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Many West Side Stories Are Converging

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Eileen LaMountain has been managing the giant slide at the Big E for nearly 40 years.
Community Spotlight Special Coverage

Community Spotlight

Eileen LaMountain has been managing the giant slide at the Big E for nearly 40 years.

Eileen LaMountain has been managing the giant slide at the Big E for nearly 40 years.

 

Eileen LaMountain says she’s getting too old to handle the waxing duties at the Big E’s Giant Slide, so she leaves that to her younger co-workers.

That waxing detail generally involves the upper portions of the 46-foot-high attraction, she noted, followed by repeated runs down the slide to spread the wax across its full length.

“That’s why I tell them to hire young people,” she said with a laugh. “A lot of the people I have are not that young, and they can’t go back and forth 10 times.”

But she still handles every other duty involved with managing that popular attraction, which she’s been doing since 1987. She essentially took over for her husband, who had done it the previous five years before moving over to handle admissions, which he did until he officially retired last year after working 58 years at the Big E.

The LaMountains are prime examples of area residents who return each year to work the 17-day fair and become part of a workforce of more than 1,000 people, said Gene Cassidy, president and CEO of Eastern States Exposition.

“Pre-COVID, we retained about 90% of our staff, and post-COVID, we retain about 80% of our staff,” he explained, adding that the fair needs to hire about 200 people for this year’s edition — to handle assignments ranging from parking lot attendant to landscaper to cashier — and is well on its way to doing so.

“I was all in favor of knocking it down originally and building something nice and new and modern. But on the other hand, that’s more expensive. Maybe we can do it with a remodel, but this is probably the last time in my lifetime that we’ll build a police station, so we want to do it right and give them what they need.”

Assembling the workforce is one of the many storylines for the 110th edition of the fair, which will start Sept. 12 and have a very difficult act to follow.

Indeed, 2024 was a banner year for the Big E. Attendance records were set (1,633,937 people came through the gates, breaking the previous mark by seven-tenths of a percentage point) and it was the fair’s most profitable year ever, with more than $6 million in net income.

“And all $6 million will be put into the facility,” Cassidy said, adding quickly that it will make just a very small dent in what he estimates to be $250 million in deferred maintenance on grounds dominated by buildings more 100 years old.

The Big E’s new season is one of many storylines unfolding in West Springfield. Others include:

• Movement toward creation of a new police station at the site of the former Walgreens location on Route 20, which was acquired by the city. A preliminary study by a design team will determine whether the best course is to renovate the facility, just a few feet from City Hall, where the police are currently headquartered, or demolish it and build new, Mayor Will Reichelt said;

• Ongoing infrastructure work on both of the city’s main retail arteries — Memorial Avenue and Riverdale Street — with the former entering the “final stretch,” as Reichelt called it, and the latter in its earlier stages;

• Little movement to create new housing despite critical need, said the mayor, citing a lack of developable land, the high cost of building, and the relative scarcity of funding assistance from the state as the primary reasons why. There is an 11-unit subdivision in the works off Piper Road, as well as 40 to 50 over-55 condos now under construction off Birnie Avenue and continued talk of new housing at the site of a former nursing home off Route 20, but little else on the drawing board;

• More new development on Riverdale Street, which is in a seemingly constant state of change, including the demolition of a few older hotels, including a large portion of the Clarion, and plans to build new ones, as well as a new Balise Honda store taking shape in the parking lot of the existing facility (more on this later);

• A new breakfast and lunch restaurant, the Roundabout, at the Route 20 and Elm Street rotary, another sign, said Reichelt, of how investments in that area, which also include new sidewalks, lighting, and other improvements, are paying dividends in the form of new businesses; and

• Preliminary discussions about creation of a new master plan for the city, one that will provide a blueprint to take the community to 2050 and beyond.

“Our master plan is 16 years old now, give or take, and we’re finishing up a lot of what’s in it,” the mayor explained. “We want to look out 25 years — not to predict the future, but to examine what the retail world will look like, for example, and whether we’re ready for potential changes that could impact Riverdale Street.”

For this latest installment of its Community Spotlight series, BusinessWest takes an in-depth look at the many converging West Side stories.

Alex Balise says the new Balise Honda store will better serve customers.

Alex Balise says the new Balise Honda store will better serve customers.

 

Progress Report

Reichelt noted that West Springfield is perhaps the last city in Western Mass. that still has its police station within City Hall — a throwback to when this was a much smaller community, but a situation that has lingered for decades as the city has searched for a suitable site.

It found one when Walgreens closed its Route 20 location in 2024 as part of a larger scaling-back initiative, leaving another question — renovate or build new? And Reichelt can look at two neighboring communities for some possible insight.

Indeed, Westfield is building new on Union Street, and Agawam is nearly done renovating the former Hub Insurance building on Suffield Street into its new headquarters.

“Agawam spent like $30 million less than Westfield’s going to spend” said Reichelt, adding that renovation of the Walgreens, which has a full basement in addition to its spacious retail floor, could be a less expensive option.

“I was all in favor of knocking it down originally and building something nice and new and modern,” he explained. “But on the other hand, that’s more expensive. Maybe we can do it with a remodel, but this is probably the last time in my lifetime that we’ll build a police station, so we want to do it right and give them what they need.”

In either case, the new headquarters will be downtown — which won’t be the case in either Westfield or Agawam — which has its advantages, the mayor noted.

Beyond the plans for the new police station, infrastructure work remains one of the main storylines in the city, especially on those two retail arteries, said Reichelt, adding that there is some light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to the work at Memorial Avenue, which recently entered a new, more visible phase with completion of the Complete Streets initiative set for early 2027.

“Until recently, most of the work has been replacing the water main, sewer main, stormwater … the underground stuff,” he explained. “But now, as you come onto Memorial from the rotary at the Memorial Bridge, they’re redoing the road layout, adding new granite curbing, and changing the actual look of the road to get ready for the new pavement.”

On Riverdale Street, infrastructure work, due to be completed in 2027, is in earlier stages, and will include new sidewalks, off-street bike paths, and some repaving, the mayor continued, adding that, longer-term, the state has plans to improve Route 20.

Meanwhile, the new Honda store at the east end of Riverdale Street is starting to take shape.

And for those thinking the existing store isn’t very old … you’re right. It was just 2010 when Balise Motor Sales completed an extensive renovation of the former Yale Genton clothing store and a 20,000-square-foot addition. But Honda is changing the look of its dealerships, with a nod toward less square footage and a design that features a new-look façade and is modular and flexible, and the Balise store will be at the forefront of these changes, said Alex Balise, director of Corporate Strategy for Balise Motor Sales.

“The existing dealership is fully functional, but we have plans to grow,” she explained, noting that talk of building a new store began in 2023. “And to do that, and better serve our needs, we needed a new dealership.”

She said the new facility will be easier to navigate and be very similar to what was done at the chain’s Lexus dealership further down Riverdale Street in terms of easier access to the service area.

A portion of the existing dealership will be salvaged and used for a state inspection center, calibration services, parts distribution, and used-car reconditioning, she went on, adding that the remainder will be demolished and used for parking. The project is on track to be completed in mid-December.

 

Fair Assessment

Cassidy’s attention to detail, especially when it comes to the weather, has been well-chronicled. Indeed, each day of the Big E, he takes detailed notes about what the conditions were, almost hour by hour, entries that help explain attendance figures.

So when he said it didn’t rain much last year, he didn’t generalize. He went right to the book.

“Let’s see … the second Thursday, the 26th, we had light rain late morning and mid-afternoon, but it didn’t really have any impact on our attendance … that was it,” he said, adding that this rainfall total was a big change from 2024, when it rained on several days during the fair, and it goes a long way toward explaining the record attendance and record profits.

West Springfield at a Glance

Year Incorporated: 1774
Population: 28,835
Area: 17.5 square miles
County: Hampden
Residential Tax Rate: $14.87
Commercial Tax Rate: $30.28
Median Household Income: $40,266
Median Family Income: $50,282
Type of Government: Mayor, City Council
Largest Employers: Eversource Energy, Harris Corp., Home Depot, Interim Health Care, Mercy Home Care
* Latest information available

Those numbers will be tough to repeat, let alone surpass, in 2025, he acknowledged, noting that the weather will likely not be as good this year. But with a shrug of the shoulders, he indicated that anything is possible.

For the most part, he stuck to what is likely, which — again, weather permitting — will be another solid year. He noted that fairs like this one are not entirely recession-proof, but they’re close.

“Fairs represent tradition, and people, at this time in our history, are hungry for that; they desire that,” he said. “And for that reason, fairs tend to be insulated from inflation. People might defer on taking a trip to Disney, but they’re going to come to the fair because that’s their family tradition.”

This explains why many recent fairs have done well, said Cassidy, citing the Wisconsin State Fair, which was on pace to shatter attendance records until heavy rains and some flooding, as one example.

As for the 2025 Big E, like most of the 109 that have come before it, this one will feature ‘new and old,’ a phrase that covers everything from attractions to food to the brews in the many beer gardens.

The ‘new’ this year includes the return of Navy Week programming as a lead up to the nation’s 250th birthday, including performances by the Navy Band Northeast and the Navy Windward Quartet, as well as Collector Car Live: Race Day, a car show featuring race vehicles and NASCAR driver Ryan Preece, and increased ‘strolling entertainment,’ including Fritzy One Man Circus and strolling musician Freddie Marion.

‘New and old’ also refers to the music lineup, which includes everything from ZZ Top and Foreigner to Five for Fighting, Train, Busta Rhymes & Rick Ross, and TLC with Big Boi.

As for the ‘old,’ that would include the giant slide, which has been part of the Big E since 1969. It stretches 135 feet, and LaMountain knows every inch of it, although, as noted earlier, she’s not out there waxing it anymore.

When asked how those applying the wax to those higher areas do so without gravity taking hold, she said “very carefully.”

In addition to supervising the waxing, LaMountain, 73, makes sure the slide is properly staffed (it takes a half-dozen people to operate it) and that the various procedures are followed, including protocols when it rains — it shuts down immediately when drops start falling.

Overall, more than 100,000 people will go down the slide over the course of the 17 days, she said, adding that maybe 9,000 will visit the attraction on a busy Saturday. That adds up to long days, but she endures — and she comes back every year.

“It’s fun. It’s a long day, but … it’s the people you see every year,” she explained, adding that that the money earned over the course of the fair pays for a vacation or some extras, with some going in the bank. “We have a good time, and I would really miss it if I didn’t do it.”

With that, she spoke not only for people who work at Big E, but for everyone who visits each year.

A Fuzzy Picture on Tariffs Becomes Sharper, But Questions Linger

By
Carlo Bonavita
Features

Coming into Focus

 

Carlo Bonavita

Carlo Bonavita says tariffs will likely prompt some wine drinkers to switch to domestic products.

 

Clarity.

Ever since tariffs became a main thrust of the Trump administration’s economic policy — that would be day 1 — that’s what business owners and managers have been calling, if not begging, for.

They still don’t have as much as they want, but they now have a lot more than they did 60 or even 30 days ago.

That’s especially true in the auto industry, where trade deals inked with Japan, South Korea, and the EU lock in 15% tariffs on a large list of foreign imports. That translates into a roughly $2,000 increase on an average-priced vehicle, which is now in the mid-40s, said Ben Sullivan, chief operating officer for the Balise Auto Group.

And that number must be put into perspective, he went on, noting that, with the return of incentives such as 0% financing and attractive lease rates, the consumer’s monthly payment — which is what most focus on — may not rise much higher than it is now.

“At the same time as those price increases are coming, most manufacturers have increased production, and when they increase production, they want to sell a bunch of cars, and when they want to sell a bunch of cars, they put incentives on them.”

“At the same time as those price increases are coming, most manufacturers have increased production, and when they increase production, they want to sell a bunch of cars, and when they want to sell a bunch of cars, they put incentives on them,” said Sullivan, who cited the case of a co-worker with a truck coming off lease. She’s getting into a new one and shaving $100 off the monthly payment at the same time.

That’s an indication of how unattractive the incentives were in the years after COVID, and how much better they are now, said Sullivan, adding quickly that, while there’s still a good amount of dust to settle, especially with regard to tariffs imposed on Canada and Mexico and the cars and parts made in those countries, there is a sense of normalcy returning to this sector (more on that later).

Ben Sullivan

Ben Sullivan says that, while car prices are rising by $2,000 on average due to tariffs, with incentives, consumers may not see a rise in their monthly payment.

The same can generally be said for Carlo Bonavita’s business, Springfield Wine Exchange, where clarity is also a technical term.

Bonavita’s shelves are loaded with imported wines, many of which will now be subjected to at least 15% tariffs. This will add a few dollars to the average-priced bottle, which might be enough to sway some consumers to switch to domestic labels, something he’s been promoting for some time now, especially with the prices from some European wines rising even before tariffs were imposed, for reasons he can’t pinpoint.

“The reality is, I’d prefer to find domestic wine alternatives for our customers. It’s our job to go out there and find wines for our customers that are affordable, quality — and that’s easy to do,” he said, adding that he expects that some will shift more to domestic products. “Most people are loyal to the grape, and not necessarily the label,” he said, adding that consumers are likely to trade an Italian Pinot Grigio for one made in California.

There is less clarity in some other sectors, however, and with many different products, especially since a new, wide round of tariffs on individual countries went into effect earlier this month. The countries included Brazil (50%), Switzerland (39%), Vietnam (20%), and Taiwan (20%), and the tariffs are expected to generate price increases on everything from watches to shoes; computers to furniture; coffee to toys.

Construction is another sector where there are still some unknowns.

Dave Fontaine, CEO of Fontaine Bros. Inc., said tariffs will certainly impact the cost of projects large and small because tariffs on products, such as steel or copper, are applied not when they are ordered, but when they enter the country.

“I would equate it to walking into a store … the sales tax is 6.25%, and then, while you’re purchasing the item, the sales tax gets doubled or tripled,” he explained. “That’s going to impact at the register.”

To date, increases in prices from tariffs have been offset by decreases in the cost of some materials due to a general slowdown in the industry, allowing projects to stay on budget, he went on, but it remains to be seen if things will stay that way.

“I don’t know for sure, but I think that what our distributors did, as these tariff talks were going on, was bulk up their warehouses just to get people along for six or seven months in anticipation that the tariff talks would blow over and things would get settled.”

For this issue, BusinessWest talked with business owners and managers across several sectors to get some perspective on tariffs and what they mean for their businesses and their customers.

 

Grape Expectations

The announcement of Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs on April 2 has been followed by four and half months of trade talks, new deals, deadlines made, deadlines extended, and seemingly never-ending speculation about the impact of tariffs on prices, individual businesses, and entire sectors.

In many respects, the speculation is giving way to increased clarity, though there are still plenty of question marks on everything from how much of the price increases will be passed on to consumers to how those same consumers will respond to the higher prices.

More will be known in the weeks and months to come, said those we spoke with, adding that much, but not all, of what’s for sale now — be it cars in showrooms or wines on shelves — were delivered before tariffs went into effect.

That’s true of the popular beers from Germany, Belgium, and other European countries sold at the Student Prince, said Nate Yee, director of Hospitality for the Bean Restaurant Group, which counts the downtown Springfield landmark among the many area eateries in its portfolio.

“I don’t know for sure, but I think that what our distributors did, as these tariff talks were going on, was bulk up their warehouses just to get people along for six or seven months in anticipation that the tariff talks would blow over and things would get settled,” he said, adding that prices have remained remarkably, and unexpectedly, stable. “That’s the only explanation I can think of for why our costs haven’t gone nuclear.”

The company has enough in its own warehouses to get through the Big E, where it will have several locations, said Yee, adding that what happens when the current warehouse stock is replaced with post-tariff products remains to be seen.

“Who knows what will happen?” he said, adding that, if costs rise, the Bean Group will have to think about adjusting its own prices. “But we want to be as price-sensitive as we can; we want to be affordable, and we want our guests to come back multiple times a week, and a big part of that is the value aspect of it.”

Bonavita said almost everything at his storefront in Tower Square, and everything shipped to customers elsewhere, including the eastern part of the state (a growing part of this business), arrived pre-tariffs. It will be September or October, he projects, before the nature of the inventory shifts and prices are adjusted.

And while he will continue to order wines from dozens of other countries (together, they make up roughly 35% of what he sells), he fully expects movement toward domestics as the inevitable price increases come. Meanwhile, like Yee, he said he will likely absorb some of the hit to minimize the impact on the consumer.

“We wouldn’t be here without our customers, so I’ll do whatever it takes to keep our customers,” he explained. “If that means we work on a lesser margin, we’ll work on a lesser margin.”

 

Driving Forces

Sullivan said many — but certainly not all — the cars on area lots were delivered pre-tariffs. That means consumers might find two almost identical cars at a dealership with different price tags.

And, as he mentioned earlier, while the price tag on the post-tariffs model might be higher, the monthly payment might — that’s might — not be. And that’s just one of the many intriguing dynamics within the auto industry as a once-fuzzy picture sharpens a bit.

“The tariff landscape is coming into clearer focus,” he told BusinessWest. “Now, it’s about what the scale and the impact of the tariffs will be and when it will all settle into something that’s predictable. We’re not home yet, knowing exactly where this whole thing shakes out, but we’re getting closer.”

Elaborating, Sullivan said there will be more clarity in the months and years to come on issues ranging from used car sales to how long consumers hang on to their cars as the cost of maintaining them rises because of tariffs on parts, many of which are made in China.

Meanwhile, with new car sales, as well as the proverbial big picture, there is more normalcy than a few months ago, when panicked consumers were running to dealerships to beat the tariffs.

“Now, things have calmed down,” he said. “People are aware that it’s not as bad as they feared; it’s still going to cost them more to buy a car, but not as much as they feared. So right now, we’re seeing a more normalized market than we’ve seen in a while.”

‘Normalized’ wouldn’t be a word to describe what’s happening in the construction sector, said Fontaine, noting that tariffs are impacting not only projects in progress — such as the new high schools his company is building in East Longmeadow and Agawam — but some initiatives on the drawing board.

“When the cost of materials is going up, that makes construction projects more difficult to to get financed — and more difficult to make sense,” he explained, adding that this is more prevalent on the private side of ledger than on the public side. “And a lot of people are in the wait-and-see phase because of the uncertainty with the economy.”

For construction firms, the challenge is to find ways to minimize the impact through use of more domestically produced materials and other strategies to keep projects on budget.

“We’re spending a lot of time trying to protect ourselves and our clients from the impact of them, and I think we’ve been generally successful with that,” Fontaine said. “We’ve pushed a lot of things to be imported from places that are not impacted by tariffs or made in America. We’re doing everything we can to mitigate costs, but it’s a hot issue in construction right now.”

And in many other sectors as well.

Westfield Finds Ways to Raise Its Profile

By
Mayor Michael McCabe
Community Spotlight Special Coverage

Community Spotlight

Mayor Michael McCabe

Mayor Michael McCabe says it’s important to expand the tax rolls with both new businesses and housing growth.

Westfield Mayor Michael McCabe is a believer in business growth — specifically, bringing new businesses to the city to boost the tax base and general vibrancy. But for every opportunity, there’s a challenge.

For example, “how do we balance the environment with new growth? Our north side pretty much all sits above an aquifer system, which has caused us some angst because most of the land that we have for economic development and growth is on the north side.

“So if you’re trying to be respectful of your aquifer and at the same time trying to figure out how you get new growth, it’s an interesting scenario,” he went on. “As you know, new growth is one of the things that actually funds the city. It’s where you get new tax revenue from, so you don’t have to tax your residents more.”

“Elm Street Plaza has really worked out beyond our expectations.”

That said, while this city — the region’s fourth-most populous and one of the largest geographically in the state — has seen new businesses lay down roots, from several new restaurants downtown to industrial businesses on the north side, what’s been happening at the municipal level has made the biggest news lately, including:

• The completion of the five-year Cowles Bridge replacement project on Routes 10 and 202, which should be finished by Sept. 25;

• A planned reimagining and redesign of Mass Pike exit 41 — funded by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation — that aims create a more motorist- and resident-friendly traffic pattern involving three roundabouts;

• A coming new Police Department headquarters on Union Street, expected to be open by the end of 2027; and

• Elm Street Plaza, a gathering and performance space that has not only drawn both city residents and visitors to Westfield’s downtown for events, but opened up much-needed parking for retail shop and restaurant owners;

“Elm Street Plaza has really worked out beyond our expectations,” McCabe said, “with the amount of events and the amount of use it gets, and the amount of free parking it has, so merchants can have customers in and out who don’t have to worry about trying to find parking.”

That development has coincided with a number of new restaurants downtown, offering culinary diversity to the central district, he added.

“If you’re looking for something to eat and you don’t want traditional America cuisine, you have Spanish, you have Italian, you have Turkish, you have Ukrainian, you have Slavic, you have Polish, you have Vietnamese … I mean, you have a pretty eclectic mix, all within a tenth of a mile.”

Amanda Waterfield

Amanda Waterfield says events in Westfield, from Friday night concerts to Starfires games, have a multiplier effect when visitors stay in the city to eat and drink.

The downtown will also play host to a welcome-back party for Westfield State University students, one way the city is trying to connect the school to its downtown, McCabe added. “I think there’s a realization that vibrancy begins with people walking around downtown.”

Amanda Waterfield, who has been executive director of the Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce for just over two years, echoed the mayor’s focus on hospitality businesses, noting that the chamber is planning a Restaurant Week this Nov. 4-9, featuring menu specials, unique promos, and other activities aimed at raising the profile of participating eateries just before the start of the holiday retail season.

Noting about 70 restaurants, coffee shops, breweries, and other culinary businesses in Westfield and Southwick, Waterfield said she’d like to see at least a third of them participate, and then grow the event from there in subsequent years.

“And I really would like to reach out beyond Westfield,” she added. “I’d like everybody in the Valley to think of Westfield as a destination.”

 

On the Right Track

Westfield Gas & Electric (WG&E) adopts the same philosophy on the importance of growth, which partly explains its launch, a decade ago, of Whip City Fiber, which has now completed wiring the entire city for high-speed internet, and also serves 23 other communities, including the region’s hilltowns as well as East Longmeadow and, most recently, West Springfield, where it has begun to build out infrastructure.

That has brought in significant revenue, and the WG&E is using some of it — $15 million over 15 years, in fact — to pay the city’s bond (with interest) for an $11 million athletic complex at Westfield High School, which broke ground last month.

“My overall goal is to see downtown thrive. Restaurants are a wonderful draw, but we need more than just restaurants. We need more things for people to do when they come into town. I’d love there to be a little more retail to draw folks in and keep their dollars local.”

“It’s a stadium with a full collegiate track, lights, and turf fields,” said Tom Flaherty, general manager of WG&E, noting that the field will be used for football, men’s and women’s soccer and lacrosse, field hockey, and more, while a second multi-purpose field, without lights, is being developed behind the school for overflow events; the softball field is being turfed as well.

“We’re really planning for the future with something all of Westfield can use — people of all ages, including senior citizens, who can walk on the track at night safely,” he noted. “I see that all the time in Southwick; a great deal of people use the track they put in about 10 years ago.”

In addition, Flaherty noted, “the fields are for everyone, from youth soccer and youth football all the way to potentially having a revenue stream for the school athletic department by leasing it out to private club teams.”

Westfield Gas & Electric

Westfield Gas & Electric hosted a groundbreaking last month for an $11 million athletic complex at Westfield High School.

McCabe agreed that the benefits of the project are many, and would include the potential of hosting regional tournaments on both the high school and collegiate levels, possibly working with Westfield State University — all of which would bring more visitors to the city, in the same way the Westfield Starfires, now winding down their seventh season of play in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League, or the city’s 14 municipal pickleball courts, have done.

“The greater the exposure to Westfield, the greater commerce there is in the city,” the mayor added. “And it’s not all Westfield residents. People will stop by one of the cafés downtown, or have a drink with their friends afterward, and all of those things are very good, obviously, for the city. So that’s what we’re trying to embrace.”

Waterfield added that Elm Street Plaza has enhanced Westfield’s visibility as a cultural focal point; in fact, the city received a Massachusetts Cultural Council designation last fall.

That’s important, she said, because it brings in marketing dollars to organizations working collectively to raise the city’s profile. For example, an organization called Artworks Westfield puts on eight Friday nights concerts at the plaza during the summer, all free to the public.

Westfield at a Glance

Year Incorporated: 1669
Population: 40,834
Area: 47.4 square miles
County: Hampden
Residential Tax Rate: $15.18
Commercial Tax Rate: $29.17
Median Household Income: $45,240
Median Family Income: $55,327
Type of Government: Mayor, City Council
Largest Employers: Westfield State University, Baystate Noble Hospital, Mestek Inc., Savage Arms Inc., Advance Manufacturing Co.
* Latest information available

“Those seem to be drawing folks in,” she said. “It’s just a good time on a Friday night — bring your lawn chair, there’s food trucks, there’s beer trucks. It’s very family-friendly. I see people with their dogs.”

The prevailing theme with many of these efforts is to get people to notice Westfield — and come back.

“I think if you’re from Westfield, you know what we have to offer here. There’s a lot here,” Waterfield said. “But people might think, ‘I’m from Longmeadow; am I going to make the trek to Westfield?’ Well, yes, actually, you should. You know, come on Thursday to the farmers market and then stay for dinner. Come on Friday and have dinner beforehand and then go to a concert. Go see a baseball game.”

What visitors find, she added, is that Westfield has numerous important elements that contribute to a robust community, from Westfield State University to Baystate Noble Hospital to Barnes Municipal Airport (and the Air National Guard’s 104th Tactical Fighter Group, which recently procured new F-35 fighter jets) to a river and a rail trail.

In addition, “I’m encouraged by the lack of crime downtown, which is wonderful,” she said. “And I give the big businesses downtown credit for being here. The banks, the Gas & Electric, they don’t have to be downtown, but they choose to support the community by having a really visible, meaningful presence here.”

McCabe also praised the Police Department’s work, not only in crime prevention, but being visible to residents, just one more factor in why Westfield has a strong housing market.

“People want to live here,” the mayor said, but, like virtually every town in Western Mass., Westfield needs more housing stock. “We’ve looked at two spaces on the north side for multi-use housing, and we’re hopeful that we were going to see some help from the state in terms of grant funding from the Massachusetts Housing and Livable Communities office.”

 

Local Focus

Waterfield said she’s made progress in her goal to engage more businesses with the chamber; membership was under 200 when she came on board, but is at 258 now, and her goal is 275 by year’s end.

“That’s partly what I hope Restaurant Week will do, give community members an idea that the chamber is here to support the businesses and ultimately improve the state of living in the city.”

She and her team also updated the chamber’s strategic plan last year, and moving the chamber offices to a downtown storefront has been a plus as well.

“My overall goal is to see downtown thrive. Restaurants are a wonderful draw, but we need more than just restaurants. We need more things for people to do when they come into town. I’d love there to be a little more retail to draw folks in and keep their dollars local,” she told BusinessWest.

The mayor was quick to run down why people might want to move to Westfield, from the ones already mentioned — the university, the community hospital — to recreation opportunities.

“We have Stanley Park, which is 225 acres of preserve. And there are plenty of venues to go to now where the kids can play. The parks have been brought back up to speed to where they’re supposed to be. Our municipal parks have pickleball and tennis courts and baseball fields and softball fields.

“And we have good service organizations — the YMCA and the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Westfield do phenomenal work,” he added. “So I think we’re doing pretty well.”

Linda Dulye Envisions Harmony Between Technology, Human Connection

By
Features Special Coverage

The Blended Workplace

As companies grapple with the implications of artificial intelligence (AI) and other disruptive technologies, the conversations tend to focus on productivity and efficiency.

Linda Dulye wants companies to think about something else: the human element.

“I’ve seen it in my clients; there’s this rush, this FOMO — ‘we’ve got to get this injection of AI,’” she told BusinessWest, using the popular acronym for ‘fear of missing out.’ “This reminds me a lot of when I was working with General Electric and also AlliedSignal — when Lean and Six Sigma were unfolding, we were on the front end of it; we were the pioneers. And there was this rush.”

And her current concern surrounding AI is the same concern she had then — and has expressed with clients over the years when discussing those efficiency models — which is whether the human element is being squeezed out of the discussion.

“You can come in with all the tools, all the technology that is going to improve processes, and we’re going to take what was 10 steps down to three steps, but that can be daunting and scary for many people. So you still have to have a degree of human connection, collaboration, and communication.

“A lot of my work has been centered on, how do we get people to understand the new technology that’s coming in? Automatically there’s a barrier — ‘we’ve been doing this for 10 years; what do you mean I have to change?’”

Dulye — who launched her management consultancy, Dulye & Co., in 1998 to help business leaders and their organizations cultivate cultures where people want to stay and grow — has turned her thoughts on the coming AI revolution into a concept called the Blended Workplace, which she calls a “human-centered approach that harmonizes the benefits of advanced technology with the in-the-moment power of digital minimalism.”

In short, she said a technology-first, people-second mindset is costing companies dearly and pulling leaders away from making critical investments in human connection and communication.

“You can come in with all the tools, all the technology that is going to improve processes, and we’re going to take what was 10 steps down to three steps, but that can be daunting and scary for many people.”

“AI is essential for business success — so is human interaction,” Dulye notes on her website. “The current AI surge feels eerily similar to the Lean and Six Sigma boom. Back then, companies realized that even the most powerful productivity tools couldn’t succeed without real, person-to-person communication. The same holds true today: when workplace connections erode, so do trust and teamwork.”

In a wide-ranging conversation with BusinessWest recently, she explained that people love new bells and whistles in, say, their cars, but not so much at work.

“That’s kind of scary for many people. So that’s why I developed this concept of the Blended Workplace — it’s helping organizations understand they’ve got to devote time with human beings, helping them understanding why we’re doing this, showing them how this augments their skills and doesn’t make them obsolete.”

Linda Dulye

Linda Dulye says any process improvement has to be accompanied by human connection, collaboration, and communication.

On the contrary, the goal is to show team members how to adapt to new technology and new models and make themselves even more valuable to the company.

“That’s ultimately what we’d love to have people do. But we all don’t operate the same,” Dulye went on. “It’s not like flicking a switch and saying, ‘OK, on Monday, we’re going to be utilizing this new AI technology,’ and you’re like, ‘wait, what? What’s going on?’ We want to help people understand why we’re doing it, what it means to them in their job, and how to get comfortable with it. You have to help people.”

 

Change Agent

The Blended Workplace fits well with the overarching philosophy of Dulye & Co., a concept (and movement) known as the Spectator-Free Workplace, which emphasizes investments in human connection and communication in the workplace — in short, being engaged at work and not just a spectator.

Dulye’s new message with the Blended Workforce concept is underscored by a few insights:

• Employee fatigue is real. Endless screen time and nonstop notifications are burning employees out. Her company’s research shows employee engagement is steadily declining, echoing Gallup’s report of a 10-year low in 2024. Making matters worse, only 56% of employees believe their leaders genuinely care about their well-being, according to a Deloitte survey.

• Gen Z, in particular, is unplugging. The rising generation of professionals values authenticity and meaningful relationships over algorithms. CNBC reports that Gen Z craves in-person interaction — especially new graduates, who’d rather learn company norms from colleagues than scroll TikTok.

• Connection drives performance. Whether in person or with cameras on, face-to-face interaction builds trust, ignites creativity, and strengthens accountability.

One Dulye & Co. client boosted engagement and productivity by more than 50% in less than a year simply by transforming team meetings with no-frills fixes like employees helping to set agendas, tackling tough issues head-on, and recognizing peer contributions, she noted.

“We want to help people understand why we’re doing it, what it means to them in their job, and how to get comfortable with it. You have to help people.”

Meanwhile, Dulye told BusinessWest, workers from different generations have different responses to — and tolerances of — major change, especially technological change, in the workplace.

“There’s always a new wave. Do you remember when computers happened? I’m old enough to remember the pink slip. I came in my office — I was a reporter then — and saw who called, and now I had to return a call. Well, the person who wrote that doesn’t exist anymore. And neither does the pink slip.”

The idea, she went on, is that change of any kind is constant in the workplace, and in the rush to apply new tools and technologies to be more efficient, companies aren’t spending enough time on the people side to help everyone navigate change — especially dramatic change like AI, which is much more disruptive than ditching written phone messages.

“These tools are only effective when people are working collaboratively, when they understand them together,” she explained. “We all are gaining efficiencies with these new tools that help us work better together collectively, not just individually. So you’ve got to spend time as a team really figuring out, how do we work these tools into our own practices? And that involves communication between team members.”

Moreover, Dulye added, “we’ve got to understand all the different nuances that affect learning it, applying it, and feeling comfortable enough that I want to advance this; you’re going to have different roadblocks than me, just because of our experiences. But that’s the kind of discussion a team needs to do together. Leaders need to spend time helping their organizations know why we are doing this.”

Dulye said there’s an opportunity to promote this kind of conversation with Gen Z, whom many people assume want to live behind screens — a stereotype she said isn’t true. “I feel bad for this generation because they actually want more connections than maybe Boomers do or or some of Gen X.”

But connections are harder in general during the new age of remote and (more commonly) hybrid schedules, which make it more of a challenge for leaders to promote communication in the office. But she said hybrid arrangements are a net positive in many ways.

“I think the flexibility factor is strong. Unless you do a lot of work in manufacturing, or have a job where you have to physically be there — like hospitality — I think you have to have a hybrid schedule. I see models where having an in-person requirement on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday is very effective.

“It’s not just getting people to come in, but being very deliberate and intentional about what we are doing to create more team-based experiences.”

“But here’s the thing,” she went on. “Just because we’re coming in doesn’t mean we’re working more collaboratively together. Just coming in doesn’t mean you and I will cross paths. So it’s not just getting people to come in, but being very deliberate and intentional about what we are doing to create more team-based experiences.”

That goes back to Dulye’s original business concept, the Spectator-Free Workplace.

“People want experiences at work that make them feel, one, I’m valued; two, I really like the team I’m with; and three, I really do like the company I work for. But it takes an experience. If you’re still operating on routines that you’ve been doing the last five years, that’s building a spectator-filled workplace. And it’s not beneficial. It’s just people coming into work, showing their faces, and really not interacting. So I’m all for the hybrid workplace — with very intentional team experiences.”

 

Beyond Meetings

Dulye concedes, of course, that hybrid schedules create a more challenging environment for business leaders when it comes to in-office interaction, but that it’s still possible to create a healthy, connected workplace even if employees are at home part of the time.

One strategy are team meetings where everyone is expected to contribute.

“It’s not OK to have a team meeting where three people out of 20 are talking, and everyone else just sits there doing something else, and says, ‘yeah, pass, I have nothing going on.’ Really? If you’re paying me and one week has gone by and I have no new information to contribute to my team, there’s something wrong. That’s not acceptable,” she said.

“If you’re getting together as a team once a week for 30 minutes, everyone’s got to bring something they learned, maybe something they didn’t expect that happened, maybe even just a recognition of a team member, but everyone has to contribute. You don’t get a pass.”

Getting back to communication around AI, she said some employees are worried about the implications on job security, but those concerns existed when Lean and Six Sigma came into being as well.

“People were all concerned about, ‘well, if we take 10 steps and go to five, how many jobs is that?’ So this is not new. I think people need to understand this is not a new phenomenon. People have always been fearful that technology can reduce jobs when it makes work more efficient.

“Again, it’s how do you see yourself being able to utilize that technology in a role that you still want? Or, maybe you want to think about a new role that requires skill sets you have and want to grow, but maybe isn’t as affected by AI. I mean, AI won’t affect us all at the same rate. It affects us all, but by different degrees.”

Easthampton Grapples with Growing Pains

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Burns Maxey in the balcony of the second-floor performance space.
Community Spotlight Special Coverage

Community Spotlight

Burns Maxey in the balcony of the second-floor performance space.

Burns Maxey in the balcony of the second-floor performance space.

An architect’s rendering of the new entrance and elevator at Old Town Hall, home to CitySpace.

An architect’s rendering of the new entrance and elevator at Old Town Hall, home to CitySpace.

Salem Derby says he certainly didn’t see this coming.

Easthampton’s City Council President was at a meeting with Mayor Nicole LaChapelle, executive assistant Lindsi Sekula, and City Solicitor Mark Tanner, expecting conversation about municipal matters, when LaChapelle informed him that she would leaving to become the state’s Conservation and Recreation commissioner. And he would be serving as interim mayor.

“It was a complete surprise, and it was really quick — she said she’d be leaving in six days,” said Derby, an elementary school teacher, adding that he plans to be in City Hall something approaching full time this summer, but will maneuver around his classroom schedule once school starts, working afternoons, weekends, and in the morning if needed.

He’ll only be in the corner office until the November election (he won’t be a candidate for the job), and over the next four and a half months, he plans to provide stability, keep things running “as drama-free and interference-free as possible,” and, well, keep the ball rolling, if you will.

Indeed, Easthampton is a community in demand, and it has been this way for a while now, a pattern that brings with it some opportunities, but also stern challenges, as Derby, who has been on the council for more than 20 years, well knows.

“Housing is huge — the ability for people to find affordable housing is something I’ve been focused on the entire time I’ve been on the council,” he said, adding that the challenge extends across the housing spectrum, from potential homebuyers facing spiraling prices and limited inventory to renters in some of the bigger complexes — many of which have been sold to larger corporations — encountering increases that are pretty significant.

“There was a large group of renters and tenants outside of City Hall yesterday; they had a meeting and a little bit of a rally,” he explained. “There’s a push for the council to help the Legislature push for rent control.”

This housing crunch, and LaChapelle’s exit for the State House, are just two of the many converging story lines in Easthampton. Others include:

• Several projects in various stages of development to bring more housing on the market. These include, as we’ll see, everything from conversion of three closed elementary schools to the reimagining of more former mills;

• The start of redevelopment of the Tasty Top site on Route 10, a highly anticipated and somewhat controversial project that begins with a new Greenfield Savings Bank branch and also includes a gymnastics center, a daycare facility, retail, and a large residential component;

• The start of the second phase of redevelopment of the old Town Hall into CitySpace, what its leaders call a “thriving arts ecosystem.” This phase includes a new entranceway and elevator that will open the door, quite literally, to phase 3, renovations to the second-floor auditorium for concerts and other performances and events;

• New leadership at the Greater Easthampton Chamber of Commerce. Jon Kostek took the helm almost two months ago, and has established goals to continue growing membership; bring more users to WorkHub on Union, a co-working space at the chamber offices that opened roughly a year ago; and make more and better use of digital platforms to promote the chamber and its services, and, hopefully, engage more young business owners;

• Zoning changes to accommodate short-term rentals, a move that brings the community in line with what most other cities and towns have done and helps meet recognized need; and

• Plans for a new music performance venue at the site of a former massage school, an undertaking being spearheaded by the Heavy Culture Cooperative, a project that will, with the nearby CitySpace, create more vibrancy in the downtown area and serve to connect the downtown with the neighboring mills and the cultural activities taking place there.

For this latest installment of its Community Spotlight series, BusinessWest takes an in-depth look at Easthampton and how it continues to be in demand and cope with its growing pains.

 

Supply and Demand

Allyson Manuel was drawn to Easthampton by its many selling points — a vibrant arts community, an increasingly eclectic downtown area, a small-city feel, recreation, and more.

Formerly town planner in West Springfield, she and her husband settled here five years ago after considering several potential landing spots, and she became the city’s director of Planning and Community Development last December.

She can attest to spiraling home prices and a shortage of inventory, and how this surge is creating challenges.

“There’s a lot of demand. A lot of people want to be here, which is wonderful; it’s clearly indicative of a good quality of life and quality of place,” she told BusinessWest. “But it does come with challenges. Affordability is an issue for anyone looking to buy a house anywhere right now, but especially in Easthampton and Hampshire County.

“So, we’re reckoning with that and also with making sure we’re not pricing out residents that have been here for many, many years,” she went on. “And for the rental market, there’s been quite a pinch.”

“There’s a lot of demand. A lot of people want to be here, which is wonderful; it’s clearly indicative of a good quality of life and quality of place. But it does come with challenges. Affordability is an issue for anyone looking to buy a house anywhere right now, but especially in Easthampton and Hampshire County.”

Indeed, the housing market in the community is exceedingly tight across the board, and both Manuel and Derby hope and expect that the many projects promising to bring a mix of housing will serve to loosen things up a little.

Projects in various stages of development include Growing Green, a rural project just off Main Street, an initiative slowed by an appeal filed by neighbors but still progressing, with the number of planned units reduced from 87 to the mid-60s, said Manuel, adding that another project involves development of more property within the massive Ferry Street complex, specifically Building 11, where 96 units of housing are planned.

An architect’s rendering of the residential component slated to be built on the site of the former Tasty Top on Route 10.

An architect’s rendering of the residential component slated to be built on the site of the former Tasty Top on Route 10.

Another initiative involves redevelopment of the former Notre Dame Church and surrounding properties on Pleasant Street into approximately 42 ‘townhouse’ units, said Manuel, adding that several of these units will be in the church itself.

“I think those will be really cool units when they’re done,” she said, adding that other structures on the property will be razed to make way for new construction.

At the 34-acre Tasty Top site, housing (more than 200 planned apartments, a mix of market rate and affordable) is one of many components to a project being undertaken by developer Frank DeMarinis, said Derby, adding that more than 100 units are expected to be created through redevelopment of the three shuttered elementary schools.

These projects and other smaller initiatives are expected to make a real dent in overall need, he went on, and relieve pressure on existing inventory.

“Once all these are completed, I think the amount of housing in Easthampton will increase so significantly that I’m hoping it will make a real impact on affordability and access to quality housing,” the interim mayor said. “I’m hoping this can potentially be a catalyst for people who need affordable housing and maybe take a little pressure of some of the other units in Easthampton.”

Manuel agreed. “We have some challenges ahead of us, absolutely, but we also have a strong foundation that not all communities have to work from,” she said. “We have a lot of social capital — people that live in the city are very involved, they care about their neighbors, they care about the well-being of the city at large. And that goes a long way toward solving these types of problems. I don’t think it will happen overnight, but the fact that people care enough is a really valuable tool to have in the toolbox.”

 

Art and Soul

As she walked with BusinessWest up to the balcony of the auditorium in the old Town Hall, Burns Maxey gestured with her hand to the space below.

“You can imagine the possibilities,” she said of this space, which has sat idle for the better part of a decade and a half now.

The key to unlocking its full potential as a resource for the community is accessibility, said Maxey, who was honored by BusinessWest with its Difference Makers award in 2023 for her efforts to transform the landmark, opened in 1869, into CitySpace, adding that such access is at the heart of phase 2 of the ongoing project.

Designed by Amherst-based Kuhn Riddle Architects and construction work being handled by West Springfield-based Keiter, the $3.9 million project to build a new entrance and elevator is expected to take about 18 months, said Maxey, adding that, as this initiative is undertaken, a capital campaign continues to raise funds for the third phase.

Jon Kostek

Jon Kostek says one of his goals for the Greater Easthampton Chamber is growth of its WorkHub on Union.

Backing up a little, she said phase 1 included infrastructure work and conversion of the ground floor into an arts hub, with performance space (an area called the Blue Room) and several tenants, including Big Red Frame, a gallery, and Easthampton City Arts, the arts organization within the city’s Planning Department.

Phase 2 has been in the planning stages for several years and was delayed somewhat by bids for construction that came in higher than originally anticipated. With additional support in the form of an underutilized properties grant from MassDevelopment, the agency went out to bid again, with Keiter prevailing.

Easthampton at a Glance

Year Incorporated: 1785
Population: 16,211
Area: 13.6 square miles
County: Hampshire
Residential Tax Rate: $13.67
Commercial Tax Rate: $13.67
Median Household Income: $45,185
Median Family Income: $54,312
Type of Government: Mayor, City Council
Largest Employers: Berry Plastics Corp., INSA, Williston Northampton School, National Nonwovens Co.

The new entranceway and elevator have been designed to provide access, but also preserve the architectural and historic integrity of the building, said Maxey, including the staircases at the front of the structure, which is similar in many ways to Chicopee’s City Hall and designed by the same architect, Charles Parker.

As for phase 3, the projected cost is expected to approach $7 million, said Maxey, adding that work covers a wide spectrum, including the ceiling, lighting, sound baffling, asbestos remediation, sprinkler and fire suppression systems, bathroom renovations, creation of a green room and offices, and more.

Fundraising continues, and the stated goal is certainly a challenge, but Maxey is confident that the community will continue to support the initiative.

“We have a ways to go — we’re about halfway there,” she conceded, adding that the overall price tag for the project has soared from roughly $6 million to more than $11 million, mostly due to inflation and rising construction costs.

Once funding is secured, she believes phase 3 can be completed in perhaps 18 months, ushering in the next chapter in the story of CitySpace.

 

Making Connections

As for next chapters, the Easthampton chamber is writing itself, with Kostek taking the helm after long-time executive director Moe Belliveau stepped down earlier this year.

Kostek said he was looking for a new challenge after his position with the United States Tennis Assoc. New England was eliminated.

He said his work at the USTA, much of it focused program development for young people, is similar to his new role at the chamber in that they both involve relationship building.

“One of the things I liked most about my work with USTA was meeting people and developing relationships, and I think a lot of these same things apply here, at the chamber … meeting with members and discussing with them what the chamber offers and what we can do moving forward.”

Kostek said he’s spent much of the time since his arrival getting to know the community, meeting with his members, and gauging what they like, dislike, and want more of.

In that last category are face-to-face networking opportunities, he said, adding that he plans to add such events, including After-5s and more Coffee and Connections events at the WorkHub, to the calendar.

Also on his to-do list is growing overall membership and especially membership for WorkHub on Union. The facility has attracted only a few regular users to date, he said, adding that he plans to more aggressively market it across multiple platforms to get the word out.

“It’s a great space, and I think there is a real need for facilities like this,” he said, noting that there are several workstations, as well as a shared conference room, kitchen, and other facilities. “And it’s open 24/7.”

Valet Park of America Marks 35 Years of Steady Growth

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Angela and Ted Chagnon (front, second and third from left) and the leadership team at Valet Park of America
Features

Lots to Celebrate

Angela and Ted Chagnon (front, second and third from left) and the leadership team at Valet Park of America

Angela and Ted Chagnon (front, second and third from left) and the leadership team at Valet Park of America

 

When Ted Chagnon started his own business in 1990, he had big goals, but there were times, early on, when operating in seven states — from New England to Florida — and employing more than 1,250 people may have seemed like a dream too far.

But that’s precisely the growth trajectory Valet Park of America celebrated when it marked 35 years in business last month.

“It was kind of slow growth at first,” Chagnon said, recalling that his first two valet clients were Yankee Pedlar restaurant in Holyoke and Hotel Northampton, and other small businesses followed. It took two years before the company landed its first major client, Baystate Medical Center, and over the next several years, other large clients followed, particularly in the medical realm, from UMass Medical Center to MetroWest Medical Center in Natick and Framingham.

“Around 2005, we started adding ski resorts, locations in Albany, some locations in Connecticut, and we started to build some momentum. It was tough because we didn’t have any resources in the beginning.”

Initially focused on valet parking only, the business later expanded into parking management, operating lots and garages, and then other transportation services.

“That was simply because a lot of our clients, whether it’s a medical facility, a college, a casino, or a ski resort, sometimes need more than just valet; they need parking management services or transportation for guests, patients, or even transporting employees off site,” Chagnon explained. “Sometimes you’re moving the employees to off-site parking garages and parking lots when you run out of space.”

The company operates in a wide geographic footprint, from Buffalo, N.Y. to Boston, as well as in Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Florida. “We’re in Virginia as of last year, and we’ve been in Florida for five years now, and we’ve really grown tremendously there.”

Many employees have been with Valet Park of America for decades, some more than 30 years. Some of those are family, and Chagnon called this a family business; his wife, Angela, is senior vice president, with responsibilities in client relations, human resources, payroll, auditing, and marketing, and other relatives work in leadership positions as well.

“It’s so important to remember what those frontline people are doing out there, with the weather, and the circumstances, and the vehicles, and the hectic days. It can be stressful at times, and to have somebody in here who understands that and appreciates that is huge.”

“My sister was one of the founders. My niece runs our payroll department. My brother runs our fleet management and quality control department. So we are very much a family-run and owned and operated business,” he said.

But he also attributes this employee loyalty to a culture of opportunity, where someone can start by parking cars and eventually move up as other opportunities arise.

“As we grow, we have to hire more people, more regional managers, and it’s nice that we can promote from within. Many worked for us during college and came on board full-time right after college. I don’t think many of them thought they were going to have a career in parking, but then they stayed with the company. In fact, some of their kids are in college now and working for us.”

 

Getting Behind the Wheel

The Chagnons initially operated the company from home, then moved into an office at 191 Chestnut St. in Springfield, where Valet Park of America is still headquartered today.

“Then we kind of grew,” he said, but it was very gradual growth until about 20 years in, when both the roster of clients and the company’s geographic reach started to create more noticeable momentum. “Then you start becoming a bigger company, with different challenges. But one of the biggest, I think, has been keeping the mentality of a family-run and owned business and maintaining that culture.”

Angela agreed. “I think that just came naturally to Ted and me. I love seeing somebody that starts off as an entry-level valet attendant, and now they’re in the payroll department, or they’re helping me in the accounting department. It’s very rewarding to know that we can do that for them. Anytime we have an opening in the office, we post internally. I love to bring somebody up who knows us, who knows the business, who knows our culture, who appreciates what those frontline employees do.

“That’s the biggest factor for me,” she added. “I’m more internal; we’re more support staff on the back end, and it’s so important to remember what those frontline people are doing out there, with the weather, and the circumstances, and the vehicles, and the hectic days. It can be stressful at times, and to have somebody in here who understands that and appreciates that is huge. It makes a difference, I think, to the frontline employees when they see that. I’ve parked cars. I know what’s happening.”

With the company’s growth, Ted said he’s competing with a number of national firms, and dealing with the sorts of economic shifts that any industry faces — and, like many of them, he relies on a diverse client mix to weather those trends.

Angela and Ted Chagnon launched their enterprise 35 years ago last month

Angela and Ted Chagnon launched their enterprise 35 years ago last month

“During COVID, which was unusual, colleges got shut down; they’re doing well now, but they’re finding some fiscal restraints. Hospitals right now are finding some fiscal restraints as well; there have been some cuts there. And restaurants, in some cases, with inflation, have had to cut back, and valet services might be something that’s cut,” he explained.

“But we’ve expanded to ski resorts and casinos and still have medical facilities, colleges, and independent parking lots. So we have a wide range of industries that we service,” he added. “So we do well; one industry might be seeing some cuts or finding some fiscal restraints, and something else might be flourishing. And some states might be doing better than others. It’s never completely smooth sailing.”

The pandemic, as Chagnon noted, was indeed unusual, and particularly challenging, as colleges, casinos, and ski resorts shut down and hospitals cut way back on visitor traffic.

“We had to evolve and adapt, and we had to lay a lot of people off, but here’s what we did: we went back to our hospital clients especially and said, ‘is there anything you need us to do? You don’t need us to transport anyone. You don’t need any parking services, but what can we do for you?’

“And as things progressed, we ended up staffing a lot of COVID testing sites. We were greeting people, lining up the parking, queuing them up, checking them in. That rolled into screener services at a lot of facilities where you would come in and we’d check your temperature, and we’d ask you an array of questions pertaining to travel and things like that before you could enter the hospital. We’d register you. Because the hospitals were short-staffed, and we had a lot of people that had been working with us for a long time, and we wanted to retain them.”

Two scenes from last month’s 35th anniversary celebration, a family-friendly event that drew about 500 people.

Two scenes from last month’s 35th anniversary celebration, a family-friendly event that drew about 500 people.

It was a time of pivoting and resilience for most businesses, he noted.

“Everyone just said, ‘what do we need to do to keep the lights on?’ Because we still had bills to pay, mortgages and insurance and leases on vehicles. You still had to charge through that and make it happen. So we were fortunate that we had a decent number of people that were willing to do that,” he continued. “I was here at work every day just fighting through those challenges. It was a difficult time.”

 

Shifting into the Next Gear

With the pandemic well in the rear view — literally and figuratively — Valet Park of America continues to grow its services and footprint while maintaining that culture the Chagnons value. Last month, the company marked 35 years with a family-oriented celebration in its expansive parking lot, featuring inflatables, rock climbing, cornhole, face painting, and other activities.

“That brought about 500 people here — about 200 employees and all their kids and their spouses — and it was a very much a family environment for everyone to celebrate,” Ted said.

The event also individually recognized employees who had been with the company for 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 years. “We wanted to start with the fifth year, but we had over 150 employees that were here more than five years and a large number of employees over 10 years, and would have been here for two days celebrating each one of them individually,” he said.

“We take pride in our employees’ tenure and the environment that we provide for them,” he added. “It’s a company that can’t run on its own. You can’t have just one person or two people running it. You need a large, supportive team behind you.”

The company also invests in plenty of training for its employees, he told BusinessWest. “We do a lot of training year-round for all our staff because we feel it’s important to make sure that they’re educated, that they know the business, and it gives them opportunity to advance.

“And it helps maintain our culture, too, because we’re in the people business, any way you look at it. We might be in the parking business, we might be in transportation, but it takes people to provide those services, and our employees are really our greatest asset.”

That culture extends to community involvement in many ways as well, supporting organizations like the USO, Jenna’s Blessing Bags, and the various foundations of the company’s medical clients — not to mention encouraging employee volunteerism with nonprofits and charitable events, like the annual UMass Cancer Walk. And those efforts are multiplied across the company’s seven states.

Looking ahead, Chagnon said Valet Park of America will continue to grow smartly and innovate in a number of ways — like its adoption some years ago of automation in the parking process at many sites.

“It’s a company that can’t run on its own. You can’t have just one person or two people running it. You need a large, supportive team behind you.”

“We distribute magnetic parking gates and started building our own entrance and exit payment kiosks for parking garages and parking lots. We kind of branched off into that a little bit to try to be a multi-faceted service provider for our clients.

“We try to control costs for them, provide a very good service, evolve, and adapt to their needs as a vendor or partner. And I think we do that well,” he continued. “Every year we see growth, and it’s primarily because of the services that we provide and the quality that we provide and a lot of good referrals.”

Angela agreed. “Our culture is so important to us, and it always has been. It’s something we focus on every year when we talk about our goals. We make sure to maintain, as best we can, communication and relationships with all the employees as we continue to grow,” she told BusinessWest. “And we have seen that nice, steady growth … obviously minus the COVID years.”

“We’re just looking forward to the next number of years,” Ted added. “Hopefully we have quite a few ahead of us.”

Springfield Features Many Developing Stories

By
Ray Berry at Pridelands on Mane Street, what he calls a spinoff of a winning concept from the days before COVID.
Community Spotlight Special Coverage

Community Spotlight

Ray Berry at Pridelands on Mane Street, what he calls a spinoff of a winning concept from the days before COVID.

Ray Berry at Pridelands on Mane Street, what he calls a spinoff of a winning concept from the days before COVID.

Diana Szynal took the job as president of the Springfield Regional Chamber — and an office overlooking Tower Square Park — three years ago.

Back then, the city was still trying to shake off the effects of COVID, she said, with many workers at downtown businesses still spending considerable time working remotely.

They’re not all back five days a week, she stressed, but there is far more vibrancy in the downtown than when she started — and on many levels.

“More people are in their offices more days of the week, and this has helped create a lot of vitality downtown … I’m seeing a lot of energy there,” she said. “There are some new restaurants opening and new businesses coming in. There are a lot of people walking around and enjoying being downtown.”

And that sentiment certainly includes what Szynal can see out her window in Tower Square Park, which is home to a popular farmers market and, more recently, an attention-grabbing art installation called Odyssey — one of the Springfield Business Improvement District’s more creative (literally and figuratively) efforts to promote the downtown and bring people to it  — and a new outdoor event destination created by White Lion Brewing called Pridelands on Mane Street, which kicked off July 9.

Diana Szynal

Diana Szynal

“More people are in their offices more days of the week, and this has helped create a lot of vitality downtown … I’m seeing a lot of energy there. There are some new restaurants opening and new businesses coming in. There are a lot of people walking around and enjoying being downtown.”

Ray Berry, owner of White Lion, said the destination, created from three custom-designed shipping containers, offers a unique backdrop for planned weekly entertainment on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, but also for company outings, team socials, or casual get-togethers with friends and family.

“There are so many positive moving parts to engage and enjoy downtown,” he said. “We see Pridelands as another piece of the mosaic.”

This broad activation of Tower Square Park is just one of many storylines converging in the City of Homes. Others include:

• Progress to create more housing of all kinds, from market-rate apartments in the downtown to higher-end homes in different areas of the city (more on this later);

• The high-profile project to redevelop the Clocktower Building, Colonial Block, and two other adjoining properties into roughly 100 units of market-rate housing, as well as infrastructure improvements in that area, including a new parking garage;

• The transformation of the former CityStage into the Hope Center for the Arts, a state-of-the-art facility to designed to educate young people and perhaps inspire careers in the arts ;

• Ambitious work to revitalize the entertainment district through redevelopment of a block of buildings on Worthington Street, a project led by Raipher and Joseph Pellegrino in partnership with the city, detailed in the July 7 issue of BusinessWest;

• Continued discussion, and some anxiety, about the future of some downtown office buildings, which continue to struggle in this post-COVID era;

• Plans to replace the troubled Roderick L. Ireland Courthouse — the Massachusetts Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance has issued a request for proposals for a new site, preferably in the downtown; they’re due back in October — and speculation about what will done with the existing structure as well as adjacent properties in that area off State Street, including the former First Church;

An architect’s rendering of the planned improvements, including a new parking garage, in the South End, between State Street and Union Street.

An architect’s rendering of the planned improvements, including a new parking garage, in the South End, between State Street and Union Street.

• The continued success of the Springfield Thunderbirds, which will soon enter their 10th season and continue to set the bar higher with everything from ticket sales to marketing and social media content (see below

• Movement toward creation of a master plan for redevelopment of the Mason Square neighborhood and adjoining areas;

• Visible signs of progress in a massive project to reimagine the former Eastfield Mall as a retail center with a large residential component; and

• Future redevelopment of the former Massachusetts Career Development Institute property on Wilbraham Avenue. The site was demolished four years ago, and speculation continues about what will come next in an area that has seen strong residential growth.

Overall, housing remains one of the main focal points, said Tim Sheehan, the city’s chief Development officer, noting that that there is both urgent need for more housing and several ongoing initiatives to address that need. These include everything from the aforementioned South End project to redevelopment of the former Springfield School Department headquarters on State Street to plans to build high-end homes on the pre-tornado campus of Cathedral High School.

This residential growth reflects both strong need for more housing as well as greater interest in the city overall as a place to live and work, he went on, adding that work is taking place on many fronts to meet the needs of new (and old) residents, and make Springfield a true destination.

 

All That Jazz

Evan Plotkin, president and CEO of NAI Plotkin, has long been a cheerleader for Springfield and a prime mover when it comes to projects to promote the city and especially its downtown and cast them in a positive light. These include everything from mural projects to the Springfield Jazz & Roots Festival, which took place last week and was in its final planning stages as he talked with BusinessWest.

Plotkin said he sees a number of positive developments taking place in the city, including several in the office tower he co-owns, 1350 Main St., where a high school now resides on the top two floors. But it’s what he’s not seeing that has him concerned.

Springfield at a Glance

Year Incorporated: 1852
Population: 155,929
Area: 33.1 square miles
County: Hampden
Residential tax rate: $15.68
Commercial tax rate: $35.22
Median Household Income: $35,236
Median Family Income: $51,110
Type of government: Mayor, City Council
Largest Employers: Baystate Health, MassMutual Financial Group, Big Y Foods, MGM Springfield, Mercy Medical Center, Center for Human Development
* Latest information available

That list includes new businesses coming to the city and its downtown; instead, he said, there’s much more movement of existing businesses and restaurants, a game of musical chairs that doesn’t result in real growth, just a shift of vacancies from one building to another.

Something else he’s not seeing is consistent effort from the city to maintain landmarks like Stearns Square, which was revitalized several years ago, but sees its ornate fountain not in use the majority of the time.

“They invested in the hardscape and the landscape, and then they walked away,” he said of the city and its efforts at the park. “And this is a pattern; we put up plaques saying ‘we did this’ and ‘we did that’ and ‘here’s this brand new park,’ but the next year, they don’t mow the lawn and let the weeds grow back.”

Overall, more work is needed to maintain and preserve such treasures and to make the city a more desirable place to visit — and work in and live in, he went on, adding that he would like to see the city create a permanent stage downtown near Stearns Square (a temporary one was set up for the Jazz Fest) and make live music a prominent piece of the puzzle, as it was years ago.

Live music is just one of the components of Pridelands on Mane Street, a play on words that also represents what Berry called a “spinoff of a proven concept, pre-COVID.”

Elaborating, he said that, before the pandemic, White Lion created pop-up beer gardens at several sites around downtown. The last few years, though, it has concentrated these efforts in Tower Square Park, making use of retrofitted shipping containers.

Fast-forwarding, he explained that, with an ARPA grant from the city, White Lion was essentially tasked with reactivating the park, and it’s doing so in colorful styles, as in a shipping container wrapped (by East Longmeadow-based Go Graphix) with the White Lion logo.

“We knew, by way of our partnership with the Business Improvement District and other stakeholders, that the beer garden concept worked in years past, and pre-COVID showed that a container park concept resonates with our customer base,” Berry explained. “So we thought, why not bring the concept back, look to make it more permanent, and have it be a true destination right in the middle of the business district and the emerging arts district?”

Approaching 10th Season, T-Birds Have Matured as a Business

Nate Costa says that, when it comes to the Springfield Thunderbirds and prospects for continued growth, there isn’t room for much more.

Well … at least when it comes to ticket sales.

Indeed, capacity at the team’s home, the MassMutual Center, a.k.a. the Thunderdome, is 6,700. For the 2024-25 season, the T-Birds, an affiliate of the NHL’s St. Louis Blues, averaged 6,369 per game, up from 6,321 the prior season. So, there’s still room for improvement, and the team will doggedly pursue it. But, again, not much.

Nate Costa

Nate Costa

“We’re going to eventually, hopefully, run out of tickets to sell,” Costa, the team’s president, said with a laugh, noting that this is both a good problem to have — one many other teams in the American Hockey League would love to have — and one of many solid indicators of how far this team has come.

As it readies for its 10th season of operation, with various plans to mark that milestone, the Thunderbirds have established themselves as a solid franchise with an increasingly loyal fan base, as evidenced by those numbers above … and the fact that they were achieved with the parking garage next door to the arena unavailable for the past three seasons.

Which means that, while there’s not much room for growth in ticket sales, there’s still plenty of room when it comes to growing revenue through increases in ticket prices — the team still charges well below the league average — as well as merchandise sales and other avenues.

“Over the past five years, we’ve continued to see the maturation of our business,” Costa explained. “We’re continuing to fill the building, and now it’s looking at our margins; we’re 30th in the league out of 32 teams in ticket price. It’s been really good to get the bodies in the building and show the value, but now it’s up to us to start walking that ticket price up effectively and generating revenue on the margins.”

Looking back, Costa said 2024-25 was another solid season for the T-Birds. There was a playoff run, albeit not a deep one (the team lost in the first round), with 20 sellouts, and, as noted, continued improvement in ticket sales and other measures of success.

“Every Saturday in the second half of the season, we sold out,” he noted, adding that many other games approached capacity over the final three months.

Meanwhile, off the ice, the team earned several awards from the league, which is becoming an annual tradition.

Indeed, in addition to benchmark awards for ticket sales and corporate sales, the team was recognized as having the AHL Marketing Department of the Year and the Most Unique Social Media Content. (More awards were expected at the annual league meetings in South Carolina, which were taking place as this story went to press.)

The marketing and social media content awards help explain the continued improvement in group sales and overall ticket sales, said Costa, adding that, with the shorter playoff run, the team is already “well ahead and well out in front of next season” in terms of season ticket renewals, group sales, and other initiatives.

Indeed, the team continues to set the bar higher, he went on, adding that, with the parking garage now open, the space adjacent to it being activated — the team, working with the state, which controls the property, will look to create a Yawkey Way-like atmosphere on game nights — and an already stable fan base, there are expectations for continued growth.

As for ticket sales, the team’s success on the ice and with creating a fun, always changing fan experience, coupled with the relatively small capacity of 6,700, has created both demand and urgency, said Costa, adding that the team has grown season ticket sales past 1,600 and looks to surpass 1,700 for next season.

“When you have a base like that coming in for every game, and we had a really great year for groups — we did more than $1 million in group revenue for the first time ever in Springfield hockey history — that gives you a really good base to work from to fill the rest of the building,” he explained, adding that the full (and nearly full) houses create a raucous atmosphere not seen in some other buildings.

“In Hartford, the XL Center [now PeoplesBank Arena] seats 16,000 people; when you bring 6,000 out, it just doesn’t have that same feeling,” he said. “If you get 5,000 in our building, the place is rocking; it feels like it’s full. That’s an advantage for us.”

As for ticket revenues, the T-Birds’ average price is just over $20, with the league average north of $28, said Costa, adding that there is some leeway for increases, given those statistics, the value the team delivers, and the growing demand for the product.

“Since we started here, the big thing was just trying to show as much value as possible, with the promotions and themes we do on game nights … that’s really added to why people want to buy tickets,” he explained. “Now, with the scarcity of tickets, the ticket packages are much more valuable because people are trying to lock in their seats, knowing that they’re not going to get them waiting until a week before a game.

“It’s been really good to change that mentality, and we’ve re-educated the community as to how to get tickets and the best way to get them,” he went on. “Coming out of the gates, we focused on building the base and going after large numbers; then, once you get the large numbers in the building and you start to create some emergency with sellouts, you can start to walk up your ticket price. I think we’re there.”

Heading into their 10th year, the T-Birds are ‘there’ in many respects and looking to soar still higher in 2025-26.

—George O’Brien

Pridelands is one of many sources of greater vibrancy Szynal is seeing downtown, and at the chamber as well, which is based in Springfield but boasts members from across the region. She said membership is up — 419 was the latest count — amid efforts to both grow and diversify the membership through initiatives such as a revamped, more member-focused website and television commercials.

“We’re really trying to diversify our membership in every possible way, from diversification of the people that are part of the chamber to the businesses and types of businesses that join the chamber,” she explained. “We’re really trying to cast a wide net; the chamber is most effective if there’s a lot of different types of people and businesses that are part of it.”

Elaborating, she said the chamber has been working in many ways to “be more out there,” through those TV commercials, social media content, the new website, a deeper event schedule, and more.

 

Progress Report

While there are several visible signs of momentum in the city, perhaps the most notable is what would be considered the ‘housing market,’ Sheehan said.

That’s a broad term that covers everything from still-rising home prices — the city has seen one of the more dramatic such increases in the state — to development of new housing of all kinds, including new market-rate apartments downtown, but also upscale homes in several sections of the city, including East Forest Park, the Bicentennial Highway area, and perhaps the site of the former Sears at the Eastfield Mall, acquired by one residential developer.

“The demand is for new product,” he said, referring to both homes and rental units. “And that’s why we’re seeing so much new housing development coming in that includes homes at the higher end of the market.”

Meanwhile, interior demolition has commenced at the South End properties — the Colonial Block, the Clocktower Building, and others, said Sheehan, noting that McCaffery, the Chicago-based development company leading the project, is finalizing financing, which is expected to cost roughly $50 million. Transfer of the Springfield Redevelopment Authority properties to McCaffery is expected to take place early next year, with construction expected to begin soon thereafter.

As that project progresses, so too has a $30 million infrastructure improvement initiative, including a new parking garage at the corner of Stockbridge and Willow streets, for the area from State Street to Union Street, one designed to make it more responsive to the residential growth taking place there.

“There’s significant housing development that’s back there now, with Stockbridge Court being the largest one, but there’s also the Lofts on Park Street,” he explained, adding that the work includes new sidewalks, lighting, road repair, and improvements to the surface parking in that area, and will create stronger connections to Main Street. “This will lift up that entire area, not just for the new housing, but the housing that’s historically been there for quite some time.”

While Sheehan sees progress on many fronts, from housing to the Eastfield Mall to the county courthouse, there are areas of concern.

These include the property at 101 State St., owned by MGM Springfield. There is still scaffolding on the structure nearly seven years after the casino opened, he said, adding that redevelopment of the property is a key bullet point in the host community agreement, and lack of progress there has become a point of contention between the city and the casino operator.

“We have concerns about that not moving forward in a timely way,” he said, adding that another pain point is the lack of any apparent progress at the former Vibra Hospital site on State Street, now vacant for several years, a campus that includes the so-called ‘Isolation Hospital,’ which preservationists want to save from the wrecking ball.

Another concern is the property known as the Mardi Gras building because it was home to a now-closed gentleman’s club. The restaurant known as 350 Grill will be moving from that building to the site of the former Jackalope on Worthington Street, becoming a key part of the revitalization efforts there. And while that location will likely work out well for the restaurant, it leaves the Mardi Gras building vacant and with little talk of redevelopment.

“There hasn’t been much dialogue, but there has been discussion of doing housing there,” said Sheehan, adding that the upper floors hold the potential to house dozens of units. “And it would be an ideal site for housing because there’s plenty of parking at the site, and you’re close to Union Station.”

Meanwhile, several other properties downtown are largely vacant — he listed Harrison Place and adjoining structures along Main Street, but there are others scattered across the central business district — and with little movement toward redevelopment and the properties in serious need of investment in new infrastructure.

“These owners have held and held and held and not kept up with the requisite investments they should be making in these properties,” said Sheehan, adding that speculation that some properties might become part of the MGM complex, such as those now being converted to housing in the South End, kept those owners from investing in their holdings.

Sheehan said one possible reuse for some of these properties is housing, although conversion would likely be an expensive undertaking. The state has launched a new initiative called the Momentum Fund, a first-in-the-nation state revolving fund to support mixed-income housing production, and it recently announced its first financing commitment from the fund, $5 million for the Residences of East Milton, which will create 92 new mixed-income rental units in an underutilized commercial property in the town of Milton.

He noted that Springfield has several buildings that meet that description, and hopes projects will materialize that can take advantage of the Momentum Fund, adding that housing might be the best option for many commercial properties in and around the downtown.

“We’d like to have a little more momentum in Western Mass.,” he said, “a part of the state that needs more help with housing.”

Pittsfield Builds Awareness of All It Has to Offer

By
Laurie Tierney, seen in front of Hotel on North
Community Spotlight Special Coverage

Community Spotlight

Laurie Tierney, seen in front of Hotel on North

Laurie Tierney, seen in front of Hotel on North, describes Pittsfield as the “Brooklyn of the Berkshires,” which is meant as a compliment.

 

Laurie Tierney likes to refer to Pittsfield as the “Brooklyn of the Berkshires.”

By that, Tierney — co-owner, with her husband, David, of Hotel on North (as in North Street, downtown’s main drag) — implies there’s some grit when it comes to that region’s largest community. “We’re gritty, not necessarily pretty,” she said with a laugh.

But if one were to look closer and beyond the grit, they would see much more — in this case, culture, restaurants, some retail, and outdoor recreation, for starters, she told BusinessWest.

“I think Pittsfield is doing a great job of reinventing itself,” she said of the ongoing transformation from the days when its economy and overall vibrancy were dominated by one large employer, GE. “Barrington Stage and the Colonial Theatre have been a big part of that; we have a great arts community … we just need more people to get to know us.”

Rebecca Brien, managing director of Downtown Pittsfield Inc. (DPI), agreed, adding that a multi-faceted marketing campaign is being launched in an effort to prompt more people — especially locals, but also those from other area codes — to give Pittsfield a closer look.

It includes Hey Neighbor, a program awarding marketing grants to 10 businesses in downtown Pittsfield, with grantees receiving custom video ads before films at the Beacon Cinema and radio advertisements on WUPE/WEBC during that same time period.

In addition, the city’s two major theaters, Barrington Stage Company and the Colonial Theatre, have received what she calls “dinner-and-a-show” radio spots on NPR.

“This initiative aims to drive foot traffic, build community awareness, and showcase the diverse stories of Pittsfield’s small business community,” Brien said of Hey Neighbor, adding that the theater spots are designed to remind neighbors that the city offers world-class theater and attractive dinner options just a short drive away (more on this later).

“If it isn’t daily workforce that’s occupying the restaurants and coffee shops and visiting the businesses, then it needs to be residents that are doing it in the morning and the evening after work, or while working remotely.”

These promotional initiatives and broader efforts to bring people to the city comprise just one of many developing stories in this community of roughly 44,000 people. Others include:

• Ongoing efforts to create more housing of all kinds, but especially market-rate and affordable units. Several projects in various stages of progress will add more than 100 units, but 200 to 300 will be needed, Mayor Pete Marchetti said;

• The demolition and rebuild of historic Wahconah Park, with the goal of bringing collegiate league baseball back to Pittsfield;

• Early-stage work to gauge interest in forming a business improvement district in the downtown;

• Late feasibility-stage work to build a new elementary school, one that would merge two existing schools into one; and

• Several infrastructure projects, including work on North Street.

Housing remains a critical issue in the community, said those we spoke with — both to meet an urgent need for more options among workers, the elderly, and other constituencies, and to bring more vibrancy to a downtown still suffering from the side effects of COVID, especially the transition to remote work and hybrid schedules, which has reduced the level of business activity in the neighborhood.

Jonathan Butler, president and CEO of the regional economic development agency 1Berkshire, said there is no turning back the clock in this regard, leaving housing as the best option for commercial space in the downtown — and for providing the critical mass of people needed to support the wide range of hospitality-related businesses.

The Hey Neighbor campaign

The Hey Neighbor campaign is part of a broad effort to bring more attention to Pittsfield, its cultural attractions, and its eclectic mix of small businesses.

“If it isn’t daily workforce that’s occupying the restaurants and coffee shops and visiting the businesses, then it needs to be residents that are doing it in the morning and the evening after work, or while working remotely,” he explained. “They’re replacing those people who were formerly working in commercial spaces and buying their morning coffee and lunch.”

“In the spirit of post-pandemic urban planning, downtown Pittsfield, like a lot of other urban centers, has seen a shift away of commercial activity — we’re seeing employers shifting to more work-life balance models with remote working and hybrid office models,” he explained. “So we’re seeing some investments in housing, to meet the city’s needs and a much larger regional need.”

For this latest installment of its Community Spotlight series, BusinessWest turns its lens on the Brooklyn of the Berkshires and the many ongoing efforts to inspire people to look beyond the grit.

 

Staying Power

Hotel on North is marking its 10th anniversary this year, Tierney said, and there is much to commemorate.

Indeed, the boutique 45-room hotel — created out of buildings more than a century old that were once home to the menswear and sporting goods emporium Besse-Clarke — has become a cornerstone of an ongoing transformation of downtown Pittsfield, from the retail-heavy and business-focused days when GE’s transformer division was employing more than 10,000 people, into a more hospitality- and arts-dominated district where more people live than in decades past.

The hotel and the guests it draws from across the Northeast and beyond have inspired several new businesses, she said, listing Methuselah Bar & Lounge and an expansion of Steven Valenti’s men’s clothing store among them.

As for the hotel itself … well, Tierney said it shares its personality with the Berkshires (and Pittsfield itself), meaning an intriguing blend of the past and present, heritage and innovation.

She and David have traveled all around the world, and they’ve incorporated their experiences into Hotel on North, such as its revolving door, a concept borrowed from a hotel in Nashville.

Over the past decade, the hotel has become a big part of the changing scene in Pittsfield, a tight-knit community of hospitality, arts-related, and service businesses that support one another and, together, have become more of a destination in recent years rather than a place to drive through on the way to somewhere else.

Mayor Pete Marchetti

Mayor Pete Marchetti says that, while new housing units are coming online, there is more work to do to meet enormous need in the city.

But in many ways, it is still an unknown, or at least underappreciated, commodity, said Tierney, adding that there is a need for the city to understand and appreciate all that it has become — “it’s been the ugly stepsister for the surrounding towns for so long that I think that sometimes it doesn’t see itself as the engine that can and will” — and do more to put its best foot forward.

Brien said this need to promote all Pittsfield has to offer is at the heart of DPI’s Hey Neighbor campaign, funded through MassDevelopment’s Transformative Development Initiative, as well as the spots promoting not only the shows at Barrington Stage and the Colonial Theatre, but nearby restaurants in Pittsfield.

With the latter, the goal, through the spots on NPR, is to introduce (or reintroduce) Pittsfield to a broad audience across Western Mass.

“We have great tourism that obviously goes on in the Berkshires, but Pittsfield is kind of that forgotten space,” she explained, adding that, while most area residents will go Northampton for dinner and a show, most don’t fully appreciate that they can do the same in Pittsfield.

“Why aren’t those same individuals coming here?” she asked rhetorically, adding that the answer may well be a simple lack of awareness.

Meanwhile, Hey Neighbor will spotlight 10 downtown businesses through those aforementioned cinema and radio spots, said Brien, adding that the eclectic mix includes Hot Plate Brewing Co., Thistle ’n Thorn Floral, WANDER Berkshires, Otto’s Kitchen & Comfort, Methuselah, and Berkshire Nautilus.

“Together, they say, ‘come back downtown and see what’s new,’” she told BusinessWest, adding that a third piece to the broad marketing campaign involves $1,000 grants to three summer event series to promote their offerings:

• The Pitt, a Friday summer music series being spearheaded by Hot Plate Brewing Co.;

• Rhythmscape, which offers weekly dance lessons on Sundays. (like the Pitt, these take place in Dunham Mall, a public pedestrian walkway that has seen several aesthetic improvements over this past year); and

• Depot After Dark, which pairs Tito’s Mexican Bar & Grill and WANDER Berkshires, a new gathering space, adding late-night dance parties to the alleyway just outside their businesses. 

 

Developing Stories

Such efforts are expected to bring more momentum to a downtown that has seen healthy doses of that commodity in recent years, even as it continues to build back from the many types of disruption resulting from the pandemic.

Perhaps the biggest of these is the change in how and where work is done, said Butler, adding that, like all downtowns in the region, Pittsfield’s suffers from having fewer people going to work there everyday.

This trend, coupled with critical need, is fueling investments in housing downtown, he went on, adding that several projects are in various stages of development.

Pittsfield at a Glance

Year Incorporated: 1761
Population: 43,927
Area: 42.5 square miles
County: Berkshire
Residential Tax Rate: $17.94
Commercial Tax Rate: $37.96
Median Household Income: $35,655
Median family Income: $46,228
Type of Government: Mayor, City Council
Largest Employers: Berkshire Health Systems; General Dynamics; Petricca Industries Inc.; SABIC Innovative Plastics; Berkshire Bank
* Latest information available

These include renovation of the Wright Building, just a few doors down from Hotel on North, which represents an example of the shift from commercial to residential uses for downtown real estate. Butler said there are maybe a few hundred more people living downtown than a decade or more ago, and this growing population has helped support existing businesses and inspire new ones.

Meanwhile, this new housing is helping to meet soaring need across the city and the region, said Marchetti, a former Pittsfield Cooperative Bank executive and city councilor, who was elected mayor in November 2023.

He said the city is ready to cut the ribbon on some projects, including Terrace 592, redevelopment of the Wright Terrace apartments, which will bring online 41 units, most of them affordable, while others are in earlier stages.

Overall, there are perhaps another 150 to 200 units in early stage or predevelopment, Marchetti said, including redevelopment of the former Hibbard Elementary School, while Mill Town Capital has several projects in different locations across the city. These initiatives will make a dent in overall need, but more will be needed, he added.

“There’s a lot more work that we need to do, mostly because ours is an aging population,” he noted, adding that affordable options are needed if empty nesters want to continue living in the city.

Beyond housing, there are other issues facing the city, he went on, including the demolition and rebuilding of Wahconah Park, the city-owned landmark built in 1919, with work slated to begin next year.

The wooden grandstand, one of the few remaining in the U.S., was deemed unsafe, Marchetti said, and the park, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has been closed for two years. Plans call for replacement of that grandstand but retention of other elements of the park, as well as creation of a historic walkway that will highlight the history of the park, which had a diamond oriented due west (it was constructed well before the advent of field lighting permitted night games), which resulted in brief suspensions of play at sunset so that the setting sun would not interfere with the batters’ view of the pitch.

The Pittsfield Suns, part of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League, played at the park before it was deemed unsafe, Marchetti noted, adding that the team could possibly return to Pittsfield — which would be yet another development blending past and future in this city in flux.

Elizabeth Staples Keeps Evolving the Good Dog Spot

By
Elizabeth Staples today
Where Are They Now?

Where Are They Now?

Elizabeth Staples today

Elizabeth Staples today

Elizabeth Staples was honored in the 40 Under Forty class of 2016

Elizabeth Staples was honored in the 40 Under Forty class of 2016

When Elizabeth Staples was named to BusinessWest’s 40 Under Forty class of 2016, she had been running her business, the Good Dog Spot, for almost a decade, based on one foundational idea: that canine daycare should be more than stowing dogs in kennels.

“On the East Coast, you mostly saw the warehouse style of boarding — put the dog in a cage and go away, which is kind of sad,” she explained back then. “But nationally, the trend was toward an off-leash play center, where people could feel good about leaving their dog and not feel guilty about it. That’s what we wanted to bring to this area.”

Fast-forward nine more years, and Staples is still evolving the idea of how best to serve dogs and their families.

“There’s been a shift in the industry that recognizes that dogs are parts of our family, and people want more than even just a place for them to go play all day,” she told BusinessWest during a visit earlier this month. “They want to make sure that their lives are full of enrichment, and every dog is a little different, so their needs might be a little bit different. So it’s not quite the same as throwing all the dogs into a big group for playtime anymore.”

She’s talking about the Enhanced Dog Daycare program, which goes beyond playtime and aims to create a balanced day that leaves a dog fulfilled, but not exhausted, through carefully tailored activities, personalized attention, and thoughtful socialization — all individualized for each guest.

From a single location in Chicopee starting in 2007, the Good Dog Spot expanded to a second site in Northampton in late 2016, and both locations offer daycare, boarding, grooming, and services like Spot’s Tots, which is a puppy socialization program that gets pups ready for the daycare environment.

“Every dog is a little different, so their needs might be a little bit different. So it’s not quite the same as throwing all the dogs into a big group for playtime anymore.”

“That young puppy period is a really influential time where you can set them up for some very positive experiences,” Staples noted.

In its first nine years, leading up to her 40 Under Forty recognition, the Good Dog Spot grew from one employee to 18, and boasts close to 40 now. In 2016, the business served about 30 dogs a day; now, on a busy day, each site may see 50 dogs checking in for daycare, 20 for boarding, and another 20 for grooming.

“We’re growing organically with the two locations. I guess the big-picture dream is that there would be a third location,” she said. “We currently rent both of our locations, and we’ve got great relationships with our landlords, but eventually owning a property we’re in would be a future goal for us as well.”

The COVID years posed challenges on multiple levels, starting with how to serve the public under strict state regulations.

“Daycare was still on the essential list, so we could open for daycare and grooming, but we couldn’t do boarding. And then it shifted, but the shifts were not necessarily communicated clearly,” Staples said.

“But we realized that grooming was the essential service. You’ve got elderly people that can’t take care of their dogs. You’ve got hygiene, fleas, ticks, and things like that that you want to make sure you’re taking care of,” she noted. “Then, when that got taken off of the essential list, we could only do one at a time. And you’re making clients unhappy because they’re like, ‘my dog’s there; can’t you just groom him anyway? But we couldn’t because we could get fined. So it really was complicated.”

The other change coming out of COVID was that workforce issues across a broad spectrum of industries were forcing wages up, and with a growing staff, the Good Dog Spot has had to respond in order to attract the best talent, hiring staff at $18 per hour and paying managers in the mid-20s.

“We had to stay ultra-competitive,” Staples said. “Minimum wage was going up anyway, but to get ahead of that curve was challenging because we needed to bring in quality people to take care of these pets. The increase in wages allows us to take good care of our staff and keep them happy, content, and safe. But it also allows us to do what’s great for the dogs, so it’s just been a win-win all around.”

Since their children were born, Staples’s husband, Cory, has handled much of the day-to-day operations of the Good Dog Spot. “Cory’s focused on the numbers, and I focus more on what’s really great for the dogs. And when the two mesh together well, that’s really great to see,” she said.

She is also proud of the business’ focus on continuing education and safety. Both Elizabeth and Cory are certified through the Professional Animal Care Certification Council, and they’ve been involved with an organization called Fear Free Pets, which offers training to help the staff recognize stress signals and other signs in an effort to work with animals in a positive way. Employees are also certified in first aid and CPR.

As for the continued growth over the past 18 years, Staples said having to keep up with demand — in terms of both staffing and evolving client offerings — has been challenging, but gratifying when she looks back at her humble beginnings. “It really does blow my mind sometimes.”

In Monson, Things Are Percolating

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Amanda Roy, center, with several staff members at the Better Bean coffee shop on Main Street in Monson.
Community Spotlight Special Coverage

Community Spotlight

Amanda Roy, center, with several staff members at the Better Bean coffee shop on Main Street in Monson.

Amanda Roy, center, with several staff members at the Better Bean coffee shop on Main Street in Monson.

 

Amanda Roy likes to say the devastating ankle injury she suffered in 2021 when she missed the last step at her house didn’t happen to her; it happened for her.

That mishap left her in a wheelchair and facing a lengthy recovery period, which she chose to spend with her parents, in the Monson home where she grew up. And while recovering, she spent a lot of time thinking about what the next chapter in her life would look like and where it would play out.

She ultimately decided it would look somewhat like a previous chapter, when she spent 10 years operating a coffee shop in Plymouth, but with some real changes (more on those later). As for the place … she chose downtown Monson with the thought that this would be a short-term gig.

But things changed, and quickly.

“I thought, ‘I’m going to open a coffee shop, and when I get better, I’m going to sell it, move back to Plymouth, and get on with my life,’” said Roy, who opened the Better Bean in the summer of 2023, when she thought she was recovering from that ankle injury. Instead, she was told she would need a replacement. And while getting it and some subsequent surgeries, she made the decision to get on with her life in her hometown. She’s making the Better Bean one of the more intriguing business stories in this community, while she and her boyfriend build a house there.

These developing stories are just a few of many in this town of just over 8,000 people. Others include:

• Progress with the redevelopment of the sprawling Monson Developmental Center (MDC) site. The board of Westmass Area Development Corp. is expected to vote soon on a proposal to acquire a 100-acre portion of the site with the intention of redeveloping it for housing and related purposes;

• Renovation and expansion of the town’s fire station;

• A town meeting vote to move from three selectmen to five;

• Continued growth of what would be called agritourism, with businesses such as Silver Bell Farms, Echo Hill Orchard, Westview Farms Creamery, and others, which grow and sell everything from apples to Christmas trees to wine to ice cream, and draw people from across the region and beyond; and

• Anticipation and excitement concerning the planned east-west rail station in Palmer, which has the potential to make Monson a more popular place to live for those who work in Greater Boston but can’t afford home prices in the capital area.

“It’s still costs a lot to build a house, but from a value standpoint, this is an opportunity to bring people here, and when individuals move in, now you have an opportunity for another restaurant or two, and then businesses will look at Monson as a vibrant place to move to.”

Westmass President and CEO Jeff Daley said the board is expected to vote by the end of this month on a proposal to acquire a section of the MDC property, on which he envisions a ‘village concept’ for the parcel, which represents a new and intriguing opportunity for the agency.

“What we’ve done in the past has been mostly commercial and industrial-type projects,” he said, noting industrial park projects in cities like Westfield, Agawam, and Chicopee, as well as redevelopment of the massive Ludlow Mills complex in Ludlow, which includes large housing components. “We’ve worked with partners on housing in the past, and housing is definitely a need, and the demographics of Monson have been changing; housing would be a good fit at that location.”

The MDC was among many state-owned properties featured in a recent showcase of parcels available for housing development that hosted the Healey administration, said Jenn Wolowicz, Monson’s town administrator, noting that, while there are several potential future uses, housing, especially affordable and 55-and-over housing, are critical needs.

One of the long-shuttered buildings at the Monson Developmental Center, which is moving closer to redevelopment, with housing as one of the likely new uses.

One of the long-shuttered buildings at the Monson Developmental Center, which is moving closer to redevelopment, with housing as one of the likely new uses.

“As of April 30, our population of seniors is 33% of our overall population,” she explained. “We have a lot of people living in single-family homes, their children are grown, and they’d love to be able to downsize to a townhouse-type unit, and we’ve made sure that this is something that’s being heard by Westmass.”

As for east-west rail, Jim Przypek, CEO of the Quaboag Hills Chamber of Commerce, which serves 15 communities, including Monson, said that service will benefit many of the communities in the Quaboag region simply by making them more accessible.

“The trend of people moving out of Eastern Mass. and migrating farther and farther west will continue and be accelerated by east-west rail,” he said, adding that rail service will make it easier to live in those towns but still work in Boston or Hartford.

For this latest installment of its Community Spotlight series, BusinessWest turns its lens on Monson, the picturesque town roughly halfway between Springfield and Worcester that has established its own identity.

 

Developing Stories

Mike Rouette grew up in Monson, and it has remained his home. He described it as the “perfect place to raise a family,” and a community where people team up to get things done, right down to planning and executing the Fourth of July parade and fireworks.

“Everyone pitches in and does what needs to be done to keep the town vibrant,” said Rouette, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Monson Savings Bank, who, as he surveys the landscape, sees both challenges and opportunities for the town.

The challenges are similar to those facing other rural communities in that area, including the loss of manufacturing jobs — plants once made everything from hats to toilet seats here — as well as retaining existing businesses and grappling with declining enrollment in local schools stemming from school choice and other contributing factors.

“It’s not easy to access Monson,” he explained. “Sometimes, people tend to look at Monson, from a Springfield standpoint, as if Wilbraham Mountain is almost like a Great Wall of China — it’s ‘over there.’”

As for opportunities, they mostly involve abundant land (although much of it is on hillsides) and still-affordable buildings lots, at least when compared to towns to the west (like Wilbraham, Hampden, and East Longmeadow) and to the east (Sturbridge and Auburn).

“There’s an opportunity there that the town should take advantage of,” Rouette said of lot prices. “It’s still costs a lot to build a house, but from a value standpoint, this is an opportunity to bring people here, and when individuals move in, now you have an opportunity for another restaurant or two, and then businesses will look at Monson as a vibrant place to move to.”

Meanwhile, the MDC site provides a wealth of opportunities — much like the site of the former Belchertown State School has — for creative reuse, everything from housing to commercial sites to Rouette’s vision of a regional high school that would serve Monson and Palmer and help keep students in those communities.

The MDC, which closed in 2012, was spread over more than 650 acres. A large portion of the property will be transferred to the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game to become a wildlife management area, said Wolowicz, adding that Westmass could become the developer of the remaining 100-acre parcel, where the hospital buildings and other facilities still stand.

“We would be demoing the hospital buildings and doing a mixed-use development with quite a bit of housing,” said Daley of plans that are still being formalized and, of course, contingent on the upcoming vote of the board. “We’re proposing that it would be affordable, market-rate, and workforce, to make sure that people can come into town if they want, or upsize or downsize in the town of Monson, as well as potentially some retail and commercial use to create a village atmosphere, as opposed to just coming in and putting some buildings up.

“We really want to respect the town of Monson and the surrounding communities, and that’s why we’re proposing something with more of a village feel rather than just putting up ranch homes or duplexes,” he went on. “This would be more strategically thought out … a village concept where people could still enjoy that rural farm life, if you will, in Monson, while also creating a new development for housing upgrades for people who want to get out of their homes, as well as workforce housing. This could be a game changer for Monson, Palmer, and the surrounding communities.”

 

Bean Optimistic

The staff at the Better Bean likes to get creative and theme its specialty drinks and other fare.

Such was the case last fall, with a two-month salute to Gilmore Girls and the small, fictional Connecticut town called Stars Hollow, where the show takes place.

“Stars Hollow looks a lot like Monson,” said Roy, referencing both her coffee shop and Dan Grieve Park, across the street from the shop, and its gazebo, which is very similar to the one in the show.

Monson at a Glance

Year Incorporated: 1775
Population: 8,150
Area: 44.8 square miles
County: Hampden
Residential Tax Rate: $14.87
Commercial Tax Rate: $14.87
Median Household Income: $52,030
Median Family Income: $58,607
Type of Government: Select Board, Open Town Meeting
Latest information available

The park, complete with several Adirondack chairs and benches, is quite popular with Better Bean clients, most of them regulars, said Roy, who chose a grab-and-go format rather than seating, one of many lessons she took from her time in Plymouth, which was split between two locations.

The first was a kiosk inside a Registry of Motor Vehicles office, and the second was a much larger space in the same industrial park, “with seats and a public bathroom and a big menu … and I burned myself right out,” she said, adding that she sold that enterprise six months before COVID arrived.

“Someone was looking out for me big time, because I can’t imagine being that burned out and having to deal with COVID,” she said, adding that her ankle injury brought her back to Monson and, eventually, to a storefront — the same one her father operated a realty office out of when she was young — on Main Street.

Learning her lesson from Plymouth, she created a place that’s not too big or too small, although it’s been cramped since she opened, so she will soon take over the space next door (the former Petal and Wren flower shop, which relocated) and will use the back for storage and the front for a small gift shop, something she said the town needs.

Overall, Roy told BusinessWest, the downtown has lost some storefronts — a cannabis shop closed recently, for example — but it remains an emerging destination.

Wolowicz agreed, but noted that the town’s business community is diverse, with many ventures existing in the agritourism and hospitality spaces.

“We have quite a few people who are being very creative when it comes to what their land is used for, be it what they’re growing or their animals,” she said, adding that one of the priorities for town officials has been to promote the preservation of farmland and, overall, a healthy rural community.

The Monson Agricultural Commission goes about this work in many ways, she said, listing everything from Right to Farm bylaws, which protect farms from noise, odor, and other complaints, to a farmers market event with live music and more than a dozen local vendors, including farms, bakeries, and artisans; the next such event is slated for Sept. 13.

“The town of Monson supports its commercial farms,” Wolowicz said, “and wishes to ensure their continued existence and positive impact on the town economically, ecologically, and socially.”

Przypek, who came to the chamber after a lengthy stint with the Basketball Hall of Fame in marketing and sponsorships, and then several years as general manager of the Three County Fairgrounds, agreed, noting that agritourism has become a large part of Monson’s identity as it transitions away from its manufacturing heritage.

“Businesses like Silver Bell Farms and Echo Hill and Westview Farms Creamery are thriving, and they bring people from all over to Monson,” he said, adding that new businesses downtown, like the Better Bean, do the same.

 

New DNA Director Prioritizes Collaboration

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Forbes Library in downtown Northampton will soon feature a small outdoor stage, as seen in this rendering from HAI Architecture.
Community Spotlight

Community Spotlight

Forbes Library in downtown Northampton will soon feature a small outdoor stage, as seen in this rendering from HAI Architecture.

Forbes Library in downtown Northampton will soon feature a small outdoor stage, as seen in this rendering from HAI Architecture.

Andrea Monson came to her new role as executive director of the Northampton Downtown Assoc. (DNA) in a roundabout way, but found it to be an intriguing fit during an uncertain time for the city and its downtown, which will soon undergo a major — and not universally loved — redevelopment project.

After spending five and a half years at MassDevelopment as its Tranformative Development Initiative fellow for Chicopee, she then moved into the position of creative content officer for a few years; prior to that, she had been in marketing research at companies like Aetna and CVS. She’s also co-owner of Monson Roastery and founded the Urban Food Brood collaborative in Springfield.

“I found out about the Main Street redevelopment project from a friend of mine who lives in Northampton and was connected to a lot of folks there, and said they could really use a fellow to get through the project,” she said, adding that she wound up volunteering with Pardon Our Progress (POP), an entity created to streamline communication and mitigate obstacles around the Main Street redevelopment project, dubbed Picture Main Street by municipal leaders.

Then, when Jillian Duclos, the previous executive director of DNA, stepped down, Monson applied and won the job earlier this year. She explained that a major DNA focus is downtown advocacy, and it has been active in communicating project updates to businesses there.

“The bulk of construction is happening in 2027,” she said. “There will be some preliminary construction in the fall of 2026, but the city is very mindful of the retail experience of Northampton for the holiday season, so no construction then.”

Monson recognizes business owners are a divided camp on the project, and said the city has been trying to level up the way it communicates regarding the issue, while the DNA works directly with business owners, keeping them informed.

“We’re always thinking about how construction will affect traffic, incentives for foot traffic, creative ways to get around the work on Main Street. We don’t want anything to catch us by surprise.”

“We launched a survey to get all the businesses to share their experiences and feelings. A lot of them they’re frustrated because there hasn’t always been clear communication in the past, though we’re actively trying to remedy that,” she explained, adding that businesses emerging from the difficult pandemic years feel stressed on multiple fronts today, worried about tariffs, recession talk, and what they see as a major Main Street upheaval that could keep foot traffic away.

“They’re looking at the project as the end of the world, but that’s not the case,” Monson went on. “A lot of redevelopment projects end up increasing foot traffic; they end up being really profitable when they’re finished. And with POP, and my job at DNA, we’re listening to business owners and acting on their concerns, looking for grant funding and other funding to support them through the project. We’re also launching an RFP for marketing, to market Northampton in general and market the downtown, and keep them in the loop with everything that’s happening, scheduling changes, all of that.”

Judy Herrell, owner of Herrell’s Ice Cream, is one of several business owners who have taken the city to task over its downtown plans for a number of reasons, including an increase in traffic, concerns over bike safety, and a lack of public meetings on the project.

“I’ve talked to a few people that wanted to open businesses Northampton but didn’t for lack of being assured they would be fine during Picture Main Street. They’re worried that, for three years, Main Street will will be torn up, even though the city says it’ll be done in sequences and not tear up the whole street at once,” Herrell told BusinessWest. “That’s still a lot of stress on businesses in the city.”

 

Meeting of the Minds

Monson said the city is working with Emily Innes from Innes Associates, which specializes in municipal planning, on a grant-funded consultancy.

“She’s seen cities through a lot of these projects, and they’ve told us that we’re ahead of the game just by POP existing. We’re always thinking about how construction will affect traffic, incentives for foot traffic, creative ways to get around the work on Main Street. We don’t want anything to catch us by surprise.”

Monson is also in the process of bringing Jeff Speck to the city for a public talk. A noted city planner who wrote Walkable City: How Downtown Saves America, One Step at a Time, he will tailor his presentation to Picture Main Street and why it’s important, she said, adding that she’s also trying to put together a panel of mayors who have seen these types of projects through in their own cities.

But for locals looking for activities beyond road construction talk, there’s plenty to look forward to in town, including the return of the Taste of Northampton, now as a two-day event on Sept. 13-14.

“I love seeing all the businesses rally around these ideas. They’re all putting in their time and energy to create these collaborations. What I love about Northampton is how businesses help each other thrive.”

“It was a lot of work and a lot of money for just one day,” Monson noted, explaining the expansion to a two-day affair. “Again, this is being led by the restaurants; a lot of food and beverage establishments downtown are co-creating this with us. They know what’s best for them. They’ve been part of the Taste of Northampton for many years, and they’re excited to bring it back.”

The following month, Mischa Roy, owner of Spill the Tea Sis, is spearheading, alongside Isaac Weiner, co-owner of Familiars Coffee & Tea, a month-long October event called the Great Northampton Haunt, which celebrates the city’s haunted history.

“You know, we have as many hauntings here as anywhere else. We had witch trials before Salem. We just don’t brag about it,” Monson said. “So we’re trying to lean into it. They have plans to have something going on every single day in October, which coincides with a dip in retail business. So it’s strategic and intentional.

“I love seeing all the businesses rally around these ideas. They’re all putting in their time and energy to create these collaborations,” she added. “What I love about Northampton is how businesses help each other thrive.”

Meanwhile, a project to construct an outdoor performance stage beside Forbes Library promises to be another activation point for the downtown. HAI Architecture, based in Northampton, designed the accessible, open-air, covered stage to support a wide variety of programs, including concerts, children’s programming, and outdoor movies.

Northampton at a Glance

Year Incorporated: 1883
Population: 29,571
Area: 35.8 square miles
County: Hampshire
Residential tax rate: $13.93
Commercial tax rate: $13.93
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

The Northampton Jazz Fest also returns to downtown — at numerous venues, as usual — on Sept. 26-27, headlined by New York Voices, a world-renowned vocal jazz quartet.

And speaking of music, the Iron Horse Music Hall recently celebrated one year since its much-anticipated reopening following a major renovation on Center Street, while other venues in town, from the Academy of Music to the Parlor Room to Bombyx, continue to thrive. But Monson said the still-shuttered Calvin Theater in the heart of downtown remains troublesome.

“When music venues are shut down, that’s big. That’s a big piece of what makes Northampton vibrant. If the Calvin doesn’t come back, that’s going keep Northampton from growing.”

 

Strength in Numbers

Northampton’s success is personal to Monson, who visited the city plenty during her youth and lived there during her college years. “I always felt it’s home. I want to come back and retire in Northampton. So I need it to stay vibrant, selfishly.”

To accomplish that vibrancy, she said, collaboration is key — between businesses, organizations like the chamber and the DNA, and even agencies across the region and state. So is a continued focus on the needs of businesses in a downtown that, aside from CVS, is comprised exclusively of small, local enterprises.

“How can we elevate Northampton? How can we address issues and creatively bring more traffic, more events, more people, so that people want to come back, stay over, go shopping?” Monson asked. “I get to work with some incredibly talented people, which benefits me in my understanding and learning about local economic development. And I think the DNA has been working really hard to build better relationships in Northampton.”

Cities that are struggling, she said, tend to have people working in silos that don’t collaborate with each other, and that’s the opposite of her vision for Paradise City, including that still-controversial reconstruction of Main Street.

“As Northampton forges on with this project, what I see is the potential of so many people working together and collaborating, and that’s ultimately going to be the great success of Northampton.”

A Picture of Progress Is Taking Shape on Worthington Street

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Raipher Pellegrino stands near the huge curved window on the second floor of the property at 280-302 Worthington St., known as the Underwood Building.
Features Special Coverage

Filling in the Canvas

Raipher Pellegrino stands near the huge curved window on the second floor of the property at 280-302 Worthington St., known as the Underwood Building.

Raipher Pellegrino stands near the huge curved window on the second floor of the property at 280-302 Worthington St., known as the Underwood Building.

 

Raipher Pellegrino paused at the huge, curved second-floor window facing the corner of Worthington and Dwight streets.

“How’s that for a view?” he asked rhetorically, noting that it’s been quite some time since anyone — other than those he’s had out for tours — has looked out that window, some recent history he intends to change.

Indeed, he envisions a Pilates studio, a gym, or something similar on the second-floor space at 280-302 Worthington St., a property known as the Underwood Building, which has been vacant or mostly vacant for more than decade. And that space is just part of a much larger canvas that Pellegrino, the noted personal injury lawyer and real estate developer, working in partnership with his brother, Joseph, and the city of Springfield, is intent on filling in.

While doing so, he’s writing the intriguing next chapter in the history of what has been called (and is still called, even though it hasn’t lived up to the title) Springfield’s ‘entertainment district.’

This is the Worthington Street corridor, specifically the blocks just west of Dwight Street. It has been growing increasingly quiet over the past decade or so as restaurants, clubs, other businesses, and even a nonprofit (Suit Up Springfield) have shuttered or moved. The closing of Dewey’s Jazz Lounge last month was just the latest blow for the area.

It was with the intent of reinvigorating that corridor that Pellegrino and his brother acquired the three buildings east of Duryea Way at auction in 2021. With support from the city in the form of a $2.5 million grant and infrastructure improvements, Pellegrino is filling in his canvas.

Some of the spaces have been filled, like Petra Hookah Lounge, which features Mediterranean food and reopened last fall in extensively renovated space. Others are nearing completion, such as the new restaurant called Mamou, to be owned and operated by the chef at the former Chef Wayne’s Big Mamou, set to open this summer. And still others, including three more restaurants, a music venue to host between 250 and 400 people, and other businesses, like that projected Pilates studio, are still weeks or months away. Meanwhile, several residential units have been renovated, and more will be added to the mix.

“I think it’s vitally important to bring this area back — it raises the quality of living for those living downtown, and it provides places for people to go and eat. That was my desire with this, and it’s a much more difficult project than I think anyone envisioned, but I think we’re starting to see it evolve, and we’re seeing a lot of momentum.”

“The pieces are coming into place,” said Pellegrino, who envisions five restaurants in all, most with doors opening out onto Worthington Street and outdoor dining, in addition to a club and other businesses that will support one another and bring people — and energy — back to the Worthington Street corridor.

“I think it’s vitally important to bring this area back — it raises the quality of living for those living downtown, and it provides places for people to go and eat,” he said. “That was my desire with this, and it’s a much more difficult project than I think anyone envisioned, but I think we’re starting to see it evolve, and we’re seeing a lot of momentum.”

Tim Sheehan, Springfield’s chief Economic Development officer, agreed, noting that the city has invested more than $3.2 million in the entertainment corridor for everything from outdoor dining facilities to small-business assistance to interior buildout for commercial tenants.

This ground-floor space in the Underwood Building is being renovated for use as a music venue, what Raipher Pellegrino describes as an “Iron Horse-like” facility.

This ground-floor space in the Underwood Building is being renovated for use as a music venue, what Raipher Pellegrino describes as an “Iron Horse-like” facility.

“The city’s investment continues in the corridor, and with what’s coming forward, people will see a lot of different options relative to dining in the dining district,” he said, adding that the goal is to bring both new businesses and a degree of long-term stability to a region that has not seen much of the latter.

Indeed, Brian Connors, deputy Development officer for the city, used understatement when he said the entertainment district has had “ebbs and flows.”

By that, he meant some good times, but also controversy with several late-night/early-morning incidents, and, from a business perspective, a high degree of turnover when it comes to restaurants and other businesses, problems compounded by the natural-gas explosion a block away in 2012.

For this issue, BusinessWest takes an in-depth look behind the plywood and brown paper over the doors and windows along that stretch of Worthington and into the future of the city’s entertainment district.

 

Work in Progress

It was raining intermittently as BusinessWest took its visit to the properties being redeveloped along that block on Worthington Street. The showers quickened the pace of the walks between the buildings, but they could hardly dampen the enthusiasm Pellegrino brought to his work as erstwhile tour guide, something he’s been doing often.

“This is a labor of love,” he said of the project, which is now approaching roughly $6 million in cost and represents perhaps the most extensive undertaking in a growing portfolio of real estate projects in Pellegrino’s portfolio.

That list includes the property at 265 State St. in Springfield — the large home later populated by commercial tenants but vacant in the ’90s and then restored by Pellegrino as a home to his offices — and its adjoining carriage house.

But it also includes a diverse mix of other properties, from charter schools in Springfield and Lowell, where Pellegrino went to college as an undergrad, to Springfield Country Club, which he acquired in partnership with the Hannoush brothers; from the property at 401 Liberty St. in Springfield, a former wire-manufacturing complex, now home to Behavioral Health Network, to the former Lunt Silversmith property in Greenfield, now home to a substance abuse center and mental health offices.

“The tenancy that we have needs to be established tenancy. In terms of going into the restaurant business as a startup business, it’s very, very difficult, and if the business model isn’t spot on, you have a tendency to have what we’ve had — businesses come in, businesses go out, businesses come in.”

Often, the projects involve properties that are historic in nature that require considerable renovations and modernization. Such is the case with the Worthington Street properties, which comprise a new challenge and a tremendous opportunity to reshape and reinvigorate the entertainment district, said Pellegrino, who started his tour at Petra Hookah Lounge, which opened its doors last fall, with the intent of showing what will be happening at the other properties along the street.

The block-long string of properties includes three buildings: 250-270 Worthington St., 272-280 Worthington, and 280-302 Worthington. The first two were built in the 1880s, and the third dates to the early 1930s.

Moving west to east, the properties were in progressively worse condition, he told BusinessWest, adding that 250-270 Worthington, most recently home to Jackalope Restaurant and now Petra (next door), was in decent shape, although both the residential units and restaurant spaces needed upgrades, including new HVAC systems. The property at 272-280, formerly home to several different restaurants, was in worse shape, he said, while 280-302 was “horrendous … uninhabitable.”

Efforts to make it habitable are among the many going on concurrently along that block, a project that came, as Pellegrino noted, with plenty of challenges — everything from renovating historic but badly deteriorated structures to securing established tenants — which became clear as he walked and talked about each of the buildings and the progress being made.

“With historic buildings like these, including one that hadn’t been occupied in 15 years, there are a lot of challenges,” he said, listing everything from floors one could see through to roofs that needed replacing to staircases that no longer meet code and need to be replaced. “This is a project that you can only figure out as you do it; we’ve systematically started at one end, 250-270 Worthington Street, and are working our way to the other.”

Starting with 250-270, he said Petra is now an established tenant, and there will be a new restaurant moving into the former Jackalope space by August or September. He declined to say what the entity will be but noted that it is an already established Springfield restaurant.

Raipher Pellegrino projects that five new restaurants, a music venue, other businesses, and new residential units will take shape along Worthington Street, reinvigorating the city’s entertainment district.

Raipher Pellegrino projects that five new restaurants, a music venue, other businesses, and new residential units will take shape along Worthington Street, reinvigorating the city’s entertainment district.

At 272-280, another new restaurant, Mamou, is expected to open later this month, and another new restaurant, a “bar-like” establishment with light fare, will be opening in the fall, he went on, adding that 280-302 Worthington will have a music venue, a breakfast/lunch restaurant, and other commercial spaces, six units in all, with tenants yet to be identified.

The music venue he’s envisioning will not compete with but rather complement existing venues such as the MassMutual Center, Symphony Hall, and the former CityStage, now being renovated into an arts center for youth, and be an “Iron Horse-like” venue, he said, a reference to the Northampton landmark that reopened last spring.

“The concept is to offer people live entertainment, but also support the restaurants,” Pellegrino said. “If you have an act and sell 250 to 400 tickets, people will want to eat before that.”

 

Building Momentum

As he stopped at that massive, curved window in the second-floor space above what will be the music venue, Pellegrino pointed to all the parking in the surrounding area, one of the many keys to the success of this project and the entertainment district overall.

Others include everything from improving the perception of public safety to creating stability with the business mix, as well as that supportive element that he mentioned.

Indeed, as the canvas gets filled in, the entertainment district will have a core of new restaurants and businesses, as well as some established eateries — Theodores’ and Del Rey Taqueria on Worthington Street, Osteria on Bridge Street, the nearby Student Prince, and other restaurants and taverns that will support one another, said Pellegrino, adding that the critical mass in his block of buildings should become a draw.

“All of the tenants understand the synergy — there’s discussion about that, and they work well with one another,” he noted. “The idea is that maybe someone can have dinner in one place tonight and have a drink in your place the next night; it feeds off one another. The more people we pull down into the region, the better the restaurants will do. The idea is to create the entertainment district, and the more the merrier.”

Sheehan agreed, noting there are several other keys to the success of this iteration, if you will, of the entertainment district.

These include everything from bringing experienced restaurateurs with proven concepts into the area to infrastructure upgrades.

“The tenancy that we have needs to be established tenancy,” he noted. “In terms of going into the restaurant business as a startup business, it’s very, very difficult, and if the business model isn’t spot on, you have a tendency to have what we’ve had — businesses come in, businesses go out, businesses come in.

“Our objective is to get more stabilized entrepreneurs into the spaces, and I do believe the tenancy that [Pellegrino] is putting forward reflects that stability,” he went on, adding that infrastructure improvements continue in the area, including additional upgrades, including more uplighting and plantings, to Stearns Square, capitalizing on work previously undertaken at that landmark.

Overall, the city has made a large commitment — in funding but also other forms of support — to the stability and growth of the entertainment district, said Connors, noting that public sector support, in the form of loans and grants for initiatives like outdoor dining, interior renovations, and relocation costs, are critical at a time when banks are often reluctant to lend for restaurant and brewery initiatives.

Pellegrino agreed, adding that the investments being made in the three properties along that block of Worthington Street and the individual spaces for restaurants and other businesses are another factor in the success quotient.

“These are major facelifts … these are beautiful, state-of-the-art restaurants. They’re coming into beautifully renovated spaces,” he told BusinessWest. “There’s no guarantee that any restaurant is going to succeed, but this gives them the best opportunity to succeed.

“Everyone has to do their part,” he went on. “The restaurateur has to put out good food and atmosphere; we collectively, with the city, have to provide a safe atmosphere and parking, so it’s inviting, and people feel comfortable coming downtown.”

Whether this picture will come together as Pellegrino and city officials anticipate remains to be seen. But there is great anticipation about what’s behind all that plywood and brown paper.

It’s the next big chapter in the life and times of Springfield’s entertainment district.

North Star Technology Leadership Demystifies IT for Clients

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Michael Weber says he eases anxiety around AI while giving businesses real tools and strategies to use it.
Features

A Whole New World

 

Michael Weber says he eases anxiety around AI while giving businesses real tools and strategies to use it.

Michael Weber says he eases anxiety around AI while giving businesses real tools and strategies to use it.

 

After 20 years building a successful commercial printing business, Michael Weber stopped the presses and took a step into his future — both his own and that of the changing role of business IT.

The printing story begins around 2004, when Weber and his wife, Lindsey, who were living in Boston at the time, had the opportunity to buy Minuteman Press in Enfield, Conn. So they moved to this region and began to grow that business, eventually expanding it to two more locations in Springfield and Brattleboro, Vt., with numerous employees at all three sites.

When Weber received an offer to sell the company in late 2023, he was intrigued.

“The business had changed a lot over 20 years, and I thought it was an interesting opportunity and an interesting time to do something new. So that’s what we did,” he told BusinessWest. “We accepted the offer and took some time off. We traveled with the kids and tried to enjoy life the best we could for a little while — knowing that I needed to get back to work at some point.”

Before his two decades in the printing world, Weber earned a degree in management information systems at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and built a career as a middleware engineer, and had kept his finger on the pulse of IT since. His idea for a second career was to become a fractional chief technology officer (CTO), someone who offers technology leadership and expertise to client companies on a contract basis.

That’s how his current enterprise, North Star Technology Leadership, was born.

“I have a unique skill set in the sense that I understand technology, but I also understand business. So I can talk to business owners about their technology in a way that’s very different than most technology people can,” he explained. “Most technology people are so focused on the bits and the bytes and those kinds of things, but the business people just want the technology to work right. As somebody who’s been on both sides, I feel like I can bring that to the table more clearly than so many other technology companies.”

He chose the name of his firm purposefully. “I wanted to make it clear that I’m not competing with those other technology companies, those managed service providers that come in to fix your computer. I don’t want to do that. I could fix your computer if that’s what I needed to do, but I’m trying to provide leadership and an understanding of technology.

“I have a unique skill set in the sense that I understand technology, but I also understand business. So I can talk to business owners about their technology in a way that’s very different than most technology people can.”

“I felt like part of doing that meant I had to be sitting next to the CEO of the company and not across the table, and the only way I can do that is if I don’t sell anything other than myself,” he went on. “So I don’t sell any products, and I don’t accept commissions. I’m not competing with that MSP who’s already selling hardware and software to the client.”

But the needs Weber does meet are significant, particularly for companies that don’t have a CTO. North Star’s services fall into a few broad buckets, including technology leadership and management; technology roadmap and alignment with business objectives; technology staff and vendor management; and risk, security, and compliance management.

One example of a specific service is a technology stack review. “That’s just understanding what do they have, and is it working, or is it not working? Often, they’ve been doing a process for 15 or 20 years because that’s how they’ve always done it, and nobody’s ever looked at it and said, ‘this is not the efficient way to do it.’

“One of my clients was doing a payroll export from their payroll software into Microsoft Excel and then manipulating that data file for about two hours every payroll period to get it into a format they needed. I was able to automate that task and turn it into, like, 25 seconds. That’s a huge savings,” he explained. “That’s not uncommon, and it’s not his fault that he didn’t know how to make those changes because he’s not a technology person.”

 

Mindset Shift

One major focus with clients lately — and for the foreseeable future — is the role of artificial intelligence in myriad businesses and industries.

“The biggest concern seems to be understanding the data policy and what is happening with their data. You have employees who are scared of AI as a concept. You have a lot of business owners who don’t understand it, but want to understand it, and they don’t know who to turn to. So I’m providing that level of knowledge and guidance for them,” Weber explained.

“In terms of using AI, the easy ways are using it to rewrite your email to make it more clear and concise, or using it to build your PowerPoint presentation deck that you need to pass off to a client, or using it for data analytics. All those things are really low-hanging fruit, and we can show their staff how to actually engage and use these things in a productive manner that doesn’t have gigantic bills behind it, and is just there to make their day easier and more efficient.”

“You have employees who are scared of AI as a concept. You have a lot of business owners who don’t understand it, but want to understand it, and they don’t know who to turn to. So I’m providing that level of knowledge and guidance for them.”

After he conducts presentations on current uses of AI in the workplace, he noted, “they’re understanding it better, and they’re saying, ‘oh that’s not so scary,’ or ‘yes I can do that better.’ Because it is an amazing technology, and it’s a whole mindset shift in how you’re using it because it’s not just a Google search window. There’s so much more to it and so much more feedback it can provide to you — if you understand the right questions to ask and how to use it.”

Whatever the issue, Weber says he has found a niche in a landscape where many mid-sized businesses — he typically works with firms between $5 million and $50 million in annual revenue, in a wide range of sectors — don’t have this expertise in-house.

“It has to be companies that are interested in growth because you’re not going to bring in somebody as a fractional CTO if you’re just kind of plodding along and doing OK. You’re interested in growing your company, and now you’re looking for those efficiencies to make everything work better. That’s the space I’m filling.”

Since opening North Star last September, Weber has seen a steady influx of clients. He noted that the field isn’t as competitive as one might think.

“There are a lot of fractional CFOs,” he said, referring to the financial side of a business. “Companies will go, ‘accounting is important, and I don’t know what I’m doing anymore, and I need a guy.’ So they bring in a person to fill that role. So a fractional CFO is a very common thing.

“A fractional CTO is very uncommon,” he went on. “I don’t think I’ve met another one in this area. Again, I think I’m unique by bringing the technology and the business sense together, which creates a unique situation.”

 

Change Agent

Weber also appreciates that he’s able to lessen anxiety — for both business owners and employees — around the changing face of IT, and especially AI.

“Obviously, people get scared whenever there’s change, and that is understandable,” he said, while noting that today’s students may be preparing for high-tech jobs that don’t exist yet, while other careers will fade away. “People need to be aware of both those sides. I mean, if I was a young person today and I was graduating high school or college, I would want to know what’s not going to exist and what is still going to exist in a period of years.

“I was doing an AI presentation the other day, and a woman was talking, and she has a son who’s in high school, and he wants to be a plumber. His job is safe for now. That’s not going anywhere anytime soon,” he noted. “For somebody like him, AI is just an asset because it can help answer questions and provide guidance, but the actual work of a plumber is still going to be done by a human. It’s not being replaced by AI anytime soon.”

For many other jobs and industries, the outlook is less certain, but Weber is optimistic that he can steer clients toward growth and opportunity as they grapple with all the coming changes.

“I owned a small business for a long time, with employees and multiple locations. And now I have the opportunity to help businesses in different manner,” he said. “I’m having a lot of fun, and my clients seem to be really enjoying engaging with me and having this conversation. So it’s working out really well.”

At the end of the day, Weber added, he loves helping and teaching people, demystifying the role of IT, and seeing the impact he can make on a growing pool of clients.

“It’s like I was saying before — I’m kind of a unicorn in the sense that I can talk about technology in a way that regular people understand. And that is rare. You find a lot of really smart IT people that you wouldn’t want to have a coffee with because you couldn’t understand them. And you find a lot of amazing business people that don’t know anything about their technology, but they need to. So I can bridge that gap for them, and that’s what I’m doing.”

Ted Hebert Reflects on 50 Years of Teddy Bear Pools & Spas

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Ted Hebert says his story has been one of being knocked down and always getting back up.
Features

Deep Dive

Ted Hebert says his story has been one of being knocked down and always getting back up.

Ted Hebert says his story has been one of being knocked down and always getting back up.

 

As Teddy Bear Pools & Spas marks its 50th anniversary this year, it’s safe to say most in the business community have read — in this publication and others over the years — Ted Hebert’s story of humble beginnings, perseverance through severe challenges, and current status as not only one of the region’s venerable business owners, but a strong supporter of area nonprofits.

But ask him what the milestone means, and he says, “I don’t see the significance of 50 years.”

That’s not because he lacks gratitude or perspective on his career — he certainly has both — but for him, when he thinks about the work itself, he’s actually been doing it for closer to 60 years, starting as a gofer at a pool store at age 14.

“That developed over about three years. I started to become a pool installer. The above-ground pool would be dropped off at someone’s house, and my late friend Kenny and I would go and build a pool. Back then, we used to hand-dig the above-ground pool. We used to wheelbarrow the dirt into the backyard. We’d even do two pools a day. We’d work from maybe 6, 7 in the morning to 8, 9, 10 at night. I remember working on pools in the dark.”

His own work is, obviously, much less physically strenuous now, but those early years gave Hebert an appreciation for his employees that he’s quick to express.

“I guess I don’t realize the reality of 50 years because I don’t have a job. This isn’t work for me. I mean it sincerely. My employees are my extended family,” he said, noting that some have been with him for decades, and some are second-generation team members.

“Many times, people will say to me, ‘I can’t wait to retire.’ But I do not work — I love what I do. I’m not here for the money. Teddy Bear Pools is my home away from home. I get enough free time, but in May and June, I try to be here almost seven days a week because I want to see my customers.

“I’ve achieved every goal that I could ever think of. I’ve achieved fantasies. I’ve been on top of the mountain. But I’ve also been on the very bottom, with betrayal by close friends, people that I trusted, people in my wedding party. I’ve had a lot of really low points in my life.”

“I built someone’s pool 30, 40, 50 years ago, and now their kids are coming in,” he added. “I call every customer that buys an above ground-pool, a spa, or even a liner, and I call to thank them personally.”

That gratitude extends to his own journey, which has seen both highs and lows (more on that later), but has also been marked by hard work, dogged persistence, and faith.

“I’m a survivor,” he said. “I think, being in business, you need to be a survivor. A lot of people can’t. It’s a challenge, but if you’re up to the challenge, it’s going to be very exciting.”

 

Into the Deep End

Hebert has told the story of how he wanted to become a doctor, but didn’t have the money for medical school, so he eventually started his own pool company from the carport of his parents’ home. Although the original name he chose for his business was Custom Pools by Ted, his mother suggested he use his childhood nickname of ‘Teddy Bear,’ a play on the French pronunciation of Ted Hebert.

By 1976, Teddy Bear had grown enough to allow Hebert to rent a former car-wash bay on Memorial Drive in Chicopee and turn it into a storefront. When the property was foreclosed upon three years later, he purchased a run-down former car dealership in a dilapidated building on East Street in Chicopee, which remains his address today.

The East Street store wasn’t always surrounded by display pools, as this photo from around 1980 shows.

The East Street store wasn’t always surrounded by display pools, as this photo from around 1980 shows.

In the early years, the business grew steadily, but he suffered two major setbacks during the 1980s in the form of employee betrayal and mismanagement. The first event occurred in 1986 when an audit undercovered $1.2 million of money and goods not accounted for, and the second took place while he was on his honeymoon in 1987. When he returned, he found an additional $200,000 of money and goods missing.

“I’ve been embezzled twice, but I never went bankrupt,” he recalled. “I went back to church, and I prayed to God to help me through this. I worked seven days a week, living at home with my mom. I was like 35. It took me a few years, but I paid off everybody.”

Those times have instilled in him an appreciation for the success that followed.

“I’ve achieved every goal that I could ever think of. I’ve achieved fantasies. I’ve been on top of the mountain. But I’ve also been on the very bottom, with betrayal by close friends, people that I trusted, people in my wedding party. I’ve had a lot of really low points in my life.”

And with that appreciation of his journey, Hebert was even more determined to redirect his own success back on his community. In 2022, he was honored by BusinessWest as a Difference Maker, for his many years of giving back to the community, not just by writing checks to nonprofits (though he does a lot of that), but by sitting on boards and volunteering at fundraising events.

He and his wife, Barbara — who, it should be noted, is an equal partner in all this community service — give time and money to many different types of organizations, but have a special place in their hearts for animal welfare. For example, as a longtime supporter of Second Chance Animal Services (whose CEO, Sheryl Blancato, was also named a Difference Maker this year), Teddy Bear hosts two rabies and parvo vaccination clinics each year for the nonprofit, helping hundreds of pet owners access free or very low-cost services.

Barbara Hebert said some of their civic work hits close to home, as with their support of Camp Words Unspoken, a program for kids who stutter — an issue Ted overcame in his youth, and that Barbara still sometimes struggles with.

“We’re not saying that you have to do as much as us, but if everybody gave a little bit, it would make the world a better place.”

“Between the company and our personal ability, it’s nice to just give back,” she said. “We’re not saying that you have to do as much as us, but if everybody gave a little bit, it would make the world a better place. There are people we know that don’t take the time. They say they’re too busy. We are too, but we make time.”

Ted said his mother, who grew up humbly in the Great Depression, instilled in him a love for identifying needs and meeting them.

“It feels great to give. Whether it be money or time. I can’t explain it. I just love giving to people. So we have the opportunity to sponsor teams, sponsor golf tournaments, be involved in local charities, award scholarships for different programs.”

In recent years, the couple established Ted and Barbara Hebert Charitable Ventures, a 501(c)(3) entity, through which they also give to charity.

“We want to give away our money to help others — furry friends and people young and old — while we’re alive,” Ted said. “It’s not like we have millions of dollars, but we have more money than the average person. So we’re very blessed and very humbled to give some of that money away while we’re alive. We love it.”

 

A Story Worth Telling

Hebert has also done plenty of motivational speaking over the years — again, quite the accomplishment for someone who once fought a stutter — though he likes to use the term ‘inspirational speaking’ instead.

“I cannot motivate you. In my opinion, motivation is from within,” he said. “But I want to inspire you. If I can inspire you, that motivation may come awake. When I used to do speaking, people would say, ‘you’re an inspirational speaker. You inspired me to do things.’

“And that’s my goal in life: to inspire people to do better for all people, all living creatures, to make this a better world — starting with your family, then in your community, your country, and the world. Because time is infinite. I don’t know when it started or when it’s going to end. My life on this earth is a speck of time. And I’m hoping to make it a better place. Because I will die, and I hope I have more pluses than minuses.”

Teddy Bear Pools & Spas has certainly experienced more of the former, despite challenges ranging from the aforementioned employee betrayals to a number of economic downturns that tend to dampen the sales outlook for luxury items, including pools.

“If you’re going to be in business, you’d better have thick skin, you’ve got to have perseverance, and you’ve got to plan ahead,” Hebert said. “I’ve always put money away for rainy days in the business.

“But I’ve been very blessed and lucky,” he added. “It’s like a boxer getting knocked down. I won a lot of championships. But I’ve been knocked down many times, and instead of quitting or throwing in the towel, I got back up.”

These days, he still shows up in the ring — er, the store — most days, simply because he enjoys running this business that has defined his life, and he enjoys helping customers and supporting employees.

“I’m only as good as my employees; they’re your greatest asset or your greatest liability,” he said. “I know it sounds common, but I try to treat people like I want to be treated. And I’ve been blessed.”

Great Barrington Is a True Destination

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The Daniel Arts Center is one of many individual pieces on the Bard College of Simon’s Rock campus that have caught the attention of developers.
Community Spotlight Special Coverage

Community Spotlight

 

The Daniel Arts Center is one of many individual pieces on the Bard College of Simon’s Rock campus that have caught the attention of developers.

The Daniel Arts Center is one of many individual pieces on the Bard College of Simon’s Rock campus that have caught the attention of developers.

John Weinstein said the phones started ringing seemingly within hours after the news broke last November.

This was the official announcement that Bard College at Simon’s Rock, an institution in Great Barrington for 60 years, would be closing its campus there and relocating programs to Bard College’s main campus in New York for the start of fall classes.

The phone calls were — and are (they’re still coming at a good clip) — from those interested in acquiring and developing all or a piece of the 280-acre campus, with a wide range of specific intentions, including housing.

“The inquiries have ranged from totality to the very granular,” said Weinstein, the school’s vice president and provost, meaning everything from the entire campus to individual buildings to specific pieces of equipment.

Interest in those pieces picked up in intensity with passage of an overlay zone at the recent town meeting, one that will permit many different uses beyond education, said Weinstein, adding that some uses — cannabis facilities and an amusement park, for example — are still not allowed.

The fate of the Bard campus and the prospect of losing such a large contributor to the Great Barrington economy are at the top of a long list of storylines involving this picturesque Southern Berkshires community and its mostly tourism-driven business community.

“The inquiries have ranged from totality to the very granular.”

“This will have an impact on the town in multiple ways,” said Betsy Andrus, executive director of the Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce, based in Great Barrington. “We won’t have the influx of students coming into the town for shopping and eating, and you also have teachers and staff, an athletic center, and the Daniel Arts Center; it’s certainly a loss for this area.”

A loss that is in many ways balanced by anticipation about what might come next.

As for other storylines, they include everything from new ownership for several downtown properties — and reshaping of those properties for retail and office use (including a new home for the chamber) as well as residential units — to lingering housing concerns, especially a shortage of affordable, or ‘workforce,’ units, putting a burden on both business owners and their employees.

“This whole area needs more workforce housing; our employees can find places to live, but often at a fairly substantial commute,” said Janis Martinson, executive director of the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center. “It’s a real challenge; people are coming a long way to get to work because they don’t have a choice.”

Janis Martinson says the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center will open a second facility later this year, one of many efforts to connect the community to the arts.

Janis Martinson says the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center will open a second facility later this year, one of many efforts to connect the community to the arts.

On another note (pun intended), this is shaping up to be a big year for the Mahaiwe, built in 1905, which has a full slate of performances on tap — from classic movies like Casablanca, shown on Valentine’s Day, and Sabrina, which aired May 23, to a Brian Cox tribute to opera, comedy, and a wide variety of musical performances — and is set to open an accessory venue in the town’s former fire station.

“A group of businesspeople have restored the firehouse, and they’re leasing us a portion of the first floor,” said Martinson, adding that the building is roughly the same age as the Mahaiwe. “We’re using that as an intimate, flexible performance venue and a concession space.”

The Mahaiwe is one of many key contribitors to a vibrant downtown that has made a near-complete recovery from COVID and extensive infrastructure work in the central business district, said Martinson, adding that, while Great Barrington once had slow times of the year — most of September, for example — it is now vibrant year-round.

“I think the town has grown a little younger,” she said. “And while there used to be some times when it would be pretty sleepy, it’s not like that anymore; this is a 12-month-a-year busy town.”

Andrus agreed, noting that the investments made in several downtown properties will bring more people, and more vibrancy, to the area, with some new businesses and several existing ones with new mailing addresses.

“I think the town has grown a little younger. And while there used to be some times when it would be pretty sleepy, it’s not like that anymore; this is a 12-month-a-year busy town.”

“Change is always a positive thing,” she said, noting that several existing businesses have or will find new and better spots. Meanwhile, new housing units equate to more people living in the central business district — and more opportunities for some workers to shorten their commute.

For this latest installment of its Community Spotlight series, BusinessWest takes an in-depth look at Great Barrington and the many developing stories in this destination community.

 

A Loss — and an Opportunity

Weinstein said the decision to close Bard College’s Great Barrington campus and relocate its various programs — early college and some high-school offerings — came down to numbers.

Getting more specific, he said it was the number of students that would make sustaining that campus feasible. That number is at least 450 and preferably much higher, he noted, adding that the school hasn’t been able to reach that threshold, and with current demographic shifts — specifically fewer high-school-age people — it wasn’t going to get there anytime soon.

So the decision was made to move the school and its programs to the main Bard campus, where economies of scale will make this operation much more sustainable, said Weinstein, adding quickly that, while this move represents a loss for the community, the campus as a whole and its individual parts present a unique development opportunity.

And the zoning overlay district certainly helps in this redevelopment, said Weinstein and others we spoke with, noting that it will permit operation of an athletic center and performing-arts center — those are just two examples — without a school being attached.

“Those most interested in the future of the property did that shift,” said Weinstein, noting that the redevelopment of the campus will afford the town an opportunity to address some of its pressing needs and challenges, a list that certainly includes housing.

Great Barrington at a Glance

Year Incorporated: 1761
Population: 7,172
Area: 45.8 square miles
County: Berkshire
Residential Tax Rate: $13.79
Commercial Tax Rate: $13.79
Median Household Income: $95,490
Median Family Income: $103,135
Type of Government: Open Town Meeting
Largest Employers: Fairview Hospital; Iredale Mineral Cosmetics; Prairie Whale
* Latest information available

Andrus agreed, noting, as Martinson did, that businesses and their employees are impacted by the current lack of affordable housing.

Many of these businesses are in the broad tourism, hospitality, and retail sectors, said Andrus, noting that Great Barrington draws visitors from nearby New York, other communities within the Berkshires, and well beyond. Meanwhile, its population increases threefold in the summer, from 7,000 to 21,000, as snowbirds and those with second homes in the area return.

“With that influx of people, even going to the grocery store can be chaotic,” she noted, adding that the town’s character changes as its population swells, especially the central business district.

Residents and visitors alike enjoy a very walkable downtown that features attractions like the Mahaiwe, a diverse lineup of restaurants, and unique arts-related programs such as Berkshire Busk — organized street entertainment (everything from singers and flamenco dancers to poets and aerialists) that runs on Railroad Street and other parts of the downtown on Friday and Saturday nights from early July to Labor Day.

There have been some changes within this downtown, and more are on the way, as some aging properties have changed hands, said Andrus, adding that this list includes the so-called Mahaiwe Block, the Marble Block, and other properties.

“All these buildings have changed hands to younger, probably more energetic people,” she said, adding that these landmarks are being renovated and, in some cases, reimagined, with mixes of retail, office, and much-needed housing.

The chamber’s new home at 343 Main St., across from Town Hall, is a good example. The property there, acquired and redeveloped by the Alander Group, will house the chamber’s offices as well as an enlarged visitors’ center, as well as other retail, 15 apartments, and a wine bar, said Andrus, noting that, prior to its move, the chamber was in two locations, a small visitors’ booth in front of CVS and a business office on Railroad Street, a situation that was less than ideal.

“It was like working in a cave — it was hard to find; it wasn’t easily accessible,” she said of the Railroad Street location. “Now, we’ve combined the business office and visitors center, and it’s a real improvement.”

The Alander Group also owns the Mahaiwe Block, which houses the performing arts center, she said, adding that it also features retail and housing units.

Meanwhile, at the Marble Block on Main Street, the former Gorham & Norton grocery store, a fixture for generations, is being remade into Robbie’s Community Market, said Andrus, adding that the property will soon feature several apartments as well. As for the market, it will be a collective, including a coffee bar, pizza oven, sandwich shop, and more, combining the past — this was a soda counter decades ago — with the present.

 

Taking Center Stage

These investments, as well as the new or relocated businesses and residents they bring to the area, will create more vibrancy in the downtown, said Andrus, adding that, overall, the downtown continues to thrive and build on its status as a destination.

Martinson agreed. She took the reins as executive director of the Mahaiwe in January 2020, just two months before COVID arrived and essentially shut down its scheduled season.

But the facility survived that challenge by getting creative, she recalled, adding that one of first initiatives that year was to partner with Bard College at Simon’s Rock to create a drive-in movie theater in one of its parking lots.

“They had a parking lot outside their performing arts center that happened to be tiered down a hillside, so we could have all the cars facing in one direction and put the screen at the bottom of the hill,” she recalled, adding that the schedule included a few of the Star Wars movies, American Graffiti, The Princess Bride, and other family stalwarts.

“That’s how we got through summer,” she went on, adding that the Mahaiwe partnered with other performing arts nonprofits in the area to record concerts from its stage in efforts that were more about the arts than revenues. “We managed to stay in touch with our community throughout the pandemic, and that’s really the point — to bring people together, and bring them together around the performing arts.”

This creative spirit continues today, she said, adding that the facility hosted more than 125 individual events last year and will grow that number this year, especially with the opening of the new space in the renovated former fire station.

“We’ll be able to do much more intimate performances there — things that are a little more niche and involving emerging artists and more local artists,” Martinson told BusinessWest. “And we’ll be able to rent that space out to local performing arts organizations.

“We’re really excited about that coming online,” she went on, adding that there have been some ‘sneak previews,’ with a planned opening for later in the year, probably the fall.

The auxiliary theater is part of a broader five-year strategic plan now in year two, said Martinson, adding that, in simple terms, the plan calls for bringing more performing arts than it already brings to its main stage and “reaching further into our community.”

That community includes Great Barrington residents, but also visitors from a wide radius, she said, adding that this town is a true destination, one that has made its way all the way back from the dark days of COVID.

And one that is looking to turn the loss of Bard College at Simon’s Rock into new opportunities.

In Southwick, There’s Plenty to See, Do, and Eat 

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Kettlebread Deli is just one of the intriguing business storylines in Southwick.
Community Spotlight Special Coverage

Community Spotlight

Kettlebread Deli is just one of the intriguing business storylines in Southwick.

Kettlebread Deli is just one of the intriguing business storylines in Southwick.

  

Ed Grimaldi pointed to the small table for two by the door, under the large-screen television. 

“I was sitting right there,” he recalled. “I had my head in my hands, thinking, ‘what have I done? What have I gotten myself into?’” 

It was April of 2020, a month after COVID-19 officially arrived in the region. Grimaldi had, in keeping with a mandate from the state, shut down Samuel’s, the pub-style restaurant at the Basketball Hall of Fame that he co-owned. And he had already invested, along with partners Melissa Veino and Joe Rondoletto, in a new endeavor on College Highway in Southwick called Kettlebread Deli, that was slated to open in a few weeks. 

Which explains why Grimaldi had his head in his hands. 

“We muddled through, somehow,” he said, noting that Kettlebread — more on that name and that concept later — pushed on through curbside service and was able to establish a beachhead, if you will. Fast-forwarding a little, the new business survived, has expanded to a second location and central bakery in Westfield, and Grimaldi and his partners are exploring franchising opportunities. 

“There’s nothing new about doing things home-made — lots of places do that now; we’re trying to do it in a way that’s duplicatable and scalable,” he said, hitting at the heart of this operation, adding that he believes he has an easily identifiable brand, a name that resonates within the industry, and “food that’s really, really good.” 

Kettlebread is one of many intriguing businesses and storylines in Southwick, a recreational community known for its Congamond Lakes, motocross, including the highly anticipated Southwick National in late June, the Ranch golf course, rail trails, a wide range of outdoor experiences, and more. 

“Our bread is very good because a portion of each batch is folded into the next day’s batch, allowing for an exponentially small portion of every batch that has ever been to be in every other batch.”

It’s also known for its hospitality and food-related businesses, including one that has risen to the ranks of institution. That would be Mrs. Murphy’s Donuts, another College Highway establishment that will soon — as in next year — be celebrating a half century of serving up a wide variety of offerings, including its signature raised, glazed honey dip. 

A family business to the core, Mrs. Murphy’s now has members of three generations working behind the big glass display case, or behind the scenes, said Shane Smith, noting that things really started with her grandparents — and especially her grandmother, Shirley, “the original Mrs. Murphy” — who opened a donut shop in Florida. 

“They taught my dad, Earl Murphy, how to make the donuts,” said Smith, adding that her father and mother, Rose, opened the shop in Southwick in 1976. 

Today, Rose is mostly retired, with Smith assuming more management responsibilities over the years and sharing duties with her husband, Zack, as well as her daughter, Bryce, and her husband, Jeff, and other team members. 

Building on this strong existing base of businesses, while maintaining the community’s rural, recreational character is among the main responsibilities of the community’s government, said Town Manager Nicole Parker, who came to Southwick not quite a year ago after serving in a similar post in the Central Mass. community of Hardwick. 

Shane Smith shows off the display case at Mrs. Murphy’s Donuts, a Southwick institution approaching its 50th birthday.

Shane Smith shows off the display case at Mrs. Murphy’s Donuts, a Southwick institution approaching its 50th birthday.

She was attracted by the town’s many attributes, including that rural quality, and has made it one of her priorities to build on that foundation. 

“As a recreational community, it’s important to have these kinds of opportunities,” she said, adding there have been some additions in that broad category with others in the planning stages, including a spray park at Whalley Park now under construction, a pickleball court at town hall, and perhaps more pickleball at Whalley Park — there’s an item on the town meeting warrant to that effect. 

Meanwhile, the community is in the process of hiring a new town planner, undertaking what Parker called a “major zoning revision” to update bylaws that have not been overhauled for decades, and voting on a proposal for new high-speed internet service through WhipCity Fiber. On the business side, the community’s first cannabis dispensaries will be opening shortly, and a Dollar General will soon join the ranks of the establishments on busy College Highway. 

Overall, said Parker, there is a need to achieve balance — between the businesses needed to serve residents and reduce the tax burden on those who call the town home, and maintaining those qualities that make this community so attractive to residents and visitors alike. 

“On College Highway … there’s a house, a business, a house, a house, a business, a business, a house — there’s no cohesion. Having strategic zones will really help the town grow the way it needs to grow, the way the residents want to see it grow.”

For this the latest installment of its Community Spotlight series, BusinessWest turns its lens on Southwick, where there is plenty to do, plenty to see, and plenty to eat. 

 

Doughs and Don’ts 

There’s a treatment on one wall inside Kettlebread that tells the story of this venture, or at least a big part of it. 

It features a dictionary-like definition of the noun Kettlebread — actually, two of them: 

1. ‘Our family’s secret all-natural artisan bread recipe involving a 3-day process, baked daily in round kettle pans, butter-salted crust’; 

2. ‘Suspiciously awesome sandwiches.’ 

The latter is a tagline of sorts for the business. Grimaldi was thinking about using ‘curiously awesome,’ but was reminded that the slogan for Altoids is ‘curiously strong mints,’ and he didn’t want to go there.  

As for the former … well, the bread is what defines this venture — along with what’s put inside it, especially the makings of a Philly cheesesteak sandwich, the most popular item on the menu. Grimaldi talked in generally vague terms about the bread and how it’s made, stressing repeatedly that it is, indeed, a process. 

“All bread has very simple ingredients, it’s just a matter of ratios,” he explained. “Everyone has their own formula; ask 100 people how to make bread, you get 100 recipes. I think our bread is very good because a portion of each batch is folded into the next day’s batch, allowing for an exponentially small portion of every batch that has ever been to be in every other batch.”

Grimaldi was visiting the Midwest several years ago, and became so impressed by a sandwich he had on that trip — a variation of the muffaletta, a New Orleans-style sandwich featuring a round loaf of Sicilian bread — that he became inspired to try to replicate it in the 413. 

“They had a very unique bread, and I tried for years to duplicate their bread, and I came nowhere near it,” he told BusinessWest, adding that he came up with something else, something he believes is even better — Kettlebread. 

As noted earlier, he and small group of partners introduced the concept near the height of the pandemic in a long vacant former karate studio on College Highway. Using mostly curbside service, the new deli and its offerings built a following, and today, the location is thriving, especially at lunch time. 

Southwick at a Glance

Year Incorporated: 1770
Population: 9,232
Area: 31.7 square miles
County: Hampden
Residential Tax Rate: $15.57
Commercial Tax Rate: $15.57
Median Household Income: $52,296
Family Household Income: $64,456
Type of Government: Open Town Meeting; Select Board
Largest Employers: Big Y; Whalley Computer Associates; Southwick Regional School District
*Latest information available

Grimaldi and his partners expanded with a second location in Westfield, which also serves as the bakery. And the long-term plan is to create franchises, said Grimaldi, adding that the first step in that process was to create that central bakery. 

“Franchising is still the ultimate goal, but right now, I want to stabilize my own operation,” he said. “So much has changed over the past couple of years — labor costs, food costs … it’s a more challenging environment in many ways.” 

As for the Southwick deli, Grimaldi said he fell in love with that location early on, noting that it is close to where Routes 10-202 and Route 57 form a ‘T.’ There are several other eateries and gathering spots in that general location including Tucker’s restaurant, the Summer House, the Southwick Inn, another institution, and Mrs. Murphy’s, which also found a way to persevere through the pandemic. 

That was with a drive-through, which remained how business was done until January of 2024, when the front doors were once again opened to a large and thoroughly loyal customer base that includes Southwick residents, of course, but also many from neighboring communities on both sides of the border with Connecticut. 

This customer base is treated to hand-cut donuts (a rarity in this business; most are now cut by machine) as well as pastries, breakfast sandwiches, and coffee. But it’s the donuts that make this an institution. 

They come in dozens of varieties, including many classics, but also several ‘specialty’ offerings including ‘maple bacon,’ ‘thin mint,’ ‘chocolate crème crumble,’ and ‘strawberry shortcake.’ 

When asked what the business has planned for its 50th anniversary, Smith said she hadn’t given that much thought — she and her family are busy enough with the day-to-day — but would in the months to come. 

“We’re just going to keep on doing what we’re doing,” she said, adding that this is one Southwick tradition that will endure. 

 

Work and Play 

Parker told BusinessWest that she wasn’t exactly searching for a new career opportunity when a friend recommended that she take a hard look at Southwick, which was advertising for a successor to long-time chief administrative officer Karl Steinhart. 

“I was like, ‘no, I’m happy here,’” she recalled, adding that her friend was persistent and again encouraged her to apply, noting that the town was bigger than Hardwick and presented more opportunities to grow professionally. She listened, did apply, and eventually triumphed in a lengthy search. 

“It’s been an amazing 10 months,” she said, hinting that it’s not exactly easy to succeed someone who had been in the job for 35 years. 

But the transition has gone smoothly, she said, adding that she was working on the warrant for her first town meeting, set for May 20, when she spoke with BusinessWest.  

Among the priorities she’s established is a revision of zoning bylaws, said Parker, noting that the current bylaws haven’t been overhauled “ever.” 

And this reality has contributed in many ways to the hodge podge that exists on College Highway today, said Parker, noting that the street is a mix of commercial, residential, municipal, and more. 

“On College Highway … there’s a house, a business, a house, a house, a business, a business, a house — there’s no cohesion,” she said. “Having strategic zones will really help the town grow the way it needs to grow, the way the residents want to see it grow.” 

Elaborating, she said planning officials can look at current zoning codes and see essentially whatever they want to see whether it comes to including a proposed use or excluding one, and something far more definitive is needed moving forward. 

And town residents will have a large say in how the bylaws are overhauled. 

“We’ll have a lot of public meetings to let residents let us know what they want to see for their town,” said Parker. “You live in a town because this is where you want to be, and you should make the decisions on how your town should modernize or move forward or really grow; it needs to be the residents who make those decisions, so I’m looking forward to having those meetings so we can gauge what the community wants for a business zone, where they want to see industrial zones, and where they want to see strictly residential zones.” 

Meanwhile, another issue confronting this community, like all others in the region, is housing, said Parker, adding that while few developments in the ‘affordable’ category are in the pipeline, there is a 200-unit condo project slated for Depot Street that has received Planning Board approval. 

As for the cannabis dispensaries, Pioneer Valley Trading and Haven will be opening in storefronts just a few blocks from each other on College Highway. 

“They can’t be within 500 feet each other, but I think they’re maybe 501 feet from each other,” joked Parker, adding that these additions will bring even more variety, and vibrancy to the town’s main business throughfare. 

And they provide even more to do and see in a community where there is already plenty in both categories.

At the Hitchcock Center, Environmental Education Comes Naturally

By
Billy Spitzer and a friend in the visitors center at the Hitchcock Center for the Environment in Amherst.
Features Special Coverage

A World of Good

Billy Spitzer and a friend in the visitors center at the Hitchcock Center for the Environment in Amherst.

Billy Spitzer and a friend in the visitors center at the Hitchcock Center for the Environment in Amherst.

 

It’s called Japanese knotweed.

This is an invasive plant species of plant that, as the name suggests, comes from Asia. It is said to be one of the resilient organisms on Earth and is very difficult to eradicate once it gains a foothold.

“If you cut it down, little bits of it will stick to your mower or your cutter, and when you go to cut something else, you’ve transported it to a new home,” said Bill Spitzer, executive director of the Hitchcock Center for the Environment.

When the center staged an informational program on Japanese knotweed, the room was full of attendees from across the region, with thousands more joining virtually from around the world.

Such programming is one of myriad ways the Amherst-based center carries out a unique mission encapsulated in its tagline, “education for a healthy planet.”

Other ways include field trips for area students, after-school programs, summer camps, and trips to local schools, where students receive lessons in design, engineering, and problem solving.

“We give them these design and engineering challenges to work with, and then, when they come here, they can see how we’ve solved some of those problems at our facility,” said Spitzer, adding that the center is one of only a few dozen ‘certified living buildings’ in the world, and is a classroom unto itself.

“It’s not only about net-zero in terms of energy use, but also water conservation, using non-toxic materials, being rooted in your place and conserving the land around you, and thinking about aesthetics as well as the functional aspects of your building.”

Among other things, the Hitchcock Center achieves net-zero energy through highly efficient building strategies and a 60-kilowatt rooftop solar array; achieves net-zero water through composting toilets (which never fail to fascinate young visitors), rainwater collection storage, treatment for drinking water, and grey-water filtration through a constructed wetland; uses only chemical-free and non-toxic materials; creates landscapes that use native species to promote greater biodiversity; and uses locally sourced, salvaged, recycled, and substantially harvested materials.

The center, funded by fees for its programs, grants, and a number of corporate sponsors, including several area banks, also carries out that mission through studies and programs within the community, such as an environmental-justice project studying the connections between air quality, climate, and health.

The Hitchcock Center provides a number of learning opportunities for young people.

The Hitchcock Center provides a number of learning opportunities for young people.

Funding for that study, a $500,000 grant, was recently terminated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, making the Hitchcock Center one of countless nonprofits to see grants and other forms of funding cut by the Trump administration.

Spitzer said the EPA sent a letter stating that the grant was cut “on the grounds that the award no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities; the objectives of the award are no longer consistent with EPA funding priorities.”

The center will appeal that decision, he said, adding that roughly 400 other grants for projects across the country were terminated for the same stated reason.

“This is money that has been congressionally approved and appropriated, signed into law, and turned into grants and contracts signed between organizations like us and the federal government,” he said, adding that several other grants awarded to the agency are hanging in the balance. “It’s unprecedented to be doing anything like this — to stop all these projects already in motion.”

In the meantime, he said he’s rather proud that the agency is doing work that is in opposition to the priorities of the administration.

“This building, as a living building, is unique in that it’s really designed as a teaching building.”

“This is the kind of work we need to be doing — we need to be educating people about the environment, we need to be educating people who are disproportionately impacted, whether in its cities or in small towns, rural communities … this is the kind of work that a place like the Hitchcock Center should be doing and that the federal government should be supporting,” he said, adding that, while fighting to keep this grant and others that are imperiled, the agency will look for other sources of funding, including the state, foundations, and businesses.

For this issue, BusinessWest talked at length with Spitzer about the Hitchcock Center, its evolution over the past 60 years, and the many different ways its mission is carried out.

 

From the Ground Up

Chronicling the history of the Hitchcock Center, Spitzer said it can trace its roots to 1962 and a woman named Ethel Dubois, who brought children to her farm in Leverett to experience more of nature.

Seeking to formalize and perpetuate what she was doing, she created a nonprofit, called the Hitchcock Center, which, for a while, operated out of the trunk of its executive director’s car, said Spitzer, adding that the agency eventually moved to a physical site, an old carriage house owned by the town of Amherst.

A certified living building, the Hitchcock Center is visited by grade-schoolers and college architecture students alike.

A certified living building, the Hitchcock Center is visited by grade-schoolers and college architecture students alike.

By the early 2000s, that building was showing its age, and the agency had also outgrown it, so the center’s director and board commenced a search for a new site and found one on the campus of Hampshire College. The site search coincided with the determination that, if the agency was going to build a new home, it should be a sustainable building.

“They decided to go for creating the highest level of sustainability that you could,” he said, referencing the Living Building Challenge and the fact that only three dozen structures in the world have met that challenge, with a handful in the 413, including the nearby Curran Center at Hampshire College. “It’s not only about net-zero in terms of energy use, but also water conservation, using non-toxic materials, being rooted in your place and conserving the land around you, and thinking about aesthetics as well as the functional aspects of your building.”

Overall, there are seven different domains — energy, water, materials, beauty, health and happiness, place, and equity — in which a building must achieve excellence to achieve Living Building status, Spitzer noted, adding that $7 million was raised through a capital campaign, and the center opened in 2016.

The standards are rigorous. For example, the ‘materials’ domain — focused on creating a materials economy that is local, non-toxic, and ecologically restorative — requires, among other things, that 75% of materials be sourced within 1,000 kilometers of the site. The center achieved this with salvaged insulation from Framingham, white cedar wood from Quebec, PolyWhey wood finish from Hardwick, Vt., and planting-bed soil from Agawam.

“This building, as a living building, is unique in that it’s really designed as a teaching building — all of the aspects of infrastructure and features that make it a Living Building are on display; we interpret them and give tours about them,” he noted, adding that it is visited by grade-schoolers and college architecture students alike.

This and the many other forms of education provided at the center fit nicely into his own career goals, if you will, said Spitzer, who brings a diverse background to his role. Indeed, while earning a PhD in Oceanography from MIT and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, he concluded that he was interested in science education as much as he was interested in science.

“Instead of following a research career, I started learning about science education, and made my way to working at the New England Aquarium in Boston,” he said, adding that he worked there for more than 20 years, handing education programs and developing exhibits.

Drawn to the problem of climate change, Spitzer worked with others to develop a training program for educators and communicators in aquariums, zoos, science centers, and museums across the country, efforts that are ongoing.

Billy Spitzer says environmental education is the kind of work organizations should be doing — and the government should be supporting.

Billy Spitzer says environmental education is the kind of work organizations should be doing — and the government should be supporting.

“I realized at some point that I wanted to spend the rest of my career working on climate education,” he told BusinessWest, adding that this realization — coupled with the Hitchcock Center’s work to develop programs consistent with the creation of a Living Building — drew him to the agency when it was searching for a new director.

 

Hands-on Education

He arrived in the late summer of 2021, an intriguing time for the center, which had made its way through the challenging first waves of COVID by essentially moving most of its programming outdoors, a trend that continues today.

And there are many constituencies that find their way to the property, from families to dog walkers to students from dozens of area schools.

“We provide semi-structured and sometimes unstructured outdoor-experience time, giving them a chance to do the things kids are meant to do, but often don’t get the opportunity to do as much as people did years ago,” he explained. “But we have also have kids doing joint projects, like building an igloo and imaginative play using mud and sticks and sand.”

There are lessons to be learned inside and out, said Spitzer, noting that a number of native species are planted on the grounds and tended to by a team of volunteer master gardeners. Meanwhile, the center’s staff works with young people to grow vegetables and herbs that are used in summer camp programs, making pesto, pizza, and more.

“One of the things that we focus on a lot in this building is ‘how can we be inspired by nature to build better things?’” he said. “And that’s something we also do with kids — help them understand how problems are solved in nature and how we can use some of those same principles to solve some of the problems we face.”

As an example, he cited the solar panels on the Hitchcock Center’s roof.

“One of the things this center does is capture sunlight to provide power, in the same way that trees capture sunlight on their leaves, and that’s how they power themselves,” he explained. “We have kids doing experiments with solar panels.”

Meanwhile, the center encourages outside groups to use its spaces, and many do, he said. “This is an inspiring place to work and also an inspiring place to visit, and we find that people want to do workshops here, retreats, meetings — we have groups from most of the Five Colleges come and do things here, other nonprofit groups, and more.”

The center is in the process of working on its next strategic plan, he said, adding that such planning is difficult at any time, but especially these times.

“The idea of a five-year plan doesn’t quite make as much sense as perhaps it used to, but it is really helpful,” he told BusinessWest. “If you’re on a ship, you want to have a destination, you want to have a course, a heading. But you also realize that you’re going to be affected by weather and the seas, and sometimes you have to tack this way and that way.”

This talk of tacking brings Spitzer back to that project funded by the grant cut by the EPA.

He said it’s an example of how the center moves beyond its physical building and the field trips and lectures on Japanese knotweed in efforts to improve quality of life in this region and beyond.

The project was undertaken with several other agencies, including the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts, which had initiated a healthy-air network in response to high asthma rates in Springfield, Holyoke, and other area communities.

“We’d been working with them to expand an educational component of this project, which gets communities monitoring air quality, understanding what the problems are, and advocating for solutions,” he explained, adding that this is a three-year project that is about one year in, with 25% of the funding spent.

“It’s hard to imagine how a grant that’s focused on clean air is not consistent with EPA’s priorities,” he said. “And even in a fairly rural place like the Connecticut River Valley, we have air-pollution problems, whether they’re from vehicle emissions or industry or from local brush fires like we had last summer, or more distant sources like the Canadian wildfires.”

The ultimate goal of the project was (and still is) “getting young people involved in understanding the issues around air quality, what we can do to protect ourselves, what we can to improve conditions and make them better, and partnering with people in community organizations up and down the Valley, whether it’s libraries or public health departments or schools, to really get the word out about air quality, why it matters, and how it’s connected to climate and what can we do about it.”

In other words, education for a healthy planet. That work will go on, no matter the fate of this grant.

In Greenfield, Puzzle Pieces Are Coming Together

By
Angela and Isaac Mass, owners of the Greenfield Garden Cinemas, one of many intriguing storylines in the city’s downtown.
Community Spotlight Special Coverage

Community Spotlight

Angela and Isaac Mass, owners of the Greenfield Garden Cinemas, one of many intriguing storylines in the city’s downtown.

Angela and Isaac Mass, owners of the Greenfield Garden Cinemas, one of many intriguing storylines in the city’s downtown.

 

Isaac Mass was in law school, looking for a job that would allow him to not only earn a little money but get in some studying for the bar exam as well.

He had experience working at movie theaters and remembered that life in the projection room (these were the days before everything went digital) would provide him what he was looking for.

“Once you started the movie, you had nothing to do for a couple of hours,” he said, adding that he called George Gohl, co-owner of the Greenfield Garden Cinemas, and before long, he had a job. And he wasn’t in it long before he started setting his sights higher when it came to that downtown landmark, opened in 1929.

Indeed, when Gohl and his partner, Bill Goebielle, were facing the high cost of converting to that digital technology, Mass, who by then had set up a law office in downtown Greenfield, came through with financing for that project — a deal that came with an option to acquire the theater should it come up for sale.

Which it did, in 2019.

Fast-forwarding our story a little, Mass and his wife, Angela (both are BusinessWest 40 Under Forty alumni) are now the owners of the theater, the only cinema in Franklin County. The pandemic hit just a few months after they took ownership, and that was a long and difficult storm to ride out. But they’ve done it, their operation is in the black, and they’re looking forward to a big summer, with a new Superman movie and other projected blockbusters.

“What we’re seeing right now is a kind of renaissance — a dynamic fusion of entrepreneurship, creative energy, and community investment that is strengthened by deep collaborations between business and municipal support organizations.”

Greenfield Garden Cinemas is just one of many intriguing storylines in Greenfield — others involve everything from a new Starbucks to some new housing initiatives to the anticipated start of work to reimagine the former Wilson’s department store — and just one reason why many see a surge in energy and optimism in the community.

“What we’re seeing right now is a kind of renaissance — a dynamic fusion of entrepreneurship, creative energy, and community investment that is strengthened by deep collaborations between business and municipal support organizations,” said Jessye Deane, executive director of the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce. “The city’s evolution is not just happening — it’s being shaped intentionally. Greenfield isn’t growing by accident; it’s growing because people believe in it. They’re investing here. They’re creating jobs, art, and experiences that can only happen in a place like this — where rural ingenuity meets downtown opportunity.”

Hannah Rechtschaffen, director of the Greenfield Business Assoc. (GBA), which recently moved into its own space on Main Street, agreed.

“Greenfield is in a lovely moment of revitalization,” she told BusinessWest. “A lot of pieces of the puzzle were here when I got here two years ago; they just needed a push behind the visibility, the story we’re telling, the partnerships we’re building, and getting Greenfield more visibility Valley-wide.”

While there is progress, many challenges remain, especially when it comes to the loss of manufacturing jobs, ongoing struggles to replace them, county-wide population loss, and the housing front, where some new units are in the pipeline (more on that later), but the issue of affordability is causing some concern.

Hannah Rechtschaffen shows off the new Greenfield Business Assoc. space on Main Street.

Hannah Rechtschaffen shows off the new Greenfield Business Assoc. space on Main Street.

“Housing is becoming a particular issue, both in the lack of inventory and the cost,” said Tony Worden, president and CEO of Greenfield Cooperative Bank. “Rents have increased, but even more troubling to me is the cost of single-family homes. Greenfield has always been the affordable alternative here in Western Mass. People who were priced out of other areas — particularly Hampshire County — could find reasonably priced homes here in Greenfield, but that is increasingly becoming a thing of the past.”

For this latest installment of its Community Spotlight series, BusinessWest turns its lens on Greenfield, a community where many pieces of the puzzle are coming together to make an intriguing picture — not unlike the ones shown in the cinemas.

 

Strong Arguments

It’s called the Strongest Towns Contest. This is a nomination-driven competition staged by strongtowns.org, with 16 communities competing in a bracket-style format similar to the recent March Madness.

Greenfield was one of those 16 towns, which are being measured essentially on how they’re faring against the complex problems facing cities and towns today. And it advanced to the Final Four, beating out Manchester, N.H. and then Silverton, Ore. to get there, with voters determining who will advance.

The city eventually lost to Harrisburg, Va., which went on to finals against Marion, Ohio, with the latter prevailing. Greenfield Mayor Ginny Desorgher was disappointed not to advance further, but buoyed by what the strong showing indicated — especially, in her view, unity and a sense of everyone pulling in the same direction when it comes to the city’s opportunities and challenges.

“People are working together,” she said, referring to everything from downtown cleanups and crosswalk-painting efforts to long-term economic-development initiatives. “So many things are citizen-led.”

Deane agreed. “Sometimes, rural communities fall into a scarcity mindset when it comes to economic development, but I’m seeing a fundamental shift in that mindset at the leadership level,” she noted. “We’re building bridges, not silos, which is critical in a county of 70,000 residents with a tax base that’s 75% residential.

“A business like ours relies upon a smart, educated workforce, and this cost of housing is worrying me for the future. Where are our employees going to live? Will there be a pool of qualified workers able to live in this area?”

“There is a palpable sense of alignment now,” she went on, adding that, last year, Greenfield secured a Massachusetts Downtown Initiative grant, which enabled the city, the GBA, the chamber, and the Crossroads Cultural District to explore opportunities for collaborative marketing and capacity building to enhance Greenfield’s regional profile.

Meanwhile, the GBA has initiated a roundtable series, which has effectively opened lines of communication between Greenfield stakeholders and re-engaged business owners and nonprofit leaders as local advocates, said Rechtschaffen, adding that these events have covered a wide range of topics, such as the return of a police substation to downtown.

“We recently started a property owners’ group to bring property owners together and get on the same page with them about new development that they’re looking to do, development that’s coming to Greenfield, best practices, lines of communication … we have a very active property-owners contingent.”

Along with this palpable sense of alignment comes several visible signs of progress, said Deane, noting, as one example, the expansion of Ja’Duke onto Main Street.

The Turners Falls-based provider of childcare services, performing-arts education (singing, dancing, and acting), and even driver education needed to expand, said owner Kim Williams, and chose a 25,000-square-foot space on Main Street in Greenfield, formerly occupied by Greenfield Community College.

Tony Worden says Greenfield has long been an affordable alternative in Western Mass., but times are changing, and it is becoming far less so.

Tony Worden says Greenfield has long been an affordable alternative in Western Mass., but times are changing, and it is becoming far less so.

“We’re excited … we believe this will be a catalyst downtown,” she said, adding that the facility, which will bring people of all ages to downtown Greenfield, is expected to increase vibrancy and stimulate economic growth. “Childcare is such a driver of economic development; if people have childcare, they can enter the workforce. Meanwhile, the arts center and drivers ed will bring more foot traffic, more vibrancy, more arts.”

 

Progress Report

There are other things happening in and around downtown, said Desorgher, including the reimagining of the former Wilson’s department store into a mix of street-level retail and housing on the upper floors, as well as new life for the historic Leavitt-Hovey House, the former home of the Greenfield Public Library.

The landmark, built in 1797 and vacant since the new library next door opened in the summer of 2023, was acquired by Greenfield Savings Bank, whose main office abuts the library, with the intention of housing its residential-lending program and wealth-management offices.

Meanwhile, there are some additional housing initiatives, said Desorgher, including units at the Wilson’s site and another 30 to 40 units at another site on Main Street. Meanwhile, the city is issuing an RFP for redevelopment of the Hope Street parking lot into additional housing.

That RFP has yet to be issued, but several developers have already expressed interest in the project, said Desorgher, adding that this is another indicator of positive energy in town and growing sentiment that Greenfield is a good place to land — for families, small businesses, and, increasingly, regional and national chains.

The arrival of Starbucks at the rotary off the I-91 exit — as well as the Aldi’s discount supermarket chain in that same area — provide more evidence, the mayor said.

“All this is indicative of what the future holds, and I can feel it in the fact that we haven’t even put out an RFP for the Hope Street parking lot for housing, but people have already reached out, indicating they’re interested. That’s a really good sign.”

As for the larger housing picture, she said studies indicate a need for several hundred additional units, and the projects in the pipeline will make only a small dent in overall need. But there is progress, especially downtown, which should provide a boost to existing businesses and also spark additional investment.

Greenfield at a Glance

Year Incorporated: 1753
Population: 17,768
Area: 21.9 square miles
County: Franklin
Residential Tax Rate: $19.56
Commercial Tax Rate: $19.56
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

Still, there is general concern over the way home prices are rising and changing the equation in what has historically been an affordable community.

“My wife and I live in a neighborhood just off the Federal Street corridor — in close proximity to the Greenfield High School and Four Corners Elementary School — that has historically been known for its mid-sized homes and its affordability,” Worden told BusinessWest. “Over the past few years, we’ve seen a handful of homes on our street and adjacent streets sell for amounts that we used to expect from the Northampton and Amherst market.

“A business like ours relies upon a smart, educated workforce, and this cost of housing is worrying me for the future,” he went on. “Where are our employees going to live? Will there be a pool of qualified workers able to live in this area?”

Deane concurred.

“Like many communities across the Commonwealth, our growth is hindered by a shortage of available housing — and this is further exacerbated by aging infrastructure that requires significant investment,” she said. “At the same time, we’re seeing a real uptick in businesses and families looking to relocate here because the quality of life is exceptional, and at a glance, the cost of living is more manageable than in more urban markets. That growing interest is energizing, but we know we can’t grow sustainably unless we also address those foundational needs.”

 

Coming Attractions

As he talked about Greenfield, Bob Provost spoke with more than 75 years of experience. Sort of.

He’s the third-generation co-owner (with his sister, Robyn) of the general-contracting firm Mowry & Schmidt, which is handling the renovations of the Leavitt-Hovey House. He knows firsthand how the city has changed, and he has stories from those who managed the company before him.

“Greenfield was once a manufacturing hub back in the ’40s and ’50s, even up to the ’70s, but most all of those places have closed,” he said, adding that this has changed not only the employment equation, but the jobs mix for his company.

Indeed, Mowry & Schmidt did a good deal of work in many of the former mills — from exterior work to office renovations to millwright work, said Provost, adding that the portfolio has since shifted and now includes residential projects and more work for institutions such as the many banks in town, Greenfield Community College, Baystate Franklin Medical Center, and area private schools.

Overall, the city’s economy has largely shifted from manufacturing to service and the tourism and hospitality sector, with the latter becoming an ever-stronger force, said Deane, noting that Greenfield and Franklin County are growing as a destination, with Greenfield alone generating 6.7 million visits in 2024.

There are specific destinations and attractions, but also popular events such as the upcoming Bee Festival, during which the town celebrates its designation as the place where the beehive was invented, as well as the Green River Festival, a three-day celebration of music.

“Our marketing focus has shifted from generic outreach to specific, interest-driven storytelling — targeting Boomers who want to stay active, Millennials chasing Insta-worthy landscapes, and Gen Z looking for positivity and purpose,” Deane said. “We’ve also partnered with local event coordinators to promote bigger-ticket cultural and sporting events like Franklin County Pride, the Greenfield Winter Carnival, the Greenfield Triathlon, the Franklin County Fairgrounds, and the Green River Festival, with its great lineup of bands, coming in late June.

“Last April, the Franklin County Chamber launched an aggressive digital ad campaign promoting the Green River Festival and virtually introduced the fairgrounds and Greenfield to more than 2 million people,” she went on. “In large part to the success of this campaign, this year’s Green River Festival ticket sales saw a 13% increase over last year, with 25% of ticket buyers attending the festival for the first time.”

At Greenfield Garden Cinemas, Mass said people are going to the movies again — not quite as much as they did pre-pandemic, but the numbers are steady and even improving slightly.

And there is optimism for this summer — one of two busy times for movie theaters, with Christmas being the other — and later this spring as well. Indeed, in addition to a new Superman movie, there’s a live action Lilo & Stitch production, another Jurassic World offering, and a new Avengers movie, said Mass, adding that the cinemas cater mostly to seniors and families, so action movies don’t play particularly well.

But, overall, business is good at the cinemas, and across downtown Greenfield, where the coming attractions are, indeed, quite compelling.

Regional Better Business Bureau Affiliate Hones Its Dual Mission

By
Features

Matters of Trust

Recently, Megan MacBride, director of Marketing and Communications for the Better Business Bureau of Central New England, paid a visit to our BusinessTalk podcast, talking with BusinessWest Editor Joseph Bednar about the role of the BBB. Here are some abridged highlights of that conversation.

 

BusinessWest: Can you give us a basic idea of some of the programs and services of the BBB and how they benefit both business owners and customers?

MacBride: We have the business side, and we have the consumer side. We have a consumer foundation that offers support to consumers. For example, we put on a lot of scam presentations and seminars. It’s really helpful for people who are getting older because there are a lot of elder scams out there. So we’re continuously trying to educate those people.

We also have a complaint service. For example, if you went and bought a hot dog at a hot-dog stand and you were charged $2 and the person behind you was charged $1, and you were mad about that $1, you could call the BBB, and we’ll open up a complaint, whether the business is accredited with us or not, and we’ll be a neutral third party that will bring the unhappy customer and the business together to find a positive resolution that works for both.

Megan MacBride

Megan MacBride

“Don’t let these scammers bully you with threats and rush tactics like, ‘you need to pay now, or otherwise you’re going to get a fine, or you’re going to get arrested.’ The IRS will send you a letter in the mail. It’ll never be a threatening phone call.”

What the business wouldn’t want, whether they’re accredited with us or not, is a bad rating on our website because we document all of this stuff, and we vet all of our businesses before they can become accredited with us. Even if they’re not accredited with us and there are complaints, we’ll still fully investigate it, and we’ll make those complaints public so people are aware of what’s going on.

 

BusinessWest: What does it mean to be a BBB-accredited business?

MacBride: We have to go through your entire business and make sure that you fit our standards of trust. Our BBB standards of trust are to advertise honestly, tell the truth, be transparent, honor promises, be responsive, safeguard privacy, and embody integrity. We want to have businesses that follow our standards of trust to be accredited.

And there are a lot of benefits. We had about 220 million viewers in 2024 on bbb.org. As an accredited business, you can list your business with us. We also do advertising for businesses, so they can buy ad spots as well. There are tons of other opportunities to work with the BBB beyond just getting the seal.

We’re always here as a resource for anyone on the business or consumer side if they ever need anything. I think it just fosters trust in the community. We all want to do business with good businesses, and we want to avoid scams and frustration. So when we’re all in this together and we have these accreditations to back it up, it makes you feel just a little bit better.

Another part of being a BBB-accredited business is that you have opportunities for e-learning seminars, so you can learn different things about various business topics. It’s an additional resource for lifelong learning. Even as a business owner, you’re still learning every day.

 

BusinessWest: You mentioned consumer scams. What are some examples of scams that are common right now?

MacBride: One that’s been ongoing recently is an EZ Pass scam. I don’t know if you’ve ever received an unsolicited text message claiming to be from an EZ Pass service. They make you follow this weird link, and then, next thing you know, your information is stolen. There have been over 800 reports in our region alone, and I know that other regions have also been targets of this.

I want to continue to remind people, do not respond to that text. It is absolutely fake news. EZ Pass would never send a text to you saying that you have an outstanding balance. It’s important to delete those, and it’s also important not to respond back. That’s a big thing. Even if you’re trying to respond just to say stop or unsubscribe, don’t even do that. Immediately block the number, report it, don’t even engage with it.

Another big scam that’s been going around recently is the wrong-number scam. You’ll get a random text and somebody says, ‘hi, I’m trying to reach so-and-so; this is my new number.’ And you might respond back and say, ‘hey, sorry, I think you might have the wrong number. I am not so-and-so.’ And then the scammer will respond, ‘oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know. How are you today? My name is X. I’d like to start talking to you now.’

And it just gets a little weird, right? So again, don’t respond to these. If you ever get an unsolicited text or phone call, review the number with caution, and if it’s a call, they can always leave a voicemail.

The other one relates to tax season. Everyone’s preparing for that April 15 date, so I’ve been trying to warn people about the IRS impersonation scams, when you receive a phone call from the IRS and they’re demanding money from you. The IRS does not do that, so don’t let these scammers bully you with threats and rush tactics like, ‘you need to pay now, or otherwise you’re going to get a fine, or you’re going to get arrested.’ The IRS will send you a letter in the mail. It’ll never be a threatening phone call.

 

BusinessWest: It would seem to me there is more awareness of scams, but I imagine you’re seeing the complaints at ground level, and there’s probably still a lot of need for education and to keep reinforcing these messages, right?

MacBride: Absolutely. Like I said, we have some of these vulnerable populations, older people, and with the rise of AI and the ability to manipulate photos and videos, it’s so important for us to continue to trying to get get ahead of it, making sure we’re on top of the curve, so we can continue to warn people of these things.

 

BusinessWest: There are a lot of organizations out there that advocate for the business community or for the consumer community. You really do both. How gratifying is it to be involved in that sort of work, to help consumers find what they need and also help businesses succeed?

MacBride: Honestly, it’s great. We are a nonprofit advocacy group for not only businesses, but also consumers, and it feels really good to get all the good businesses to come together and work together. I think our values are important. And I think having resources for consumers is amazing too, because sometimes people don’t know where to turn when things happen. So we want to always be there for both sides of it.

 

Anthony Gulluni Strikes Balance Between Fighting Crime, Building Community

By
Anthony Gulluni
Features

Law and Order

Anthony Gulluni

Anthony Gulluni

The ‘young jokes’ have stopped.

Well … there are fewer of them, anyway.

Indeed, Anthony Gulluni is still the youngest person in the room — by maybe 15 years, by his estimate — when the Massachusetts District Attorneys Assoc. gathers for its monthly meetings and an annual conference to discuss “whatever the crisis of the day is,” such as Rule 14, which puts greater burden on prosecutors and police departments to furnish discovery more quickly.

“It’s no fun; it’s not a good thing,” said Gulluni, 44, Hampden County’s DA, who has been the youngest person in that room for a full decade now, a milestone — there’s a handmade sign in his office congratulating him on that anniversary — that presents a time to pause and reflect on his tenure and what he calls its primary, overarching goal, then and now: “to build a safer community in Hampden County.”

This represents work in progress, noted Gulluni, who told BusinessWest that it’s difficult to quantify just how much safer area cities and towns are a decade after he took office. But he can qualify progress on several levels, everything from the ongoing fight against drugs to efforts to solve cold cases, while also stressing a need to continually improve.

“Ten years provides an opportunity to look back, look forward, and say, ‘what can we do better?’” he said. “And that’s a daily pursuit for this office because the work is so important. We’re serving the public, not unlike other public officials, but we’re working with people who have been victimized, people who have experienced some of the worst things imaginable and things they never expected.”

Overall, building a safer community involves a broad spectrum of programs, initiatives, and simply getting tough on crime and criminals, said Gulluni, adding that efforts at education, prevention, and providing second chances — everything from flag football to 3-on-3 basketball; from Stop the Swerve safe-driving events to the Emerging Adult Court of Hope — and imposing harsh sentences on offenders are not mutually exclusive.

“It’s not ‘lock them up and throw away the key,’ or ‘we want to be progressive and rehabilitate everybody.’ We can combine the two, we can be moderate, and we can be in the middle, and we’ve achieved that.”

“What I’ve tried to do is operate on the principle that we can do progressive things in this law-enforcement space and criminal-justice space,” he noted. “And it doesn’t prevent us from also upholding the law and understanding that there are violent people and repeat offenders who hurt people and need to be incarcerated.

“We can do both things,” he said, adding this has been his goal since he first campaigned for the office. “It’s not ‘lock them up and throw away the key,’ or ‘we want to be progressive and rehabilitate everybody.’ We can combine the two, we can be moderate, and we can be in the middle, and we’ve achieved that.”

Elaborating, he said his office has not “run from the enforcement stuff — taking drugs off the street and locking the person up for as long as possible because this person is killing people.”

Anthony Gulluni speaks at a ceremony marking the five-year anniversary of EACH, the Emerging Adult Court of Hope.

Anthony Gulluni speaks at a ceremony marking the five-year anniversary of EACH, the Emerging Adult Court of Hope.

But it has also broken new ground with programs like the Commonwealth’s only Emerging Adult Court of Hope (EACH) — a name he came up with — which provides second chances to young offenders and brings graduates into careers, not merely entry-level jobs that most often fail to prevent recidivism.

“Each person matters; each person should have hope,” he told BusinessWest, adding that the program is designed to break the cycle whereby young people become repeat offenders essentially because there is no real alternative. EACH was designed to help such individuals earn a viable alternative.

There are many other initiatives as well, involving everything from preventing dating violence to internet safety to FLOS (Future Lawyers of Springfield), which seeks to identify young students who aspire to be lawyers and guide them into a career in the legal system. In short, his first decade has been guided by a desire to be tough on crime and creative with ways to build community.

For this issue, BusinessWest talked at length with Gulluni, who has been honored by the magazine as a 40 Under Forty honoree and Alumni Achievement Award winner, about what has been accomplished over the past 10 years, and the hard work that remains.

Coming to Terms

As he talked with BusinessWest on the last day of March, Gulluni was coming off a hard week.

Indeed, he was just a few days away from press conferences announcing charges related to a motor-vehicle accident on an I-91 off-ramp in West Springfield that killed three construction workers, and a hit-and-run incident in Springfield where a motorist struck and killed a pedestrian walking his bike across an intersection.

“This was tragic stuff, but this is what we do — it’s really about public safety, helping people be safe, and helping people make good decisions,” he said, adding that incidents like these help emphasize all aspects of his office’s work, from prosecuting offenders to helping to prevent such tragedies in the future.

“One of the points of frustration over my 10 years, and it’s become more acute and frequent, is the results in court.”

Such press conferences are one of the more visible aspects of a job where far more goes on behind the scenes, in offices spaced across four floors of Tower Square — after Gulluni ordered his staff out of the Roderick L. Ireland Courthouse amid growing health concerns — but in many different settings as well.

That move to Tower Square is one of many bold steps taken over the past 10 years, all aimed, in one way or another, at achieving that broad goal of making communities safer.

Others include everything from adding prosecutors (bringing the number from 61 to 90 over the past decade) and staff to bring the Hampden County DA’s office, among the busiest in the state, more in line with others in the Commonwealth, to ‘specializing’ those prosecutors.

“We’ve taken many of our most experienced and most talented prosecutors to work on cases involving children in our special-victims unit, domestic-violence cases, and homicide cases,” he said, adding that this region has led the state in homicides per capita, reflecting the demographics of a region with four gateway cities.

Overall, there have been several important initiatives undertaken over the past decade, said Gulluni, including a focus on cold cases that has brought charges — and, in some cases, resolution — to crimes committed decades ago.

“That was one of my initial focal points and something we talked about during the campaign, something we acted on immediately, and over the past 10 years we’ve had a great deal of success,” he said, citing the recent instance of an arrest involving a double murder on Route 5 in West Springfield 47 years ago.

Elaborating, he said cold cases require time and resources, factors that make it difficult to address them. But he has made such cases a priority.

“It’s all about focus,” he explained. “We’ve tried to, and we have, dedicated people to work on unresolved cases. I created a unit, I have a coordinator, I have an advocate, I have a prosecutor, and I have two, soon to be three, investigators working exclusively on these cases. You can’t throw a 30-year-old case at a prosecutor who has 50 other cases and expect her or him to really dive into that case.”

Court of Opinion

Meanwhile, some initiatives fall more into the category of prevention, community building, promoting healthy lifestyles, and even inspiring young people to join the legal profession.

“We’ve approached our work with a preventive lens — how can we get in front of issues; how can we identify things that metastasize and become worse?” he said, adding that his office devotes considerable time and resources to what it calls its Community Safety and Outreach Program.

Anthony Gulluni speaks with an attendee at the recent Stop the Swerve event at the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Anthony Gulluni speaks at 94.7 WMAS for its Radiothon for Baystate Children’s Hospital.

It includes more than a dozen initiatives, such as Stop the Swerve, a presentation (the latest staged last month) that addresses the dangers of impaired and distracted driving; Hoop Up Springfield, a 3-on-3 basketball tournament; a Youth Advisory Board consisting of student representatives from high schools across the county who identify issues facing youth today and provide recommendations on how best to address them; and a recent addition, a youth flag-football tournament, staged in partnership with Excel Sports Academy of New England.

The first such tournament was staged last June, and it will return this summer, said Gulluni, adding that, in addition to competition on the gridiron, it features several nutrition and wellness sessions.

Then there’s FLOS. Undertaken in partnership with Western New England University School of Law, it’s designed to inspire young people to enter the legal profession and bring more diversity to the legal community.

“Diversity is important, for our office and for the bar here in Hampden County,” he told BusinessWest. “We thought about how we can encourage and support young people, especially young people of color, to go down the road toward law school and become lawyers.”

As for the Emerging Adult Court of Hope, it is perhaps the most unique and ambitious initiative of Gulluni’s tenure.

Designed for those between ages 18 and 24, it gives individuals a chance to turn an arrest into a positive step forward, he said, adding that participants are carefully screened and, if chosen, assigned a team that includes a judge, service providers, assistant DAs, probation officers, case managers, and case coordinators.

“They come to the court, and it’s entirely different than any other court session anywhere,” he said, noting that the judge, probation department, and ROCA provide resources to make sure participants get needed support.

“Because a lot of these young people started their lives off in a very disadvantaged position — they started their lives off with horrible examples around them, no support, poor parenting, traumatic situations — and they set them adrift, it set them on a bad path.

“Look at the parole hearings … just over the past six months or year, the Parole Board is letting everybody out. There’s a pendulum that swings back and forth, and the pendulum is swinging, and has swung, a little too far, in my view, in the wrong direction.”

“And this is an opportunity for them to accept a hand up, not a handout,” he continued. “It’s not a slap on the wrist, and it’s not a gift; it’s an opportunity to change their lives with their own hard work and their own commitment to themselves.

“I talk to these young people extensively, and on the front end, I’m saying, ‘this court is about you. It’s about giving you an opportunity, but you have to work for it; it comes with a lot of small failures, ups and downs,’” he went on, adding that there have been seven graduates of the program, and another 15 individuals are working their way through it.

Full Sentences

While creating and expanding progressive initiatives in the broad realm of education, prevention, and rehabilitation, Gulluni said he and his staff have also been focused on the other half of that equation he mentioned earlier — upholding the law and punishing those who break it.

And as the discussion entered this area, he didn’t attempt to hide his dissatisfaction with current trends and patterns when it comes to how judges and parole officers are carrying out their work.

“One of the points of frustration over my 10 years, and it’s become more acute and frequent, is the results in court,” he said. “There’s been two or three rounds of criminal-justice reform over my tenure going back to [former Gov.] Deval Patrick early on and recently, over the past few years. The Supreme Judicial Court and other courts have continued to orient toward ‘how is the system wrong, and how can we provide more opportunities for defendants?’

“You look at the parole system, you look at medical parole … systemically, there’s a movement toward defendants’ rights, and that’s extraordinarily important; don’t get me wrong,” he went on. “The system operates rightly on the axiom that it’s better to let 100 guilty men go free than imprison one innocent man — that is the essence of our system, and that’s how it should be.

“But our sentencing practices across our courts, how we’re treating violent offenses, how we’re treating serious drug-trafficking and drug-dealing cases that have poisoned our communities and killed thousands of people through addiction, how we’re treating those who commit crimes against children, domestic-violence abusers, the worst of the worst, has really changed, even in the spectrum I’ve had over the past 10 years.”

The result, he went on, is that violent offenders and repeat offenders are not being held to account.

“That’s a point of great of frustration. Look at the parole hearings … just over the past six months or year, the Parole Board is letting everybody out,” he said, adding that he can’t pinpoint why, but conjectures that it could be everything from overall philosophy to appointments to the board. “There’s a pendulum that swings back and forth, and the pendulum is swinging, and has swung, a little too far, in my view, in the wrong direction.”

Elaborating, he said there are some cases in which those in his office will agree that someone should be granted parole. “But for most of these cases, we’re saying, ‘this person killed someone, took someone away from his or her family, and the sentence is a life sentence, and that’s what it should be.”

Work to help that pendulum swing back the other way is one of many focal points for Gulluni and his team. With this issue and others, it is difficult to measure success, he said, but added that he’s seeing progress on several fronts — and more momentum in the many efforts to build a safer community in Hampden County.

Marty’s Local Boosts the Region’s Food Economy

By
CEO Nick Martinelli
Features Special Coverage

Produce and Promise

CEO Nick Martinelli

CEO Nick Martinelli

 

As he gave BusinessWest a tour of his 12,500-square-foot warehouse in Deerfield, winding past long, high racks of boxes and bags of fresh produce and other food and beverages, as well as a brightly lit cold-storage area, Nick Martinelli eventually came to a three-bay loading dock which he called perhaps the most important part of the decade-old operation known as Marty’s Local.

“We have eight trucks, and they’re going six days a week. They’re going out to the farms in the area, and then to the restaurants and colleges and grocers,” he explained. “Everything comes in and out of here.”

Indeed, food that arrives at the facility from farms doesn’t stay long; it heads right back out to its final destination, wherever that may be. The operation has about 115 different partners, counting both the farms and food producers on one end and those purchasing food on the other.

“They’re primarily in Western Mass., but also elsewhere in New England and New York,” Martinelli said. “There are instances where food will be picked up and delivered the same day. But the great majority of our business is having trucks on the road, making deliveries, and then ideally picking up from our farm partners on the way back to the facility, to be packed that night and go out the next day. That’s the ideal.”

Martinelli, founder and CEO of Marty’s Local, began this career in 2015, completing a farming program in Orange called the Farm School, knowing he wanted to work in agriculture, but not sure exactly how.

“I was looking to figure out a place in the local agriculture economy,” he recalled. “I was going to work on a farm, but then I started to talk to a bunch of farmers and realized that there was a real need for distribution. I was seeing some of the growers that I knew driving their own product around, and I knew the demand was strong for these these foods that are really good. So maybe there’s a business opportunity to play that role and just focus on distribution, marketing, trucking.”

So Martinelli started doing just that, first in his car and then with a rented truck. “Then folks would say, ‘what else can you bring us?’ So it started to grow organically that way.”

That was the birth of Marty’s Local, whose network of partners are based not only in Western Mass., but also Vermont, Connecticut, Maine, and New York’s Hudson Valley.

Produce and grains were the first focus of the operation, but it soon expanded to dairy, including butter and cheese, as well as eggs, honey, maple syrup, and even products like sriracha and salsa.

“Almost every week, another farm or maker would reach out and say, ‘we heard you have this distribution service; could we work with you?’ So that’s how we built our roster of partners.”

In 2019, Marty’s Local acquired Squash Inc., a similarly minded local food distributor that had been around since 1973.

“We’d started to do some work with them, and then their owners were looking to retire, so we acquired that business. They had a lot of relationships with growers in the area, and a great customer base, and that was a nice merging of the two businesses that’s worked well,” Martinelli said. “With Squash, we added non-locals. They were sending a truck to the New England Produce Center in Chelsea, outside of Boston, three times a week to get non-local produce — avocados, limes, things you can’t get around here. We continued that, and it’s been a helpful component of the business.”

About 50% of the operation’s food purchasers are retailers, meaning everything from farm stores to independent grocers to chain stores. On the food-service side, which is most of the other half, are colleges, K-12 schools, caterers, restaurants, and wellness and retreat centers.

“There are a ton of farms, and we’re just scratching the surface with the ones that we’re working with.”

Martinelli said one plus for this business is that schools and colleges — not all, but many — have become more diligent about serving healthy options, while restaurants, everywhere but especially in Western Mass., have increasingly seen the farm-to-table concept as a selling point.

To supply those end users, farms have several options, he explained. “Farms are still doing self-distribution. They’ll either have a refrigerated truck that they use, or they’ll have a pickup truck or their personal vehicle, depending on the scale they’re operating at. Some of the farms we work with have multiple trucks, depending on how many customers they have. Some of them are working with distributors that are much larger than us, or some of them work with regional distributors like us. It really depends on the scale of the grower and maker.”

 

What’s in a Local Name?

Grateful for the farms that choose to partner with him, Martinelli takes a broad view of the operation’s impact on the region.

“On a personal level, all of us are motivated and compelled by the trust we have in food when we know where it came from. And when I say all of us, I mean on our team, although I think, in the market, too, there’s some truth to that for sure.”

That idea has driven growth in the local food economy over the past couple decades, he added.

“The sector has grown so much. And I think the reason is that trust, in terms of what food you’re putting in your body, but also who you’re supporting. Are you supporting somebody that’s down the road that you might run into, a business that you’re familiar with, whether you know those people personally or just drive by their business regularly? That’s meaningful to me personally, and I think that’s meaningful to a lot of people, and it’s an opportunity to put your money where your values are.

“So that’s certainly a driver for us — facilitating that, making it easier for people to see more products they recognize on the shelves,” he went on. “On a lot of shelves, it will say, ‘product from X country.’ OK, that’s not really that helpful, right? But if it says it’s from such-and-such farm in Northampton, Massachusetts, well, that’s different.

Eight trucks, both box trucks like this one and larger trailers, move food six days a week for Marty’s Local.

Eight trucks, both box trucks like this one and larger trailers, move food six days a week for Marty’s Local.

“Then you know what you’re getting,” he went on. “And you’re not only supporting the person or the business that’s down the road and putting food in your body that you can trust, you’re also supporting your regional economy, and maybe you’re preserving farmland. There are all sorts of ancillary benefits that come with it.”

Then there’s the matter of healthier eating.

“It’s more nutritious if it’s local,” Martinelli said. “I mean, there are studies showing that the nutrients are stronger after fewer days. So, if it’s coming in a truck five days across the country, it starts to leach out flavor — not in every single product, but there can be meaningful differences in the flavor and nutrition.”

Fortunately, he sees potential to grow this operation and continue to influence food freshness and nutrition while stimulating the local food economy.

“Are you supporting somebody that’s down the road that you might run into, a business that you’re familiar with, whether you know those people personally or just drive by their business regularly? That’s meaningful to me personally, and I think that’s meaningful to a lot of people, and it’s an opportunity to put your money where your values are.”

“There are a ton of farms, and we’re just scratching the surface with the ones that we’re working with,” he noted. “And not only farmers, but entrepreneurs who are one- or two-person businesses saying, ‘I have this great new product’ or ‘I make this great jerky.’ We’re talking about sauerkraut, yogurt, any number of different things where someone is eager to take their craft and get it out to the world, and that’s the role that we want to play.”

Recognizing that impact, Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) named Marty’s Local one of its Local Hero honorees in 2024.

“Marty’s functions in a part of our local food system that is absolutely essential but largely invisible to the general public (except inasmuch as we might see a truck making deliveries),” CISA noted. “We’re lucky to have thriving farmers’ markets, farmstands, and CSAs in our region, but the reality is that direct sales from farm to consumer make up only about 10% of Massachusetts farm sales. That means that 90% of the food grown by Massachusetts farms is winding its way through more complex channels from farm to table — and Marty’s Local smooths that complexity out, bridging the gaps and getting more local food onto more local peoples’ plates.”

 

Special Delivery

Martinelli said his operation’s continued growth is a testament to untapped demand in what is, after all, an agriculture-heavy region.

“That’s also a testament to the number of people growing great food or making great food. So you have people who want it and people who are providing it, and we get to do it really well in the middle,” he told BusinessWest. “We take pride in doing that and paying real attention to good relationships with our vendor partners and with our customers, and all three parties valuing one another.”

And he enjoys making the connections that drive that growth.

“It’s exciting to be able to say to another customer, ‘you know, I just talked to a guy recently who didn’t know there was a service like this, saw our catalog, and said, ‘these are exactly the kinds of foods that I want to have in my store.’ And we make it easy for them to get those foods in there, and do it in a way that’s just as professional as any very large distributor, but with a special focus on local and regional high-quality foods.”

Again, Martinelli added, “we feel like we’re scratching the surface, 10 years in, with the amount of suppliers that have food to go out into the world and the amount of people out there who want that good food.”

 

Amherst Is College Town with ‘Metropolitan Vibe’

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John Page describes Amherst as a “cultural college town.”
Community Spotlight Special Coverage

Community Spotlight

John Page describes Amherst as a “cultural college town.”

John Page describes Amherst as a “cultural college town.”

John Page calls it a ‘retail incubator.’

That’s the unofficial name given to a facility — still very much in the planning stages — designed to bolster retail in downtown Amherst and bring more balance (and more reasons to visit) to an area more known for its arts, culture, and restaurants.

“It’s a small location for retailers — people who are online, they’re artists, they do things at farmers markets — who are not quite ready to make the jump to a brick-and-mortar store, which is high-risk and quite complicated, said Page, executive director of the Amherst Business Improvement District (BID). “We’re hoping to make a half-step, where folks can start to test their concept out and learn more about being a brick-and-mortar retailer.”

The retail incubator (more details to come later this year, he said) is one of myriad initiatives in various stages of development in Amherst — a town where there is almost always a lot happening — that cross a wide spectrum, from housing to education; from new restaurants to new retail. That long list includes:

• A new elementary school that will be 100% carbon-neutral and ready for occupancy in the fall of 2026;

• Several new housing projects that include everything from market-rate apartments to home-ownership opportunities (much more on these later);

• An extensive, $46 million renovation and expansion of the Jones Library;

• A new restaurant, the Amherst Oyster Bar, which will bring much-needed new life to an historically vibrant spot, site of the former Judie’s restaurant on North Pleasant Street;

• An enhanced presence for both UMass Amherst and Amherst College downtown, with UMass Amherst recently opening UMass Downtown, a multi-purpose retail, event, and meeting space on North Pleasant Street, and Amherst College having opened a campus store on South Pleasant Street;

• Conversion of a former VFW post into a homeless shelter and supportive housing for veterans;

• The continued success story that is the Drake, a live-performance venue in the heart of downtown;

• The planned arrival of another cultural attraction downtown — Ancestral Bridges, an organization that celebrates the history of contributions of Black and Afro-Indigenous families in Amherst; and

• A reimagining of the space called North Common, a former a parking area that has become a popular gathering place downtown.

City officials and business leaders alike are enthusiastic not only about these individual developments, but how they will — and, in many respects, already are — working together to create more foot traffic and vibrancy in the downtown area.

“We’re between Boston and New York, and in such an academically driven area, you get a lot of people from those areas, and they’re looking for something they expect from a city vibe. That’s certainly new to Amherst, but that’s the direction we want to push things in.”

Indeed, the new housing units are bringing more residents to support the full spectrum of businesses downtown, said Page, adding that cultural attractions like the Drake and Amherst Cinema are bringing people to restaurants and bars before and after shows. Meanwhile, new retail, like Aster & Pine Market and the two college stores, are broadening the mix of things to do and reasons to come to the downtown.

“We have a lot of housing in our downtown, and that’s been very helpful to us because we have more people; those people go out to lunch and for coffee, and they spend money,” said Page, who referred to Amherst as a “cultural college town.”

Alden Peotter shows off the recently opened Amherst Oyster Bar.

Alden Peotter shows off the recently opened Amherst Oyster Bar.

“Meanwhile, with Amherst Cinema and the Drake, we encourage people to enjoy a meal before or after, or maybe a cocktail, so that there is that stickiness — people linger and enjoy the downtown.”

Paul Bockelman, Amherst’s long-time town manager, agreed.

“The Drake, along with the Amherst Cinema, has made a huge impact in bringing people downtown to live events,” he said. “And once they’re there, they stay and they support other businesses.”

As for the Oyster Bar, it has been a long time coming. Its grand opening had been pushed back so many times that the eventual date, April 1, was taken by some as an April Fools joke, said Alden Peotter, operations manager for Amherst Innovative Hospitality, which also operates the nearby Protocol bar and restaurant.

He spoke with BusinessWest the day after a soft opening late last month, and said that both the Oyster Bar and Protocol, which opened as a bar but has evolved into a popular restaurant drawing people of all ages, provide what he called a “metropolitan vibe,” something he believes young people, and some not so young, are looking for.

“We’re between Boston and New York, and in such an academically driven area, you get a lot of people from those areas, and they’re looking for something they expect from a city vibe,” he said. “That’s certainly new to Amherst, but that’s the direction we want to push things in.”

For this, the latest installment of its Community Spotlight series, BusinessWest looks at the many forms of development and progress in Amherst, a college town that is so much more.

 

Building Momentum

For Page, who took the helm at the BID last October, his new job is a return to downtown Amherst.

Indeed, he worked at the Amherst Regional Chamber of Commerce, which shares space with the BID in an office on South Pleasant Street, handing marketing and membership, before taking a job at UMass Amherst working on large events like commencement.

“I wanted to get back involved with the town of Amherst and all that was happening downtown,” he said, adding that he was inspired to seek the BID job after doing consulting work for the agency on its summer concert series.

“It reignited my passion for that economic-development work,” he said, adding that, since arriving, he’s continued the BID’s work in tandem with the chamber to promote the downtown and generate more vibrancy in the central business district, which has made a nice recovery after being devastated by COVID — but with changes.

Indeed, while food and beverage taxes are exceeding 2019 levels, there are still fewer people going out, overall, with restaurants still doing strong takeout business. One goal — at the BID, the chamber, and with new destinations like the Oyster Bar and Protocol — is to get them back out.

Amherst at a Glance

Year Incorporated: 1759
Population: 39,263
Area: 27.7 square miles
County: Hampshire
Residential Tax Rate: $17.82
Commercial Tax Rate: $17.82
Median Household Income: $48,059
Median Family Income: $96,005
Type of Government: Town Council, Town Manager
Largest Employers: UMass Amherst; Amherst College; Hampshire College
* Latest information available

“Our real view on downtown Amherst is promoting not just nightlife, but getting people out of their house, getting people to form these communities that have really been missing due to COVID and what came after; we want to give them that location,” said Peotter, who described both establishments as “that third place.” By that, he meant it’s not home, and it’s not work — “it’s another place to be.”

Page said one of his focal points is what would be considered traditional, brick-and-mortar retail. The downtown has some, he said, and the goal is attract more, while also retaining what exists, through initiatives like the planned retail incubator, a site for which has yet to be determined.

“It’s a difficult industry,” he said, adding that Amherst is not known as a retail destination, but could become one. “You need critical mass — you need other retailers so that people view you as a shopping destination.”

Jacob Robinson, executive director of the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce, agreed.

“Fortunately, downtown Amherst isn’t experiencing a significant vacancy issue, but there’s strong interest in attracting more retail to diversify the mix of businesses and further enhance the pedestrian experience,” he said.

“Of course, retail-space turnover is a normal and expected part of any dynamic downtown. As business owners retire, pivot, or evolve their offerings, it naturally creates opportunities for new entrepreneurs to bring fresh ideas and energy into the community. We’re seeing that play out in Amherst, with some beloved businesses closing for personal or planned reasons — often after years or decades of serving the community — and new ventures preparing to take their place. It’s a sign of a living, breathing local economy that continues to adapt and grow.”

Among the relatively new retail offerings are the Amherst College Store, which opened a year ago in the former A.J. Hastings space at 45 South Pleasant St., and UMass Downtown, which opened its doors in February at 108 North Pleasant St., in space most recently occupied by Greenfield Savings Bank.

The latter is a multi-purpose retail, event, and meeting space, said Nancy Buffone, associate vice chancellor of University Relations, who spoke with BusinessWest at the facility.

She said a downtown presence for the university has been talked about for many years, and it became a priority for Chancellor Javier Reyes when he arrived in 2023.

“This is truly about bringing UMass and the community together,” she said, adding that the facility will host both UMass events, such as lectures slated for this spring, and community events, such as registration for the Big Brothers Big Sisters Daffodil Run.

UMass Downtown has seen steady volumes of foot traffic, said Buffone, adding the numbers are expected to move higher as the weather improves and especially for commencement week and ‘destination days,’ when those students who have been accepted to the university, and their parents, are invited to take in the school and the town.

 

Developing Stories

Bockelman calls it the “mixing middle.”

He was referring to the broad segment of housing involving homeownership opportunities for segments of the population that might otherwise not break that barrier. This middle area is being addressed in a project on Ball Lane, undertaken by Valley Community Development Corp.

“We’re seeing a lot of apartments being built, but what has been largely missing has been homeownership opportunities, which is why the Ball Lane project is so exciting,” he told BusinessWest, adding that plans call for 30 units on an eight-acre tract.

The project is one of many housing initiatives, public and private, in various stages of development in town, and they address a critical need for new housing.

Other projects include two public projects totaling 78 apartments, 31 at the former East Street School and 47 at 70 Belchertown Road, said Bockelman, noting that these will be a mix, with varying levels of affordability. The developer, Way Finders, expects to have both sites developed and occupied by 2028.

On the private side, developer Barry Roberts is forwarding two projects, a large (but scaled-down) initiative at the corner of Amity Street and University Drive that will involve retail on the ground floor and apartments above, and the other at the former Hastings site. Meanwhile, Archipelago Investments LLC is set to break ground on a five-story, 68-unit project at Olympia Drive, a dorm-like building that will rise on the site of the former Iota Beta chapter of the Chi Omega sorority, which Archipelago acquired several years ago.

Archipelago has also been named designated developer for a project to create 140 residential units on a large tract of land owned by Hampshire College, adjacent to Atkins Farms.

These projects and others in different stages of development will make a large dent in the overall need for housing across the spectrum, said Bockelman, adding that such projects are needed to help seniors stay in town, young professionals to move there, and employees at many types of businesses, especially the hospitality sector, to afford to live in town.

Robinson agreed. “Housing remains a key issue,” he told BusinessWest. “While Amherst is actively exploring strategies to create more diverse and affordable housing options, it’s clear that housing supply directly affects workforce retention, talent attraction, and the overall economic vibrancy of the region. Our businesses need access to a stable workforce, and that depends in part on people being able to afford to live and thrive here.”

 

Annual Conference Brings Region’s HR Professionals Together

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Features

Rolling with the Changes

 

The landscape of human resources and the pace of change in the workplace are never static, but some times are more … well, dynamic than others. And 2025 seems to be one of those times.

Which makes the annual Tri-State SHRM Conference — which will convene hundreds of regional HR professionals at Mohegan Sun on April 28-30 — a bit more interesting this year.

“It’s great networking with your peers when you’re at the event because things are drastically changing,” said Dave O’Brien, state director for the Massachusetts State Council of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

“Look at the DEI landscape. Some companies are changing their DEI efforts, and other companies are standing firm, and you can talk to your peers and have an honest conversation with them and say, ‘hey, what’s going on? What are you doing? How are you handling this? What have you encountered?’ Because it does change so drastically and so fast.

Dave O’Brien

Dave O’Brien

“You can talk to your peers and have an honest conversation with them and say, ‘hey, what’s going on? What are you doing? How are you handling this? What have you encountered?’ Because it does change so drastically and so fast.”

“And it’s good because an HR person can’t really talk to anybody but another HR person about these things. They really kind of get it. And there is some concern.”

That’s just one of many reasons O’Brien is looking forward to this year’s conference, hosted by the Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island affiliate councils of SHRM. The three councils began collaborating on a biennial conference around 2000, which later became an annual event and has steadily grown over the years.

Lori McCombs, the Tri-State SHRM Conference manager, remembers the first conference she was hired to run: in 2020, which quickly had to pivot to a virtual event when the world shut down a few weeks before. But after a second virtual event in 2021, the conference has returned to an in-person model and grown significantly: while 242 people attended the 2020 event virtually, 385 showed up in person in 2024.

“The conference is definitely growing in popularity,” McCombs told BusinessWest. “We’ve had to close exhibitor registration due to the large volume of interest from exhibitors and sponsors. That’s a good problem to have. We’re experiencing a lot of positive growth.”

Most attendees are HR professionals, with 69% being HR manager or director level or above. “That means we have a lot of decision makers from these three states that attend this conference,” she said, adding that 32% of attendees represent companies with more than 1,000 employees, and half are from companies of at least 500. “And the type of people that exhibit are companies that provide goods or services to HR professionals — so, a lot of payroll companies, HR data companies, colleges and universities that have advanced HR degree programs, HR consulting firms, talent acquisition firms, recruiting firms, benefit brokers.”

Beth Groccia, a Tri-State SHRM planning committee member who has been involved with the conference for more than 20 years, noted that it used to rotate between venues in the three states, but between that and being held every other year, it was difficult to brand the event and build momentum.

Now a yearly event at Mohegan Sun, it’s much easier to promote, she said. “It’s a destination, people enjoy going there, and they know it’s around the same time of year, so they look forward to it.”

 

Big Ideas for Changing Times

This year’s keynote speaker is Paul Long, a motivational speaker who brings humor, energy, and tactical tips for workplace performance, McCombs said. In addition, a panel of speakers will share creative ideas for recruiting untapped talent, including individuals with disabilities, veterans returning to the workplace, previously incarcerated professionals, and other individuals facing challenges getting back into the workplace.

Lori McCombs

Lori McCombs

“If they’re unable to attend a session, they’re able to go back and watch that, which is very beneficial to those who want as much education as they can possibly get. That’s a great benefit that you don’t see at most other conferences.”

“So, it’s just looking at talent that maybe you’re not thinking of on a daily basis,” she said, adding that another popular panel is called the Stump the Employment Lawyers. “We end the conference with that session. It’s an opportunity for attendees to ask tough legal questions to a panel of employment lawyers from varying backgrounds. People look forward to that.”

Smaller sessions are conducted throughout the conference, three topics per time block, on issues ranging from employment law to professional development; from leadership integrity to combating HR burnout.

“People have the opportunity to attend whatever is of interest to them,” McCombs said. “We also livestream these sessions — we do have a small virtual audience — but we also record all the sessions so that attendees have full access to those recordings for 90 days on demand post-conference. So if they’re unable to attend a session, they’re able to go back and watch that, which is very beneficial to those who want as much education as they can possibly get. That’s a great benefit that you don’t see at most other conferences.”

Another benefit is continuing-education credits, Groccia noted. “A lot of the individuals that come to this conference are certified, and we need to get CEUs to maintain that certification. Plus, as we’ve said, things are changing so quickly. So, what else do we need to know about in our profession to stay up to date with these changing laws?”

O’Brien said the national Society of Human Resource Management provides plenty of general guidance. “But with the way things happen, we just have to stay true to our course and what our companies believe and what we believe.”

Having those discussions with other HR professionals in the field — and, really, just networking in general — is a real positive of the conference, McCombs added. “They’re practicing this every single day, but I would say that the attendees definitely come here to network and get support from each other, in these trying times in particular.”

The conference will also include a fundraiser for the SHRM Foundation, which supports scholarships and research for educational opportunities, O’Brien noted.

 

No Bull (Well, Maybe a Little Bull)

This year’s Tri-State SHRM Conference has a western theme and is titled “HR Rodeo: Saddle Up for Success,” and registration is available at tristateshrm.com. An event party will be held at Comix Roadhouse in Uncasville, “and we’ll be encouraging people to ride the bull and do line dancing and fun things like that,” McCombs said.

During the day, of course, the topics being dealt with are often serious. “The conference has a theme, but we try to stay relevant to what’s happening at the moment and offer best-practice ideas,” O’Brien said. But he quickly added that spending time with fellow HR professionals at a lively venue is, well, enjoyable.

“It’s always good to have more HR professionals join us and have fun,” he told BusinessWest. “You take the job seriously, but don’t take yourself too seriously. That’s the best part of this.”

Jessica Roncarati-Howe Grateful to Uplift Women

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Jessica Roncarati-Howe in the Dress for Success boutique today.
Where Are They Now?

Where Are the Now?

Jessica Roncarati-Howe in her 2012 40 Under Forty portrait

Jessica Roncarati-Howe in her 2012 40 Under Forty portrait

Jessica Roncarati-Howe in the Dress for Success boutique today.

Jessica Roncarati-Howe in the Dress for Success boutique today.

 

When Jessica Roncarati-Howe was honored as a member of the 40 Under Forty class of 2012, she was executive director of the AIDS Foundation of Western Massachusetts — a job with many hats, all of which she wore proudly.

As the foundation’s only paid staff member, she was in charge of marketing and development, administering the grant program, co-chairing most events, and overseeing a cadre of volunteers and interns.

The AIDS Foundation had three missions: providing financial assistance to about 100 patients a year for expenses like rent, utilities, and medications; educational components, including the training of young peer educators to bring awareness into high schools and colleges; and referral services to help people with the disease access healthcare and other resources.

And those efforts made a difference, and even saved lives, considering Greater Springfield had the highest rate of infection in the state at the time.

“It was so gratifying to help them, not just get the services and supports they needed, but build their level of dignity and quality of life,” Roncarati-Howe recalled. “That work really was my heart for the longest time. It taught me a lot about this community, its diversity, how it feels to meet somebody where they are in their lives, as opposed to holding expectations of where people think they should be, and then helping them from that point. It was a remarkable bit of education for me. And that’s something that I wanted to carry into my career going forward.”

Eventually, the heavy workload of that job wasn’t meshing with her home life as well as she would have liked, and she didn’t want either to suffer. “I left the AIDS Foundation because I had a responsibility to both the people who relied on the foundation and my daughter, and I couldn’t juggle both without doing a disservice to one or the other.”

So she moved on to other jobs (and had “surprise twins” along the way), but nothing felt like the right fit — until she became involved with Dress for Success of Western Massachusetts, which she serves as executive director today.

“A friend of mine who was president of the board at the time met with me and asked if I might be interested in a position as program coordinator, but she couldn’t promise me anything except complete uncertainty and lousy pay,” she laughed.

Yet, the executive director at the time felt the organization was on the cusp of rapid growth, and she was right — eventually. Roncarati-Howe’s initial experience was something different, as she came on board in January 2020, just before the world shut down.

“My job went from defining existing programs and building more programs to figuring out what our participants actually needed in that moment and building from there,” she recalled. “And that meant scaling back and scrapping some things, going in different directions that we never expected that we would go. And, lo and behold, we ended up not only successfully delivering programs and services through the pandemic, but also growing.”

From program coordinator, she quickly advanced to director of programs and operations, and began to feel the same sense of ‘right place, right time’ that she had with the AIDS Foundation.

“The more things changed in the world, the more important it became to me to do meaningful work again. And now, I can’t see myself contentedly doing anything else.”

In January 2024, when the executive director position opened up, Roncarati-Howe was named to that role in an interim fashion, and the job became official two months later.

“We’ve all been in a position where we’ve needed help, we’ve needed support, and we haven’t known what the next steps are. To be able to provide that for women is an honor. That’s why I do this.”

It’s impactful work, with services that include the well-known boutique where women can get professional attire for interviews and after landing jobs, and also the Foot in the Door program that focuses on work readiness, from résumé writing and interview skills to networking, workplace etiquette, professional attire, and how to navigate difficult situations on the job.

Dress for Success also partners with a number of organizations, including hiring agencies, employers, and community colleges, to make sure as many people as possible graduate and move right into further training, higher education, or a job within three months of graduating.

“Instead of having siloed programming, we’ve developed a model that we call the continuum of support,” Roncarati-Howe said. “We help a woman from the moment they walk in the door, wherever they are in their life and whatever their needs might be, to whenever they feel that they don’t need us anymore. In some cases, that’s eight to 10 years.”

The program also provides basic computer literacy and a laptop, courtesy of Tech Foundry; basic financial wellness with Liberty Bank; and preparation for the National Career Readiness Certificate exam, not to mention the Margaret Fitzgerald Mentorship Program, a year-long, one-on-one mentorship with a professional or retired professional woman in the community.

The work of Dress for Success of Western Massachusetts is being amplified and expanded with the recent opening of its new Women’s Career Center, which will make the nonprofit’s workforce-development programming available to hundreds more individuals each year, both on a drop-in basis and through regularly scheduled workshops.

The organization will celebrate all of this, and its impact, at its 25th-anniverary Common Threads gala coming up on Thursday, April 17.

“We really try to ensure that, no matter who’s coming to us, the answer is never ‘no,’” Roncarati-Howe said. “It’s just so heartwarming and inspirational and gratifying. It’s also humbling because our perspective is that we’re serving. We are grateful to be able to do this work and do good for people who need us because we’ve all been in a position where we’ve needed help, we’ve needed support, and we haven’t known what the next steps are. To be able to provide that for women is an honor. That’s why I do this.”

Is the Commonwealth Losing Its Competitive Edge?

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Features Special Coverage

State of the Bay State

 

“The success of Massachusetts’ economy has historically been driven by a number of key strengths: a strong quality of life, an educated and engaged workforce, and economic sectors that adapt to changing conditions and are at the vanguard of innovation. However, these strengths are no longer as unique to Massachusetts, nor are they guaranteed to continue in perpetuity, and in recent years, national demographic shifts and increased mobility for people and employers have threatened to degrade Massachusetts’ competitive edge when attracting residents, businesses, and investment.”

 

That’s the introductory, summary paragraph in a note from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Assoc. (MTF) as it introduced something it calls its Competitive Index, which was first released last fall and will now be conducted annually. And it effectively sets the tone for the document, which compiled 26 different metrics — from grade-8 math test scores to energy costs; from international migration to commute time — that clearly and concisely measure how the Bay State is stacking up. (The full report can be found at masstaxpayers.org.)

The bottom line is that is that, while the state still has several strong attributes, it is not as competitive as it has been historically. Or, put another way, other states, such as California, Florida, North Carolina, and Texas, have become more competitive. And now, thanks to the pandemic and the advent of remote work, it has more competitors, including other New England states.

“Massachusetts has a number of real strengths; the fact that we are the most highly educated state in the nation and have been for a long time, the fact that we have the best K-12 school system, at least on average, and higher education is such a strength, bodes well for us,” MTF President Doug Howgate told BusinessWest. “But at the same time, there are lot of things that we can and do need to do better — we’re either lagging behind the standards we’ve set for ourselves, or we’re lagging behind other states.”

“One of the reasons why we wanted to look into some of these issues within the competitive index is that, during the pandemic, we started to see that location choices became a little more flexible — not for everyone, but for some people,” he went on. “And that has real impacts for the long-standing proposition that Massachusetts has for its residents in terms of what you gain from living here and what the costs are.

“There are lot of things that we can and do need to do better — we’re either lagging behind the standards we’ve set for ourselves, or we’re lagging behind other states.”

“If people became a little less sticky and had a little more ability to move around — the same with employers — was that going to be a competitive advantage or disadvantage for Massachusetts?” he continued. “And at least in the very short term, it appeared to be a net competitive disadvantage as we saw these big surges in domestic outmigration — not everywhere, but certainly in higher-cost areas.”

Since the release of the report, compiled with researchers at the UMass Donohue Institute and with the support of the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership, it has been the subject of discussion and debate — about what the state has lost when it comes to its historic competitive edge, to whom it has lost that edge, and, perhaps most importantly, how it might get that edge back.

Howgate has spoken at several forums about the Competitive Index and the issues related to it, including the Outlook lunch staged by the Springfield Regional Chamber earlier this month.

Doug Howgate

Doug Howgate

“If people became a little less sticky and had a little more ability to move around — the same with employers — was that going to be a competitive advantage or disadvantage for Massachusetts?”

At those forums, and in a wide-ranging interview with BusinessWest, he stressed that the Commonwealth can no longer take its historic advantages — and, again, there are several, from educational attainment to its ability to attract international immigrants — for granted, because other states are gaining ground in those realms.

In the meantime, several factors, such as the rising cost of everything from housing to energy to childcare, as well as the so-called ‘millionaire’s tax’ and the rise of remote work, have contributed to the state losing population — and talent — to other states, although some, if not most, of these losses have been made up through international immigration.

As he talked about the index and what the numbers mean, Howgate said it suggests at least five key areas for policy focus: creating a competitive roadmap, stemming outmigration, growing the labor force, incorporating cost considerations into policy conversations, and fostering and supporting the relationship between the state’s education system and the economy.

We’ll get into each in more detail as we examine the Competitive Index and how it serves as a call to action as the state, which is still very competitive when it comes to businesses, jobs, and talent, faces the hard reality that it must take steps to remain that way.

Moving Targets

As he sliced through the numbers in the index, Howgate reiterated that the Commonwealth still has several competitive strengths.

Indeed, it is ranked at or near the top in such areas as population age 25 and over with a bachelor’s degree or higher, average weekly wage, research and development funding as a share of gross state product, and even life expectancy at birth.

But these strengths are counter-balanced by many weaknesses, with the state ranked at or near the bottom nationally in income inequality, energy costs, overall cost of living, commute time, childcare costs, housing cost burden, and even average unemployment insurance tax amount per covered employee.

In many ways, these weaknesses are now taking their toll, and this is showing up in domestic migration, with the state losing workers to regional competitors such as Maine and New Hampshire, and especially Florida, California, and New York.

This disconcerting trend is what prompted MTF to “look under the hood,” as Howgate put it, and determine if and where the state was losing some of its edge.

“We started looking at questions related to where are we a leader or a laggard, and a lot of the places where we’re a laggard are places where the costs are borne by wealthy folks,” he said, referring to the millionaire’s tax but also other factors. “But also, a lot of the costs make it a challenging place to live for working families, which is another huge challenge for the Commonwealth moving forward.

“What we talk about in the report is that people are more sensitive to cost than they used to be,” he went on. “So that heightens some of our long-standing competitive disadvantages. The fact that childcare costs are higher, housing costs are higher, unemployment insurance taxes … we continue to fare very poorly in those areas, and they’re at the core of where people can afford to live.”

Statistics show that, while outmigration is occurring most in the higher income brackets, especially $250,000 in annual income and above, it is also happening with other groups, such as those in the $75,000-$100,000 range, said Howgate, adding that this speaks to, respectively, people who can afford to relocate and those who can’t afford to stay. And in both cases, the trends started before the pandemic.

“And the factor that’s kind of marbled throughout that is that we’re seeing increasing evidence that it’s our younger professionals who are leaving,” he said, adding that this reality has deep ramifications for the Commonwealth and its businesses, large and small.

Meanwhile, he acknowledged that this challenge does in some ways present opportunities for this part of the state, where some of these costs, especially housing and childcare, are not as burdensome.

Indeed, opportunities exist to convince people, and even businesses, to move to different parts of the Commonwealth rather than to another state, he said, adding that, due in large part to remote work possibilities, some areas, such as the Cape and the Berkshires, are gaining population.

 

Behind the Numbers

Howgate noted that one of the many lessons from the pandemic, a once-in-a-lifetime happening that altered many aspects of life, is that things can change quickly.

“Just like you don’t want to assume that things are going to go right back to the way they were before the pandemic in a couple of months or a couple of years, you also don’t want to assume that the way things looked in June of 2023 is what they’re going to look like forever,” he told BusinessWest. “One of the points with the competitiveness index is to say that, as we find a new normal — and what ‘normal’ is is always changing — how do we start to create these baselines for ourselves about what we’re doing well and not doing well?”

And with this baseline, Massachusetts can continue to track how it’s faring, he said, adding that overall competitiveness is something that the state and its leaders should continually gauge — and work to improve.

It hasn’t been this way historically, he went on, and this is perhaps one of the reasons why some of its edge has been lost.

“You don’t want to overreact as a policy maker, but at the same time, we have some compelling data that something has altered how people are making location decisions,” he said. “So we need to be more mindful of the fact that people aren’t going to just stay because this is where they’ve always been; there has to be more to our argument than that.”

This brings him back to some of those suggested key areas of policy focus and the overall need to emphasize competitiveness as an economic-development priority for the state.

Action, and change, is needed on several fronts, Howgate said, especially housing and what he called the “nexus between transportation and housing.”

“If people can’t afford to live in a place that gets them to where they want to go conveniently, you have a big problem on your hands,” he told BusinessWest. “And that is something Massachusetts has a real crunch on — both accessible and efficient transportation options and affordable housing.

“While there are other things that absolutely matter as well, such as childcare costs,” he went on, “I think that we started to focus more and more, as others have as well, on what are some of the smart things we can do on transportation and housing to get people more quickly to places with inexpensive housing, like Central Mass. and Western Mass., and then also, what can we do on the production side to boost housing so people are able to afford where they want to live?”

The Commonwealth is certainly not alone with these challenges — many other states and urban areas are dealing with sky-high housing costs and transportation issues, he said, adding that some are being more proactive, and effective, in dealing with them and issues such as zoning and land use.

When asked to project ahead five or 10 years to where the Commonwealth might be from a competitiveness standpoint, Howgate said this is difficult because of the profound pace of change. But he did say the state cannot afford to leave anything to chance.

“We know what our demography is, that we’re an aging population, like other Northeast states, and we know that we’re a high-cost area,” he said. “At the end of the day, irrespective of where you are ideologically, it’s in all of our best interests to incentivize people to stay in Massachusetts, and move to Massachusetts, because we’re not going to have that level of growth if we just sit here and do nothing.”

Town of Palmer Has Progress in Its Sites

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The former Thorndike School will be converted into 12 to 18 units of market-rate housing.
Community Spotlight Special Coverage

Community Spotlight

The former Thorndike School will be converted into 12 to 18 units of market-rate housing.

The former Thorndike School will be converted into 12 to 18 units of market-rate housing.

 

When it comes to Palmer’s much-anticipated new train station and the return of passenger rail service after a half-century absence, there is no timetable in place yet.

There are several hurdles still be cleared, from design to the huge matter of funding — for this train station and the state’s much larger east-west rail project. Town officials can only speculate that it will be a few years, and likely more than a few — one said it will be at least 2029 — before the facility is up and trains are stopping there.

But this lack of a go date isn’t tamping speculation, both positive and negative — especially since the state has now chosen a site for the station, an open field at 1099 South Main St., south of Palmer Yard, land owned by wire brush manufacturer Sanderson MacLeod (more on that company later) and adjacent to its plant.

To the disappointment of many in the community, this site is not downtown — and, more specifically, not the site of the former, historic train station, now home to the popular Steaming Tender restaurant.

In fact, a group calling itself the Central Rail Passenger Coalition is not entirely ready to give up on the downtown site, even though the state Department of Transportation has deemed it inadequate for several reasons, and town officials are accepting the state’s decision.

“It’s a chance for the town to assess current land use in the area and begin laying some groundwork to really encourage and enable transit-oriented development in that area.”

Scarlet Lamothe, general manager of the Steaming Tender and member of the Central Rail Passenger Coalition, has been outspoken — at public meetings and other forums — about how the South Yard location, known as ‘Site B,’ will not bring real economic benefits to the downtown or the community as a whole, pointing to the example of Windsor Locks, Conn., which built a new train station outside of the central business district, didn’t see much economic development, and is now moving its station downtown.

“Site B is not located in the downtown district, and it will show no benefit to the town,” she said, adding that she, other members of the coalition, and other Palmer residents are trying to gather support for an ordinance that would require that a passenger rail depot and related facilities need to be zoned in the downtown district.

“Also, you won’t see as much ridership at Site B because you won’t have that north-south connection,” she went on, adding that behind the historic station is a diamond junction, permitting rail service in all four directions; Site B would only accommodate east-west service.

Town Planner Heidi Mannarino acknowledged some disappointment concerning the state’s choice of location, but said the site is only a half-mile from downtown, and, overall, it could benefit existing businesses and prompt additional development.

“There is potential to unlock more development in that area,” she said, adding that, while the next steps in this process play out, the town should be looking to maximize the development opportunities from this potentially groundbreaking development, one that could return the community known as the Town of Seven Railroads to its roots.

“It’s a chance for the town to assess current land use in the area and begin laying some groundwork to really encourage and enable transit-oriented development in that area,” Mannarino said, adding that this includes everything from new housing opportunities to businesses catering to those getting on and off trains to creating safer alternatives for multi-modal transportation.

The state’s selection of a site for the new rail station tops the list of developing stories in this community, but there are several others, including plans to convert the former Thorndike School, built in 1910, into 12 to 18 units of market-rate housing, $1.6 million in infrastructure work (from sidewalks to fire hydrants), a new strip mall on Route 32 near the turnpike exit that is nearing the finish line, and a spike in interest in Palmer in the wake of remote work and hybrid schedules.

The Liberty Plaza project on Thorndike Street is nearing completion.

The Liberty Plaza project on Thorndike Street is nearing completion.

Indeed, this dramatic change in how people work has made the commute from Palmer to Springfield, Worcester, and points east of Worcester far more attractive than when people were going to the office five days a week, said John Latour, Palmer’s director of Community Development, adding that there are other incentives.

“There’s quality of life, there’s a grocery store and other amenities, but the housing here is more affordable than going further east,” he explained. “You can get a really nice house here for considerably less than you would, say, in the Shrewsbury area, so you’re seeing more people driving into Worcester and the Boston area from Palmer.”

For this latest installment of its Community Spotlight series, BusinessWest turns its lens on Palmer, where many forms of progress are, well … on track.

 

Train of Thought

Latour noted that, while there is, indeed, some disappointment concerning the state’s choice of a location for the new train station, there is still a buzz surrounding the east-west rail project and how it could change the fortunes of a community that is roughly halfway between Springfield and Worcester, but often (and until recently) considered too far from either for a commute or any economic benefit.

Remote work and hybrid schedules have changed some attitudes about Palmer, he said, noting that this is reflected in growing interest in housing within the community and rising prices, with the median price now exceeding $300,000.

And east-west rail could change the equation further by making the commute easier and thus more palatable, he said, adding that there are many examples of communities that have benefited, in many ways, from being a rail stop.

Mannarino agreed, noting that, in addition to spurring residential growth, a rail stop can benefit existing businesses in the broad hospitality sector and foster new ventures as well. And the chosen site for the station can do both, she added.

“Currently, on the other side of the track from the site, there’s already Seven Roads Brewery and other existing businesses that will shine. It’s going to be a matter of making sure that the rail stop is connected to those businesses in a safe way while also laying the groundwork so that it can be attractive for other business opportunities on the south side of the tracks as well.”

Overall, she said rail service will make Palmer’s location, already attractive because of its turnpike exit and close proximity to the state’s second- and third-largest cities, even more appealing to the development community.

While anticipating — and preparing for — a future with passenger rail service, Palmer is also coping with the present and developments on several fronts.

At the top of that list is housing, which is key to any residential growth and the benefits to be derived from it, said Latour, adding that, at present, there is little in the way of new construction of homes or subdivisions.

But the Thorndike School project is a small step forward, he added, noting that the new units will make a small dent in overall need. Conversion of the former Converse Middle School into 55-and-over housing, a project the town has been pursuing, will make another dent.

Other developments include Liberty Plaza, a strip mall taking shape just a few hundred yards from the Big Y on Thorndike Street (Route 32). The plaza will be home to a Starbucks and a Jersey Mike’s, as well as additional tenants, said Latour, adding that this project will hopefully inspire additional commercial development in that area just off the pike exit.

Palmer at a Glance

Year Incorporated: 1775
Population: 12,448
Area: 32 square miles
County: Hampden
Tax Rate, residential and commercial: Palmer, $18.15; Three Rivers, $18.23; Bondsville, $18.98; Thorndike, $18.28
Median Household Income: $41,443
Median Family Income: $49,358
Type of government: Town Manager; Town Council
Largest Employers: Baystate Wing Hospital; Sanderson MacLeod Inc., Camp Ramah of New England; Big Y World Class Market
*Latest information available

Meanwhile, the town has been awarded a $430,000 grant to design a new sewer infrastructure for a stretch of Thorndike Street, a project intended to alleviate a “ticking time bomb,” Mannarino said, and one that could unlock new development, both commercial and residential, in that area.

The overall price tag for that project will be $4 million to $6 million, she noted, adding that the town will be pursuing other grants to cover that cost, and there is no timeline for the initiative.

 

Making It Happen

Mark Borsari, president and CEO of Sanderson MacLeod, or SanMac, as it’s known colloquially, sidestepped questions about the rail station and east-west rail, noting that both are matters well beyond his control.

He preferred to talk about what is in his control, meaning his company, and its focus, which, technically speaking, is on making twisted wire brushes, but is really on creating an environment where people want to work and can thrive, and also on creating a model for other manufacturers, most of them facing the stern challenges of coping with retiring Baby Boomers and attracting and retaining young talent.

“We can’t control the weather, but we might as well see if we can be as creative as possible internally — we’re having a good time, we really are,” he said, adding that the company is firmly focused on making investments in the next generation of workers and, at the same time, “making it cool,” with ‘it’ being the overall experience.

It does this through everything from food trucks making regular stops at the plant to a cornhole tournament; from one of the company’s operating slogans — “you’ve got to be a little twisted to work here” — to an elaborate employee-appreciation day called Brushes, Blues, and Barbecue, which tells the whole story.

Such initiatives are part of a two-pronged approach at SanMac, said Borsari, adding that the first is to work with area schools to educate young people about the many attractive benefits to careers in manufacturing, while the second is to implement programs that demonstrate how valued employees are and encourage them to grow with the company, be part of the growth process, and encourage leadership.

“You do have to make it cool — I’ve always said that you have to look at through the eyes of someone who’s 18 or 19 years old and create an organizational place that they find cool to be in,” he explained.

“And that means you have to be creative. You make it cool by making the cafeteria a ’50s diner, you make it cool by putting bus wrap around the inside of the factory so you can put colorful graphics up, you make it cool by bringing in food trucks, you make it cool by having fun with the different ways that we work together, by focusing on people and rewarding them.”

Overall, it comes down to treating people as individuals where one size does not fit all, and “pointing out what the big picture is,” he added.

“When young people go out into the real world, they enter the workplace with an enthusiasm that’s a little naive, but it’s potent because they want to prove themselves,” Borsari said. “If they’re not handled properly by an organization, or they just get cast away after putting out 100%, it cuts the knees out from under them. You can only do that so many times to someone, especially if they’re young, before they say, ‘this is ridiculous — I’m just going to find a place where I can make as much as I can by doing as little as I possibly can,’ and that’s leadership’s fault.”

Through leadership that doesn’t take this approach, that truly values employees, SanMac has become not only a standout in the twisted wire brush industry, but a true leader in a changing manufacturing sector — and an economic driver in a changing Palmer, where even more promise may be chugging down the tracks.

Bus Tour Revives Tradition, Puts Libraries in Spotlight

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From left, Rachel Gravel, Marilyn Sutin, Jeanne Fontaine, and Erica Swallow at the bust of Andrew Carnegie inside Springfield Central Library.
Features

Pages of the Past

The original Springfield Library

The original Springfield Library has been lost to history, but the planned bus tour is designed to generate appreciation for the libraries still standing.

 

Kate Benson says she doesn’t know why the original Springfield Library, opened in 1871, was eventually torn down.

The impressive, Gothic-style structure was only 40 years old when its replacement, the central library that still stands on State Street today, was opened, she said, adding that it was moved a few hundred yards to make way for the new library and serve the city while it was being built. And, in theory, it could have been moved again to another location

“We don’t really know why it came down — and there’s no real record of why,” said Benson, a special-education team chair in Chicopee by day, and also a member of the Springfield Preservation Trust (SPT) and self-described “history addict,” adding that it doesn’t really matter why the landmark was demolished. What does matter is that a piece of the city’s past and an architectural treasure can now be seen only in grainy photos and color postcards, which were very popular in the day.

It is a desire to enable the public to fully appreciate similar structures — and to perhaps ensure that they don’t suffer the same fate as the original library — that has prompted the SPT and several partnering organizations to come together to create a bus tour (set for Saturday, April 12, with Benson as the tour guide) of the central library and several branches, including four structures known simply as the Carnegie libraries.

These are the central library, the Forest Park branch, the Indian Orchard branch, and the former Memorial Square branch, now the Greek Cultural Center — four of the 2,509 libraries built between 1883 and 1929 with money donated by Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.

Built in the early 1900s, those four libraries, and the others on the tour, are blasts from the past that can still be enjoyed today. And so, in many respects, is this bus tour, called “Pages of the Past,” said Erica Swallow, president of the SPT.

“The library went from being a membership-only establishment to being open to the public, open to the community. To have four of those buildings in Springfield that really symbolized access to knowledge, and access to betterment, is really special.”

Indeed, the once-annual Bus Tour of Historic Springfield, a partnership between the SPT and Peter Pan Bus Lines, is back after a nearly 30-year hiatus, and with many goals in mind, said Swallow, adding that this endeavor is a collaboration between several groups, including the SPT, the Springfield Museums, the Springfield City Library, and Peter Pan.

As for goals, she listed everything from showcasing those libraries to cultivating the next generation of preservationists in Springfield.

“The trust has been trying to bring in the next generation of preservationists,” Swallow explained, adding that new programs like the libraries tour, as well as existing initiatives such as house tours and walking tours (more on them later), are effective ways to bring people into Springfield’s past, while also celebrating the present and getting them involved.

Danielle Veronesi, senior director of Marketing at Peter Pan Bus Lines, who was approached by Swallow about resurrecting the bus tour, agreed, noting that Peter Pan, which has a lengthy history in Springfield and this region, is enthusiastic about its role in the partnership presenting the tour.

Springfield’s Central Library will be among the highlights of the bus tour.

Springfield’s Central Library will be among the highlights of the bus tour.

“We’re proud to be part of Springfield history, and also proud of the role we’ve played in enabling others to learn that history and better appreciate the city and many of its architectural landmarks,” she told BusinessWest. “That’s why we wanted Peter Pan to be a partner in this initiative.”

 

Chapter and Verse

Rachel Gravel, manager of Adult & Youth Information for the Springfield Libraries, said the building of the Carnegie libraries represented a major shift in how libraries were perceived — and used by the public.

“The library went from being a membership-only establishment to being open to the public, open to the community,” she said, noting that, until that time, most libraries, including Springfield’s, were private. “To have four of those buildings in Springfield that really symbolized access to knowledge, and access to betterment, is really special.”

This shift will be among the many talking points on the tour, said Swallow, adding that the program is designed to provide insight into Springfield’s most historically and architecturally significant libraries, offering a glimpse into their storied pasts and lasting impact on the city’s cultural and educational landscape.

Benson agreed, noting that her research into the libraries that will be showcased on tour — seven in all, including the four Carnegie libraries — has been an intriguing and rewarding experience.

“I was unaware that we had Carnegie libraries, and I have a minor obsession with Carnegie libraries in New York City because they had hidden apartments, which, unfortunately, the Springfield ones don’t, because they were not 24-hour libraries, like New York’s,” she explained. “It was interesting to do the research to figure out how they made the decisions to create branch libraries, who got one first, and how they funded it — and also how they took the original Springfield Library, which was a private library, and made it something that was open to the public; it’s an incredibly interesting history.”

Jeanne Fontaine, travel coordinator for Springfield Museums, a partner on many SPT initiatives, agreed, noting that the upcoming bus tour dovetails effectively with the Springfield Museums’ own program of monthly day trips to other museums and destinations, such as the Newport Flower Show and the Metropolitan Opera.

From left, Rachel Gravel, Marilyn Sutin, Jeanne Fontaine, and Erica Swallow at the bust of Andrew Carnegie inside Springfield Central Library.

From left, Rachel Gravel, Marilyn Sutin, Jeanne Fontaine, and Erica Swallow at the bust of Andrew Carnegie inside Springfield Central Library.

The most recent such trip was to the American Heritage Museum in Hudson, where visitors can explore the nation’s conflicts, from the Revolutionary War to today.

Swallow said the bus tour is another initiative undertaken by the SPT to bring attention to city landmarks and encourage preservation of sites with historic or architectural significance, or both.

Others include its popular Second Saturday Walking Tours, which originate at the Museums and focus on the downtown area, an annual walking tour of Springfield Cemetery, and a winter lecture series.

There’s also the annual Historic Homes Tour. Previously a bus tour that took participants to different corners of the city, it is now a walking tour focused annually on a specific neighborhood; this year it will be McKnight, said Swallow, adding that the homes tour is how many long-time SPT members first became engaged with the organization.

 

History Lessons

That was the case with Marilyn Sutin, who first went on the tour in 1979, became heavily involved with the Springfield Preservation Trust, and is still volunteering for the group 45 years later.

Like Swallow, she said the libraries tour is another way to bring Springfield’s past into the present and encourage others to get involved in preservation efforts.

Tickets for the bus tour can be purchased on Eventbrite; the cost is $20 for SPT and Springfield Museums members, and $25 for non-members. All proceeds go toward the trust’s mission of historic preservation in Springfield.

Holyoke Continues to Ride a Green Wave

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Hagop Toghramadjian stands outside phase one of the Residences on Appleton, which features 88 units of mixed-income housing.
Community Spotlight Special Coverage

Community Spotlight

Hagop Toghramadjian stands outside phase one of the Residences on Appleton, which features 88 units of mixed-income housing.

Hagop Toghramadjian stands outside phase one of the Residences on Appleton, which features 88 units of mixed-income housing.

Aaron Vega calls them ‘meet and greets.’

And they are, well … just what that name suggests. They’re meetings between city officials and small-business owners, many of them representing ventures in the emerging ‘climate tech’ sector who have heard about Holyoke and the companies that now call it home, and want to hear more with an eye toward following them.

“They’re hearing about Clean Crop, they’re hearing about Sublime Systems, they’re hearing about Simple Pack, and they want to know what’s going on,” said Vega, director of the city’s Office of Planning and Economic Development, referring to three cutting-edge businesses we’ll get to back to later that are either already in Holyoke or advancing plans to locate there.

As city leaders listen to these business owners, a common thread — and a real challenge for the community — emerges.

“The biggest challenge for these companies that want to come to Holyoke as they move from their startup space is that there’s no built, ready space for them,” Vega noted. “There’s no white-box office space to move into. These guys don’t want to get involved in a rehab project; they want to be able to move in and get to work.”

“The biggest challenge for these companies that want to come to Holyoke as they move from their startup space is that there’s no built, ready space for them. There’s no white-box office space to move into. These guys don’t want to get involved in a rehab project; they want to be able to move in and get to work.”

Holyoke’s meet and greets and other aspects of its efforts to bring more small businesses to this former manufacturing hub — and early-stage efforts to create more spaces for them to move into — are just a few of the many converging storylines in Holyoke.

Others include:

• New housing projects, including a WinnDevelopment initiative at the former Farr Alpaca Co. complex — a $60 million endeavor that will create 88 units of mixed-income housing for adults 55 and over in phase 1 and another 70 in phase 2, while preserving a huge piece of the city’s past — and another project at Open Square that will create 80 units of market-rate housing;

• A cannabis cluster in flux: Holyoke welcomed the cannabis industry with open arms, and for a time, it looked like a large cluster of different businesses, from growers to dispensaries, would settle there. Some have, but as the sector faces growing pains and overall contraction, the city faces challenges, including businesses that are fighting to survive and one large grow facility, Trulieve, that has closed, with its huge plant sitting idle;

• New businesses and greater energy downtown. The city continues to ride a wave of entrepreneurship that has generated several new restaurants and storefronts in and around High Street, Vega said, adding that the new housing units coming online should generate more new-business activity;

• Those aforementioned companies in the green-energy and climate-tech sectors, headlined by Sublime Systems, which will manufacture environmentally friendly concrete at a plant on Water Street;

• A sports complex that is still in its early stages, with a site identified on Whiting Farms Road and other properties being assembled, as well as new ownership of Wyckoff Country Club (see related story on page 31).

• A reinvigorated Holyoke Community College, which has received a huge boost from MassEducate, the state’s free community-college program, and is making adjustments in the wake of a 24% rise in enrollment over the past two years;

• A new strategic plan for the city now being prepared, which is expected to help create a road map for continued progress in a city that has seen momentum on several fronts in recent years; and

• Existing businesses and traditions, especially the upcoming Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Road Race.

Slicing through all that, Mayor Joshua Garcia, the Holyoke native now in his fourth year in the corner office, said the city is achieving progress with many goals and on several fronts, but there is still considerable work to do and projects to bring to the goal line.

These include everything from the sports complex to renovation of the historic Victory Theatre, a project now 40 years in the making. Those behind the effort are still struggling to close a significant gap between the funding that’s been raised and what will be needed to revitalize the landmark.

Mayor Joshua Garcia, left, and Aaron Vega

Mayor Joshua Garcia, left, and Aaron Vega say Holyoke continues to pursue — and add — new businesses in the broad realm of climate tech.

Garcia described economic development in the city as an ecosystem, one including manufacturing, small — and often very small — businesses, hospitality, the arts, food, and sports.

“The question is, how can we get all the boats to rise together so we’re establishing sustainability in our city?” he asked, adding that the answer to that question is the ongoing priority of his administration.

 

Not Your Run-of-the-mill Project

“Daunting.”

That’s the word Hagop Toghramadjian, a project director and development counsel with Boston-based WinnDevelopment, settled on as he was asked to describe the ongoing work at Appleton Street at the former Farr Alpaca complex.

Elaborating, he said he considers the project, called the Residences on Appleton, now far more than a decade in the making, to be the most challenging building-conversion initiative that WinnDevelopment has undertaken. And that’s saying something.

Indeed, the company has taken on many complex projects locally, including 31 Elm St. (Court Square) in Springfield and several buildings in the Ludlow Mills complex, and in numerous other communities as well.

But this conversion of the 125-year-old former mill complex into housing is on another level, said Toghramadjian as he talked with BusinessWest in the kitchen of one of the nearly finished units. He noted that there are several reasons why — from the extremely poor condition of the mill to the need to assemble property for parking and a three-story amenities building, to simply securing access to a building bordered on one side by a canal and the other by the Pioneer Valley Railroad.

As with all projects of this nature, there was also the challenge of pulling together the requisite pots of money, which, in this case, included everything from state and federal historic tax credits to state and federal low-income housing funds.

“We want to keep these small businesses local; we want to keep them here and give them an opportunity to grow their business.”

“Where we’re standing now … there was thin air, the floor had rotted through, the roof had rotted through — only the brick walls were still standing,” he said. “It was very dark, the air quality was bad … you would never dream that this could become comfortable, beautiful housing.”

But the various groups involved have persevered because this project is as important as it is difficult, he noted.

“Given its location and given how blighted it was, it cast a shadow on the whole downtown — it was a top priority for the city,” said Toghramadjian, noting that the site sits between Main and High streets, the city’s two main commercial districts, and directly across from Holyoke Heritage State Park and the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center. “Because of that, they’ve been really good partners, and that’s why Winn came to Holyoke and made this investment here — it’s because the city knew what it took to make this kind of project happen.”

Jim Lavelle

Jim Lavelle

“We’ve been trying to promote not only the lower utility rates here, but the clean energy that customers can promote with their products and hopefully help with sales.”

As phase 1 continues, with leasing to commence and tenants due to start moving in this fall, Toghramadjian and others we talked with said that, while these 88 units will make a welcome addition to the landscape and help spur economic development in the area, they represent a drop in the bucket when it comes to the city’s overall housing needs.

Indeed, Garcia said a recent report put that need at roughly 1,600 units of new housing over the next 20 years across the broad spectrum of income levels, which is another key element in the equation because different types of housing, including market-rate and homeownership, enables residents to stay in the city as their financial situation improves.

“The Appleton Street project doesn’t address the magnitude of the problem, but we’re chipping away at it,” said the mayor, noting that there may be as many as 600 units already in the pipeline.

That includes phase 2 of the Appleton Street initiative, he said, noting that WinnDevelopment is currently assembling the required pots of money for that initiative, as well as the market-rate units planned for Open Square and other ongoing housing initiatives.

There are several smaller housing initiatives taking place, said Vega, including many involving the upper floors of properties along High Street, projects that provide a few or a few dozen units, all of which help meet growing need.

The problem, he went on, is the immense competition for limited state and federal support for such initiatives, with seemingly every community in the Commonwealth in need of housing.

“All the developers are going for the same pots of money, whether they’re in Holyoke, Springfield, Chicopee, or West Springfield,” he said, adding that, in this environment, having a solid mix of projects, large and small, in the pipeline is a must.

 

Current Events

As noted earlier, there are several projects in various stages of development in Hoyoke, and many converging storylines.

One of the most intriguing involves new-business development, especially in green energy and related sectors, where a cluster is emerging as companies eye Holyoke for location, available and relatively inexpensive real estate, and, especially, its lower-cost, clean electricity, said Jim Lavelle, general manager of Holyoke Gas & Electric (HG&E), which provides that energy.

“We’ve been trying to promote not only the lower utility rates here, but the clean energy that customers can promote with their products and hopefully help with sales,” said Lavelle, adding that Sublime Systems is just one of many businesses, large and small, that have chosen Holyoke for that reason, among others.

As an example, he cited Simple Pack, a company now located in Open Square that manufactures green food packaging to restaurants, schools, hospital cafeterias, and food distributors. Being able to say such products are produced with clean energy, in this case hydropower, is important to the company’s mission and a strong selling point with its clients, he said.

There are several similar examples, said Lavelle, who will gain a different title in a few days — grand marshal of Holyoke’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

While his father served in that role decades ago, Lavelle never expected to wear that hat himself because, while he’s long been somewhat involved in the parade, he has never served on its committee.

He considers the honor a nod to HG&E’s important role in the city, and is enthusiastic about fulfilling the many duties of grand marshal, including attendance at myriad events and, in accordance with tradition, responsibility for parade-day weather.

“I have a much greater appreciation for the effort that goes into all these different events that the parade committee puts on,” he said. “And I have a much greater appreciation for how strong a regional collaboration exists between the different communities’ parade committees and other civic organizations and the sponsors; they really work hand-in-hand on all these different events that happen across Western Mass.”

Putting his HG&E hat back on, figuratively if not literally, Lavelle said Sublime Systems, which he believes should be ready to starting building its facility later this year or early next, will soon become the utility’s largest customer, with 10 to 12 megawatts of demand. That’s a huge draw, but one it can easily absorb thanks to transmission-system upgrades, he went on, adding that the HG&E has the capacity to attract several more large users and dozens of smaller ones.

Attracting these businesses is one of many priorities for the city, said Vega, noting that there have been a steady volume of meet-and-greets in recent years, and more are on the schedule.

Many of these sessions involve early-stage companies, many of them in green-energy or green-manufacturing ventures, he said, adding that, in addition to city officials, the leaders of companies like Clean Crop, which uses electricity to revolutionize food safety, are often in the room to discuss Holyoke and its many selling points.

“If they’re a little further along and they have specific questions, we’ll bring in Holyoke Gas & Electric to talk about the energy portfolio they can provide,” the mayor went on. “We’re on people’s radar — we just need to put the package together to bring them in.”

Holyoke at a Glance

Year Incorporated: 1786
Population: 38,247
Area: 22.8 square miles
County: Hampden
Residential Tax Rate: $17.46
Commercial Tax Rate: $38.54
Median Household Income: $37,954
Median Family Income: $46,940
Type of Government: Mayor, City Council
Largest Employers: Holyoke Medical Center, Holyoke Community College, ISO New England Inc., PeoplesBank, Universal Plastics, Marox Corp.
* Latest information available

Which brings him back to that ongoing challenge of offering them spaces that are ready to move into. There aren’t many of them in the city, but he’s in discussions with some building owners about possibly partnering with the city to develop co-work, start-up, or innovation space.

“That’s a direction we want to go in,” he told BusinessWest. “We want to keep these small businesses local; we want to keep them here and give them an opportunity to grow their business.”

 

Bottom Line

As for businesses already growing in Holyoke, there are many in the cannabis sector, which, while it is experiencing strong growing pains, remains a force in Holyoke, Garcia said.

He noted that social consumption, or so-called cannabis cafés, constitutes the next frontier for this industry — the Cannabis Control Commission is taking up regulatory reforms on such facilities — and for some establishments in Holyoke, it could be a real lifeline in this time of growing challenge.

“In Holyoke, we want to be among the first communities to adapt and implement that opportunity for on-site consumption,” he said, likening these establishments to bars and restaurants in the sense of attracting people to the community. “If we can bring people into our city to spend money, that’s a plus.”

With cannabis, as with many of the other storylines unfolding in Holyoke, Garcia said he remains a “glass-full leader.”

That means he’s optimistic, but also realistic. It means he understands that, while much has been accomplished, there’s still much to do, and on many fronts.

It means he’s more bullish on his hometown than ever.

UMass Economist Says New Tariffs Could Balloon Inflation

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Features

Trade Talk

With President Trump moving quickly to make good on promises of widespread tariffs on products from U.S. trading partners, consumers and businesses are left trying to understand the ramifications.

But while the mechanisms behind tariffs can be complex, Anna Nagurney says the impact on consumers is easily explained.

“The tariff works like a tax,” she told BusinessWest. “It’s essentially paid by the importers of the particular product, but consumers will ultimately bear the cost.”

Nagurney, the Eugene M. Isenberg chair in Integrative Studies in the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst, is a supply-chain expert who has spoken at length in a number of outlets about tariff policy and how it might play out.

“Tariffs on products from our major trading partners will be felt quickly — prices for our favorite fresh produce along with beef and dairy will rise, and even certain alcoholic beverages will cost more, challenging consumers already dealing with inflation,” she said. “We can also expect increases in costs for housing, cars, clothes, laptops, and smartphones.”

The other factor involves how U.S. trading partners will respond — or have already responded, she added. “Retaliatory tariffs will cause further pain for U.S. producers and consumers. Before long, workers in the underlying supply chains will lose their jobs.”

ANNA NAGURNEY

ANNA NAGURNEY

“We can’t produce all the aluminum we need for cans and cars and airplanes. We can’t grow all our fruits and vegetables we get from Mexico. Our North American allies are very important.”

One concern among economists is what’s known as the US-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement, or USMCA, which Trump’s administration negotiated during his first presidential term, and is up for renegotiation in 2026.

Elmore Alexander, dean emeritus of the Ricciardi School of Business at Bridgewater State University and a member of the Board of Economic Advisors at Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM), recently posted an article on the AIM website, to be published in the spring issue of the Bridgewater Review, explaining the potential impacts of Trump’s promised — but currently delayed — tariffs of 25% on goods from Canada and Mexico.

“It is likely that this will create major disruptions in trade and relations among the three countries. The impact of these tariffs will be felt across the entire spectrum of U.S. manufacturing and service industries,” he explained, noting that the U.S. imports large amounts of energy — both oil and electricity — from Canada and a majority of automobiles and automobile parts from Mexico.

“Since the tariffs proposed by President Trump violate USMCA, these actions will throw the entire agreement into flux. The agreement governs many elements of North American business and economic relationships. Thus, the implications of the tariffs could reverberate well beyond just U.S. imports from Mexico and Canada.”

Nagurney agreed. “Ironically, in Trump’s first administration, he signed the USMCA agreement to supersede NAFTA,” she said, referring to the North American Free Trade Agreement. “Now he’s violating his own agreements.”

Alexander notes, however, that rhetoric and action are two different things, and the tariff threats could be a means to extract concessions from trading partners — as evidenced when Trump delayed the proposed 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico when those countries promised to address his border concerns.

Threats and Realities

Trump has long been enamored of tariffs, and has deployed them — or the threat of them — for essentially three reasons: to increase revenue, to balance trade, and as leverage in negotiations with other nations.

In a keynote address to the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in January, he issued a call for businesses to make their products in the U.S. and benefit from promised lower taxes, with the tax revenue in U.S. coffers offset by external tariffs.

“If you don’t make your product in America, which is your prerogative, then, very simply, you will have to pay a tariff — differing amounts, but a tariff — which will direct hundreds of billions of dollars, and even trillions of dollars, into our treasury to strengthen our economy and pay down debt,” the president said.

Political rivals disagree — often vehemently. After Trump announced 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports on Feb. 10, U.S. Sens. Richard Neal and Linda Sánchez issued a blistering joint statement.

“Tariffs alone will do little to stop the unfair trade practices in these industries or bring back American jobs,” they said. “Our workers and producers in steel and aluminum deserve relief that will deliver results, and we could do that by working with our allies who are also being hurt by the flood of steel and aluminum in our markets from bad actors. Unfair trade practices undercut our workers and businesses and warrant more than the president’s dithering and façades of victory. Thoughtful action builds effective strategy that will re-establish fair trade for these products, and that’s what the people deserve.”

One of the major issues with tariffs, Nagurney said, has to do with economic stability and certainty, and an environment that mixes threatened, delayed, and active tariffs isn’t doing businesses any favors.

“What businesses really care about, where they thrive, is with is certainty and confidence. They can hire the right number of people, and they know the kinds of prices they can expect to get. Now, the volatility is extremely disorienting and very, very uncomfortable for everyone who’s involved in manufacturing and trade, and retailers as well.”

As for Trump’s call to manufacture in America, “we can’t produce all the aluminum here,” Nagurney noted. “We can’t produce all the aluminum we need for cans and cars and airplanes. We can’t grow all our fruits and vegetables we get from Mexico. Our North American allies are very important.

“And it’s important not only for the health and well-being of people and the economy, but also security. When we talk about having enough aluminum and steel, that affects military planes and other products that are really important,” she added. “We can’t just go it ourselves. It’s a global marketplace.”

 

Cause and Effect

Nagurney noted that Trump’s tariffs on steel during his first administration did benefit U.S. manufacturers and increased wages and employment in the steel industry. But the landscape isn’t the same for aluminum, as the U.S. depends on foreign trading partners for much of its supply.

And, as noted earlier, tariffs are considered inflationary by most economists, and inflation has already started to tick back up in 2025.

“It’s generating so much confusion among businesses and our close allies, and people are worried about inflation,” she said. “I mean, look what happened to eggs. Yes, that’s the avian flu, but eggs are now over $8 a dozen. Stores and restaurants are charging 50 cents extra for each egg. And people care about the cost of food.

“So when you slap these tariffs on Mexican produce, people will notice that, and will be extremely fast because we’re dealing with perishable products,” she added. “And now you’re talking about semiconductors and pharmaceuticals as well. We’re living in very interesting times.”

From Music to Spas to Ghosts, Lenox Has It All

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Ventfort Hall is a “restoration in progress.”
Community Spotlight Special Coverage

Community Spotlight

Wendy Healey

Wendy Healey

When it comes to the subject of ghosts at Ventfort Hall, Wendy Healey is … well, decidedly “neutral.”

Roughly translated, that means that she’s never seen or otherwise encountered one. But she acknowledges that other people have experienced “something,” and she further acknowledges that ghosts are just one of the many intriguing storylines involving the cottage built by Sarah Spencer Morgan, J.P. Morgan’s sister, and her husband (and seventh cousin), George Hale Morgan, in 1893, and now home to the Gilded Age museum.

“We have what I would call friendly spirits in this house,” said Healey, the facility’s executive director, as she talked with BusinessWest in the billiard room, to which male guests would retire for cigars and brandy after one of the lavish dinners hosted by the Morgans.

The far bigger story, and the one she’d certainly prefer to talk about, is the comprehensive restoration of the landmark, now the site of a wide array of events, from weddings and teas to concerts and ghost tours. It has been ongoing for decades now, and at least another 20 years of work lies ahead, according to the most recent master plan.

“We are a restoration in progress — we are far from done,” said Healey, who assumed her role at the landmark two years ago. “We have millions and millions of dollars of work ahead of us.”

Ventfort Hall is a “restoration in progress.”

Ventfort Hall is a “restoration in progress.”

Ventfort Hall, its restorations and its ghosts, comprise one of the many storylines in Lenox, which has become a tourist destination and center of arts, culture, and healthcare, with many of the destinations located on the grounds of other Gilded Age cottages.

That list includes Tanglewood, summer home to the Boston Pops; Shakespeare & Company; the Mount, Edith Wharton’s home; and the resort spas Canyon Ranch and Miraval.

It is winter, which means most of these facilities are planning for the busier seasons to come, but some are busy year-round.

At Shakespeare & Company, an intriguing slate of shows is taking shape, said Jaclyn Stevenson, director of Marketing and Communications, noting that performances of Macbeth (with an all-female cast and a comedic touch) start in March, with most other shows taking place in the summer.

They will include a “Shakespeare Cabaret,” performances of Romeo and Juliet and The Taming of the Shrew, as well as August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson, with a few other performances still to be finalized.

“We have what I would call friendly spirits in this house.”

Equally busy these days is Gilbert Santana, general manager at the Miraval resort spa, which features the mansion known as Wyndhurst as its centerpiece. He the facility, which has been under the Miraval name since the fall of 2020, the height of COVID, has been improving overall visitation each year since, with that trend expected to continue in 2025.

Continually growing confidence among the guest population, which now includes virtually all age groups, is a big reason, he said, noting that there are now frequent bookings six months or more out, unusual in the spa universe. Meanwhile, new initiatives, such as so-called Family Connect weeks, where children can join their parents at the spa, have also helped.

The most recent Family Connect week came during the recent February school vacation week, said Santana, adding that it piggybacked a strong Valentine’s weekend to get this year off to a strong start.

“We wanted young people to start their well-being journey early, and it’s made an incredible impact; we’ve doubled the amount of guests this go-around than we had last year,” he said of the program, adding that Miraval is a true four-season resort spa that boasts more than 180 different kinds of programs — from meditation to a ropes course to yoga — and at all levels, beginner to expert.

A scene from The Comedy of Errors, performed in 2024 at Shakespeare & Company. (Photo courtesy of Katie McKellick)

A scene from The Comedy of Errors, performed in 2024 at Shakespeare & Company.
(Photo courtesy of Katie McKellick)

For this latest installment of its Community Spotlight series, we focus on Lenox and all that it has to offer.

 

In the Right Spirit

“This house was built for big parties.”

With that, Healey summed up the design philosophy behind the Elizabethan-style Ventfort Hall, as well as one of the enduring characteristics of the Gilded Age — large, lengthy gatherings.

Indeed, when guests came to a party at this home on Walker Street, they didn’t stay for a few hours and reach for their coats. Instead, they stayed for several days in one of the 14 guest rooms, said Healey, noting that, sadly, Sarah Morgan didn’t get to host many of these soirees: she died in 1896, only three years after Ventfort Hall was completed.

Slicing through the next 129 years in a concise yet effective manor, Healey said there was a succession of owners — and uses.

After being a private residence for a few decades, it later served as everything from a dormitory for Tanglewood students to a summer hotel known as Festival House; from a ballet camp to the home of Bible Speaks, a religious community that used the mansion for housing.

During this last chapter, the home fell into a serious state of disrepair, and was eventually slated for demolition for the construction of a nursing home.

“It was in such bad condition … no one wanted it, no one wanted to do anything with it, and it was, in the opinion of this developer, worth more flattened and to build a nursing home than to try to save it,” said Healey. “In the dining room, you could see daylight — you could see down to the basement, and you could see up through the roof.”

But in 1997, it was purchased by the Ventfort Hall Assoc., formed by Lenox residents dedicated to its restoration, which began soon thereafter.

Indeed, the building took a star turn in the movie The Cider House Rules, filmed in 1998, serving as the orphanage known as St. Cloud’s — its exterior, anyway (the interior shots were filmed at Northampton State Hospital), with its weathered condition being just what the film’s producers were looking for.

Gilbert Santana says Miraval celebrates its ability to promote wellness during all four seasons, and in many different ways.

Gilbert Santana says Miraval celebrates its ability to promote wellness during all four seasons, and in many different ways.

The movie — and there would be others to follow — provided both capital and momentum, said Healey, adding that restoration has a been a slow, very expensive undertaking over the past 28 years, with perhaps that many more still to come as the association works to ensure that the home will remain part of the fabric of Lenox for decades to come.

Phase 1A of a master plan launched in 2016 has been completed, said Healey, noting that it addressed critical building envelope and life-safety issues. Phase 1B is now underway, focusing on restoring the exterior masonry and roofing to ensure the long-term stability of the mansion.

One focal point of recent efforts has been shoring up of the east-end wall as well as the rebuilding and restoration of the mansion’s four chimneys, said Healey, noting that three have been painstakingly restored, and the fourth will be addressed this spring.

And in the years to come, many of the rooms on the upper floors, the massive basement, the carriage house, and other areas will be restored. That work, projected to cost more than $20 million, is to be funded through a combination of revenue from events, admission to the museum, and other programs, as well as donations and grants from organizations including the Massachusetts Cultural Council Facilities Fund, the Town of Lenox Community Preservation Committee, and others.

Lenox at a Glance

Year Incorporated: 1767
Population: 5,095
Area: 21.7 square miles
County: Berkshire
Residential Tax Rate: $9.05
Commercial Tax Rate: $13.18
Median Household Income: $85,581
Median Family Income: $111,413
Type of Government: Select Board, Open Town Meeting
Largest Employers: Canyon Ranch, Miraval, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Kimball Farms
* Latest information available

While the restoration work continues, the mansion hosts a growing number of events each year, welcoming guests who wouldn’t have been on the invite lists for the Gilded Age parties, said Healey, adding that there are several weddings each year, as well as concerts, tea-and-talks, a spring fashion fundraiser called Berkshique, and more.

There are also very popular ghost tours, at least once a month, led by Robert Oakes, author of Ghosts of the Berkshires. He provides a full tour of the house, by flashlight, while also relating both its history and the tales of those who say they’ve encountered a spirit on the property. And he’s heard many, from staff members and guests alike, Healey said.

 

Frame of Mind

It’s called ‘mindful golf.’

It’s … well, let’s call it golf with the edge taken off.

“We have a golf pro who walks you through the process of how you think when you swing and your intentions behind playing golf, which many times are jaded around winning and doing better,” Santana explained. “This helps you understand the purpose of playing your sport; it’s very well-defined and built around the person playing.”

Actually, the team at Miraval could put that word ‘mindful’ in front of almost everything they do, and that’s a long list, from activities such as kayaking and cross-country skiing to the weddings it hosts to the overall spa experience, which guests enjoy on visits lasting a day or several weeks.

Summing it all up, Santana said it’s about meeting people where they are.

Miraval, which also has resorts in Arizona and Texas, is coming up on five years in the Berkshires, although Santana said it’s more like three, with the first two greatly disrupted by COVID.

He said Miraval is continually looking at ways to bring wellness to more people across a wider age group. A good example is the two annual Family Connect weeks, which the facility test-drove last year to solid reviews that translated into bigger numbers this winter.

“We’re the only Miraval that does a Family Connection week where we allow kids to join their parents and other family members and experience it at a very young age,” he told BusinessWest. “One thing we do is make sure that everything we do has an educational purpose. Everything is defined here on growing your mindset — not necessarily redefining you, but giving an understanding of something that’s more than recreational.”

Education is a huge part of the mission at Shakespeare and Company as well, said Stevenson, adding that, in addition to the performances slated each year, the institution also schedules several actor-training programs as well as initiatives for young people and professional-development workshops.

These include Shakespeare in the Courts, a program staged in conjunction with the Berkshire Juvenile Court system, whereby adolescent offenders work with Shakespeare and Company artists and participate in classes, rehearsals, and performances of scenes from the Bard’s plays. During the six-week project, participants explore Shakespeare’s text and prepare their own performance pieces as part of their term of probation.

There’s also “Riotous Youth,” one-, two-, and three-week summer theater programs that introduce students (ages 7 to 17) to Shakespeare’s language, stories, characters, and themes using imaginative and playful methods.

As for actor-training programs, they take place in the spring and summer and are geared for those with different experience levels, from the novice to mid-career professionals, said Stevenson, adding that there are also several in-person workshops and online classes and workshops focused on everything from wit to movement and dance to public speaking.

Stevenson said Shakespeare and Company enjoyed a solid 2024, actually exceeding overall projections, continuing, as other venues in this community have, to build back from the COVID years, which took a serious toll on Lenox.

“We’re still working our way back a little bit, but we’ve come a long way,” she said of the COVID recovery. “It feels more in the rear-view mirror than ever before.”

Fifth Generation of Williams Farm Sugarhouse Continues Sweet Story

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Chip Williams (pictured) and his sisters represent the fifth generation making maple syrup at the family’s sugarhouse.
Features Special Coverage

Tapping into Tradition

Chip Williams (pictured) and his sisters represent the fifth generation making maple syrup at the family’s sugarhouse.

Chip Williams (pictured) and his sisters represent the fifth generation making maple syrup at the family’s sugarhouse.

 

Chip Williams has his eye on the weather reports around Deerfield. He’s not looking for long stretches of mild weather, or cold, for that matter. He wants both. Every day.

That’s because sugar maple trees in this region are tapped beginning in late February, and temperatures are critical for sap production — specifically fluctuating temps, with the ideal conditions being nights in the low 20s followed by days in the 40- to 45-degree range. This freeze-thaw cycle is necessary because, as the temperature warms, the ice inside the trunk melts, and the ice-compressed gases expand, forcing the sap out of the trunk.

“It’s all temperature-dependent. We need the right weather, and when I say right weather, it’s the freezing and thawing cycles. If we have that for an extended period of time, we’ll have a decent season,” said Williams, who is part of the fifth generation operating Williams Farm Sugarhouse, which starts selling maple syrup — and breakfast — to the public on Feb. 21.

“What often happens is a week of warm and then a week of cold, longer cycles of ups and downs,” he noted, “but we really want a freeze at night, warm during the day, freeze at night, warm during the day, and not so much warm for a week and then cold for a week.”

The reason, he said, is that the sap flows only on a warm-up. “So, after a freeze, that next day, when it warms up, it’ll flow, but it’ll only flow for a certain amount of time before you need it to freeze again. If it warms up and stays warm, it’ll run for a little while, and then you won’t get anything.”

That thermometer watching is just one of many challenges he and his sisters, Kelly Scofield and Casey Williams, take on when they work at the sugarhouse every spring. They all have regular jobs — Chip is the athletic grounds supervisor at Deerfield Academy, while Kelly and Casey work in hotel management in Eastern Mass. — but the maple-syrup season is a labor of love for the siblings, who are also joined by their father, Sandy, who comes up from Florida during tapping and boiling season.

“After a freeze, that next day, when it warms up, it’ll flow, but it’ll only flow for a certain amount of time before you need it to freeze again. If it warms up and stays warm, it’ll run for a little while, and then you won’t get anything.”

It’s also a tradition for plenty of local families as well, in a region that boasts a number of sugarhouses, few with as long a history as this one. The facility is open Friday through Sunday for pancakes, french toast, waffles, and more, all topped with that fresh maple syrup. And if they like what they taste, they can bring home syrup, maple cream, maple candy, and more from the store.

“We see a lot of the same families every year,” Chip said. “And when we’re boiling, we invite people to come back and ask questions, and we’ll explain the process. It’s really interesting to get people’s feedback — a lot of people have no idea how you even start making maple syrup, and people are amazed you take this product that looks like water and make it into this all-natural sweetener.”

It’s a product that has brought some sweet times for the Williams family since Milton Hubbard Williams began the syrup tradition in the mid-1800s, followed by his son, Kenneth Sanderson Williams. The original Williams sugarhouse was one of 13 located on Mount Toby in Sunderland.

The Williams Farm Sugarhouse

The Williams Farm Sugarhouse has been at its current location along Route 5 since 1994.
Staff Photo

In his diary, Hubbard Williams wrote, “March 6, 1853, commenced sugaring. March 25, 1853, traded sugar for coat and pants in Amherst.” Thirty-six years later, he was still sugaring, and on April 1, 1889, he wrote, “Gathered 20 bls [barrels] sap for four successive days. Had the best week I ever knew … syrup sells readily.”

In the mid-1960s, amid growing success and realizing the need for a better retail location, Kenneth Williams Jr. and his brother, Milton, moved the third-generation sugarhouse off the mountain to Route 47 in North Sunderland. The final move came in 1994, when the family, led by fourth-generation operator Sandy Williams, built a sugarhouse on Route 5 in Deerfield, near its sweet-corn farm.

“The reason we moved here is our farm was just right up the road in Old Deerfield,” Chip said. “We would drive over to Sunderland every day to operate the sugarhouse during the sugaring season, so when this property here came up for sale, my family bought it, and we were able to move everything closer to our operation.”

“When we’re boiling, we invite people to come back and ask questions, and we’ll explain the process. It’s really interesting to get people’s feedback — a lot of people have no idea how you even start making maple syrup.”

In Sunderland, they served coffee, donuts, ‘sugar on snow,’ and the like, but the move to Deerfield saw the food-service operation expand to serving meals — first on weekends, then seven days a week for a while, and currently three days a week. They stopped growing corn up the road 2012, but the sugarhouse — and its almost two centuries of tradition — lives on.

 

From Tree to Plate

Some years are weaker than others because of the uncertainty of the weather, Williams said. Last year wasn’t particularly strong for sap production, but 2010 was much worse, with only about 20% of the normal crop.

“It just warmed up around the middle of March, and it never froze again. It just stayed warm. So we didn’t get any more sap,” he explained, adding that an early start to those cold-warm cycles are important. “Here at our sugarhouse, if we don’t make any syrup in February, a lot of years it’s hard for us to have a really good year; we find that whatever we miss early, we never make up on the other end.”

When tapping a sugar maple, it’s best to drill a taphole that can provide an ample amount of sap while maintaining the long-term health and sap production of the tree. In a good year, one tap can yield around 10 gallons of sap, or almost one quart of syrup. Sap is, on average, about 2% sugar, and it takes about 45 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup.

Sap flows best from the trees when freezing nights are followed by warm days.

Sap flows best from the trees when freezing nights are followed by warm days.
Staff Photo

The traditional method of gathering sap is to hang four-gallon buckets below the tap to catch the drip. The process is very labor-intensive, and buckets must be gathered and emptied up to once a day. The Williams Farm enterprise hangs about 3,000 buckets each season, tapping more than 1,000 trees in Deerfield and Sunderland.

A less labor-intensive way of collecting sap is through a tubing pipeline, which utilizes gravity to gather sap into holding tanks that are positioned lower than the trees or at a slope. While the initial cost of setting up lines is greater than that of buckets, once lines are established, they can hold for 15 to 20 years. The farm has about 1,000 taps on pipelines, but is looking to expand that number in the future.

As noted earlier, the sap gathered from a sugar maple tree is not the same as what’s poured on pancakes. Sap has a large concentration of water and a small concentration of sugar, and the additional water must be boiled off in an evaporator.

In the sugarhouse, sap is continuously fed into the evaporator, where it flows through a series of troughs. The sap is boiling the entire time, and when it reaches the proper density at 219 degrees, it can then be called syrup. The more water that is boiled away from the syrup, the thicker it gets. Products like maple cream, candy, hard blocks, and granulated sugar are all made by further reducing the syrup at higher temperatures.

Williams noted that the team starts boiling as soon as they begin to get sap into the sugarhouse, and the sap is processed at its freshest in order to ensure the highest-quality syrup.

They always try to boil on weekends so the visiting public can witness the process, although, because sap flow is so dependent on the weather, they can’t guarantee they will be boiling on any given day, so for customers who want to see the process, it’s best to call ahead or check the website for projected boiling times.

“We like to get started in February, but it doesn’t always pan out. We’re just at the mercy of Mother Nature,” Williams told BusinessWest. “That’s some of what makes it interesting too — you don’t know. People will ask, ‘how’s this year going to be?’ And it’s like, ‘well, we don’t know until April, once it’s all over.’ We almost always make enough syrup for our customers, and it’s always good syrup. So, any year we can do this is a good year.”

 

Sweet Moments

Williams said he looks forward to this season for a number of reasons, including being close to nature.

“As the days get longer and it starts to warm up a little bit, it’s nice just getting out in the woods and working on the lines. I don’t get to be out as much as I did when we were farming full-time. I’d be out all the time, if not for my full-time job, so we have some people that help us.”

The sugarhouse is open to the public from late February into early April, and those dates aren’t set in stone so much as dependent, as noted earlier, on the weather and the frequency of that freeze-thaw cycle.

“Traditionally, we would always start right around the week of school vacation. Growing up, I remember having that February break, going out with the guys tapping,” he recalled, adding that sugaring season has long been a community tradition as well. “Because this craft is native to this region, it seems like people really have a tradition of visiting these houses and looking forward to it.

“And it’s important to my sisters and me to keep the tradition going,” he added, noting that he has three sons of his own. “Obviously, I don’t want to put any pressure on them doing this, but they love it here, and they help out. My 11-year-old likes to run the register up front.”

Williams Farm Sugarhouse does some wholesaling as well, selling syrup to local farmstands and maple candy to Richardson’s Candy Kitchen, right across the street. There are online sales as well, “but that’s tricky; you’re just a small fish in a big ocean. But once you make a few sales and people like your product, they’ll keep buying.”

And the family will keep tapping, boiling, and serving breakfast.

“There are times, like on a busy Sunday toward the end of the year, when we’re just dragging, but it’s fun,” he said. “We have three generations of family helping us out, too, so that’s great. Everyone kind of chips in to get it done.”

Deerfield Emphasizes Diverse Destinations

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Attendees gather early for one of Tree House Brewing’s summer concerts last year.
Community Spotlight Special Coverage

Community Spotlight

In the last 12 months, Deerfield has attracted more than 1.1 million visits

In the last 12 months, Deerfield has attracted more than 1.1 million visits, with 48.5% of all visitors classified as tourists, with their home residence more than 50 miles away.
Staff Photo

While Deerfield is home to Yankee Candle Village, Historic Deerfield, the Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory, and other tourist attractions, its economy is broad, covering sectors ranging from agriculture and manufacturing to retail, restaurants, and the arts.

That diversity is an asset, said Jessye Deane, executive director of the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce, which is based in Deerfield. And the community continues to add assets, thanks to a series of developments over the past few months.

Like the Golf Club, a new, 24/7, membership-based indoor golf simulator.

“I’m an avid golfer,” owner Frank Messana explains on his website. “When COVID forced-retired me from Comcast due to downsizing, I realized I wasn’t ready to sit around all day. So I decided to chase a dream I’ve had for many years of opening a state-of-the-art driving range when I retired.

“Then, I thought, what golf in this area really needs is a great place to go when the courses (and us golf nuts) are freezing cold for too many months. You know how it goes … spend all the warm months playing, practicing, and improving only to have to start at square one after the long, cold layoff from the game we love. I want to help golfers of all skill levels stay sharp over the winter season, when those bitter nor’easters keep us off the course.”

On the municipal front, development plans continue around the town campus, a collection of buildings including the current Town Hall, two churches, and a former elementary school.

Last month, the Zoning Board of Appeals granted the what’s known as the 1888 Building — that’s the former school, at 67 North Main St. — a variance to allow the structure to exceed the town’s 35-foot height limit. That clears the way for the 136-year-old building to be converted into a modern town hall, with a full renovation and a 2,600-square-foot addition. The $8 million project, funded by $3.8 million in Community Preservation Act money and a $4 million federal earmark, is expected to begin construction this summer.

Meanwhile, Deane said, “Tilton Library is being renovated and is a very involved, very impressive project.”

The project at 71 North Main St. will nearly triple the building’s space to 12,784 square feet and include expanded teen and children’s rooms, meeting and co-working spaces on the second floor, and what’s being called a ‘nighttime suite,’ which will be accessible after library hours and feature meeting spaces, a small kitchen, and bathrooms.

“Tree House Brewing is expanding their outdoor music concert series, and it has generated foot traffic.”

Nearby, Rivermoor Energy recently completed a new electric-vehicle (EV) fast-charging hub in downtown South Deerfield, in partnership with the town and the Federal Highway Administration. The project was funded by a $2.46 million federal Charging and Infrastructure grant, made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The EV-charging hub, located at 59 North Main St., is open to the public.

“This project is not only an impactful one for the environment and the advancement of clean energy, but it’s also a boost for the economic backbone of our town,” Town Administrator Christopher Dunne said at the opening. “With the added accessibility, climate-change mitigation, and new pedestrian walkways leading to downtown businesses, Deerfield can continue to thrive and serve its local business owners and attract new customers to our business community.”

Speaking of downtown development, a just-announced, $500,000 Complete Streets grant will fund the construction of a 10-foot-wide, shared-use path with plantings on the north side of Elm Street and a crosswalk on the south side. Other improvements will include curb ramps, flashing beacons, and bicycle racks.

 

Music in the Air

Just up Route 5, Tree House Brewing Co. has become a destination unlike any other in town — not only as a thriving brewery, but as host to a summer outdoor concert series that’s drawing big crowds to see some big names.

While the venue did generate some neighborhood noise complaints toward the end of its 2024 season, Tree House Compliance and Business Development Manager Allison Masley assured residents at a hearing last month that the venue has been trying to readjust the way its stage faces in an effort to mitigate the issue.

Attendees gather early for one of Tree House Brewing’s summer concerts last year.

Attendees gather early for one of Tree House Brewing’s summer concerts last year.

But, at the same time, Tree House Director of Finance Mark VanAtta noted that, with 62% of concertgoers living at least 50 miles away, the business generated about $8 million in revenue to the community, while Tree House itself contributed $137,000 in taxes and another $35,000 in meal taxes, as reported in the Greenfield Recorder.

“Not only are people coming and spending money at Tree House, but these are people that are coming from different communities to this community to spend money to have a good time,” VanAtta said.

Deerfield at a Glance

Year Incorporated: 1677
Population: 5,090
Area: 33.4 square miles
County: Franklin
Residential Tax Rate: $13.25
Commercial Tax Rate: $13.25
Median Household Income: $74,853
Median Family Income: $83,859
Type of Government: Open Town Meeting
Largest Employers: Yankee Candle Co., Pelican Products Inc.
* Latest information available

The chamber sees the concert series as a definite plus, Deane noted. “Tree House Brewing is expanding their outdoor music concert series, and it has generated foot traffic.”

Indeed, over the last 12 months, Deerfield has attracted more than 1.1 million visits. By the state’s definition, 48.5% of all visitors can be classified as tourists, meaning their home residence is more than 50 miles away.

During that time, Tree House’s South Deerfield location attracted 240,500 visits from 145,500 visitors. Of those visitors, 23.3% had a household income of $200,000 or more, 37.9% of all Tree House tourists stopped at least one local business before going to Tree House, and 42.9% visited a local business after their visit.

Meanwhile, back at the chamber, Deane said many Deerfield businesses are participating in a redesigned, relaunched Franklin County gift card, another reason for visitors to head to this town of just over 5,000 residents.

“Through our work as both Franklin County’s Chamber of Commerce and Regional Tourism Council, we are especially attuned to the critical role Deerfield plays in Franklin County’s economy, thriving on a diverse economic base and hosting businesses ranging from retail to advanced manufacturing,” Deane said. “With attractions like Historic Deerfield, Sugarloaf Mountain, Yankee Candle, Clarkdale Fruit Farms, Berkshire Brewing Company, Tree House Brewing Company, and more, Franklin County is fortunate to benefit from Deerfield’s vibrant mix of industries and a steady stream of visitors who contribute to our regional economy.”

 

Chicopee Makes Some Landmark Improvements

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From left, Lee Pouliot, Krista Benoit, Brett Brown, and Bob Alger stand in the main entrance to the former main library in Chicopee, now undergoing historic rehabilitation for use as a community hub.
Community Spotlight

Community Spotlight

From left, Lee Pouliot, Krista Benoit, Brett Brown, and Bob Alger stand in the main entrance to the former main library in Chicopee, now undergoing historic rehabilitation for use as a community hub.

From left, Lee Pouliot, Krista Benoit, Brett Brown, and Bob Alger stand in the main entrance to the former main library in Chicopee, now undergoing historic rehabilitation for use as a community hub.

 

‘Historic rehabilitation.’

That’s the phrase Lee Pouliot and others used to describe work at Chicopee’s historic City Hall and the neighboring, long-closed main library.

In doing so, they made the distinction between this type of work and historic restoration.

Indeed, the latter returns something to what it once was at a specific point, said Pouliot, director of the city’s Planning Department, adding that this will not be the case with either building.

Indeed, the library, closed since 2004, when a new facility was built, will be renovated for use as a community hub, home for a farmer’s market, and meeting space, said Pouliot, while phase 2 of a project at City Hall and its annex will involve an office-by-office renovation of spaces to suit current needs and technology and make the best use of those spaces.

“One purpose of the project is to right-size some of the office spaces; we have some offices that have too many people crammed into too small a space,” he explained. “Another priority is building security. In working with all the department heads, we identified the offices that get the most visitation on a daily basis and tried to relocate them to the lower floors of the building, so we didn’t have the public accessing areas that they don’t need to.”

The City Hall project, which has been ongoing for a decade, has been slowed by the pandemic, but also a lengthy — as in more than three years — design phase that required large amounts of data collection from city department heads and employees about space requirements and specific needs.

Historic rehabilitation of the two downtown landmarks, work that has been ongoing through four mayoral administrations, is just one of the storylines involving Chicopee, the region’s second-largest city.

“One purpose of the project is to right-size some of the office spaces; we have some offices that have too many people crammed into too small a space.”

Others include everything from ongoing efforts to repurpose several old mills and create sorely needed new housing — projects that dovetail nicely, as we’ll see — to efforts at Elms College to cope with the many issues and challenges in higher education today, especially the so-called demographic cliff, a sharp decline in the number of the number of 18-year-olds entering college. But there are others as well, including the soaring cost of higher education and the need to help students and their parents meet it, as well as free community college, which is both a challenge and an opportunity.

The college is taking steps to help bring that cost down and afford more opportunities for a college education through initiatives such as the recently announced Elms Promise, a financial-aid program designed to provide full tuition coverage for students from families earning less than $85,000 annually.

“The cost of a college education has been on the increase, and families’ income has not increased as fast as the rise in tuition,” Elms College President Harry Dumay said in explaining the genesis of the program, adding that, since its inception, the school has placed an emphasis on being affordable for all types of students.

For this, the latest installment of its Community Spotlight series, we take an in-depth look at Chicopee and how it is building momentum — in all kinds of ways.

 

History in the Remaking

As they talked with BusinessWest in the former City Council meeting chambers on the fourth floor of City Hall, Pouliot; Krista Benoit, a project manager for Northampton-based D.A. Sullivan & Sons; and Bob Alger, senior project manager for NV5, a Hadley-based engineering firm, noted that the renovation of City Hall, opened in 1871, has been a decade-long project that essentially began when two panes of stained glass fell out of the rose window at the front of the building.

Phase 2 of the ambitious City Hall project will follow recent work like this renovated auditorium.

Phase 2 of the ambitious City Hall project will follow recent work like this renovated auditorium.

Then-Mayor Richard Kos asked Pouliot to undertake an emergency stabilization and historic-structure analysis to determine if there were physical deficiencies in the building’s structure. Dietz & Company Architects of Springfield was hired to work on both, and the firm determined that there were a number of significant deficiencies that needed to be addressed in both City Hall and the annex.

Emergency stabilization work included everything from the removal of stones from the clocktower amid fear of them falling to removal of the stained glass throughout the building for protection, Alger said.

Following these initiatives, funding was secured for phase 1 of historic rehabilitation work, which entailed work on the building envelope and the HVAC systems, he went on, adding that this included roof replacement, stone and masonry repair, brick repair, replacement of all the windows in both buildings, and a stunning renovation of the auditorium, a $17 million endeavor overall.

Phase 2, a $16 million project, will involve a three-year schedule of moving through the building, renovating and rightsizing offices, said Benoit, who first became involved in the project while working as a designer for Dietz and Company, and is now on the construction side with D.A. Sullivan, which also handled phase 1.

She noted that D.A. Sullivan has a strong track of work for area municipalities and in the areas of historic restoration and rehabilitation.

“We’ve been around for so long now, 1897, we’re now renovating many of the projects we actually built,” she said, adding that the Chicopee projects involve buildings on the National Register of Historic Places.

Pouliot noted that the contractors will hopscotch through the buildings, renovating a few offices at a time.

“We’re taking two to three office spaces offline at any given time, relocating staff to vacant office space, remodeling those offices, and moving staff back in,” he explained, adding that several departments will be moved to different floors or different areas that better suit their needs and those of the public.

These will be gut remodels, he went on, adding that it will take three to eight months to ready each space for its new occupant.

As for the library, Pouliot said there have been several requests for proposals issued for the city’s old library, and, over the years, a few intriguing uses have been proposed.

There was talk of a brewery that never really got off the ground, he said, adding that the concept that gained the most traction — but not enough to become reality — was to make the landmark home to the largest private collection of Franklin D. Roosevelt memorabilia, some 10,000 pieces, once housed in Worcester. There was even talk of the possible creation of a Roosevelt Study Institute and a collaboration between the museum and Elms College.

The ‘community hub’ concept was ultimately deemed the alternative that made the most sense, said Pouliot, adding that it transforms the library into a different kind of community resource, one that will hopefully bring more people and vibrancy to the Market Square area.

 

Grade Expectations

While the city works to rehabilitate its landmarks, one of its leading institutions, Elms College, is trying to build a more secure future by taking a proactive approach to the many challenges facing higher ed today, especially smaller, private institutions.

“There’s never a moment to rest,” said Dumay of this challenging time, describing Elms as being “healthy, not wealthy.”

By that, he meant that the school has a small endowment — $12 million, although it’s much larger than it was even a few years ago — but it remains in solid fiscal heath, thanks to steady enrollment in many of its divisions. These including transfers, continuing education, and graduate programs, making up for a decline in enrollment among high-school graduates, something being seen across this region and across the country, a situation exacerbated by what Dumay (and many others) have called the “less than adequate rollout” of Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA.

“We had a really good year of students transferring to Elms College, a good year for students completing their degrees through our continuing-education program, and a good year of graduate students,” he explained. ‘Overall, we took in around the usual number of 500 students that we traditionally take in for all categories, despite the fact that, with our first-time freshmen, we didn’t reach the target that we were looking for.”

In this environment, schools need to be aggressive in telling their stories, stress their strengths and values — and the value they provide — and be responsive to those challenged by the high cost of a college education, he said, adding that the Elms Promise was created to help empower those students least likely to afford higher education, and it underscores the school’s affordability.

Chicopee at a Glance

Year Incorporated: 1848
Population: 55,560
Area: 23.9 square miles
County: Hampden
Residential Tax Rate: $15.16
Commercial Tax Rate: $32.62
Median Household Income: $35,672
Median Family Income: $44,136
Type of Government: Mayor; City Council
Largest Employers: Westover Air Reserve Base; J. Polep Distribution Services; Callaway Golf Ball Operations; Dielectrics; MicroTek
* Latest information available

“Having this Elms Promise out there clearly and crisply conveys to students and their families that an Elms College education can be as within their reach as some of the other alternatives available to them,” he explained, adding that this includes MassEducate, the state’s free community-college initiative, which, as noted earlier, is both another challenge and a great opportunity down the road.

“I’ll always be in favor of any initiative that makes college accessible for students,” said Dumay, a first-generation college graduate himself. “And we already know that this has increased enrollment at community colleges significantly, in this area and beyond. And because of the articulation agreements we have with all the area community colleges, and because many of the community-college students transfer to us, we’re expecting the number of students that will transfer to us to increase, and we see that as an opportunity down the road.”

 

Developing Stories

While Elms copes with its challenges, the city continues its work to put some of its former mills back to productive use while also addressing an urgent need for more housing.

Pouliot said the owners of the last remaining building in the Facemate manufacturing complex, the so-called Baskin parcel, are finalizing the securing of resources from the Commonwealth, and a groundbreaking is expected in the near future on 105 units of housing.

Meanwhile, a developer has been recommended for the four remaining buildings within the massive Uniroyal tire-manufacturing complex, the redevelopment of which has been a more-than-40-year saga, said Pouliot, adding that a mixed-use development that includes housing is being eyed.

These projects are moving slowly, he noted, because of the high cost of rehabilitating former mills of this kind into housing and other uses, as well as the time-consuming process of securing the various forms of financing, often including historic tax credits, needed to make such endeavors viable.

“Slow but steady wins the game when it comes to mill conversion,” he told BusinessWest, adding that the Uniroyal project will most likely develop in phases over several years.

In the case of another huge old mill, Cabotville Industrial Park, formerly home to dozens of various-sized businesses but now mostly vacant, progress has come very slowly, and its fate remains a large question mark.

“There have been a number of owners that have suggested a significant redevelopment project there,” Pouliot said, adding that such talks have been going on for more than 20 years now. “We’ve been stuck in this current round with the current owner, Silverbrick, for two or three years. But it’s a viable project for the right developer with the right experience.”

Housing remains a critical need in the city, he noted, adding that, in addition to the Facemate property and its 105 units, other, smaller projects are advancing, including plans to develop the site of a former Masonic lodge on East Street and the conversion of the former Belcher Elementary School into 24 apartments.

Melissa Breor, executive director of the Chicopee Chamber of Commerce, said redevelopment of Cabotville and other large mills, as well as the smaller projects in and around the downtown area, form one of the keys to continued growth and greater vibrancy in the central business district, which has seen many new businesses open in recent years amid of a spurt of entrepreneurship, which continues today.

She cited the planned redevelopment of a large Victorian home on Grove Street in Chicopee Falls into a mix of housing on the upper floors and a possible wine bar on the first, being undertaken by the owner of nearby Falls Pizza, as an example of this entrepreneurship and the importance of new housing.

“In terms of economic development and workforce development, housing is at the center of all that,” she said. “We have some great developments that are in process and at various stages, and with those housing developments, people are going to need services and places to go. To have a business owner have that vision is really exciting.

“Investments like the one at Falls Pizza show great vision,” she went on, adding that new housing, in general, spurs new business development, which is good news for a city with a rich past and a promising future.

 

Golden Age of Cannabis

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Senior living facilities like the Arbors have seen residents get together become educated about cannabis products.
Cannabis Features Special Coverage

Use Rising Among Older Adults Locally, Nationally

Senior living facilities like the Arbors have seen residents get together become educated about cannabis products.

Senior living facilities like the Arbors have seen residents get together become educated about cannabis products.

In the six-plus years since cannabis became legal for all adults in Massachusetts, all demographics have increasingly used the substance in its various forms. A 2024 study published by Statista reported that almost 30% of Massachusetts residents used cannabis in 2022, the fifth-highest rate of any of the 24 states where it is legal for recreational use.

But one group, while not among the highest-rate cannabis users, has been rapidly catching up, and that’s seniors.

“We talk about it with our residents,” said Karen Walters-Zucco, executive director of the Arbors Assisted Living in Amherst and Greenfield. “A lot of people are thinking about it for relaxation, for sleep, or just to feel good, mood adjustments. Some are using it to lower anxiety, and a lot of folks have been using it for pain relief, for arthritis in their hands and joints.”

That doesn’t surprise cannabis-industry veteran Meg Sanders, CEO of Canna Provisions, which has dispensaries in Holyoke and Lee.

“I can tell you that traditional medicine has failed them in lots and lots of ways,” she told BusinessWest. “They’ve done the surgeries, they’ve done the anti-inflammatories, they’ve done all of the cortisol shots. They’re trying everything that the medical profession throws at them. And in a lot of ways, it’s just not succeeding.

“The number-one thing we hear from seniors is the inability to get a full night’s sleep,” she added. “I would say that is probably the number-one reason why we see [older] people come through our doors. ‘Is there something that will help me calm down or something that will relax me or help me sleep through the night?’”

Another interesting factor in the trend toward older adults using cannabis is postmenopausal women, she added. “That is a fascinating demographic; they are going through aches and pains that they’ve never had before because of estrogen loss. So joints hurt, and muscles aren’t recovering as fast because their hormones are diminishing. So they’re turning to cannabis for relief of aching joints and different pains that they might have, as well as the sleep aspect.”

“A lot of people are thinking about it for relaxation, for sleep, or just to feel good, mood adjustments. Some are using it to lower anxiety, and a lot of folks have been using it for pain relief, for arthritis in their hands and joints.”

But they’re also turning on because, well, it’s enjoyable.

“We are finding in assisted-living communities that this has become a social aspect of their everyday life,” Sanders said. “So they’re having gummy parties and watching movies, they’re having tinctures in their drinks, or they’re buying seltzers or various things off the shelf, and they’re having fun little parties in their group.

“And I love that it’s becoming so social for them because, ultimately, isn’t that how cannabis got started? It’s all of us standing in a circle passing a joint, right? It makes us happy,” she went on. “They’re not passing joints, maybe, but they are passing gummies. I hope they’re having a lot of fun.”

 

Higher Numbers

National statistics bear out what Sanders and Walters-Zucco are seeing locally. According to the 2024 University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging, about one in five people (21%) in the 50-plus age group said they used some form of cannabis — food, drink, flower, or another type — at least once in the last year, up from 12% in the 2021 poll. Meanwhile, 12% of respondents reported using cannabis at least once a month.

In 2015 and 2016, a time when cannabis was legal in very few places, about 3% of adults 65 and older were using it, according to research published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

According to AARP, older adults are increasingly turning to cannabis to alleviate pain, help them sleep, improve mental health, or cope with other medical conditions.

Specifically, according to the poll data, adults 50 and older are turning to cannabis to relax (81%), get help with sleep (68%), enjoy the effects or feel good (64%), get help with pain relief (63%), get help for mental health or mood (53%), treat a medical condition (40%), make a social gathering more fun or connect with others (31%), celebrate (26%), or experiment (18%).

Still, the AARP notes that, while many older adults are turning to cannabis to help with health issues, 44% of people who use it regularly have not discussed that use with a healthcare provider, which health experts say they definitely should.

Meg Sanders

Meg Sanders

“We are finding in assisted-living communities that this has become a social aspect of their everyday life. So they’re having gummy parties and watching movies, they’re having tinctures in their drinks, or they’re buying seltzers or various things off the shelf, and they’re having fun little parties in their group.”

“Even if your doctor, nurse practitioner, or pharmacist doesn’t ask if you’re using cannabis products, it’s important to offer this information, no matter whether you’re using it to address a physical or mental-health concern or simply for pleasure,” Dr. Jeffrey Kullgren, a primary-care physician at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System and director of the National Poll on Healthy Aging, said in a news release.

Walters-Zucco agrees.

“It has to be a coordinated effort with their primary-care physician,” she said. “They want to make sure that their PCP is aware and can effectively treat other conditions; they don’t want anything to be counteractive or interfering with other medications they’re taking.”

That said, she has spoken with doctors and communicated with residents on the topic, and she believes cannabis can be a way for older individuals to avoid the pitfalls of opioid use, which remains a massive problem in Massachusetts, among other health benefits.

“But, again, what we’re talking about with residents is, you have to have a conversation with your primary-care physician to make sure that, if you’re going to take certain dosages, it’s not going to counteract with other medications that you’re taking for, say, your liver or kidneys, and that your gut can process cannabis.”

The University of Michigan poll highlighted the types of cannabis products favored by older adults. Seventy-four percent reported consuming edibles and beverages, which, Sanders noted, offers a smoke-free alternative to those concerned about respiratory health. Meanwhile, 58% smoke the flower, 26% opt for vaping, and 19% use dabs, butane hash oil, or other concentrates.

She added that the rising trend of cannabis use among older adults presents an opportunity for dispensaries in a highly competitive market, and shops should educate their staff on the specific benefits and considerations of cannabis use for seniors, as well as curating senior-friendly products, creating gift bundles with seniors in mind, hosting educational events, and generally fostering a welcoming environment, which may include accessible facilities, comfortable seating areas, and staff training to engage respectfully with older adults.

“I have people that hug me on a regular basis, saying, ‘thank you, you’ve helped me finally sleep.’ That right there is a huge healing aspect. So I think that’s part of it.”

“Every single day, we see multi-generational shoppers come in together, and daughters are walking their mothers through, granddaughters are walking their grandparents through — ‘this is a really great thing, try this, I love this, you might love it,’” Sanders added, noting that family members are often influenced by the success and enjoyment experienced by trusted loved ones.

“I have people that hug me on a regular basis, saying, ‘thank you, you’ve helped me finally sleep.’ That right there is a huge healing aspect. So I think that’s part of it.”

 

Joint Efforts

Cannabis has taken hold across America, with those 24 states with legal recreational use joined by 14 more that have legalized for medical use. And that means more concern around using the substance safely.

In addition to possible contraindications from prescription drugs, medical professionals also caution about cannabis possibly affecting parts of the brain that are responsible for coordination and reaction time, according to the AARP, which cites a 2021 study in the journal Brain Sciences finding that older adults who used cannabis had a higher fall risk, worse balance, and slower gait speed than people who didn’t use cannabis.

The University of Michigan poll also found that 21% of older adults surveyed weren’t aware that many cannabis products available today are much stronger than they were decades ago, contributing to concerns about dose levels.

That’s why the Arbors has begun to take an educational role in residents’ cannabis use, even while acknowledging the potential benefits.

“They’re very interested in alternative medication and ways to treat diseases besides typical pharmaceuticals,” Walters-Zucco told BusinessWest. “So we ask them if they’re open to having a person come in and do a presentation about cannabis and answer any questions they may have.”

Many residents trying out cannabis have already used CBD products, she noted, but cannabis, which contains the psychoactive compound THC, is a much different animal. “We’re asking them to ask to talk to their primary-care physician before starting to take gummies, and dosages are definitely something they want to learn about.”

Walters-Zucco noted that, for some, it’s never too late to try something new.

“I talk to to residents, and one resident who’s 90 went to the pot shop for the first time — yes, she called it a pot shop. She said, ‘I can’t believe this.’ If it can help people with increased relaxation, better sleep, better pain relief, maybe elevate people’s moods, yes, absolutely — but it needs to be done safely and effectively with conversations with their primary-care physician.”

 

Enfield Is All Aboard the Development Train

By
Aaron Marcavitch
Community Spotlight

Community Spotlight

Aaron Marcavitch

Aaron Marcavitch says Enfield would benefit from a balance of different types of new housing.

 

In a region with plenty of dying, dead, or deteriorating shopping centers, Enfield Square stands out — just Target and a few smaller retailers occupying a largely empty structure where anchors such as Macy’s, JCPenney, and Sears once thrived.

But it’s also a property with an intriguing location, sitting between two very busy thoroughfares in Elm Street and Hazard Avenue, each dotted with retail, restaurants, and plenty of traffic.

And 2024 brought a ray of hope when the mall property — all but the Target — was purchased by Woodsonia Acquisitions, which has proposed a $250 million project that will feature retail and restaurant businesses, hundreds of residential units, and a small hotel.

Woodsonia also worked with the town on an application for a $20 million Connecticut Community Investment Funds program grant. After much back and forth with the state, an amended, $10 million version was recently resubmitted.

“It was narrowed down a little bit,” said Aaron Marcavitch, who has had a busy several months since coming on board as Enfield’s Economic & Community Development director last April. “It’s a $10 million request, basically for the demolition of the building and for the critical infrastructure elements of it — pipes in the ground and some of those types of things. We should hear by March whether or not that will happen. If it goes forward, that process will take six to nine months before you might see demolition.”

He said the town and developer share a vision for the property involving the mixed-use blend of housing, a hotel, and “some upscale strip elements” on the retail side, including an organic grocery store.

“It’s been said for 50 years now that Thompsonville is going to be revitalized, but I feel like some positive movement is happening. We’re actually putting those plans into action.”

“It’s likely that the developers are a little bit more housing-focused, so they’ll get that part done, and the rest will happen as they acquire potential retailers or restaurants or whatever,” Marcavitch went on. “If the project were to go sideways, there may be other ways for us to go with this. It is a really great location for retail.”

The housing element is especially intriguing at a time when most cities and towns in the region need more of it. At the same time, a 140-unit residential development is taking shape on North River Street, near the critically important train stop project taking shape in the Thompsonville neighborhood (more on all of that later).

“I think the balance that Enfield is looking for is in truly affordable housing — really low-income versus workforce housing,” Marcavitch said, citing a term often used in the social-services world: ALICE, which stands for asset-limited, income-constrained, employed. “It basically means that you’re well above the poverty line, but it’s still hard to make ends meet. And I think that’s the area of housing we’ve been hearing about, as well as some of the 55-plus and elderly types of housing.

Enfield Square has been in decline for many years

Enfield Square has been in decline for many years, but a planned mixed-use development there has city officials excited.

“We’re a predominantly single-family type of community, but we’ve got some really interesting projects,” he went on. “I mean, the 140 apartments on the river are being built essentially as one-bedroom majority because they’re looking for the commuting professional with no kids. That’s their target audience. With demographics changing, we kind of have to stay on our toes for what the community is looking for.”

 

Train Not in Vain

The entire rail-centric project in Thompsonville has certainly made waves — with real ripple effects when it comes to development.

Late in 2023, the Connecticut Department of Transportation attached hard dates to the $45 million project to build the train station. Those dates included the summer of 2024 for the final design to be completed, the winter of 2025 for the construction bid to be awarded, the spring of 2027 for accompanying rail and bridge work to be completed, and the fall of 2027 for completion of the station and platform.

That plan is largely on track (no pun intended), though there’s plenty of bid and permit work to be completed this year, Marcavitch said, and shovels may be in the ground by September.

“If you can encourage somebody to come here, that’s great, but I don’t want you just getting on a train and disappearing every day. At the end of the day, I want you to go to a dog park, I want you to go hike a trail, whatever it is, and stay in Enfield as much as possible.”

Enfield’s station is expected to be more than a metro stop, bringing people to Hartford to work; it will also be a larger hub for Amtrak for more distant destinations, while a planned spur off the Windsor Locks stop will bring people to and from Bradley International Airport. The project has also, as noted earlier, gained the attention of the development community.

The 140-unit project on North River Street is being developed by HGRE Ventures, a partnership between Avon-based Honeycomb Real Estate Partners and GRAVA Properties of West Hartford. HGRE plans a $100 million, two-phase project that would eventually bring more than 300 units to the riverfront section of Thompsonville, near the much larger Bigelow Commons apartment complex.

Enfield at a Glance

Year Incorporated: 1683
Population: 42,141
Area: 34.2 square miles
County: Hartford
Residential Tax Rate: $32.23
Commercial Tax Rate: $32.23
Median Household Income: $67,402
Median Family Income: $77,554
Type of Government: Town Council, Town Manager
Largest Employers: Empower Retirement LLC, Town of Enfield, Advance Auto Parts Distribution Center, Eppendorf Manufacturing
* Latest information available

The HGRE property sits on the former Bigelow Carpet manufacturing plant, and the developers recently secured $4 million from the state brownfields program to remediate the property, Marcavitch said. “That actually used to be the power plant for Bigelow. At one point, they were burning garbage in there. There was oil being used, coal being used, so there’s a lot of stuff on the grounds that needs to be cleaned up.”

He noted that the project will include some publicly accessible waterfront walking space, and HGRE will also seek to acquire an additional parcel at Main and North River streets, currently owned by Eversource, for the project’s second phase.

“The intention from the developer is to be able to use that area where the Eversource property is to build a waterfront restaurant location,” he said. “You get off the train, you can get something to eat, you can go to your apartment, whatever it might be, and that trail then would continue to Main Street, at least. There’s also been a long-term vision to have some sort of a pier that goes out into the river. That’s part of my job — to see if we can find funding for that and find a way to do it.”

Meanwhile, the town has received $1 million in federal funding to be used for streetscaping, from the train station up Main Street. “That’s going to trees, sidewalks, lighting, parking, striping, and making the road a bit more narrow,” Marcavitch explained.

“We’ve also been having some conversations about parking issues,” he went on. “We’ve had conversations with a group that’s being formed, a nonprofit group that would function as a Main Street program. They’re still in development.”

Taken together, Thompsonville definitely has some buzz. “It’s been said for 50 years now that Thompsonville is going to be revitalized, but I feel like some positive movement is happening. We’re actually putting those plans into action.”

 

Further Down the Track

That action has brought a sense of momentum to town, Marcavitch said, even if not everyone is feeling it yet.

“I feel there is a sense in Enfield that people don’t believe it until they start to see it. And nobody is seeing that shovel in the ground. But there are some people who know it’s happening, and they want to get ahead of it — whether it’s small developers on Main Street wanting to do small projects or big developers doing 140 apartment units.”

That said, other areas of town have seen some progress, too — even in the industrial sector, still reeling from Lego’s departure.

“We’ve had some really good conversations with the logistics industry, and we’re hopeful to see some projects that might be coming out of that relatively soon,” Marcavitch said, adding that one property owner is working with Martin Brower, the primary trucking company for McDonald’s, on an expansion and redesign of the site’s truck-management space, while USA Hauling, which owns the former Lego building, is talking to some high-tech companies.

“I have heard sometimes that Enfield is difficult to work with from a development standpoint. I don’t think that’s true, but we hear that, so I’ve been trying to be much more accessible to be that point of contact for businesses,” he added. “I was on a phone call with a gentleman who’s looking to put a restaurant in: ‘OK, great, tell me what you need. Let me know whenever you run into a snag.’ We’re just trying to be more helpful and more open.”

It’s the same with the few existing mall tenants, he added. “They don’t know what’s going to happen. So we’ve had some good conversations with those tenants. There’s only so much the town can do, but if we can at least be a receptive ear, sometimes that’s helpful.”

Since taking his role last April, Marcavitch has tried to put the same energy into other types of properties, from open spaces to historical sites.

“If you can encourage somebody to come here, that’s great, but I don’t want you just getting on a train and disappearing every day. At the end of the day, I want you to go to a dog park, I want you to go hike a trail, whatever it is, and stay in Enfield as much as possible. So it’s a multi-pronged process to bring up our sites and attractions, bring up our parks, bring up our community amenities, and bring up our businesses, too.”

 

Carr Hardware Is a Chain — and an Institution

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Bart Raser looks over the Carr Hardware location on North Street in Pittsfield.
Features Special Coverage

Hammer Down

Bart Raser looks over the Carr Hardware location on North Street in Pittsfield.

Bart Raser looks over the Carr Hardware location on North Street in Pittsfield.

While he admits to practically growing up at the Carr Hardware store in Pittsfield, working beside his father, Marshall, during the summer and school vacations, Bart Raser says he had no real interest in living in the Berkshires or making the family business a career.

That all changed when, while he was working in Boston and studying for his MBA, his father became ill with cancer. Raser came home — meaning to the store on North Street — for what he thought might be several months.

“Instead, I kind of fell in love with it and never left,” he said. “It’s a good business. It’s been fun … and it’s still fun. It’s great when you can wake up and love what you do every day.”

Indeed, working beside his father, who was very active in the business until recently (and until he was in his mid-90s), Raser has helped write the latest chapters in an intriguing story that began almost a century ago when Sam Carr put his name over a hardware store that would soon become, and always has been, an institution as much as a place to buy paint, nails, and, more recently, a leaf blower.

An institution that has not only been part of the fabric of the community — in Pittsfield and now several other cities and towns where it has locations — but a force in those communities, with Raser and many of his employees getting involved on many different levels.

“If it wasn’t for our community, we wouldn’t be here, so we support a ton of organizations, we encourage our people to get involved, and we supply our people with the time, and the money if it’s needed, to get involved.”

“It’s a big part of our culture — we’re a community business,” he said. “If it wasn’t for our community, we wouldn’t be here, so we support a ton of organizations, we encourage our people to get involved, and we supply our people with the time, and the money if it’s needed, to get involved.”

As for the business itself, it has evolved and expanded its reach — moving into equipment rentals and a strong online component, and adding stores across Berkshire County and then beyond, with a location in Avon, Conn.

And there are certainly opportunities for more of this expansion, said Raser, especially as Baby Boomers move into retirement and look to sell some of the remaining small, independent stores still to be found in the region.

Bart Raser and his father, Marshall

Bart Raser and his father, Marshall, have grown Carr Hardware to a six-location chain (and counting) over the past 30 years.

“The challenge in our industry is there’s a lot of folks who own hardware stores who are late in their careers, and their kids have no interest in working the kind of hours that are required in retail today,” he explained. “And the business is not easy — it’s capital-intensive, the margins are tight, the competition is tough … you have to work hard.

“So there are plenty of opportunities today, and there are probably more coming,” he went on, adding that plenty of people are looking for such opportunities. “There are a lot of folks who want to buy these stores.”

With that, Raser — who now has his own children working summers and vacations doing everything from making deliveries to assembling grills — effectively summed up the state of this industry as well as the challenges and opportunities facing this nearly century-old business. For this issue, BusinessWest talked at length with him about all that and much more.

 

A Lightbulb Went Off

As he walked through the Pittsfield store with BusinessWest, Raser passed a row of snow throwers, an item that was in short supply and very hard to get at the height of the pandemic, but not so much the past few years.

“We have plenty of them … it hasn’t really snowed in two years,” he said with a voice that blended frustration with hard reality and an inability to do anything about it. “Let’s hope that changes this winter.”

Weather is just one of the myriad issues and challenges confronting those in the hardware business, a sector that, like many others in retail, has undergone tremendous change over the past few decades, in everything from the scope and nature of the competition — Sam Carr didn’t have Home Depot, Walmart, or Tractor Supply to contend with — to how business is done and what is sold or rented, from baby chicks in the spring to bounce houses.

“There’s all kinds of competition, and that competition has changed over the years,” he explained. “When I first came back, Sears was the big competitor, and that’s certainly evolved. Meanwhile, online is a huge competitor, Home Depot, Walmart, local chains — Rocky’s and Aubuchon — and the independents; there are several of them in the Berkshires.”

Like all Pittsfield-based businesses, this one had to cope with the downsizing of GE in the early ’90s and the huge impact it had, and still has, on the city’s central business district. And, like all retail businesses, this one faces the challenge of finding enough talent for its stores.

“The challenge in our industry is there’s a lot of folks who own hardware stores who are late in their careers, and their kids have no interest in working the kind of hours that are required in retail today.”

Before getting to all that, let’s go back to the beginning.

Calvin Coolidge was patrolling the White House when Sam Carr, a North Adams native who was working for someone else in the hardware sector, decided to go into business for himself. He started in a storefront just a few blocks down North Street, and eventually moved his venture into what had been a Sears Roebuck location, and before that a car dealership, at 547 North St., and the Carr name has been over the door ever since.

In 1962, Marshall Raser, who was already in the hardware business in Quincy with his brothers, met Sam Carr and decided to expand, if you will, into the Berkshires.

“My dad bought Carr Hardware, his brothers stayed in Quincy, and he ran Carr Hardware; together, they were all partners,” Raser noted, adding that the expansion into other Berkshire-area communities began in the ’80s with locations in Lee and Great Barrington. Eventually, what would become a chain had a presence in North Adams as well, before the venture moved into other area markets.

Including Avon in 2019, a Connecticut expansion that certainly wasn’t planned.

“I went in to buy their fixtures, and I walked out with the keys,” he said, referring to a store that was closing its doors, only to open again with a new name over the door. The search for fixtures was prompted by Carr’s purchase of an independent store in Longmeadow and the need to relocate it to make way for a Big Y expansion, a move that brought the chain to Enfield, Conn., a store that would close after seven years of operation.

 

Nailing It Down

As he talked about the company’s past expansion efforts — and also what might happen in the future — Raser referenced the attrition rate in this business, which has grown steadily higher over the years, even within his own family; indeed, in addition to the Enfield store, which suffered from a poor location, a store in Great Barrington operated by his cousins eventually failed, to be replaced by one opened by Bart and Marshall Raser.

employees take part in downtown Pittsfield’s annual spring cleanup

As part of Carr Hardware’s long tradition of being involved in the community, employees take part in downtown Pittsfield’s annual spring cleanup.

To survive and thrive these days, hardware ventures need several key ingredients, he said, starting with size. Indeed, chains have an enormous advantage over single, standalone stores when it comes to buying power and economies of scale, Raser said, adding that this is one reason why he is continually looking for expansion opportunities.

Meanwhile, a diverse portfolio of products and services is another must, he noted, adding that the company’s equipment- and event-rental business is a good example of such diversity.

“Rental is an important part of our business now,” he said. “If you had told my dad or Sam Carr that we would be renting bounce houses and cotton-candy machines, they’d think we were crazy, but it’s a great part of our business.”

The same can be said for small-engine repair and even the sale of chickens, which started in three of the stores several years ago and remains brisk.

Meanwhile, a large, effective online presence is also a must, and Carr has achieved that as well.

“It’s such a small part of our total volume, but it’s such a fast-growing piece; it grew by more than 100%,” he explained, adding that, while there’s a large volume of returns, consumers are becoming ever-more comfortable with buying hardware online.

Still, when it comes to most projects and products, consumers still need advice, which is why in-store service from qualified experts is another key to success, and Carr features that as well.

As for size, as he noted earlier, Raser said he’s continually looking for growth opportunities, but they have to make sense, and he isn’t looking to grow just for the sake of growth.

“I’ve walked away from far more than I’ve bought,” he said of stores that come on the market, adding that everything has to be right with an acquisition candidate, from the location to the condition of the store to the price, obviously.

“In many cases, people value their business for more than it’s really worth; with these small businesses, there are emotional connections, and they’re multi-generational,” he noted. “We have a lot of things we look at when considering an acquisition, and the biggest is culture, but the metrics have to make sense as well.

“We’re willing to go where there’s opportunity,” he went on, when asked where the company might go next. “But ideally, we would like to fill in the map; it would be great to have something between Great Barrington and Avon.”

Meanwhile, in the communities where it already has a presence, the company makes getting involved a huge part of its culture.

As Raser noted earlier, this is a top-down proposition. He has served, and continues to serve, on a number of different boards, and the company not only encourages employees at all levels to get involved, it gives them the wherewithal — the time off and whatever else they need — to do so.

“If they’re passionate about being a volunteer firefighter, or they want to coach a soccer team, or get involved in Little League, whatever their passion is, we really encourage them to do that,” he told BusinessWest. “And we’re happy to help them support the organization — that’s our starting point.”

It’s just one of many traditions, carried on for almost 100 years now, that promise to continue for decades to come.

 

Six Flags New England Provides Experiences for Guests, Employees

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Peter Carmichael says Six Flags is more than an major employer
Features

The Ride Stuff

Peter Carmichael says Six Flags is more than an major employer

Peter Carmichael says Six Flags is more than an major employer — it’s a source of all-important first jobs as well as leadership opportunities for young people.

While the park’s gates are officially closed this time of year, this is actually considered busy season at Six Flags New England.

It’s just a different kind of busy, said Peter Carmichael, president of the amusement park in Agawam, adding that this is the season for getting the various rides and attractions ready for the official busy season, which starts in early April, around school-break time, and kicks into a higher gear on Memorial Day.

“Every year, we inspect and refresh the entire park,” he explained. “This is when we do all of our annual maintenance and checkups on all our rides and attractions to make sure they’re ready to go in the spring.”

And this offseason, during which the venue formerly known Riverside Park will mark 25 years as part of the Six Flags brand, things are even busier than what would be considered usual, with the park now in the final stages of work on its first new roller coaster in nearly a decade.

It’s called Quantum Accelerator, billed as ‘New England’s first straddle coaster,’ whereby, as that name suggests, riders sit on top of the seat, rather than inside, providing a different sensation and increased thrill, Carmichael said.

The ride, which features two launches and speeds up to 45 mph, will officially launch in late spring, he said, adding that, after his engineers, he expects to take one of the first rides on the new attraction.

In addition to the new coaster, the park is undertaking what Carmichael calls the largest investment in food services in the park’s history — a renovation of the Riverboat Café in the center of the park that will provide everything from additional capacity to new menu items.

“We have dozens, probably hundreds, of leadership opportunities, between teen leads and supervisors and coordinators that are asked to step up, lead our teams, and enhance the guest experience. It’s a great development opportunity for the individual.”

Overall, he said his work comes down to continuing traditions — not just rides, amusements, food, and adding new roller coasters, but also providing first jobs to hundreds of young people each year — the park employs roughly 3,000 seasonal workers each year — as well as leadership opportunities for younger people, experience in fields ranging from accounting to healthcare to culinary arts, and chances to advance within this industry, as he did, as we’ll see.

“What we’re really most proud of is that we tend to be, for many, their first real leadership opportunity,” he said. “We have dozens, probably hundreds, of leadership opportunities, between teen leads and supervisors and coordinators that are asked to step up, lead our teams, and enhance the guest experience. It’s a great development opportunity for the individual.”

For this issue, BusinessWest talked with Carmichael, a self-described “rides guy,” about the offseason, the 2025 season to come, the new coaster, and what it all means to one of the region’s hospitality-sector institutions.

 

Speed Thrills

Carmichael told BusinessWest that he’s always been fascinated by amusement parks and the theme-park world, and it has played a huge part in his life, starting when he met his future wife while they were both operating a roller coaster called the Jack Rabbit at his hometown’s amusement park in Pennsylvania.

When he was a student at Penn State working toward a degree in commercial tourism, he sent dozens of letters to amusement and theme parks seeking internships. The park that had just been rebranded Six Flags New England was among the few that called back. Carmichael came north, and his internship, as such opportunities very often do, became a career.

An architect’s rendering of the Quantum Accelerator

An architect’s rendering of the Quantum Accelerator, now in the final construction phases at Six Flags.

“I’d always known, my whole life, that I wanted to work in the theme-park industry,” he said, adding that he got his start as opening supervisor for the Superman: Ride of Steel roller coaster, opened in 2000, which he joked was the most difficult assignment he’s had in his career.

There have been several since he first arrived in Agawam, mostly on the operations side. He eventually earned the title director of Operations in 2008, and stayed in that job for several years before leaving to become park president of Six Flags St. Louis in 2016.

He stayed in that post for two years before getting an opportunity to “come home,” as he put it, and become president of Six Flags New England.

Since taking the helm, he has led the park through the challenging COVID period and its aftermath, and now the latest course of expansion, especially a new roller coaster, giving the park 12 in its portfolio, including the wooden Thunderbolt, opened in 1941 and now one of the oldest rides within the Six Flags family of parks.

Carmichael described it as much more than a blast from the past.

“We proudly reinvest in the Thunderbolt every year — it’s one of the best rides in the region and a point of pride for us,” he explained. “There’s a certain crew and a certain amount of hard work that goes into making sure that you have a good, smooth, fun, and enjoyable ride experience on a wooden coaster, and our team of carpenters treats that like their baby.”

“We proudly reinvest in the Thunderbolt every year — it’s one of the best rides in the region and a point of pride for us.”

As for the new Quantum Accelerator coaster, it is being constructed in an area of the park known as Crack Axle Canyon, on the site of the former Goliath coaster.

A significant investment — Carmichael was not at liberty to get into specifics — the new coaster gives the park its first entry into the emerging straddle-coaster bracket, its first new coaster since the Joker opened in the Gotham City section of the park in 2017, and its 12th coaster overall.

Others include the Wicked Cyclone, originally the wooden Cyclone, which was reconstructed and retracked with steel in 2015; Pandemonium, opened in 2005; Batman: the Dark Knight, unveiled in 2002; Flashback, Catwoman’s Whip, and Superman, all opened in 2000; and Riddler’s Revenge, formerly the Mind Eraser, which dates back to 1997.

Carmichael said the Quantum Accelerator, which has been in the planning stages for several years now, is a good complement to the other coasters and rides in the park, and is seen as a family attraction. And, just as with the premieres of other coasters on that list above, the introduction of the Quantum Accelerator is expected to pique the interest of roller-coaster enthusiasts, generate new visitation, and create some strong word-of-mouth enthusiasm.

“Roller coasters are really one of the cornerstones of our investment strategy,” he explained. “That’s because they can be anchor rides; they are the type of rides that are repeater rides, ones that our guests will be wowed by, they’ll be amused by, they’ll tell all their friends and family, ‘you’ve got to come ride this.’ And there was no better example of that than when we opened the Superman ride in 2000.”

 

Bottom Line

While the park supplies experiences and lasting memories for guests, it provides the same for its employees, said Carmichael, noting that most of them are young, many of them are in their first job, and many others are certainly in their first position of leadership. In each case, work at Six Flags is a learning experience, and one they’ll remember, he noted.

“Because I’ve been at the park so long, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve bumped into former supervisors, team leaders, and team members on the midway, and they always seem to have a similar narrative,” he told BusinessWest. “They say, ‘oh my gosh, that was the best time, we had so much fun back in those days.’ I’m really proud to continue the legacy of leadership development that we’ve been able to provide over the last quarter-century.”

That’s just one of the traditions that will continue in 2025 at a regional attraction that has always had the ride stuff.

 

In Agawam, Momentum Is Building

By
A architect’s rendering of the planned new Agawam High School.
Community Spotlight Special Coverage

Community Spotlight

A architect’s rendering of the planned new Agawam High School.

A architect’s rendering of the planned new Agawam
High School.

Chris Johnson called it “an easy fix.”

He was referring to his decision early in 2024 to put things back the way they were in City Hall — quite literally — the last time he occupied the corner office, some 24 years earlier.

Indeed, the three-office mayor’s suite in City Hall had been reconfigured in the intervening years, with the smallest space, which had been Johnson’s office, made into a closet; the middle space, which had been a conference room, devoted to staff; and the largest space, which had been home to the two-person staff, converted to accommodate the mayor’s office and a conference-room table.

Not long after returning to office, Johnson reshuffled the deck, claiming that the old arrangement made far more sense.

Other business hasn’t been resolved quite so easily, but Johnson has achieved progress on several fronts — especially with the building of a new high school, a project that has been discussed for decades and was resolved in resounding fashion at a special election last June, with roughly 70% of residents approving a three-stage project with a price tag of $226 million.

Johnson, who served three two-year terms in the mid- to late ’90s, and, more recently, served several terms on the City Council, sought a return to the corner office in the fall of 2023, in large part to resolve the issue of a new high school. He considers the new building (and a small saved portion of the old building) to be the best option for this community of almost 29,000.

“For the voters, it came down to this: do you want to make a significant investment and renovate what we have, or spend a few extra dollars and build a new high school?” said Johnson, in reference to what will be, by far, the largest capital-improvement project in the history of Agawam. “The right decision, from an education standpoint, but also a business and financial standpoint, was to invest in a new building that has a useful life of 50-plus years instead of major renovations in what we have that would have a useful life of probably 20 to 30 years.”

“The right decision, from an education standpoint, but also a business and financial standpoint, was to invest in a new building that has a useful life of 50-plus years instead of major renovations in what we have that would have a useful life of probably 20 to 30 years.”

The high-school vote is easily the biggest storyline in this community, but there are others, including ongoing work to transform the old HUB Insurance building on Suffield Street into the city’s new police headquarters, an intriguing conversion project that should be wrapped up next spring. There’s also the ongoing saga of the former Games and Lanes property on Walnut Street Extension — a new use for that parcel remains elusive years after the eyesore was torn down — as well as the need for new housing of all kinds, but especially the affordable variety.

There are some new businesses, including a Starbucks just over the Morgan-Sullivan Bridge from West Springfield that opened roughly a year ago, and some emerging ventures, including an urgent-care facility in a building now under construction just behind Starbucks.

As for existing businesses, the landscape is dominated — figuratively but also literally — by Six Flags New England, the giant amusement park near the Connecticut border that is not only the city’s largest employer, but a good corporate citizen, the mayor said.

The park, now 25 years under the Six Flags brand, is adding a new roller coaster and undertaking other significant expansion and improvement efforts, said Park President Peter Carmichael (see related story on page XX).

For this latest installment of its Community Spotlight series, BusinessWest turns its focus on Agawam, where momentum is building — in every sense of that phrase.

 

Early Returns

The framed newspaper front pages on one wall of Johnson’s office speak to how much has changed over the past 24 years — journalistically, and in some other ways as well.

The large headlines trumpet three of his five election victories, starting in 1989. The masthead at the top of each declares that this is the Agawam/West Springfield edition of the Union News. The Springfield newspaper is now called the Republican, and there is no longer an Agawam/West Springfield edition. Meanwhile, the large headlines from the ’90s were all about Johnson because West Springfield didn’t have a mayor in those days.

But while many things have changed in a quarter-century, in Agawam, many of the issues are the same, and Johnson has been dealing with them consistently because he served on the City Council for 12 years in the interim.

Mayor Chris Johnson

Mayor Chris Johnson says resolution of the high-school issue was one of the prime motivators for his return to the corner office.

At the top of that list is the high school, he said, noting that the original building, opened in 1995, has been renovated and expanded several times over the years, with the result being a sprawling, one-story complex that was in need of another facelift — or replacement.

Johnson has long been a strong advocate of the latter, and efforts to inform the public of the available options dominated his first several months back in the mayor’s office.

“I can’t even count how many presentations I made,” he said. “I pretty much said, ‘anytime, anywhere that anyone wants one, I’ll go’ — and I did a lot of them, while also putting together educational videos to put on the town’s website and social media. My goal was to make sure people had the information they needed to make an educated decision.”

“Whether it be aging roadways or storm-drainage issues, most of our infrastructure dates back 50, 60, 70-plus years.”

Dave Fontaine Jr., CEO of Springfield-based Fontaine Bros., the general contractor awarded the project, said it is unique in that it has three phases — new construction of a ‘community wing’ on fields adjacent to the current high school; an academic wing, which will involve demolition of much of the existing high school (some will be saved) and new construction; and additional demolition as well as conversion of some of the existing high school into an early-childhood center.

The building will also use geothermal wells for heating and cooling, said Fontaine, adding that the technology is becoming more common, but still fairly rare in school buildings. It will also have sloping metal roofs, which are more durable than flat roofs and will have a longer lifespan, he said, adding that they provide an intriguing architectural element.

Johnson said ground should be broken this spring, with work on phase 1 to be completed by the end of 2026, phase 2 by the fall of 2028, and phase 3 in 2029.

Fontaine will be building the new Agawam High School at the same time it constructs a new high school in East Longmeadow, a project roughly six months further along. That will be challenging in some ways, but the company traditionally has at least two large-scale school projects occurring simultaneously.

Meanwhile, another intriguing project, this one now well underway, is the conversion of the former HUB Insurance building (before that, it was the Oaks banquet facility) into the new police headquarters.

It’s unique, said Carl Mercieri, executive vice president with Marois Construction, the contractor handling the project, because most new public-safety facilities are built from the ground up.

Agawam at a glance

Year Incorporated: 1855
Population: 28,692
Area: 24.2 square miles
County: Hampden
Residential Tax Rate: $14.54
Commercial Tax Rate: $27.54
Median Household Income: $49,390
Family Household Income: $59,088
Type of government: Mayor; City Council
Largest Employers: OMG Inc., Agawam Public Schools, Six Flags New England
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Because the town was able to acquire the property at an attractive price, converting it for this use emerged as the most common-sense option, he went on, adding that transforming a large (36,000 square feet) office building into a public-safety facility has required complete interior gutting and creation of a wide range of new spaces, from offices to a dispatch room to six holding cells. Meanwhile, a large sallyport had to be added to the rear of the building.

“There are several different areas to create — a detective area, a sergeant’s area, a patrolman’s area, an armory, and the holding cells,” said Mercieri, adding that the completion date for the project, like the final price tag (around $9 million), is a moving target, but work is expected to be wrapped up by late spring.

 

Forward Progress

Between the new high-school project (the town’s share of that initiative is roughly $120 million) and the new public-safety complex, the town will have little to spend on other large-scale capital projects for some time, said Johnson, adding quickly that this can’t stop the community from planning.

And he summed up what’s next on the proverbial to-do list with a single word: ‘infrastructure.’

“Whether it be aging roadways or storm-drainage issues, most of our infrastructure dates back 50, 60, 70-plus years,” he explained. “But we need to come up with a plan, and then match a funding mechanism to a plan to be able to move forward so that we’re not faced with dealing with crisis situations.”

Coming up with these plans — while also building the new school — will be the next challenges for Johnson in what can be called a second tour of duty in the corner office.

Or corner offices, to be more precise.

He’s put things back the way they were before in that suite, but for other, much larger issues, there is no going back — just moving forward. In the larger scheme of things, that is the plan.

In South Hadley, It Takes a Village — Literally

By
Karia Youngblood says Mount Holyoke College’s $175 million geothermal project is a bold move for the institution.
Community Spotlight

Community Spotlight

Karia Youngblood says Mount Holyoke College’s $175 million geothermal project is a bold move for the institution.

Karia Youngblood says Mount Holyoke College’s $175 million geothermal project is a bold move for the institution.

At its core, Mount Holyoke College’s $175 million geothermal energy initiative is an infrastructure project.

But, by design (in most cases, anyway), it has become much more than that.

Indeed, the massive undertaking, soon to enter its third phase, has become a living laboratory for many students, engaging them in learning opportunities involving everything from geology (during test-well drilling) to sustainable landscaping to humanities.

Meanwhile, the project has provided a captivating glimpse into the college’s past, with excavation work uncovering part of the foundation of the college’s original structure, the Seminary Building, which dates back to 1837, a find that provides some poignant symmetry, said Karia Youngblood, associate vice president of Facilities Management at Mount Holyoke.

“I worked with our archivist, and we overlaid the footprint of the Seminary Building and determined that foundation was actually the corner of the original boiler room of that building, which also explains why we found some fire bricks in that area,” she explained. “It felt like a really sweet, full-circle moment.”

Such symmetry is one intriguing aspect of this closely watched project, which is just one of many storylines unfolding in South Hadley.

“With our 19 units historically at 100% occupancy, with minimal opportunity to reside here due to lack of turnover, we believe the best way to sustain long-term success is to open the door to more housing.”

Others, said Town Administrator Lisa Wong, include everything from progress toward building a new elementary school to work toward development of a strategic plan for the town’s municipal golf course, to planned infrastructure work — and economic-development initiatives — in the community’s historic Falls section, which includes Town Hall.

“We’re hoping to raise some money and do some projects in that area, which is along the river,” she explained. “There are some businesses there, but we’re looking to attract more.”

As for established businesses that call South Hadley home, many can be found in the Village Commons, a setting unlike anything else in Western Mass. — a collection of buildings that has won awards for its design and is known for constant change, but also, in some ways, remarkable stability.

The Village Commons

The Village Commons has historically had a high occupancy rate for its retail and office space, and there’s a lengthy waiting list for its residential units.

Indeed, many of the commercial tenants have had this mailing address for decades, said Jeff Labrecque, chief operating officer of Center Redevelopment Corp., which manages the Commons for its owner, Mount Holyoke College, noting that the same is true for those occupying the 19 coveted residential units as well.

“We have one woman who has lived here for 36 years,” said Labrecque, noting that there is a waiting list for the units, one that people stay on for several years, on average, before there is a vacancy.

This lengthy waiting list helps explain why the Village Commons is actively looking to expand and add additional residential units, Labrecque told BusinessWest, adding that South Hadley, like most area cities and towns, has a critical need for housing, especially of the affordable variety.

“I’m an alum of the college, and the day the board approved this project, I felt so much pride in my institution that they had the courage to take such a bold step to preserve the environment, to preserve the legacy of Mount Holyoke.”

“We’re continuing to focus on residential expansion opportunities,” he said. “With our 19 units historically at 100% occupancy, with minimal opportunity to reside here due to lack of turnover, we believe the best way to sustain long-term success is to open the door to more housing.”

Meanwhile, one of the long-time commercial tenants in the Village Commons, the Bean Restaurant Group, founded by the Yee family, has continually expanded its presence within the complex. Three of the group’s 13 restaurants — Johnny’s Bar & Grill, IYA Sushi and Noodle Kitchen, and Johnny’s Tap Room, a banquet and events facility — are located within the Commons.

Overall, the group continues to grow in size, with the most recent addition being the Crush Wine Bar in West Hartford, Conn. but also in prestige, recently garnering the 2024 Restaurant of the Year Award from the Retailers Assoc. of Mass. (RAM), recognizing the company’s longstanding dedication to hospitality excellence, culinary creativity, and community engagement.

“It’s a feather in the cap, not for the Yee family, but really for our teams in every restaurant, because they’re the ones that build the relationships,” said Edison Yee, son of Johnny Yee, who laid the cornerstone for what would become a chain with the opening of the famed Hu Ke Lau in Chicopee. “They’re the ones table-touching every day, and they continue to bring that culture that my father instilled in all of us to our restaurants every day.”

 

Things Are Heating Up

Numbers certainly help tell the story of Mount Holyoke’s geothermal system. And there are quite a few of them.

When completed, there will be 26 miles of geothermal piping to be installed under the campus. The project also entails the drilling of 230 bores, each of them 600 feet deep, that will heat and cool 43 buildings covering 1.6 million square feet of real estate.

The most important numbers, though, are 2037 and 100% carbon neutrality. The former is a date, the college’s 200th birthday, and the latter is a goal to be reached by that date, a goal that in many ways inspired the geothermal project, said Youngblood, adding that this goal coincided with another one — to replace a 100-year-old, highly inefficient steam-distribution system.

Members of the second and third generations of the extended Yee family

Members of the second and third generations of the extended Yee family now managing the Bean Restaurant Group: from left, Matt Yee, Nathan Yee, Sonny Wae, Bonnie Wae, Emma Yee, Nick Yee, and Edison Yee.

Tracing the genesis and progression of the project, Youngblood, an alum who has been working in her current position for three years, said the college made a climate commitment in 2016, and in 2018 a sustainability task force was formed to look at how the college could reduce its carbon emissions.

That group’s work soon focused on the school’s fossil-fuel-powered heating plant and five large steam boilers, which produced 80% of those emissions. And it led to an energy master plan that looked at a handful of different technologies and was guided by several criteria, including cost, greenhouse-gas reduction, and technology that was both adaptable and able to offer engagement opportunities for on-campus researchers and students.

These and other guidelines were met by geothermal heat-exchange technology, she went on, adding that Mount Holyoke took inspiration — and some lessons — from a similar project at Carleton College in Minnesota, and commenced work in 2022.

“This is a bold step for the college,” Youngblood said as she put the many aspects of this initiative into perspective. “I’m an alum of the college, and the day the board approved this project, I felt so much pride in my institution that they had the courage to take such a bold step to preserve the environment, to preserve the legacy of Mount Holyoke. We’re a small liberal-arts college in Western Massachusetts, and many of our peers with larger endowments have yet to take such a step.”

As Wong noted, the geothermal project is one of many developing stories in South Hadley. Others include early-stage work to replace Mosher Elementary School; recent improvements to Buttery Brook Park, including wildly popular pickleball courts; the launching of an affordable housing trust to address that pressing issue; creation of a Human Services department; gaining designation from the state as a green community; and planned infrastructure work on Main Street.

Meanwhile, the town is also launching a strategic plan for its municipal golf course. Conceived in the late ’90s, when golf was enjoying a Tiger Woods-inspired boom, the course, called the Ledges, struggled for many years, but has fared better recently as golf has enjoyed another surge, this one fueled in part by the pandemic.

“The course is operating in the black, but it’s not covering all the debt right now,” said Wong, noting that the debt incurred to build the course and clubhouse will be paid off in four years, and the town wants a plan in place for maximizing that asset. A major focus will be on open space for the public, such as accessible walking trails.

 

It Takes a Village

While Labrecque takes the title COO of Center Redevelopment Corp., he likes to refer himself as an ‘innkeeper.’

In fact, at least one tenant calls him that, he said, adding that the hospitality-toned title is a better reflection of what he does day in and day out — and also what the Village Commons was designed to be and has certainly become.

“When you’re managing more than 70 tenants, and most of them are mom-and-pops, you really have to take on the innkeeper mentality, almost as if you’re running a bed and breakfast,” he explained. “And it’s always hands-on, very different from a commercial mall environment.”

As noted earlier, the Commons is noted for both its stability — some tenants go back to the very beginning in 1987, and many have called the complex home for 30 years or more — but also for the change that comes to any facility that is home to retail and office tenants.

That stability is marked by 100% occupancy on the retail and hospitality side of the equation, and 92% on the office side, which is strong compared to many office facilities in the post-pandemic, remote-work era, but still down from the Commons’ history of full occupancy, Labrecque noted.

“Hybrid work schedules continue to impact the office market, therefore creating an abundance of nationwide vacancies, leading to a heated and competitive leasing environment,” he said, adding that, while, these and other headwinds continue to present challenges to the Commons, the facility continues to more than hold its own.

Recent additions include Kiao Wan Thai restaurant, which opened its doors in October, and Eliza Moser Fine Art. Moser is an internationally trained oil painter, art instructor, and gallerist, and her facility hosts a broad range of weekly classes, paint nights, and one-day workshops that are routinely sold out.

Meanwhile, established tenants cover many sectors and include Odyssey Bookshop, Darby O’Brien Advertising, HUB International, Ochoa Day Spa, and Tower Theaters, which, like most cinema operations, is still in recovery mode from the pandemic, but making strides and continuing to be a destination that brings people to the Commons and its many restaurants.

“When you’re managing more than 70 tenants, and most of them are mom-and-pops, you really have to take on the innkeeper mentality, almost as if you’re running a bed and breakfast.”

Looking forward, the Commons is looking to advance what would be its first real expansion in more than 30 years, said Labrecque, adding that this expansion will come on the residential side, and with the twin motivations of meeting the town’s glaring need for more housing, while also providing more revenue with which to meet the growing costs of maintaining a complex now approaching its 40th birthday.

Additional residential units would constitute phase 3 of the Commons project, and it has been talked about for at least 20 years, he noted, adding that efforts have been slowed by the Great Recession, the pandemic, and other forces, but he expects some movement on this front within the next year.

 

Next on the Menu

Meanwhile, the Bean Group works to balance its ongoing efforts to expand with the day-to-day work of managing and operating 13 restaurants — and, during September, three more operations at the Big E.

It’s a complicated balancing act, said Nate Yee, a member of the third generation of the family now managing the group.

“We put a lot on our managers; we have a great amount of trust in them,” he told BusinessWest. “It comes with a lot of communication and checkpoints — that’s really how we do it. What sets us apart is that family touch where we’re in the units; we try our best to get to every restaurant at least once every week. It doesn’t always happen, and we rely on our managers.”

While the group is spread out across Western Mass. and now into the Hartford area, roughly half its restaurants are in South Hadley. In addition to those at the Commons, there are also the Halfway House Lounge, Johnny’s Roadside (a diner focusing on breakfast and lunch), and the Boathouse, located on the Connecticut River.

The 13 restaurants in the group run the gamut, from sushi to cheeseburgers and milkshakes at the two White Hut locations, and this diversity certainly makes it interesting, said Nick Yee, another of Johnny’s sons, noting that, beyond the wide variety of restaurants, the group is also coping with changes in eating habits, including a tendency among the younger generations to eat earlier and get home earlier.

“In South Hadley, our busiest time starts at 5, and it goes until 8,” he noted, adding that only a few years ago, peak time was closer to 7. “In South Hadley, we used to be open until midnight; now, we’ve cut that down to 9:30, 10.”

As for opportunities for expansion, there are many of them, said Nick, noting that “every restaurant is for sale, really.”

Nate agreed, adding that the group looks at many factors when it explores opportunities — from the lease conditions to parking; from the talent pool to the condition of the building in question — but, ultimately, it comes down to leadership and whether it would make a good fit with the group’s culture.

Maintaining that culture is job one, they agreed, adding that doing so contributes to awards like the one from RAM, but mostly leads to continued growth and success for a group that started nearly 60 years ago and is still thriving, especially in this town that’s progressing right along with it.

 

Challenges Persist for the Business Community as 2025 Begins

By
George Timmons
Features Special Coverage

Reflecting on the Year That Was

 

George Timmons

George Timmons calls education “the great equalizer,” and MassEducate a very effective way to achieve that.

In many ways, 2024 didn’t provide much clarity regarding economic questions we posed a year ago in our annual year in review. Inflation and interest rates remain high (if not historically so), while remote work, a housing shortage, and some sector-specific challenges continue to make the news.

But there was some good news, too, and some encouraging progress on fronts ranging from rail development to educational access to some intriguing high-tech developments. As 2025 dawns, BusinessWest presents its year in review, noting some of the stories and issues that shaped our lives, and will, in many cases, continue to do so.

 

The High Cost of Everything…

The Federal Reserve has been on a mission over the past two years — to tame inflation without putting the country into recession. By and large, the latter part has been accomplished, but inflation remains a thorny challenge.

Consumer prices were up 2.7% for the 12 months that ended in November, but stubborn inflation in housing (up 0.3% for the month in November) and food (up 0.4%) continue to hit people where they notice it most, while the price of cars and energy also rose in November. Economists are also unsure how President-elect Trump’s promised tariffs will impact inflation.

Meanwhile, some economists expect some relief in interest rates, and a chance that the Fed may go as low as 4% in 2025.

Still, Bob Nakosteen, semi-retired professor of Economics at the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst, recently told BusinessWest that “the economic numbers don’t look bad at all. The labor market has weakened a little bit, but it’s not weak; it’s just not as strong as it had been. And most of the other indicators are strong, including GNP. It’s about where it had been, and in some ways, it’s above trendline.

“This is not breaking news,” he added, “but the economy has held up really well in spite of a lot of pressure, especially from a rapidly rising interest-rate environment. The consumer has really rolled with the punches.”

 

…Except Community College

MassReconnect, a program the state launched in 2023 to fully fund tuition, books, and supplies at community colleges for students over age 25, has, to hear college presidents tell it, been a game changer, significantly boosting enrollment and getting more students into a pipeline that will hopefully bring more new blood to the region’s workforce.

“The economic numbers don’t look bad at all. The labor market has weakened a little bit, but it’s not weak; it’s just not as strong as it had been. And most of the other indicators are strong, including GNP.”

This past summer, state lawmakers went further by implementing MassEducate, a $117.5 million annual investment that covers tuition and fees for all students, plus books and supplies for some. The program aims to support both economic opportunity for students and workforce development across a Massachusetts economy that has struggled, sector by sector, to recruit and retain talent in recent years.

Importantly, the program is a ‘last dollar’ investment, meaning students will still access federal funds, like Pell Grants, as well as state aid and scholarships, and MassEducate will pay the costs that remain, so it’s not funding anywhere near the full cost of a student’s education.

“I’m so passionate about this work of education,” Holyoke Community College President George Timmons said. “It is the great equalizer. Once you have an education and all the rights and privileges of that degree, you can earn a livable, sustainable wage, you can take care of yourself and your family, and you can literally change the trajectory of a family.”

 

Productivity in Pajamas?

A report last year by McKinsey Global Institute suggested that remote work risks wiping $800 billion from the value of office buildings in major cities worldwide by 2030 as the post-pandemic trend pushes up office vacancy rates and drives down rents.

Large employers are fighting back. In September, Amazon President and CEO Andy Jassy informed tens of thousands of workers that they will be back in the office five days a week come January. That was good news for commercial real-estate owners and developers, who hope other employers follow suit.

But while remote-work critics claim improved collaboration and communication, as well as the learning opportunities that come when everyone is together, outweigh any benefits that might come from remote work and hybrid schedules, the fact is that the hybrid movement, at least, seems entrenched for now — and also puts employers who nix all remote work at a competitive disadvantage when recruiting in an already-tough talent market.

But Evan Plotkin, president of Springfield-based NAI Plotkin, told BusinessWest that he sees a partially offsetting force in east-west rail, which has the potential to drive development in areas near the rail stops, and even prompt some businesses to realize they don’t have to be in Boston anymore. “It could be transformative; in Springfield, for example, it could drive development in the Union Station area and make that area much more attractive.”

 

Working on the Railroad

So, is east-west rail finally becoming a reality, connecting Springfield and Boston? Well, the money being put behind what’s known as the Compass Rail project is certainly real.

At the end of October, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal announced the latest $36.8 Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grant by the Federal Railroad Administration, following a $108 million CRISI grant — the third-largest in the nation — late last year. Since Union Station reopened in 2017, more than $200 million has been allocated toward east-west rail, both from federal grants and MassDOT funding.

The latest funding will support the Springfield track-reconfiguration project, which is designed to increase capacity to accommodate both freight and increased passenger rail service. The project will include building new crossovers and layover tracks, upgrading platforms around Springfield Union Station, and modernizing track and signal systems.

“With the substantial progress that has been made with west-east rail, the Commonwealth is well-positioned to pursue additional funding for years to come.”

Since the station’s reopening, Neal said, “the investments that have been made in passenger rail have been extraordinary,” adding that, “with the substantial progress that has been made with west-east rail, the Commonwealth is well-positioned to pursue additional funding for years to come.”

Meanwhile, MassDOT is conducting a study focused on the restart of passenger rail along the Route 2 corridor, a project whose public advocates include dozens of municipalities, regional planning agencies, and state legislators.

 

SOC It to Springfield

Speaking of Union Station, in September, it officially became home to the Richard E. Neal Cybersecurity Center of Excellence, one component of a multi-million-dollar series of investments, announced in 2022, to bolster cybersecurity resilience — and the related workforce — across the state.

These awards included a $1,086,476 grant to support the launch of CyberTrust Massachusetts, a nonprofit that works with business and academia statewide to grow the cybersecurity talent pipeline while promoting local security operations.

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal joins a host of local dignitaries

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal joins a host of local dignitaries in September to cut the ribbon on his namesake cybersecurity center.

The state also awarded $1,462,995 award to Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) and $1,200,000 to Bridgewater State University to establish a security operations center (SOC) and cyber range in each city. The Neal Center at Union Station, managed by STCC, also benefited from $500,000 in ARPA funding from the city of Springfield.

Springfield’s 6,000-square-foot center — a collaboration between STCC, the Springfield Redevelopment Authority, and CyberTrust Massachusetts — aims to be a hub for advancing cybersecurity awareness, education, and innovation while battling global security threats. Its cyber range is a simulated, hands-on training environment, and its SOC is envisioned as a support service for Massachusetts municipalities, as well as regional businesses, to detect cybersecurity events in real time and respond quickly.

 

Tackling the Housing Crisis

One of the dominant stories of 2024 was a continuing housing shortage that touches virtually every community.

With that in mind, over the summer, Gov. Maura Healey signed into law the Affordable Homes Act, which aims to support the production, preservation, and rehabilitation of more than 65,000 homes statewide over the next five years. It is the largest housing bond bill ever filed in Massachusetts, at more than triple the spending authorizations of the last housing bill passed in 2018.

The legislation authorizes $5.16 billion in spending over the next five years along with 49 policy initiatives to counter rising housing costs caused by high demand and limited supply. Key spending authorizations and policy changes include allowing accessory dwelling units, an unprecedented investment in modernizing the state’s public housing system, boosts to programs that support first-time homebuyers and homeownership, incentives to build more housing for low- to moderate-income residents, support for the conversion of vacant commercial space to housing, and support for sustainable and green housing initiatives.

“The Affordable Homes Act creates homes for every kind of household, at every stage of life, and unlocks the potential in our neighborhoods,” Healey said. “We are taking an unprecedented step forward in building a stronger Massachusetts where everyone can afford to live.”

 

High Risks for Cannabis Operators

According to a new report in the Boston Business Journal, cannabis businesses are surrendering licenses at an alarming rate in Massachusetts. Since September 2023, four retail licenses have been either surrendered, not renewed, or revoked, and so have 26 non-retail licenses, which include growers and manufacturers. In the five years before that, just five retail and 11 non-retail licenses were surrendered.

The green rush is clearly over; more than 700 cannabis businesses have opened or received licensing approval, and prices have fallen sharply amid stiffer competition — which makes running a business much more challenging.

Springfield Mayor Sarno recently cut the ribbon opening EMBR Springfield, a cannabis dispensary at 461 Boston Road.

Springfield Mayor Sarno recently cut the ribbon opening EMBR Springfield, a cannabis dispensary at 461 Boston Road.

So does a still-unresolved disconnect between state and federal law that has thrown a number of wrenches into cannabis businesses, which, among other hurdles, grapple with an onerous tax burden since they can’t write off many of the costs other businesses can. Federal laws also impact elements from transportation to banking. And while federal rescheduling of cannabis has bipartisan appeal, it’s uncertain whether the next Congress will have the appetite for it.

There may be some potential good news for dispensary owners: a newly established regulatory framework for operating ‘social consumption sites’ in Massachusetts, potentially allowing public use of the drug. The Cannabis Control Commission is currently receiving public comment on the draft and will take the issue up in the new year.

 

Data Center Clears Tax Hurdle

Two years ago, Westmass Area Development Corp. helped Servistar Realties secure approval from the Westfield Planning Board, as well as a major tax break from the City Council, for a large, high-tech data center near Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport that could attract some of the largest tech companies in the world. Servistar even negotiated a power-purchase agreement with Westfield Gas & Electric allowing it to access below-market electric rates.

“The challenges in healthcare over the past five years have shifted, but they have not let up. And they ultimately result in financial challenges that are stressing the ways in which we collectively provide access to care in our communities.”

One hurdle remained to move the $3 billion project — which will feature 10 buildings going up over two decades — off the ground, and that was a state sales-tax exemption commonly offered to data centers in other states. Last month, that exemption became a reality as part of a larger economic-development bill on Beacon Hill, and because of it, the Westfield project could start progressing soon.

Analysis from McKinsey & Co. shows demand for data-center capacity in the U.S. more than tripling by 2030, according to the Boston Globe. Meanwhile, the sales-tax exemption could save the future Westfield park owners up to $30 million per year. Construction could start early in 2026, with the first building completed 18 months later.

 

Diagnosing the Problem

In a recent interview with BusinessWest, Mercy Medical Center president Dr. Robert Roose used the word ‘relentless’ to describe the current headwinds in medicine, which include everything from spiraling costs and inflation to persistently inadequate reimbursements from payers; from continuing workforce challenges to access and capacity issues — not to mention the overriding issue of caring for a population that is older and sicker than what has been seen historically.

“The challenges in healthcare over the past five years have shifted, but they have not let up,” Roose said. “And they ultimately result in financial challenges that are stressing the ways in which we collectively provide access to care in our communities.”

Baystate Health, in a remarkable show of transparency, recently went public to detail its struggles — including $300 million in operating losses over the past few years — and its response, which includes the sale of its lab, the pending sale of Health New England, and, most recently, the elimination of 130 administrative positions.

Those steps are part of what Baystate’s new president and CEO, Peter Banko, called a “transformation plan, one that calls for making hard decisions, relieving cost pressures, some cuts, but also investments in the years to come and greater financial stability.”

Expect more hard decisions across the healthcare spectrum in the year to come.

 

Music Lives Again at the Iron Horse

Finally, a positive note — many notes, in fact.

When music venues began to reopen in the wake of the pandemic, the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton was not among them, and owner Eric Suher didn’t have immediate plans to unshutter the venerable Center Street storefront.

Chris Freeman says he wanted to “bring back the glory days” of the Iron Horse.

Chris Freeman says he wanted to “bring back the glory days” of the Iron Horse.

In stepped the Parlor Room Collective, a nonprofit that operates the nearby Parlor Room music space, which purchased the Iron Horse and set about raising $750,000 to renovate it, maintaining its intimate feel but improving facets like its famously inadequate green room and restrooms, while expanding into adjoining space for a dedicated bar and community events. The venue reopened on May 15 and has hosted a robust lineup of concerts ever since.

“We have witnessed the magic of our local music scene and its ability to fuel the engine of our economy, enhance the overall well-being of our community, and contribute to our cultural vitality,” said Chris Freeman, executive director of the Parlor Room Collective.

“I live here, and part of the reason Northampton has become a great food scene and a great downtown culture is the arts,” he also told BusinessWest. “I’ve made it my life’s mission to make sure that never goes away, and we can bring back the glory days of such a legendary venue.”