisions to make, and they’re seeing less turnover,” Ebner said. “And from what we’re hearing, the employers that have employee turnover, it’s not because workers are leaving to go to different jobs; the turnover is because of employees’ poor performance, attendance issues, or not meeting the employer’s standards.”

The slowdown in hiring is even manifesting itself in the most recent MassHire job fair at the Basketball Hall of Fame on May 18. When she spoke with BusinessWest the week before the fair, Ebner — who is also president of the MassHire Springfield board of directors — said vendor registration was running at about 60% the usual pace.

“They may pick up a few more, but that’s certainly a telltale sign locally that employees aren’t hiring,” she added. “There are still close to 30 coming, but usually it’s in the 45 to 50 range of employers coming to market their companies.”

Unhealthy Outlook

Lynn noted that the region is struggling with a bifurcation of wages — and a lot of posting activity in positions that are high-churn, low-wage, and not necessarily a living wage. And it’s happening most in healthcare.

Allison Ebner says employee engagement — even at the managerial level — is a rising problem for employers.

“Locally, healthcare is our dominant sector in terms of employment, and it’s contracting,” he said, pointing to struggles at local hospitals to employ frontline staffers, even before the recent announcement of Mercy Medical Center merging into Baystate Health later this year.

“What is that going to look like? What does that mean for employment?” he asked. “Crucially, a lot of healthcare workers — home health aides, CNAs, those lower kinds of lower-paying positions within the healthcare system, have an issue with a living wage. Can people survive on those wages?

“It’s really kind of an existential question for healthcare, where so much of what they do depends on Medicare and Medicaid funding to pay the bills, and they’re not doing a great job paying as it is,” he went on. “So, are they in a position to increase wages? I’m guessing not, so there’s a tension going on: people tend to think of where the jobs are, who’s hiring, what the jobs are — but increasingly, people are taking the next step and asking, ‘does this job pay a living wage?’”

It’s a question the healthcare industry must deal with sooner than later, said Ebner, who pointed to data from Lightcast, a global leader in labor market intelligence and workforce analytics, that notes that healthcare openings nationally currently outnumber unemployed job seekers by a five to one margin, and two-thirds of all job growth over the past year is in healthcare and social assistance.

“There was a predicted gain of 60,000 jobs in April, and it came in closer to 105,000, but it’s being skewed by a couple of industries; it’s not a true picture of all industries,” she said, and at the top of the list is healthcare. In fact, in 49 of 50 U.S. states, nursing is currently the top open job category. And that trend of healthcare demand outpacing staffing bodes poorly not just for the economy, but in broader ways.

“Healthcare is going to be a problem for us as people are living longer and Baby Boomers are retiring. They’ve done the math, and there’s simply not enough people to fill those healthcare jobs,” Ebner noted. “There’s a huge opportunity in home health and PCAs; they don’t have enough people to fill those positions. But it’s not a high-paying job.

“There’s a lot of talk right now about how about how the trades are working to draw students from high schools and colleges into electrical, HVAC, plumbing,” she added. “Those are considered AI-proof, and they’re high-income-earning. You could start as an apprentice and make a great wage very quickly. You can’t say that about PCAs.”

Data researcher Hannah Grieser, writing for Lightcast, cited a 2026 survey finding that 73% of healthcare executives say staffing shortages negatively affect their ability to provide high-quality care, pointing to several specific roles as acutely difficult to fill: among clinical roles, 98% of healthcare executives named physician specialists, and 86% primary care physicians. And among allied health roles, a majority of executives said radiology techs and ultrasound techs are tough to find.

“But across the healthcare workforce,” Grieser noted, “labor shortages are an ongoing challenge that’s expected to intensify.”

Meanwhile, Ebner continued, “COVID burnt out a lot of the healthcare workers. A lot of people opted out of that profession. They don’t have the same appeal post-COVID. So, healthcare is going to be in trouble and, with the level of urgency we’re at, needs immediate attention at the state and federal levels for sure.”

“Crucially, a lot of healthcare workers — home health aides, CNAs, those lower kinds of lower-paying positions within the healthcare system, have an issue with a living wage. Can people survive on those wages?”

Kevin Lynn says the main problem for companies isn’t finding people to hire, but finding the right people.

MassHire’s mission is to connect employers with skilled, motivated employees, Lynn said, but, increasingly, those workers aren’t finding the wage levels they need.

“Employers are in a push-and-pull position right now, and it’s been heightened with inflation and rising rents and mortgages,” he explained. “The cost of living in general has been escalating. People are saying, ‘I can’t take a job if I can’t find a home,’ or ‘I can’t take a job if I don’t make enough money to stay in my home.’ There’s more of that going on than ever now.”

That said, he noted, certain positions in healthcare — RNs, LPNs, and allied professionals come to mind — can find decent wages, and other sectors are similarly tiered when it comes to who’s making what.

“Also, the nonprofit sector continues to hire — again, it depends on the position, but they often do pay decent wages and have outstanding benefit packages to make up the difference. So that’s good. But on the flip side, human services, nonprofits, and healthcare are being hit by reductions in federal spending.”

Other sectors are relatively stable as well, including retail, logistics, and warehousing, but Lynn is concerned that the overall regional wage picture is outpacing what’s being seen locally.

“Read the national economic news, and you see economic numbers that are not great, but don’t look too bad, either. You get the sense locally we’re in a different ballgame.”

The Right Stuff

Lynn reiterated that matching employers with job seekers is much easier than finding the right workers, in terms of both skills and engagement. “We talk to different companies who are hiring, but struggling to hire at the same time because they don’t just want a body, but the right person.”

Ebner agreed. “Employers are definitely discouraged about the quality of the candidates they have. They’re not seeing the caliber of candidates that they’ve seen in the past from a customer service standpoint, from an innovation standpoint; they’re still struggling with employee engagement.”

Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace study recently reported a 21% employee engagement rate, she noted. “That means 21% of employees are fully engaged with their jobs. That’s a problem. An even bigger issue was manager engagement, which dropped from 31% to 22% over the last two years.

“These are the people that teach and educate and coach your employees,” Ebner went on. “This is something we talk to our members about regularly — manager development, and to be very careful about who gets to be a leader in your organization. Just because somebody did a great job working on the line as a project manager, or in an individual capacity, doesn’t mean they’re going to be a great leader. You’ve got to have someone with qualifications who shares your mindset, and then take those high-performing individuals and try them out in those roles to see if they’ll be a good leader.”

Meanwhile, among all the negative factors impacting the regional job market, Lynn pointed to immigration enforcement as a thorny one, though fewer people are talking about it right now.

“It’s definitely impacting healthcare, especially looking at long-term care; a lot of immigrants work in that field, and now that pool has started to dry up. When you see these ICE pickups, the optics don’t make people feel comfortable going out to find work.

“It’s almost like we put everything into a blender, and we’re not coming out with a great drink,” he added, referring specifically to decisions being made in Washington, D.C. “I’m worried about a potential recession. I lived through that in 2008; I don’t want that to happen. It’s tough to hire right now because there’s so much craziness going on.” ◆

Colleges Face Looming Enrollment Crunch

By Joseph Bednar May 11, 2026

Education Special Coverage

Keeping School in Session

When Michael Dodge, provost at American International College (AIC), surveys a higher-education landscape that has seen two Massachusetts institutions, Hampshire College and Anna Maria College, announce their imminent closures in the coming weeks and months, he hears warning bells — and a call to action.

“We are seeing more disruption in the market, including institutional closures, which create both uncertainty for students and instability in regional enrollment patterns,” Dodge said. “When a college closes, it is not just about numbers. It is about students needing continuity, clarity, and trust in where they land next. Institutions that cannot respond quickly and transparently in those moments will struggle.”

American International College Provost Michael Dodge

Michael Dodge says colleges that want to survive and thrive must focus on matching their offerings to workforce needs.

When Hampshire College announced it will shut its doors at the end of 2026, it wasn’t the biggest surprise; the unconventional Amherst institution had been struggling with low enrollment and other challenges for some time.

“We worked aggressively to increase enrollment, refinance existing debt, and realize new revenue via the sale of a portion of our land. We have long known that addressing these issues is essential to establishing a stable financial foundation, supporting long-term operations, and meeting regulatory requirements,” President Jennifer Chrisler and the board of trustees noted in a letter to the Hampshire community. “We are faced with the clear, heartbreaking reality that progress on each of these three key factors has fallen far short of what we had hoped.”

Still, it was a jolt to a college community that has long prided itself as a successful model of an alternative, largely self-guided education that has produced numerous high-profile graduates over the decades, from Ken Burns to Liev Schreiber to Elliott Smith.

“Higher education is entering a period where demographic pressures are real, but they are only part of the story. The more immediate challenge is a shift in how students and families evaluate value. Cost sensitivity, clarity of outcomes, and speed to degree are all under greater scrutiny than they were even a few years ago.”

The Anna Maria announcement may have been more of a jolt, as it is shutting down the Paxton campus this month, following the end of the spring semester, rather than at the end of the year.

“For months, the board of trustees, our leadership team, and the Sisters of Saint Anne walked a distressing road together, examining every option and hoping at each turn that something might change,” President Sean Ryan and the board of trustees wrote, also in a community letter. “The decision reflects years of financial pressure that we were ultimately unable to overcome, and the honest recognition that continuing would not be responsible to the students, faculty, and staff who depend on us. We tried to find a way. We are grateful to everyone who tried alongside us. And we are deeply, genuinely sorry we found no viable path forward.”

The closures are sounding alarm bells because a looming ‘demographic cliff’ already has colleges and universities nationwide concerned. According to a recent study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, about 60 of the nation’s roughly 4,000 colleges are closing, on average, each year — a number that could double in any given year if the bottom falls out of enrollment, according to a recent analysis in the Atlantic by Jeffrey Selingo.

“If the harm were only to the institutions forced to close because they’re running out of customers, that would be unfortunate, but not tragic. But the causality runs in the other direction too, as students who otherwise would have gone to college find themselves with no viable option in the place where they live,” Selingo wrote.

He explained that American higher education has long consisted of two markets: one where high-achieving, typically affluent students compete for seats at national universities, and one where mostly middle- and lower-income students study closer to home. “Members of the first group will be fine even as college closures accelerate. The second group will suffer. After many decades of democratization, higher education could once again become a luxury good.”

However, Dodge noted that the demographic trends are just one element among numerous looming issues for colleges.

“Higher education is entering a period where demographic pressures are real, but they are only part of the story. The more immediate challenge is a shift in how students and families evaluate value. Cost sensitivity, clarity of outcomes, and speed to degree are all under greater scrutiny than they were even a few years ago,” he explained.

“At the same time, traditional pipelines are evolving. High school populations are changing, adult learners are expecting more flexibility, and employers are placing greater emphasis on skills and credentials that align directly with workforce needs,” he went on. “Institutions that remain overly dependent on a single student population or a static program portfolio will face increasing pressure.”

Return on Investment

Molly Miner, vice president of Enrollment Management and Marketing at Elms College, told BusinessWest that most private colleges, especially in New England, have experienced enrollment challenges, as the demographic cliff has already created increased competition among the shrinking pool of traditional first-time students. Meanwhile, the majority of Elms students come from the New England region, which is among the hardest-hit regions due to these shifting demographics, and its leaders have adjusted their recruitment strategy to broaden our applicant pool.

“The declining international student enrollment at schools nationwide, coupled with the changing domestic demographics, has created challenges for all colleges, particularly small colleges,” Miner noted. “There is a trickle-down effect when the most selective institutions, which have traditionally had large international enrollment, shift their strategy and expand their reach more broadly into the domestic pool, increasing competition for other institutions.

“Another challenge is the broader national conversation around the cost of higher education and student loan debt, which influences how students and their families think about college,” she added. “More than 30% of high school graduates do not enroll in college immediately after graduation, which further compounds the enrollment challenges.”

The cost factor should actually benefit community colleges, especially in Massachusetts, where residents can attend for free, thanks to a two-year-old program called MassEducate, which has resulted in enrollment increases at those institutions across the state.

“We have strong partnerships with employers, both nationally and regionally, to ensure their current and future employees have the education and training needed to succeed in a rapidly changing professional landscape, while also informing program development.”

But four-year, private colleges have to attract a shrinking pool of potential enrollees in different ways. James Birge, who is retiring as president of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams, acknowledged the current pressures, but is optimistic.

“The demographic enrollment cliff is here. It’s already hitting small, private colleges hard. Sadly, more will close in the next five years as the recruiting market contracts and institutions struggle to attract students,” he told BusinessWest.

“But public institutions like MCLA are in a genuinely strong spot. We’re affordable. And we’ve spent the last few years making deliberate moves to become a college of choice,” he went on, noting, as examples, that MCLA has added nursing, radiologic technology, and music industry and production because that’s what students are looking for, as well as adding athletic programs in lacrosse and ice hockey.

“We’ve built up endowed scholarship funding so more students can afford to come here,” Birge went on. “We’ve strengthened academic and personal support so students don’t just enroll — they stay and finish. We’ve put smarter investment strategies in place to keep operations funded. And we’ve maintained our accreditation, meeting every standard, including the financial ones.”

Miner points to Elms Promise, an initiative at the Chicopee college that aims to reduce cost as a barrier for students who demonstrate strong academic performance and financial need. She also points to the institution’s strong relationships with community colleges in Massachusetts and beyond, enrolling their graduates into its undergraduate programs through transfer and continuing education pathways.

“At Elms, we are able to leverage our small size to remain nimble and responsive in the face of these challenges,” she said, noting that its undergraduate curriculum combines a strong liberal arts foundation with real-world learning opportunities.

“Experiential learning is a core component of the student experience. Nearly 100% of Elms undergraduate students participate in experiential learning, including internships, clinical placements, research, service learning, and creative scholarship. Students engage in real-world learning from day one,” she added, noting that these efforts begin in the first semester with something called the Innovation Challenge, which encourages students to work together to find solutions to real-world problems.

“These initiatives lead to strong outcomes,” Miner said. “Ninety-seven percent of students who completed our most recent graduation survey reported that they are employed or enrolled in a graduate program after leaving Elms.”

Even at the graduate and continuing education levels, she noted, academic programs are tailored to meet the needs of the evolving workforce.

“We have strong partnerships with employers, both nationally and regionally, to ensure their current and future employees have the education and training needed to succeed in a rapidly changing professional landscape, while also informing program development,” Miner said, citing as examples recently added programs like graduate degrees in social work and applied behavior analysis, as well as an online bachelor of social work degree. “These programs are intentionally designed to align with workforce demand and address critical shortages of care providers throughout Massachusetts and New England.”

At Springfield-based AIC, Dodge agreed that colleges that want to survive and thrive must focus on matching their offerings to workforce needs.

“Maintaining an edge comes down to alignment. We are continuing to align our academic programs with workforce demand, particularly in high-need areas such as health sciences, public service, and emerging fields like data analytics. We are also expanding flexible delivery models, including online and accelerated formats, to meet students where they are.

“Equally important is strengthening our pipeline,” he added. “Partnerships with schools, transfer pathways, and employer-aligned programs are helping us reach students earlier and support them more effectively throughout their journey. Finally, we are focused on clarity. Students want to understand where a program leads and how quickly they can get there.”

Focus on the Future

Both the Hampshire College and Anna Maria College announcement letters noted that, for students unable to complete their degrees, transfer agreements with partner institutions are being created; indeed, AIC, Elms, and MCLA all announced such partnerships and outlined ways to smoothly transfer displaced students to their own communities.

“We planned and prepared for this by adding programs students want and employers need, building endowed scholarship funding, strengthening support, and making smart financial moves to keep us on solid ground.”

“At AIC, the focus is on being both responsive and intentional,” Dodge said. “In the immediate term, that has meant acting quickly to support students … by creating clear, student-centered pathways that allow them to continue their education with minimal disruption. The priority has been reducing uncertainty and providing stability during a challenging moment.”

Added Miner, “at Elms College, we have the resources and support systems in place to provide a seamless transition so students can stay focused on achieving their academic and professional goals within a caring and supportive environment.”

In the meantime, Birge said MCLA will take the appropriate lessons from the closings and continue to focus on ways to move forward as the demographic landscape continues to evolve.

“We planned and prepared for this by adding programs students want and employers need, building endowed scholarship funding, strengthening support, and making smart financial moves to keep us on solid ground,” he added. “Challenges ahead? Of course. But I like where we stand.”

Local Cannabis Industry Leaders Concerned About Repeal Effort

By Joseph Bednar April 27, 2026

Features Special Coverage

Up in Smoke?

UpInSmokeCannabis

Meg Sanders calls it “a huge threat.”

She’s referring to a question that might be put to Massachusetts voters on Election Day in November, seeking to undo the state’s 2016 legalization of recreational, or adult-use, cannabis.

“We’re concerned if nobody comes out and votes; it’s an off-year election, and overall, America is not great about voting,” said Sanders, CEO of Canna Provisions, which just opened its third Massachusetts dispensary this month in Pittsfield, to complement its existing stores in Lee and Holyoke.

“If you’re in cannabis, you have to understand how civics and government policy work,” she added. “Anti-cannabis groups have raised $10 million for this battle. And if we do nothing, if we don’t raise the dollars they have, they have a very good chance of winning.”

The ballot measure’s main goal is to end legal, recreational cannabis by repealing the laws that made the trade permissible in the Bay State. That means closing adult-use dispensaries and ending the regulated retail market, eliminating home growing, banning personal cultivation, and scaling back possession; adults could still possess around 1 ounce without criminal penalties, while larger amounts could bring civil fines instead of full criminal charges.

Medical marijuana would remain legal; the proposal generally keeps the medical cannabis system in place, though potentially with tighter rules. As a result, Massachusetts would shift from a fully legal, taxed, commercial cannabis market to one with no legal recreational sales, limited personal possession, and medical-only legal access.

The name of the repeal initiative is “An Act to Restore a Sensible Marijuana Policy,” and that’s problematic on its own, Sanders said.

Meg Sanders

“We have to be aware that, if we do nothing, or do the bare minimum, it could pass. Full legalization didn’t have that big a margin. There are people in Massachusetts who don’t love this particular product, who don’t support the industry, who have fears about it, concerns about it. And I get that — but our job is to educate them.”

“The complexity of the legislation, and the title of the bill, are so misleading. People think, ‘of course I want common sense,’” she noted, adding that there’s no reason to relitigate cannabis legalization at all.

“For us as an industry, and people who support this industry, and people that believe in freedom, this question has been asked and answered,” she said — but that doesn’t mean it’s safe from repeal, especially if midterm election turnout is low and the pro-repeal faction is more motivated to get to the polls.

“We have to be aware that, if we do nothing, or do the bare minimum, it could pass. Full legalization didn’t have that big a margin. There are people in Massachusetts who don’t love this particular product, who don’t support the industry, who have fears about it, concerns about it. And I get that — but our job is to educate them.

“Sending this back underground is not what constituents want,” Sanders went on. “I don’t think people want folks to start going back to jail because of a plant. And if we ban all adult-use stores, the revenue loss would be huge. The industry has proven time and again that it’s doing the right thing, carding people correctly, not advertising to children, being very thoughtful with how we present ourselves in the community, and doing the best we can to be good corporate stewards.”

Behind the Campaign

The ballot campaign is being led by Wendy Wakeman, spokesperson for Coalition for a Healthy Massachusetts, who opposes recreational cannabis on numerous grounds, from public health impacts, especially on young people, to crime and corruption, to even the pervasive smell of weed in public places.

“We don’t have a lot of information on the public health effects, on what it does to people who smoke marijuana, in the same way that we have information on people who use alcohol or people who use nicotine. And at the same time, it just makes everyday life a little bit more difficult,” she told a legislative hearing in March, adding that the ballot question is being driven by “parents, teachers, employers, public health professionals, and doctors who have seen the effects of legalized marijuana in a way that is not positive.”

Jessica Troe

“The cannabis industry in Massachusetts, as in the rest of the country, continues to evolve and mature, and revenue for the state and cities and towns has started to plateau slightly.But there is potential for future increases in revenue and more opportunities to advance social equity via the cannabis industry with the rollout of social consumption and cannabis cafés coming to the Commonwealth.”

According to the Coalition for a Healthy Massachusetts, “the Cannabis Control Commission has been a disaster. The state-run organization has faced significant problems for years, including widespread mismanagement, a toxic internal culture, financial oversight, and regulatory non-compliance.

“A recent state audit found regulatory non-compliance created public safety issues, such as the sale of contaminated products to persist and put consumers at risk,” it added. “There were products that had previously passed testing but were later found to contain unacceptable levels of contaminants that can cause severe health issues, including serious lung infection. Stopping recreational sales would protect consumer health and safety by eliminating the ongoing risks from untested and mislabeled products in the recreational for-profit market.”

Jessica Troe, deputy director of Research and Policy Analysis for the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, spoke before the recent legislative panel as well, touting the economic benefits of legal cannabis — specifically, a statistic that about $2 billion has flowed into state and local coffers between 2018, when adult-use dispensaries opened, and 2025.

Those funds come from fees, fines, licenses, and permits, as well as a state excise tax, local sales taxes and environmental impact taxes, and other sources, much of it earmarked at the state level to public health and social equity program spending, and locally to whatever cities and towns prioritize.

“This typically goes into the general fund for cities and towns, and that goes to local spending to support various local services and programs,” she noted, later noting that some of these revenue streams have leveled off somewhat.

“The cannabis industry in Massachusetts, as in the rest of the country, continues to evolve and mature, and revenue for the state and cities and towns has started to plateau slightly,” Troe said. “But there is potential for future increases in revenue and more opportunities to advance social equity via the cannabis industry with the rollout of social consumption and cannabis cafés coming to the Commonwealth.”

By social equity, of course, Troe refers to the effort to use cannabis regulations and revenue benefits to help communities that were disproportionately harmed by the War on Drugs. To illustrate those impacts, she noted that, in 2017, the last year before recreational cannabis sales began, Black and Latino residents comprised 22% of the Massachusetts population, but 57% of its prisoners, and 75% of those convictions were mandatory minimum sentences for drug possession.

Relief and Accountability

Amid the ballot anxiety, for those who work in the cannabis industry — or support it — there was some good news out of Boston last month, when the Senate and House both overwhelmingly passed a cannabis reform bill, quickly signed by Gov. Maura Healey, that “the industry is pretty happy with,” Sanders said.

It doubles purchasing limits — one ounces to two ounces, five grams to 10 grams, etc. — on each transaction. “Although it’s exciting, New York is still triple that,” she noted.

The main change in the law, however, is a reset of the Cannabis Control Commission, dissolving the existing CCC and rebuilding it with new guidelines. It shrinks from five commissioners to three, all appointed by the governor, instead of a mix of officials. The goal was to fix an agency said to be plagued by infighting, delays, and weak oversight, and make it more efficient and accountable.

“The only way you can keep revenue up is to have more stores. I’m only going to get so much revenue out of each store. So the way to grow the business is to add more stores to the business.”

The law also increases the license cap per company from three to six stores, a change aimed at helping struggling companies survive by spreading costs and stabilizing a market grappling with falling prices and closures — although critics worry it could favor large corporations over small, local operators.

“That’s very exciting,” Sanders said, calling the move a means of survival in a world of too much cultivation and too many stores, where businesses are cannibalizing each other. “Holyoke, for instance, has 10 or 11 dispensaries. The only way you can keep revenue up is to have more stores. I’m only going to get so much revenue out of each store. So the way to grow the business is to add more stores to the business.

“I hear all the time, ‘let the free market figure it out,’ but this is not the free market, when you limit retail and price compression happens,” she added. “In January 2025, according to the CCC, the price per gram was over $5. It’s dropped to $4. You signed a lease for X amount of months, and you need X amount of people in the store, so you can see how the math becomes problematic if you’ve got price compression.”

The new law also removes the rule that medical cannabis operators must be vertically integrated (growing, processing, and selling everything themselves); clarifies classifications around seeds, hemp, and other gray areas; creates new oversight, transparency, and safety measures (from reporting of illegal activity to more robust public health reporting to workplace safety studies); and prepares the industry for the coming of cannabis cafés and broader retail models.

“It’s really exciting,” Sanders said. “I’m hopeful about the new structure, which dissolves the old commission and creates a new one that reports to the governor. We’ll see what happens, but hopefully we’ll see that progress has been made. There have been a lot of positives, and we hope we can keep the momentum going.”

Greenfield Seeks Downtown Momentum

By Joseph Bednar April 27, 2026

Sarah Little (left) and Nismah Osman want people to walk into Greenspace CoWork and think, “I belong here.”

Community Spotlight Special Coverage

Community Spotlight

Sarah Little (left) and Nismah Osman want people to walk into Greenspace CoWork and think, “I belong here.”

For Nismah Osman, acquiring Greenspace CoWork late last year with business partner Sarah Little feels like a full-circle moment.

After relocating from Boston to Gill, her first job in the area was at Hawks & Reed. She used Greenspace, which Jeremy Goldsher and Jeff Sauser launched in 2018, almost daily for printing and overflow work and felt drawn to the space from the start.

“When we learned the space might be available, it just felt right,” Osman said. “Greenspace had already played a role in my journey here. We wanted to honor what Jeremy and Jeff created while expanding what’s possible.”

Little, who grew up in Gill in a small business family, sees the space as a natural extension of Franklin County’s entrepreneurial culture.

“We want this to be a place where people can build something meaningful — not just a place to sit and work, but a place to connect, collaborate, and feel supported,” she said.

“We want this to be a place where people can build something meaningful — not just a place to sit and work, but a place to connect, collaborate, and feel supported.”

Jessye Deane, executive director of the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce & Regional Tourism Council, noted that entrepreneurs and remote professionals are an increasingly important part of Franklin County’s economic future, and Greenfield is no exception.

“We’re thrilled to see Sarah and Nismah leverage their own venture to support other small business owners,” Deane said. “Greenspace attracts career-oriented professionals to downtown Greenfield who might otherwise be working from home. That translates into increased foot traffic, stronger connections, and more commerce for our local restaurants, retailers, and service providers. It’s a win for Greenspace CoWork members and for the entire downtown ecosystem.”

That downtown foot traffic is something Hannah Rechtschaffen thinks about a lot. As executive director of the Greenfield Business Assoc. (GBA), she said her organization’s efforts to drive and promote downtown activity fall into a few buckets.

“First, we’re tending to what is visible on the surface — downtown, but all over Greenfield, too — where we can. That’s a multi-pronged approach around cleanliness, beautification, and activation of vacant storefronts, and really bringing business owners together to have more communication and connection among themselves,” she explained, adding that some of those are new businesses in town, like Victoria Bar, Freedom Café, the Sparkle Cave, and Ja’Duke.

“We’re working with business owners in different ways to pull people together and have some collaboration going on,” Rechtschaffen told BusinessWest. One is an effort to encourage downtown businesses to stay open until 8 p.m. during Arts Walk events, which happen the last Friday of every month, and on certain Saturdays throughout the year that coincide with big Greenfield events.

“We’re targeting activation. Business owners are not being asked for the moon; they’re just being asked to lean into things that have a lot of structure,” she said, adding that the GBA is also working to activate vacant storefronts and encourage businesses to liven up active windows.

Rechtschaffen noted that attendance at Greenfield events has been a concern, even though social media engagement with local organizations is up.

“We continue to hear things like, ‘there’s nothing going on downtown.’ And that disconnect, for us, feels like a responsibility,” she told BusinessWest. “We’re continuing to amplify things on social media, share things broadly, work with our partners. What’s keeping people from going out? Maybe it’s been overstated, but post-COVID has seen such a behavioral change in how people engage, and maybe there has to be something to our approach that’s different.”

To that end, a downtown business meet-up group will gather for the first time on April 30 to crowdsource what’s keeping people from going out, she added. “It’s not just marketing. Clearly we see more traffic to the websites, but attendance is still shaky.”

“They’re looking for the kind of life that we offer in Western Mass. — and they’re leaving the state for it. So it would be wonderful to see the state looking at how they can leverage Western Mass. to solve one of our major issues, which is people leaving the state.”

In this latest installment of our Community Spotlight series, we take a look at progress being made in Franklin County’s largest municipality — and how local leaders plan to generate more.

On the Move

Another of the GBA’s buckets of focus is economic development; Rechtschaffen and her team are working closely with the Office of Community and Economic Development and its executive director, Amy Cahillane, as well as with the Franklin Regional Council of Governments. The GBA also recently hosted Aaron Vega, president and CEO of the Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council, for a day visiting local businesses.

“That was amazing,” Rechtschaffen said. “We’re working to make sure Greenfield gets attention and gets focused on. We’re proud to be the heart of Franklin County, but we oftentimes fall outside certain advocacy efforts and funding efforts. We’re not a rural place, in a county that’s largely rural, so Greenfield doesn’t fall under certain funding structures, and we need to step up our advocacy for Greenfield and our connection to Franklin County in a healthy way.”

Hannah Rechtschaffen

“We have 100 units of affordable housing coming online in downtown Greenfield in the next two years. That’s going to be huge for us.”

She told BusinessWest there’s been a national trend of people moving to rural and bucolic places, but in many cases, they’re moving out of urban areas in Massachusetts to Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and elsewhere.

“They’re looking for the kind of life that we offer in Western Mass. — and they’re leaving the state for it. So it would be wonderful to see the state looking at how they can leverage Western Mass. to solve one of our major issues, which is people leaving the state.”

Mayor Virginia Desorgher recently wrote on Greenfield’s website that expanding the city’s tax base through development is its best long-term solution for stabilizing taxes and stimulating the economy, and housing is one place where the city is making significant strides.

That includes the continuing development of the former Wilson’s department store into a mix of retail and housing, as well as a project undertaken by Rural Development Inc. (RDI) — an arm of the Greenfield Housing Authority — to develop 32 units of mixed-income housing at 176 Main St.

MassDevelopment acquired the Wilson’s property at 242-262 Main St. in 2022 with plans to expand and relocate Green Fields Market to the building’s first floor, while turning the upper floors into 65 mixed-income rental apartments. The RDI project site includes an existing single-story commercial building and a 22,000-square-foot surface parking lot to the rear of the buildings, all in the heart of downtown Greenfield. Also in the works is the city’s plan to develop a property at 53 Hope St. into a residential or mixed-use development.

“We have 100 units of affordable housing coming online in downtown Greenfield in the next two years. That’s going to be huge for us,” Rechtschaffen said, noting, again, that development can be challenging in the city because of certain state funding restrictions.

“Our population is too high to be considered rural in the eyes of the state, which excludes us from certain funding pools, but we’re also too small to be considered a gateway city, which is also an amazing program.”

Still, she added, we continue to see small developers in Greenfield really step up, going above and beyond turning old office space into apartments. We have folks up here working hard and investing in ways that, for them, don’t always make financial sense; it’s because they care deeply about people being able to live up here and be part of what’s happening here.”

Street-level View

Desorgher noted that the city is building a downtown that meets everyday needs in part by upgrading infrastructure and incentivizing the occupation of vacant storefronts.

“In 2026, we should see the results of a new tax credit grant designed to revitalize long-vacant spaces,” she said. In terms of infrastructure, “we are focused on the basics that impact daily life: better sidewalks, smarter recycling, and parking improvements. We have replaced roughly 10% of our total sidewalk mileage since 2018, including nearly 4,000 feet replaced in 2025 alone.”

Greenfield at a Glance

Year Incorporated: 1753
Population: 17,768
Area: 21.9 square miles
County: Franklin
Residential Tax Rate: $19.31
Commercial Tax Rate: $19.31
Median Household Income: $33,110
Median Family Income: $46,412
Type of Government: Mayor, City Council
Largest Employers: Baystate Franklin Medical Center, Greenfield Community College, Sandri
* Latest information available

Through June 1, the city is accepting applicants for its Storefront Improvement Program, which provides resources for storefront upgrades to elevate downtown aesthetic appeal and economic vitality, with the ultimate aim of enhancing the area as a welcoming place to visit, shop, and work.

The program is funded through the federal Community Development Block Grant Program and administered by the city’s Community and Economic Development Department, and businesses located in the central commercial zone can apply for up to $10,000. While funding is prioritized for signage and awnings, other visual storefront improvements may be eligible.

“We are putting federal funds to work in our effort to improve downtown vitality and support small, local businesses,” the mayor noted. “The Storefront Improvement Program is a great opportunity for local businesses and organizations to improve their curb appeal while contributing to the overall health of our downtown.”

Meanwhile, Osman and Little are excited to be overseeing Greenspace CoWork’s two locations on either side of 289 Main St., hoping to deepen partnerships with local organizations; continue collaborations such as the Take the Floor competition with the Franklin County Community Development Corp.; and host incubators, retreats, workshops, mixers, and conferences that further strengthen the downtown sector’s business network.

Goldsher and Sauser originally designed Greenspace to elicit calm and focus, incorporating wood, abundant natural light, and a variety of real plants throughout the space. Under Osman and Little’s leadership, that aesthetic foundation remains intact while the mission evolves.

Under their ownership, Greenspace has introduced several updates, including a streamlined, automated booking system; a more affordable and flexible membership option for those who do not need full-time access; complimentary monthly yoga sessions for members; and expanded amenities.

“These details might seem small, but they make a difference. We want people to feel seen and considered when they’re here,” Osman said, adding that, as BIPOC and LGBTQ+ women business owners, they’re committed to creating spaces that feel welcoming and inclusive to all.

Added Little, “we want people to walk in and think, ‘I belong here’” — a sentiment certainly shared by many city business and municipal leaders striving to make Greenfield more of a place people want to live, work, and visit.

Felicia Barr

By Joseph Bednar April 27, 2026

40 Under 40 Class of 2026

Service Director, Bertera Auto Group: Age 38

Photo by Bob Zemba, Simple Truth Imaging

Felicia Barr says her journey through the ranks in the automotive service world has been a satisfying one, but she also hopes it’s inspirational.

“I teach my children that if you work hard, care about something, and show up, everything is possible,” she said. “When I look at my career, it was hard work, showing up on time every day, asking questions … it works.”

But it’s not only her own three children she aims to inspire. Barr is also heavily involved with local vocational schools through mentorships and co-ops, aiming to draw more young people into what has been a rewarding field.

“I’ve had one student since he was 16; now he’s going to be 20. I’ve had him here for a few years. I can watch them grow into young adults — that’s probably the most rewarding thing I do in my job. Those years can be kind of a rough time, not knowing what they want to do in life. But this is a place they can come and find themselves.”

Barr certainly found herself; from her entry role as a greeter in the service department of one of Bertera’s dealership, she became a service advisor, then manager of the Service department at Metro Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Chicopee. There, the revamped the entire department, doubling its size and offering more service options to area car owners.

She has also used her leadership role to connect Bertera with local nonprofits, especially those benefiting families and children. She has worked extensively with children’s charity Unbroken Wings to benefit the Children’s Miracle Network (CMN), helping organize fundraisers like the Thunder in the Valley music festival and Cruising for a Cause, as well as themed car shows at the Metro dealership, all to benefit kids.

“You can see where the money is actually going, and that’s what I love,” Barr said of Baystate Children’s Hospital, the region’s only CMN hospital. “My children have had to go to the hospital; my niece was in the NICU for two months. And you see the cameras that allow you to see your children when you’re not there? Well, the money we raised helped to purchase those. So to actually see that come to fruition is incredible.

“When I was a kid, I had an immune deficiency, and I was in and out of hospitals. I remember the nurses who cared for me; they meant a lot,” she added. “I want to help people in need — and children can’t speak for themselves.”

—Joseph Bednar

Anthony Boido

By Joseph Bednar April 27, 2026

40 Under 40 Class of 2026

President, TNT Tent and Table Rentals: Age 38

Photo by Bob Zemba, Simple Truth Imaging

Anthony Boido was working for the town of Agawam in 2012, and also serving in the U.S. Air Force Reserve — he deployed three times to Afghanistan and Iraq — when the local Taylor Rental was going out of business, which gave him an idea.

Having worked for an event and tent rental company almost a decade earlier, he borrowed $1,000 from his parents; bought a couple of used tents, 10 tables, and 100 chairs; and launched TNT Tent and Table Rentals.

“I was doing it on the weekends to make a little extra money,” Boido said. “Over the next few years, it really took off and started to grow. I wasn’t expecting it to grow as fast as it did, but I came to a point where I had to make a decision: ‘this is getting too big. Do I stay at my job, or do I take it full-time?’ I decided I had to give it a shot.”

That was a wise decision. The company now boasts more than 150 tents, more than 500 tables, more than 7,000 chairs, and the ability to serve not only backyard parties, but large events like air shows at Westover Air Reserve Base and Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport. Last year, he set up 130 tents for the Big E alone.

And he loves every connection he makes.

“When we’re showing up at someone’s house or event fairgrounds, whether it’s a baby shower, wedding, birthday party, graduation, it’s usually something meaningful to them, and everyone’s in a great mood. They’re happy; they’re telling us all about who’s getting married or what’s happening. And it makes our lives, in a blue-collar business, a lot easier.”

Boido also shares his success with nonprofits like Shriners Children’s New England, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and veterans’ organizations.

“In my first year in business, I called Shriners and said, ‘I want to give something to you guys.’ We had a great first year in business, so we took all our tip money and donated it to Shriners. It was a small donation, but it was a great feeling. I said, ‘I’m going to help out every single year in every way I can.’ And I’m a veteran, so helping veterans’ organizations was an easy thing to get on board with.”

To Boido, it’s about staying true to his community.

“When you become successful, it’s not just about take, take, take or make, make, make. It’s about giving back and helping those who helped you get to where you are.”

—Joseph Bednar

Darryl Cole

By Joseph Bednar April 27, 2026

40 Under 40 Class of 2026

Global Cyber Product Consultant, Liberty Mutual: Age 39

Cyber insurance is one of the more dynamic corners of today’s business world. Just ask Darryl Cole.

“I would say the cyber insurance marketplace is evolving as rapidly as technology itself,” he said. “When I first started in underwriting, we were looking at theft of credit card data as the biggest exposure company could have, and we were looking at retail and hospitality operations — restaurants and hotels, things like that — as the most risky businesses. Now it’s a lot more generalized.”

Cole was an underwriter for a decade before taking on his latest expansive role at Liberty Mutual.

Photo by Bob Zemba, Simple Truth Imaging

“What I’m doing now is helping other underwriters do their job. I’m responsible for helping to set global strategies; set strategies for marketing materials, presentations, and content for our underwriters; and helping underwriters learn and develop, helping them understand what’s happening in the cyber market from an insurance perspective and a risk perspective. To be able to do that globally is pretty cool.”

Active in the community, Cole has been PTO president at his children’s school, served in his church’s youth ministry, volunteered for Junior Achievement and the United Way, and helped coordinate local efforts for Convoy of Hope.

And last year, he was elected president of Wilshire Athletic Assoc., one of the most venerable youth sports nonprofits in Western Mass., bringing his business acumen and ability to connect with people to the organization’s leadership.

“Because I have a business and insurance background, I noticed a few opportunities and I was really eager to bring Wilshire forward,” he said. “And we’ve hit this year running – we’ve increased our social media presence, brought in guest speakers for banquets, and put on a basketball showcase to celebrate our players. We have amazing volunteers – from our board of directors to coaches – and we’ve been able to accomplish a lot.”

Much of his volunteer work stems from his heart for children.

“I want to make sure kids are supported and cared for,” Cole said. “At my core, I just care about helping people in whatever way I can — particularly children, but anybody, really.

“As humans, we all deserve security and respect and care and support,” he went on. “And I’m always looking for ways to live up to those ideals, whether it’s an informal setting, offering whatever I can, or more formal opportunities like partnering with community organizations. I think it should be a way bigger part of the human experience to make sure our fellow humans have everything they need.”

—Joseph Bednar

Mychal Connolly Jr.

By Joseph Bednar April 27, 2026

40 Under 40 Class of 2026

CEO, Realistic CEO: Age 19

Photo by Bob Zemba, Simple Truth Imaging

One of the intriguing aspects of 40 Under Forty turning 20 is the opportunity to welcome multiple generations into the club. But while Mychal Connolly Jr.’s father, the creator of entrepreneurial enterprises like Stinky Cakes, Stand Out Truck, and Marketing and Cupcakes, was inducted into the class of 2009, this 19-year-old — one of the youngest honorees ever — has created his own very different, and very impactful, niche.

It’s called Realistic CEO — an enterprise inspired by a school project during which a teacher told Mikey that his dreams of being a CEO were, well, unrealistic.

Connolly has turned that motivation into a leadership and success platform serving young people from elementary school through college through books — including a much-distributed illustrated book that tells his own story — as well as curriculum, workshops, media platforms, and speaking engagements.

“The last couple of years, we’ve impacted about 17,000 students through our books, our curriculum, and our programs, and we’ve been working on expanding our reach from the local area — Springfield and surrounding towns and cities — to going a little farther, to the Boston area and Worcester,” he explained.

“Our goal is to be able to impact 500,000 students. The whole goal behind Realistic CEO is to help students with career readiness, workforce readiness, and financial literacy,” he went on. “My goal is to help students prepare for careers — and we do it in a way that we want every single student to feel like they’re worthy enough to be an executive.”

Connolly also hosts the Realistic CEO podcast, now topping 100 episodes, in which he interviews local business leaders about their journey and how they seek to inspire others. And he also launched Realistic Lemonade, a nonprofit that raises money and seeks sponsorships to enable him to go into more schools. Oh, and he’s doing all this as a full-time honor roll student at Holyoke Community College.

“My favorite part is seeing the difference in the way students light up,” he said of those visits and speaking engagements. “Maybe the lightbulb needs to be twisted a little more to be totally turned on. And you see the light is fully on after we speak. That’s my favorite thing — to see the students believe in themselves, to hear them after we’re done, saying, ‘thank you, I needed this.’

“We know how bright and smart the students in the community really truly are,” he added, “and we’re able to create a bridge that allows them to cross.”

—Joseph Bednar

Mariana DeLobato

By Joseph Bednar April 27, 2026

40 Under 40 Class of 2026

Executive Vice President, Chief Delivery Officer, Farm Credit Financial Partners: Age 38

Photo by Bob Zemba, Simple Truth Imaging

Mariana DeLobato would describe her work as mission-driven.

“Essentially, we are the tech arm that ensures that the institutions that serve the farmers, the producers, the rural communities, can operate efficiently and can scale and remain resilient. We do all the technical services on their behalf,” she said. “I love the mission of Farm Credit Financial Partners.”

In that role, she helps shape enterprise strategy and delivery, making sure the organization invests in the right priorities and has a sound financial model so it can deliver on those priorities.

“We support rural economies and a variety of communities. The better we do, the better they do, and it’s that broader impact that makes the work really, really meaningful. The mission is what keeps me going.”

DeLobato earned a bachelor’s degree at Bay Path University and an MBA at Elms College before joining Amazon Web Services, where she led large-scale cloud transformation programs for major enterprise clients as a senior engagement manager and national team lead (in fact, leading global teams of more than 100 people) before feeling a call to return to Western Mass. to work for Farm Credit Financial Partners (FPI).

“I went to school here, started my career here, and I wanted an opportunity to be a more active contributor to our community,” she explained.

Outside of work, DeLobato teaches at Bay Path, is on the board of Dakin Humane Society, and serves on the distribution committee at the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts. She also volunteers at the United Way food pantry, volunteers with One More Dog Rescue, spent years with Link to Libraries supporting childhood literacy, is active with the Massachusetts LGBT Chamber of Commerce, and participated in a Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts program that brings together emerging leaders to work on systems-level health equity challenges.

“I’m always looking for ways to go beyond what FPI does because I truly believe in the region, and I’m fortunate to be part of an organization that not only allows us to deliver meaningful outcomes for our partners, but also allows us to show up in our communities and contribute beyond the 9 to 5,” she said.

“It was a very intentional decision to come back and bring my experiences and perspective to this region, and it’s very meaningful to be recognized by the community for making those decisions and participating in such a way. It’s something I take super seriously, and I’m proud of it.”

—Joseph Bednar

Danielle Delgado

By Joseph Bednar April 27, 2026

40 Under 40 Class of 2026

Principal, Brightwood Elementary School: Age 38

Photo by Bob Zemba, Simple Truth Imaging

As a young child, Danielle Delgado gave herself options.

“I always wanted to be either a teacher or famous. And I learned right away you can’t be famous for nothing, and I can’t sing, so teacher it was,” she said. “When was little, I’d line up my stuffed animals and make them my classroom, or my great-grandmother would be my student — she was 97 years old, and I’d send her to the principal’s office, which was the bathroom, and she’d play along with me, which was hysterical.”

As she got older, Delgado realized she had a real heart for education. Her career began with an internship and undergraduate work at Kensington International School in Springfield, and she gradually rose through the ranks to become principal at Brightwood Elementary School.

“Springfield Public Schools offered so many development opportunities for me. I became an instructional leadership specialist, then I went into administration and naturally progressed over time.”

Delgado is also committed to connecting Brightwood to the community in some intriguing ways. She co-founded the North End C3 Community Basketball League in collaboration with the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department, the Springfield C3 police unit, and the New North Citizens Council, and she also established after-school programs like a dance team and drama club, and piloted a program to distribute fresh produce to food-insecure families.

“By extending outside the school, we’re not just serving students, but the whole child. By making sure we are part of the community even beyond the school day, we’re all taking care of each other, supporting each other,” she explained. “We’re putting mentors in different parts of the children’s lives, and that’s incredibly special.”

Back at school, Delgado said, it’s a challenge, but a rewarding one, to make sure all 450 students and 68 staff members have what they need each day, and that the school culture remains a positive one for all. “By the end of the day, I’m exhausted, but it’s good. Thank goodness for good coffee,” she joked.

“The most rewarding thing is getting to see the excitement when students are learning and growing, and seeing the same excitement from teachers when they see their students learning, and as they grow and develop as educators — to see the joy and pride on their faces,” she added. “Educators are asked to do so much, and we can’t do it alone. Speaking as a teacher, that proverb, it takes a village to raise a child, is incredibly true.”

—Joseph Bednar

Evan Garber

By Joseph Bednar April 27, 2026

40 Under 40 Class of 2026

Architect of Political Strategy, Anthony L. Cignoli & Associates: Age 26

Photo by Bob Zemba, Simple Truth Imaging

As a child, Evan Garber surprised his parents when he took a keen interest in one of President Obama’s State of the Union speeches. And he never lost his interest in the political sphere, even when he enrolled at UMass Amherst thinking he might be a teacher someday, like both his mother and father.

But he shifted gears in graduate school, earning a master’s degree in public policy and getting connected to Tony Cignoli for an internship. And he found a real passion for the work being done at that business, governmental, and political consultancy — and he’s been there ever since, eventually becoming the youngest vice president in the firm’s history.

“I love the variety of impact we have. If I was working a desk job in a cubicle doing the same repetitive tasks every day, I would explode,” he said. “I love a variety of challenges, new things that come in every single day, whether it’s working with Hollywood clients like Ed Begley Jr. or doing pro bono work for a local nonprofit, or working with international clients like Eastman, or political campaigns in Georgia and South Carolina.”

Equally gratifying is seeing the community impact of some of that work. For example, Garber helped secure state and federal funding for the ongoing, multi-million-dollar renovation of Easthampton’s Old Town Hall for the CitySpace performing arts project.

“They’re constructing an elevator shaft and making the whole building accessible for arts programming, and driving past that every day is so cool,” he said. “ It’s a concrete example of the work we do. I’ve always been engaged with local communities — how we can solve our big issues?”

Active in the local theater scene, Garber has also taken on numerous community volunteer roles over the years, like his work with the Manhan Rail Trail Committee, with which he oversaw a MassTrails grant for repaving, organized and completed a trail map update, and has worked with MassBike to implement bike valet at community events.

“I moved to Easthampton after grad school, and now I’m on the rail trail all the time. So I asked, how can I give back to this?” he said. “Especially after COVID, a lot of these nonprofits and municipal boards don’t have as many people on them, so it’s really good for young people like me to join these things — anything I can do to give back to organizations that have given so much to me.”

—Joseph Bednar

Ted Hanna

By Joseph Bednar April 27, 2026

40 Under 40 Class of 2026

Commercial and Residential Real Estate Agent: Age 37

Photo by Bob Zemba, Simple Truth Imaging

Ted Hanna didn’t start out in the real estate world, but he recalls how that career took flight — literally and figuratively.

Specifically, he worked in corporate aviation. “I started at Westfield-Barnes, and then I went out to Hanscom Field in Bedford. That company had a bunch of bases around the state, but my main post was a $25 million private jet facility, where I got hired on as a general manager,” he explained, adding that, from there, he worked as airport manager at Westover Metropolitan Airport.

A large portion of his work at Westover was buying up residential property around the airport through an FAA grant, relocating residents to nicer properties and paying their moving expenses, and converting the land to more airport-friendly uses.

During COVID, when people cut back on flying, Hanna decided to pivot into real estate. Today, working with Cohn & Company Real Estate, he’s a five-time Platinum Sales Award recipient, and as managing partner of Hanna Investment Group, he has built and manages a growing portfolio in Shelburne Falls that includes three mixed-use properties supporting 31 tenants. He also co-owns, with his brother, 5 State CoWorking.

“When we bought the historic McCusker’s building in 2023,” Hanna said of his foray into investment in Shelburne Falls, “we thought, ‘how cool would it be to renovate this crown jewel, this building where we grew up, going to market and getting pieces of cheese handed over the counter by Mike McCusker? To invest in the community where I live is so special.”

So is his service on the Shelburne Falls Community Alliance, which promotes downtown revitalization; his volunteerism in schools with the Shelburne Police Department’s community outreach team, and his work co-organizing, with two others, the West County Community Meals Program — an initiative spearheaded by his father for a quarter-century. Every Friday evening at Trinity Church, a volunteer team serves meals to anyone who shows up.

“It’s called the community meal because it’s for the community,” Hanna said. “Whether you’re food-insecure or you don’t feel like cooking that night, or you just want some community engagement, some social time, and meet new people, that’s what it’s all about.

“I was afforded a great childhood growing up here and a lot of great opportunities, and it just feels right to give back to that community,” he added. “My dad’s a career-long mental health professional, and he said the key to happiness is service to others. That’s something that’s always stuck with me.”

—Joseph Bednar

Ali Haqq

By Joseph Bednar April 27, 2026

40 Under 40 Class of 2026

Center Coordinator, Department of Elder Affairs: Age 38

Photo by Bob Zemba, Simple Truth Imaging

Ali Haqq has plenty on his plate when it comes to his role overseeing daily operations at the Hungry Hill Senior Center in Springfield.

Those responsibilities include connecting seniors with food stamps, a brown bag program, and other vital resources; offering a technology assistance program where they can learn how to use a computer, access basic programs, and navigate the internet; overseeing activities ranging from a bowling program to arts and crafts; and generally handling administrative work, assisting with marketing, and supervising the center’s volunteers … just to name a few.

What all that boils down to, he said, is forging positive relationships and improving clients’ quality of life. “What I find most gratifying is connecting with the seniors and learning from them — understanding where they’re coming from and knowing they’re just like you and me.”

Haqq has been involved in senior services for 13 years, as an activity director for seven of them. “I love learning from our seniors,” he added. “I call them our wisdom community.”

He even elevates older people through the media company he launched in 2019, Ali Productions Entertainment. For instance, he’s the lead organizer of an annual senior brunch, started in 2023, where he presents the Pillars of the Community Awards, honoring local elders for their lifelong contributions and leadership.

But Ali Productions goes far beyond that, he said. “I wanted to create a platform focused on the arts, culture, and community-centered entertainment.”

Deeply committed to the community, in just the last five years, Haqq has served as president of Springfield Pride; launched a Holiday Brunch Toy Drive, recognizing organizations and individuals who give back during the holiday season; served as entertainment coordinator for the Hickory Street Harambee Committee, which supports culturally rooted programming and community unity; served as LGBTQ outreach coordinator for Out Now, strengthening engagement, visibility, and access to resources for LGBTQ+ residents; executive produced The Real Creatives of Springfield, the first reality TV show based in the City of Homes, spotlighting local creatives, entrepreneurs and changemakers; and served as network coordinator for Union Capital Springfield.

He has also served as board committee member for the Alzheimer’s Walk, chief diversity officer for Springfield Mass Studios, and a board member for both Upper Hill Neighborhood Council and Make-It Springfield. He’s also campaign manager for Nicole Coakley, who is running for state representative in the 11th Hampden District.

Yet, somehow, Haqq still has time to connect with senior citizens — and learn something new from them each day.

—Joseph Bednar

Kylie LaPlante

By Joseph Bednar April 27, 2026

40 Under 40 Class of 2026

Deposit Operations Officer, Monson Savings Bank: Age 36

Photo by Bob Zemba, Simple Truth Imaging

Like many 40 Under Forty honorees over the past 20 years who hail from the world of banking, Kylie LaPlante didn’t originally plan on a career in finance, instead earning a degree in management from Assumption College. But when she interviewed for a job with Monson Savings Bank after graduating, she found she liked the atmosphere and the work — and saw plenty of potential.

“That’s how I got my start in banking,” she said. “I wasn’t planning to get into that, but I enjoyed it — and I’ve moved through a lot of different roles in the past 15 years.”

Indeed, beginning her career in 2011 as a customer service associate, she’s been promoted to CSA supervisor, assistant branch manager, branch manager, business relationship manager, and assistant vice president, business development officer.

In her current role, LaPlante leads key deposit operations and fraud prevention activities, ensuring strong internal controls, regulatory compliance, and customer protection at a time when financial institutions face increasing risk and technological complexity. In 2019, she graduated from the New England School for Financial Studies, a prestigious professional development program for rising leaders in the industry.

“Kylie’s ability to combine operational rigor with a people-centered mindset has earned her respect across departments and positioned her as a trusted leader within the organization,” wrote Dodie Carpenter, the bank’s first vice president and Human Resources officer, who nominated her colleague for 40 Under Forty.

LaPlante has also earned respect in the community, with impactful volunteer roles ranging from ambassador with the Ludlow Boys & Girls Club to treasurer for the Salvation Army’s Ware service unit to house captain for Revitalize CDC’s GreenNFit Neighborhood Rebuild.

“My whole life, I saw the importance of adults giving back to youth and mentoring youth so they can grow and develop to get to where they want to be,” she said. “With the Boys & Girls Club, I might not be working directly with the kids, but I’m helping raise funds to mentor these kids to get them where they need to be in life.”

And with Revitalize CDC, she added, “it’s just a really amazing experience to come together with thousands of people in the community and lead volunteers to help people who are in need and can’t do it themselves. You’re giving them that little push and encouragement. When things are happening in someone’s world and you’re able to help, it brings joy to your day.”

—Joseph Bednar

Heather Leclerc

By Joseph Bednar April 27, 2026

40 Under 40 Class of 2026

Business Partner, Riley Home Realty; Membership & Events Coordinator, Home Builders & Remodelers Assoc. of Western Massachusetts: Age 37

Photo by Bob Zemba, Simple Truth Imaging

Heather Leclerc admits the pandemic was “the craziest time” to start a new business. But that’s exactly what she and her brother, contractor Nick Riley, did when they launched Riley Home Realty in 2020.

“It was such an uncertain time for the economy, but we said, ‘let’s do this,’” she recalled. “We had an idea to start a real estate business and build something together. I was looking for a new adventure in my career, and it was a perfect time to learn the ins and outs of building a business from the ground up. It was really exciting because I love a good challenge — and it was a trial by fire.”

But that’s not the only way Leclerc is deeply involved with regional development. As Membership & Events coordinator with the Home Builders & Remodelers Assoc. of Western Massachusetts, she supports industry growth, member engagement, event planning, social media marketing, and more.

“Event planning has always been fun for me,” she said. “The association didn’t prioritize that prior to my arrival, so it was fun to come in and build that role.”

But Leclerc is also known for her dedicated, wide-ranging commitment to civic leadership. She serves on the board of directors and financial committee for Lorraine’s Soup Kitchen & Pantry and plays multiple roles with the Chicopee Chamber of Commerce, which recognized her this year with its Shining Star Volunteer of the Year Award.

And no surprise — her work in the community includes reading at local schools, supporting the Love of Good Foundation, serving as a PTO vice president, volunteering at all three of her children’s schools, and coaching youth soccer programs. She has also spoken at high school scholarship ceremonies; organized coat, food, and Toys for Tots drives; volunteered for an Extreme Makeover: Home Edition renovation; serves as board treasurer of the Black Rose Academy of Irish Dance; is an active member of the John Boyle O’Reilly Club; sponsors foster children during the holidays … the list goes on.

“It’s very important to me to give back and stay connected to where my roots are,” Leclerc said. “Even in my Shining Stars speech, I mentioned my kids are right alongside me volunteering, and I’m instilling those values in them. It’s important for them to see me giving back to the community because it becomes a part of their lives as well.”

—Joseph Bednar

Brooke Jones

By Joseph Bednar April 27, 2026

40 Under 40 Class of 2026

Owner, Lovelo Cycle & Strength: Age 25

Photo by Bob Zemba, Simple Truth Imaging

Only a few months after Brooke Jones started taking spin classes, her instructor saw something in her, and started training her to lead classes herself.

The first time she led a class, “I was so stressed, writing down every song and what I was going to do with it. I spent hours trying to figure it out,” she recalled. “I got up there and … I’d really overprepared. It was not as stressful as I thought it was going to be — and it was the best thing ever.”

It turns out her instructor (2022 40 Under Forty alum Jazlinda Navarro) really did recognize in Jones a skill and passion for fitness training.

“It was so great to be in the room with people who had similar energy and who were there to move their bodies and feel good about themselves,” Jones recalled. “I felt so confident in myself. I wanted it to be not only a workout, but a safe space for people to be themselves, to free themselves and move their body. That was what drove me, just creating that safe space for people.”

After working for Navarro for a while at the latter’s juice bar, Cellf Juices, Jones made the entrepreneurial leap to open her own spin studio last August, called Lovelo Cycle & Strength — and has been helping clients make a difference in their lives, health, and self-confidence ever since.

It was Navarro who encouraged her to make the leap to business owner. “She said, ‘I think you need to do this,’” Jones said. “But I was so young. I said, ‘it’s not for me.’ Then I thought how empowered I felt with the first spin class — and that’s what motivated me. So I said, ‘I can do this.’”

But that’s not Jones’s only foray into athletic training. She also coaches cheerleading at Central High School in Springfield, and will begin her fourth season this fall.

“That has also been an amazing journey,” she said. “They had a program, but they weren’t competing. And we went from having a team that had never really competed to bringing them to states and placing top 10 in the state the past three years.”

Jones credits many friends with helping her build a satisfying career, but especially gives thanks to her mother.

“I wouldn’t be the person I am if it weren’t for my mom, who paved the way, showing me what hard work and dedication is. She is the reason why I’m the person I am today.”

—Joseph Bednar

Daniel Miller

By Joseph Bednar April 27, 2026

40 Under 40 Class of 2026

Senior Environmental Scientist, Tighe & Bond: Age 34

Photo by Bob Zemba, Simple Truth Imaging

When the federal workforce was decimated by personnel cuts early in 2025, Daniel Miller was one of the human faces represented by those job loss statistics. But he has found a new place to put his passion for the environment to work, here in Western Mass.

“A lot of federal employees are mission-driven; they’re not in it for the profit,” he said of his years with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, a role from which he had to quickly rebound last year. But in his current position with regional engineering firm Tighe & Bond, he has stepped into leadership roles in dam removals, tidal marsh restorations, cleanup of former industrial sites, and other projects that blend environmental and community benefits.

“It turns out everyone here is mission-driven, too,” Miller explained. “They care about the projects we work on.”

His drive to improve the world around him began early in life, he added. “One of the things I live my life by is leaving something better than you found it. Growing up, I made sure my room was clean and helped with chores, and now, I want to leave our local communities, and our environment, in a better place than we found it.

“That means helping wetlands and marshes and rivers get cleaner and more environmentally sound,” he went on. “The uncertainty from climate change and sea levels rising and extreme temperature warnings is a big issue, too. So my overarching goal is to help these natural systems adapt in the future after I’m gone, so my kids and my grandkids can enjoy the land the same way I have.”

Outside of work, Miller can often be found volunteering in local wetlands and among rivers and ponds, picking up trash, pulling invasive species, and helping keep public trails open. But he also has a passion for fitness, and as a personal trainer and coach, he works with members of the community who might not otherwise visit a gym, from senior citizens to new parents finding time for short workouts, to people managing weight and anxiety without resorting to extreme diets.

“It’s a huge thing to work on mobility and core strength needs as we age,” he said. “But I’ve also seen people get their first pull-up in their 60s and 70s. And it’s great to help people with their relationship with food, teaching them how to eat all-natural whole foods and not so much processed food. It’s been a passion of mine for the better part of 10 years now.”

—Joseph Bednar

Shannon O’Connell

By Joseph Bednar April 27, 2026

40 Under 40 Class of 2026

Facility Manager, The Good Dog Spot: Age 32

Photo by Bob Zemba, Simple Truth Imaging

Shannon O’Connell has always had a heart for animals.

“My mom told me the first time I belly laughed as a baby was when we picked up our puppy; the mom dog started barking, and I started belly laughing,” she recalled. “So I guess I’ve always loved animals, even as a baby.”

O’Connell has been fortunate to turn that love into a career at the Good Dog Spot in Chicopee, which she joined in 2011 just out of high school. There, she’s grown through nearly every role in the organization to become facility manager.

“Shannon oversees daily operations across daycare, boarding, and grooming, while also handling scheduling, client relations, and the health and safety standards that define the business,” wrote Cory Staples, general manager of the Good Dog Spot and one of a whopping 10 individuals who nominated O’Connell for 40 Under Forty. “She leads with both competence and compassion.”

She also manages the company’s social media presence, among other responsibilities. But her favorite role is still daycare, she noted. “I love interacting with the dogs and just watching them interact with each other — the different behaviors, the funny things they do, the joy they have to be there socializing.”

But her journey into animal foster care has been impressive as well. In 2012, a rescue organization reached out to the Good Dog Spot, asking for help boarding some 8-week-old puppies until they could find homes.

“They were adorable. I said, ‘well, I can’t leave them at work. I’ll take them home,’” O’Connell recalled. “And that’s how my fostering happened. It was a lot of fun, so I kept asking for more. I started fostering kittens, and now we do a little bit of everything — mostly dogs and cats. I found it to be very rewarding.”

Indeed, she and her partner have opened their home to close to 300 animals, many from the Thomas J. O’Connor Animal Control and Adoption Center — creating a calm, nurturing environment where they can safely grow, heal, learn to trust, and eventually find forever homes.

O’Connell has also fostered for Canine Companions, which provides service dogs to adults, children, and veterans with disabilities; and facility dogs to professionals working in healthcare, criminal justice, and educational settings — all at no cost to clients.

“I love seeing the growth of each foster while we have them and watching them go to their new home,” she said, “and seeing how loved they are after starting out in the shelter.”

—Joseph Bednar

Robyn Miller

By Joseph Bednar April 27, 2026

40 Under 40 Class of 2026

Owner, MorningBird Media: Age 37

Photo by Bob Zemba, Simple Truth Imaging

Robyn Miller highly values being a mom — her daughter, Addy, is 8 — and is grateful she was able to launch a successful digital marketing and media business that not only helps clients succeed, but gives her the flexibility to raise her child.

“Everything is built around her — I’ve grown this business since she was little,” Miller said. “It was a bit tumultuous at the beginning, at the beginning of COVID; all the daycares were shut, and it was a very difficult, very isolating time, but we persevered.”

Today, she operates MorningBird Media in Springfield’s downtown Marketplace row, offering strategic marketing, media management, branding, website development, and content production. She’s also in the process of building out a podcast studio, a small product and headshot studio, and other services for clients and the community.

“We want to be more than a standard marketing agency,” Miller said, adding that she enjoys the work because every day is different and she’s constantly learning new things to stay ahead of the industry curve.

“The digital landscape evolves every day, so there’s an urgency to evolve with it — or be antiquated,” she noted. “I enjoy that there’s always something new to learn, and our product suite never stops evolving. What worked today might not work tomorrow, so it’s up to us to make sure we’re steering that ship properly.”

As part of that evolution, MorningBird has expanded into AI education and marketing master classes, equipping business owners with tools that prepare them for what’s next.

A connector outside of work as well, Miller has served in multiple leadership roles with the Advertising Club of Western Massachusetts, founded the Western Massachusetts Women’s Business Network, organized events such as the Creative Unconference at Holyoke Community College, and worked with area colleges to create internship and training opportunities for students.

In recent years, Miller and her husband owned the ShopRite of Enfield, through which they launched an initiative, in partnership with area middle and high schools, to present “The Act of Kindness Award.” This effort was inspired by the nonprofit agency Rachel’s Challenge. At the program’s peak, 84 students a year, in eight schools in four towns were presented awards and recognition for their efforts. When they began new business ventures, they passed the program to the North Central CT Chamber of Commerce, where it has continued, and Miller is looking to start a similar endeavor in Western Mass.

“We were also making donations to the charity of their choice,” she explained. “The award had nothing to do with their grades or how good an athlete they were — just simply, ‘you’re a good person.’”

—Joseph Bednar

Leanese Ramos

By Joseph Bednar April 27, 2026

40 Under 40 Class of 2026

Owner, RCollaborative: Age 36

Photo by Bob Zemba, Simple Truth Imaging

Leanese and Gio Ramos had a decision to make.

She was working in their church, in a marketing and communications role, while he was working for a local utility when he was suddenly laid off. Both people of faith, they talked to their pastor about what to do.

“He said, ‘definitely look for another job — but in the meantime, do you have any skills that are immediately marketable that you can monetize?’” she recalled. “And we did — we had all this knowledge for marketing and content creation.”

So, in 2019, they launched RCollaborative, a strategic marketing and content creation agency. In the first year alone, while Leanese was pregnant, they built a six-figure enterprise, and have grown exponentially from there.

“The operational backbone, the discipline, and the strategic structure … came from her,” Gio said in nominating his wife for 40 Under Forty. “Her strength is operational clarity. She brings structure where others bring ideas. She creates frameworks because she refuses to let businesses operate in chaos.”

Both see the enterprise as an example of solid teamwork.

“We own this business as a couple, and everything we do is through the lens of our faith to make decisions for our clients,” she said. “And we’ve also built a business around our strengths as a couple. You have to identify your strengths; you have to be able to create your own roles and not step on each other’s toes, and that has helped in our growth.”

In working for clients ranging from mom-and-pop restaurants to a multiple-location gym, Ramos said she most enjoys the personal connection with clients. “I get the most joy from having conversations with somebody, identifying with them, and figuring out what their issues are.”

She’s also still very active in Restoration City Church in Springfield — she directs its online campus, a program she helped build from the ground up — as well as serving as vice president of the Ad Club of Western Massachusetts and on the Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce’s membership committee.

She also co-created Una Noche en Puerto Rico in collaboration with MGM Springfield, Explore Western Mass, the Latino Economic Development Council, and the Springfield Puerto Rican Parade Committee.

Summing all this up, she said, “I want people to know I am someone who deeply cares about the community we call home, which is why we are so involved in these different things outside of our business. And I live my life through the lens of my faith, putting family first and building something significant from that.”

—Joseph Bednar

Bianca Romero

By Joseph Bednar April 27, 2026

40 Under 40 Class of 2026

Assistant Director of Student Engagement and Residence Life, Adjunct Professor, Bay Path University/Cambridge College: Age 29

Photo by Bob Zemba, Simple Truth Imaging

Bianca Romero’s title is a long one, and indeed, it encompasses quite a few responsibilities, she said.

“But my biggest goal is always to help our students feel like Bay Path and Cambridge are their home away from home — to help them engage and find themselves,” she explained. “Every day, I think about how each student can change the world, and what I can do to help them get closer to their goals and bring their skills outside campus and into the community.”

Romero’s work can be fun — hosting fun events and promoting residential life — and less so, when having tough conversations around crisis response and student safety. She founded and scaled up residence hall associations at both institutions, led new student orientation strategy, implemented RA and RD training programs, launched a graduate student association, and much more.

“But the goal, every day, is to help students become leaders,” she said, and that applies to her work as an adjunct professor as well, teaching classes in legal studies, business, and criminal justice. “I remember being in their shoes, being nervous, having imposter syndrome as a first-generation college student. Whether it’s online or in person, I think about those moments and ask myself, how can I connect with students no matter where they are academically, financially, or emotionally?”

Early on, Romero took steps toward a career in law enforcement, graduating with honors from the NYPD Cadet Corps program aspiring to work in community policing, and later shifted gears, enrolling at Bay Path for legal studies, hoping to one day defend and advocate for people. But she then became student government president and met Bay Path’s then-president, Carol Leary, who mentored her. “I never in my life thought about being a college president until I met her,” Romero said, but that is, indeed, her current long-range goal.

“As a child, I wanted to be a businesswoman, a lawyer, in law enforcement, in community building — but education holds all of those things,” she explained.

“When you’re able to educate and give opportunities to people who never thought they’d have those opportunities, you are changing the world,” she went on. “You’re making the world a better place and building communities. Now it’s not only you, but others who can go out and use what you’re teaching them to make the world a better, safer, happier place, especially in the climate we’re in now.”

—Joseph Bednar

Amanda Shafii

By Joseph Bednar April 27, 2026

40 Under 40 Class of 2026

Owner, CopyCat; President, Downtown Northampton Assoc.: Age 35

Photo by Bob Zemba, Simple Truth Imaging

Amanda Shafii wasn’t thinking about entrepreneurship when she earned a psychology and neuroscience degree at UMass Amherst, but when a business ownership opportunity emerged, she found she had a passion for it.

“My parents had started a printing business in 1985 and created a commercial company called TigerPress,” she said, and when they were selling off their former CopyCat shops, Shafii decided to take over the one in Greenfield.

“I’d moved back to the area, and they needed a manager. So I started managing that store in 2015 with the intention of selling it. But I fell in love with being a business owner, so I moved the business to Northampton.”

“I really enjoyed the sense of community and saw how shopping small and supporting small businesses is important to keep a diverse downtown. Instead of having all big box stores, we have a lot of unique shops. I also really love the fact that, as a business owner, the sky’s the limit — you can do whatever you want.”

The first thing she changed was the company’s outdated logo, and she also created a new website and focused on modern services like digital design, which hadn’t been offered before.

“The next major pivot was during COVID when we started being a B2B instead of a B2C, focusing on our business customers,” Shafii said. “I realized how much I loved helping entrepreneurs, not just with the printing part, but with the strategy part.

“That’s where my neuroscience degree becomes helpful,” she added. “When you work with CopyCat, we are your strategic partner for smart design and print marketing. It’s an opportunity to watch a customer make smart investments in their business and see the results.”

These days, Shaffi also serves as president of the Downtown Northampton Assoc., which seeks economic and cultural vibrancy through programming, festivals, beautification efforts, and business collaboration. She was already volunteering on a host of local boards — “I have a problem saying no to things,” she noted — and leading the association was a natural next step.

“The goal is always foot traffic and bringing unique art downtown. It’s a cycle: if things are happening, it gets busier. My specialty is marketing and getting the word out on social media and trying to have a very strong digital presence that gets a lot of views and engagement. So my goal for downtown would be to see business owners succeeding and see amazing, unique artists gravitating toward this area because of what Northampton stands for.”

—Joseph Bednar

Aimee Salmon

By Joseph Bednar April 27, 2026

40 Under 40 Class of 2026

CEO, Positively Africana by Aimee: Age 35

Photo by Bob Zemba, Simple Truth Imaging

Aimee Salmon’s entrepreneurial journey began 18 years ago as a student at Mount Holyoke College, when a professor assigned students to start a business.

But her vision for that enterprise — and her personal journey — started earlier than that, before she immigrated to the U.S. from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Her business, Positively Africana by Aimee, brings authentic handmade gifts and cultural items to market in her downtown Northampton store, as well as nationwide through an e-commerce platform. She also offers African dance fitness classes in person and online. In all of this, she creates economic opportunities for women entrepreneurs and artists in Africa, while 25% of her profits directly support women in the Congo — funds that help create sustainable income opportunities, strengthen local businesses, and preserve cultural traditions through women-led entrepreneurship.

“I grew up in the Congo, and I wanted to create something that was not just a job, but a legacy to my grandmother and the women I saw working every day in my hometown in the Congo,” Salmon explained. “I also realized a need for cultural representation, through everyday African stories. I wanted to bring my voice and my entrepreneurial passion to this platform to highlight those stories and bring them to life, building a community around fitness and retail and media and storytelling — they’re all interconnected.”

The 10 individuals who nominated Salmon for 40 Under Forty all wrote eloquently of the connections she is forging between cultures — which is also reflected in her board service with the International Language Institute (ILI).

“Aimee’s business is not just retail — it is bridge-building,” ILI Executive Director Caroline Gear wrote. “As someone who has watched her leadership up close, I can say that Aimee combines entrepreneurial drive with deep integrity. She builds partnerships thoughtfully, invests in community relationships, and leads with purpose. Her business success is inseparable from her commitment to cultural representation and economic empowerment.”

In fact, Salmon said, her success is gratifying precisely because of its worldwide impact.

“It’s a work of love. I do it from the heart because knowing that I’m helping someone every day feels good to my soul. When people are supporting us here in the United States, the people we work with in the Congo and other regions in Africa are growing as well. Just watching their growth, seeing their businesses thrive, gives me so much joy and fulfillment. The African impact is a big piece of what I’m trying to accomplish here.”

—Joseph Bednar

Nicole Stevenson

By Joseph Bednar April 27, 2026

40 Under 40 Class of 2026

Vice President, Consumer Lending, PeoplesBank: Age 36

Photo by Bob Zemba, Simple Truth Imaging

Nicole Stevenson’s career path didn’t arc toward banking at first; she majored in early childhood education, but after an internship, she decided that might not be the field for her.

“I was at a standstill, wondering, what’s my next career move?” she recalled. Fortunately, she secured a job with Hampden Bank as a teller, and something clicked. “I loved the interaction with customers, and every day was different — so I learned as much as possible and stayed with it.”

Now, as vice president, Consumer Lending at PeoplesBank, Stevenson still has a varied set of roles that keep those days from getting stale, directing consumer lending processing, internet origination, compliance, and loan servicing. With 17 years of banking experience under her belt, she has risen through the ranks with a steady series of promotions.

“I’m not seeing customers anymore, but I get to help people in a different aspect — more strategic, making sure they have the products they need, making sure they’re getting into their first home and have a seamless experience and someone to support them, making sure customers have the best experience at PeoplesBank and know we’re their partner along the way.”

Stevenson’s leadership extends well beyond the workplace. She currently serves as second vice president of the West Springfield Boys & Girls Club, where she is also an active member of the fund committee and co-chair of the emerging leaders committee. She has also volunteered with Dress for Success Western Massachusetts, the West Springfield St. Patrick’s Committee, the Holyoke St. Patrick’s Parade Committee, the Agawam St. Patrick’s Committee, the Irish Cultural Center of Western New England, and Credit for Life in Springfield, where she served as a booth chair helping educate young people about financial literacy.

“I’ve always worked for community banks, and I’ve always tried to find institutions that align with the same values as me. So I’m glad to work at a bank that promotes time away from the office to volunteer in the community,” she explained.

Having worked with area Colleens for a decade, she said it’s been “so great to teach someone about Irish heritage but also support them as they navigate high school and college. And with the Boys & Girls Club, when I see how happy the kids are to be with their friends, playing basketball, doing arts and crafts, working in the STEM lab … it brings joy to my heart.”

—Joseph Bednar

Contractors Electrical Plus Emphasizes Education, Peace of Mind

By Joseph Bednar April 14, 2026

Construction

Beyond the Quick Fix

Company owners Kristin Wampler (left) and Kristen Sgroi.

When Kristin Wampler and Kristen Sgroi met, they became fast friends. And now, they’ve turned that friendship into a women-owned electrical contracting company that has carved out an intriguing niche in Western Mass.

Specifically, they met while working for a commercial electrician, and they hit it off immediately. So when they started talking about launching a business of their own — Wampler has a long entrepreneurial background — an electrical firm made sense. Even though they’re not electricians themselves, they knew enough about the trade — and plenty more about running the back end of a business — to give it a go.

But as they launched Contractors Electrical Plus in Westfield, they quickly pivoted away from the commercial and industrial side, instead planting a flag in what they felt was an undertapped market in residential jobs.

“My husband does home improvement, a lot of remodeling, and he’s always looking for electricians and plumbers and HVAC people,” Wampler said. “So I said to Kristen one day as we were driving, ‘you know, with all the knowledge that we’ve gained, we can open up our own residential service and repair business.’”

So they did — and their model proved to be a successful one.

“Our motto is that we protect your most valuable assets, which are the people in your home,” Sgroi said, adding that they aim to be a more relatable company for women.

“My husband does home improvement, a lot of remodeling, and he’s always looking for electricians and plumbers and HVAC people.”

“Who tends to call for services? It’s more often women who call,” she noted, adding that she and Wampler stress peace of mind in customer interactions, as all technicians are thoroughly background checked and drug tested, scheduled times are strictly kept, and all pricing is detailed up front, with no surprises later — with the same price offered weekdays, nights, or weekends.

Also, “one of us usually comes out, and we introduce ourselves. That puts the homeowner at ease, too,” Wampler said. “When another woman is coming to the house, you have that commonality. We understand what it’s like to be a woman home alone when somebody comes knocking at your door. It’s been awesome, the people we’ve met, and some of our customers have become good friends of ours.”

The company offers an annual membership plan as well, which offers perks like always having an electrician on call, services warrantied for the life of the membership, and discounts on the work itself.

But where Contractors Electrical Plus really sets itself apart is the way it educates customers.

“A friend of mine lost her home to an electrical fire,” Wampler said. “So we really want to educate customers on the risks of their electrical panel — because she actually had some rodents coming in the wintertime; they built a home in her panel, which caught a spark and ignited the house.

“With our program, we do home safety inspections. Once a year, we’ll come through your house and educate you on your electrical system — because you’re using electricity 365 days a year. That’s the heart of your home.”

Even during routine jobs, the company’s technicians make a point of pointing out and clearly explaining issues — and how to prevent them in the future.

Master electrician Gary Martineau, a former teacher, has been effective at educating customers and mentoring younger employees.

“When you’re working in the big industrial space, everything is kind of open, where, in a house, everything is behind walls. Nobody sees it,” Wampler said. “When you go into parking garages, you can see all the conduit, but nobody gets to showcase their good work in residential. When we do new builds, we’ll take pictures, but once the panel goes up, you never see it again. But there’s so much that happens behind the walls.”

As an example, she noted that a customer recently had some bathroom fans changed out. “You wouldn’t believe how disgusting they were. When we took it down, it was just corroded with stuff. The homeowner was like, ‘wow.’ It’s the dust, and you don’t realize that’s coming back into the air. So with our home inspections, we’re checking all of that, and we’re making sure you’re breathing clean air, your smoke detectors are up to date, and all your safety hazards are taken care of.”

She shared other electrical hazard stories — of a smoking thermostat, improper phone chargers, and other small issues that had the potential to turn into bigger issues, and even fires.

“There could be a million electricians out there, but what’s going to set you apart from the other ones is being relatable, being empowering, and the customer knowing that they’re actually talking to somebody who cares enough to educate them. They don’t just come to your house and say, ‘OK, that’ll be $150’ or ‘that’ll be $300,’ and not tell you what made that happen, so you can prevent it in the future.”

Knowledge Is Power

The business partners take their motto seriously.

“This really is about protecting our most valuable assets,” Wampler told BusinessWest. “Like I said, my friend lost everything in that fire. Thank goodness she didn’t lose her kids or anything. But there are sentimental pieces that you can never get back.

“Electrical fires happen. Just recently, there were six fires in Springfield, and they were all from electrical malfunctions,” she went on. “So I really want to educate the homeowners on the safety risks. If we see something, we educate the homeowner. It doesn’t matter if you’re in our plan or you’re not in our plan, it does not matter. We educate the homeowner.”

“Electrical fires happen. Just recently, there were six fires in Springfield, and they were all from electrical malfunctions. So I really want to educate the homeowners on the safety risks.”

She noted that the company includes an actual teacher, Master Electrician Gary Martineau, a veteran of Westfield Technical Academy. “He’s a great educator when he goes out to homes and talks to homeowners. He’s also a great mentor to our apprentices. He takes his time with them and educates them. He’s been amazing.”

The mention of Martineau and his experience training teenagers got Wampler and Sgroi talking about the challenge of introducing young people to the trade, as her own son has been.

“The trades in general — that’s one thing AI is not going to replace,” Wampler said. “Like, plumbers are a dying breed. I feel like these young kids need to be more involved in getting into plumbing because there are so many old-timers in plumbing, and when they retire, they’ve got to pass this down — because AI is not going to replace them. Same thing with electrical or HVAC or carpentry.”

In that way, teaching young people the trades, including electrical work, is a way to empower them, she went on.

“Do something with your hands, because that’s never going to go away. You can always make money. You’re never going to be without a job because you can always do side stuff. My son has always loved electrical. He’s always wanted to know how things work. So he liked the flow of this work.

“Not everybody’s meant to sit behind a desk and do computer stuff,” she added. “They’re meant to be out there, and they want to build things. And that’s the future, building.”

Wampler said she and Sgroi plan to visit area vocational schools in an effort to bring more girls into the trade.

“If you’re in trade school, you don’t have to go into cosmetology; you can choose this. We want to empower them to choose a different path than they might have thought about.”

Team Players

Meanwhile, they continue to go into the field themselves, delivering parts, generally helping out, and talking to customers.

“It really shows your employees that you’re a team player — you’re not just the boss, you’re not just the one in the office, you’re not a dictator, but you’re out there with us,” Wampler said. “So we do that quite often.”

“And,” Sgroi added, “we try to keep open communication with all of our employees. It’s an open door policy, if they have any concerns.”

The bottom line, Wampler said, is that “we make sure we take care of our employees because our employees take care of us. That’s huge, knowing and appreciating the people that work with you. And they don’t work for us, they work with us. That’s what we try to instill — we’re here for you, and we’re doing this all together.”

They employ a team of six right now and provide constant opportunities for training, including how to sensitively talk with customers, but also be firm when an issue needs to be fixed.

“It’s communicating with the the homeowner on what things are urgent and what things can wait, and how to deal with somebody who hems and haws and is just looking for a Band-Aid,” Wampler said. “I’m not about a Band-Aid because the minute that we touch it, we now own it. And if we’re the last person to touch it, we’re going to fix it right the first time, or you can call somebody else.”

Rick’s Auto Body Carries On After Founder’s Passing

By Joseph Bednar April 13, 2026

Cover Story

The Road Ahead

Owner Mari Tarpinian

When Rick Recor passed away on Jan. 21, it marked the end of a life well-lived.

But it did not mark the end of an era — if that’s what we can call a business that has grown and thrived for more than a half-century, and will continue to do so under the ownership of Recor’s widow, Mari Tarpinian.

“We’re very proud of this, and we still love what we do,” she told BusinessWest during a recent visit to Rick’s Auto Body, which has been headquartered on a sprawling Pasco Road property in Springfield for almost three decades. “Looking back after all these years, it’s definitely had its ups and downs, but we still love what we do, and we still want to live by what Rick would always say — ‘treat a customer the way you’d want to be treated.’ He’d say it all the time.”

Recor was a successful businessman, but he was also a cancer survivor, having fought off throat cancer that he developed in 2005. In the end, that medical history contributed to his death; radiation treatments two decades ago weakened his jaw, which fractured last year and needed replacement.

“He went to Boston to have the jaw replaced, and for most people — like, if you’re in an accident, and the jaw just severs — it’s a clean cut,” Tarpinian explained. But because Recor’s jaw had become necrotic, the situation was more dicey.

“Looking back after all these years, it’s definitely had its ups and downs, but we still love what we do, and we still want to live by what Rick would always say — ‘treat a customer the way you’d want to be treated.’ He’d say it all the time.”

“The pain was excruciating, but he still came to work every day. They had to replace the jaw with a metal plate, but while he was in there, he got a very, very bad strain of pneumonia that is very resistant to any kind of antibiotics.

“Then they thought he was beyond it, and then he would get another infection, and then they thought he was beyond that, and he got another infection,” she went on. “He was in the ICU for almost four months in Boston.”

Eventually, Recor succumbed to illness. In his final days, he only wanted to see a few people — family and the management team. And while he declined quickly in the end — and he and Tarpinian didn’t have as much time as they would have liked to discuss the business transition — they fully intended to keep the venture going.

“We’ve been approached so many times,” Tarpinian said of inquiries to acquire the operation over the years. “Not to be braggadocious or anything, but we’re known locally, we are known in the state, and we’re really well-known within the industry. There was an outfit from California, and they would have considered us one of their crown jewels because of our certifications and the financial commitments that we’ve made in our tools and machinery.”

But that’s not what Recor wanted — and it’s not what she wants.

“He still wanted to be an asset to our community, and he wanted to be locally owned and operated,” she said. “He always felt that was beneficial to the community, beneficial to the product that we put out, and beneficial to the customer service. Because we’re here. It’s not like a big conglomerate in another state buying up places, and they’re never there; it’s just for the portfolio.”

Indeed, Tarpinian and her dedicated team intend to be there on Pasco Road, continuing Recor’s legacy the best way they know how — treating customers how they’d want to be treated.

Rick Recor led the company that bears his name for 52 years.

Driven by a Passion

Born in Springfield in 1952, Recor was associated with the city his entire life — and developed a passion for cars at age 5, when he would follow his father to work.

In 1974, he went into business for himself, opening a small repair shop in a one-car garage behind Millie’s Pierogi on Broadway Street in Chicopee, which he called Rick’s Auto Body.

He steadily added customers and grew the business into progressively larger garages. In 1997, he moved into the current headquarters, a 40,000-square-foot facility that once housed Grossman’s Lumber.

“He still wanted to be an asset to our community, and he wanted to be locally owned and operated.”

There, he built a large family business; Tarpinian, who previously worked in the travel industry, came on board more than two decades ago, and her sister, Susan, has been the office manager for even longer. And that idea of family doesn’t refer only to blood relatives, Tarpinian said, but extends to a workplace culture where many of the roughly 45 employees have been there for decades — as she put it, “we have people from six months to 38 years and everything in between.”

Recently, the business added a 6,000-square-foot building that Recor never got to see completed, mainly to house parts carts. “When a vehicle’s being repaired, all the parts don’t come at the same time, and while we’re waiting for all the parts to come in on a particular job, those parts carts are in the way of us being able to book more vehicles to get repaired,” Tarpinian explained. “So he decided to build an annex.”

Recor ran the business differently than many in this industry, Tarpinian said, including a refusal to run what’s known as a ‘flat-rate shop,’ where employees are paid according to how much work they put out — a model that can prioritize speed over quality and an ‘everyone in it for themselves’ mentality.

The leadership team at Rick’s Auto Body, from left: Parts Manager Nafees Nadeem, Production Manager Mike Haniffy, owner Mari Tarpinian, Office Manager Susan Tarpinian, and Operations Manager Chuck Laprade.

“Many times, when technicians are flat rate, they don’t want to help the technician next to them. Here, they’re helping each other make the product the best. That was his philosophy.”

Recor was old-school in many ways, she added. “When the phone rings, it’s not ‘press one, press two’ — we answer the phone live. People appreciate the same service that existed in the 1970s — and they’ve grown with us.”

That’s not to say plenty hasn’t changed, starting with the way cars are essentially rolling computers these days.

And repairing them requires plenty of continual learning and manufacturer certifications — the most recent was by Tesla — at a facility where all work is done in-house, Tarpinian said, from frame work to mechanical work to alignments. “The only time a customer’s car would leave the shop is if an airbag goes off or something like that; then it has to go to the dealer so the dealer can reset it.”

Today’s biggest challenges running the company include the expected — getting parts on a timely basis and maintaining staffing for such a large operation.

“We’ll do things for each other outside of work, and we’re just here for each other. When they found out that Rick passed away, everybody was crying.”

“Everyone’s looking for good help, and there are ups and downs. But we have a great reputation, so we’re really fortunate that we’re able to sustain the way we do business,” she said, again noting the culture of family and loyalty that Recor seeked to instill. “We’ll do things for each other outside of work, and we’re just here for each other. When they found out that Rick passed away, everybody was crying.

“The other thing I will say is that probably 97% of the times that an employee gets a raise, they haven’t asked for it. And I think that says something. It says that we, as an organization, recognize someone when they’re doing a good job, and we give them a raise without being asked. It’s indicative of how we how we are here, and we just want to continue the way Rick did it.”

Shifting into the Next Phase

Tarpinian said Recor’s story is an inspiring one.

“He came from nothing. You know, he didn’t graduate from 10th grade; he is a high school dropout,” she told BusinessWest. “But he was a numbers guy. He knew numbers inside and out. And that, combined with sweat equity, just working really hard, made him a success.”

Not only with auto repair, but with ancillary businesses like vehicle sales, towing, a car wash, and other properties. “He just felt really lucky.”

And grateful, too, for the company’s many repeat customers — many representing two or three generations of the same family, bringing their cars to Rick’s Auto Body over the decades. “We have kids that are 17 years old up to people that are 98, and they’re still driving. It’s all facets of life.”

Rick’s Auto Body moved to its current headquarters on Pasco Road in Springfield in 1997.

Recor’s life will be celebrated with a memorial service on Saturday, April 18 at Wilbraham Funeral Home. Calling hours are from 9 a.m. to noon, followed by a funeral service at noon. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

Tarpinian is certainly grateful for Recor’s life, and expects many people feel the same.

“There were so many times when people would come here and thought that they needed to spend money to have something done. And he would just say, ‘listen, let me just take your keys.’ He’d go around to the back and have our detail department buff something out, no charge, for someone. Or there was a single mother with her kids in the van, and she had a problem with her tires. He would do things for people.”

In short, she added, he was proud to serve the community that had been good to him.

“I feel like we’re an asset to this community, too, because there are so many times when people will call us and treat us like the library or Google or something, asking us questions because they just don’t know where to get the answers. It may not even be a job we’ll end up getting, or it’s not even part of a repair process that we do, like rust or something like that. But we will always give them as much information as we can on the phone. And we still do that. They’ll say, ‘we didn’t know who to call,’ and we’ll say, ‘ask us; we’ll help you.’ That’s how we do it. It’s kind of old fashioned, right?”

That’s the sort of client relationship Recor valued, Tarpinian said, and he wanted it to continue.

“He didn’t want it sold. He definitely did not want it sold to a conglomerate. He definitely voiced that to all of us, that he wanted us to carry it on. And that’s what we’re going to do.

“So I just really want the public to know that we are going to keep it here in the family, and we are going to keep on doing business exactly how he wanted to do business,” she added. “We’re going to respect that.”

New Series Launches by Examining the Role of AI in Manufacturing

By Joseph Bednar April 13, 2026

Special Coverage Technology

The Future Is Now

John Fazzio of Pilot Precision Products leads a breakout session.

Ben Grande spends $20 a month on a ChatGPT subscription. It’s a small expense with an occasionally very high return on investment.

“We’re making a huge capital purchase right now, and I wanted to knock the price down, so I hopped on ChatGPT,” said Grande, general manager of Meridian Industrial Group, a precision machine shop in Holyoke. “ChatGPT knows me and my company very well. I said, ‘here’s what we’re buying, here’s what we want to buy it for — but I want the price lower. Can you write me an email?’ It wrote the email, and five minutes later, I got $25,000 off the price. That’s well worth the $20.”

In his day job and also as president of the Western Massachusetts Chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Assoc., Grande has become well-versed in the potential of artificial intelligence in the manufacturing field, and he joined about a dozen other industry experts in sharing those insights on March 26 at the first installment of Strategy+Ai, a quarterly series BusinessWest has launched that dives into how AI is used — and could potentially be used — in a host of sectors, and by businesses of all kinds.

“You’re here in this room because you’ve heard about this thing called AI, and you’re somewhere on the journey from AI-curious to implementing it in your organization and wondering how it’s going to change everything — because it is changing everything.”

“You’re here in this room because you’ve heard about this thing called AI, and you’re somewhere on the journey from AI-curious to implementing it in your organization and wondering how it’s going to change everything — because it is changing everything,” said Paul Silva, CEO of Innovate413, one of BusinessWest’s partners in the AI series.

SEE: Scenes from the event below

“There are things possible now that five years ago would have been considered impossible,” he went on. “And if we embrace those opportunities, it’s going to have a profound impact on our businesses. If we don’t, there’s a fair bit of peril. So that’s why you all chose to come here today … to help you figure out what the next step in that journey is.”

Laura Teicher, president of FORGE — a nonprofit with a mission to help innovators navigate the journey from prototype to commercialization, and another partner with BusinessWest in the new AI series — noted that 57% of manufacturers are already using AI in some way.

Fletcher Conlon (left), 3D modeler and concept artist, and Greg Dumas, senior project manager, of RP Masiello, one of the event sponsors.

“Now, is that always the most efficient way or the safest way? I think it depends on the manufacturer,” she said. “We want this event to help make AI feel more accessible and less scary because it’s happening; we’re all working on it. So many people in my network have been doing cool stuff with AI in their factories, but have been shy about talking about it because we’re all in the experimental phase. So today, we’re hoping to get some actionable insights. We want this to be a value add for all the manufacturers and ecosystem builders in the room.”

The inaugural event in the series was sponsored by RP Masiello and the Western New England University (WNE) FinTech program.

Greg Dumas, senior project manager at RP Masiello, told BusinessWest that the Boylston-based commercial building and construction management firm, which has an office in Amherst, has been increasingly busy with projects in Western Mass..

“We’re interested in tying in how AI could potentially help us in our construction fields and how we could better serve the clients and the end users, and how to tie it all together,” he said.

“The reason why we have our panelists here is they’ve taken that first step on that journey. These are people who’ve had the courage to reach out and begin to figure out how they can use it, and they’re starting to use it to their benefit.”

Meanwhile, Charles Mutigwe, associate professor of Business Analytics at WNE and director of its FinTech program, said the program wants to work with manufacturers, and this event was a good way reach out to more of them.

“We’re looking at it as an opportunity to build a bridge between our AI teams, with our supercomputer on campus, and companies that may need solutions or partners to do some of this.”

Sharing Success Stories

The event featured four breakout sessions, including one with John Fazzio, president and chief operating officer of Pilot Precision Products, a manufacturing company in South Deerfield.

“We have been using AI for the last few years, but most importantly, in the last year, we’ve actually implemented our first two AI agents,” he said, referring to autonomous software entities that companies use to solve problems and streamline processes.

Charles Mutigwe of Western New England University’s FinTech program, another sponsor, says the event is a way to build a bridge between the college and local companies.

The first such agent at Pilot is a customer service agent. The business gets anywhere from 60 to 80 phone calls a day, and the agent is currently handling 30 to 40 of those, thus saving almost 50% of typical phone call time daily.

“I just feel like the last thing I want a customer to do is call and get stuck in the loop of some automated phone system where they can’t really get to a person. So I didn’t really want to make the agent talk on the phone. Instead, I just decided to put the agent right on my website,” Fazzio explained.

“A couple of great things came from that. One, I get to drive traffic to the website, and I get to monitor all the traffic that comes in and where they go and what they look at. But on the flip side, people can go in, they can put in their customer information, part number, quantity, what they’re looking for. It will literally go into our system, look up that customer, pull their customer-specific pricing … find out how many we have in stock, and can give them an answer right over the website in about two minutes. It’s just like a chat box that sits and floats on the website.”

“Manufacturing was actually one of our top two industries for many, many years. And I believe that we can become that once again, moving forward with all of you.”

Vinny LaRocca, chief technical officer at Tetra, an AI software innovation firm, said he thinks about AI as a modular library of capabilities that can be deployed at various companies.

“A good example is in machine maintenance. You may have a spreadsheet that you’re doing work orders on. In that case, you probably need a ticketing system. And we can deliver an AI agent to help you with root cause analysis and corrective action of all of your maintenance systems,” he explained. “So as soon as something happens, you get step-by-step instructions on what to actually do to fix the problem.”

Scott Longley, a manufacturing expert in residence for FORGE, told the attendees that they likely came because they have an idea about what AI is and how they can use it — and want to know what the next steps are.

“The reason why we have our panelists here is they’ve taken that first step on that journey. These are people who’ve had the courage to reach out and begin to figure out how they can use it, and they’re starting to use it to their benefit,” he said. “We always talk about how it’s a great wave coming of AI, but these are actually people who are starting to build that foundation. And I think we all need to realize that that foundation starts locally.

Gavin Giguere of REIGN Manufacturing speaks with attendees at a breakout session.

“We have all the tools in this community we need to build a great foundation for future growth,” Longley added. “These are people who have been courageous enough to reach into that toolbox and figure out how to use those tools. Our goal today is to get you to hang out with them and find out if what they’re doing can actually help you.”

Continuing the Conversation

As noted, BusinessWest’s new Strategy+Ai series will be presented quarterly, each event focusing on a different sector, Associate Publisher Kate Campiti said.

“For the first, we wanted to bring the manufacturing community together to learn about some of these AI strategies. We’re going to be focusing in May on professional and financial services, in August on construction and building trades, and in November on nonprofits.”

The assembled guests on March 26 certainly see value in continuing the conversation about a technology that isn’t going away — that, in fact, poses risks for businesses who choose to ignore its potential.

Aaron Vega, president of the Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council, noted that he is the only representative from Western Mass. serving on Gov. Maura Healey’s Massachusetts Competitiveness Council — and he constantly touts this region as a potential hub for fledgling businesses to grow and innovate in evolving technologies, including AI.

“It’s not easy doing business in general. It’s not easy doing business in Massachusetts. There are some headwinds,” he said. “There are a lot of advantages to doing business in Massachusetts, but we know that you’re being courted by other states, and we appreciate that you’re staying here. And we’re trying to build a better ecosystem and support system for you.”

State Rep. Orlando Ramos added that “it’s always great to be in a room with people who don’t just talk about the future, but people who are actively building for the future.

“Manufacturing was actually one of our top two industries for many, many years. And I believe that we can become that once again, moving forward with all of you. So I encourage you all to continue doing what you’re doing. This is the perfect place for this to be taking place,” he went on. “Continue to innovate, continue to believe in yourselves, continue to build, and continue to prepare for the future.”

The inaugural edition of BusinessWest’s new Strategy+Ai series featured presentations, breakout sessions, and plenty of networking (Staff Photos):

Area Mental Health Organizations Tackle Growing Community Demand

By Joseph Bednar April 13, 2026

Healthcare News Special Coverage

Mindful Approach

Lois Nesci says Gándara Center has its finger on the pulse of where regional mental health needs exist, and strives to meet them through a broad array of programs.

When Shelley Zimmerman arrived at MiraVista Behavioral Health Center in Holyoke in 2023, the facility had 56 inpatient adult beds.

Now, with the opening of 10 new beds only a few weeks ago, there are 98 in all, including 16 for adolescents.

“We’re planning for more in the future,” said Zimmerman, MiraVista’s hospital administrator. “Of those 98 beds, I’m running 95% full every single day. We’re full all the time.”

The reason is simple. “Across the region, we’re seeing sustained demand outpacing inpatient behavioral health capacity, particularly for high-acuity or dual-diagnosed patients. So length of stays are being extended due to that. And emergency departments are kind of a bottleneck. My background is as an emergency room nurse, so I understand what that’s like for patients and for the hospital system; it reinforces the need to expand beds.”

Larger behavioral health organizations are seeing similar needs and responding accordingly. Lois Nesci, CEO of Springfield-based Gándara Mental Health Center, recently spoke with BusinessWest about that growing health system, which now boasts 70 different locations with 1,100 staff serving 18,000 people statewide.

“We look at that all the time — we look at where is the need, do we have the expertise to offer something, where is it in the geographical area, and do we have the capacity?”

“We’re very fortunate to have this kind of presence and the ability to offer services,” she said — and those services are broad. They include:

• Behavioral health, which encompasses a broad array of clinical and substance use services for adults, families, children, and adolescents, including individual and group psychotherapy, diagnostic assessments, and treatment;

• Youth, young adult, and family services, including children’s behavioral health, foster care, and youth and young adult residential homes;

• Substance use and recovery, with services include recovery coaching, peer recovery centers, and long-term residential treatment for men, women, and young adults with substance use disorder and co-occurring mental health disorders;

• Community and prevention, including health education programs and initiatives that provide resources and information addressing numerous public health areas while representing the multicultural needs of the region; and

• Intellectual and developmental disability services, which promote the health and well-being of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and those with behavioral health and/or substance use disorders.

“We have our finger on the pulse. We know where the needs exist,” Nesci said, noting that some of this is anecdotal data from program participants themselves, while Gándara also works with the state and other entities to determine where the gaps are, and strive to fill them.

Shelley Zimmerman

“Across the region, we’re seeing sustained demand outpacing inpatient behavioral health capacity, particularly for high-acuity or dual-diagnosed patients.”

“We look at that all the time — we look at where is the need, do we have the expertise to offer something, where is it in the geographical area, and do we have the capacity?”

Take the organization’s residential recovery services, which include seven transitional homes across the state, soon to be eight with one coming online in South Hadley.

“The homes are designed to help individuals who are getting ready to transition into the community to have a place to live, be able to secure employment and housing, and maintain their sobriety before they move back into the community,” Nesci said.

Cutchins Programs for Children and Families in Northampton is another regional mental health organization evolving with growing need. It recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of the first floor of its Children’s Clinic, an expansion that increases access to outpatient mental healthcare for children and families in Western Mass.

Meanwhile, Springfield-based Behavioral Health Network (BHN) continues to add programs to meet growing needs. For example, in January, it launched a Family-based Intensive Treatment (FIT) program, which expands the organization’s commitment to delivering behavioral healthcare to children, youth, and families through a community-centered approach.

The FIT program helps families in crisis to stabilize by providing intensive, home-based support. Each family is supported by a dedicated team that provides clinical support, 24/7 availability, and peer support from someone with lived experience. The team teaches practical skills to help children thrive at home and connects families with community resources for long-term success.

Michelle Michaelian

“FIT expands the continuum of care within BHN’s child and family programs, ensuring families receive intensive, home-based support when they need it most. These programs reflect our commitment to building stronger, healthier communities.”

“FIT expands the continuum of care within BHN’s child and family programs, ensuring families receive intensive, home-based support when they need it most,” said Michelle Michaelian, senior vice president of Child and Family Community-Based Programs. “These programs reflect our commitment to building stronger, healthier communities.”

On the Front Lines

At MiraVista, Zimmerman said, services for adults and adolescents range from inpatient psychiatric treatment to outpatient substance abuse services. Its direct admission model allows patients to be admitted directly, often from outpatient resources and community mental health crisis centers.

“It eliminates some of that bottlenecking that I mentioned that happens in the emergency room. It reduces delays, and it lowers stress for patients and families,” she explained. “We’re the subject matter experts, essentially. When patients come to us for care, they experience care that’s therapeutic and patient-centered. An ER is a very difficult place for someone in a mental health crisis.”

But to provide that care effectively, organizations need to provide appropriate levels of staffing, and that can be a hurdle. Zimmerman understands the challenges of being a behavioral health nurse, but she also touts the personal rewards.

“It’s very gratifying to help someone go from their very lowest to stable and able to function and be part of society again,” she told BusinessWest, adding that there’s an intuitive quality that comes into play when diagnosing and treating this population — one that people at home don’t really have.

“We understand if someone has a cardiac issue; we understand if someone has diabetes; we don’t seem to understand mental health,” she said. “It takes intuition, it takes compassion, it takes care to help these patients, and an understanding of mental health and what that looks like. So they come in at their worst, at their lowest, and then you get to support them, lift them up, and help get them back so that they can function and integrate with their families, with their jobs, with their lives.”

One of the biggest challenges of the job is being able to handle both physical and mental wellness, as many patients have co-morbid conditions, Zimmerman added. Meanwhile, the reasons professionals choose this path vary.

“A lot of times, folks are drawn to this aspect of nursing because they have a family member that suffered with mental health, or they have a loved one that tried to commit suicide, or a friend.”

And adolescents are dealing with more pressures today than in years past because of how technology and social media have turned peer pressure and bullying into a 24/7 experience.

“Kids don’t know how to handle that. And it can be very upsetting for a parent if a child is starting to become reclusive, maybe not eating as much, doesn’t want to go to school because there’s cyberbullying stuff that’s going on, the social media stuff. We help our staff understand what those things are, how they impact our patients, and then how they can help our patients.”

For both adults and young people, she added, there remains some stigma around seeking mental healthcare, though conversations are more open and frequent than they were decades ago.

“People are hesitant to tell their jobs if they need time off to seek treatment. And they’re hesitant to seek that treatment, whether it’s for addiction services or mental health,” Zimmerman said. “I think it’s getting better, but there’s a lot of opportunity for more global understanding of how mental health affects your total person. I tell our team here all the time, ‘mental health doesn’t discriminate, and neither do we.’ And by that I mean, it can be your neighbor, it can be your pastor, it can be your grandma, it can be a famous athlete, it can be your mother, it can be anybody. It could be you.”

“It’s very gratifying to help someone go from their very lowest to stable and able to function and be part of society again.”

Nesci also said she has seen more willingness from people to either self-identify or say a family member needs help.

“People who know that I work in this industry often ask me, ‘how can I help my friend, my nephew, my niece, my sister, my brother?’ So people talk about it. Years ago, it was never spoken of. I think we’ve come a really long way.

“At the same time, there’s a lot of bias that still exists because people make judgments about the people we serve — the way they look, the way they dress, the language they speak, whether they’re employed, all that stuff,” she added. “So we still have a long way to go.”

Changing Lives

As it approaches its 50th anniversary next year, Gándara continues to add programs and services where it sees a need. For instance, a few years ago, it invested in transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), a non-traditional method of managing depression for patients who have not been successful with other modalities.

“Substance use is another big need,” Nesci said. “More and more people are identifying as having that as a major issue or stressor in their lives. So we need people where they’re at, which is why we’re providing recovery coaching services to people in the community.”

As Zimmerman noted earlier, a lot of this capacity building comes down to staffing. “Staff is our greatest resource — without staff, we can’t provide the services,” Nesci added. “So I have a great team that is focused on hiring and retaining people.”

In the end, meeting these critical needs in the community, especially at a time of such demand, is challenging work to be sure, but can also be tremendously rewarding.

“I believe that people have the ability to change behavior, and I have a team that believes the same thing,” Nesci said. “That’s what I find most gratifying — when we hear the stories of people who have gone through our program. That’s really heartwarming.”

UMass 5K Dash & Dine Turns 15

By Joseph Bednar March 31, 2026

Features

Staying on Course

Runners get set at the starting line at the 2025 event.
Photo by Keith Toffling Photography

Brandy Sullivan says the 15th iteration of the UMass 5K Dash & Dine is reason for celebration — but so were the other 14, because of the impact they’ve had.

Specifically, over the years, UMass Amherst has raised more than $50,000 for the Amherst Survival Center thanks to donors, runners, and walkers. UMass Dining, which puts on the annual event, donates 100% of all proceeds to the center.

“UMass Dining started this event 15 years ago in an effort to address food insecurity in our region,” said Sullivan, meal plan manager for UMass Dining, quickly tying the effort to one of the university’s values. “We work toward limiting food waste through sustainable practices here at UMass, and we’ve been proud to partner with the Amherst Survival Center as an extension of our work on campus. We work with Dean’s Office as well to promote food security here.”

The event — this year’s race is slated for Saturday, April 25 — features not just a competitive 5K beginning at 11 a.m., but Fun Run for kids age 8 and younger beginning at 10 a.m.

“It’s a great event. We have between 1,500 and 2,000 runners. When I started chairing this event, there were maybe 300. So it’s really grown,” Sullivan told BusinessWest.

“The students love it,” she added. “It’s a great outreach for them to give back to. For some of our students, this is the first 5K they’ve ever run, and it is a USA Track & Field certified 5K. We use Yankee Timing, which is also a USA Track & Field certified timing company. So you actually get a bib, and you get your real time, and people take it seriously.”

That said, “it’s a pretty easy race. I’m a runner, so I guess I can say that, but it definitely is a nice, safe race,” she noted. “It’s all on campus — we work with the UMass PD and the Amherst PD, who both support keeping the road safe for that little bit of time that we need.”

It’s also personally gratifying, she said, to see it all come together — and to see the impact the event has on the community through the work of the Amherst Survival Center.

Brandy Sullivan

“It’s a great event. We have between 1,500 and 2,000 runners. When I started chairing this event, there were maybe 300. So it’s really grown.”

And that work is plentiful. Since 1976, the center has promoted the health and well-being of residents of Franklin and Hampshire counties with a wide variety of programs designed to help people meet their basic needs.

The Amherst Survival Center, located at 138 Sunderland Road, serves more than 10,000 people each year. Its services, all of which are free, include a food pantry, daily community meals, fresh food distribution, services such as showers and lockers for those experiencing homelessness, information and referrals, as well as a variety of other support services.

Additionally, the center’s resource center hosts representatives from other area service organizations, making it a one-stop-shop for accessing resources. All of this is provided in a community center environment, with activities ranging from live music to sewing workshops to office hours with elected officials. All are welcome, and there are no eligibility or requirements to stop by.

Food for Thought

But ‘Dash’ is just one part of the equation. The ‘Dine’ is something most participants look forward to as well, as they’re invited to one of the university’s award-winning dining commons for a meal following the race.

And ‘award-winning’ is an understatement. UMass Amherst has been named Best Campus Food in the U.S. by the Princeton Review nine straight years — and counting. That achievement, according to the publication, underscores the department’s commitment to culinary excellence, sustainability, and experiential dining that features globally inspired, culturally driven menus.

UMass students encourage runners along the 5K route.
Photo by Keith Toffling Photography

The Princeton Review’s most recent rankings were based on surveys of 170,000 students at 391 colleges and universities across the nation. UMass Dining is not only the largest collegiate dining program in the U.S., but its top ranking for almost a decade reflects an innovative approach to campus dining and a commitment to locally sourced cuisine from the campus’s five permaculture gardens and more than 100 local farmers and vendors.

“So you run the race and then you get to eat at one of our campus dining locations,” Sullivan said. “That’s a great perk. I run a lot of races, and that’s not usually the case — you don’t get that really great meal afterwards. So it’s a way for us to share our number-one campus dining.”

But more importantly, she said, it’s a chance to share the importance of the Amherst Survival Center, and nonprofits like it.

“Food security is important, and it’s close to home. We have a food pantry on campus that partners with Amherst Survival Center as well; it’s a clothing closet as well,” Sullivan explained. “That has been a great partnership, I think, because their core values mirror what the UMass community wants to share with our students and instill in our students through UMass dining — just having nutritional options.

“But it’s also great fun. This is an energizing position to have when we all work together. After all the work that goes on behind the scenes, having it all come together — and hopefully not be raining sideways or snowing — is very exciting,” she went on. “We’re always trying to make it a better event, but I love the excitement this brings to the UMass community; it has been kind of a passion for me.”

Sullivan said the UMass 5K Dash & Dine grows every year — weather permitting.

“We’re always trying to make it a better event, but I love the excitement this brings to the UMass community; it has been kind of a passion for me.”

“Inclement weather is always kind of scary,” she said, recognizing that some people register on race day — and might be reluctant if the weather is poor. But the year-over-year growth has been consistent. “It’s pretty competitive. We have local track teams, high school students, and we promote it with them; we’re able to share what we’re doing here on campus, as well as what’s happening at the Amherst Survival Center.”

The Details

As noted earlier, the 15th annual UMass 5K Dash & Dine takes place on Saturday, April 25 at 11 a.m., with the Fun Run starting an hour earlier. Registration is available online at runumass.com or at any of the dining commons and retail locations on the UMass campus. The cost is $15 for students of UMass Amherst or any of the Five Colleges, $25 for UMass faculty and staff, and $30 for the general public. Online registration ends at midnight on April 23, but walk-up registration is available on race day.

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The inaugural edition of BusinessWest’s new Strategy+Ai series featured presentations, breakout sessions, and plenty of networking (Staff Photos):

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