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A Whole Year of Fun

By Contributor
Senior Planning

Older Adults Have Plenty of Ways to Stay Physically Active

By the National Institute on Aging

There are lots of fun and simple ways to build exercise into your daily routine. It’s easy to come up with ideas for activities to do with your family and ways to stay active in all four seasons.

 

Spending Time with the Family

Being physically active with your family is a great way to stay healthy and make exercise fun. Whether you play team sports with the entire family or take brisk walks with your spouse, child, or grandchild, you’ll be rewarded with improved health and time spent together. Here are a few activity ideas for you to do with your grandchildren:

Infants and toddlers:

• Take them for walks in the stroller and rides on your bike. Don’t forget your helmets.

• Play games that get your bodies moving, like wheels on the bus, pretend we’re animals, and hide and seek.

• Sign up for baby yoga or exercise classes.

• Try baby-friendly swimming classes.

School-aged children:

• Walk to the park and push their swing.

• Jump rope together.

• Build a fort — indoors or out.

• Play catch, kickball, basketball, or soccer.

• Go swimming or biking together.

• Play a video fitness game together and see who wins.

Teens and young adults:

• Participate in activities that interest them. Try hiking, skating, or tennis.

• Go golfing or swimming. Invite them to join you in physical activities that require two people, such as tennis or ping pong.

• Ask them to help you in the garden or with heavy-duty household chores.

 

Be Physically Active Without Spending a Dime

You don’t need to spend a fortune to be physically active. In fact, you can be active in many ways without spending any money. You don’t need special exercise equipment other than comfortable walking shoes. Here are a few ideas to help get you moving for free:

• Make your own weights from household items such as soup cans or bottles of water.

• Try out free demonstration exercises classes at your local senior center or fitness center.

• Go for a hike in a park.

• Participate in community-sponsored fun runs or walks.

• Yard work such as raking, digging, and planting can keep you active.

• Make sure to drink water or juice after exercise.

 

Find Ways to Stay Active in All Four Seasons

Being creative about your physical activity plans and trying new forms of exercise can keep you motivated by preventing boredom. A change in seasons is an excellent time to be creative about your exercise routine and try something new. There are many ways to be active throughout the year.

 

Winter:

• When your grandchildren visit, head outside to build a snowman together or go ice skating.

• Cold outdoor temperatures are an excellent reason to join a mall-walking group.

• Start the new year by trying out a fitness center — many offer New Year’s resolution specials.

• Give your heart a Valentine’s Day gift with dance lessons, such as salsa, tango, or belly dancing.

 

Spring:

• As the temperatures start to get warm, get your garden ready for spring and summer. The lifting and bending you do when gardening are great for strength and flexibility.

• A bike ride is a great way to enjoy the warmer temperatures.

• Anything can be fun with upbeat music, including spring cleaning.

• Build your endurance and strength with a bike ride during National Bike Month (May). Remember your helmet.

 

Summer:

• Swim laps or take a water-aerobics class. These are both refreshing once the weather gets steamy.

• Walking in the mall is a cool way to beat the heat.

• Now that the grandchildren are out of school for the summer, ask them to teach you their favorite sport or physical activity.

• Celebrate National Bowling Week the first week in August. Get friends and family together and challenge each other to a friendly tournament.

 

Fall:

• If you’ve heard about the benefits of yoga but haven’t tried it yet, National Yoga Awareness Month (September) is a great time to find special events and trial classes for beginners.

• As the weather begins to cool, join an indoor sports league, such as basketball, handball, or bowling.

• Fall provides great opportunities for physical activity. You can take long walks to see the beautiful fall colors. Once the leaves have fallen, raking is good exercise.

• If you have holiday shopping to do, walk the entire mall each time you’re there.

Estate Planning: An Introduction

By Contributor
Senior Planning

Goals, Strategies Can Vary with Each Stage of Life

By UMassFive Financial & Investment Services

 

By definition, estate planning is a process designed to help you manage and preserve your assets while you are alive, and to conserve and control their distribution after your death, according to your goals and objectives. But what estate planning means to you specifically depends on who you are. Your age, health, wealth, lifestyle, life stage, goals, and many other factors determine your particular estate-planning needs.

“Your age, health, wealth, lifestyle, life stage, goals, and many other factors determine your particular estate-planning needs.”

For example, you may have a small estate and may be concerned only that certain people receive particular things. A simple will is probably all you’ll need. Or you may have a large estate, and minimizing any potential estate-tax impact is your foremost goal. Here, you’ll need to use more sophisticated techniques in your estate plan, such as a trust.

To help you understand what estate planning means to you, the following sections address some estate-planning needs that are common among some very broad groups of individuals. Think of these suggestions as simply a point in the right direction, and then seek professional advice to implement the right plan for you.

 

Over 18

Since incapacity can strike anyone at any time, all adults over 18 should consider having:

• A durable power of attorney: This document lets you name someone to manage your property for you in case you become incapacitated and cannot do so; and

• An advance medical directive: The three main types of advance medical directives are a living will, a durable power of attorney for healthcare (also known as a healthcare proxy), and a do-not-resuscitate order. Be aware that not all states allow each kind of medical directive, so make sure you execute one that will be effective for you.

 

Young and Single

If you’re young and single, you may not need much estate planning. But if you have some material possessions, you should at least write a will. If you don’t, the wealth you leave behind if you die will likely go to your parents, and that might not be what you want. A will lets you leave your possessions to anyone you choose (e.g., your significant other, siblings, other relatives, or favorite charity).

 

Unmarried Couples

You’ve committed to a life partner but aren’t legally married. For you, a will is essential if you want your property to pass to your partner at your death. Without a will, state law directs that only your closest relatives will inherit your property, and your partner may get nothing. If you share certain property, such as a house or car, you may consider owning the property as joint tenants with rights of survivorship. That way, when one of you dies, the jointly held property will pass to the surviving partner automatically.

 

Married Couples

For many years, married couples had to do careful estate planning, such as the creation of a credit shelter trust, in order to take advantage of their combined federal estate-tax exclusions. For decedents dying in 2011 and later years, the executor of a deceased spouse’s estate can transfer any unused estate-tax exclusion amount to the surviving spouse without such planning.

You may be inclined to rely on these portability rules for estate-tax avoidance, using outright bequests to your spouse instead of traditional trust planning. However, portability should not be relied upon solely for utilization of the first to die’s estate-tax exclusion, and a credit-shelter trust created at the first spouse’s death may still be advantageous for several reasons:

• Portability may be lost if the surviving spouse remarries and is later widowed again;

• The trust can protect any appreciation of assets from estate tax at the second spouse’s death;

• The trust can provide protection of assets from the reach of the surviving spouse’s creditors; and

• Portability does not apply to the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax, so the trust may be needed to fully leverage the GST exemptions of both spouses.

Married couples where one spouse is not a U.S. citizen have special planning concerns. The marital deduction is not allowed if the recipient spouse is a non-citizen spouse (but a $164,000 annual exclusion for 2022 is allowed). If certain requirements are met, however, a transfer to a qualified domestic trust will qualify for the marital deduction.

 

Married with Children

If you’re married and have children, you and your spouse should each have your own will. For you, wills are vital because you can name a guardian for your minor children in case both of you die simultaneously. If you fail to name a guardian in your will, a court may appoint someone you might not have chosen. Furthermore, without a will, some states dictate that, at your death, some of your property goes to your children and not to your spouse. If minor children inherit directly, the surviving parent will need court permission to manage the money for them.

You may also want to consult an attorney about establishing a trust to manage your children’s assets in the event that both you and your spouse die at the same time.

You may also need life insurance. Your surviving spouse may not be able to support the family on his or her own and may need to replace your earnings to maintain the family.

 

Comfortable and Looking Forward to Retirement

If you’re in your 30s, you may be feeling comfortable. You’ve accumulated some wealth, and you’re thinking about retirement. Here’s where estate planning overlaps with retirement planning. It’s just as important to plan to care for yourself during your retirement as it is to plan to provide for your beneficiaries after your death.

You should keep in mind that, even though Social Security may be around when you retire, those benefits alone may not provide enough income for your retirement years. Consider saving some of your accumulated wealth using other retirement and deferred vehicles, such as an individual retirement account.

 

Wealthy and Worried

Depending on the size of your estate, you may need to be concerned about estate taxes. For 2022, $12,060,000 is effectively excluded from the federal gift and estate tax. Estates over that amount may be subject to the tax at a top rate of 40%.

Similarly, there is another tax, called the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax, that is imposed on transfers of wealth made to grandchildren (and lower generations). For 2022, the GST tax exemption is also $12,060,000, and the top tax rate is 40%.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, signed into law in December 2017, doubled the gift- and estate-tax basic exclusion amount and the GST tax exemption to $11,180,000 in 2018. After 2025, they are scheduled to revert to their pre-2018 levels and cut by about one-half.

Whether your estate will be subject to state death taxes depends on the size of your estate and the tax laws in effect in the state in which you are domiciled.

 

Elderly or Ill

If you’re elderly or ill, you’ll want to write a will or update your existing one, consider a revocable living trust, and make sure you have a durable power of attorney and a healthcare directive. Talk with your family about your wishes, and make sure they have copies of your important papers or know where to locate them.

 

Help with Estate Planning

Looking for guidance for getting started with estate planning, or maybe you just need a second opinion? The CFS fnancial advisors at UMassFive Federal Credit Union are well-versed in this type of planning and can work in conjunction with your estate-planning attorney. Visit [email protected] for more information.

Non-deposit investment products and services are offered through CUSO Financial Services, LP (CFS), a registered broker-dealer (member FINRA/SIPC) and SEC registered investment advisor. Products offered through CFS are not NCUA/NCUSIF or otherwise federally insured, are not guarantees or obligations of the credit union, and may involve investment risk, including possible loss of principal. Investment representatives are registered through CFS. UMassFive has contracted with CFS to make non-deposit investment products and services available to credit-union members. CFS does not provide tax or legal advice. For such guidance, consult your tax or legal professional.

Creating an Estate Plan

By Contributor
Senior Planning

The Process Begins by Understanding the Key Documents

By Stephen Sobey, Esq.

 

In the back of your mind is a list that, particularly in quiet moments, likes to assert itself. It’s the list of the things you know you should do but haven’t. Items may include scheduling an oil change, finding a primary care physician, cleaning out your refrigerator…and creating an estate plan.

Stephen Sobey

Stephen Sobey

“You need to consider who you trust and, among those individuals, who has the right skill set and disposition to serve as personal representative of your estate or as the guardian of your children.”

One day, hopefully soon, you resolve to check off this last, very important item. What do you need to know? Although an estate-planning attorney can guide you through this process, it is to your benefit to have a basic understanding of the core documents that make up an estate plan and have already considered certain key questions.

The documents generally considered to form the core of any estate plan are the last will and testament, durable power of attorney, and healthcare proxy. Depending on your circumstances (e.g., minor children, taxable estate, etc.) or preferences, a fourth document, the revocable trust, may also be part of this core group. A discussion of trusts would require more space than is available in this article, but the questions posed here will still be useful if you and your attorney decide trust planning is appropriate.

 

Last Will and Testament

A will’s primary functions are to direct the distribution of probate property, nominate the personal representative (previously known as the ‘executor’) of your estate, and nominate the guardians and conservators of any minor children who survive you.

First, who do you want to get your probate property when you die? Although seemingly straightforward, this question contains within it a multitude of sub-questions. Do you want to make sure someone gets a particular item? Do you want to leave someone a specific dollar amount, and, if so, how much? Is there someone you want to make absolutely sure gets nothing from your estate? And what happens if everyone you have named in your will predeceases you?

As you consider these questions, keep in mind two critical points: the will ultimately controls only the distribution of probate property, which is not necessarily all the property you may own. Probate property consists only of the assets you owned in your name alone at your death. Assets with beneficiary designations, such as life-insurance policies and IRAs; jointly owned assets, such as some bank accounts; and assets in trust are all examples of non-probate property. In creating an estate plan, then, just as important as the question of what you own is the question of how you own it.

Finally, you need to consider who you trust and, among those individuals, who has the right skill set and disposition to serve as personal representative of your estate or as the guardian of your children. The best way to think about these roles, and about any of the other roles discussed here, is as jobs with their own particular job descriptions. In this way, deciding on the right person should be more than a matter of simply naming, for example, your eldest child; rather, give some thought to each person’s proverbial resumé.

 

Durable Power of Attorney

The purpose of the durable power of attorney is to designate someone to manage your financial affairs during your life. The person you appoint is variously referred to as your ‘agent’ or ‘attorney-in-fact.’

When your agent may act for you will depend on how the document is drafted. In some durable powers of attorney, the agent’s authority is immediate. In so-called ‘springing’ durable powers of attorney, the agent’s authority commences only upon the determination of a physician that you lack the capacity to manage your own affairs. Each of these approaches has its own pluses and minuses, which your attorney can explain.

 

Healthcare Proxy

In a healthcare proxy, you designate an individual to serve as your ‘healthcare agent.’ Their role is to make medical decisions on your behalf in the event you are unable to communicate your wishes. However, the healthcare agent’s authority is effective only upon a physician’s determination that you are incapacitated.

Healthcare proxies are often conflated with what are commonly known as living wills. A living will is a document in which you set your preferences regarding, among other things, end-of-life care. Living wills, unlike healthcare proxies, are not legally binding in Massachusetts; however, this document can provide a helpful framework for your healthcare agent in making medical decisions on your behalf.

This is a general overview of what is ultimately an intensely detail-oriented subject. But, armed with this little bit of knowledge, you have the beginnings of what you need to create your estate plan. The next step, naturally, is to contact an attorney.

 

Stephen Sobey is an associate with Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin.

Decisions, Decisions

By Contributor
Senior Planning

How to Choose a Medicare or Medicare Advantage Plan

By Sarah Fernandes

 

In Massachusetts, more than 1.4 million people who are 65 or older will be making decisions about their 2024 Medicare and Medicare Advantage coverage during the Medicare Annual Enrollment Period (open enrollment) from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7. Before choosing their plans, Medicare beneficiaries should consider a few things.

Sarah Fernandes

Sarah Fernandes

“By focusing on prevention, any potential health issues can be identified early, and you can work to maintain optimal health and prioritize your well-being.”

Is All Medicare Coverage the Same?

While Original Medicare (Parts A and B), the plan provided by the federal government, covers hospitalizations and most doctors’ services, coverage for other services like outpatient care, medical supplies, and preventive health care (Parts C and D) can vary widely. Part C, otherwise known as Medicare Advantage, and Part D (prescription drug coverage) are offered through private insurers, such as Health New England and others.

 

What is Medicare Advantage (Part C)?

Medicare Advantage (Part C) plans cover everything Original Medicare (Parts A and B) would cover, but offer additional benefits and services beyond Original Medicare. These added benefits can include prescription-drug coverage, vision care, dental services, hearing aids, wellness programs, and more. Medicare Advantage plans provide greater opportunities for beneficiaries to engage in preventive services, such as regular checkups, screenings, vaccinations, and health education.

By focusing on prevention, any potential health issues can be identified early, and you can work to maintain optimal health and prioritize your well-being. If you do have a chronic condition, a coordinated approach from your Medicare Advantage plan and your providers ensures that you receive the necessary support, education, and interventions to manage your condition effectively, leading to improved quality of life and health outcomes.

 

How Do I Decide?

To decide what plan is right for you, be sure to review the features of the plan. For instance:

• Make a list of your preferred healthcare providers and see if they are considered in-network or out-of-network for each plan you are considering. Some plans do not cover out-of-network services at all, while some cover them partially.

• Similarly, make a list of your medications and see if they will be covered and how much, if anything, you will need to pay out-of-pocket (your co-pay).

• If you travel or spend time in other areas of the country, check if the plan allows you to use any Medicare-accepting doctor anywhere in the U.S.

• See if the plan covers dental, vision care, hearing services, and prescription drugs.

• Ask if the plan offers additional healthy benefits such as gym memberships, coverage for acupuncture, activity trackers, and weight-management programs.

How Do I Learn More?

Health New England’s Medicare Advantage plans are a popular option for people aged 65 and older who are looking to tailor their healthcare coverage to their personal needs. As part of Baystate Health, Health New England has many high-quality providers in our network across Western Mass., and we have plans that cover you anywhere you travel in the U.S.

To learn more about choosing the right Medicare or Medicare Advantage plan, you can attend Health New England’s live information sessions, which you can find and register for at healthnewengland.org/medicare/sessions.

For more information about Health New England, visit healthnewengland.org/medicare or call (877) 443-3314 (TTY: 711). SHINE, Massachusetts’ free Medicare advice service, is available online at mass.gov/health-insurance-counseling or by calling (800) 243-4636. For more information about Medicare, visit medicare.gov.

 

Sarah Fernandes is the Medicare sales manager at Health New England and been with Health New England for more than 23 years. She and her team educate Medicare beneficiaries in Western Mass. on their Medicare options.

 

Preparing a Will

By Contributor
Senior Planning

It Can Be a Dreaded Task, but It’s an Important One

By Mary Paier Powers, Esq.

 

Completing a will is often a dreaded task to undertake — partly because we don’t want to face our own mortality, and partly because we don’t know where to begin.

A will is an important document that ensures property you own in your own name passes to the beneficiaries of your own choosing, and it can be changed as necessary. Your will gets filed at probate court when you pass away owning assets in your own name. Assets that have a beneficiary listed or assets that you own jointly are not controlled by your will.

Mary Paier Powers

Mary Paier Powers

“A will is an important document that ensures property you own in your own name passes to the beneficiaries of your own choosing, and it can be changed as necessary.”

As you are about to embark on this process, here are some thoughts to consider.

• Who are your beneficiaries? Family, children, friends, charities, or a combination of all? You can construct your will to leave your estate to the beneficiaries of your choosing.

• How old is a beneficiary, and does that beneficiary have the ability to manage the money or inheritance? Can they be in control if they receive a lump sum of money?

• Will you need a trust as part of your will? A trust provides for the management and distribution of assets for a beneficiary in a manner that is best for the beneficiary.

• What if a beneficiary passes away before you? Does that beneficiary’s share pass to their children? Or does it go only to your surviving beneficiaries?

• Some people plan for the future when they prepare their wills and try to accommodate various situations. It is OK and often recommended to update your will as your family and beneficiaries change. There is always uncertainty with what the future holds.

• If you do want to make minor changes later, you can do that with a codicil. This is an amendment to your will that changes the specific paragraphs that need to be adjusted, or, if there are a lot of changes, you would redo your entire will.

• If you opt to leave money to a charity, I encourage you to look at the organization’s website. You can opt to leave your money to a general fund and allow the charity to use the funds as the charity chooses, or you can specify your preferences for the use of your bequest.

• Another consideration is whom you should name as your personal representative, formerly known as an executor. This is an important responsibility since this person will gather your assets and distribute them as you direct. The personal representative will be responsible for making sure that the estate-tax return and income-tax return are completed if required, as well as making sure final personal income-tax returns are done.

• You should think of a second person to serve as a backup if the first named person/party cannot carry out these responsibilities.

• If you have minor children, you will want to think about who their guardian and/or conservator will be. Generally, the spouse or the child’s surviving parent will be listed, but you can also name alternate agents to serve in this capacity.

• You can also prepare a memorandum that will list various personal property items. Your personal representative will follow this list as a guideline. A memorandum can be completed by you individually, but you need to keep it with your will so the personal representative has access to it. This memorandum is a great mechanism to distribute personal items as well as sentimental items to beneficiaries of your choice — and if you change your mind, you can write a new memorandum.

This list is meant to be a starting point, and everyone’s situation is different. The most important step is to prepare a will; otherwise, the Commonwealth will dictate who will receive your assets at your death.

 

Mary Paier Powers is a partner at Powers Law Group in Springfield and West Springfield, where her practices focus primarily on estate settlement, estate planning, and elder law.

A Task Better Left to a Professional

By Contributor
Senior Planning

Being in Charge of an Estate Can Be Unsettling

By Janice Ward, Esq., CFP

 

It is a fact: estate administration is complicated and time-consuming. Money can, and often does, complicate relationships. Money can make people do things they wouldn’t ordinarily do. Money can breed distrust — and worse.

These are just some of many reasons why those with estates, especially large estates or those with complex assets, should think carefully about who they choose to be their personal representative (formerly known as an executor or executrix) to administer their estate after they pass. Because settling an estate can be an unsettling experience and can potentially damage and destroy personal family relationships, you might consider an alternative to a family member.

Janice Ward

Janice Ward

“Overall, the person you choose as your personal representative will be responsible for a daunting list of tasks.”

Overall, the person you choose as your personal representative will be responsible for a daunting list of tasks. For a grieving family member, this could represent an unintended burden that requires a wide range of expertise and significant time commitment during this very difficult life transition. And if this isn’t enough, they may have to contend with pressure from — and disputes with — beneficiaries who are usually other family members. The resulting tug of war can lead to lengthy delays, sometimes lasting years, and often resulting in strained relationships and sometimes irreconcilable, heartbreaking splits among surviving family members.

An increasingly popular alternative is to choose a third-party professional, such as the Estate Settlement team within Greenfield Savings Bank Wealth Management and Trust Services. Such professionals can take away the burden and worries of estate settlement and ensure that one’s estate is managed efficiently and according to their wishes, without overburdening one specific family member. Alternatively, a professional personal representative can serve jointly alongside a family member. Such professionals can handle a wide array of responsibilities, including:

• Entering the will into probate and handling other legal requirements;

• Gathering all personal property and arranging for support of the family;

• Clearing out the decedent’s home and preparing for distribution or sale;

• Obtaining appraisals of required property for tax purposes;

• Reviewing real-estate records to assure timely payment of taxes and collection of rents;

• Evaluating contracts and leases, giving necessary notices, and complying with all requirements;

• Investigating all claims against the estate and handling them accordingly;

• Collecting all life insurance, rents, and other amounts due;

• Preparing and filing your final personal income-tax return, as well as any estate/inheritance tax returns that may be required either on a state or federal level;

• Paying related estate and inheritance taxes;

• Preparing a final accounting of the estate for the remainder beneficiaries; and

• Distributing the estate as directed by the will.

This partial list of responsibilities reveals just how complicated and time-consuming the settling of an estate can be. Individuals should keep this in mind when they are choosing a personal representative.

While choosing a family member may seem like a logical step, and some family members may actually volunteer for the assignment, most individuals are not fully qualified to handle such duties, and even if they are, they would often be placed in a difficult situation where relationships can become strained and matters can be delayed. There is often a perception of unfairness if one family member is making all the decisions that affect the personal finances and tax consequences of each beneficiary. For example, is this individual liquidating all the assets — which might cause significant capital gains to family members who pay high tax rates — and are those decisions equally fair and appropriate for all affected parties?

A professional personal representative will not only know the requirements of estate administration from a tax perspective, but will also understand the consequences of every decision they make as they assemble and then distribute each important piece of the puzzle. Choosing such a professional shouldn’t be considered disrespectful to family members. It should be looked upon as a common-sense alternative, one that can alleviate potential problems and eliminate the stress on familial relationships that often arises when money is at stake and an estate needs to be settled.

 

Janice Ward is an attorney, certified financial planner, and first vice president and trust officer at Greenfield Savings Bank.

Roadblocks to Equality

By Contributor
Senior Planning

LGBTQ+ Elders Face Unique Planning Challenges

 

By Julie A. Dialessi-Lafley, Esq.

 

You have heard it and read it over and over again: everyone, regardless of their level of wealth, should have an estate plan. However, for LGBTQ+ elders, it may be even more critical to have an estate plan in place due to the challenges faced by many in the community.

Despite the fact that same-sex marriages are legally recognized in all 50 states, only 54% of same-sex couples are married. Not only are there still challenges for married same-sex couples, the high percentage of non-married couples also necessitates planning. While the government can create a law recognizing these marriages, there are organizations, businesses, and people who do not acknowledge these couples. The result is challenges for couples who simply want equality, as well as to provide and plan for their loved ones and chosen family.

Julie A. Dialessi-Lafley

Julie A. Dialessi-Lafley

“Making sure planning is in place to provide for the needs of the surviving spouse, partner, and other family and friends is crucial, as the laws in the absence of planning may not provide for those loved ones as you would want.”

Planning for retirement is both a financial goal as well as a lifestyle decision for LGBTQ+ elders. Making sure planning is in place to provide for the needs of the surviving spouse, partner, and other family and friends is crucial, as the laws in the absence of planning may not provide for those loved ones as you would want.

Additionally, social isolation can really creep up and become a serious problem to overcome. The question of where to retire has become overwhelming, as relocation brings with it a need to find an area that provides for the social inclusion for these elders as well as financial stability, reasonable cost of living, and lifestyle needs.

Within the U.S., about 80% of long-term care for older people is provided by family members, such as spouses, children, and other relatives. LGBTQ+ elders are only half as likely as their heterosexual counterparts to have close family to lean on or children to help. Simply put, folks who are part of the LGBTQ+ community are less likely to be married, they may have children where only one partner is the biological parent, and there is a high incidence of alienation from non-accepting family members.

Planning how long-term-care medical needs will be paid and who will act as the healthcare proxy/advocate for the LGBTQ+ elder is crucial, as many LGBTQ+ elders need to make sure they have an appropriate person to assist in making decisions about their care, as well as being concerned about harassment and hostility in facilities that serve the aging population. These folks often do not access aging services out of fear of hostile and harassing treatment. Few facilities are prepared to address insensitivity or discrimination aimed at LGBTQ+ elders by staff or other older people. Proper planning and memorializing those wishes in an estate plan can allow the elder person to age with the dignity and respect they deserve.

For non-married partners, planning is extremely important because, under the law, a partner is not going to have the standard rights to healthcare information and the ability to make healthcare decisions on behalf of their partner. A partner will not be able to access bank accounts if they are not in joint names and they are not able to make any and all decisions on behalf of their partner. Unmarried partners are not entitled to any inheritance in the absence of a will, trust, or proper planning.

Regardless of marital status, end-of-life decisions, the question of cremation versus burial, and any memorial arrangements should be documented to make sure your wishes are carried out as, again, both non-married and married partners may face significant challenges in carrying out your wishes in the absence of documentation.

In LGBTQ+ couples with children, only one parent might be the biological parent, or neither might be. They might have used an egg or sperm donor to conceive, or a surrogate to carry the child. There are varying rules across states about parental rights, but from a legal perspective, the biological parent is the one with the legal rights, barring any other court documentation. Even a birth certificate with both parents’ names on it may not be enough.

A last will and testament lays out who your assets should go to after you die. It also allows you to name a guardian for your minor children. It can help your family avoid disputes that might arise if there is not a plan in place or if it is not clearly stated. Additionally, trusts can be used to plan where assets go after you die and also avoid probate of your estate. This can be a cost-effective way to reduce conflict in the future and avoid claims against the elder’s estate from family who have been intentionally omitted from the planning.

As a result of what the community describes as continued discrimination and lack of inclusion, elders need to ensure that they have in place, at minimum, the appropriate documents, such as durable power of attorney, healthcare proxy; will, trusts (if warranted), and end-of-life directives in order to ensure their wishes can be carried out and their needs will be met in the event of an illness or death.

Estate planning can help to navigate through an increasingly complex legal system, and proper planning can protect your loved ones when they will need it most.

 

Julie Dialessi-Lafley is a shareholder with Bacon Wilson whose practice areas include estate planning and elder law, domestic relations and family law, and business and corporate law; (413) 781-0560; [email protected]

A Gentle Reminder

By Contributor
Senior Planning

Don’t Lose Yourself in Caring for Others

By Mary-Anne Schelb

 

Seasons.

And I don’t mean winter, spring, summer, or fall. I am referring to the seasons of life. Seasons of friendship, seasons of career, seasons of family. You get it.

We all know the saying: friends come into and out of our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. Really, the same thing happens in all we do. Getting married, you become someone’s wife or husband or partner. You have children, and you are mom or dad. You get a career, and you are someone’s employee or boss. Even C-suite employees report to someone. If you are a business owner, you may have a board of directors you are in step with — or you are answering to your customers or clients. Some of these will be for a reason, for a season, or maybe a lifetime.

Mary-Anne Schelb

Mary-Anne Schelb

“If you give too much of yourself away, there will be nothing left for you, and that is why, when you step into your final season — retirement — it’s easy to feel sad or lost.”

When you are all of these things to everyone, all the time — wife, mom, employee, business owner — are you losing the core of who you are? Are you getting lost in the hustle and bustle? We all know that, as the years pass, the hustle and bustle gets more hustley and bustley.

Don’t get lost. Don’t lose your identity of who you are at your core. Remember what you need — to feel whole, to feel alive. If you give too much of yourself away, there will be nothing left for you, and that is why, when you step into your final season — retirement — it’s easy to feel sad or lost.

As the years go by, you see many college graduations with children becoming adults and going out on their own. Empty-nest syndrome is a real thing, and it is OK to feel sad, but (you knew there would be a but) do not lose yourself in this sadness. Try to replace the sadness with excitement that your kids are going forth into the world with all you have taught them, all you have shown them. Our job is to guide them and encourage them to become successful and contributing members of society. Let them live. Let them experience. And I dare you to do the same.

What were things in your world you used to love to do that got pushed to the side or put on a back burner while you cared for your children, or while you worked countless hours at a job you may or may not have even liked. Hobbies you used to love? Friends you used to see? Live your life. Become the person you have always wanted to become — or reignite the passion for yourself you used to have. I always share with clients: it is never too late.

Whether you are still mom and dad — or now maybe caring for your own mom and dad — or you are finding you are identifying too much with a job, take a deep breath, close your eyes, and picture the perfect you. Connect with your higher self (that perfect version of yourself) and move toward that. One small step at a time still moves you forward.

Don’t get lost in someone else’s dream; make sure you are living your own. And if you are? Kudos to you! We are very few and far between. So I ask this of you: reach out to a friend who may be in need. Give them a hug, spend some time, lend an ear. Talk to them about the wonderful person you know they are, and remind them not to get lost.

We are all in this together.

 

Mary-Anne Schelb is director of Business Development at JGS Lifecare.

Reading the Signs

By Contributor
Senior Planning

Six Indications It Might Be Time for Memory Care

By Arbors Assisted Living

 

Memory care is a special kind of long-term care designed to meet the specific needs of people with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia or types of memory problems. Often housed within an assisted-living community, a memory-care program offers a more structured environment that comes with set schedules and routines to create a stress-free lifestyle, safety features to ensure the health of the residents, and programs designed to cultivate cognitive skills.

Five Symptoms of Dementia to Look Out For

1. Memory loss that disrupts daily life.

One of the most common signs of dementia involves trouble with short-term memory. From forgetting recently learned information to asking for the same information over and over, your aging loved one may be able to remember events that took place years ago, but not what they had for breakfast.

2. Difficulty handling complex tasks.

You might notice a subtle shift in your loved one’s ability to complete normal tasks, such as driving to a familiar location, managing a budget at work, or remembering the rules of a favorite game — or when they start having difficulty handling more complex tasks, such as balancing a checkbook.

3. New problems with words in speaking or writing.

Maybe your mom has always been a stellar conversationalist, and you notice that now she may have trouble following or joining a conversation. Or perhaps your dad struggles to find the right word or calls things by the wrong name.

4. Apathy and withdrawal or depression.

Changes in mood can be an indication that your loved one has dementia. Perhaps they avoid being social because of the changes in their brain. They may also have trouble keeping up with a favorite sports team or remembering how to complete a favorite hobby, so they may start to withdraw from things they previously enjoyed.

5. Increasing confusion and disorientation.

Someone in the early stages of dementia may often lose track of dates, seasons, and the passage of time. Confusion may arise as they can no longer remember faces, find the right words, or interact with people normally.

When to see a doctor:

If your aging loved one exhibits several of these signs, consult a doctor. A general practitioner will typically refer you to a neurologist who can examine your loved one’s physical and mental health to determine whether the symptoms result from dementia or another cognitive problem.

One of the goals of a memory-care community is to keep seniors with dementia engaged and active in a safe, home-like environment and to promote the highest quality of life by adapting the staff, environment, and daily routine to the needs of each individual.

Because of this, there is no downside to placing a loved one in a memory-care community too soon. However, there are many drawbacks to waiting too long.

So, how do you know when it’s the right time to consider moving your loved one to a specialized memory care community? The following questions may be helpful when determining if a move to memory care is a good option.

 

1. Is My Loved One Becoming Unsafe in Their Current Home?

As dementia progresses, your loved one will have a harder time functioning independently. Maybe you used to be able to help your mom by writing out a daily to-do list and a schedule of when she should take her medications. But now, she needs reminders to shower and help choosing appropriate clothes for the season.

Bathing, toileting, dressing, and other activities of daily living all come with risks. Safety should always be considered, and if there are any tasks that your loved one cannot perform safely on their own, assistance should be provided.

How often each day you worry about her, check on her, or make a call regarding her safety or whereabouts? If your loved one has fallen, had a driving accident, or suffered an unexplained injury, these are safety signs it’s time to consider moving your loved one to a memory-care community.

 

2. Is the Health of My Loved One or My Health as a Caregiver at Risk?

Dementia will affect your loved one’s ability to remember to take prescribed medications at the right time or the right dosage, which can lead to serious health problems. For example, chronic health conditions such as COPD and heart disease may worsen rapidly if dementia interferes with your loved one’s ability to manage their treatment. You might also notice that your loved one starts to look different. Maybe your dad is losing weight because he forgets to eat or gaining weight because he forgets he’s eaten and eats again.

When you look in a mirror, you might notice that you are starting to look different, too. Caring for someone with dementia is mentally draining and physically exhausting. If the stress of caregiving is left unchecked, it can have an impact on your health, relationships, and state of mind, eventually leading to burnout.

Is dementia preventing your loved one from taking care of their health? Are you and your other family members exhausted? It’s important to be honest with yourself about your emotional and physical limits while caregiving. Sometimes placement in a memory-care community is best for both the caregiver and the loved one’s overall health and well-being.

 

3. Are My Loved One’s Care Needs Beyond My Physical Capabilities?

In the later stages of dementia, your loved one may require assistance getting in and out of bed and moving from the bed to a chair. Additionally, dementia physically damages the brain, which can affect your loved one’s personality and behavior.

Wandering, agitation, repetitive speech or actions, paranoia, and sleeplessness may pose many challenges for families and caregivers. However, it’s important to remember that these behaviors are often coping tactics for a person with deteriorating brain function.

Is your petite, 70-year-old mom trying to get your 180-pound dad to the bathroom two or three times each night? Is your dad’s aggression triggered by something — physical discomfort, being in an unfamiliar situation, poor communication — on a regular basis? If continuing to care for your loved one at home puts both of you in danger, that’s a telltale sign that it’s time for memory care.

 

4. Am I Becoming a Stressed, Irritable, and Impatient Caregiver?

Stress arousal is the first sign that you’re not getting the physical and emotional support you need as a caregiver. Maybe you’re frustrated or disappointed over your loved one’s deteriorating condition or lack of progress. It can be hard to accept that the quality of your care and effort have nothing to do with the actual health-related decline or mood of the care recipient. This frustration can lead to caregiver stress.

If you are so overwhelmed by taking care of someone else that you have neglected your own physical, mental, and emotional well-being, it will not be long before you are experiencing caregiver burnout. When you are burned out, it is tough to do anything, let alone look after someone else.

 

5. Am I Neglecting Work Responsibilities, My Family, and Myself?

You might be struggling to maintain a sense of purpose in working so hard to provide care, which leads to neglecting responsibilities, withdrawing socially from friends and family, and having much less energy than you once had.

Family caregivers often have to take time off, either paid or unpaid, while some have to reduce their work hours. Others leave the workforce entirely in order to provide full-time care for a loved one. Additionally, caregivers don’t have as much time to take care of themselves, and they can often feel cut off from the outside world. Social isolation leads to higher levels of both caregiver stress and depression.

“There is no downside to placing a loved one in a memory-care community too soon. However, there are many drawbacks to waiting too long.”

Are you feeling irritable or hopeless, struggling with emotional and physical exhaustion, or getting sick more often? Do you have heightened anxiety or trouble making care decisions? If your loved one’s need for care is wearing you out, it may be time to start considering your memory-care options.

 

6. Would the Structure and Social Interaction at a Memory-care Community Benefit My Loved One?

Somewhere in the middle and late stages of dementia, your loved one will no longer be able to drive, and communication with others will become increasingly difficult. Your loved one may lose track of their thoughts, be unable to follow conversations, and/or have trouble understanding what others are trying to communicate.

Maybe it’s become too challenging to take your mom out to eat, shop, or exercise because her behavior is unpredictable. Or perhaps your dad can no longer drive, so he rarely goes out and is restless and lonely.

Is dementia shrinking your loved one’s world? Memory-care programs are equipped to provide activities and stimulation — including trips and outings — that can keep your loved one engaged and active in a safe, homelike environment.

If you answered yes to any of these questions or if you have reached a point where you feel like you cannot fully meet the needs of a loved one struggling with memory impairment, it is time to start visiting memory-care communities, which offer specialized environments where your loved one can not only live, but even thrive. Plus, knowing that your loved one has trained, 24-hour care can help relieve the caregiving burden and give your family peace of mind.

Four Steps to Emotional Wellness

By Contributor
Senior Planning

Caregivers Must Understand the Importance of Self-care

By A Place for Mom

Being a caregiver for a parent or senior loved one can be a full-time job, leaving little opportunity for anything else, including your own self-care. However, self-care is essential, benefitings not only you, but the loved one you are caring for as well.

Many people who find themselves in the role of caregiver experience feelings of guilt for wanting (and needing) time for themselves; however, the necessity for self-care is sometimes compared with that of applying your own oxygen mask on an airplane before assisting anyone else. Only when we first help ourselves can we effectively help others.

Self-care is an essential and necessary part of the process of providing care that benefits not only you but the person you are caring for as well. After all, you cannot pour from an empty cup.

While providing care can be very rewarding and satisfying, it can also be exhausting, with many caregivers reporting personal health issues including depression; excessive use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs; failure to exercise; failure to stay in bed when ill; poor eating habits; postponement of (or failure to make) medical appointments; and sleep deprivation.

“Self-care is an essential and necessary part of the process of providing care that benefits not only you but the person you are caring for as well. After all, you cannot pour from an empty cup.”

To combat these possible issues and live your best life possible while providing care for a loved one, consider adopting the following restorative practices for a healthy body, mind, and soul:

 

Eat a Healthy Diet

A healthy diet is important, not just for your physical health, but your emotional health as well. In the short term, enjoying a diet of nutritious and well-balanced meals can help to increase energy and reduce sluggishness, while in the long-term, eating well can reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease.

 

Get Enough Sleep

Sleep deprivation can wreak havoc on your mental health and cause a ripple effect of negative emotions and thoughts. Your body needs seven to eight hours of restorative sleep each night for optimal health. Try implementing a predictable and regular bedtime routine to coax your body into a relaxing slumber, including limiting mobile devices or tablets two hours before bed; sleeping in a cool, dark room; and wearing comfortable pajamas.

 

Get Regular Exercise

Exercise promotes better sleep, reduces depression and tension, and increases alertness and energy. Although finding the motivation and time to exercise, especially in the beginning, may be a struggle, small steps will add up. Try walking for 20 minutes a day, three days a week to experience the full benefits of exercise.

 

Make Time for Hobbies

Taking a break from caregiving to reinvest in activities and hobbies you enjoy will help to reinvigorate you and remind you of who you are, outside of being a caregiver. Accepting help from family, friends, and professionals to reinvest in yourself may be difficult, but the reward of getting reacquainted with yourself and rediscovering what brings you happiness and peace will allow you to be the best caregiver you can be.

It’s Not About Dying

By Contributor
Senior Planning

How Hospice Care Supports the End-of life Journey

 

By Maria Rivera

 

Hospice care focuses on the quality of one’s life as they embark on the end-of-life journey. It is not about dying. Instead, hospice affirms life, neither hastening nor postponing death.

The goal of hospice care is to provide patients with comfort and symptom management to help them find peace and meaning in the final months or weeks of their lives. At Hospice of the Fisher Home, we focus on quality of life, and this guides everything we do to support patients and their families.

Managing terminal illness can feel overwhelming. A hospice care team provides support to patients and their families through a delicate and challenging time using a comprehensive care model.

Maria Rivera

Maria Rivera

“Hospice helps people to live the best life they possibly can up until their very last day.”

The hospice team forms a safety net for the patient and the family. The medical director, nurses, and CNAs are experts in comfort care. They manage pain and symptoms so that patients can live as fully and comfortably as possible.

Spiritual and bereavement counselors meet with patients and their loved ones to guide them through the emotional and social challenges that often arise at the end of life. Social workers assist with social and emotional issues. Volunteers offer support in various ways, including massage, harp, and other live music, as well as therapy dogs, Reiki, acupuncture, meditation, reading books, and sitting vigil. Each member of the team has specialized hospice training and a deep dedication to helping patients and their families experience peace, comfort, and happiness.

Hospice helps people to live the best life they possibly can up until their very last day. For some people, that may mean feeling good enough to float in the pool at the local YMCA, spend a few hours fishing with a friend, or have their favorite dish for dinner and a big helping of dessert.

Educating people about the benefits of early hospice admission is important. Because hospice care focuses on the well-being of the whole patient — physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual — earlier admission to hospice means the patient can experience more quality time with loved ones. There is also a greater opportunity to contemplate what matters most in life when the patient is comfortable and experiences less stress and anxiety during their final months.

When caregivers and providers are aware of the benefits of hospice, they can facilitate early admission. It’s important to plan for these difficult decisions, put preferences in writing, and have conversations about the care you want for the end of life.

 

Maria Rivera, BSN, RN, is executive director of Hospice of the Fisher Home in Amherst, the only independent, nonprofit hospice in Western Mass., providing end-of-life care at a nine-bed residence in Amherst and visiting private residences, assisted-living facilities, and retirement communities throughout Hampshire, Franklin, and Hampden counties. It also provides hospice care to veterans at the Veterans’ Home in Holyoke.

Senior Resources

By
Senior Planning

These regional and statewide nonprofits can help families make decisions and access resources related to elder-care planning.

 

AARP Massachusetts

1 Beacon St., #2301, Boston, MA 02108

(866) 448-3621; www.states.aarp.org/region/massachusetts

Administrator: Mike Festa

Services: AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, social-welfare organization with a membership of nearly 38 million that advocates for the issues that matter to families, such as healthcare, employment and income security, and protection from financial abuse

 

The Conversation Project and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement

53 State St., 19th Floor, Boston, MA 02109

(617) 301-4800;
www.theconversationproject.org

Administrator: Kate DeBartolo

Services: The Conversation Project is dedicated to helping people talk about their wishes for end-of-life care; its team includes five seasoned law, journalism, and media professionals who are working pro bono alongside professional staff from the Instititute for Healthcare Improvement

 

Elder Services of Berkshire County Inc.

877 South St., Suite 4E, Pittsfield, MA 01201

(413) 499-0524; www.esbci.org

Administrator: Christopher McLaughlin

Services: Identifies and addresses priority needs of Berkshire County seniors; services include information and referral, care management, respite care, homemaker and home health assistance, healthy-aging programs, and MassHealth nursing home pre-screening; agency also offers housing options, adult family care, group adult foster care, long-term-care ombudsman, and money management, and oversees the Senior Community Service Aide Employment Program

 

Estate Planning Council of Hampden County

www.estateplan-hc.org

Administrator: Susan McCoy

Services: Provides a forum for current, accurate, and authoritative information with regard to estate and financial planning; council members are life-insurance professionals, bankers, fiduciaries, lawyers, accountants, planned-giving professionals, and other financial-service providers engaged in the planning, settlement, and management of estates

 

Greater Springfield Senior Services Inc.

66 Industry Ave., Suite 9, Springfield, MA 01104

(413) 781-8800; www.gsssi.org

Administrator: Jill Keough

Services: Private, nonprofit organization dedicated to maintaining quality of life for older adults, caregivers, and people with disabilities, through programs and services that foster independence, dignity, safety, and peace of mind; services include case management, home care, home-delivered meals, senior community dining, money management, congregate housing, and adult day care

 

Highland Valley Elder Services

320 Riverside Dr., Florence, MA 01062

(413) 586-2000; www.highlandvalley.org

Administrator: Allan Ouimet

Services: Services include care management, information/referral services, family caregiver program, personal emergency-response service, protective services, home-health services, chore services, nursing-home ombudsman services, adult day programs, elder-care advice, bill-payer services, options counseling, respite services, representative payee services, local dining centers, personal-care and homemaker services, and home-delivered meals

 

LifePath

101 Munson St., Suite 201,
Greenfield, MA 01301

(413) 773-5555; www.lifepathma.org

Administrator: Barbara Bodzin

Services: LifePath, formerly Franklin County Home Care Corp., an area agency on aging, is a private, nonprofit corporation that develops, provides, and coordinates a range of services to support the independent living of elders and people with disabilities with a goal of independence; it also supports caregivers, including grandparents raising grandchildren

 

Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs

1 Ashburton Place, Unit 517, Boston, MA 02108

(617) 727-7750; www.mass.gov/elders

Administrator: Elizabeth Chen

Services: Connects seniors and families with a range of services, including senior centers, councils on aging, nutrition programs such as Meals on Wheels, exercise, health coaching, and more; supports older adults who may be somewhat frail through programs in nursing homes, such as the ombudsman program, volunteers who visit residents, and quality-improvement initiatives in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities; caregiver programs offer support to people with mild Alzheimer’s disease or those caring for someone with more advanced Alzheimer’s

 

Massachusetts Senior Legal Helpline

99 Chauncy St., Unit 400, Boston, MA 02111

(800) 342-5297; www.vlpnet.org

Administrator: Joanna Allison

Services: The Helpline is a project of the Volunteer Lawyers Project of Boston that provides free legal information and referral services to Massachusetts residents age 60 and older; the Helpline is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to noon

 

MassOptions

(844) 422-6277; www.massoptions.org

Administrator: Marylou Sudders

Services: A service of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services, MassOptions connects elders, individuals with disabilities, and their caregivers with agencies and organizations that can best meet their needs; staff can also assist with determining eligibility for and applying to MassHealth

 

VA Central and Western Massachusetts Healthcare System

421 North Main St., Leeds, MA 01053

(413) 584-4040;
www.centralwesternmass.va.gov

Administrator: Suzanne Krafft

Services: Provides primary, specialty, and mental-health care, including psychiatric, substance-abuse, and PTSD services, to a veteran population in Central and Western Massachusetts of more than 120,000 men and women

 

WestMass ElderCare Inc.

4 Valley Mill Road, Holyoke, MA 01040

(413) 538-9020; www.wmeldercare.org

Administrator: Roseann Martoccia

Services: Provides an array of in-home and community services to support independent living; interdisciplinary team approach to person-centered care; information, referrals, and options counseling as well as volunteer opportunities available; primary service area includes Holyoke, Chicopee, Granby, South Hadley, Belchertown, Ludlow, and Ware, as well as other surrounding communities

 

American International College Aims to Stem Region’s Talent Drain

By
AIC
Features

Local Connections

 

Editor’s note: This article is the first installment of a new, monthly series on professional-development efforts at area colleges and universities. It’s as broad a topic as it sounds, and the higher-education community has certainly developed myriad strategies to help businesses find talent while helping area professionals access career ladders to advancement — and will share, during this series, the many ways they’re doing just that. Our first visit is to American International College in Springfield.

Hubert Benitez

Hubert Benitez says it’s critical that colleges understand what businesses need in terms of worker skills and competencies.

At a time when employers in most sectors are struggling to attract and retain a workforce, leveraging the impact of the region’s colleges and universities is more important than ever.

That’s part of what Hubert Benitez, president of American International College (AIC), conveyed during an address to a recent Rise and Shine Business Breakfast sponsored by the Springfield Regional Chamber.

He highlighted that AIC graduates, coming from diverse backgrounds and primarily from the local area, make significant contributions to the economic development of the region — and that retaining talent within the community is key to enriching the social fabric of Greater Springfield and the surrounding region.

“Let’s explore how we can come together and join forces to serve the best interests of Springfield and Western Mass.,” he said. “That is the focus of our work at AIC.”

The intriguing part is how the college intends to boost workforce development and the regional economy — and it involves robust connections and communication with area businesses, in a number of sectors, to determine what they need, and what higher-education leaders can do to meet those needs.

“It’s critically important,” Benitez told BusinessWest shortly after that event. “Workforce development is one of the major focus areas of our education.”

Take, for instance, healthcare, one of this region’s key economic drivers — and, in particular, the persistent need for talented nurses.

“What we need is the employers to truly look at the academic institutions as their partners in this, because we need to be sitting at the table to hear what their needs are specifically.”

“There is no state that is not hurting for a nursing workforce,” Benitez said. “So our approach has been, let’s work together with the major industries in the region; how can we help provide that workforce? And it has to be a joint effort.”

That’s because students who study at area colleges must have a reason to stay here after they graduate. When they leave, he noted, AIC has done its job providing them with an education, but it has not fulfilled its mission to meet the workforce needs of Western Mass. or the Commonwealth at large.

“So we have to create an environment where the student understands that, if they pursue their nursing degree at AIC, they have a clear transition plan to the workforce at one of the major hospitals or hospital systems in the region.”

To that end, AIC has worked closely with Baystate Medical Center and the Trinity Health system to create models to fulfill their specific workforce needs. Benitez and his chief of staff have participated in strategic-planning sessions for workforce development at Baystate, and have also spoken with the leadership of Mercy Medical Center about creating a model to draw more advanced-practice providers to the hospital and the Trinity system.

“We heard firsthand, ‘we need more of this, more of this, and more of this,’” he said. “We have to be working together. If I don’t know — if the academic institution does not know — what they need, and what are the skillsets they’re looking for, there is no way the academic institution is going to be able to fulfill those needs.”

Not only does a college need to understand the needs of industries into which its graduates will enter, he explained, but it must to be nimble and willing to move in the direction of creating or reformatting initiatives that will fulfill these specific needs.

AIC

AIC is taking steps to better integrate career preparation into its programs.

“How education has been delivered in the past may not be what employers are looking for,” Benitez told BusinessWest. “That may take form of certificates, certifications, short courses of instruction, staff development. Some may say, ‘well, we really don’t need more of these at the baccalaureate level, but what about a certification with this specific skillset?’ We are looking to fulfill that.

“What we need is the employers to truly look at the academic institutions as their partners in this, because we need to be sitting at the table to hear what their needs are specifically. It’s that close working relationship that I would say is critically important,” he went on, adding that keeping young professionals local is a two-way street, an effort in which businesses must be engaged as well.

“Why should a graduate stay here in Western Mass.? That’s more on the employer side of things. How do they engage the graduate, entice the graduate to stay local and not go elsewhere? That goes beyond pay; that goes beyond benefits. It’s more, how do we make them feel that they have a good career trajectory here at Western Mass.? That’s part of what the employer has to look at as well.”

 

Partnering for Progress

Benitez stressed that four-year colleges like AIC aren’t the only important players in cultivating a local economy with plenty of young talent.

“As you look around and you read in the press, ‘we need more nurses, we need more physical therapists, we need more of this, we need more of that,’ well, some of those professions and careers are created at the community-college level. I am a full supporter of the community-college enterprise.”

Indeed, he explained, AIC has partnered with Springfield Technical Community College and Holyoke Community College on housing agreements, whereby students who attend community college can live at AIC and use its services. “That’s how much we value the relationship between AIC and the community colleges.”

Workforce-development efforts begin even earlier than that, however — with efforts at the high-school and even middle-school level to instill in young people an interest in careers where opportunities abound.

One example is working with middle- and high-school students to entice them to explore careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields, Benitez noted. “It’s a two-pronged, even three-pronged approach: we’re working with vocational schools, technical schools, community colleges, and the public school systems because we know that’s where the appreciation for the skillset begins. We’ve got to grab the kids really, really early. And we’re working toward that goal.”

One new partnership between AIC and two community groups — the Coalition of Experienced Black Educators and the Springfield Empowerment Zone Partnership — promotes access to higher education by empowering parents to support their children’s academic success, which, in turn, will benefit the region’s economy if those young people earn degrees and stay local.

“How do they engage the graduate, entice the graduate to stay local and not go elsewhere? That goes beyond pay; that goes beyond benefits. It’s more, how do we make them feel that they have a good career trajectory here at Western Mass.?”

Another new new initiative aims to strengthen AIC’s commitment to equipping students with the necessary skills and knowledge for successful careers. The college is among 10 member institutions to benefit from a three-year, $2.5 million grant awarded to the Yes We Must Coalition (YWMC) by Ascendium Education Group to integrate career preparation into four-year degree programs.

This grant — titled “Addressing Inequity in College Retention of Low-income Students: Collaboratively Creating Pathways to Careers in Four-year Degree Programs” — will provide AIC with resources to implement new strategies to promote career readiness. The award will support a partnership among AIC, Jobs for the Future, and Sova Solutions to ensure that students from all backgrounds have equal opportunities to succeed in their chosen fields.

More effectively integrating career preparation into AIC’s four-year degree programs is a step that recognizes the evolving demands of the employment market, Benitez noted. By aligning academic coursework with real-world skills, students will be better equipped to navigate their future careers upon graduation. The degree programs slated for redesign include psychology, biology, business, sociology, theater, and criminal justice.

 

A New Mindset

To Benitez’s original point however, for any college to adequately meet the needs of the regional economy — and adequately prepare its graduates to succeed within it — it must first know what those needs are.

“I’m telling my industry colleagues and the business colleagues, ‘what do you need as it relates to the workforce? Maybe we can deliver that for you.’ I’m not going to my colleagues and saying, ‘look, AIC is asking for this, this, and this.’ No, on the contrary, I’m saying, ‘what do you need? Let me know because I think I can deliver that for you.’”

In his remarks at the chamber breakfast, he emphasized the importance of collaboration and working toward a greater good in the realm of higher education. “This area is blessed with having so many institutions of higher learning. But it’s not about competition; it’s about working together for the common good.”

To that end, he noted that, in his first year since becoming president, AIC has actively engaged with scores of individuals and community leaders, seeking opportunities for collaboration. “We want to be invitational to the community, not asking for anything, but to ask them, ‘how can we work together?’”

This focus outside the campus, on how AIC can be a catalyst for a stronger regional economy, is part of what Benitez means when he says he wants to reimagine a college education.

“We continue doing that every single day — reimagining how we deliver education, the cost of education, reimagining the sense of belonging in an educational enterprise, but also how we teach students,” he told BusinessWest. “Students today come to academic institutions with a completely different mindset. They think differently about the world. They think differently about the profession. Some of them even question the value of an education.

“That is our reality,” he went on. “So how we deliver education, how we communicate with them, has drastically changed. We think about reimagination every single day.”

 

Great Barrington Offers ‘Something for Everyone’

By
Features

Community Spotlight

Betsy Andrus says that, like most communities dominated by businesses in the retail, hospitality, and cultural realms, Great Barrington suffered mightily during COVID-19.

But through that suffering, there were lessons learned and resiliency gained, said Andrus, executive director of the Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce (SBCC), adding that these lessons, and this resiliency, are serving this eclectic community well as it puts COVID in the rear view and moves deeper into its busiest seasons — summer and fall.

Indeed, among those lessons learned is the popularity of — and, now, the necessity for — outdoor dining, she said, adding that it is now a huge part of the scene in the city’s vibrant downtown and its pulsating center of activity, Railroad Street.

Betsy Andrus

Betsy Andrus

“The area just keeps on growing — it grew a lot during COVID, as a lot of places where people had second homes did. People moved up here and got out of the city, and that’s a trend that has made our winters much better.”

“Before COVID, very few, if any, of the restaurants offered outdoor dining,” she told BusinessWest. “Now, most of them do, and it’s a huge part of the scene on Railroad Street.”

Paul Masiero owns one of those restaurants, Baba Louie’s, maker of sourdough pizza and other specialties and a Great Barrington staple for nearly 30 years. He said he started offering outdoor dining during the pandemic and is now part of the broader scene on Railroad Street, which the city actually closes off to traffic on Friday and Saturday nights for several months a year and turns it over to a festival, figuratively but also quite literally, of outdoor dining.

“It’s kind of like a street fair,” Masiero, which is organized by Berkshire Busk!, an initiative that strives to improve economic development and community engagement during the summer by harnessing artistic talent to create a new and vibrant downtown cultural experience. “From July 4 to Labor Day, we put out 10 tables, and there are five restaurants that take part. It’s been really, really good; the closing of the street has been a great decision for the community — a lot of people come out.”

Beyond outdoor dining and the added vibrancy, COVID has helped Great Barrington and other Berkshires communities in other ways, Masiero said.

He noted that, at the height of the pandemic, some of those living in New York and other large urban areas who had second homes in and around Great Barrington decided to sell the first home and move there.

This growth in population has brought new business for restaurants and other types of ventures, he said, and brought more business throughout the year (more on that later).

Restaurants are just part of the picture in Great Barrington, the largest and most vibrant community in what would be considered Southern Berkshire County, said Andrus, adding that this city of just over 7,000 people has “something for everyone.”

That list includes shops, mostly smaller, specialty shops in and around downtown, she said, as well as culture, most notably the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, where, this summer, visitors can do everything from see some vintage films, from The Empire Strikes Back (July 28) to The Lion King (Aug. 11), as part of its Friday Night Summer Movies series, to a live performance by Broadway star and Tony Award winner Sutton Foster on Aug. 19.

“COVID forced them to look at other avenues of doing business. Before, they were kind of content and didn’t bother to really look at what they doing, why, and how. COVID forced them to think outside the box, which, for some locations, really helped — a lot.”

It also includes outdoor recreation, she said, listing the Ski Butternut resort, hiking, camping, and watersports facilities, among many others.

“Whoever comes here … there’s going to be something for them,” Andrus said. “Whether you like opera or just want to sit and have dinner and listen to music, or shop, or antique, you can find it all here.”

For this, the latest in its ongoing Community Spotlight series, BusnessWest takes an in-depth look at Great Barrington, how it has staged an impressive recovery from COVID and its after-effects, and how it manages to live up to that promise of having something for everyone.

 

Taking Center Stage

Masiero told BusinessWest that, after working in the restaurant business for several years for various establishments, he was ready to get out and try something different.

“I was tired of working for other people and wanted out,” he said, adding that, around that time, Baba Louie’s came onto the market. He measured the risks and potential rewards of buying the establishment, and decided that the latter far outweighed the former.

“I realized I could be the owner, be the head guy,” he said. “I decided to take a chance on it and see what I could do.”

That was 23 years ago, he went on, adding that what he could do, and has done, is not only continue the business, but build on it, becoming a part of the fabric of the economy.

He’s opened a second location in nearby Hudson, N.Y., and moved the Great Barrington location from Main Street, where it held court until just before COVID, to a larger location on bustling Railroad Street.

There, it has thrived, he said, adding that the scene in Great Barrington today is characterized by vibrancy and energy, and not just during the summer, thanks in large part to that aforementioned growth in population witnessed by the town and surrounding communities such as Egremont, Mount Washington, Otis, and others.

“The area just keeps on growing — it grew a lot during COVID, as a lot of places where people had second homes did,” he noted. “People moved up here and got out of the city, and that’s a trend that has made our winters much better.

“Berkshire County is really a destination for summer unless you ski — it’s a summertime destination with Tanglewood and all the outdoor theaters and playhouses,” he went on. “But it’s grown quite a bit in the winter, too; all our business used to happen in the summer, but now it’s more of a year-round business.”

Andrus agreed, noting that, beyond this COVID-generated population growth and its accompanying benefits, the pandemic eventually helped businesses by forcing them to dig deep, pivot in some cases, and find new ways to carry on.

Great Barrington at a glance

Year Incorporated: 1761
Population: 7,172
Area: 45.8 square miles
County: Berkshire
Residential Tax Rate: $14.07
Commercial Tax Rate: $14.07
Median Household Income: $95,490
Median Family Income: $103,135
Type of Government: Open Town Meeting
Largest Employers: Fairview Hospital; Iredale Mineral Cosmetics; Kutscher’s Sports Academy; Prairie Whale
* Latest information available

“COVID forced them to look at other avenues of doing business,” she explained. “Before, they were kind of content and didn’t bother to really look at what they doing, why, and how. COVID forced them to think outside the box, which, for some locations, really helped — a lot.”

Overall, Great Barrington continues to thrive because of its full menu of offerings, enjoyed by residents and visitors alike, she went on.

“There’s really unique shops with things you can’t get in the box stores. And there’s food; I’ve traveled all over the country, and I always get to places and think, ‘I’ve got to get home because the food is not good — I’ve got to get back to the Berkshires.”

This is an ever-changing community, Andrus said, noting that, while many establishments have been doing business for years and even decades, there are always new businesses opening, making each visit to the city different and fresh.

She noted that, coincidentally, some of the longer-tenured stores in the community — such as Out of Hand; Evergreen, a crafts store; and Byzantium Clothing — have closed due to retirements or will close soon. But storefronts are rarely vacant for long, she added. “Sometimes is looks there’s an empty spot, but it’s not.”

While the town is more of a year-round destination now, summer is still the busiest and most vibrant time of year — and the outdoor dining and accompanying entertainment on Railroad Street have made it even more so, she said.

“There’s entertainment of all different sorts throughout the evening each night that the road is closed,” she explained, noting that Berkshire Busk! provides everything from musicians to acrobats to balloon-character makers. Visitors come for the entertainment and then often stay for dinner at one of the restaurants.

Amid these good times, there are challenges, especially with the regionwide problem of finding and retaining adequate levels of talent. Indeed, many restaurants have been forced to reduce the number of days and hours they are open, Andrus said, adding quickly that most are coping and making the most of a difficult situation.

 

Right Place, Tight Time

Masiero can’t remember where, but he read somewhere that Great Barrington was listed among the top 10 places to move to during COVID (Hudson, N.Y. was the number-one destination, he recalled).

That ranking speaks volumes not only about how the pandemic that initially bruised this small town has gone on to help it, but also about all that this colorful community has to offer.

As Andrus said, it does have something for everyone, and now there are seemingly more people to enjoy it all.

The scene on Railroad Street on weekend nights tells the story — in all kinds of ways.

 

Corporate Transparency Act Generates New Requirements

By Contributor
Banking and Financial Services

Roadmap for Reporting

By Jennifer Sharrow, Esq.

 

Businesses, get ready. The federal government is implementing new reporting requirements that will bring even the smallest businesses under the purview of the U.S. Department of Treasury. All entities registered with a secretary of state are now required to make mandatory reports which require specific and detailed information, and a failure to file these reports can result in serious penalties.

Jennifer Sharrow

Jennifer Sharrow

This new reporting system is like nothing that has ever been required for the majority of businesses, either locally or elsewhere in the country, but the passing of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) represents a fundamental change to the information that must be provided to the federal government by small businesses and single-purpose limited liability companies and corporations.

The Corporate Transparency Act was passed in 2021 as part of a suite of efforts from the federal government to crack down on money laundering across various parts of the economy. The CTA specifically targets efforts to hide monies under the guise of complicated corporate entity structuring. Whereas these entities previously enjoyed a significant amount of privacy regarding matters of ownership, under the CTA, these entities will now be required to disclose detailed, personal information about their beneficial ownership.

Every small-business owner, and every business that assists in the formation and annual reporting requirements of the business, needs to know about this new reporting requirement, as non-compliance can result in substantial penalties of $500 a day up to $10,000, and up to two years in jail.

 

Who Needs to File?

While certain exemptions are available within the statute, in general, any corporation, limited-liability company, or any similar entity formed by a filing with the secretary of state needs to file reports with the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). This requirement applies to most small businesses, fund-manager entities, and real-estate holding companies.

Additionally, FinCEN is gathering information on what is described in the CTA as the ‘company applicant’ — the person or organization who actually files the paperwork on behalf of the entity. For law firms, where formation documents are generally filed by a paralegal, FinCEN will require information on both the paralegal and their supervising attorney. For other service companies, this will be information on the specific person filing the organizational paperwork.

“This new reporting system is like nothing that has ever been required for the majority of businesses, either locally or elsewhere in the country.”

There are 23 exemptions from the CTA reporting requirements. Most exemptions are for entities that are already subject to considerable federal or state regulation. Examples of exempt entities include publicly traded companies and other entities that file reports with the SEC, tax-exempt entities, banks, credit unions, money-services businesses, insurance companies, securities brokers and dealers, state-licensed insurance producers, public utilities, and accounting firms.

There is also an exemption for what’s called a ‘large operating company,’ which is an entity that employs more than 20 full-time employees in the U.S., has an operating presence at a physical office within the U.S., and has filed a federal income-tax or information return in the U.S. for the previous year with more than $5 million in gross receipts or sales.

 

What Is Being Reported?

• Entity information. This includes full legal name, ‘doing business as’ name, principal office address, jurisdiction of formation, and IRS employer identification number.

• Beneficial owner information. A ‘beneficial owner’ is anyone who owns more than 25% of the entity and anyone who exercises ‘substantial control’ over the entity’ such as directors, LLC managers, and certain trustees. The entity will need to provide, for each beneficial owner, their full legal name, date of birth, current residential address, governmental identification information from a passport or driver’s license, and a copy of that identification document.

• Company applicant information. For new entities formed after Jan. 1, 2024, the entity will need to provide essentially the same information on the appropriate company applicant individuals as they provide for the beneficial owners.

 

When Are the Reports Due?

There are two timelines, one for existing businesses formed prior to Jan. 1, 2024, and one for those new businesses formed after the start of the new year. The existing businesses have until Jan. 1, 2025 to submit their initial reports. New businesses will have to file their initial reports to FinCEN within 30 calendar days of their initial formation. Additionally, whenever there is a change in beneficial ownership or a change to the information of a beneficial owner, the entity will have 30 days from that change to file an updated report.

 

Where Is This Information Being Kept?

The disclosures will be made to a centralized federal database under FinCEN. These reports will not be accessible to the general public, but will solely be used by law-enforcement agencies, government regulators of financial institutions, the Treasury Department, and certain foreign authorities requesting information through federal agencies.

 

How Should You Prepare Now?

Entities should first consult with an attorney to understand whether they qualify for an exemption or whether the CTA will require them to submit reports to FinCEN. Then, the owners and managers should decide when they want to file their initial disclosure and begin the process of gathering the required reporting information.

Finally, it is highly recommended that they implement a system to keep the reporting information accurate and up to date, so they know when updated reports need to be filed. The reporting companies should communicate with their clients to assist in filing these new reports and to have their own information ready and available to disclose to FinCEN.

 

Jennifer Sharrow is an associate at Bacon Wilson and a member of the firm’s business and corporate department, specializing in business matters, financing, and commercial real-estate transactions.

Pioneer Valley Food Tours Is a Growing Venture

By
Deborah Christakos
Creative Economy

Getting a Taste of the Region

Deborah Christakos

When her research revealed that this region didn’t have any food tours, Deborah Christakos decided that was a void she needed to fill.

Deborah Christakos has spent most of her adult life in the food business — or several businesses, to be more precise.

Trained in France, she was a chef in restaurants in several major large cities, including New York, Boston, and San Francisco. Later, after moving to Northampton, starting a family, and deciding that a chef’s life didn’t mesh well with family life, she started offering cooking lessons.

And it was while teaching one class, where students shopped at a local farmers’ market and prepared what they bought, that she started to conceptualize a new and different kind of venture — at least for this region. She would call it Pioneer Valley Food Tours, and that name tells you all you need to know.

Well, not really, but it sets the tone.

These are, indeed, walking tours involving food — in the Pioneer Valley. There’s one focused on Northampton and another that takes people to various stops in Amherst. There’s a bicycle tour, a concept born at least in part from COVID-19 and the need to keep people socially distanced during the pandemic, and private tours that have taken people to Springfield, Greenfield, and other communities.

The tours take people to restaurants, bakeries, butcher shops, farmers’ markets, and other … points of interest, let’s call them, where participants can explore local food and beverages from source to table.

“If you just go buy a loaf of bread or pastry, you may never hear about it. But when you hear from them, in their own words, talk about what they do, how what they do is special, and what they love about it, it’s a really neat experience.”

Christakos started in 2017, and what she’s learned since then is that, while these tours are centered around food, they’re mostly about people, communities, and the mostly small businesses that participants get to visit.

The people come from all over, she said, adding that some are local, while others hail from across the state or neighboring states. Others are from further away, many in the area visiting friends and family and looking for something to do, specifically something that, well, whets their appetite when it comes to this region and its food.

“I thought it was a neat idea, and I thought we could really inform people that come to this area about what’s going on here,” she said. “I felt the food here was of incredible quality, and I felt like people were visiting the area, dropping their kids off at college, driving off, and not knowing what we had here. I felt that this area was very underappreciated, so one of my goals was to sort of lift up the profile and make it into a food destination.”

Easily the best thing about her business is the opportunities it provides to meet people and learn from them while providing some insight into this region and all that it offers.

“Something I didn’t expect was that it’s really fun to meet people from all over the country or different walks, and even locals,” Christakos said. “The conversation is different every time because people bring to this their own experiences. Some people are really into food; others are really into history. It’s always interesting and fun.”

 

food tours of Northampton

Guests enjoy one of the food tours of Northampton, which visit several sites in Paradise City.

As for the communities that participants tour, there are opportunities to learn about much more than food. Indeed, tour members get a ‘taste’ of these communities, be it the murals, architecture, and ‘vibe’ in Northampton or Amherst’s vibrant history, including, on most tours, a stop at West Cemetery, where Emily Dickinson and several members of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, portrayed in the movie Glory, are buried.

As for the small businesses, they are the focal points of the tour, said Christakos, adding that the tours not only support such ventures — and, during COVID, that support was critical — it celebrates them and their specialties and the manner in which they help provide a community with an identity.

For this issue, we talked with Christakos about her venture and how it has gained traction and provided tour participants with some food for thought — in every way one can imagine.

 

Walking, Taking, and Eating

As she talked about how and why she launched this venture, Christakos said food tours are common in other countries — as well as in larger cities in the U.S. She had only been on one herself, in Ireland, but she knew about them and all they aim to celebrate in a particular community.

Returning to that cooking class she was teaching and the visit to the farmers’ market, she started thinking there must be food tours in a region so rich in agriculture and restaurants. When some research revealed there wasn’t, she decided this void needed to be filled.

She did a trial run, spoke to the businesses that would be involved in these tours, and concluded that there was a market for such a concept. She launched in the summer of 2017, and at first tried to do both the tours and the cooking classes. Eventually, she decided that she wanted, and needed, to devote all her time and energy to the former.

The venture has seen steady growth over the years, although COVID certainly created some challenges.

At the start, most of the participants were local, she told BusinessWest, but eventually word started to spread.

“People from Central Connecticut would come up for the day, or people from Boston would come up for the day,” she explained. “And then, gradually over the next few years, people started coming from further away — Utah, California, all over, people who were coming to this area and looking for something to do.”

Many had been on food tours in other cities, regions, and countries, she went on, adding that her venture provides an opportunity to explore a different area.

In larger cities, there are many different kinds of food tours, she explained, noting that some will focus specifically on pizza, or chocolate, or a specific neighborhood. Her tours are broad in nature and focused on specific communities noted for their food, restaurants, and culture, especially Northampton and Amherst.

In Northampton, the food tour, which runs three hours on average, usually starts in Pulaski Park, where participants will make introductions and sample local produce that’s in season, such as blueberries, which Christakos will either pick herself or buy from a local farm. From there, there are roughly 15 different places a group might stop; Christakos generally picks five for each tour.

A common first stop is Hungry Ghost Bread on State Street or the Woodstar Café on Masonic Street, where participants can sample something Christakos has pre-selected and often hear from the establishments’ owners about what they do and the passion they bring to their work.

“If you just go buy a loaf of bread or pastry, you may never hear about it,” she explained. “But when you hear from them, in their own words, talk about what they do, how what they do is special, and what they love about it, it’s a really neat experience.”

This is the essence of the food tours, she went on, adding that participants can hear Hungry Ghost owner Jonathan Stevens and his wife, Cheryl, talk about what makes their bread unique and how they use local ingredients.

From there, the tour might go to Sutter Meats on King Street and a few of the restaurants in the city, such as Paul & Elizabeth’s on Main Street, a vegetarian restaurant; or the Dirty Truth, also on Main Street, a gastropub featuring craft beers; or the Mosaic Café on Masonic Street, a Mediterranean restaurant.

Along the way, participants take in murals, architecture, a little history, and the feel of downtown Northampton, she said, adding that the flavor of the community, and all that goes into that phrase, comes through.

It’s the same in Amherst, she noted, where tours generally start at the farmers’ market and proceed to stops such as the Black Sheep Deli; Lili’s, a Chinese restaurant; and Mexcalito Taco Bar, as well as West Cemetery and other points of interest.

There are generally two Northampton tours a week, on Friday and Saturday, and a few Amherst tours each month, she said, adding that they are offered year-round. Spring and summer are obviously the most popular times, but there is appetite for the offerings throughout the year — she conducted a ‘chocolate tour’ on Valentine’s Day — and she will carry on unless the weather is “dangerous.”

A fairly recent addition to the portfolio has been bicycle tours, she noted, adding that these will stop in a few different communities, visiting farms, food producers, and eateries and generally covering 20 to 25 miles at a decent, but not overly fast, pace.

“The people who take those tours like to bicycle, but they’re more interested in their food,” she explained. “They’re not Tour de France candidates.”

 

Bottom Line

Moving forward, Christakos, who splits the tours with the company’s other guide, David Bannister, said she would like to continue growing the concept, perhaps expanding to other communities (Springfield is a possible candidate).

In the meantime, she will continue honing the concept, which is bringing the region’s restaurants, farms, and other food-related businesses to light.

As she said, these tours are really about people and communities — and an opportunity to celebrate both.

 

New Mural Captures Springfield’s History, Firsts, Character

By
The mural on Bridge Street
Creative Economy

Creating a ‘Time Machine’

 

The mural on Bridge Street

The mural on Bridge Street remains a work in progress.

You’ll need more than a glance to take in, and fully appreciate, the mural being created on the south-facing wall of the old Skyplex Building on Bridge Street in Springfield.

You’ll probably need at least 10 minutes to fully absorb all the images on the 100-foot-long wall. There are dozens of them, large and small.

But you’ll also need a cheat sheet of sorts (a few different ones will be created — more on that later) and probably easy access to Wikipedia.

That’s because, while some of the people can be easily identified (Muhammad Ali, Abraham Lincoln, and even Peter L. Picknelly, among them), most of them are far more obscure and need some explaining, at least when it comes to their connection to, and importance to, the City of Homes.

And that’s part of the charm, if that’s the right word, of this project, which is one of the more ambitious projects to date of City Mosaic, a nonprofit organization that has brought many colorful and, in some cases, informative murals to downtown Springfield — and, in the process, reactivated a number of properties and made them conversation pieces.

Such was the case with another huge work of art just around the corner on Worthington Street. That project involved the recreation of wall advertising that was on the building more than a half-century ago, as well as a few images of personalities from the past and present.

John Simpson, the lead artist on that project, said some have referred to it as a “time machine,” and asked that he create another one at the Skyplex building, another somewhat underutilized property that is slated to become home to another brewery.

Susan Riano, Madden Sterrett, and John Simpson.

And he a team of artists, including Madden Sterrett and Susan Riano, have done just that.

“We wanted to blend many of the city’s historic firsts with historical figures, and modern community members, such as Mayor [Domenic] Sarno,” Simpson said. “We want to have the past connect with the present — and have it connect with the future.”

While the wall, which is a work in progress that should be completed “soon,” according to Simpson, features some well-known personalities and landmarks (such as the Puritan statue in front of the library) that need no explanation as to why they are pictured, many of them do.

Let’s start with Abraham Lincoln. According to local legend, the name ‘Republican Party,’ the party of Lincoln, originated in Springfield. Meanwhile, his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, is said to have taken in shows at the Paramount Theater. As for Ali, he had connections to a mosque in the city, and is said to have visited it while training in Chicopee for his first fight against Sonny Liston.

Frederick Douglass also has a presence on the wall. Simpson said he visited Springfield several times, at least once to meet with fellow abolitionist John Brown about his raid on Harper’s Ferry, which started the Civil War.

There’s also the artist James Whistler, famous for the composition known as Whistler’s Mother. While born in Lowell, he did live in Springfield for a time, Simpson said. There are a few images of Eleanor Powell, a dancer and actress (she was in a few movies with Fred Astaire) who was also born in Springfield.

As was the actor Kurt Russell. There’s a small image of him portraying the character he is perhaps best known for, Snake Plissken, from both Escape from New York and Escape from L.A.

Former NBA star Travis Best, another Springfield native, is on the wall, as is Gwen Ifill, the journalist, television newscaster, and author, who was born in New York but later relocated with her family to Springfield and graduated from Classical High School.

There’s also June Foray (born June Lucille Forer), who grew up in Springfield and later became the voice of Rocky the Flying Squirrel and a host of other characters.

There aren’t many — if any — people who would recognize Foray from the image on the wall. And that’s why there will be a plaque, or key, to the images, explaining what they are, Simpson explained, adding that there are plans to print flyers to hand out at the restaurants — Granny’s Baking Table and the Osteria — that have windows facing the mural.

“Already, people are asking the waiters and the owners of these establishments who the people are on this wall,” he said, adding that this is one of the main objectives of this project — to get people talking and asking questions — about the wall, and about the city depicted on it.

Evan Plotkin, president of NAI Plotkin, collaborator with Simpson on several art-related projects in and around downtown, and leader of efforts to reactivate properties in that area, agreed.

“They’ve captured a moment in time, and the history and character of the city,” he said of the artists. “And while doing so, they’ve brought this property back to prominence; people are talking about it, and in the present and future tenses. That’s what these murals do.”

There is still some work to do on the mural, especially in and around the letters that spell out SPRINGFIELD, Simpson said, noting that many more characters, firsts, and landmarks will be added before the wall is officially finished. He mentioned an image of the Basketball Hall of Fame and perhaps something depicting the M-1 rifle, produced at the Springfield Armory, and its inventor, John Garand, as likely additions.

But already, those behind the project are accomplishing their primary mission. They’re creating that time machine, and they’re prompting people to stop, look, point, maybe ask some questions, get some answers, learn about Springfield, and celebrate the city and its history.

That’s a lot to ask from a mural, but this one does all that and more.

 

—George O’Brien

Michael Preli Turns His Woodturning Passion into a Successful Business

By
items Michael Preli sold
Building Trades

Super Bowls

Michael Preli works on the lathe

Michael Preli works on the lathe in his basement in Suffield.

 

Michael Preli’s career has been one of constant advancement — not necessarily in title or income, but in job satisfaction. And he’s a long way from where he started, in the auto-body field.

“My father is a frame technician for auto body. And I always thought that’s what I wanted to do,” Preli told BusinessWest. “So I started working in a body shop when I left school. I did that for a couple of years.”

What he didn’t expect was that he’d come to like wood more than metal.

Auto-body work “didn’t bring me the satisfaction I thought it would,” he recalled. “Metal is cold and dirty and dusty — like, the dust sticks to you.”

Meanwhile, his rented house, on the same property he worked at, needed some improvements, including a new door. He did the job himself, even though he had never done any woodworking.

“I got a lot of satisfaction from it. My boss came over and looked at it and said, ‘wow, you did a really nice job on this.’ I said, ‘oh, thanks.’ And that stuck with me for a while. So, when an opportunity came up to do framing for houses, I took it, and I left the world of auto body. Thank God.”

These days, Preli owns his own home-based business in Suffield, Conn., Cellar Dweller WoodTurning, creating and selling a host of artful pieces, including plates, bowls, urns, and decorative pieces. But it took a couple more steps to get there, as we’ll see.

Starting with framing, which he characterized as work with “a lot of brute force, not a lot of finesse. I always gravitated toward the jobs that took more patience, and my overseers saw that and placed me there.”

“It got my wife motivated, too, because she could see that, with a young child, I had an opportunity to do something from home instead of going back to work.”

Indeed, Preli started focusing on finish work, such as crown molding, fireplace mantles, door frames, doors, and windows. “I did that for many years, along with remodeling and renovating. And then I got into doing furniture, which took more patience and required more solitary-type work.”

Even through the decade he spent making furniture out of a rented shop, he never saw himself in woodturning, a craft that uses a wood lathe and hand-held tools to create symmetrically shaped pieces. “I thought I loved making furniture. But now that I’ve stepped away from it, did I really like doing furniture? I mean, I felt like I did.”

He switched gears, however, after his landlord passed away, and he lost his shop and moved all his tools back home, returning to commercial finish work while he and his wife, Kathryn, decided to start a family; their son was born in 2019.

“I was still working very hard, but my wife’s a doctor. She makes way more than I’ll ever be able to make. So she was going to continue working, and I planned to stay home until the kid was old enough to talk, and then go back to work.”

Then a pandemic struck, and that changed everything.

 

Crafting a Career

Specifically, it forced Preli to be home even more than he had planned to, and introduced a hobby into his life.

In some ways, he said the isolation many people faced during COVID was a blessing to his own household. “We even got COVID — we got colds and got over it — but it gave me a chance to put my tools down for the first time ever. This was the first time ever I hadn’t been working. I mean, I dropped out of high school young to work. Now I was home with my boy the whole time. It was wonderful. That’s when I picked up woodturning, just as a hobby.”

Showing off the lathe in his basement, Preli noted that “it’s a specific type of woodworking. The only thing I can do on that machine is round work, and that’s what I got into.”

Soon, the hobby started filling the Prelis’ kitchen with bowls and other items.

“I always undervalue my work, but my wife was like, ‘man, this stuff is coming out great.’ I’d been giving out a lot of stuff, giving gifts to my family. And of course, they said, ‘yeah, thanks, Mike, it looks great.’ But they’re my family. I could have given them anything, and they would say that.”

items Michael Preli sold

These are some of the items Michael Preli sold at the recent Suffield Summer Fair.

What convinced Preli that they weren’t just being polite was a craft-selling event at a local Tractor Supply Co., where his wife decided to set up shop.

“I said, ‘don’t do it, Kathryn. You’re going to spend the whole day there. It’s hot out. Don’t bother,’” he recalled. “She said, ‘I’m going to do it.’ She set herself to it, and she made a killing. We sold so much stuff. I didn’t think anyone would buy anything, but we sold a lot. It gave me some inspiration, and it got my wife motivated, too, because she could see that, with a young child, I had an opportunity to do something from home instead of going back to work.”

After all, he said, commercial finish work can be a six-days-a-week gig, and they both preferred Michael to be mainly home during that time.

“It’s nice to know that something I made with my hands is going to be the object of beauty beauty in someone’s home for a long time.”

“So it just worked out great,” Preli said. “And slowly, we started doing these craft fairs, and the revenue was good. We made it happen. My wife takes care of all the logistics for these shows and fairs.”

Those events take place most weekends and are the main sales source; online sales haven’t been so robust, and Preli believes that might be partly because he sells tactile items that people want to touch — and are far more likely to buy once they do.

“Plus, online, there are so many options,” he said. “I’m not the only guy selling wood bowls there; there are thousands and thousands. And shopping online, you want to save money, so you gravitate toward something less expensive, maybe not the best quality … but to each his own. We do very well in person.”

Michael Preli

Michael Preli says he was surprised when his creations first met an eager reception with buyers.

He enjoys talking to customers, especially when he hears what they plan to do with the items they buy. “I don’t know what anyone would ever do with some of these things I make, but they buy them. And it gives me some ideas, too. It’s nice to know that something I made with my hands is going to be the object of beauty beauty in someone’s home for a long time.”

When he started out, Preli worked with a number of different finishes, but most people gravitated to his half-epoxy, half-wood hybrid pieces that boast a smooth, shiny finish, so that’s the work he focuses on. “People love this stuff. They sell almost instantly.”

 

Joy in the Journey

While Preli didn’t think of woodturning during his framing or furniture-making days, he said the trajectory seems natural now; essentially, as his work became finer in scope, he loved it more.

“I get a lot of joy from it. My wife is proud of me. My family is proud of me. I have time for my son. I’m very happy with it.”

He said many people come home from work and spend time with their hobby, but he feels like the Cellar Dweller business is a hobby-like experience: something he does for fun that also generates income.

“That thing you’re compelled to do, I get to do that every day,” he said. “And it requires such a high level of concentration and patience. Everything melts away; it’s very much tunnel vision. I get to do that, and I’m so lucky.

“I keep it small, and I would say it’s a good life,” he continued. “The stress from doing commercial work, competing, bidding, dealing with different people — you know, some people aren’t as pleasant as others — and just being stuck in traffic and shopping for stuff at Home Depot … that’s all gone. It’s a relief.”

 

Banks Fight Upstream from Domino Effect of Higher Interest Rates

By
Banking and Financial Services Community Spotlight Special Coverage

An Uphill Climb

Dan Moriarty was among the participants in the recent IRONMAN competition that wound its way through many Western Mass. communities.

The president and CEO of Monson Savings bank, Moriarty is also an avid biker, and decided to take things up a notch — or two, or three — with the IRONMAN, which featured a mile swim, downstream, in the Connecticut River; a 56-mile bike trek; and a half-marathon (13 miles and change).

Moriarty said his time — and he doesn’t like to talk about time — was roughly seven hours, and joked that that he believes he met what was his primary goal: “I wanted to come in first among all the local bank presidents.”

As things are turning out, the IRONMAN isn’t the only test of endurance he will face this year and next (yes, he’s already scheduled to take part again in 2024). He and all other banking leaders are facing another stern challenge, and where they finish on this one … well, there are several factors that will ultimately determine that, as we’ll see.

Indeed, the past year or so has been a long, mostly uphill, upstream stretch for banks, which are being severely tested by unprecedented interest rates hikes implemented by the Fed, which have a domino effect on banks — and their customers. For banks, these moves are squeezing margins that were already tight, with some margins off 50 basis points or more from last year. And for public banks, their stocks have, for the most part, been hammered.

This domino effect involves everything from the huge increase in interest paid to customers on their deposits to the manner in which those interest-rate hikes have brought the home-mortgage business to a virtual standstill.

To quantify that increase in interest paid to consumers, Tom Senecal, president and CEO of PeoplesBank, recalled a quote he read from the president of a large national bank that put things in their proper perspective.

“I won’t even call this a short-term problem anymore when it comes to profitability. It’s a medium-term problem that we’re all having to adjust to.”

“He said, ‘my raw-material costs have increased 600%,’” Senecal noted. “His raw materials are the funding for deposits for his wholesale assets, which have literally gone up 600%. If you look at any business and their profit margins — our raw materials have gone up 600%, so that squeezes our margins.”

Meanwhile, with interest rates more than double what they were a year or so ago, the refi market has obviously disappeared, said Kevin O’Connor, executive vice president of Westfield Bank, adding that, with home sales, those who might be thinking about trading up wouldn’t want to trade a 2% or 3% mortgage for one closer to 7% mortgage, so they’re taking what could be called a pause.

As is the Fed, which is taking a close look at the impact of its interest-rate hikes before deciding what to do next, although most experts expect at least one more rate hike this year.

And that will keep banks on this current treadmill, said Jeff Sullivan, president and CEO of Springfield-based New Valley Bank, adding that, while there has been talk that rates might start coming down this year, that likely won’t happen until at least early next year.

By then, the country may well be in recession, adding new levels of intrigue, said Moriarty, noting that the yield curve is currently inverted, a historically accurate predictor of recession.

“We’re going to eventually get into a recession in the third or fourth quarter of this year,” he said. “We were anticipating it might happen a little earlier with hopes that the Fed would have cut rates before of 2023, but now, we’re guessing that interest rates are going to be elevated another year out until they start cutting.”

Tom Senecal

Tom Senecal says unprecedented interest-rate hikes have put a great deal of pressure on banks large and small.

Overall, banks’ fortunes are tied, ironically enough, to how well the economy is doing, and they are in the unusual position of hoping that things cool off a little, said O’Connor, adding that, like the Fed itself, banks don’t want to see efforts to curb inflation throw the economy into reverse.

The biggest question, among many others, concerns when the pendulum might start swinging in the other direction and things will improve for banks. There is no consensus there — not with the economy still doing well, a presidential election looming in 2024, and other factors.

But the general feeling is that the uphill portion of this trek won’t be over soon.

“I won’t even call this a short-term problem anymore when it comes to profitability,” Sullivan said. “It’s a medium-term problem that we’re all having to adjust to.”

Moriarty agreed, noting that, while the first two quarters of 2023 has been a difficult year for most banks, the rest of this year and 2024 might be an even more of an uphill climb.

 

Points of Interest

Senecal told BusinessWest that, as he was heading home for the first weekend in March, he planned to take a break from his phone and spend a few days unplugged.

And he did … until news broke that Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in California had failed after a bank run on its deposits.

So he started looking at his phone again. And he kept looking at it.

“The weekend that SVB failed, the four largest banks in the country took in roughly $140 billion in new deposits, and community banks, in general, lost $130 million in deposits. There was a huge move to larger institutions out of fear.”

Indeed, there were many discussions with other leaders of the bank about how to communicate with customers and convince them that their deposits were safe.

“That whole weekend, myself and our commercial team and our retail people were on the phone explaining what was going on, answering their questions, and putting their minds at ease,” he recalled. “And I talked to a number of my competitors, and they were doing the same thing.”

Such discussions were necessary, he said, because even though those deposits were becoming far more burdensome, cost-wise, as he noted earlier, all banks need them to have the money to grow their loans, and consumers were getting skittish.

Jeff Sullivan

Despite the interest-rate hikes, the economy is still humming in many respects, Jeff Sullivan says, meaning the Fed may still have some work to do to slow it down.

“The weekend that SVB failed, the four largest banks in the country took in roughly $140 billion in new deposits, and community banks, in general, lost $130 million in deposits,” he said, citing a combination of concern fueled by social media and the ease with which consumers can now move money electronically as the dominant causes. “There was a huge move to larger institutions out of fear.”

Overall, there was less fallout in this region, said O’Connor, another of those banking leaders who was the phone to customers assuring them that their assets were safe, adding that the failure of SVB and a few other banks this spring, and the resulting fallout from depositors, were just one of the many speedbumps encountered by banks in 2023.

Indeed, this was a year the industry knew would be challenging — or more challenging — going in, especially with regard to rising interest rates. Just not this challenging.

“Just a year ago, rates were quite low, and everyone thought rates were going up a point and a half, maybe 2%, something in that ballpark — that was the consensus prior to August of last year, when Chairman [Jerome] Powell said, ‘no, we’re really going to stomp on the brakes,’” Sullivan said. “Up to that point, we thought that rates would go up slightly, and we were modeling our projections on that; I don’t think there’s anyone who projected that rates would go up 5% in seven months — that’s unprecedented territory, and that’s what is causing the squeeze.”

O’Connor agreed. A year or so, banks were paying maybe a half-percent interest on deposits, he recalled, adding that most new CD products being advertised are featuring rates in the 4.5% to 4.9% range on the higher end, while rates on money-market accounts are coming up as well, numbers that reflect both the need to garner new deposits and growing competion for those assets.

“You have competition from other banks, internet-only banks, the security brokers — everyone is clamoring for those deposits,” O’Connor said. “And that certainly puts pressure on all banks, including community banks.”

Institutions are adjusting to this landscape, said those we spoke with, but it’s going to take some time to fully adjust because the rate hikes came so quickly and profoundly.

And such adjustments take several forms, they said, including efforts to trade fixed-rate assets for variable-rate assets, initiatives that take time and come with their own set of risks — indeed, rates could, that’s could, go down quickly.

Dan Moriarty

Dan Moriarty says many ominous signs point toward a recession, which could bring more challenges for banks and their customers.

On the mortgage side of the equation, there aren’t many options. Senecal said PeoplesBank has been working to acquire mortgages written in areas that are still relatively hot, such as Cape Cod. Meanwhile, O’Connor said Westfield Bank and institutions like it are pushing home-equity loans, and there is a good market for them as homeowners look to take that equity and put it back into their homes or make other large purchases.

“It certainly doesn’t make up for what we’re losing in mortgages and refis, but it does help,” O’Connor said. “We’re seeing a lot of interest in home-equity loans.”

 

No Margin for Error

While banks cope with the present, there is just as much discussion, if not more, concerning what will happen next and when conditions will improve for this sector.

And most of that discussion obviously involves the Fed and what will happen with interest rates, because it’s these rates that determine what happens with all those dominoes.

There is some general uncertainty about what the Fed will do, said those we spoke with, because the jury is still out, in some respects and at least in some quarters, on whether it has accomplished its mission when it comes to slowing down the economy and curbing inflation. This uncertainty led to intense discussion at the most recent Fed board meeting, Senecal said.

“There are two schools of thought on this. One is, ‘let’s wait and see what our rate increases are doing to the economy, because it’s like steering a battleship — it doesn’t happen right away,’” he told BusinessWest. “So the Fed took this pause trying to gauge what happened, and what happened? Inflation came down little bit; it was up to 6 or 7%, and now it’s 3.5% or 4%. But their goal is to get it to 2%. So do they continue to raise rates and wait to pause, or do they raise and do a long pause to see if inflation comes down to their target level of 2%?”

“I don’t think there’s anyone who projected that rates would go up 5% in seven months — that’s unprecedented territory, and that’s what is causing the squeeze.”

While inflation slowed in June — the consumer price index rose 0.2% last month and was up 3% from a year ago, the lowest level since March 2021 — core inflation is still running well above the Fed’s 2% target. And Moriarty is among those saying there is ample evidence that the Fed still has work to do to slow the economy and further decrease inflation.

“Employment numbers are surging, and that’s an indication the economy is still moving fast and hot,” he said. “My uneducated crystal ball is telling me we might see a few more interest-rate moves, which means it’s going to be more difficult for the economy to continue on this path.”

Many are saying that the probable course will be another rate increase and then that pause, he went on, adding that there is more conjecture about what will then happen. Will rates stay where they are, or will they start to come down and perhaps reverse the trends seen over the past year or so?

Kevin O’Connor

Kevin O’Connor says rising interest rates have slowed the mortgage business — and destroyed the refi business.

“The consensus is that the economy is starting to slow down — not quickly, but it’s starting to slow down — and that rate cuts will probably start to happen in 2024 because inflation and economic growth both show signs of slowing down,” Sullivan said. “When that happens, we can start to price the deposit costs down.

“We’re probably not going back to where we were before,” he went on, meaning rates near zero. “We’re going back to normal, or what could be a new normal — deposit rates in the 3% range. They’re not going to be zero, and they’re not going to be 5%; they’re probably going to be somewhere in the middle once all this settles out.”

When things will settle down is another question that is difficult to answer because the economy is still chugging along, and, with the notable exception of the mortgage market, consumers are still borrowing money.

“Borrowers have gotten used to paying loan rates in the 6s and 7s — they’re not happy about it, but it doesn’t seem to be stopping anyone’s appetite for acquiring assets and borrowing money,” Sullivan said. “There’s still plenty of business out there, and that would support what Powell has been saying — that they haven’t really slowed the economy yet; in fact, it’s pretty darned good. We’re taking applications every day, and we’re writing loans every day; we’re running our business as usual.”

 

Taking Account

Well … not quite usual at most institutions, especially with regard to mortgages and refis, a huge part of the success formula for the region’s community banks and credit unions.

In this environment, O’Connor said, Westfield Bank and institutions like it are putting even more emphasis on customer service, attracting new customers and retaining existing customers.

“We have to make sure that we’re the bank of choice and remain that,” he said. “We work hard at the commercial relationships, the consumer relationships … our branch teams, our cash-management teams, our lenders, everyone is out there being very available to our customers and working hard to attract new customers from other banks.”

Banks are always working hard on attracting and retaining customers, he said in conclusion, but this year, and in this climate, there is even more emphasis on such initiatives.

It’s all part of a broad response to something that is a little more than your typical economic cycle. It’s somewhat unprecedented, in fact … and certainly a long, uphill climb for most banks.

 

Double Edge Theatre Reflects a Holistic View of the World

By
Creative Economy Special Coverage

Art and Soul

Double Edge Theatre isn’t the easiest organization to describe.

Or, perhaps more accurately, it’s not an entity that lends itself to one obvious description. And that’s a positive thing, said Adam Bright, the company’s producing executive director.

“If you ask a different Double Edge ensemble member or anyone who works here, they’ll have a slightly different answer, I would imagine,” Bright said. “But for me, it’s simply that we’re trying to live together with an understanding, with certain agreements, about how we want to leave the world after we’ve stepped through it.”

That said, “we’re definitely an arts organization first, and everybody here is extremely creatively minded,” he noted. “We all come from different educational backgrounds, different parts of the world, we all grew up in different places, but we’ve all been magnetized to this strange little place.

“Everything you’ll see here comes from that seed of creative thinking,” Bright went on. “The way we’ve renovated the buildings that could no longer be used for dairy farming and were repurposed. The way we create theater and art, and how we integrate that with our work with conservationists, the Native peoples of this area, and how they approach the land. It’s a holistic way of thinking and being.”

Double Edge was born in Boston in 1982 but moved to Ashfield, a bucolic Franklin County community, in 1997, repurposing, as Bright noted, a former dairy farm into a theater company that stages performances, including ‘spectacles’ the audience follows across the grounds (more on those later), but also hosts training programs, workshops, and much more.

It does so while centered on values that are painted in large letters on one of the property’s buildings.

“We’re trying to live together with an understanding, with certain agreements, about how we want to leave the world after we’ve stepped through it.”

“Our vision is to prioritize imagination in times of creative, emotional, spiritual, and political uncertainty,” the message reads. “Our mission is to pursue authenticity, interaction, and identity with whomever is seeking creative, emotional, spiritual, and political clarity. Our art is grounded in a rigorous ensemble aesthetic unfolded in dream, imagery, metaphor, mystery, and symbolism. Our work is created and sustained within an open, honest, meaningful, relevant shared experience. We call this ‘living culture.’”

And then: “Our dedication is to face isolation and erasure, to face despair and pain that can translate into personal incapacity and political paralysis. To uplift. We call this ‘art justice.’”

It’s a mouthful, and Bright knows it. But at its core is a reflection of life that many people in this modern world — especially post-pandemic — have gotten away from.

“I think we’ve isolated ourselves more and more. Even in neighborhoods that seem great, everyone goes to their little boxes, and then they’re isolated,” he explained. “I think what we’re creating here — or recreating, let’s say — is something closer to a village, and that feels healthy. On any given day, there will be 70 people working here, ages 18 to 70-something, from all over the world: different languages, different cultures, different music, all of these things in this little place.”

Adam Bright

Adam Bright says Double Edge is an arts organization first, but one that is always considering how it interacts with and impacts its community and its world.

As part of that philosophy, Double Edge has taken a keen interest over the years in the Indigenous history of Ashfield and its environs, specifically the Nipmuc Tribal Nation, which traces its lineage in the region back 12,000 years. The theater company has partnered with the Ohketeau Cultural Center in efforts to bring awareness to this heritage and support Native priorities today.

“Our interactions introduced us to the Indigenous peoples who still inhabit this land after millennia, even though their presence has been rendered invisible on the land we now occupy,” Double Edge notes in its literature. “Ashfield may never be ‘diverse’ within the currently circumscribed and restrictive use of the term. However, the mission, values, vision, and work of Double Edge will always reflect the larger population of our region, our state, and our country.”

 

Making a Spectacle of Themselves

Amid its cultural passions, this is, as Bright noted, primarily an arts organization, and its performances — both on site and touring — have become widely noted for their unique, eclectic, and interactive nature.

“The art is predominantly theater, although we touch all the mediums of art,” Bright said, noting that company members — some live on the grounds for extended stretches, while others commute — not only write and perform works, but build and paint sets; create costumes; handle lighting, sound, rigging, and other production aspects; and more,

The summer performances are called ‘spectacles,’ and it’s an apt term. “They move around this farm, so the whole farm turns into a theatrical stage, essentially,” Bright said. “We really interact with the outside world; there are giant puppets and fire.”

“Even in neighborhoods that seem great, everyone goes to their little boxes, and then they’re isolated. I think what we’re creating here — or recreating, let’s say — is something closer to a village, and that feels healthy.”

The audience — which is capped at 80 to 90 per night — follows the performance across the grounds, both inside and outside its buildings, and are often timed to begin in sunlight and end with dark skies, beside a small lagoon lit by fire and stage lights, lined with platforms in the trees, a trapeze, a trampoline, and more. It’s … well, a spectacle.

“We essentially guide everything, from parking the car through the final hurrah,” Bright explained. “There’s a whole journey that the audience follows, and whether you’re at the front or the back, you’ll experience the whole thing. You won’t miss out on anything, although each audience member experiences it differently.”

Double Edge creates ‘spectacles’

Double Edge creates ‘spectacles’ that move around the farm, so the whole property turns into a theatrical stage.
Photo by David Weiland

The spectacles have been a staple of Double Edge’s offerings for a couple decades. “Lots of people are involved; it could be painting giant murals or doing puppets, making costumes,” he said. “We also work with a bunch of contractors that come in to help us with some heavy lifting, certain set pieces. So, really, lots of people are involved before we even open the performance.”

The current spectacle, directed by Double Edge founder and Artistic Director Stacy Klein, is called The Hidden Territories of the Bacchae, and is “our response to Euripides’ Bacchae, in which women’s rites are no longer in hidden territories and women are freely able to express their deeply held desires,” according to the company’s description. It runs from July 19 through Aug. 6, and tickets are available at doubleedgetheatre.org.

“Then, other times of the year, we make other works that can go into regular-type theatres, and we tour,” Bright said. “We just got back from Europe for a couple of tours there. It’s still large-scale, but it becomes a little bit more intimate, and you can control more in the theatrical setting than outdoors. There are different limitations, I would say. But it’s still visually stunning, very physical, poetic … it’s definitely not your average Shakespeare recital.”

Meanwhile, Double Edge offers residencies and other cooperative oppportunities to like-minded companies across the U.S., he noted. “We come together once or twice a year, and we train together, and sometimes we present each other’s work. So it’s really a cool thing.”

Hannah Rechtschaffen, director of Greenfield Business Assoc., who recently came on board Double Edge as its team and relationships manager, called the organization one of the most well-organized and communicative companies she’s ever worked for.

The concepts of ‘living culture’ and ‘art justice’

The concepts of ‘living culture’ and ‘art justice’ are integral to the training and performance work going on at Double Edge.

“You don’t find that in a lot of arts organizations. Sometimes the art is taking over so much that the business side lacks a little, and I think one of the real strengths of Double Edge, and one of the reasons that we rise as a real leader and attract people from many sectors, not just the art sector, is because, though our message is really complex, it’s also very clear because it’s being rolled out in a way that a lot of different people can relate to.”

 

Living History

Klein founded Double Edge in 1982 as a feminist ensemble collective alongside co-founder and emerita ensemble member Carroll Durand and several other women, performing in six-week rentals of various Boston theaters.

In 1985, the ensemble located a parish hall in Allston, a long-unused building at the Episcopal Church of Saints Luke and Margaret. Following renovations, this was its home for the next 12 years. In 1994, the company located a new home in Ashfield, precipitated by the economic impossibility of paying exorbitant rent in the Boston area, and by the desire to house overseas guest artists for long periods.

After driving back and forth for a couple years, the Double Edge team opened their first performance space in Ashfield — in a converted barn — in 1997.

In addition to its spectacles, which launched in 2002, Klein and her team have created seven performance cycles, or series of plays, that have toured around the world, including:

• The Garden of Intimacy and Desire (2002-08), a cycle exploring distinctive visions of magic realism in Jewish and Hispanic culture;

• The Chagall Cycle (2010-15), which was imagined entirely from the visual art of Marc Chagall;

• The Latin American Cycle (2015-18), which began as an effort to come to artistic terms with Co-Artistic Director Carlos Uriona’s sociocultural and personal background; and

• The Surrealist Cycle (2017-present) three performances, loosely woven together, relating to the Latin American Cycle and research into surrealism.

In addition, the Ashfield Town Spectacle & Culture Fair (May 2017) and We the People (summer 2017 and 2018) were a duet and ode to the history of Ashfield and the surrounding hilltowns of Western Mass. Eighty local artists and groups participated in each two-day event, which took place throughout the entire town of Ashfield, ending in a 700-person parade and an aerial flight over the Ashfield Lake.

“There’s a whole journey that the audience follows, and whether you’re at the front or the back, you’ll experience the whole thing. You won’t miss out on anything, although each audience member experiences it differently.”

Clearly, a sense of place and culture is a constant theme here, and Double Edge itself is a model for a living community. About 10 years ago, the ensemble started thinking about ‘greening’ and the necessity of moving off the grid, “not only as giveback for what we receive from nature, but also as a model for theaters around the country and other organizations who are themselves modeling unsustainable building and operating practices,” the organization notes.

With that in mind, single-use plastic was banned from the farm for our students, audiences, and daily living, and the property has also started using solar energy and wants to replace all its heating systems, with the dream of building a solar farm and multi-acre apiary and wildflower sanctuary.

So, yes — this is a theater company with a lot on its mind, one that takes a holistic approach to art and life, striving to find the critical connections that often get lost in today’s world.

“I’m always in the intersection of economic development and the creative arts, and how those things come together,” Rechtschaffen said. “It’s a constant process of figuring out how to communicate that in a way that every sector can understand. I think that’s something that we do incredibly well and have an opportunity to do even more — to figure out how to grow that impact.”

 

Goodless Electric Charges Ahead in Its Eighth Decade

By
President Jeff Goodless
Building Trades Special Coverage

Current Events

President Jeff Goodless

President Jeff Goodless

Early on, Jeff Goodless knew life wasn’t easy in the world of electrical contracting.

But he also knew his family had built a strong reputation in the field since 1945, so it was always on his mind to one day enter the family business.

“I went to Northeastern University for five years,” he said, studying electrical engineering and business management there in the 1970s and taking advantage of NU’s well-known co-op work programs. “Everybody said, ‘why did you go to the co-op school?’ But I wanted to go through the experience of actually working and doing real interviews, knowing I was coming here, just to have that experience.

“I came back here and thought I was going to take a month off, and my father said, ‘you can have a day off,’” he went on. “So I came right to work, right out of college.”

He knew that was a good decision and knows it even more now, almost a half-century later, with Goodless Electric marking 78 years in business, still serving clients in the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors, just like his father, Leon Goodless, and uncle, Irving Goodless, did from the start.

Irving launched the business behind his parents’ home in Springfield, and his brother Leon joined in 1957, when the firm took the name Goodless Brothers Electric Co.

They did quite a bit of moving in the first few decades, Jeff said, to Riverdale Road in West Springfield, Worthington Street and then Winter Street in Springfield, then to the current location at 100 Memorial Ave. in West Springfield, alongside the Route 5 rotary at the Memorial Bridge. Irving retired in 1977, Irving retired in 1977, around the time his nephew came on board part-time. Jeff moved into a full-time role around 1982 and eventually took over the firm’s leadership.

“Everybody went into computer technology. That’s really what happened; they all went into IT, computer technology, and they weren’t going through the electrical programs. But now, I think the classrooms are filling up again.”

“Believe it or not, the type of work has stayed the same, although maybe on a larger scale later,” Jeff told BusinessWest. “But even way back when, they always did residential, industrial, and commercial work. They ran maybe three, four, six guys.”

At its heyday, Goodless said, the company was running about 90 workers, where now, it boasts about 20, keeping them busy with projects ranging from parking-lot maintenance and upgrades, generator services, and fire-alarm systems to lighting retrofits, swimming pools and hot tubs, and residential and commercial service upgrades, just to name a few.

“There’s a lot of jobs with UMass Amherst, a lot of state work, some city work, fire stations, DPW facilities, a little bit of everything. A lot of work for the housing authorities throughout the years, too,” he said. “We don’t do new homes, but I do additions and a lot of repair work. Out of our service department, we run about four vans, and we roll basically 24 hours a day.”

Goodless Electric celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2020

Goodless Electric celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2020, a major milestone for any company.

As the firm celebrated 75 years in business in 2020, an emerging pandemic posed serious challenges, especially since it was performing work at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, where COVID killed 84 residents.

“I couldn’t get my people to go up there, and I couldn’t really blame them,” Goodless recalled. “People didn’t want to work; people were scared. I had an outbreak in my office. It was challenging.”

What made a difference, he said, was the federal Paycheck Protection Program, which poured funds into businesses to keep their teams employed. “We took advantage of that; it was so helpful. We used it right. We used it responsibly. We kept guys going. In fact, we didn’t have to let anybody go through the pandemic at all.”

“I tell them, ‘if you work hard, if you work diligently, you can have anything you want. The sky’s the limit if you want to work.”

The economic ripple effects from the pandemic — particularly higher costs and supply-chain issues — still resonate, however. Goodless was able to stock up on things like 100-amp and 200-amp panels to keep housing projects moving, but said customers are still shocked to hear it might take nine to 10 months to get switchgear in.

“We say it over and over again: we’re not the chef; we’re the waiter. We don’t make the stuff,” he said. “It’s still a very difficult message to get through, though.”

 

The Next Generation

Goodless said the company’s reputation for fast response and competitive bids has helped it earn multiple awards for customer service.

At the same time, though, growth is challenging at a time when building trades of all kinds are beset with a talent drain.

“The workforce situation is awful,” he said. “You can get people, but it’s very hard to get good people in. But I’ve been pretty fortunate; I’ve been able to pick up a few people along the way during the past couple of years, and I’m working on a third one right now.”

Part of the issue has been the pipeline of new, young talent not keeping up with the pace of retirements, but Goodless said that might be changing.

Jeff Goodless’ first projects

This wall represents some of Jeff Goodless’ first projects for clients in the late ‘70s.

“Over the years, we noticed a huge decline in the electrical trade,” he said, referring to the programs young people were choosing to study. “Everybody went into computer technology. That’s really what happened; they all went into IT, computer technology, and they weren’t going through the electrical programs. But now, I think the classrooms are filling up again.”

He’s gleaned as much through conversations with teachers at the trade schools in Springfield, Westfield, Holyoke, and others, who say students are more serious than before about entering the electrical field and other trades. Part of the reason may be the talk of graduates of four-year colleges entering the workforce with six-figure debt and a cloudy career path.

“A kid in a trade, they’ll pay their dues and go through the program, and at the end, you can make well over 100 grand a year. And you’re going to do your side jobs like everyone does and make another 25 grand,” he said. “I tell them, ‘if you work hard, if you work diligently, you can have anything you want. The sky’s the limit if you want to work.’”

And work hard Goodless has over the past four-plus decades, outlasting many former clients whose companies are no longer in business. And it’s work he relishes.

“Everybody will have something different to say,” he noted when asked what he enjoys about running this 78-year-old business. “I love going after a bid, going over the numbers, and winning the bid. That gives me a thrill. My second-biggest thrill is going out and doing the buys.”

He’s also got his eye on making sure Goodless Electric continues to be a force for many years to come, even after it moves past family ownership.

“I always think about what I’m going to do with this business as I’m getting older. My ultimate goal is to turn it over to the employees, or half to the employees and maybe sell the other half, something of that nature,” he said. “I just want to keep the business going, keep the name going.”

Retreating Cannabis Sector Changes Real-estate Landscape in Holyoke

By
Trulieve will soon be leaving the Massachusetts market
Commercial Real Estate Special Coverage

Building Anxiety

Trulieve will soon be leaving the Massachusetts market

Trulieve will soon be leaving the Massachusetts market, and its property on Canal Street in Holyoke, leaving questions about the site’s future.

Aaron Vega calls it the ‘year of reckoning.’

And he’s not the only one who uses such language when talking about 2023 and the cannabis industry.

This has been a year when a confluence of forces has brought stern challenges to a sector that got off to a fast and hot start in this region. These forces, including mounting competition and falling prices, have prompted some players to exit the market — Truelieve was the latest to make that decision — and others to delay or cancel entry into it.

The impact of these rather sudden changes in the fortunes of the cannabis industry has changed the landscape in many different ways and in many different communities. But perhaps the greatest impact has been on the commercial real-estate market in the city that has most aggressively pursued this sector: Holyoke.

Indeed, a market that was once white-hot as Holyoke officials, led by former Mayor Alex Morse, rolled out the red carpet for cannabis has cooled off substantially, said Vega, director of the city’s Office of Planning and Economic Development, adding that this trend will likely continue as the cannabis sector continues adjusting and responding to the changing climate.

“We’re wondering … how does that property move? What does that company want to sell it for, and what is the acquisition cost going to be? It comes currently with a $300,000 tax bill; that’s a lot of money to keep a building empty. We’re hoping they’re able to move it or work with the city to find a public solution.”

A number of properties have been purchased or leased, and at prices that could not have imagined a decade ago. And as some cannabis businesses close or leave the market and others delay their plans to start, questions mount about all that real estate and what will happen with it.

“A lot of the buildings were locked up because they were purchased at a much higher price than they were probably worth, and now those companies are not going forward, or their timelines are stretched out,” he said. “Are they going to sell these buildings? Are they going to be able to maintain these buildings? They come with tax bills, and they come with maintenance; if you don’t have anything going on inside that you’re making money with, it becomes more of a struggle.”

The most visible manifestation of this changing landscape is the property at 56 Canal St., home (but not for much longer) to Trulieve’s 126,000-square-foot growing, processing, and testing facility, the former Conklin Office Furniture building. Truelieve poured tens of millions into purchasing, renovating, and retrofitting the former mill for cannabis-related uses, said Vega, who wondered out loud how the company could possibly recover that kind of investment given the current fortunes of the cannabis industry.

“We’re wondering … how does that property move? What does that company want to sell it for, and what is the acquisition cost going to be?” he asked. “It comes currently with a $300,000 tax bill; that’s a lot of money to keep a building empty. We’re hoping they’re able to move it or work with the city to find a public solution.”

While some ventures are slated to open in the coming weeks and months, Vega said, there are at least 20 properties for which special permits have been approved — for one or more of the several types of cannabis-related businesses — but where there has been little movement, if any, on site toward opening those businesses.

Vega said he was only half-kidding when he suggested that Trulieve donate its Canal Street property to the city and its redevelopment authority, which could then try to attract more and different kinds of indoor agriculture businesses. Among other things, the transformation of old mills across the city for cannabis-related uses has shown what can be done with those properties, he noted, adding that indoor agriculture could be a growth industry for the city — literally and figuratively — moving forward.

Meanwhile, another emerging model for these mills could be an incubator-like facility, such as the one taking shape at 1 Cabot St., another old mill, the former Riverside Paper Co. building, purchased by Tom and Karen Cusano in 2018.

1 Cabot St. will become an incubator of sorts

Tom Cusano says the property at 1 Cabot St. will become an incubator of sorts for several small, cannabis-related businesses, a model he believes has a great deal of promise.

There, several smaller companies, many of them social-equity ventures, are moving forward with plans, Tom said, adding that this is a different kind of model, and one he believes has some staying power.

“We have one operating tenant and four tenants who are in the licensing process, and we’re building out their space — they should be operational within 90 to 120 days,” he said, adding that this model calls for reasonable lease rates, most buildout handled by the owner, and opportunities to grow if and when the businesses do.

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, we take a look at what’s happening in Holyoke — and not happening, as the case may be — and what it all means moving forward.

 

Pot Luck

Vega told BusinessWest that the cannabis experience — and it is ongoing — has benefited Holyoke in a number of ways.

Beyond the hundreds of thousands of square feet of old mill space that has been absorbed and the jobs created, the arrival of this industry has given the city a tremendous amount of exposure locally, regionally, and even nationally and internationally, he said, adding that many people in business who didn’t know about the city’s assets and benefits, from available real estate to green, comparatively inexpensive energy, now do. And this bodes well moving forward.

For the immediate future, though, the relative strength and resilience of the local cannabis industry is the primary topic of conversation in this year of reckoning. At the very least, there are now real questions about whether this sector has already peaked, and if not, how much more it can grow.

To quantify and qualify the changes that have taken place, Vega talked about phone-call volume — as in calls from cannabis companies calling with questions about the city and opportunities to land there — and his overall workload when it comes to handling license applications and related matters.

“When I started in this job two and a half years ago, we were talking to companies once a week, and we had that peak of having 70 host agreements,” he noted. “Working with the City Council, we got 38 special permits approved; that’s a lot of work on a lot of people’s part.

“But now, I think we had two host-community agreements in the last three months, and two projects in front of the City Council and other departments for review,” he went on. “In two years, it’s changed quite a bit.”

Elaborating, he said many of the major players and ‘funders’ in this industry have already moved on to the next emerging markets in this industry, such as Connecticut and New York, with their attention also focused on federal legislation to legalize cannabis.

“With the cannabis industry, it was kind of predatory; everyone looked at it like it was the golden goose. If you had a building, you asked for four times what it was worth, and if you had space to lease, you asked the tenant to spend millions of dollars to fix up your run-down building.”

All of this is reflected in the commercial real-estate market, he said, referencing the large question marks now hanging over several of the properties acquired or leased — at high prices — with cannabis businesses in mind.

Cusano, who purchased his property not long after cannabis was legalized in this state, summed up the market frenzy, if that’s the right term, this way:

“With the cannabis industry, it was kind of predatory; everyone looked at it like it was the golden goose. If you had a building, you asked for four times what it was worth, and if you had space to lease, you asked the tenant to spend millions of dollars to fix up your run-down building. And, quite honestly, very few people could afford that.

“Some of the big, multi-state operators came in with deep pockets and dumped tons of money,” he went on. “And as we can see with Trulieve, that doesn’t seem to work.”

He’s taking a different approach, one he thinks will generate some long-term success.

Indeed, at the Cabot Street property, he’s drawing on 20 years of experience with renovating and then leasing out a former mill building to emerging small businesses in New Hampshire.

“We’re trying to help these small businesses get started; we’re doing the lion’s share of the renovation work and essentially giving them a turnkey operation except for fixtures and whatever they need to run their business, whether they’re doing cultivation, manufacturing, or processing,” he said. “We’ve talked with multiple tenants; we’ll have a retail dispensary in the front of the building that we’re working on.”

Elaborating, he said he and Karen purchased the building “for a song” and have invested far more than $1 million in it thus far. He said he’s had some experience with the cannabis industry in New Hampshire and Maine and understands its potential, both as a source of tenants and its importance to the community in question.

At present, there is one business operating at the property on Cabot Street, Mill Town, a cultivation and light-manufacturing operation, Cusano said, adding that several more are in the pipeline, ventures that will occupy 10,000- to 35,000-square-foot spaces.

He believes this model will fare better than some of the other strategies that have been tried — mostly companies overpaying to purchase or lease property, a situation that adds another layer of challenge to their ability to remain competitive in a rapidly changing market.

“People were overpaying, dumping a ton of money into these properties, and then the market collapsed because of oversupply, and they were upside-down,” he said. “We have a saying in the retail business — you can sell below cost and make up the difference with volume. But not for long.”

 

Bottom Line

Returning to his thoughts about indoor farming and how properties like the Trulieve facility might be turned over to such uses, Vega said such prospects represent just one of the ways the changing real-estate climate in Holyoke represents both challenge and opportunity.

“Let’s keep the cannabis industry, but let’s also help the local food economy,” he said. “Someone growing lettuce and micrograins can’t afford a $40 million building, but if the redevelopment authority can gain control of that building or sell it without needing to make a profit, and we can get a whole industry or a bunch of small businesses going, we can create a food economy, and that would be huge.”

He acknowledged, without actually saying so, that such plans represent a real long shot. The reality is that, rather than solutions, there might be more question marks for the buildings bought with designs on entering what looked at the time to be a lucrative cannabis sector.

And if things break the wrong way, Holyoke may wind up with what it had before it rolled out the red carpet for this industry — a large number of vacant and underutilized properties.

Westfield Celebrates a Lightning Strike

By
Chris Willenborg stands in front of one of the private jets
Community Spotlight

Community Spotlight

Chris Willenborg stands in front of one of the private jets

Chris Willenborg stands in front of one of the private jets based at Barnes Westfield Regional Airport, one of the many assets contributing to economic-development efforts in the city.

The F-35 stealth fighter is nicknamed ‘Lightning,’ and it is certainly expected to provide a powerful surge in Westfield.

The Pentagon announced in April that 18 F-35A fighters will be based at Westfield Barnes Regional Airport with the Air National Guard’s 104th Fighter Wing, replacing the F-15s that have been flying over the city — and on missions around the world — since 2007.

Rick Sullivan, president and CEO of the Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council — but also a former mayor of this city for a dozen years and currently a city councilor — said the F-35s will become an obvious point of pride for the community and the region, but there is an economic-development component to this decision as well.

Indeed, the move will stabilize and secure the long-term future of the 104th, which brings more than 1,000 jobs and millions of dollars in direct support to the local economy each year.

“The F-35s are obviously hugely important, not only to the operation of Westfield Barnes Regional Airport, but to the 104th, which is a significant employer in the region, and a significant business,” Sullivan explained. “Aside from being an absolute point of pride for the city and the region, it’s an important economic development as well.”

Chris Willenborg, manager of the airport, agreed.

“The F-35s mean a lot to the future of the 104th’s presence at the airport,” he told BusinessWest. “This decision really solidifies the 104th Fighter Wing having a mission at Barnes Regional Airport for the next 50 or 60 years; having a new fighter based here will be a significant asset for the airport moving forward.”

Meanwhile, the F-35s provide a powerful, up-close representation of an important part of the city’s economy: its precision-manufacturing shops, large and small, many of which provide parts to the defense and aerospace industries and planes like the F-35A.

Indeed, Sullivan, in talking about the presence of the precision-manufacturing sector and its importance to the region, has often noted that, when military or commercial planes fly over the region, residents can point to them and note that components of those aircraft are made in the 413.

And especially in Westfield, which boasts companies such as Advance Manufacturing, Boulevard Machine and Gear, and Peerless Precision, all of which have a number of customers in the aviation, defense, and aerospace sectors.

Tom Flaherty

Tom Flaherty says Whip City Fiber has become a $30-million-a-year business.

Kristin Carlson, president of Peerless, told BusinessWest that, after a lull toward the middle of the pandemic, business is picking up for Peerless and other precision manufacturers, who say their biggest challenge remains finding enough talented workers, especially as members of the Baby Boom generation retire in ever-larger numbers and the numbers of young people looking to get into this field remains … well, underwhelming.

“It’s still very much an employees’ market,” she said, adding that firms in this city and neighboring communities are competing tooth and nail for a very limited supply of qualified help, which is driving wages and benefits skyward and making it harder for smaller shops to compete against the larger national and international players.

While precision manufacturing remains a large and stable employer, the city’s economy is strong and diverse, said Mayor Michael McCabe, the former police captain who sought and won the corner office in 2021 and will seek a second two-year term this fall.

He noted the strong presence of manufacturing and distribution facilities, many of them located at or near the airport, as a well as strong retail (Walmart, Home Depot, and many others have locations in the city) and hospitality sectors, and major employers including Baystate Noble Hospital and Westfield State University.

It could also become home to a sprawling, $2.7 billion hyperscale data center complex planned for the city’s north side. That project and an accompanying tax-incentive financing plan have been approved by city officials, and the developers are awaiting word from the state on economic incentives it will provide to support the massive undertaking.

McCabe also cited a changing, rebounding downtown, one that will never again be the retail hub that is was decades ago, but is evolving into a collection of diverse shops and intriguing new developments, such as the housing complex taking shape in the former Lambson’s furniture store building on Elm Street.

For this, the latest installment of its Community Spotlight series, BusinessWest turns its focus on Westfield, where things are looking up — and so are people, especially when the F-35s are flying overhead, as they did at the recent airshow at Barnes and will do for perhaps the next 30 or 40 years.

 

Ready for Takeoff

McCabe said Westfield is a city that has long boasted a number of enviable assets when it comes to business and economic development. And it has taken full advantage of those assets.

That impressive list includes developable land, a commodity lacking in many area communities, especially in its North Side, which, as noted, has become home to a number of manufacturing and distribution facilities, the latter drawn by not only land but a turnpike exit, easy access to other highways, and rail service.

The list of assets also includes the university, the airport, and a municipal utility, Westfield Gas & Electric, which, through its comparatively low electric rates and expanding fiber-optic network, has become a key contributor to economic development in the city (more on that later).

As for the airport, it has long been a somewhat hidden gem, but it continues to emerge as a force in the local economy as home to not only the 104th, but also companies like Gulfstream Aerospace, where private jets are serviced, and also as a home base for a handful of jets and dozens of other planes.

“Westfield is at the crossroads of the interstates, I-90 and I-91, there’s rail access … and coupled with that is an industry-welcoming community.”

This will go down as a big year for the airport, which has thrust itself into the limelight in a number of ways.

For starters, it is celebrating its 100th birthday, Willenborg said, adding that this comes on top of the announcement of the F-35s, which brought press coverage locally, regionally, and nationally. There was also the recent Westfield International Air Show, which featured a wide range of aircraft, including the F-35A, and brought more than 100,000 people to Barnes. And just a few weeks ago, the Commemorative Air Force, a nonprofit group based in Texas, brought several vintage World War II aircraft — and thousands of spectators — to the airport.

On top of all that, Barnes is enjoying what could be called a building boom, he said, noting that there are four new hangars in various stages of construction, investments totaling between $8 million and $10 million, as well as two taxiway projects on the docket, one to start this month and the other set for next year.

Overall, the airport, which sees 50,000 takeoffs and landings each year, contributes roughly $1.2 million of direct revenue to the city, and its overall economic impact, according to a 2019 statewide study, is roughly 2,100 direct and indirect jobs and economic output of $236 million, numbers that take into account the 104th.

“The airport is definitely a major economic engine and employer here in Western Massachusetts,” Willenborg said, adding that the arrival of the F-35s is only expected to increase that impact.

 

The Jet Set

Also making a considerable impact is the city’s utility. General Manager Tom Flaherty said Westfield G&E’s rates are considerably lower than investor-owned utilities such as Eversource and National Grid, a competitive advantage that, when coupled with those assets listed above, gives the city a leg up when it comes to landing large manufacturing and distribution facilities, as well as the planned data-center campus.

One of the latest examples of the saleability of this package of assets is the arrival of James Hardie Building Products, which plans to open a construction siding factory in the former Old Colony Envelope plant in the city’s north side.

When it opens, the James Hardie plant will become the G&E’s largest natural-gas customer and one of its 10 largest electric customers, said Flaherty, adding that utility rates certainly played a role in the company’s decision to come to Westfield.

“It was a solid a mix of things — Westfield is at the crossroads of the interstates, I-90 and I-91, there’s rail access … and coupled with that is an industry-welcoming community,” he explained. “And when it narrows down to utility cost, and people are looking at cost and system reliability and the capability to meet that gas demand, Westfield has all that.”

Elaborating, he said Westfield has its own natural-gas spur that comes off the Tennessee Gas pipeline, which the G&E wholly owns, giving it — and the city — a huge advantage over communities such as Holyoke and utilities currently enforcing moratoriums on additional natural-gas service.

Another advantage — again, for both the city and its utility — is the G&E’s expanding fiber-optic business, Whip City Fiber. Launched in 2013 to provide fiber-optic service to residents and businesses in Westfield, the endeavor has become a $30 million-a-year business whereby the G&E has built out and now manages fiber-optic networks in 20 area communities — from Blandford to Goshen to Colrain — with more in the pipeline.

These include West Springfield and Southwick, said Flaherty, adding that more cities and towns in this region and beyond will be joining that list in the years to come.

“In the beginning, the broad goal was to bring an additional service to the residents and business of Westfield and, hopefully, break even,” he told BusinessWest, adding that, today, through its continued expansion in the city and to other communities, Whip City Fiber generates roughly $3.5 million in net income for the utility, money that is currently poured into expansion of the fiber-optic network to different parts of the Westfield.

Westfield at a glance

Year Incorporated: 1669
Population: 40.834
Area: 47.4 square miles
County: Hampden
Residential Tax Rate: $16.98
Commercial Tax Rate: $33.52
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

When the entirety of Westfield is covered by the service, that revenue can be put toward other initiatives, such as the utility board’s recent vote to make additional payments in lieu of taxes to the city with the intention that they be used to upgrade athletic fields in the city.

“We’re looking to partner with the city to turf up to six fields and pay the bond for that, up to $1 million a year,” he said, adding that many of the city’s athletic fields are in need of upgrading or expansion. “That’s a project where we can give back to the community as we continue to bring in revenue from communities outside of Westfield.”

 

Soar Subject

While the F-35s are expected to provide a boost in civic pride and some stability for the 104th and the local economy, the precision manufacturers in the area are hoping they do something else — generate some interest in the field.

Such forms of inspiration are still very much needed, said Carlson, adding that, despite attractive pay rates, good benefits, and even growing flexibility in the workplace, it remains a struggle to find and retain talent, a challenge that is testing many of the shops in the city, including hers.

Hiring was an issue before COVID, noted Carlson, who was honored by BusinessWest with its Difference Makers award in 2021, primarily for her tireless work to educate young people about this sector and hopefully draw more of them into it, adding that the pandemic and its many side effects, including generous unemployment benefits, only exacerbated the problem.

“Whoever thought it could get harder for manufacturers to find good people?” she asked with a laugh. “It’s always been a struggle for our industry, and post-pandemic, it’s been even worse; somehow, I was able to fill open positions inside of a month this year, and I’m not really sure how that happened.

“There are a lot of us in Westfield who constantly have job openings, and we’re trying to fill them, as is the case with every manufacturer in the state and the country, for that matter,” she went on. “The problem is the same that it’s always been — we have a limited skilled labor force that we can pull from, and we’re all competing for the same ones.”

Elaborating, she said Westfield Technical Academy graduates 16 to 18 students a year from its manufacturing department, and there are roughly 30 shops in Westfield alone competing for those students, many of whom are brought into shops as part of a co-op program while they’re seniors, with the goal of seeing them stay with the firm in question.

Meanwhile, the pandemic had the additional effect of pushing many Baby Boomers over the retirement cliff, Carlson said, adding that this drain of experienced talent further tested shops large and small, including Peerless, which saw two long-time employees retire over the past year.

Still, despite these challenges, most shops, including Peerless, are thriving, she said.

“We had a slump last year, but we’re coming out of it, and we’re at almost 90-degree climb now, so it’s good,” she said, using an aviation-industry term to get her point across. “We’re seeing a lot of large customers who had really slowed down during the pandemic coming back in full force, and we’re seeing customers come back that we hadn’t done business with in three years because of the pandemic.”

 

Uplifting Thoughts

Speaking of 90-degree climbs … the F-35s are not expected to arrive until 2026. But already, expectations, and the overall outlook for the city, are sky high.

After years of effort and lobbying on the part of city, state, and national officials, the latest-generation F-35s will be coming to Barnes, providing — as Sullivan, McCabe, Willenborg, and others told BusinessWest — both a point of pride and an economic boost for the city and region.

It’s a lightning strike, to be sure, and one with a powerful jolt.

A Sea Change for a Longstanding Legal Requirement

By Contributor
Law

Remote Online Notarization

By Sarah Federation, Esq. and Jeffrey Fialky, Esq.

 

Sarah Federation

Sarah Federation

Jeffrey Fialky

Most individuals have, at some point, had special documents executed in the presence of a notary public — perhaps in connection with estate planning, banking, or the purchase or sale of real estate. Massachusetts, like many other states throughout the country, has a very specific and particular set of statutory requirements for notaries’ public compliance. In fact, to become a notary, individuals must complete an application and obtain signatures of known and respected members of their community, and then swear an oath to abide by Massachusetts law.

Further, the process of a document being certified by a notary likewise follows a strict set of statutory disciplines — most notably, that the notary and the individual executing the document be physically located together, ‘in person.’ This in-person requirement has been part of the statutory regime since the inception of the notary statutes.

However, not unlike the countless other challenges that arose during the COVID shutdown, it became difficult for parties to meet in person for notary purposes. As a result, on April 27, 2020, then-Gov. Charlie Baker signed into law an act providing for virtual notarization to address challenges related to COVID. The act permitted notaries in the Commonwealth to notarize documents remotely with the assistance of electronic videoconferencing technology, but has since ended and been repealed.

As a result of the temporary change, parties throughout the Commonwealth undoubtedly became accustomed to the convenience and practicality of remote notary, with protections put in place to ensure the integrity of the process. Recognizing the benefits that came about, the Legislature has enacted a new law that will make virtual/remote notary a permanent feature of the Commonwealth.

“While Chapter 2 of the Acts of 2023 revises relevant sections of the act to continue to allow notarization via electronic means, there are notable distinctions in the revisions.”

Indeed, the Massachusetts Legislature has enacted, and Gov. Maura Healey has signed into law, Chapter 2 of the Acts of 2023, which specifically make extensive changes to notarial law in Massachusetts to become effective on Jan. 1, 2024. The substantive provisions of this law are distinctive from those in the now-repealed acts, and while the specifics of the law are currently being composed by the state regulatory lawmakers, the new law will have certain features.

Under Section 28 of Chapter 2 of the Acts of 2023, a notary public physically located in the Commonwealth may perform a notarial act using communication technology, like Zoom, for a remotely located individual if:

• the notary public has personal knowledge of the identity of the remotely located individual; has identified the remotely located individual by means of an oath or affirmation of a credible witness unaffected by the document or transaction who is personally known to the notary public and who personally knows the remotely located individual; or can reasonably identify the remotely located individual by not less than two different types of identity-proofing processes or services;

• the notary public is able to execute the notarial act in a single, real-time session;

• the notary public is reasonably able to confirm that a record before the notary public is the same record on which the remotely located individual made a statement or on which the remotely located individual executed signature; and

• the notary public, or a person acting on their behalf, creates an audio-visual recording of the performance of the notarial act.

 

Notable Distinctions in the Act

While Chapter 2 of the Acts of 2023 revises relevant sections of the act to continue to allow notarization via electronic means, there are notable distinctions in the revisions.

The Acts of 2023 allow for electronic notarial seals. The notary public can attach the notary’s electronic signature and electronic seal to an electronic record using a digital certificate in a manner that is capable of independent verification and renders any subsequent modification to the electronic document evident.

The Acts of 2023 allow for remote notarizations with technology approved by the secretary of the Commonwealth. A notary public may select one or more tamper-evident technologies to perform notarial acts with respect to electronic records. Any technology approved by the state secretary and selected by the notary require the notary’s electronic signature and electronic seal to be:

• unique to the notary public;

• capable of independent verification;

• retained under the sole control of the notary public; and

• attached to or logically associated with the electronic record in a tamper-evident manner.

The Acts of 2023 create a registry for individuals seeking to notarize documents electronically. Before a notary public performs the initial notarization using communication technology, the notary public must register as a remote notary with the state secretary, inform the state that they intend to perform remote notarization, and identify the technology that will be used. The state secretary will create and maintain a registry of service providers who meet the established standards.

The Acts of 2023 require that notaries be located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. A notary public physically located in the Commonwealth may perform a notarial act using communication technology for a remotely located individual if the notary public meets the above-referenced criteria.

The Acts of 2023 require attorney-managed closings for one to four residential homes. However, this does not extend to commercial transactions. With respect to any document executed in the course of a closing, only a notary public who is an attorney licensed to practice law in the Commonwealth, or a non-attorney under the direct supervision of the attorney managing the closing, will be able to perform an acknowledgment, affirmation, or other notarial act utilizing communication technology. Many of the activities that are necessarily included in conducting a real-estate closing constitute the ‘practice of law,’ and, as a result, the person performing them must be an attorney.

Finally, pursuant to the Acts of 2023, notaries must retain electronic records for a period of 10 years.

 

Future Implications

Naturally, one may consider what else is to come moving forward due to these revisions. The remote online notarization bill will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2024.

Pursuant to the Acts of 2023, the state secretary may require the completion of a course to address the duties, obligations, and technology requirements for conducting remote notarizations offered by the state secretary or vendors approved by the state secretary. However, if such a course is required, its duration will not exceed three hours.

In the event that this course is required, it must be successfully completed prior to notarizing any documents electronically. Most notably, certification of completion of the course would be a requirement in addition to registration with the state secretary.

The Commonwealth is no doubt following a growing trend in permanently solidifying the virtual notary revisions made in response to COVID. In doing so, it will allow both permitted attorneys and paralegals alike increased flexibility in the notarial act required when executing documents. Overall, this legislation will allow a streamlined process for attorneys and their clients in addition to the cost benefit.

While the Acts of 2023 are sure to continue evolving, it is imperative to stay informed regarding further changes, and it is our continued attention to this legislation that will allow us to provide the insight you may need ahead of the curve.

 

Sarah Federation is an associate, and Jeffrey Fialky a shareholder, at Bacon Wilson.

Former Employees Win More Than $20 Million in Two Cases

By Contributor
Law

Employers, Take Notice

By John S. Gannon, Esq.

 

John Gannon

John Gannon

A few weeks ago, Starbucks was in all the employment-law headlines, but not for good reasons. Given the publicity, you may have heard about the case of former Starbucks employee Shannon Phillips, who worked in the Philadelphia area. Phillips was a white Starbucks employee who claimed she was fired because of her race. The jury agreed and ordered the coffee giant to pay her $25.6 million in damages.

What you may not have heard about was a more local case in which a Massachusetts employee was awarded more than $24 million by a jury who found she was discriminated against because of her mental health. Here are some details about those two cases, followed by some commentary on what these employers could have done to possibly avoid the massive judgments.

 

Phillips v. Starbucks Corp.

Shannon Phillips, who is a Caucasian female, began her employment with Starbucks in 2005. She started at the company as a district manager and was promoted in 2011 to regional director of Operations for ‘Area 71,’ which included all stores in Philadelphia and several suburbs near the city. On April 12, 2018, a Starbucks location in Philadelphia made national news when two African-American patrons who were having a business meeting there were arrested for trespassing. The event sparked protests throughout the Philadelphia area.

“Employers cold to the idea of reducing legal risk by paying severance ought to be mindful of cautionary tales about the penny-wise but pound-foolish.”

Starbucks later reached a settlement with the two men and issued a public statement that “Starbucks will continue to take actions that stem from this incident to repair and reaffirm our values and vision for the kind of company that we want to be.” Because she was the regional director of Operations for the Philadelphia area, Phillips was called upon by Starbucks leadership to support and implement their post-incident efforts. According to Starbucks, however, she displayed poor leadership and “failed to perform the essential functions of her role as regional director” after the April 2018 incident. As a result, she was fired.

Phillips sued Starbucks for race discrimination, saying her Caucasian race played a role in the decision to terminate her employment. In her complaint, Phillips said she “worked tirelessly” to help Starbucks repair its image after the event in Philadelphia, but that the chain’s attempts to repair community relations resulted in discrimination against white employees. The jury agreed and awarded her $25.6 million, which was mostly comprised of punitive damages (damages assessed in order to punish a defendant when the behavior is found to be especially harmful or malicious).

 

Menninger v. PPD Dev., LP

Dr. Lisa Menninger worked as the executive director of a global laboratory-services company. Her job included operational leadership, business development, research and development, and quality-assurance functions for optimal performance within the labs.

In December 2017, Menninger met with her supervisor to discuss her performance. During this meeting, her supervisor suggested that her role would become more visible, involving increased client visits, social interactions, and presentations. This change did not sit well with Menninger. The prospect of making her more visible, with increased client visits and social interactions, caused great distress resulting in “increased anxiety with somatic symptoms.”

About a month after meeting with her supervisor, Menninger disclosed (for the first time) that she suffered from generalized anxiety disorder that includes social anxiety disorder and panic attacks. She then submitted medical documentation noting that changes to her role would increase her anxiety and make it “substantially more difficult, if not impossible” to perform her job.

In response, the business did exactly what it was supposed to do. The company communicated with Menninger’s medical provider and asked the doctor to specifically address how and to what extent Menninger could perform each task. Her doctor responded, saying Menninger could perform most job duties with some accommodations. For example, for internal and external sales presentations, she could develop the slides and other materials, but required someone else to present to the audience. Similarly, for client meetings, she could be responsible for problem solving and idea generation, but she could not attend the meetings herself. The company ultimately determined this arrangement would not work. Menninger subsequently went out on an eight-month leave of absence, which culminated in termination of her employment.

She sued her former employer for disability discrimination, claiming (among other things) that the company broke the law when it refused to provide the reasonable accommodations she requested. The jury sided with Menninger and awarded her a whopping $24 million, consisting of approximately $1.5 million in lost wages, $5.5 million in front pay (an estimate of future lost wages had she remained employed by the company), $5 million for past emotional distress, $2 million for future emotional distress, and $10 million in punitive damages.

 

Bottom Line

Massive judgments like these can leave employers scratching their heads (or, more likely, pounding their fists). One way to potentially avoid these runaway jury verdicts is to use employment agreements that require employees (and employers) to go to private mediation and arbitration to resolve employment-related disputes, rather than going to trial.

Another option is an agreement between employee and employer that, if any dispute goes to court, the case will be heard by a judge, rather than a jury. These agreements are commonly referred to as jury-trial waivers. They are lawful, but businesses should use experienced labor and employment counsel to help put the agreements in place.

Another way to avoid costly litigation is to work out a mutually agreeable separation agreement with departing employees. Yes, this will involve paying severance to folks who may not be the best performers, but in exchange, you get a release of claims from the employee and an agreement not to sue the company. Employers cold to the idea of reducing legal risk by paying severance ought to be mindful of cautionary tales about the penny-wise but pound-foolish.

Finally, it goes without saying that, any time a business is facing a risky firing, outside counsel should be engaged to discuss the situation and the best way to move forward.

 

John Gannon is a partner with the Springfield-based law firm Skoler, Abbott & Presser, specializing in employment law and regularly counseling employers on compliance with state and federal laws, including family and medical leave laws, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and the Occupational Health and Safety Act; (413) 737-4753; [email protected]

 

Love May Make a Family, But Is the Law Protecting Yours?

By Contributor
Law

Parental Pitfalls

By Julie Dick, Esq.

 

Julie Dick

Julie Dick

Laws that govern familial rights and responsibilities are not always intuitively related to the continual social evolution of what it means to be a family. Many do not consider the legal realities of their family structure until a moment of crisis, and a lack of planning can cause difficult legal situations down the line.

When laws governing parentage were written, they contemplated families in which there was a biological mother and a biological father, and marriage was heavily incentivized. Since then, family structures and paths to existence have diversified. The law and society have both recognized a significant growth of LGBTQ+ visibility and rights, assisted reproductive technology has become increasingly accessible, and more children are being born to unmarried parents.

During the fight for marriage equality in the U.S., the importance of marriage to family building and parentage was one of the central talking points of the movement, and it is no wonder why. Marriage is often a social, religious, and cultural event, but it is also a legal contract that confers many protections, benefits, and obligations unavailable to unmarried people. From the right to access a spouse’s health insurance to the availability of some forms of family leave to financially significant tax and estate-planning benefits — the legal and financial impacts of marriage are broad. Until recently, those benefits, and the benefits associated with parentage, were categorically unavailable to LGBTQ+ families.

In Massachusetts, the automatic rights and responsibilities accorded to individuals within a family are still largely dependent on whether the birth parent is married. If a married person gives birth to a child, the second party to that marriage is automatically presumed to be the second parent. That parentage comes with obligations, but also rights, including a presumption of shared legal and physical custody (i.e., the right to make decisions on behalf of the minor child and to have that child live with them).

“During the fight for marriage equality in the U.S., the importance of marriage to family building and parentage was one of the central talking points of the movement, and it is no wonder why.”

Massachusetts was the very first U.S. state to allow marriage equality. A 2004 case, Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, interpreted civil marriage to mean “the voluntary union of two persons as spouses, to the exclusion of all others,” recognizing that doing so would advance the state’s interests in “providing a stable setting for childrearing.”

The decision directs the reader of Massachusetts marriage laws to interpret terms like ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ in a gender-neutral way. In 2015, marriage equality became available nationwide with a landmark case, Obergefell v. Hodges, in which the Supreme Court’s majority opinion boldly stated that “no union is more profound than marriage,” recognizing that it is so essential, in part, because it “safeguards children and families.” By accessing marriage, LGBTQ+ families can now access those automatic presumptions of parentage available to married people.

 

Sticky Situations

What if a child is born to an unmarried parent? In Massachusetts, the law views this family very differently. When the birth parent is unmarried, they have automatic sole legal and physical custody of the child. A second parent can establish their legal parentage by signing an acknowledgment of parentage or by asking a court to determine they are a parent. It was not until a 2016 case, Partanen v. Gallagher, that parents who were not the birth parent and not biologically related to the child (often the case for LGBTQ+ parents) could establish parentage under this law.

However, establishing parentage here in Massachusetts through either of these avenues is not the same as safeguarding parentage across jurisdictions, or across time in a changing legal landscape. Laws governing marriage and parentage are not necessarily entitled to comity — mutual respect and enforcement — between states or countries. A marriage or birth certificate that is recognized as valid in Massachusetts may not be recognized as valid in another jurisdiction. Parentage is only legally meaningful so long as the jurisdiction considering it agrees to give it meaning.

Future disputes with a co-parent and international travel pose two common points of risk when it comes to parentage.

Imagine you are in a committed relationship but haven’t gotten married. You and your partner decide to have a child together, and with the help of assisted reproductive technology, your partner carries a child. You present that child to the world and your family as your own and live together as a family raising the child. Eventually, your relationship breaks down, and your former partner now claims you are not a parent of your child and should not be awarded custody or parenting time. That was the scenario in Partanen v. Gallagher, where the ensuing argument involved years of contested litigation.

Occasionally, birth parents (married or not) have tried to take advantage of another state’s less LGBTQ+-friendly laws. By filing for divorce or custody in a state where the laws are not as inclusive, a birth parent may seek to interrupt the other’s legal parentage or gain an upper hand in custody or parenting time determinations.

In one infamous case, a birth parent residing in Vermont was dissatisfied with the state’s orders recognizing her former partner’s parentage of their child and filed a new case in a Virginia court, which denied the lesbian second parent’s legal parentage altogether. The resulting multi-state legal proceedings lasted years and involved multiple appeals. Ultimately, the birth parent kidnapped the child to Nicaragua and successfully remained in hiding until the child was 18.

The risks the accompany international travel can be even more surprising. Picture this: you’re on vacation with your family, and your child — born to your spouse during your marriage using reproductive technology — falls ill. Will the hospital allow you in the room? Give you information? Let you make vital medical decisions? Let you take your child home? “It depends” is hardly a comforting answer.

 

Adoption as an Answer

For those wishing to decrease that uncertainty, adoption may be the answer. A 1993 case, Adoption of Tammy, confirmed that an existing legal parent and their co-parent can together adopt their own child to secure their parentage in Massachusetts and across jurisdictions.

Sometimes called a confirmatory adoption, marital adoption, or second-parent adoption, this was one of the first tools available for LGBTQ+ families to establish parentage of their children and remains the most secure. Unlike a marriage or a birth certificate, an adoption is entitled to comity across jurisdictions. In Massachusetts, it is a widely available legal proceeding which can stand alone or in addition to an acknowledgement of parentage or marriage to secure a non-birthing parent’s parentage.

In an internationally varied and ever-evolving legal landscape, consider utilizing the law to protect your family so you know what to expect when the unexpected happens.

 

Julie Dick is an attorney at Bulkley Richardson, where she leads the firm’s family-law practice.

Recovery Ready Workplaces Face Addiction Challenges Head-on

By
State Sen. John Velis and Ramona Rivera-Reno
Healthcare News

‘It’s the Right Thing to Do’

State Sen. John Velis and Ramona Rivera-Reno

State Sen. John Velis and Ramona Rivera-Reno say being a Recovery Ready Workplace is good for employees — and the bottom line.

 

State Sen. John Velis knows something about addiction and recovery, having experienced both in his life. And as chair of the state Legislature’s Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use, and Recovery who also serves on a national mental-health task force, he’s keenly aware of the intertwined challenges of recovery and employment.

That’s why he firmly believes the Recovery Ready Workplace initiative offers businesses a roadmap to not only help employees with the biggest challenges of their lives, but to help their business succeed at the same time.

“If you don’t have a healthy workforce, if you don’t have a workforce that is there, in the here and now, to do their job, you’re going to see that in your productivity — more specifically, loss of productivity,” he said.

So helping employees struggling with mental-health issues, addiction, and other challenges is certainly a bottom-line issue, he went on. But, more importantly, it’s a human issue. “It’s important to do it for many reasons, but most importantly, it’s the right thing to do.”

Velis shared these thoughts at a recent employer-appreciation breakfast presented by MassHire Holyoke’s Pillars of the Community Workforce (PCW) initiative, during which several local businesses were honored for their pledge to become a Recovery Ready Workplace — a national program he believes is more crucial than ever.

“What I know with absolute certainty is that the pain that’s being felt out there right now, the number of people dying, the number of people struggling with their mental health, is unprecedented,” he said, adding that this issue “absolutely transcends age, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, everything. There is pain out there.”

A Recovery Ready Workplace supports its community by recognizing recovery from substance-use disorder as a strength, according to MassHire. Companies that take the pledge actively work to maintain and support the employment of people in recovery and their loved ones, and creates a healthy and safe environment where employers and employees can work together to eliminate barriers for those impacted by addiction, reduce stigma and judgment of people in recovery, and start to shift attitudes and perceptions around these issues.

“What’s our mission? To create a culture of support for employers and employees that have been impacted by substance use and addiction,” said Ramona Rivera-Reno, executive director of MassHire Holyoke’s Re-entry & Recovery program. “And when I say create a culture, I’m talking about breaking down the stigma that goes with substance-use disorder.”

“What I know with absolute certainty is that the pain that’s being felt out there right now, the number of people dying, the number of people struggling with their mental health, is unprecedented.”

Reducing or eliminating that stigma is a critical step, she emphasized.

“We’re all in recovery from something, whether it’s recovering from surgery, recovering from the pandemic, recovering economically. There’s a lot of pressure on all of us. And we need to have the coping skills and the communication skills to overcome that as a community together. And that’s what the Recovery Ready Workplace is all about — educating employers, helping them educate their staff, adding it as a wellness benefit to their benefits. The more people you educate, the more communication you get out there, the more we’ll break down that barrier.”

MassHire Holyoke recently recognized

MassHire Holyoke recently recognized about a dozen local businesses for taking the Recovery Ready Workplace pledge.

MassHire notes that being a Recovery Ready Workplace does not mean accepting or enabling intoxication, substance use, or any unsafe conditions in the workplace. What it does mean is that the business:

• Acknowledges that addiction is an issue for many people by openly addressing the topic of drug and alcohol misuse, communicating about these issues in a non-judgmental and honest way to reduce stigma, and encouraging employees to discuss substance-use concerns and recovery successes in a non-punitive setting;

• Educates employees and customers about the disease of addiction and treatment resources and options;

• Offers policies and accommodations that support employees while rethinking hiring standards around gaps in employment, addiction-related justice history, and other considerations;

• Prioritizes safety by preventing employee exposure to unsafe conditions that could cause injury or illness that contribute to the development or recurrence of substance-use disorders, ensuring the workplace is an emotionally and socially safe and healthy environment for staff, and improving access to recovery supports; and

• Improves access to recovery supports by lowering barriers to seeking and receiving care for addiction, and maintaining recovery.

 

Making a Difference

Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia said the city itself is taking a pledge to be a Recovery Ready Workplace. He recognized why some companies would be hesitant to sign on, but agreed with Velis that it’s the right thing to do.

“Obviously, as a company, you have to make sure you have your systems in place to help navigate potential liability and harm to your company because that’s the bottom line,” Garcia noted. “But these are the folks that are helping you build that. So, whatever little bit you can do to help build people up, you’re going to see a return from those individuals that really appreciate the level of interest you’ve taken on them, and the risk you’ve taken on them.”

Rivera-Reno said companies and organizations that take the pledge agree to acknowledge and openly address the employees’ experience with drug and alcohol misuse in the process of recovery.

“A lot of people suffer from different things, whether it’s substance-use disorder, alcoholism, mental-health issues, and they don’t ask for help because the stigma attached to it. It’s a sign of weakness for a lot of people.”

“You’re free to educate your employees about the disease of addiction and treatment options in recovery support, and offer support. And there’s so many ways you can offer support.”

It can be as simple as offering a dollop of schedule flexibility. She cited one client who used to go to lunchtime recovery meetings, but could no longer do that at a new job. “So we had someone talk to the employer, and the employer decided, ‘well, you can come in early, and you can have a longer lunch and just stay later.’

“That makes a big difference to someone,” she went on. “Something simple like a flex schedule made all the difference. And that person’s still working today, and he wouldn’t have had the courage, I think, to do this if we didn’t have a recovery coach talking with him along the way, and if the employer wasn’t aware of our services and aware of what a recovery-friendly place is.”

Rivera-Reno called stigma a more deadly killer than cigarettes, heroin, or whatever substance because it keeps people in the shadows and keeps them from asking for help. Companies that pledge to help break that stigma, she said, are changing lives.

“A lot of people suffer from different things, whether it’s substance-use disorder, alcoholism, mental-health issues, and they don’t ask for help because the stigma attached to it. It’s a sign of weakness for a lot of people. It’s a sign of, like, maybe you’re not ready to work here. So by getting us into the different employers’ offices, talking about recovery as a community, we really make a difference in their lives.”

Garcia emphasized that, with the cost of turnover and difficulty retaining talent these days, it makes business sense for employers to support their employees who are struggling with some of these issues, rather than letting them fall through the cracks.

“Sometimes it’s not even the individual that’s suffering from personal addiction; it’s a son or a daughter or a significant other that impacts them and their performance in the workplace,” the mayor said. “So we’re taking a much more proactive approach when dealing with our employees to help them navigate these problems so that we keep our employees and don’t lose them.”

Indeed, MassHire emphasizes the bottom-line benefits of cultivating a Recovery Ready Workplace, including increased retention and fewer absences, a healthier and safer work environment, greater productivity and loyalty among staff, lower healthcare costs, and an enhanced reputation as a supportive, yet accountable organization.

And with 22 million Americans identifying themselves as people in recovery, it’s not something businesses can afford to ignore.

“You already have countless employees who are struggling with something, whether it be a substance-use disorder or something else,” Velis told those attending the breakfast. “You have that without knowing it.”

 

Breaking the Cycle

Velis ended his address on a personal note, and an encouragement to practice self-care. He said he was late to the event because he was bringing his son to daycare.

“Probably two or three years ago, I would have said to my better half, ‘I gotta go. I gotta be at work. I’m speaking at this event.’ And I don’t do that now because being a dad is the most important thing in my life, but also because I firmly believe when I go to bed at night that self-care is the most important thing every human being does — whether it’s going for a run, doing yoga, meditating, going to a 12-step meeting, or hanging out with my son.”

And that’s what Recovery Ready Workplaces do, proponents say, noting that recovery isn’t just stopping substance use, but taking a journey of growth, improvement, and perseverance. And that’s exactly the kind of employee companies taking the pledge value.

“If you were to look out at your employees and say, ‘raise your hand if you’ve ever struggled with a mental-health issue or a substance-use issue,’ you wouldn’t do that, but trust me when I tell you, many people in that room are struggling with it right now,” Velis said. “And when you welcome that, when you talk about it, when you let it be known that it’s OK, you’re doing a really beautiful thing.”

That’s because the stigma still exists, he added. “The three hardest words for any human being to say are also the most courageous words: ‘I need help.’ Behavioral health today is about meeting people where they are.”

MiraVista Chief Medical Officer Shares Advice for Summer Vacation

By Contributor
Healthcare News

Mental Health Shouldn’t Take a Break

 

 

Dr. Negar Beheshti

Dr. Negar Beheshti

How do students stay emotionally healthy during a long stretch of school vacation?

Dr. Negar Beheshti, a board-certified adult, child, and adolescent psychiatrist and chief medical officer for Holyoke-based MiraVista Behavioral Health Center and its sister hospital, TaraVista Behavioral Health Center in Devens, recommends a balance of structured fun and learning. She recommends as well that primary-care givers, be they parents or other guardians, do their due diligence to keep everyone safe and engaged in behavior that supports mental health.

With that in mind, BusinessWest asked Beheshti to talk about ways to make school breaks beneficial for students of all ages.

 

BusinessWest: What expectations around behavior are good to set during this time away from school?

Beheshti: This is a conversation geared to the child’s age. For example, children in elementary school may be doing a lot of summer-camp activities, and this is an opportunity to talk about appropriate behavior with other peers at the camp.

Should there be other informal activities for this age group more regulated by parents and guardians, it is good for primary caregivers to get to know them, advise their children to stay away from people they don’t know, and know that all activities are in a safe space, contained and chaperoned by an adult.

When you get to the tweens, they may not want the regular, structured routine of summer camp. However, it is still good to do some type of structured program, as it gives middle-schoolers the opportunity to continue social development and promotes new learning opportunities. Some school districts offer enriched learning programming at least part of the day that holds the potential to explore something new in a fun way.

The state Executive Office of Education has a web resource page (www.mass.gov/info-details/summer-learning) on summer programs for youth that are a mix of academic and the recreational.

 

BusinessWest: What about older teens? How can parents and guardians balance their desire for freedom with safety and wellness?

Beheshti: Young people old enough to hang out with their friends without an adult chaperone should have some type of device that allows their primary caregiver to reach them. There are all types of devices today, from smartphones to smartwatches, by which you can regulate whom your child can contact and track their whereabouts.

Again, you want to do your due diligence as a primary caregiver, get to know any parents or other guardians involved, know your young person is in a safe place, and, if they are going out, where they are headed and when they will return.

Parents and guardians should prepare as well for some age-appropriate talks on the expectations and pressures of friendships and relationships and that discourage experimentation with substance use. Drug-overdose deaths of teens have spiked in recent years; underage drinking remains a serious health problem in this country, and studies on the impact of the legalization of adult cannabis show an increase in use among teens.

High school brings a little more autonomy for teenagers and the need for more candid discussions on dating and substance use, including that the minimum legal age for buying, transporting, or drinking alcoholic beverages is 21.

“Parents and guardians should prepare as well for some age-appropriate talks on the expectations and pressures of friendships and relationships and that discourage experimentation with substance use.”

There is value for a teen who is old enough to look for a job. It gives the ability to have more autonomy and more cash to spend and save, and is a good use of their free time.

Parents and guardians should continue their due diligence in knowing who their child is hanging out with in high school, where they are going, and when they will return.

College students can be bit of a conundrum because they are adults. Maybe it is time to say they are coming back home as adults, and you will hold them to that standard in terms of their personal habits around the house.

They are old enough to get a job. This, again, allows them more bandwidth in what they might want to purchase for themselves, help with cost-of-living expenses when they are home, and helps structure their time.

Having structure is key in helping young folks during the summer not get distracted and into risky situations, as is knowing their friends. Have their friends (new and old) over the house and meet them during the summer. There is no harm in meeting your children’s friends of any age.

 

BusinessWest: How can parents and guardians best initiate a talk around accountability and acceptability during vacation?

Beheshti: The best approach is often from an angle of curiosity. This makes it conversational rather than who, what, when, and where. For example, adults often share about each other’s friends just out of an interest, and this tact will likely have more traction with teenagers and young adults versus grilling them.

There is also value in saying to your young person, “I remember my summers when I was a teen, and how my parents (your grandparents) were, and I understand today their concerns for me back then.” The more transparent and sharing (within reason) parents and guardians are, the better chance for more open discussion.

 

BusinessWest: How important is adhering to routines like bedtime during summer?

Beheshti: There can be some leeway. For example, if you have a 9- or 10-year-old, the average bedtime should be between 8 and 9 p.m. If you want to push it to 10 p.m. during the summer and have them sleep a bit later, you need — about two weeks before the start of school — to get that back closer to their school-year sleep pattern so they don’t wake up super tired and have a hard time adjusting the first week of school.

You also want to make sure they are eating healthy, balanced meals during the day with plenty of exercise.

 

BusinessWest: Is it important to spend more family time together during vacation?

Beheshti: There is value in trying to schedule at least one week, maybe two if you have the luxury, for some vacation — even if it is a staycation — with your kids, even when they are high-schoolers. They may roll their eyes, asking why the family is doing something, but being together as a family is something you may not get to do a lot during the school year.

 

BusinessWest: What mental-health issues come up during summer for school kids?

Beheshti: Historically speaking, and the pandemic years aside, the inpatient child and adolescent psychiatric bed census drops during the summer for several reasons. There is less demand on young people during the summer. This means, if they have been managing a diagnosis of depression or anxiety, for example, their symptoms tend to be less severe with less pressure.

However, one cohort of children that particularly benefits from structure and routine are those with developmental delays, including those with related neurobehavioral disorders such as autism spectrum disorder. We see the same amount of prevalence of children with a neurodevelopmental disorder needing hospitalization during summer because their preferred school routines have gone away.

 

BusinessWest: Why symptoms might indicate to a primary caregiver that a child is struggling emotionally?

Beheshti: If you see a noticeable change from what’s typical in their daily activities, meaning their sleeping, eating, or day-to-day mood, pay attention especially if it continues for more than two weeks. This is true even in someone who does not have a previous mental-health diagnosis. Consider making a call to your child’s pediatrician or primary-care provider, especially if they are not established with a psychiatrist.

Parents and guardians — again, coming from an angle of curiosity — could gently ask a child about a noticed change. If they are eating less, for example, you might ask if there is something wrong with their stomach, or is there something else going on in their life? A conversational approach, starting young, can make communication easier as a child ages.

 

BusinessWest: What support is important during the summer for a young person who may be questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity?

Beheshti: You hope that young people who are going through these transitions have had support during the school year. However, some kids may not get this, and there is the potential as well for peer abuse or bullying. A peer counselor would be a good source of support, along with finding a therapist who is experienced in delivering culturally competent care to individuals who identify as LGBTQIA+.

The Massachusetts Department of Mental Health has a web resource page, Young Adult Resource Guide LGBTQIA+ Resources, at www.mass.gov/info-details/dmh-young-adult-resource-guide-lgbtq-resources.

 

For more information on MiraVista’s inpatient behavioral-health treatment for adolescents, as well as adults, call (413) 701-2600 or visit www.miravistabhc.care

Electric-vehicle Charging Stations Proliferating Across the Country

By
charging stations
Autos

Power Play

charging stations

Gary Rome plans to more than double the charging stations at his Hyundai dealership from the current six.

 

 

Gary Rome understands the appeal of electric vehicles.

Start with the long-term fuel savings. At a time when gas still costs around $3.50 per gallon, he said an electric charge might cost around $1.25 for the same number of miles.

“It’s a good deal for someone who drives a lot,” said Rome, owner of Gary Rome Auto Group, which has a Hyundai dealership in Holyoke and a Kia dealership in Enfield, Conn. “As gas prices continue to be as huge as they are, the interest in electric vehicles is not going to wane.”

In addition, “the technology on the car is advanced. The performance is spectacular, and the response, the acceleration, is far superior on some of these electric vehicles as compared to ICE [internal combustion engine] vehicles.”

So, what — besides an initial sticker price higher than the average gas-powered vehicle — might make consumers hesitant to go electric? In many cases, it’s uncertainty about where they’ll power up.

“The infrastructure is still very immature; it needs to be developed,” Rome said. “There’s a lot of money out there from the federal government to support this, but it’s not happening at a rate we would like.”

The issue, for most electric-vehicle (EV) owners, isn’t charging at home; even level-1 chargers running overnight in the garage, at about four miles of range per hour, will give most drivers what they need to get around the next day, and Rome said local utilities are offering financial incentives to install level-2 chargers, which offer more than 30 miles of range per charge hour.

No, the big question, for many, is where to charge when away from home. And that landscape is improving, if not quite at the pace Rome and others would like.

“The infrastructure is still very immature; it needs to be developed. There’s a lot of money out there from the federal government to support this, but it’s not happening at a rate we would like.”

On the federal level, the bipartisan infrastructure bill passed last year invests $7.5 billion in electric-vehicle charging, $10 billion in clean transportation, and more than $7 billion in EV battery components, critical minerals, and materials.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration has committed to building out a national network of 500,000 EV chargers by 2030.  In support of this goal, the Department of Transportation announced the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, a $5 billion initiative to create a coast-to-coast network of EV chargers focused on major highways that support the majority of long-distance trips.

The idea behind this national network is to give drivers confidence they can always find a place to charge, as well as jump-starting private investment in charging infrastructure and electric vehicles and supporting the administration’s goal of having at least 50% of vehicle sales to be electric by 2030.

 

Confidence Game

The confidence factor is important; a AAA survey last year revealed that 25% of Americans say they are likely to buy an electric vehicle for their next auto purchase, with Millennials leading the way at 30%. Of those, 77% cite savings on fuel costs as the top reason.

However, consumer hesitation surrounding range and accessibility to charging points continues to hold many people back. The top objections to buying electric in the AAA survey included the high initial purchase price (cited by 60%), but also concern there are not enough places to charge (60%), concern about running out of charge when driving (58%), worries about the vehicle being unsuitable for long-distance travel (55%), high cost of battery repair or replacement (55%), and inability to install a charging station where they live (31%).

Clearly, some version of worry about not being able to charge the vehicle is a top concern.

Even as the range of EVs improve, “the deeper issue with range anxiety is that it’s going to take more than just improving how far an electric vehicle can go to convince people to make the switch,” said Greg Brannon, AAA’s director of Automotive Engineering and Industry Relations.

And even at home, not everyone can charge. While most electric vehicles come with a 120-volt, level-1 AC charger that plugs into a standard household electrical outlet, people living in dense cities or multi-family housing often find that public charging stations are the only option. So building the charging infrastructure not only along highways, but within cities is key to boosting consumer interest in electric vehicles.

Locally, auto dealers are answering the call. JM Electrical, which has installed thousands of EV charging stations across New England, announced it will install two level-3 charging stations, spare capacity for an additional one in the near future, and three level-2 charging stations at Marcotte Ford in Holyoke. In total, the charging bank, expected to be completed this fall, will have the ability to power up to 10 cars.

Level-3 chargers can bring a battery to 80% charge in under a half-hour. Marcotte is one of the first Ford dealerships in Western Mass. to officially roll out these new EV chargers in efforts to continually scale EV volumes in the region.

Mike Filomeno, Marcotte’s general manager, said Ford is committed to an electric future and understands the need for charging access. “There is demand, but we need the infrastructure to support it. You can’t sell vehicles that don’t have that. And what makes people comfortable is knowing they can get their vehicles charged everywhere.”

 

Station by Station

On a national level, the Biden administration says investments are paying off, with EV sales tripling and the number of publicly available charging ports growing by at least 40% since the start of 2021. There are now more than 3 million EVs on the road and more than 130,000 public chargers across the country.

Further accelerating the buildout of a reliable charging network, companies including Tesla, General Motors, EVgo, Pilot, Hertz, and BP, among others, are announcing commitments to expand their networks by thousands of public charging ports in the next two years, using private funds to complement federal dollars and putting the nation’s EV charging goals even closer within reach.

Rome’s Holyoke dealership now boasts six charging stations, of both the level-2 and level-3 variety, and he wants to install about eight more. He noted that Hyundai is fully committed to the EV movement, breaking ground six months ago in Georgia on a $5.8 billion production facility for electric cars and batteries.

“They see this as a very important part of our sales,” he said, “and they’re putting their money where their mouth is.”

Dora D. Robinson Remembered for Her Leadership, Passion

By
Women in Businesss

A Legacy of Caring, Getting Involved

 

Dora D. Robinson

Dora D. Robinson

It’s been more than 30 years since the incident just outside the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Springfield, but Nate Johnson says he won’t ever forget what happened that Halloween afternoon.

Or the woman who committed what he described not as an act of kindness, but rather as “heroism.”

A group of teenagers had gathered outside the MLK Center, he recalled, and a fight broke out among them — a “real fight.”

He was in the middle of it, he said, adding that, from seemingly out of nowhere, Dora D. Robinson, the director at the center, grabbed him and pulled him out of the fracas.

To this day, he doesn’t know why she picked him from among all the others. He’s just grateful she did, because that was simply the beginning of her influence on his life.

“She’s my superhero that came to rescue me,” he said, making a point to use the present tense, adding that Robinson, who passed away last month at age 71, essentially “adopted” him at that point and became a mother figure, mentor, inspiration, and someone who helped open doors and compel him to walk through them.

Opening doors and guiding people through them … that might be a concise yet effective way to at least start to sum up a remarkable life and career in public service that included a lengthy stint at the MLK Center, a tenure as president and CEO of the United Way of Pioneer Valley (UWPV), and many other leadership roles.

But her passion for serving the community, creating opportunities for others, and battling social injustice continued long after she formally retired, said those who knew and worked with her.

Indeed, Helen Caulton-Harris, commissioner of the Division of Health and Human Services in Springfield, who worked with Robinson on a number of initiatives and was her close friend, remembers that, just a few days before she fell ill, Robinson was working on a maternal health program in Indian Orchard and had called her asking if she would write a support letter so Robinson could secure funding for the initiative.

“Dora started her life in Elmira, New York, but Springfield was her heart and soul,” Caulton-Harris said. “She put everything she had into this community. Her leadership was critical. Even after she retired from her formal job, she still felt her passion to be a leader and to make sure she was creating opportunities and leaving a legacy of supporting nonprofits.”

Donna Haghighat, CEO of the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts, agreed. She said Robinson chaired one of the committees setting up the agency’s Young Women’s Initiative, one of many endeavors she was passionate about.

“She felt strongly about empowering young women of color,” Haghighat noted, adding that she eventually convinced Robinson to join her board. “What was compelling to her was that this initiative was mentoring young women of color, teaching them about philanthropy, which was very close to her heart. They learned about nonprofits that were doing work in the areas that they identified as barriers to their own prosperity in Springfield. So it was a wonderful way to learn that philanthropy can be a tool of social justice.”

Robinson learned that lesson early on in her career, and one of her many passions, said those we spoke with, was to impart that lesson on others.

For this issue and its focus on women in business, we reflect on the life and career of Dora D. Robinson, who certainly was an influential woman in business, with her business being the community she lived and worked in and her tireless efforts to bring about equity and opportunities for everyone.

 

Passion Play

Born in Elmira, Robinson made a lifetime commitment to social and racial justice starting with her participation in the Poor People’s March on Washington as a teenager in 1968.

She earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University, completed graduate studies at Smith College, and earned a master’s degree in social work from the University of Connecticut.

She put those degrees to use in a number of leadership roles with area nonprofits and on countless boards. She served as vice president of Education at the Urban League of Springfield and corporate director and vice president of Child and Family Services at the Center for Human Development.

“She understood her responsibility to mentor and nurture and create pathways for future leaders. She understood the need to give young Black individuals, as well as seasoned individuals, an opportunity for growth. She knew she held a unique responsibility to make sure there were others in our community who followed us.”

Starting in 1991, she served as the inaugural leader of the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center and as a member of the MLK Community Presbyterian Church, and actively supported the Project Mustard Seed campaign to raise funds to build a community center to serve as a place for youth and family in the Mason Square neighborhood to thrive. Nearly two decades later, she had established MLK Jr. Family Services, a multi-service agency with a $3 million operating budget, 75 full- and part-time employees, and more than 100 volunteers with services delivered at three program sites located across Greater Springfield.

Robinson took the helm at the UWPV in 2009 as the first woman to serve as its CEO. Under her leadership, the agency launched several new strategies to diversify revenues contributing to education, homelessness initiatives, basic needs, and financial-security programs. She also led the founding of the UWPV Women’s Leadership Council (now renamed the Dora D. Robinson Women’s Leadership Council in her honor) to engage local women leaders in supporting financial literacy and health initiatives for women and girls.

She retired from the United Way in 2017 but continued to work on passion projects, including the Indian Orchard Citizen’s Council, the Black Behavioral Health Network, and many others.

Over the years, she served in a number of regional, state, and national leadership roles with groups including the Springfield Regional Chamber, the Springfield Library Foundation, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston community advisory board, Springfield Technical Community College, and as a founding member of the Healing Racism Institute of Pioneer Valley.

Beyond all these lines on a résumé, Robinson is remembered for her boundless passion for the region and especially its underserved, her sense of humor, as well as her willingness to donate her time, money, and leadership to innumerable causes and organizations in this region and well beyond. She is remembered as a dynamic, forward-thinking administrator who led by example and was able to inspire others.

“As an administrator, Dora Robinson was strategic, and to me, that was one of her greatest strengths,” Caulton-Harris said. “She looked at the lanes of her administration, of her leadership, and she was very strategic about who she interacted with and how she interacted.”

Elaborating, she said Robinson understood the role she played as a Black woman in leadership roles and embraced all that came with it.

“She understood her responsibility to mentor and nurture and create pathways for future leaders. She understood the need to give young Black individuals, as well as seasoned individuals, an opportunity for growth. She knew she held a unique responsibility to make sure there were others in our community who followed us.

“Dora had a spirit that could not be harnessed. She was an explosive force of love everywhere she went; everyone she interacted with felt that generosity of spirit,” Caulton-Harris continued. “I think her legacy is one of warmth, almost like the warmth of the sun — her rays sort of permeated everything she interacted with.”

Johnson concurred, and said that, to him, Robinson was a more than leader in the boardroom. She was a leader on the streets of Springfield — in his case, quite literally.

“I’m thankful and grateful for her,” he said. “She treated me like I was her son. She stayed with me for the past 30 years, and I stayed with her. And she’s still with me.”

Caulton-Harris agreed, and then spoke for everyone who knew Robinson when she said, “frankly, I’m not sure how I move forward without her. I’ll miss her.”

 

Lasting Legacy

As he talked about Robinson, her legacy, and her influence on him, Nate Johnson said use of the past tense simply won’t cut it.

She remains a large and powerful force in his life and how he lives it, and always will be, he said, adding that the lessons she imparted, the example she set, and her directive to keep reaching higher and find new ways to make the most of his life, while also making a difference in the lives of others, will not only stay with him, but guide him for the rest of his life.

And there are countless people across the region who can, and do, say the same thing.

That’s the kind of impact reserved for superheroes.

Report Assesses Financial Impact from Loss of Fossil-fuel Assets

By Contributor
Wealth Management

Who Bears the Brunt?

 

One common rationale against climate action is that the resulting fossil-fuel investment losses could affect the retirement or long-term savings of a vast number of people. However, research co-authored by an economist at the UMass Amherst Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) finds that the loss of fossil-fuel assets would have a minimal impact on the general populace.

In high-income countries, most losses would be borne by the most affluent individuals, for whom the loss makes up a small percentage of their total wealth. In contrast, the financial loss of lower-income individuals would be small in dollar terms and feasible for governments to compensate.

The paper, published in the journal Joule and co-authored by Gregor Semieniuk, research assistant professor at UMass Amherst; Lucas Chancel, associate professor of economics at Sciences Po in Paris; and four other co-authors, builds on Semieniuk’s earlier research, which estimated the total amount of assets that would be lost, or ‘stranded,’ if ambitious climate policies caused fossil-fuel production to quickly decline.

Semieniuk and Chancel find that, in the U.S., two-thirds of the financial losses from fossil-fuel assets would affect the top 10% of wealth holders, with half of that affecting the top 1%. Because the top 1% tend to have a diverse portfolio of investments, any losses from fossil-fuel assets would make up less than 1% of this group’s net wealth. When the researchers repeated this analysis for the U.K. and continental European countries, they found similar results.

In contrast, 3.5% of financial losses would affect the poorest half of Americans. Asset losses make up a larger proportion of wealth for this group. However, because their overall net wealth (assets minus liabilities) is significantly lower, researchers estimate that the entirety of these losses could be compensated for as little as $9 billion in Europe and $12 billion in the U.S.

“There’s this idea that it’s the general populace that should be opposed to climate policy that creates stranded assets because their pensions are at risk or their retirement savings or just their savings,” Semieniuk said. “It’s not untrue that some wealth is at risk, but in affluent countries, it’s not a reason for government inaction because it would be so cheap for governments to compensate that.”

Semieniuk and Chancel detail three different potential ways governments could raise this amount of money. For example, policymakers could impose a very modest carbon-emissions tax. In addition, they could renegotiate their current liabilities to energy companies and use the amount that they save. A modest tax on the wealthiest individuals could also raise enough money to compensate for the least affluent groups’ losses.

“Even though our results are simple, they were not present in research or public debates before,” Chancel said. “This work is one step forward in understanding the winners and losers from the point of view of the assets that might be at risk in this transition.”

The research was supported by the U.K. Natural Environment Research Council, the United Nations Development Programme, an EU Horizon grant, the Leverhulme Research Centre, and the Leverhulme Trust.

Fitzgerald Law Continues Course of Expansion, Diversification

By
Managing Partner Seth Stratton with recently named Shareholder Andrea O’Connor.
Law Special Coverage

Working in Concert

Managing Partner Seth Stratton with recently named Shareholder Andrea O’Connor.

Managing Partner Seth Stratton with recently named Shareholder Andrea O’Connor.

 

“Non-traditional.’

That’s not a term you hear often in reference to a law firm. That’s because … well, the vast majority of them would still be considered the opposite — traditional, operating pretty much the way law firms have operated for decades now.

But Seth Stratton uses the word quite liberally as he talks about the firm he serves as managing partner, Fitzgerald Law, P.C., which is based in East Longmeadow but also has an office in downtown Springfield.

He says it applies to the firm’s founder and still very active partner, Frank Fitzgerald — “he’s always marched to a different beat when it comes to the practice of law; he’s a businessperson first and lawyer second” — and also how the firm’s members go about team building. Most recently, it was at a Bruno Mars concert at MGM Springfield (Stratton formerly served as vice president and legal counsel of MGM Resorts’ Northeast Group, and still had the requisite connections to buy 40 seats to the show), preceded by some bowling in the casino’s alleys.

That term also applies, to one degree or another, to how the firm is expanding, adding lawyers, and even making them partners.

Indeed, Andrea O’Connor, a bankruptcy and insolvency specialist who joined the firm in 2020 (not long before Stratton left MGM and rejoined Fitzgerald), was recently made a shareholder, continuing a pattern of growth and what Stratton called “re-invention.”

“More people have gotten involved as shareholders in the firm,” he explained. “And we’ve also been bringing in mid-career lawyers who have considerable experience and a lot that they can bring to the firm. We’re bringing people in non-traditionally to grow our firm, and as we grow, we’ll talk out ownership opportunities in the firm.”

The addition of O’Connor, as well as Christina Turgeon, another bankruptcy specialist formerly in solo practice, and Daryl Johnson, who specializes in everything from commercial lending to zoning, further diversify a firm focused mostly on business advisory work, said Stratton, noting that it handles a wide array of legal issues, including commercial real-estate development, acquisition, and sale; zoning, permitting, and licensing; and business succession and estate planning.

Bankruptcy and restructuring are now part of that mix, and an important part, he said, because, while the economy remains strong and bankruptcies have generally been on the decline in recent years, businesses do fail, and such work is part of providing the full range of services that businesses might need.

“We’re trying to figure out a model that allows us to capitalize on talent but not be wed to a traditional law-firm model. We are a little different, and we think this is what many of our clients like about us.”

Meanwhile, there are few firms in this region that have such expertise, he went on, adding that this is a key component of the firm’s overall growth strategy.

As he talked about that strategy, Stratton said the broad plan is to continue to grow and diversify the firm — it has added several new lawyers over the past few years and now boasts 10 attorneys and five partners — and take its expertise to different markets.

The Fitzgerald firm has opened a satellite office in Worcester, he noted, enabling it to better serve clients and potential clients in that part of state, and O’Connor and other attorneys in the firm are serving a growing number of clients in Boston and other metropolitan areas, as clients take advantage of the firm’s deep portfolio of services — and at Springfield-area rates.

Overall, Stratton said the firm is still trying to determine the “sweet spot” when it comes to the desired size of the firm, and hinted strongly that it will essentially know what that size is when it gets there.

In the meantime, it will continue to look for opportunities to add some rock stars to the roster and continue to grow and diversify in a way that could, indeed, be called ‘non-traditional.’

 

Additions of Note

O’Connor told BusinessWest that she would consider her own career path non-traditional.

She started with the Springfield-based firm Hendel & Collins, which specializes in bankruptcy and related work, after graduating from law school. After six years there, she left to serve as a clerk for the bankruptcy court.

She then returned to the firm, which became Hendel, Collins & O’Connor, P.C. While her partners eventually started winding down their practices, she was looking to take hers to the next level. The question was … where?

She said she had a number of options, but eventually decided to join the Fitzgerald firm in August 2020, the height of the pandemic.

“I started my last firm when I was eight months pregnant, so I make bold choices sometimes,” she said with a laugh. “But when the opportunity comes, you have to seize it; it was a huge opportunity for me to come here and work with this team.”

Fitzgerald has been creating such opportunities for other mid-career lawyers, said Stratton, adding that the traditional path that lawyers took for years — one where they would join a firm as an associate; make partner after six, seven, or eight years; get a bigger office; and stay with that firm for the next several decades — is increasingly not the norm.

Especially at Fitzgerald, a firm that was founded in 1992.

“There is a sweet spot in terms of size, and we’re all trying to figure out what it is.”

“We’re trying to figure out a model that allows us to capitalize on talent but not be wed to a traditional law-firm model,” said Stratton, who was on the partnership track at a large regional law firm but ultimately rejected that path and left for Fitzgerald and ultimately returned to it after a six-year stint with MGM that eventually saw him become the face of the casino. “We are a little different, and we think this is what many of our clients like about us.”

And when he returned, as managing partner, he continued and accelerated that process of reinvention, adding that it involves expansion and diversification of the firm, while focusing on what it does well.

Elaborating, he said the firm moved on from the work it was doing in such areas as family law and personal injury, and focused all its talent and energies on serving businesses and their families in all the ways they need to be served, including areas such as bankruptcy and insolvency.

Work in that realm has been relatively slow in recent years, said O’Connor, adding that an expected surge — or wave, or tsunami — of personal and business bankruptcies, one that would accompany an end of COVID-related relief efforts, has yet to materialize, and now there are doubts that it will.

“We’ve had a really good economy for a very long time,” she told BusinessWest, adding that the high-water mark for bankruptcy work came at the height of the Great Recession, some 15 years ago, and has been fairly tepid ever since, to the point where she believes fewer people are entering this specific specialty.

But there is always work in this realm, she said, adding that most of hers involve businesses in distress. Recently, she was appointed a Chapter 7 panel trustee in Connecticut, administering bankruptcy cases, primarily in New Haven, but also in Bridgeport and Hartford.

This additional focus on bankruptcy and insolvency enables the firm to better navigate the cyclical nature of the economy, said Stratton, adding that it also helps separate it from many competitors.

“This allows us to be more diversified and recession-proof in our own business,” he explained. “When the economy is good, the bread and butter of our business — transactional work, real-estate development work, loans and financing — is busy. When the economy goes in the other direction, some of that work dries up, but then, bankruptcy and insolvency work picks up, so it allows us to diversify.”

The recent staff additions to the firm have enabled it to get both younger and more gender-diverse, said Stratton, adding that he anticipates this growth pattern to continue in the years to come.

“I expect that the approach we’ve taken over the past two years will continue over the next several years,” he said. “But there is a sweet spot in terms of size, and we’re all trying to figure out what it is. We want to have enough lawyers to service the business, without growing too big to where we take on additional overhead, which pushes rate structures higher and you feel less competitive with clients.

“We don’t know what that sweet spot is yet,” he went on, “but we will find it.”

 

Bottom Line

Getting back to the Bruno Mars concert, Stratton said he still has a few MGM employees on speed dial who were able to make it happen.

The concert, bowling, and dinner in the sports bar before the show was a decidedly different course for the firm’s annual summer outing, and one that provided another example of how Fitzgerald is different and — here comes that word again — non-traditional.

Thus far, that character trait is serving it well, and Stratton and his growing team are committed to staying on this course moving forward.

Where it will take them is a question to be answered later — when they find that aforementioned sweet spot. For now, it’s a path toward continued growth and diversity, in every sense of that word.

 

Valley Springs Behavioral Health Hospital to Open in Holyoke This Summer

By
The new hospital
Healthcare News Special Coverage

Specialized Approach

 

The new hospital

The new hospital, seen here in the late stages of construction, will open in August.

 

As Dr. Barry Sarvet surveys Valley Springs Behavioral Health Hospital a couple months before its opening, he’s excited about what he sees.

“We are extremely excited to be providing a brand new, state-of-the-art psychiatric hospital facility for our communities in the Pioneer Valley,” said Sarvet, chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Baystate Health. “Hospital care for behavioral-health patients requires a specialized environment of care to ensure safety, comfort, and privacy for patients and a setting for a full range of therapeutic services to support their recovery.”

The Holyoke-based hospital does just that, he noted. “Our new facility is spacious and will have an abundance of natural light. It includes ample spaces for psychotherapy, rooms for art and occupational therapy, a gymnasium for physical activity and recreation, and access to outdoor spaces for fresh air. Psychiatric patients deserve to be treated in an environment of care that supports their dignity, and we’re so pleased to be able to offer this.”

But he’s just as excited, if not moreso, about what the hospital, a joint venture between Baystate Health and Lifepoint Behavioral Health, means for access to behavioral healthcare in the region, which still faces a shortage of inpatient psychiatric services and increasing mental-health needs.

“We care deeply about people who need psychiatric services and are committed to the success of this new project,” he said, adding that the partnership with Lifepoint is smart considering that organization’s expertise in the development of new specialty hospitals and its commitment to quality care. “In developing this new hospital with our Lifepoint partners, we are continuing and enhancing our commitment to fulfilling the mental-health needs of people in our region.”

Dr. Barry Sarvet

Dr. Barry Sarvet

“Hospital care for behavioral-health patients requires a specialized environment of care to ensure safety, comfort, and privacy for patients and a setting for a full range of therapeutic services to support their recovery.”

Baystate actually announced a partnership on this project with Kindred Healthcare LLC during the summer of 2000, before Kindred was purchased by Lifepoint Health about a year and a half ago. Lifepoint boasts more than 100 specialty hospitals across the U.S. focused on four divisions: skilled nursing, rehabilitation, acute care, and behavioral health, said Roy Sasenaraine, CEO of Valley Springs.

“There’s a significant need in Western Mass. for this specialized hospital. The behavioral-health needs in the population are so great, and the differentiation between this service line and every other service line is so different, you need something like this; just like having a specialty hospital for children, you need a special team to come together to care for behavioral-health patients.”

The new facility, set to open in mid-August, will increase capacity for inpatient behavioral healthcare for adults, children, and adolescents in the area by 50%. Built with the unique needs of behavioral-health patients in mind, the $72 million hospital is designed so patients receive their care and treatment in an environment that supports their recovery, Sasenaraine said.

The 150-bed hospital at 45 Lower Westfield Road in Holyoke, including 30 beds dedicated to longer-term care through the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, has been planned with patient safety in mind, he added.

“A benefit of new construction is that patient safety and privacy has been factored into every aspect of the building, from patient rooms to the gymnasium. We have fine-tuned every detail and thought of everything in terms of safety: toilets, window blinds, even door jambs. The new building allows us to make use of modern technology to elevate patient safety in a way retrofitting an existing unit could not.”

 

Access Points

A new service offered by Valley Springs Behavioral Health Hospital will be on-site evaluations following a provider referral, allowing some patients to be admitted without an Emergency Department visit at a different hospital.

Currently, around one-third of the behavioral-health patients evaluated in Baystate Health’s four emergency departments are transferred to facilities outside of Western Mass. due to a shortage of psychiatric beds in the region. With the opening of Valley Springs, more patients will have the opportunity to receive treatment close to home, Sasenaraine explained. The hospital’s location is intended to provide accessibility, being close to Routes 90 and 91, while also providing a facility focused solely on specialized care for mental health.

Roy Sasenaraine

Roy Sasenaraine

“The new building allows us to make use of modern technology to elevate patient safety in a way retrofitting an existing unit could not.”

He explained that patients will be admitted in three ways: people in crisis can be taken directly to the hospital by ambulance, other care providers will refer patients in need of behavioral-health treatment, and people can also walk in off the street.

“They might say, ‘I think I need help. I’m suicidal.’ That’s what my intake-assessment team is here for, to assess them for clinical issues, suicidal ideations, whatever it may be.”

Sasenaraine also noted that the new facility will provide employment opportunities with the opportunity to positively impact the lives of patients and families in the community. Employees currently working in Baystate facilities whose services will be transferred to Valley Springs Behavioral Health Hospital will have the opportunity to apply for positions there, in addition to opportunities for new employees to be a part of the joint venture.

“We’ll employ a lot of people, even some departments that didn’t exist before,” he said, such as a 24/7 intake department that will provide 18 full-time equivalent jobs. “For many people, this will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a part of building a new organization from the ground up.”

Behavioral-health services from Baystate Wing Hospital and Baystate Noble Hospital, as well as pediatric behavioral-health services from Baystate Medical Center, will begin to transition to the Valley Springs site in August. Spaces in those facilities will then be converted to primary and specialty care or will be used to accommodate the increasing demand for inpatient medical services.

Baystate Health is working closely with the Department of Public Health (DPH) during this transition. The affected inpatient facilities are expected to be fully transitioned by the end of the year, with most completing the move in the fall, and partial hospitalization programs transitioning by January 2024.

As Baystate Health works with DPH to facilitate the transition, a series of formal notices will be made, public hearings will be held, and DPH will work with Baystate Health to assure patient-access needs are met. This process has already begun, about four months before the intended full transition for each affected unit, starting in late May for Baystate Wing, mid-June for Baystate Medical Center, and late June for Baystate Noble Hospital; it will continue in July for the partial-hospitalization program at Baystate Franklin Medical Center.

Valley Springs Behavioral Health Hospital will be affiliated with the psychiatric services operated directly by Baystate Health, including a 28-bed Adult Psychiatric Treatment Unit at Baystate Medical Center, which serves as a primary site of training for medical students and psychiatric residents within UMass Chan Medical School – Baystate educational programs. This unit has a unique role in the care of patients with co-occurring and complex medical issues, requiring the resources of a general hospital.

Baystate’s Department of Psychiatry will also continue to operate its array of ambulatory behavioral-health services, psychiatric consultation services, emergency psychiatric services, and programs supporting mental-health treatment in the primary-care setting.

In addition, Baystate Health will continue to operate its 22-bed Mental Health Unit at Baystate Franklin Medical Center, which provides inpatient behavioral healthcare for patients in Greenfield and the surrounding communities. According to Ronald Bryant, president of Baystate Regional Hospitals, the decision to keep this unit open was made based on geography and Baystate Franklin’s history of integration of behavioral-health services, such as the 24/7 presence of recovery coaches in the Emergency Department.

“Baystate Franklin has spent many years building strength in behavioral-health practices that really connects with a lot of the other types of care provided,” Bryant said. “We didn’t want to lose the continuity of that integration.”

 

Fulfilling a Mission

Before coming to Valley Springs, Sasenaraine served as vice president of Operations for the central region of Spire Orthopedic Partners, where he led new construction, patient-access initiatives, and acquisition and integration work for Spire’s nine locations in Connecticut.

Prior to that, he served as vice president of Operations for Hartford Healthcare System’s East Region behavioral-health network, where he oversaw 18 locations, including six school-based programs, two emergency departments, one inpatient psychiatric hospital, eight ambulatory locations, and one inpatient juvenile program. His leadership led to the implementation of a new care model for adolescent, pediatric, and adult patients in inpatient care, along with the implementation of a new electronic medical record across all sites of care.

“Roy’s breadth of operational experience and his deep understanding of the behavioral-health setting make him the right leader for this new, state-of-the art facility that we are excited to open in the coming months,” Dr. Andrew Artenstein, Baystate Health’s chief physician executive and chief academic officer, said when the appointment was announced in the spring.

For his part, Sasenaraine said he embraces the opportunity to oversee a new specialty hospital that will increase employment in the region and generate $1.6 million in taxes annually — but, most importantly, provide more access to behavioral healthcare at a time when it’s needed.

“I know that we have an exciting road ahead of us,” he said. “I look forward to serving patients in Western Massachusetts with safe, high-quality behavioral-healthcare services.”

Auto Dealers Gain Some Momentum, but Challenges Persist

By
Mike Marcotte shows off one of the Bronco Sport models
Autos Special Coverage

Driving Forces

Mike Marcotte shows off one of the Bronco Sport models

Mike Marcotte shows off one of the Bronco Sport models on the Marcotte lot, one of the small SUVs that are seeing a surge in popularity.

 

Prior to the pandemic, Mike Marcotte recalls, there would be between 300 and 350 new cars on the lot at Marcotte Ford, the Holyoke mainstay started by his grandfather more than a half-century ago.

At the height of COVID, when there were supply-chain issues and a massive microchip shortage, there were maybe 30 or 40 cars on that same lot.

“Employees could park wherever they wanted at that time,” Marcotte, the company’s president, said with a laugh, noting that today, there are close to 200 cars on the lot on Main Street, partly out of necessity — there are still fewer cars available from the manufacturer — but also out of choice.

“You don’t need to have everything on the lot because you can factory-order vehicles,” he explained. “It’s nice to have all the options, but you have carrying costs, and you want the freshest product.”

This commitment to keeping smaller inventory levels has provided the business with another opportunity to expand what has become a complex of sorts on Main Street, one that includes everything from the dealership to a commercial truck center to a car wash. Indeed, Marcotte showed BusinessWest a row in the parking lot that is now the site of a construction project — one that will create a bank of charging stations to handle the growing volume of electric-car sales.

“You don’t need to have everything on the lot because you can factory-order vehicles.”

Rising electric and hybrid car sales and smaller inventories, by choice, are among the trends and ongoing developments in an auto-sales industry that is still in many ways adjusting to life post-COVID. It’s a time of challenge — higher interest rates, talk of recession, and some lingering availability issues when it comes to many makes and models, for example — but also opportunity, in the form of new and intriguing products (mostly those electric models), some improved incentives from the manufacturers, and some lingering, pent-up demand.

Other trends include a still-challenging used-car market — meaning challenging for dealers who struggle to find cars and challenging for consumers, who continue to face limited options and high prices — as well as steadily rising SUV sales and a growing willingness among consumers to order a vehicle rather than pick one off the lot.

Carla Cosenzi, president of the Tommy Car Auto Group, which includes Hyundai, Genesis, Nissan, Volkswagen, and Volvo dealerships, said she and her team, like most in this business, entered the year with conservative expectations, because of those challenges listed above, and two quarters into 2023, they are meeting them.

“It’s been such a volatile market, with inventory constraints, interest rates, and what’s happening with the economy, so we just made a conservative projection and figured we could always adjust if we needed to,” Cosenzi said. “We projected to increase sales over last year, which we always do, but not by a lot.”

Ben Sullivan, chief operating officer at Balise Motor Sales, concurred. He told BusinessWest that, after three years of decline, to one degree or another, and a 2022 that was essentially flat, 2023 was seen within the industry as a year when, despite higher interest rates and inflation, dealers would do some catching up.

Ben Sullivan, seen here with a Kia Sportage plug-in hybrid

Ben Sullivan, seen here with a Kia Sportage plug-in hybrid, said electric cars and plug-ins comprise a growing percentage of sales at the company’s many dealerships.

And they have, he said, although limited supplies have impacted the degree that they can do so, with some brands impacted more than others. He noted that, while there are still some supply-chain issues, the bigger challenge now is getting the cars to the lots.

“There’s still some fragility in the supply chain,” Sullivan said. “On top of chips and COVID lockdowns, which, for most part, have passed in the global supply chain, now what you’re dealing with are labor shortages at ports and shortages of rail cars — there’s a particular type of rail car that carries vehicles. And on top of that, at the end of this year, the domestic manufacturers will be renegotiating their AUW contracts.”

For this issue and its focus on auto sales, BusinessWest talked with several dealers about what’s happening with this market at the halfway point in the year, and what we can expect in quarters three and four — and beyond.

 

To a Higher Gear

Before addressing 2023, Sullivan first set the tone by recapping 2022, which was, by most measures, and especially the new-car-sales yardstick, a down, or flat, year. And the availability of cars, or the lack thereof, was the biggest factor.

“Every time we thought that someone was going to build enough cars to grow sales, they weren’t able to, or they weren’t able to ship them,” he explained, listing issues ranging from plant lockdowns due to COVID to a computer-chip shortage and backups at the ports. “So the industry was really under some pressure.”

“People like to feel and touch and experience what they’re going to be driving, so there’s definitely an opportunity to lose market when you don’t have the right inventory and your competitor does.”

The consensus within this sector was that things would rebound somewhat in 2023, but the bounce would be limited by everything from lingering shipping challenges to higher interest rates to inflation limiting consumers’ buying power.

And all that has come to pass, said those we spoke with, noting that one of the biggest issues still facing dealers is inventory. Indeed, while most all of them would carry fewer vehicles than they did before the pandemic, for those reasons mentioned above, they would prefer more than they have at present — at least with most models.

Cosenzi, like Sullivan, said inventory levels vary with the brand, with some manufacturers faring better at bringing cars to the lot than others.

“Hyundai has inventory, and inventory is becoming more available every month,” she said. “Meanwhile, Volkswagen’s inventory isn’t nearly as robust as Hyundai’s, and with Nissan, we’re slowly seeing it grow, but it’s not faring as well as Hyundai.

“Obviously, we’ve learned to be more disciplined through COVID and not having as much inventory, and I think that has trained the consumer to some respect,” she went on. “However, people like to feel and touch and experience what they’re going to be driving, so there’s definitely an opportunity to lose market when you don’t have the right inventory and your competitor does.”

Carla Cozensi

Carla Cozensi says inventory issues are among the many challenges facing dealers today.

Sullivan said inventories are generally improving across the spectrum of brands in the Balise stable, which now includes a second Subaru store (the other is in Rhode Island), with the quiet acquisition of the Steve Lewis dealership on Route 9 in Hadley early this spring. Overall, 60% of cars are now pre-sold, or factory-ordered, compared with 80% to 90% at the height of COVID.

Overall, he said, there is now more of a willingness on the part of consumers to factory-order vehicles and get exactly what they want — and wait several weeks for it — while rising inventory levels improve the odds of getting exactly what they want (or at least close) and driving it off the lot the same day.

Marcotte said levels of inventory are rising at his Ford store, but a good number of vehicles — maybe 33% of all sales, by his estimate — are still factory-ordered, with wait times of roughly six to 12 weeks, compared with four to six months at the height of COVID.

“It’s back to normal in many respects, but you’re still dealing with some supply issues; it may not be microchips, but other parts — one widget can hold up a whole vehicle,” he said, adding that it can still be challenging to secure adequate inventories of some product, especially, in his case, trucks and cargo vans.

 

Current Events

But while challenges persist, those we spoke with have seen several encouraging trends and developments.

At the top of that list is electric vehicles and hybrids, sales of which have been climbing steadily, if unspectacularly, over the past several years.

Within the Balise stable, Sullivan said, there are now 15 electric models, with more on the way, when a few years ago, there were just three.

“It’s back to normal in many respects, but you’re still dealing with some supply issues; it may not be microchips, but other parts — one widget can hold up a whole vehicle.”

“Soon, there are going to be 54 entries into just the electric-vehicle market,” he said. “And it’s going to be a very interesting landscape to watch as people decide, ‘can I go all the way in electric, and which one do I get, based on range and price and tax credits?’

“It is certainly a growing part of the business, but what’s interesting to watch as well is the number of people who go out with an electric and decide they’ll take one step away from that and go plug-in hybrid,” he went on. “We’re seeing a real demand push going on for plug-in hydrids; the hybrids have been around for a while, but the plug-in hybrid is really starting to come into its own. We’re seeing a huge increase in demand for those vehicles.”

Meanwhile, sales of SUVs, especially the smaller, crossover models, continue to dominate the market.

Some makers have all but stopped selling sedans — Ford has only the Mustang left in its portfolio, for example — amid growing popularity of SUVs, which appeal to consumers of all ages.

Cosenzi said sales of models such as the Hyundai Tuscon, Nissan Rogue, Volkswagen Tiguan, and Volvo XT60 continue to trend higher. There is still a market for sedans, she went on, noting that VW’s Jetta and Hyundai’s Elantra, both smaller models with comparatively smaller price tags, are still a strong seller. But that market is smaller and continuing to trend in that direction.

Marcotte concurred, pointing to soaring demand for the Ford Bronco and Bronco Sport, a smaller SUV that is capturing an audience.

“We’re getting a lot of new buyers because of the style of the Bronco Sport — we’ve had some Escape customers, people who have bought two or three Escapes, moving to the Bronco Sport,” he said, adding that another popular addition to the portfolio is the Maverick, a small truck that gets 40 miles to the gallon and lists for under $30,000.

As for the used-car market, 2023 has looked a whole lot like … well, 2022, said those we spoke with, much to the chagrin of consumers and dealers alike.

The problem, now and then, is inventory, or lack thereof, said Cosenzi, adding that supplies remain low, for many reasons. These include fewer new-car sales (compared to pre-pandemic levels) and, therefore, fewer trade-ins, as well as the fact that seemingly all constituencies, from consumers to car-rental companies, are hanging onto their cars longer.

That means there are fewer pre-owned cars on the lots, which equates to higher prices, a simple byproduct of the laws of supply and demand that is not likely to change any time soon, Sullivan said.

Cosenzi agreed, noting that dealers can’t get as many cars, and they have to work much harder to secure what they can.

“We’ve done a really good job sourcing them from our own customers, like marketing to people in our market that we’re interested in buying their car, and that’s how we’ve been able to maintain our levels,” she said. “But it’s been difficult. It’s been more work than it’s been in the past, that’s for sure.”

 

The Road Ahead

Summing up the mindset at Balise, Sullivan said the company is “bullish,” and in a growth mode.

And, increasingly, it is securing the fuel it needs for such growth — fuel in the form of inventory, demand for products (especially the new electric vehicles and SUVs now dominating the lots), and economic conditions that will prompt consumers to buy.

Time will tell what happens over the final two quarters of this year, but it seems likely that dealers will do more of that catching up that was projected for 2023.

 

Second Chance Animal Services Improves Lives of Pets — and People

By
Founder and CEO Sheryl Blancato.
Special Coverage Women in Businesss

No Place Like Home

 

Founder and CEO Sheryl Blancato.

Founder and CEO Sheryl Blancato.

 

It’s called Homebound to the Rescue.

The idea behind this initiative, one of many launched over the years by Second Chance Animal Services, is that many senior citizens can’t afford to provide basic medical care for their pets or don’t have transportation to bring them to a vet.

What Second Chance does is bring care to the pet owner’s doorstep by visiting low-income senior-housing areas to offer low-cost vaccinations, testing, and other care, so the animals stay healthy and, just as important, don’t have to be surrendered because they can’t be properly cared for.

Then there’s Project Keep Me, which provides temporary housing for the pets of domestic-violence survivors, enabling their owners to seek safe housing arrangements while ensuring the well-being of their animal companions, and later returning them to a more stable environment. Without such a program, people in crisis often have to choose between staying in a dangerous situation and losing their beloved pets.

“Our main focus is what we call surrender prevention. If they have a loving home, we want to keep them there, if at all possible.”

“Maybe your sister can temporarily house you, but she’s got dogs, and you have cats, and the dogs don’t like cats, so you have to find a place for your cats,” said Sheryl Blancato, founder and CEO of Second Chance. “So we’ll take the cats, up to 90 days. It’s a wonderful experience to be able to get those people out. We hope that shelters take the animals as well, but not all shelters do. They just need that transition time, and we need to get them out of that dangerous situation.”

“Keeping families and pets together” is a slogan found on many of Second Chance’s brochures, and for good reason: it’s at the heart of what Blancato and her team do.

Simply put, she founded the organization in 1999 primarily to find homes for homeless animals, but later began providing low-cost medical care and vaccinations, realizing that healthy animals are less likely to be surrendered. And many of the programs that have followed have been with the same goal in mind: not only to help animals find homes, but keep as many as possible from being surrendered at all.

“Our main focus is what we call surrender prevention. If they have a loving home, we want to keep them there, if at all possible,” Blancato said in describing why programs like Homebound are so important. “For those that are on Social Security, retired, on a fixed income, those pets are often their sole daily companion. They’re vital to the health of the senior as well. They provide companionship, they keep your blood pressure down, they stave off loneliness, and with dogs, they walk them, so they get outside and meet people.”

This focus on not only making sure animals have good homes, but also improving quality of life for their owners has seen Second Chance expand its reach dramatically over the past 24 years. From its beginning with $400 in cash and donated land, it now encompasses four hospitals (in North Brookfield, Springfield, Worcester, and Southbridge) and serves about 44,000 animals a year.

Second Chance’s Springfield location

Second Chance’s Springfield location is one of its four community veterinary hospitals.

“There are times I’m like, ‘wow, this is amazing,’” Blancato said. “I’ll sometimes go in a hospital to meet with a manager or something, and I just watch what goes on in the lobby, and I listen. And I think, if I had helped 44,000 animals in my whole career, that would have been great. But to have that be a yearly thing is wonderful.”

For this issue’s focus on women in business, we visited one of those hospitals to sit down with Blancato to talk about the broad work of this nonprofit, why it’s so important, and why more people — and donors — need to know about it.

 

Bringing Home Buster

At least some of the credit for her long career in animal welfare goes to an escape artist named Buster.

That’s the puppy Blancato — then a single mother of three — adopted during her 20s, following a tough stretch in which her husband left and she battled cancer. And Buster was “ridiculous” at getting out of the yard. So Blancato got to know East Brookfield’s animal-control officer, and they became friends — and he eventually offered her a job as an animal-control assistant. He retired not long after, and she took over his role.

“ I think, if I had helped 44,000 animals in my whole career, that would have been great. But to have that be a yearly thing is wonderful.”

“Once I became an animal-control officer, I picked up a lot of strays that were never claimed. And the struggle I had was getting them homes, getting them medical care, all that stuff,” she recalled. “I worked with no-kill shelters, which were many in Massachusetts, and I would have to hold on to the dog for a few weeks. And I thought, ‘we need a resource here in this community.’”

As it turned out, a neighbor had a plot of land he wasn’t using, and when Blancato approached him, saying she’d like to start a shelter, and asking if he would donate the land, he agreed. By that time, she had adopted another dog, Dusty, who had been abused.

Lindsay Doray says Second Chance not only rescues animals

Lindsay Doray says Second Chance not only rescues animals, many from other parts of the country, but also provides services that allow owners to keep their pets and not have to surrender them in the first place.

“He was the reason this became really important to me, because if I didn’t take him in, what would have happened to this dog? So that was the real kickoff for Second Chance.”

So, while raising three children — and, by that time, two stepchildren — she took that $400, raised whatever else she could, and built the adoption center that still sits on the property today.

“The original intention, when I founded the organization, was that it was for helping homeless pets, but we quickly realized that a lot of animals were being surrendered simply because the people did not have the means to afford veterinary care — something catastrophic happened in their life or to the pet.”

The shelter was offering spay/neuter services and vaccines in the early years, but Blancato realized she could do more to keep pets and families together through expanded veterinary care. The first hospital was built in neighboring North Brookfield in 2010 and expanded to full-service care in 2013, and the other three hospitals followed, giving Second Chance a broad footprint across Central and Western Mass.

“We had to strategically place hospitals because not everybody could get to North Brookfield,” she explained. “We do about 1,500 to 1,700 adoptions a year, but the rest is veterinary — spay/neuter, vaccine clinics, all of our other programs and services.”

Those services also include:

• The Helping Hands outreach, which assisted 76 rescue sites, shelters, and municipal facilities in 2022, providing low-cost spay/neuter and vet care, while accepting homeless pets from other facilities;

• Project Good Dog, which matches behaviorally needy dogs with inmates in pre-release programs at local correctional institutions, providing 24/7 care and training for the dogs while teaching handlers patience, compassion, and responsibility;

• A pet-food pantry that served more than 7,600 pets in 2022, distributing dog and cat food to 25 local human food pantries — again, helping financially struggling families keep their pets;

• Mobile adoption, education, and vet-care events; and much more.

The low-cost veterinary care provided at the hospitals makes a huge difference, longtime Development Manager Lindsay Doray said.

Rescue program brings mobile vet services

Second Chance’s Homebound to the Rescue program brings mobile vet services to seniors where they live.

“Prior to the services that we offer, people weren’t taking their pets to the vets yearly because they couldn’t afford to,” she noted. “Maybe they did the bare minimum and got the rabies vaccine, and that’s it. But when the animal became sick, either they would end up having to surrender the animal, or the animal would go without care.”

Blancato agreed that preventive care is critical.

“If you don’t get regular maintenance on your car, at some point, it breaks down, and then it’s very expensive. The same thing happens with animals,” she said. “A lot of people never go to the vet because of fear of the cost and everything involved. And once we get people in and they see that, ‘oh, this isn’t so bad,’ they understand that bringing them in yearly makes it a lot easier, and they can maintain the health of their pet for a lot less money.”

Second Chance’s services cost more than what clients can pay, so the nonprofit relies heavily on grants, donations, corporate sponsorships, and a few fundraising events each year to make up the difference and keep growing.

Even for adoptions, Doray said, “what we receive in adoption fees only covers about 50% of what we’ve put into the animal medically.”

At the same time, Second Chance is not short-changing its medical team, Blancato said.

“We have the highest quality of staff, and we pay at or above market standards because we want to attract veterinarians to us,” she said, noting that the U.S. is currently dealing with a shortage of between 7,000 and 10,000 veterinarians. Second Chance currently employs nine vets, but needs at least four more to keep up with demand.

“There’s a misnomer out there that, if you work for a nonprofit, we pay far less. And that hasn’t been true for many, many years,” she added. “We have to attract the same talent as any veterinary hospital; I’m competing for the same talent they are. I want the top talent here because I want the best of the care for the animals.”

 

Lending a Paw

Doray has worked with these animals — and families — long enough to understand the importance of what Second Chance does.

“I’ve had people say to me, ‘if people can’t afford an animal, they shouldn’t have one.’ And I say, ‘well, what about your 80-year-old grandmother who loses her husband, and she’s obviously not in the workforce anymore. You think she should have to give up her 15-year-old cat because now that she doesn’t have a spouse, there’s less money in the household?’ They say, ‘well, no, you can help those people.’

“Then I’m like, ‘OK, what about the woman who lost her husband at 45, and they’ve got three kids? Should they also have to give up the family dog because the husband’s gone and the mom now has to go back to work and she’s got three kids to support?’ ‘Well, no, you can help them.’

“‘So, what about a wheelchair-bound person whose dog or cat is their sole daily companion, and they’re not able to get anywhere? Should they have to give one up because they can’t physically work because of whatever injury or disability they have?’ And then they’re like, ‘oh, now I get it.’

“These are real-world situations that happen to people,” Doray continued. “Nobody expects to lose your spouse, but it happens, and you shouldn’t have to lose something else that you care about. Sometimes it’s a very temporary situation where you lose your job, and a year later, you’re back on your feet, and you’re able to pay the full veterinary cost.”

And many Second Chance clients do, indeed, pay full cost.

“Even for them, our rates are still very competitive,” Doray said. “But they also love our vets, and they support our mission, and they know that, by coming to us, they’re helping to subsidize the cost for somebody else, for the 80-year-old woman who just lost her husband and doesn’t want to lose her cat.”

Second Chance operates mobile vaccine clinics across the region.

Second Chance operates mobile vaccine clinics across the region.

Second Chance pushed through the pandemic like all nonprofits did, but those years set back the cause of animal homelessness nationwide by bringing adoption and spay/neuter programs to a temporary standstill.

“In 2019, we were so excited because euthanasia in this country had dropped to a point that I figured, within two years, we would be at zero. Then COVID hit, and it basically flatlined everything for two years,” Blancato said. “Now, we’ve got two to five years to get to zero, when we were so close.

“It’s heartbreaking for all of us in animal welfare, and I know it’s been devastating in the South, because they got used to not having to euthanize for space, and now they’ve had to go back to it. That’s why we want to get as many animals up here as we can and get them homes, and be able to take more.”

Blancato doesn’t envision working more than 10 more years, and said the organization has been structured — with a strong, dedicated team in place — to continue thriving long after that.

And it should — “because the need isn’t going to ever go away,” she said. “There’s always going to be a need to take care of animals, there are always going to be animals that find themselves homeless, there are always going to be people who need veterinary care. So this is very gratifying. But I didn’t do it alone.”

Paying Off Your Mortgage Early

By Contributor
Special Coverage Wealth Management

Whether to Do So Depends on Several Factors

By Barbara Trombley, MBA, CPA

Should you pay off your mortgage early? This is a common question that financial planners get, and the answer is not always what you may be thinking.

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, historic mortgage rates peaked in 1981 at a 30-year fixed rate of 18.63%. Throughout the 1980s, the 30-year fixed rate steadily declined to a lofty 10%+ in 1990.

According to historical data provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the average price of a house sold in 1980 was $76,400. Using these numbers and an online mortgage calculator, a $60,000 mortgage payment in 1980 would be $935 per month. This would have been an extraordinary burden for the average family. Paying off a mortgage as soon as financially possible would have been an excellent financial move at that time.

Fast-forward to our reality in the last few years. Those who were lucky enough to buy before the Federal Reserve started increasing interest rates after the pandemic were able to lock in historically low mortgage rates. It was not unheard of to get a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage under 3%.

Barbara Trombley

Barbara Trombley

“You may need more money than you think in the future due to healthcare costs, inflation, family needs, etc., and if it is tied up as equity in your house, it may be difficult to access.”

Even if you didn’t purchase your house in the last few years, if your credit was good, you would have been able to refinance to get these terms. The same $60,000 mortgage in 1980, calculated at 3% interest, would result in a monthly payment of $253 versus $935 at 18.63% — a huge financial difference.

Low-rate mortgages should be considered good debt. Why is it called good debt, and what is bad debt? I would consider good debt to be a mortgage, car loan, and some student loans. These types of loans may increase your future net worth or help you achieve your goals. Most people do not have hundreds of thousands of dollars in the bank to purchase a house, so a mortgage is a great tool to achieve home ownership. Purchasing a car can be imperative to get to a job for many people. A small loan, when necessary, would be considered good debt.

The same argument would hold for student loans. Of course, we do not want students to be burdened by debt. But for many conscientious students, loans are the only way to achieve their academic dreams and set them up for a financially stable future.

Bad debt can derail your financial goals with high-interest rates. The main source of bad debt that comes to mind would be credit cards, especially when used for discretionary purchases. Credit cards have notoriously high interest rates, and many people are not good at managing the debt. If you are paying off your charges in full each month, then the interest rate does not come in to play. Other sources of bad debt would be many personal loans and payday loans. Payday loans can be extraordinarily damaging, with interest rates as high as 30%. These types of loans prey on economically disadvantaged people who need cash before their actual payday.

 

Assessing Your Needs

So, should you pay off your mortgage early? My personal point of view is that, if mortgage debt increases your net worth over time, and you are investing your funds elsewhere, it is good debt to have.

Paying off a mortgage early, for many people, would result in becoming ‘asset rich’ and ‘cash poor.’ I like to use the phrase ‘living in a piggy bank’ to describe having your money tied up in a primary home. You may need more money than you think in the future due to healthcare costs, inflation, family needs, etc., and if it is tied up as equity in your house, it may be difficult to access.

Also, many homeowners mistakenly think it is best to leave a debt-free house to their kids. In my experience, most ‘kids’ do not want their parents’ home or cannot afford the upkeep. Upon their parents’ death, they will sell the house quickly and pay off any mortgage on the property and keep the remaining proceeds.

If you have spent the last 30 years diligently paying your monthly mortgage and it is fully paid, that is something to be proud of. If you have purchased a property in the last 15 or 20 years, think carefully and weigh the pros and cons with a financial advisor before making a hasty decision.

 

Barbara Trombley is a financial planner with Wilbraham-based Trombley Associates Investment and Retirement Planning. Securities offered through LPL Financial. Member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through Trombley Associates, a registered investment advisor and separate entity from LPL Financial. This material was created for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as ERISA, tax, legal, or investment advice. If you are seeking investment advice specific to your needs, such advice services must be obtained on your own, separate from this educational material.

East Longmeadow Faces Some Big Decisions

By
Bill Laplante
Community Spotlight

Community Spotlight

Package Machinery

Plans are moving forward for a large warehouse facility on the former Package Machinery complex.

For more than 35 years now, the property at 330 Chestnut St. in East Longmeadow, known colloquially as the Package Machinery complex, has been the subject of question marks about what will come next there.

Indeed, while there have been sporadic uses of portions of the sprawling property, especially its massive warehouse facility, over the years, it has been mostly vacant. The once-mowed acreage adjacent to the administration and production facilities is completely overgrown with weeds and other forms of vegetation. And the large ‘X’s on the front of the property instruct fire crews not to enter because it has been deemed unsafe to do so.

So the questions persist — only, these days, months after a controversial plan to build a large warehouse facility there were first unveiled, and weeks after the plan was approved by the town’s Planning Board with a lengthy list of conditions, they are somewhat different in nature.

Now, the questions mostly concern what these conditions, including one requiring a right turn out of the property, will mean for certain areas of the community, including its downtown and famous (make that infamous) rotary, and other communities, including neighboring Enfield and Longmeadow. They also concern whether these conditions will be altered and new ones added, and even whether the project will hold up under potential litigation from residents.

“This is a generational opportunity and investment; East Longmeadow is an incredible community, and this gives it an asset that is a great attraction for young families.”

The matter will be the subject of a reopened public hearing on June 20, said Planning Board Chairman Jon Torcia, adding that, when it voted to approve the project in May, the board noted the concerns about traffic and noise, but ultimately concluded that this was a use allowed within that zone, and one that should be approved, with conditions.

Overall, 2023 is shaping up as a possible watershed year for this growing community of more than 16,000 residents.

Indeed, beyond the controversy over the future of 330 Chestnut St., there is also the matter of a proposed new high school for the town, one with a sticker price now north of $177 million, with the town’s share expected to be roughly $120 million.

The matter is due to come up for a vote on Election Day, Nov. 7, and to say this a huge vote for the community would an understatement.

The current high school opened its doors in 1960 and is the last of the high schools built in this region during that time that is still standing. Some see the high school as a potentially limiting factor in the town’s ability to compete with other surrounding communities for families, current students, and even businesses. Meanwhile, the building is very much energy-inefficient at a time when municipalities are moving to build schools and other facilities that move in the other direction.

“This is a generational opportunity and investment; East Longmeadow is an incredible community, and this gives it an asset that is a great attraction for young families,” said School Superintendent Gordon Smith, adding that, if voters approve the measure in November, ground would likely be broken in the summer of 2024, with the new building, to be built on athletic fields behind the current facility, to be ready for occupancy in the fall of 2026.

Bill Laplante

Bill Laplante says building lots are increasingly difficult to come by, and when they do become available, they go fast, and for high prices.

But despite its aging high school and its uncertain future, East Longmeadow remains a popular landing spot for both families and businesses, especially with a uniform tax rate.

“The town has become very desirable,” said Bill Laplante, owner of Laplante Construction, a residential builder with offices on Main Street. And he speaks from experience — he grew up in East Longmeadow, graduated from its high school, and raised a family there. “When I look at it from a business standpoint, just seeing that people are trying to find land or trying to find homes in town … it’s incredible.”

Elaborating, he said that, while there are more building lots in this town than in neighboring Longmeadow or many other communities, the inventory certainly isn’t what it was years ago. This means lots that become available in the few subdivisions being built go quickly, and the prices of existing homes move higher (more on all this later).

Beyond the warehouse and high school, there are some other big decisions that might be made in 2023, including what to do with another long-vacant property: the former home of Carlin Combustion Engineering on Maple Street. It is due to be acquired by the town, said Town Manager Mary McNally, adding that a request for proposals will likely be issued. Meanwhile, there are plans on the table for renovating one of the town’s gems, Heritage Park, plans that might move off the table — or not, depending on a number of factors, including the high-school project and its cost to the taxpayers.

For this, the latest installment of its Community Spotlight series, BusinessWest takes an in-depth look at East Longmeadow and the many important decisions that will likely be made this year.

 

Developing Stories

As noted earlier, the property at 330 Chestnut, across the street from the Lenox manufacturing facility, has been a declining eyesore, and a source of seemingly endless speculation, for many years.

It appeared that an answer had been found several years ago, when a development group, East Longmeadow Redevelopers LLC, put plans on the table for a mixed-use facility, or ‘village,’ as it was called by some, one that would include housing and commercial uses. Those plans were conceived just before the start of the pandemic, said McNally, adding that the project essentially died on the vine amid COVID-related issues such as spiraling costs and supply-chain woes, as well as disagreement between the developer and the Town Council over how much of the space would be devoted to commercial uses.

“When I look at it from a business standpoint, just seeing that people are trying to find land or trying to find homes in town … it’s incredible.”

In its place, East Longmeadow Developers LLC proposed the large warehouse facility — more than 500,000 square feet in size, with 100 docking bays — which has drawn considerable opposition from residents, especially those in an over-55 luxury condo development called the Fields at Chestnut, citing increased truck traffic and noise.

The project is allowed, from a zoning perspective, and the Planning Board approved the proposal, with approximately 20 conditions, earlier this spring, Torcia said. One of those conditions, mandating a right turn out of the property, away from the Fields of Chestnut, was not discussed at earlier hearings, he noted, adding that it would certainly be the focus of discussion at the public hearing slated for June 20.

The developers have estimated there will be roughly 400 vehicle trips per day at the site, he said, adding that he believes that most of these trucks will take a second right — rather than a left and head for the center of town — and proceed to highways through roads in Enfield and Longmeadow.

“I think this project will bring benefits in that it will rehabilitate a blighted property that has not been operational for quite some time,” he explained. “But we did hear from people who spoke at the meetings who were rightfully concerned about an increase in traffic, going from a property where there’s been no activity to one with considerable activity.”

Mary McNally

Mary McNally says there’s plenty of support for a new high school, but there are also cost concerns.

There has been no activity, or very little of it, at the Carlin Combustion site for the better part of a decade, said McNally, but that could soon change now that the town is acquiring the property from its current owner.

She noted that motorists navigating Maple Street at or above the posted speed limit might not even notice the property, with its overgrown weeds and rusting signs hinting at its former use. But it has not gone unnoticed by town officials or the authors of the master plan, who have identified it as a potential asset.

East Longmeadow at a Glance

Year Incorporated: 1894
Population: 16,430
Area: 13.0 square miles
County: Hampden
Residential Tax Rate: $19.20
Commercial Tax Rate: $19.20
Median Household Income: $62,680
Median Family Income: $70,571
Type of Government: Town Council, Town Manager
Largest Employers: Lenox; Cartamundi; CareOne at Redstone; East Longmeadow Skilled Nursing Center
* Latest information available

Indeed, there are many possible future uses for the property, said McNally, adding that some would like it devoted to open space — it abuts a rail trail and a rail depot converted into an ice-cream parlor — or as home to a new public-safety complex, while others, and she puts herself in this category, would like to see housing of a more affordable variety than most all of the homes currently being built in this community.

“I think housing is the best option, and the Commonwealth has a lot of money designated for housing needs, and East Longmeadow needs some affordable options,” she explained. “There are a lot of new homes going up for $600,000 and $700,000; a lot of people who live here would like to stay here and perhaps downsize from a $200,000, $300,000, or $400,000 home into something smaller.”

 

School of Thought

When asked what plan B might be if residents do not support the proposal to build a new high school this fall, Smith, said that, in essence, there isn’t one. Or at least one that makes sense, in his opinion.

The only option for the town would be to spend an estimated $120 million to renovate the school and bring it up to modern codes, he said, adding that this isn’t much of an option.

Elaborating, he said that, through two phases of a feasibility study and feedback from residents and other constituencies, the town has moved to the point where new construction has been deemed the best option.

“The public feedback was ‘you might as well go for new construction because of some of the challenges that have been identified,’” he said, noting, as one example, that if the town were to upgrade the HVAC system to bring it to code, doing so would decrease the room size because of the need to create new walls to fit the HVAC equipment that would go between those walls.

“The Commonwealth has a lot of money designated for housing needs, and East Longmeadow needs some affordable options.”

He said the town has been talking about a new high school for at least a decade. Over those 10 years, the price tag has only increased, and the current projections — and these could change with final design — is approximately $177 million, with $55 million to $57 million to be reimbursed by the state.

This will obviously be a large burden on the taxpayers, said McNally, adding that, for a small community like this one, “the numbers are frightening.”

The exact impact on the tax rate hasn’t been determined, she said, adding that some estimates put the hit at $1,000 annually for the average taxpayer. Overall, she said it is difficult to project how November’s vote will go.

“There’s a lot of support for the school; I think everyone acknowledges, or most people acknowledge, that it’s needed. But then there’s the cost barrier. But in the absence of a new school, I’m not sure we can compete as well with Wilbraham and Longmeadow, both of which have relatively new schools.”

Meanwhile, a project of this size and scope might impact or delay other capital projects, such as long-needed, long-talked-about improvements to Heritage Park.

Indeed, McNally produced a thick file folder detailing roughly $7 million worth of improvements that include a new recreation center, an indoor gym, walking trails, dredging the pond, athletic fields, and more.

“We need soccer fields and play areas,” she said, adding that soccer fields at the Lenox complex, used by the town for years, are being converted to solar farms, and other facilities will no longer be available for public use. “Unfortunately, the school vote has somewhat tapered my encouragement of the progress of some of these other projects because you can’t pay for everything at the same time.”

Despite some of these municipal issues and question marks moving forward, East Longmeadow remains a community in demand. That’s true on the commercial side — many area banks have located branches there over the past decade or so, for example, and Chase, which is renovating a property in the center of town, is the latest to join that list — and on the residential side as well.

Indeed, Laplante said building lots are increasingly difficult to come by, and when they do become available, they go fast, and for high prices.

“You do a search for available building lots in town, and you find that there really aren’t that many,” he said. “There are scattered lots that are in established neighborhoods, but you don’t see many available building lots in a neighborhood setting.”

Still, there some new homes being built, including one his company is handling in a new subdivision off Prospect Street called Bella Vista. Overall, Laplante has built three of the homes in the complex — another high-end development where the lots are absorbed quickly, which in many ways reflects what’s been happening in this community over the past several years.

 

Thomas Meshako Takes the Helm at Greenfield Savings Bank

By
Franklin County

Putting the Focus on Community

Thomas Meshako

Thomas Meshako says Greenfield Savings Bank plans to grow organically and with a strategic expansion of its footprint.

Thomas Meshako acknowledged it was a quite a change moving from the large, regional institutions where he worked the first 30 or so years of his career in financial services to Greenfield Savings Bank.

But it’s a change he wanted.

“I decided I wanted to get out of the buying and selling of banks and really wanted to become part of the community — something I always felt was missing when you’re working in a bank and dealing with mergers and acquisitions and always trying to make the next quarter’s earnings,” he said, noting that most of the banks he’s worked for have been absorbed by larger institutions. “I wanted to be at a bank where we invested in the future, for the long haul, and that cares about the community it serves.”

He’s found all that GSB, where he arrived in 2016 as chief financial officer and serves now as president and CEO, new titles he was awarded late last fall following the search for a successor to John Howland.

Since arriving, and especially since becoming president and CEO, Meshako has been out in the community, taking part in events ranging from the Hatfield Bonfire music festival fundraiser to Northampton’s Pride Parade to Tapestry Health’s recent auction. As he talked with BusinessWest, he was gearing up for the Green River Festival, the massive three-day music fest (Little Feat is among the headliners) set for June 23-25 in Greenfield; the bank is a major sponsor.

He’s been at so many events, especially on weekends, that he’s spending far less time at his cabin in Vermont than he expected to be, but he acknowledged that “this is where I need to be.” By that, he meant Greenfield and GSB, an institution that crashed through the $1 billion assets mark in 2020 and is now focused on the next milestones — $1.5 billion and $2 billion — and what it will take to get there.

“When I looked at Greenfield Savings, I decided that it’s where I wanted to be. It’s a little different, but it’s exciting to work for a bank that was growing.”

The bank was celebrating its 150th anniversary when it passed the $1 billion milestone; when asked when he thought GSB might get to $2 billion, he joked, “sooner than 150 years.”

Elaborating, and turning more serious, Meshako said the bank plans to grow organically, and he is looking at expanding its footprint, specifically in Hampshire County, where five of its 10 branches are located. He didn’t pinpoint specific communities for new branches, but did say they would be towns deemed ‘underbanked’ by recent feasibility studies.

Meanwhile, GSB will be rolling out some new products, including a new rewards program for debit-card users, and continually upgrading its technology, with a new online product for loans and deposits, for example, to stay current and provide customers with what they want and need.

“Most people are looking for more convenience to bank from home, and we’re trying to make sure we offer that,” he said, adding quickly that brink-and-mortar branches, which provide visibility and other forms of convenience, are still a big part of GSB’s growth strategy.

For this issue and its focus on Franklin County, BusinessWest talked at length with Meshako about his new role, his long-term outlook for GSB, and his thoughts on Greenfield, Franklin County, and how this gem of a region is making major strides when it comes to economic development — and as a destination.

 

Generating Interest

As he talked with BusinessWest, Meshako gestured out the windows of GSB’s main conference room toward the other side of Main Street and the properties on either side of the Greenfield Garden Cinemas, one of the signature redevelopment projects of the past decade in this community.

“Just a few years ago, most of those storefronts were vacant,” he said, noting that they are now occupied, with everything from a book shop to a pop-up store that are, collectively, contributing to a new sense of progress and vibrancy in this city of almost 18,000 residents.

The GSB senior management team

The GSB senior management team includes, from left, Lori Grover, Mark Grumoli, Thomas Meshako, Steve Hamlin, and Shandra Richardson.

And there is more coming, he said, noting the highly anticipated redevelopment of the former Wilson’s Department Store, a few blocks down Main Street from the bank, into a mix of retail (specifically the Green Fields Market) and housing, which he believes is sorely needed in this community.

“Availability of housing is very tight in Greenfield and all of Franklin and Hampshire counties,” he explained. “This is something we desperately need, and that’s one of the reasons why this project is so exciting.”

Getting involved in a community at this level was an element missing for most of Meshako’s career, one that, as noted earlier, was marked mostly by work at larger, regional banks that have since been absorbed by larger institutions.

Most recently, he served as chief financial officer of Merchants Bancshares in Burlington, Vt., a commercial bank with branches throughout Vermont and the Springfield market. Prior to that, he served in several positions, including principal financial officer, at Brookline Bancorp in Boston. There were also stints at Union Bankshares in Vermont and Chittenden Corp. and the institution that acquired it, People’s United Financial.

After nearly three years at Merchants Bancshares, Meshako was a looking for a new and different challenge, and found it at GSB.

“When I looked at Greenfield Savings, I decided that it’s where I wanted to be,” he told BusinessWest. “It’s a little different, but it’s exciting to work for a bank that was growing.”

And it has continued that growth pattern, he said, noting that the bank posted record earnings in 2021 and 2022. It won’t continue that streak this year amid spiraling interest rates that are negatively impacting both the residential and commercial loan portfolios and tightening margins, but it will be another solid year, he said.

And while achieving solid growth on the bottom line, the bank has also been able to increase its contributions within the community by 10% a year since he arrived — a pattern of improvement Meshako is committed to continuing.

Looking ahead, he said the bank has essentially ruled out additional expansion in Franklin County, where there are currently five branches, and instead will focus its sights on Hampshire County, where GSB currently has a physical presence in Northampton (two branches), Amherst (two branches), and Hadley (one location).

“We’re always the number-one lender in Franklin County, and we’re now the fourth-largest lender in Hampshire County,” he explained. “And we hope to continue to grow that market share as well. Within the Five College community, there is a need for housing, and being primarily a commercial real-estate lender, that’s a niche that I think we can fill; we’ve done very well there.”

GSB has conducted feasibility studies on which communities would make suitable landing spots, he went on, adding that he considers some communities underbanked because of some of the recent mergers and acquisitions which have left fewer banks in some markets and larger institutions in others.

In the case of community banks, and especially this one, the investment — and the commitment — in a new location involves much more than brick and mortar that goes into the actual branch building.

“We don’t just put a branch up … when we move into a community, we give to the local organizations, we hire local people, and we try to make sure that everything we do makes us part of that community,” he explained. “So it’s more expensive than just opening a branch or putting people in a location.”

 

By All Accounts

Getting back to that view out the conference-room windows, Meshako said Greenfield, and Franklin County as a whole, is seeing progress on many fronts, from tourism to Greenfield’s downtown, which has many new businesses and projects in various stages of development, from a new town library and fire station to the aforementioned Wilson’s redevelopment initiative.

“Greenfield is on its way up; it has a lot of character, and I hope it continues to grow and evolve,” he told BusinessWest, citing not only the new building projects and the new storefronts, but a greater livability — and relative affordability — that is attracting residents and entrepreneurs alike. “The people moving here want to be part of a community, and that’s what they find — community.”

And he believes more people are finding it these days, and will be finding it in the future, especially as technology, and changing attitudes in the workplace, enable more people to live where they want and work where they want at the same time.

“Because more people are now able to work remotely, we’ve definitely seen an increase in the number of people buying properties and moving to Greenfield,” he said, adding that, while this trend will certainly impact housing prices in the long run, it will also bring more support businesses, hospitality-related ventures, and general vibrancy to the region.

As Meshako talks about his bank, its plans for the future, and its involvement in the community, and also as he talks about Greenfield and the many positive developments there, it’s clear why he made that career change seven years ago.

As he said, he wanted to be at a bank that didn’t just have a mailing address on Main Street, but a stake in everything that that is happening on Main Street — and many other streets as well.

As Meshako said, it was a big change, but a change he wanted — and needed — to make.

And he has never looked back.

Massachusetts Central Rail Trail Completion Would Bring Benefits

By Contributor
An aerial view of part of the Massachusetts Central Rail Trail.
Construction

Pathway of Progress

An aerial view of part of the Massachusetts Central Rail Trail.

An aerial view of part of the Massachusetts Central Rail Trail.

 

A study initiated by the Norwottuck Network to assess the benefits of the completion of the Massachusetts Central Rail Trail (MRCT) system predicts that general health and wellness would improve and annual trail usage could quadruple, creating opportunities for overnight visitation, new jobs, increased local small businesses, and an overall economic benefit ranging from $87 to $182 million annually.

The nonprofit Norwottuck Network raised $75,000 to commission the study by Kittelson & Associates Inc. of Boston and Cambridge Econometrics of Northampton to evaluate the potential use and health and economic benefits of completing the 104-mile, multi-use bicycle and pedestrian trail system that runs east-west between Boston and Northampton along the historic Massachusetts Central Railroad corridor.

Findings outlined in “Envisioning a Statewide Connection: Mass Central Rail Trail Benefits Study,” released in mid-May, indicate that completion of the trail would result in increased usage of up to 4 million to 5 million people annually and reduced health costs from $4.1 to $5.8 million per year. On the economic side, a completed trail would create $87 to $182 million per year in new economic activity, including $55 to $114 million in new spending by trail users and up to 1,250 new jobs.

Leaders of the nine-member Norwottuck Network board, founded in 2000, will now ask the state Department of Transportation (DOT) to evaluate construction costs and create a timeline for completion.

Currently, 55 miles of the trail are officially open, with roughly 20 miles in the planning or construction stages. Challenging sections of the trail to be completed include areas where bridges are missing, trail segments that will need to be purchased from private owners, and needed repairs to a 1,000-foot tunnel near the Wachusett Reservoir.

A completed Mass Central trail would eliminate those barriers and open those sections, and also link the rail trail system to 18 additional existing and under-development rail trails, creating a 273-mile trail network within the state of Massachusetts.

“These long walking and biking trails produce a lot of benefits. The question was, is it worth spending public money? This report unequivocally says yes, it will be worth it.”

Craig Della Penna, president of the network board, said the DOT recently conducted a study to evaluate the feasibility of reassembling segments of the Mass Central Rail Trail into a unified trail system and released findings in 2021; no action was taken because the benefits had yet to be assessed.

“This report is the next step,” Della Penna said. “And we are not surprised by these findings. These long walking and biking trails produce a lot of benefits. The question was, is it worth spending public money? This report unequivocally says yes, it will be worth it.

“Consultants never overestimate benefits in an analysis,” he added, noting they are more apt to underestimate. “There are no negatives. Tourism is the third-largest industry in the state. A completed trail would allow people to bike right out of their neighborhood and explore the state in a way they’ve never been able to do before.”

Kittelson & Associates noted that the completed network would be within 10 miles of 64% of all Massachusetts residents and would offer a boost to 19 cities and towns defined by the consultants as gateway communities — those that face social and economic challenges but retain assets such as infrastructure or major institutions.

Among the gateway communities that would benefit are Barre, Billerica, Clinton, Easthampton, Hardwick, Hatfield, Lunenburg, Marlborough, New Braintree, Oakham, Palmer, Saugus, South Hadley, Southampton, Southwick, Ware, Warren, West Boylston, and West Brookfield.

The unequivocal positive impact on these gateway communities was the one surprise for Della Penna in the report. “This is a way to focus on making these communities better,” he said. “The state can’t help you improve your house, but it can help you improve your community. This is an infrastructure project that improves communities, helps to improve health outcomes, and will generate a significant positive economic benefit.”

 

Evolution of a Trail

Trains running along the Massachusetts Central Railroad traveled between Boston and Northampton, serving residents and industry through the early 1900s, until struggles with maintenance, negotiations over ownership, and damage from the hurricane of 1938 led to the railway’s eventual decline.

The MCRT began to form in 1980 when the MBTA and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management each purchased unused sections of the railroad corridor from the Boston & Maine Railroad.

The first section of the Mass Central Rail Trail was a segment called the Norwottuck Rail Trail. Completed in 1993, the Norwottuck Rail Trail segment between Northampton and Amherst was instantly popular.

“The state can’t help you improve your house, but it can help you improve your community. This is an infrastructure project that improves communities, helps to improve health outcomes, and will generate a significant positive economic benefit.”

In 1995, community leaders and volunteers in several Central Mass. communities formed Wachusett Greenways, a nonprofit with a goal to develop the Mass Central Rail Trail segment in the Wachusett region, including Sterling, West Boylston, Holden, Rutland, Oakham, and Barre. Their work inspired other communities to build their own sections of the MCRT corridor.

Kittelson & Associates said investments in multi-use trails throughout Massachusetts have provided meaningful economic and health benefits, and long-distance, continuous trails have greater impact. They attract through-cyclists and overnight visitors, which, in turn, results in increased spending on lodging and restaurants.

As part of its study, Kittelson & Associates surveyed current Mass Central Rail Trail users, receiving responses from more than 2,000 participants. These are among the findings:

• If the trail is completed, 26% of current users would use the MCRT for shopping, 16% to commute to work, 5% to commute to school, and 86% to access parks and other features;

• Ninety-three percent of respondents anticipate using the MCRT more frequently and traveling on the trail for longer distances; and

• Almost 50% would take a multi-day trip.

Other findings were based on economic and health results associated with use of the Erie Canalway Trail in New York and the Great Allegheny Passage in Maryland and Pennsylvania. These trails generate $253 million and $121 million per year, respectively, so the planners on the team of consultants estimate the MCRT could generate between $117 and $212 million annually.

“The MCRT shares many characteristics with these two trails, including similar tourism opportunities,” the report notes. “It would connect historic towns and improve access to outdoors destinations, such as rural areas outside of the Quabbin Reservoir area and in the Connecticut River Valley.”

The MCRT has an additional benefit in that it connects numerous rail trails in the Boston metropolitan area as well as Northampton and Amherst, which provide a second population anchor that will encourage travel along the completed route. One of the 18 trails that connects to the MCRT is the longest interstate rail trail in New England, the New Haven & Northampton Canal Greenway.

 

Broad Impact

Existing trail systems generate 1.3 million annual visits, with 15,000 overnight trips, giving Kittelson & Associates cause to estimate the completed MCRT would bring between 4.1 million and 5.5 million visitors, including 120,000 to 390,000 overnight visits.

Visitors to the existing MCRT currently spend about $19 million annually, and spending is expected to increase to between $74 million and $133 million annually for the completed MCRT.

The completed MCRT could also generate an increase of $87 million to $182 million from the economic activity associated with the existing sections of the MCRT, including up to roughly 1,500 new jobs, for total economic activity estimated at $117 million to $212 million.

Della Penna, a longtime advocate of rail-trail systems said of the study and next steps, “it’s big, and it’s ongoing.”

More than 10,000 volunteers across the state are involved in developing bicycle and pedestrian trails in the state. To read the report detailing the benefits of linking the undeveloped segments of the Mass Central Rail Trail into one unified multi-use trail across Massachusetts, and to learn more about the MCRT, visit masscentralrailtrail.org. To learn more about the Norwottuck Network, visit nnnetwork.net/about-us.

Methodology Changes on Form 5500 Will Impact Your Business

By Contributor
Accounting and Tax Planning

Calling for a Recount

By Kara Graves, CPA

 

On Feb. 23, 2023, the Department of Labor, the IRS, and the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp., in conjunction with the Employee Benefits Security Administration, released requirement changes to Form 5500, Annual Return/Report of Large Employee Benefit Plans, and Form 5500-SF, Annual Return/Report of Small Employee Benefit Plans.

There are many changes to Form 5500 for 2023. One of the more critical changes relates to how the participant count is calculated at the beginning of a plan year. The count is used to determine whether a plan requires an audit by an independent accountant. Typically, a benefit-plan audit is required for all large plans with more than 100 participants at the beginning of the plan year.

 

Old Rule

Before Jan. 1, 2023, the participant count included both active employees eligible to participate and terminated, vested employees with balances still in the plan. Using this calculation method, plans needed to include all employees currently employed and eligible for the plan, regardless of whether they were participating in the plan.

“Effective Jan. 1, 2023, plan sponsors will only need to consider participants (active and terminated) with account balances when calculating the number of participants at the beginning of the plan year. This means those active employees eligible to participate who have never contributed to the plan and/or received employer contributions will not be counted.”

Kara Graves

Kara Graves

Under the old rule, an audit was required for a plan with 100 or more of both active employees eligible to participate and terminated, vested employees with account balances. Even if a plan had fewer than 100 participant accounts with balances, an audit could still be required due to the eligible and not-participating employees.

 

New Rule

Effective Jan. 1, 2023, plan sponsors will only need to consider participants (active and terminated) with account balances when calculating the number of participants at the beginning of the plan year. This means those active employees eligible to participate who have never contributed to the plan and/or received employer contributions will not be counted. As a result, some plans might be able to file as a small plan.

 

What’s Next?

Plan sponsors should be aware of these changes and review their plan counts closely with their third-party administrators under this new methodology for the 2023 plan year. Plans with fewer than 100 plan account balances as of Jan. 1, 2023 (for calendar-year-end plans) will not need an audit, even if they previously did under the old rules.

What does this mean for plans that are hovering around the 100 account-balance mark during 2023? If your plan has 100 or more participant account balances on Jan. 1, 2023 (calendar-year-end plans), an audit is still required for 2023, but there are some steps that can be taken to reduce plan participants for Jan. 1, 2024 (the next plan audit measurement date for calendar-year-end plans).

Plan sponsors should be reviewing terminated employees with participant account balances of $5,000 or less. The plan sponsor should review with their third-party administrator the existing plan provision that allows the plan to force out terminated participants with balances of $5,000 or less. This plan provision could be utilized to reduce the participants with balances, which could potentially remove the audit requirement in the future.

 

Kara Graves, CPA is a senior manager and the Employee Benefit Plan Audit Niche leader at the Holyoke-based accounting firm Meyers Brothers Kalicka, P.C.