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USA Ninja Challenge Eyes Expansion into Western Mass.

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Commercial Real Estate Special Coverage

Warrior Mentality

Richard Knight says USA Ninja Challenge not only develops core strength, agility, and flexibility, but offers a positive, supportive environment to get in shape.

 

Richard Knight said the idea for a business that now boasts dozens of franchises across the U.S. — and will soon come to Western Mass. — has its roots in a video found on the internet.

Twelve years ago, he recalled, he was sitting at a luncheon with his friend, Dale Grant, who owned a gymnastics studio in Concord, N.H. with his wife.

“A friend sent a video to him of a child going over homemade obstacles, and we were sitting there saying, ‘that’s just like the TV show American Ninja Warrior,’” Knight recalled.

The child’s enthusiasm was infectious — and the show, which poses a series of challenges along a grueling obstacle course, was peaking in popularity around that time.

At the same time, Grant was lamenting the fact that boys were dropping out of gymnastics — it was becoming harder to keep them engaged as they got older — and he and Knight began talking about opening a different kind of gym. Knight had sold a business in 2008 and was looking for a different opportunity, and in 2015, the pair launched the first USA Ninja Challenge facility in Manchester, N.H.

“The kids see it as variety, working on cool new obstacles. What they’re doing is working different muscle groups — but don’t tell the kids that. They’re having a great time doing something different every week.”

“It’s an interesting model,” said Knight, a New Hampshire native and now the company’s CEO. “We took the basics of our backgrounds from gymnastics and CrossFit and built a curriculum for training children. It’s a different lesson plan every week. The kids see it as variety, working on cool new obstacles. What they’re doing is working different muscle groups — but don’t tell the kids that. They’re having a great time doing something different every week. The variety makes it exciting for them.”

Seven years ago, after a second site opened in Concord, USA Ninja Challenge opened its first franchised location in South Windsor, Conn. Since then, the company has opened — or is in the process of opening — about 50 such locations across the U.S., including three now operating in Massachusetts: in Andover, Marlborough, and, most recently, Norton.

And now Knight and Grant have Western Mass. on their radar. They have researched communities including Northampton, Holyoke, Southampton, and others, and are looking to open up to five locations in and around the Pioneer Valley, with the first expected to open during the first half of 2026.

“All our gyms are doing great in the Massachusetts market, and we’re looking to expand our footprint,” Knight said, before talking about why the company’s franchise model is attractive. “We’ve been able to get 60% of our gym owners to go cash-flow positive in the first month. That’s huge when you start a business — to get to that break-even point. That’s the first hurdle for any business owner. After that, you’re adding kids every month to the program.”

He said USA Ninja Challenge looks for locations within a short driving distance from at least 15,000 to 20,000 people, a quality the Valley has in spades. The sites will ideally have between 3,500 and 8,000 square feet of space.

“It takes about six months to find the right location. We’re looking for light industrial space, flex space — we don’t need retail, similar to a gymnastics studio. That’s what we’re targeting,” he explained. “Once we find a location and sign a lease, it’s 13 weeks to open. It’s highly automated, highly structured, from that point.”

With ambitious plans taking shape, Knight talked with BusinessWest for this issue’s focus on commercial real estate about what USA Ninja Challenge does for kids — and what it can bring to this region.

 

Fit and Focused

Open to boys and girls aged 2 to 17, USA Ninja Challenge is a year-round obstacle-course training program that combines basic skill sets from gymnastics, climbing, cross training, and track and field. The program features six levels to master with a wide variety of progressions, drills, and challenges, including rings, balance obstacles, tumbling surfaces, cargo nets, traverse walls, slack lines, ropes, ladders, and warped walls.

Ninjas that demonstrate their mastery of skills advance to the next level of training, and each participant progresses according to their own ability. Essentially, Knight said, the program aims to build children’s self-esteem, confidence, and sense of accomplishment, one obstacle at a time.

“When I put my stepson in the program, he was probably 20 to 30 pounds overweight and didn’t like school sports, and six months later, he was doing 10 good push-ups and holding a plank. At the end of the year, he was doing 100. Now he’s 21 years old, and he’s a fit young man.

“Traditional sports never worked for him. He didn’t like football, soccer, or basketball. Ninja gives kids of all abilities the chance to be challenged and get in shape, and we can also take top athletes and elevate them even further,” he went on. “The program helps develop core strength, agility, and flexibility for kids. You develop the upper body as well. It really helps in other sports because, if you have a strong core, that helps you with everything you do in life.”

Kids can enroll in memberships for one, two, or three visits a week, and those classes are supplemented with events like birthday parties, camps, and competitions, he added.

“What sets us apart from other franchises is a focus on families and community give-back,” Knight went on. “People we attract as owners are people that want to work with children and develop long-term relationships with families. It’s about helping kids get fit and feeling good about themselves, and putting kids and families first.”

He called the sport a “positive positive,” then explained what that means.

“We’ve been able to get 60% of our gym owners to go cash-flow positive in the first month. That’s huge when you start a business — to get to that break-even point. That’s the first hurdle for any business owner. After that, you’re adding kids every month to the program.”

“Say you go to a basketball game. People in the stands are booing kids, booing players, booing referees, and they’re cheering their own kids as well. In ninja, when we have a competitive event, you cheer for every athlete. There’s no booing. There’s no ‘oh, ref, you’re terrible.’ There’s none of that. The kids get exposed to an environment that’s all about themselves in a very positive environment.

“From a sports standpoint, that is huge with our kids,” he added. “There’s a lot going on in society today, and here, children can be in a very positive environment and feel good about themselves and grow. And that’s very good for us as parents, too.”

As for the community element, franchises have become involved, through fundraisers and other activities, with organizations like school PTAs and PTOs, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, 4-H, the American Cancer Society, Best Buddies, and many more.

“It’s really part of our nature to do those things on a regular basis,” Knight said. “So people who tend to be owners really like the family aspect of it, working with children, and the local give-back. That’s what’s unique about our business model, unlike a fast-food restaurant where you can make good money, but may not make the same kinds of relationships.”

 

Olympic Dreams

The latest development that has Knight and Grant excited is the elevation of obstacle course racing to the Summer Olympics, starting in 2028 in Los Angeles.

Specifically, it’s now part of the pentathlon, replacing equestrian show jumping. A few years ago, the International Olympic Committee evaluated a whopping 62 proposals to replace that event before deciding on a ninja-style obstacle course. The other four pentathlon events remain swimming, fencing, pistol shooting, and running.

Knight and Grant both believe this development will further legitimize the sport, providing both opportunities for kids to get fit — particularly those who don’t enjoy traditional youth sports — while boosting the profile of USA Ninja Challenge. Knight expects the number of franchises to reach around 90 within a year.

USA Ninja Challenge is looking to open up to five locations in Western Mass., starting in 2026.

USA Ninja Challenge is looking to open up to five locations in Western Mass., starting in 2026.

“We have a partnership with U.S. Olympics,” he told BusinessWest. “We run competitions for our kids, and top athletes get to train with Olympic coaches in the summer. We’re the only one that has a program like that because we have a curriculum that’s all about progression training for kids.”

“People we attract as owners are people that want to work with children and develop long-term relationships with families.”

The company has also been involved with the Junior Olympics program, offering ideas to help create a pathway for kids to compete for the Olympics in this sport. And it is growing worldwide. The Ultimate Ninja Athlete Assoc. saw about 10,000 kids from 23 countries at its championship in Anaheim, Calif. last year — a tenfold increase from 2023.

And when the Olympics added the sport to its pentathlon, 160 countries immediately signed on — the biggest adoption of any sport introduced to the Olympics, Knight said.

He’s equally excited about the potential of this growing youth activity to get kids active and in shape, a particular concern in this era of copious screen time. An article on the USA Ninja Challenge website touts several studies linking youth fitness to better performance at school as well.

In short, he said, the benefits are manifold, and for Western Mass., they will also include that community element he spoke of, as well as job creation.

“We need people to work with kids and provide kids with a positive, safe environment to develop,” he told BusinessWest, adding that there will be a need for coaches, managers, and other positions at the new gyms when they start to open up in this region next year. “It’s remarkable the positive impact this can have on the community.”

Great Barrington Is a True Destination

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

Community Spotlight

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

A Loss — and an Opportunity

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

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

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

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

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

Great Barrington at a Glance

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Taking Center Stage

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Project Will Restore WMA Chapel, Make It a Gathering Place

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The historic chapel, seen above in an archival photo, will be restored to its former glory and given a new role as a dining facility, as seen in the architect’s rendering below.
Education

Turning Back the Clock

 

The historic chapel, seen above in an archival photo, will be restored to its former glory and given a new role as a dining facility, as seen in the architect’s rendering below.

The historic chapel, seen above in an archival photo, will be restored to its former glory and given a new role as a dining facility, as seen in the architect’s rendering below.

architect’s rendering

Brian Easler calls it “an inflection point … a seismic shift in the academy’s upward trajectory.”

He was referring to a $20 million project to create a new kitchen and servery at Wilbraham & Monson Academy (WMA) and convert its historic chapel into a dining commons.

Those phrases ‘inflection point’ and ‘seismic shift’ refer to several aspects of this project and cover a lot of ground. Indeed, they reference everything from the magnitude of the upgrade in dining facilities — from fairly nondescript quarters to the fully restored chapel, with its vaulted ceilings and stained-glass windows, what students are calling the ‘Harry Potter dining hall’ — to the way this project will shift still more of the activity at WMA to the east side of Main Street, thus reducing traffic crossing the busy street.

“This will move the center of the campus from the west side of Main Street to the east side,” said Easler. “And that will generate a 70% reduction in student Main Street crossings, which is just one big impact.”

Meanwhile ‘inflection point’ also refers to the way this project galvanized the WMA community and especially its alumni base, from which the vast majority of the funds for the project were raised.

“This was not one of those fund-raising efforts where you put the ask out to everyone in the community … 7,000 alumni and everyone chips in,” Easler explained. “This was a handful of donors already close to the school, already close to me.

“We went out to them with personal appeals from the school to see if they were interested in the project,” he went on. “We were fortunate in that they were all interested in the project, and they were almost all able to help us with it; that’s how we were able to make it happen relatively quicky.”

“This space will serve as a unifying gathering place for our community. The dining commons will become the heart and soul of our campus, and a central part of the student experience.”

Elaborating, he said there were two lead gifts — from donors he was not ready to name — that generated much-needed momentum for the initiative, one for $7 million, the other for $5 million. “Several other people picked up on that momentum, and that enabled us to get to $20 million.”

Groundbreaking ceremonies were staged on April 25. Work is slated to commence soon, and the plan is to have the facility ready for the start of the 2026-27 school year.

Easler said the initiative represents the next phase in the school’s master plan for its campus, one with several components, including the construction of a new athenaeum, completed in 2020, which is connected to the chapel and will be connected to the new kitchen and server area, with the current dining hall to be converted to a state-of-the-art large-capacity theater and performance and meeting space.

The past and present will come together — literally, and in powerful ways, said Easler, noting that the rough-hewn brownstone exterior chapel will become the servery’s interior wall.

“During the day, the skylights will illuminate the servery with natural light,” said Easler, “highlighting the beauty of the original brownstone exterior and creating a stunning backdrop for a modern country-kitchen style.”

But while the project has many aspects to it, in many respects, the chapel is the primary focus. Completed in 1870, it has been used sparingly in recent years — for school meetings once a week, said Easler. It’s transformation into a dining hall will make it a much larger part of the school’s identity and its daily activity.

“This space will serve as a unifying gathering place for our community,” said Easler. “The dining commons will become the heart and soul of our campus, and a central part of the student experience.”

And the project will turn back the clock and restore the chapel to its original elegance and architectural allure.

“We have photos of the chapel when it was first constructed; it was magnificent on the inside, with exposed beams and stained-glass dormers,” said Easler. All of that is still up there, but it was covered with sheet rock somewhere along the line, probably to minimize the cubic yards that had to be cooled or heated. We have other ways to mitigate that now, so we’ll be opening it back up to its original beauty, and it will be a stunning dining room.”

Dave Fontaine Jr., CEO with Fontaine Bros., the general contractor for the project, as well as the athenaeum, agreed, noting that this project falls into several categories, everything from new construction to what would be considered historic renovation.

“It’s a very cool project,” he told BusinessWest. “There’s a lot of history in the chapel, it’s a really cool building, and I think this will be a gem of a project when it’s completed.”

— George O’Brien

Link to Libraries Creates Fund to Honor Steve, Sue Kaplan

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Steve and Sue Kaplan, left, with Laurie Flynn, executive director of Link to Libraries, and John Doleva, president and CEO of the Basketball Hall of Fame, a strong supporter of the agency.
Education

Recognizing a Legacy of Giving Back

Steve and Sue Kaplan, left, with Laurie Flynn, executive director of Link to Libraries, and John Doleva, president and CEO of the Basketball Hall of Fame, a strong supporter of the agency.

Steve and Sue Kaplan, left, with Laurie Flynn, executive director of Link to Libraries, and John Doleva, president and CEO of the Basketball Hall of Fame, a strong supporter of the agency.

 

As she talked about Steve Kaplan and his many contributions to the nonprofit Link to Libraries, Laurie Flynn, the agency’s executive director, didn’t start with his service on the board, his lengthy stint as treasurer, or even his role as quiet, behind-the-scenes co-founder with his wife, Susan Jaye Kaplan.

No, she started by talking about the manner in which Kaplan, who passed away in January after a lengthy battle with brain cancer, adopted, for lack of a better word, the Kensington International School in Springfield — because, in many ways, that says even more about him.

“He started off as a volunteer reader,” she recalled, noting that the nonprofit helps place such readers in schools across the region to help encourage young people to read. “And he turned it into so much more; it became near and dear to him. He tutored there, he did all kinds of things, and he did it without asking for a spotlight … he just quietly gave and gave and gave.

“He always joked that he was “Mr. Susan Jaye Kaplan,” Flynn went on. “But he was a force in his own right; it was just different energy.”

It was that above-and-beyond approach at the Kensington School, and the varying forms of energy displayed by both Kaplans that helped inspire Flynn to create a legacy fund in both their names to help continue and even expand LTL’s service to the young people in the region.

Susan Jaye Kaplan, as most now know, co-founded not only LTL but also the nonprofit GoFIT. She was honored for her work with BusinessWest’s Difference Maker award in 2009.

“When Steve passed in January, I thought it was an important time to honor his work and Sue’s work, and their work as a couple in Western Mass.”

“When Steve passed in January, I thought it was an important time to honor his work and Sue’s work, and their work as a couple in Western Mass.,” she told BusinessWest. “They’ve done so much, not just for Link to Libraries, but we’re a huge piece of their legacy. It seemed to me that … when you look at the two of them, and how much they gave, not just through the schools, but through community partnerships, it seems like a great opportunity, a great way to honor their legacy, to have something that is permanently part of Link to Libraries, that is dedicated to doing more than we’re doing now.”

Elaborating, Flynn said the Stephen Kaplan & Susan Jaye Kaplan Community Legacy Fund, which was formally announced at LTL’s biennial fund-raising ball at the Basketball Hall of Fame, will enable the nonprofit to extend its reach, and impact.

“While most of Link to Libraries’ work is done through underserved elementary schools, we frequently receive requests from other local nonprofits for book donations to support their own work with children and families in need,” she explained. “We do our very best to say ‘yes’ to every book request we get, but we have limited funds, limited ability to do that.

“By creating this fund and having this cache of money set aside to support our community partners, who are serving the same kids and families that we are, that will enable our reach to expand,” she went on, adding that that the legacy fund will be a permanent fixture at LTL.

Flynn said there is no specific goal for the fund, adding that whatever is raised — and she is expecting support from individuals and businesses alike — will enable LTL to support more groups serving children and families, such as the Salvation Army, the Springfield Museums, and countless others.

“Steve’s passing was a terrible loss to our Link to Libraries family, to the Western Massachusetts community, and to all who knew and loved him,” said Flynn. “We hope that this tribute will be a living reminder of Sue and Steve’s tireless work and passion for improving the lives of others.”

For more information on the legacy fund, visit linktolibraries.org.

— George O’Brien

M&T Charitable Foundation Announces $4.9 Million In Grants

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Banking and Financial Services

Broad Impact

The M&T Charitable Foundation, the philanthropic arm of M&T Bank, recently announced $4.9 million in grants to 51 nonprofit organizations across the six New England states, as well as Long Island and Westchester County, N.Y.

The announcement of this third round concludes the company’s Amplify Fund supplemental grant program, a three-year, $25 million commitment to address inequities, with a focus on all low- and moderate-income communities and underserved populations.

First announced in May 2022, the Amplify Fund is a $25 million philanthropic investment as part of the merger between People’s United Bank and M&T Bank. Powered by the M&T Charitable Foundation, the Amplify Fund is a one-time supplemental charitable giving program to provide further support in the legacy People’s United communities.

Dominique Goss

Dominique Goss

“The M&T Charitable Foundation is proud to support the work of nonprofits that are dedicated to advancing equity and creating positive and lasting change. We look forward to seeing the progress of their work and the collective outcomes of our partnerships in the months and years ahead.”

During the first and second rounds of giving through the Amplify Fund, more than $20.1 million was awarded to 173 nonprofit organizations. The grants were awarded through a series of RFPs that focused on environmental initiatives, mission-driven and capacity-building work, community and tenant organizing, and financial empowerment, in addition to collaboratives working together to advance equity.

Grantees in this third and final round of funding include nonprofit organizations that are centered on advancing financial inclusion and spurring economic growth and prosperity, with a particular focus on creating equitable change through homeownership, small-business development and entrepreneurship, career growth, and financial resilience.

“The M&T Charitable Foundation is proud to support the work of nonprofits that are dedicated to advancing equity and creating positive and lasting change,” said Dominique Goss, executive director of the M&T Charitable Foundation. “We look forward to seeing the progress of their work and the collective outcomes of our partnerships in the months and years ahead.”

Throughout the three-year Amplify Fund grant program, the M&T Charitable Foundation awarded $25 million to 224 nonprofit organizations and collaboratives, helping to empower nonprofit organizations to work collaboratively to drive meaningful change and advance equity in the communities served by the program.

“This grant means a lot to our ability to help the families and communities we serve achieve economic self-reliance,” said David Hopkins, CEO of the Urban League of Greater Hartford, which is celebrating 60 years of economic empowerment. “We appreciate the leadership and team at M&T Bank, a 2024 equity partner, for their support of our social enterprise, community engagement, and leadership development, and now this Amplify Fund award will help enrich our financial opportunity program.”

Betsy Biemann, CEO of Coastal Enterprises Inc., added that “we are grateful for the M&T Bank Charitable Foundation’s support of CEI and their commitment to promoting entrepreneurship and a thriving small business community in Maine. This funding from the Amplify Fund will enable us to help more Maine entrepreneurs who are CEI lending and advisory clients to take charge of their finances and build assets through no-cost, confidential financial counseling and coaching, starting them on a solid foundation for starting or growing their business.”

The M&T Charitable Foundation, the philanthropic arm of M&T Bank, is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organization founded in 1993 and funded by M&T Bank. The foundation awards nearly $40 million in grants per year to thousands of nonprofit organizations focused on improving quality of life in the areas the bank serves.

AIC Partners with UCP to Expand Assistive Technology Access

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AIC students experiment with the Spill-Not, an assistive technology tool that allows users to carry drinks without spilling.
Healthcare News

Toward Better Quality of Life

AIC students experiment with the Spill-Not, an assistive technology tool that allows users to carry drinks without spilling.

AIC students experiment with the Spill-Not, an assistive technology tool that allows users to carry drinks without spilling.

The American International College (AIC) Division of Occupational Therapy recently partnered with United Cerebral Palsy of Western Massachusetts (UCP) to expand access to assistive technology (AT) for individuals with disabilities. This collaboration has established a new satellite location for UCP’s Assistive Technology Regional Center at AIC, located at 1067 State St. in Springfield.

Previously, individuals in the Springfield area seeking AT services had to travel to Pittsfield, Worcester, or Boston. Now, through this partnership with the college, UCP can better serve the Pioneer Valley by offering local access to assistive devices that enhance daily living, mobility, vision, hearing, and workplace or home modifications.

Similar to a library loan system, individuals can borrow AT equipment at no cost on a short-term basis. The process is simple: browse available devices at MassAbility, visit the AIC lab for a demonstration, and borrow the device for personal use. If a requested device is unavailable, UCP will work to acquire it.

Following the July 2023 lightning-strike fire that devastated AIC’s Health Sciences labs, UCP donated adaptive equipment to support the master of occupational therapy (MSOT) program. These tools — including feeding assistance devices, low-vision aids, and mobility training equipment — are now housed in AIC’s reconstructed MSOT lab, where they train students and assist community members.

“I’ve dreamed of offering this service to the community. It aligns with AIC’s mission of education and outreach.”

Dr. Jennifer Nordstrom, director of AIC’s Center for Accessibility Services and Academic Accommodations (CASAA) and assistant professor of Occupational Therapy, provides assistive technology training to community members during designated hours. When not in public use, the equipment serves as an instructional resource for MSOT students. Through this collaboration, AIC can also offer assistive technology support to CASAA students as needed.

“I’ve dreamed of offering this service to the community,” Nordstrom said. “It aligns with AIC’s mission of education and outreach.”

For AIC’s MSOT students, access to innovative AT enhances their clinical training and practical experience.

To further enrich student learning, Nordstrom developed a dedicated Assistive Technology course at AIC, covering the Assistive Technology Act in Massachusetts, assistive technology and disability, assistive technology levels, how to choose the correct assistive technology, and assistive technology and occupational therapy

“Assistive Technology is always a favorite course,” she said. “With this equipment, our students are better prepared for fieldwork and pro bono clinics, staying up to date with advancements in the field.”

Shelby Cortis, senior director of Assistive Technology for UCP of Western Massachusetts, sees great value in this collaboration. “When I was in OT school, we didn’t have opportunities to train on these devices. Now, AIC students have hands-on access, giving them a strong foundation for their careers.”

During a recent visit to AIC, Cortis and Iris Long, UCP Assistive Technology regional director, demonstrated various types of AT devices to students, including electronic aids for daily living, speech-generating devices, computer access equipment, vision and hearing aids, and recreational aids.

Highlights included Spill-Not, a simple tool that allows users to carry drinks without spilling; a robotic feeding arm, a high-tech plate with a robotic spoon for individuals with limited mobility; and a wheelchair pressure pad, a sensor system that measures pressure points, helping prevent pressure sores and optimizing comfort for wheelchair users.

This interactive experience allowed students to interact with the latest advancements in assistive technology, enhancing both their academic learning and practical skills.

AIC occupational therapy students explore assistive technology devices as part of their training.

AIC occupational therapy students explore assistive technology devices as part of their training.

The next phase of this partnership will focus on public outreach, inviting other institutions to AIC for AT training and demonstrations.

For students like Trent Davenport, a first-year MSOT student, exposure to this technology is inspiring.

“It makes me excited to enter the field,” he said. “I plan to work with geriatric patients, helping them maintain independence through instrumental activities of daily living. Seeing the range of devices available today makes me even more excited about the future of assistive technology.”

Through this collaboration, AIC and UCP are strengthening student education and community support, ensuring that individuals in the Springfield area have greater access to life-changing assistive technology.

Outgoing WNE President Talks About ‘Getting to the Other Side’ of Current Challenges

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Education Special Coverage

School of Thought

Western New England University President Robert Johnson

 

 

“A shift in the market.”

That’s how Robert Johnson, president of Western New England University, chose to describe the current state of higher education, knowing this is a huge understatement.

Indeed, colleges and universities were already under great amounts of stress due to declining enrollments, rising costs, weaker bottom lines, and mounting questions about the cost and value of a college education. And that was before the Trump administration started what the Boston Globe and others are calling a ‘reign of terror,’ pressuring institutions on matters such as DEI policies and efforts to curb antisemitism with threats involving everything from the cancelation of grants to removal of schools’ tax-exempt status.

“It was already a fairly rapid pace of change, and what’s going on at the federal level is merely accelerating the pace of change, creating high levels of anxiety,” said Johnson. “I don’t think higher ed has ever been through this — I’ve been in higher ed 35 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this.”

But, at the end of the day, and in his opinion, this is just … a shift in the market, or another shift, one of many that higher education institutions have faced over the years, decades, or centuries, depending on how long they’ve been around, said Johnson, who referred early and often to the proverbial ‘other side’ of this current shift.

“I don’t want to call it a ‘new normal,’ because I think we’re creating ‘normal,’ and it’s going to be different,” he said. “What that ‘different’ is … who knows? But I think we must remain agile enough to change with the times. My perspective is simple; when it comes right down to it, places like Western New England University — we started as a branch campus for Northeastern University — are at a place where we’ve come through world wars, the Great Depression, the Civil Rights movement, Jim Crow, the dot-com bubble, the Great Recession … and now this. And we’ll figure this out.

“I don’t want to call it a ‘new normal,’ because I think we’re creating ‘normal,’ and it’s going to be different. What that ‘different’ is … who knows? But I think we must remain agile enough to change with the times.”

“Anyone who says they have a crystal ball and understands what it’s going to look like on the other side is fool’s gold,” he went on. “The best that we can do is be agile and try and manage as best we can given the resources that we have to emerge from this. It’s not going to be fun — this is not the golden age of higher education post World War II — it is a shift in the market, and that has to be our view, and there will be winners and losers.”

These were just some of the thoughts from Johnson in a wide-ranging interview with Johnson that turned out to be an exit interview, if you will. Indeed, he announced, just a few days after he talked with BusinessWest, that he will be stepping down from the university in August.

As he talked about the current landscape, he came back repeatedly to his contention that, to survive this latest shift in the market, schools will have to be agile and proactive in response to the factors that created this paradigm. And WNE is doing exactly that, he said, noting that, through several new strategic initiatives, it has improved its position.

Indeed, the school enrolled the largest entering class in its history in the fall of 2024, just two years after it recorded one if its lowest figures in a quarter century, he said. “Three years ago, we had just over 6,700 applications for our entering class. This year, we’re right on the cusp of 13,000 applications.”

This was accomplished, he said, by stressing brand value and return on investment — “including a 94% job-placement rate, starting salaries higher than 52 of the top-100 universities in the country — 36% higher than any of the other schools in this region.

Robert Johnson says that, through aggressive, targeted marketing, WNE entered its largest class ever in 2024, and is on pace to do the same this September.

Robert Johnson says that, through aggressive, targeted marketing, WNE entered its largest class ever in 2024, and is on pace to do the same this September.

“That’s the message that we keep driving home,” he went on. “And it’s showing up in our applications, deposits, campus visits … that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.”

Beyond marketing, these increases in applications and enrollment are due to new programs designed to provide a bridge to the workforce, he said, citing the school’s new master’s degree program in Biopharmaceutical Technology, due to launch in September, as just one example.

If current trends continue, the school could exceed 1,050 students, and perhaps more, for the class entering this September, said Johnson, adding that this would be the largest class yet again.

For this issue and its focus on education, BusinessWest talked with Johnson about the current state of higher education and the many factors that will determine how and to what extent schools can ride out this storm.

 

Course of Action

Johnson, who arrived at WNE just as COVID did, noted that the pandemic represented a stern test for all institutions of higher education, one that forced them to rethink what they were doing and how, and make often dramatic changes to carry on and continue their missions.

This latest shift, one marked by demographic changes and governmental changes alike, and where 40% of private schools in New England are under some form of financial distress, is similar in many ways, but also fundamentally different.

“With COVID, there was a predictability to it — you knew that if you did certain things you would get through it,” he said. “Right now, in this environment we’re in right now, there’s no predictability; that’s what creates the high levels of anxiety we’re seeing right now.”

And this brings him back to that notion that schools will “figure this out.” Or not.

‘There’s something about the human spirit that says, ‘no matter what we’re going through, we’ll come out on the other side,’ and oftentimes, it really does come down to sheer determination with a plan of action that has the ability to pivot as you get different information or new information along the way that enables you to move forward.

“The indelible human spirt says that when a group of people work together toward a common goal, and they’re all rowing in the same direction, you can’t find a time in human history where they did not come out on the other side. And that’s going to be the difference — the institutions that can pull together and have that indelible human spirit that says ‘yes, I can.’ It’s possibility thinking and operating from a perspective of assets and not deficits — ‘I’m not going to focus on what I don’t have and therefore what I can’t do, but what I do have and what we can do with that.”

Elaborating, he said WNE’s success with growing its numbers for applications, deposits, and enrollment, comes down to one word — marketing.

“We’ve been really focused on telling our story,” he explained. “Because if families are going to make the investment, they want to know if I can get a job, a good job. It’s about outcomes, outcomes, outcomes.”

This marketing involves traditional vehicles, but especially social media and digital marketing, he said, but it also involves getting students on the campus.

“Getting them on our campus matters; there’s a higher probability of enrolling a student if they’ve been to the campus,” he said, adding that the school succeeds at being welcoming.

“This is place where, no matter who you are, where you’re from, or what you look like, you’re welcome. “It doesn’t matter what your political persuasion may be. And we don’t engage in highly politicized debate that’s happening in the external world; our heads are down, this is where you come to go to school, where you come to get a job — you don’t have all the drama about what’s going on in the world.”

When asked about how schools will emerge on the other side, and the factors that will determine what will look like when they do, Johnson said financial models and roadmaps that will provide long-term sustainability and growth, where revenues align with expenses, are obviously a key. But the bigger factor will the level to which institutions can focus on academic programs that can provide real jobs, “not just education for the sake of education.”

He mentioned examples at WNE including the new Biopharmaceutical Technology degree program, the Center for Advanced Manufacturing, FinTech program, and the recently opened XR/VR Lab, which provides students with hands-on access to cutting-edge virtual, augmented, and mixed-reality technologies.

“With COVID, there was a predictability to it — you knew that if you did certain things you would get through it. Right now, in this environment we’re in right now, there’s no predictability; that’s what creates the high levels of anxiety we’re seeing right now.”

“Those are the kinds of things that will matter moving forward,” he said. “Part of what will make a winner is programs that are relevant, that enable students to get real jobs … that have innovative and entrepreneurial components in place that become creative in nature and allow students to have hands-on experience and take that experience and go out into the world of work.”

“At the end of the day, each institution will have to decide what’s best for them, and position themselves accordingly,” he went on. ‘For many of them, probably most of them, elements of their plan will work, and for some of them, their plans will not work, and it will be to their own demise.”

 

Bottom Line

Johnson stressed that neither he, nor anyone else, really, knows just what ‘different will, indeed, look like.

But in these unprecedented times, when there is, as he said earlier, no predictability, schools must be creative and diligent if they are going to get to the other side.

“One of the outcomes of what we’re seeing now is that you’ll see some of the institutions come out of this and evolve and thrive, and there will be others that will contract and perhaps go out of business,” he continued. “I go back to the Great Depression, when the economy was rough, to say the least — which is what we’re starting to potentially see as an outcome of tariffs and uncertainty in the marketplace — some of the greatest companies in the world were started or evolved during that time. And that’s what we’re going to see on the other side of this with higher education — there will be institutions that will be reborn in a different way that will evolve and thrive in an environment in whatever ‘different’ will look like.”

Financial-literacy Programs Equip Families for Success

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Country Bank team members help high-school seniors navigate a Credit for Life Fair.
Banking and Financial Services Special Coverage

Generational Impact

Country Bank team members help high-school seniors navigate a Credit for Life Fair.

Country Bank team members help high-school seniors navigate a Credit for Life Fair.

 

Jodie Gerulaitis’s title at Country Bank is first vice president, Community Relations. But before that, she was a Financial Education officer for the institution — a role for which she still has a passion.

“My job was offering financial education to our communities,” she said, noting initiatives like Savings Makes Sense, a partnership forged in the late 1990s with local schools — eventually about 40 of them — in which the bank collected deposits and students could engage in banking activities right at school.

These days, that program has morphed into Money School, a series of financial-literacy resources in public schools that include books, workshops, and five annual Credit for Life fairs that involve about 2,000 seniors from 13 different high schools.

The fair, a Massachusetts-based program that many banks participate in, asks students to role-play a 25-year-old, visiting about a dozen booths and making financial choices based on their career and salary goals.

“Some students get a salary or a credit score they weren’t expecting, and they also learn to understand needs versus wants,” Gerulaitis said, adding that the students also get a dose of reality; at one booth, they might get a bonus at work or an unexpected expense. “Do they want to take vacations? Is that important to them? Do they want to own a pet? These are choices you and I make every day, and we’re bringing it to the students.

“The students who wind up with a low credit score or a low salary and are struggling, they’re going to learn the most,” she added. “They see how difficult it is to get where they want to go. Can they afford a house, or do they need a roommate to split expenses? It’s a really eye-opening experience, and they need to experience this stuff now, so they don’t make bad choices later.”

Two years ago, the United Way of Pioneer Valley started partnering with middle- and high-school students in Springfield and Holyoke to teach basic financial-literacy skills to young adults before they start interacting with finances for real, President and CEO Megan Moynihan said.

Megan Moynihan

Megan Moynihan

“It’s so very important — if you don’t understand how to take care of yourself from a financial perspective, how can you become successful?”

“We want them to create a basis to be financially successful before they go out into the real world,” she noted. “Many of these students may not have access to learning about financial independence through their families. They didn’t learn about the importance of saving and credit and preparing a budget as a child. Some of the students we work with have zero idea going into these classes. The goal is to give them a basis, a skill set to prepare them for the real world.”

The United Way’s financial-literacy programs go well beyond young people; it launched an initiative called Thrive almost a decade ago, which helps individuals across all age groups achieve financial security through education and other resources.

“Personal financial education is huge — it’s a huge gap for so many individuals,” Moynihan said, noting that the partner agencies the United Way funded would refer to Thrive people who needed the service.

“Our partner agencies let us know about individuals who needed support. We would do one-on-one coaching with those individuals, typically follow them for an entire year, helping them with budgeting, helping them set goals for raising their credit score. Many did not even have bank accounts, so we brought in individuals from the banks to set up simple checking accounts, direct deposit, and credit cards to create credit. Others would learn how to fix their credit score, how to consolidate credit, the importance of reducing expenses, and more.”

Around 2020, the United Way switched to a more direct-service model, and now Thrive services are offered to any client of the nonprofit who needs them, typically people who access services from one of the United Way’s service centers in Springfield, Chicopee, and Holyoke.

“Individuals come in needing help with food insecurity or mental-health support, and we can also help them with personal-finance training; every individual who comes through our doors has access to Thrive financial education,” Moynihan explained. “We also partner with other nonprofits on a classroom-style, six-session financial-education series.”

Serving about 450 people at any given time through its youth programs, human-service agencies, and workplaces, Thrive impacts families in ways that can be generational, she noted.

Jodie Gerulaitis says the financial-literacy skills students develop now will benefit them later, no matter what college or career path they choose.

Jodie Gerulaitis says the financial-literacy skills students develop now will benefit them later, no matter what college or career path they choose.

“It’s so very important — if you don’t understand how to take care of yourself from a financial perspective, how can you become successful?”

For this issue’s focus on banking and finance, BusinessWest talks to several area professionals involved in financial-literacy efforts about those impacts, and the various forms these programs take.

 

Lifetime Financial Journey

Springfield Partners for Community Action is another local organization offering financial-literacy education through a series of different free workshops, from basic financial literacy to first-time homebuying and property management.

“They all consist of a little bit of financial literacy. We dive deep into budgeting, credit, debt management, banking, and investing,” said Gabriel Ortiz, a housing councilor at Springfield Partners, noting that the workshops average around 28 people each. Some are one-session workshops that run six to eight hours, often featuring speakers from the banking and financial-services world, while the first-time homebuyer workshop is a two-part series.

“We have a lot of professionals that have been in that industry for a lot of years, and they give their expert analysis of what the process is and how to get people where they need to go, watching out for predatory lending, things like that.”

Meanwhile, the basic financial-literacy session is a good idea for people looking to establish some credit and start saving for the future, Ortiz added.

“In Springfield, probably one out of four residents live in poverty. Springfield has seen inflation, and potential tariffs will make it harder for households to manage their budgets. As a local financial advisor, we’re trying to give some helpful tips and help people regain control of their finances, stick to a budget, and cope with today’s economic challenges.

“We want to help people transition from poverty to a more equitable future,” he went on. “By establishing generational wealth, buying homes, and establishing some credit, that’s definitely going to help families down the road.”

Having offered financial-literacy programs since 1996, Gerulaitis noted, Country Bank has seen those initiatives take on a life of their own.

“These programs make a difference. Sometimes parents are not in the financial situation they expected themselves to be in, and I’ve found the grown-ups at home sometimes don’t talk to kids about money. Maybe they’re embarrassed about their financial situation.

“So, whether they come from a wealthier background or not — really, all walks of life — these programs empower students to make the decisions themselves. After all, if the parents aren’t having these conversations, who is?”

“In Springfield, probably one out of four residents live in poverty. Springfield has seen inflation, and potential tariffs will make it harder for households to manage their budgets. As a local financial advisor, we’re trying to give some helpful tips and help people regain control of their finances, stick to a budget, and cope with today’s economic challenges.”

Sherleen Crespo, vice president, branch manager, and mortgage specialist at Westfield Bank, who is being honored as one of BusinessWest’s 40 Under Forty this spring, said this reality — and the opportunity to start the conversation — is one of the reasons she loves being in banking.

“Sometimes financial literacy starts in the home, but not everyone has access to that,” she said. “Parents try their best, but they may not know as much as they should. And that lack of education affects people.

“Now, schools are very much involved in financial literacy. They invite me in, and that’s something that we didn’t have when I was growing up,” Crespo added. “It’s super important. It’s planting a seed toward breaking these generational cycles. The more we can educate people, the more that they’ll be able to grow.”

Gerulaitis agrees, and has anecdotal evidence to boot.

“I run into students after they’ve been through the programs — at the grocery store or a restaurant — and they say, ‘thank you, thank you. I got my first job, and a lot of what you said makes sense now.’ They put it into practice. That’s why we hit them when they’re seniors. Whether they’re going into the workforce or college, these skills are necessary at all levels. You can see the impact later on.”

And it’s not just high-schoolers; Country Bank targets educational programs throughout the community, from college students to senior centers. She’s even read age-appropriate books about money to preschoolers.

 

Bridging the Gaps

Moynihan said the United Way has a Thrive program that goes into workplaces, helping coach employees on the best ways to navigate financial struggles. In fact, three staffers are certified as financial coaches in the workplace, and they come at their roles from a mentorship perspective.

“We’re not giving you this information and saying, ‘now go figure it out yourselves.’ We’re setting you up with a mentor to walk you through these programs that will support you not just in your financial education, but on everything else that impacts your life.”

Another Thrive coach is a social worker, “so he understands the full scope of the needs of our clients — not just help with financial literacy, but so many other underlying issues that need to be addressed in the classes,” she went on. “We work with individuals to understand and identify the other areas where they need support so they can become financially stable.”

Every individual doesn’t need the same level of support, or the same educational components, she noted; some need close hand holding to get through it, and others just need to learn about different modalities to budget, save, and make good financial decisions.

“You don’t know what you don’t know, but it’s one of those things where it can be very difficult to ask for help. They might be ashamed,” Moynihan said. “So we move at the speed of trust. It can take time to build a relationship with an individual to become comfortable talking about this.”

The United Way is also part of the Bridges to Prosperity program through Springfield WORKS, a state-funded pilot program tasked with overcoming the ‘cliff effect,’ a phenomenon whereby the increased income from securing a job isn’t enough to offset public benefits while unemployed.

“It’s a first-in-the-nation approach that pairs cash payments to employed individuals over a two-year period with financial coaching and workforce training to bridge the gap between being on state assistance and being fully, gainfully employed,” Moynihan said. “So far, it’s working wonderfully.”

At the same time, the need for financial education continues, and Gerulaitis wishes it started at a younger age for everyone. She’s part of a committee that has advocated in Boston for state-mandated financial-literacy education in schools, trying to make Massachusetts the 27th state to mandate that as a graduation requirement.

Meanwhile, she added, Country Bank is doing as much as it can by offering free financial education.

“Even if it’s just one class, these schools love to partner with us. They feel they’re able to offer something to students as a benefit. Not all of them have personal-finance classes,” she said. “So, we’ve done a lot of programs. We want to provide as many free resources as we can to the community and guide them through their financial journey.”

Western Mass Completes Helps Nurses Graduate, Start Careers

By
Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts President and CEO Megan Burke
Healthcare News Special Coverage

Crossing the Finish Line

Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts President and CEO Megan Burke

Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts President and CEO Megan Burke

 

A few years ago, faced with a daunting statistic — that average college graduation rates are 60% at four-year institutions and 25% at two-year institutions — the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts commissioned a study on factors that contribute to higher-education persistence.

From that effort emerged a program called Western Mass Completes, which recently supported 50 nursing and health-sciences students from 10 of the region’s colleges and universities, all of them identified by their schools as possibly being at risk of not finishing their degrees, for a variety of reasons.

The result? Forty-nine of them graduated on time and passed their certification exam, and most have secured employment in their field. The 50th simply missed a class and had to add an extra semester, but is expected to join the list of success stories.

That’s a remarkable result, but what may be even more impressive is the level of financial support involved: just $2,500 per student, to help pay for a range of expenses, from equipment to transportation to exam fees.

“From all these students who potentially were at risk of not completing, to have that much of a completion rate is really important,” said Megan Burke, president and CEO of the Community Foundation. “And because there was a preference for commuter students, these are now qualified nurses who are in our communities and are part of the local workforce. And most of them, as of this past winter, were employed — which isn’t surprising because we know there’s a great need for nurses.”

“It’s important to lift up the fact that there’s regional economic impact — that these folks are gainfully employed, making livable wages, and contributing to their local communities, which are very likely in the three counties that we serve.”

Based on the research of Becky Packard, a Community Foundation trustee and professor of Psychology and Education at Mount Holyoke College, who spearheaded the initial research, Western Mass Completes was developed with the understanding that it’s not enough to help students enter college — the bigger priority, for them and the region, is to see them cross the finish line.

Ten local colleges and universities joined the endeavor — UMass Amherst, Westfield State University, Bay Path University, Springfield College, American International College, Elms College, and Western New England University, as well as Greenfield, Holyoke, and Springfield Technical community colleges.

The research showed that students often need more time and more resources to complete degrees; many are working full-time while in school and taking a reduced course load, while others are balancing school, work, and family responsibilities. Those financial roadblocks create barriers to completion, especially for high-need, first-generation students.

Denise Hurst, vice president for Community Impact and Partnerships at the Community Foundation, noted that Western Mass Completes emerged from a growing focus on access to post-secondary institutions and the emerging realization that the biggest issue isn’t enrollment, but persistence and completion.

“From there, we really started to look at the areas where students were more apt to encounter financial barriers to completion,” she told BusinessWest. “And then the pandemic hit, and we knew there was a shortage in the nursing and allied health-sciences fields.”

Denise Hurst

Denise Hurst says Western Mass Completes has undoubtedly helped change the trajectory of some nursing students’ lives.

So the nonprofit launched a pilot program at four local colleges, providing financial grants to 20 nursing students. When the results came back positive, the program was expanded to 10 institutions and 50 students, some of them not in nursing but in health sciences, as not every school has a nursing program.

“We did that with the same sort of intention — how do we mitigate any financial barriers to completion — providing them with a grant during their time in school so that they could reduce their work hours, use it for food, gas, whatever it was that they needed that could impede their completion,” Hurst explained. “And we followed that up with providing them with a grant toward their NCLEX exam so they could be prepared to go right out into the workforce.”

While the Community Foundation is still working on next steps — determining what lessons can be gleaned from the pilot and how they can be applied to an overall workforce strategy in the region’s healthcare economy — it’s clear that students reaching the finish line is critical not only to their own career success, but to the long-term growth of a key sector.

 

Meeting a Need

Hurst listed a number of factors that Western Mass Completes seeks to address:

• The demand for skilled nurses has been at an all-time high and escalated with COVID-19, yet many aspiring nurses struggle to complete their education due to financial barriers.

• While tuition is a significant cost, smaller, but critical, expenses — like certification exam fees, technology costs, transportation to clinical training, medical equipment, and scrubs — can be the deciding factor between completing a degree or dropping out of an academic program.

• These challenges disproportionately affect students from low-income backgrounds and those without financial safety nets.

• Investing in students not only supports individuals, but strengthens the entire healthcare system by ensuring communities have access to well-trained professionals.

“Even though we might not know what particular niche of nursing they’ll go into,” she noted, “it’s important to lift up the fact that there’s regional economic impact — that these folks are gainfully employed, making livable wages, and contributing to their local communities, which are very likely in the three counties that we serve.”

Burke said it was important that colleges selected students for this assistance who were most in need of it.

A recent graduating nursing class at Holyoke Community College, one of the 10 partnering institutions in the Western Mass Completes program.

A recent graduating nursing class at Holyoke Community College, one of the 10 partnering institutions in the Western Mass Completes program.

“We recognized that the schools know their students really well and know who might be struggling or who might be facing barriers. When there is an application process, you don’t necessarily get the students who most need it; you sometimes get the students who are best able to complete an application.

“A lot of the students were so surprised and almost didn’t even believe it,” she added. “That was one of the challenges that our researchers had to overcome, which was to say, ‘no, no, this is for real. We’re giving you money, and we want you to be successful.’ And one of the things the students noted in the evaluation is that this vote of confidence, that we want you to succeed, was a really valuable component of the program for them.”

The fact that a relatively small grant can make a significant impact on completion rates is important to note, Burke said.

“It’s concerning that you could get three out of four years through nursing school and then potentially leave without a degree, not be able to pay back your student loans, not necessarily have an income to support your family — and $2,500 really made a significant difference in people’s lives,” she told BusinessWest. “It also helps to fill a nursing shortage in our economy.”

 

Strategy Sessions

The next big step, Burke said, will be a strategic planning process. “We really want to get a lot of community input into where can we best add value. So we’ve made it pretty clear that we will not be launching a new phase of Western Mass Completes right away until we can do some more of that learning.

“We do have other ongoing things that we’ll continue to do that contribute to student success, like our scholarship program, our interest-free student loans, and other pieces,” she added.
“But in this particular area of study, we’re waiting to learn what could be most useful.”

Another emerging factor, particularly for the community-college partners, is the success of MassReconnect and MassEducate, the state programs that offer an associate degree free of charge to a wide swath of Massachusetts residents.

“There’s also some input we’d like to get from employers who might be saying, ‘we have this program to try to recruit nurses,’ or maybe there’s a need in the early-education space, the daycare centers, who are struggling to employ. How can we build on the efforts that some of the employers are having?” Burke went on.

She noted that many students who are a good fit for a program like Western Mass Completes are

non-traditional students — typically older students who are returning to their education.

“A significant percentage have children, so they’re parenting, they’re sustaining a family, and they’re doing all these other things while they get their education. These are folks who are trying hard to improve the situation for their entire family. And the fact that we could do that with a couple thousand dollars — it feels so gratifying to know you’re helping a family stabilize itself, benefiting not just the one individual, but everyone else they’re supporting as well.”

Hurst agreed it has been satisfying to see the initial impact of the project, whatever strategies come of it. “To know that you were able to change the financial trajectory of someone’s life, something we know has generational impact, is really exciting.”

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

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

Community Spotlight

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

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

  

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

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

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

Which explains why Grimaldi had his head in his hands. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Doughs and Don’ts 

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

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

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

2. ‘Suspiciously awesome sandwiches.’ 

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

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

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

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

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

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

Southwick at a Glance

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Work and Play 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Understand the Ins and Outs of Automobile Insurance

By Contributor
Law

Collision Course

By Mark Tanner, Esq.

 

We help a great many people who have been involved in automobile collisions, including those who have been injured in automobile collisions through no fault of their own. One of the first questions we ask our clients is, “what insurance coverage do you have?” You would be amazed at how many people don’t know or understand their automobile-insurance coverage.

To better understand your coverage, start with your insurance broker. Ask your broker to provide you with your coverage selections page, a document that outlines the types and amounts of insurance coverage you have.

A number of different types of automobile insurance are available. Comprehensive protects your vehicle from damage caused by events other than a collision, such as vandalism and theft. Collision pays for damage to your vehicle when you collide with another car. The amount of coverage you need for these types of insurance depends largely on the value of your car.

Mark Tanner

Mark Tanner

“If you really think about it, the minimum coverage mandated by Massachusetts is probably insufficient to cover a serious auto accident. It would be smart to speak with your broker about increasing this coverage over the minimum.”

Since we’re talking about collisions, let’s discuss some important types of coverage that often come into play after an automobile accident, are highly variable, and can often be increased or decreased depending on your personal situation.

 

Personal-injury Protection (PIP)

PIP coverage pays up to $8,000 of your medical expenses and lost wages you suffered as the result of a collision and is mandatory in Massachusetts policies. You should know that, to reduce policy premiums, some insurers offer an $8,000 ‘PIP deductible,’ which means you have to pay the first $8,000 of PIP coverage out of pocket. This effectively means you have no PIP coverage, since you must pay the $8,000 deductible, and the coverage limit is $8,000. Think long and hard before you agree to this deductible to decrease the cost of your policy.

 

Bodily Injury to Others (BI)

BI coverage insures you against injuries you cause to others. In Massachusetts, the minimum BI limits are $20,000/$40,000, meaning there is $20,000 in coverage per injured person, up to a maximum of $40,000 if more than one person is hurt in the accident. This coverage pays for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and the like. If you really think about it, the minimum coverage mandated by Massachusetts is probably insufficient to cover a serious auto accident. It would be smart to speak with your broker about increasing this coverage over the minimum.

 

Damage to Someone Else’s Property

Property damage is coverage that insures you for damage you cause to another person’s property. In Massachusetts, the mandatory coverage is $5,000. Like BI coverage, it is possible to increase the limits of your property-damage coverage. With the ever-increasing cost of cars, and the real possibility that a serious collision might involve more than one car, a house, or who knows what, you should discuss this coverage with your broker to make sure you have adequate coverage.

 

Under/Uninsured Motorist Coverage (UM)

UM coverage often comes into play when we represent people injured in a collision through no fault of their own. UM coverage protects you against injuries, medical bills, lost wages, and the like caused by a driver who is uninsured or underinsured. Like BI, the minimum limits for UM coverage are $20,000/$40,000.

Here’s where it gets tricky. If you and the at-fault driver each have the minimum $20,000/$40,000 coverage, then you effectively have no UM coverage, since the amount of coverage available is determined by subtracting the at-fault driver’s BI coverage from your UM coverage. For example, if the at-fault driver has $20,000/$40,000 BI, and you have $100,000/$300,000 UM, then you have $80,000 per person (or $260,000 per collision if multiple people are injured). You can access your UM coverage once you have received the policy limits of the at-fault driver’s policy.

Given the number of drivers who carry only the mandatory $20,000/$40,000 BI coverage, it would be smart to speak with your broker about increasing this coverage.

 

More Words to the Wise

Make sure your car is garaged at the address shown on your insurance policy. If you have moved, or the car is regularly kept in a different location than is listed on your policy, and you do not tell your insurance company, the insurance company can deny coverage if you are in an accident.

Next, make sure anyone who regularly drives your car is named as an insured on your policy. If you don’t, and they are involved in a collision, your insurer may deny all or a portion of your claims.

Car accidents are never good and always unexpected. Reviewing and adjusting your coverages now can help make sure you are in the best possible position if you are involved in a collision. Your insurance broker can help you determine the types and levels of coverage you need. If you are in a collision, Bacon Wilson can help you navigate this complex process and make sure you receive full and fair compensation for your injuries. If you cause a collision and need help understanding your insurance coverage or need to deal with your insurer, we can help with that as well.

This article is presented for information purposes only, is not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Note that all mandatory coverage limits are increasing effective July 1, 2025.

 

Mark Tanner is a shareholder with the law firm Bacon Wilson, P.C. and chairs the firm’s Litigation department. He is an active member of the Hampden and Hampshire County bar associations as well as a board member for Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture Inc., People’s Institute, and Franklin County Community Development Corp. He is licensed to practice law in Massachusetts and New York; (413) 781-0560; [email protected]

Massachusetts Pay Transparency Act Poses New Requirements

By Contributor
Law

Good Advice for Employers

By Trevor Brice, Esq.

 

On July 31, 2024, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey signed into law “An Act Relative to Salary Range Transparency” in an effort to increase equity and transparency in pay in the Commonwealth. The act puts different requirements on Massachusetts employers depending on the size of their organization.

By signing the act into law, Massachusetts joins 19 other state efforts to bring transparency to job applicants and current employees when it comes to pay in their applied-for and current roles. The states that already have such laws in place include Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia.

While other states have different requirements regarding pay transparency, Massachusetts has its own set of requirements that must be followed, and employers must be aware of these requirements when posting positions during their hiring seasons.

 

Who Must File EEO-1 Reports

As of Feb. 1, 2025, Massachusetts employers with 100 or more employees who are subject to federal filing requirements must submit their most recent EEO-1 reports that were filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) through the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Employers having this requirement must submit the EEO-1 reports through an online portal, which started to accept these reports on Feb. 3 in PDF, JPEG, or PNG format.

Trevor Brice

Trevor Brice

“By signing the act into law, Massachusetts joins 19 other state efforts to bring transparency to job applicants and current employees when it comes to pay in their applied-for and current roles.”

The Commonwealth has provided clarification that information on ‘Component 2’ of the EEO-1 form that has not been collected by the federal government since 2018 is not required to be provided. This information would include W-2 income earnings data by race/ethnicity, sex, and job category. By this clarification, the state is mirroring current EEOC requirements as to the EEO-1. However, this information could be required in the future if the EEOC again requires it to be submitted.

 

Who Must Disclose Wage Ranges for Positions

Starting Oct. 29, 2025, the act requires employers with 25 or more employees to disclose wage ranges in job posts to applicants and to current employees upon request. If a current employee requests a wage range for a position, they are protected under the act from being retaliated against due to this request, and employees have an individual right to sue for retaliation.

The penalties for employers that do not disclose pay ranges (or do not submit EEO-1 reports as required above), are a warning for the first offense, a fine of not more than $500 for the second offense, and a fine of not more than $1,000 for the third offense; a fourth and any subsequent offense can be subject to civil citations. Within the first two years (until Oct. 29, 2027), employers are granted a two-business-day grace period to cure a violation before a fine is imposed.

The wage range that must be disclosed for employers meeting the above requirements is the annual salary range or hourly wage range that the employer reasonably and in good faith expects to pay for the position at the time of the job posting. This wage range does not include an obligation to provide a range as to other forms of compensation than base salary or hourly wages, such as bonuses, commissions, deferred compensation, stock options, or other forms of equity or benefits.

A ‘posting’ is any advertisement or job posting intended to recruit job applicants for a particular or specific employment position, whether directly or indirectly through a third party, such as a recruiter. Employers must provide the same information to an internal employee who is offered a promotion or transferred to a new position with different job responsibilities.

 

Takeaways

The act, while applying only to larger employers, does impose strict penalties for non-compliance and an individual right to sue for employees who feel they have been retaliated against for inquiring into a wage range. To get ahead of the disclosure requirement of the act, employers should be pulling together ranges for salary and hourly pay of all positions.

The act does provide a safe harbor for employers that have undertaken a reasonable analysis of the wages connected with a position in the last three years and either remedied the issues or didn’t identify any issues. As with any analysis, however, an employer’s analysis of pay can become public record, so employers should undertake this effort under the direction of counsel to help maintain privilege and prevent the analysis from being discoverable by the state, federal government, or private litigants.

Employers should also make active efforts to educate their management as to the retaliation provision of the act in order to avoid potential litigation.

 

Trevor Brice is an attorney who specializes in labor and employment-law matters at the Royal Law Firm LLP, a woman-owned, women-managed corporate law firm that is certified as a women’s business enterprise with the Massachusetts Supplier Diversity Office, the National Assoc. of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms, and the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council.

At the Hitchcock Center, Environmental Education Comes Naturally

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

A World of Good

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

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

 

It’s called Japanese knotweed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

From the Ground Up

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Hands-on Education

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tech Foundry Expands Its Footprint, Programs, and Impact

By
Tricia Canavan in Tech Foundry’s new space in downtown Springfield.
Special Coverage Technology

Making IT Happen

Tricia Canavan in Tech Foundry’s new space in downtown Springfield.

Tricia Canavan in Tech Foundry’s new space in downtown Springfield.

As she walked BusinessWest through Tech Foundry’s new space on the fifth floor of 1350 Main St. in downtown Springfield, CEO Tricia Canavan expressed gratitude that the space — the former home of digital-health startup TechSpring — was available when her growing operation needed a new home.

“We never in a million years could have afforded to do this kind of buildout, but it was completely turnkey,” she noted.

But there’s plenty of other progress and momentum she’s excited about.

“We were founded 11 years ago by area employers who saw a need to build a stronger entry-level tech force in Western Mass. and, at the same time, connect low- to moderate-income people — who are underrepresented in tech — to training and support to access jobs in the technology field,” Canavan explained.

“The people who come to Tech Foundry are people with tremendous potential and tremendous assets. But there’s a reason why they’re here.”

And while the IT training program started modestly, it has grown significantly in recent years; in fact, in the fall of 2022, Tech Foundry doubled the number of students it serves, from 25 students per cohort to 50. “We’ve been able to maintain that level of funding since that time, which we’re really grateful for.”

Early in her tenure, Tech Foundry leaders discussed how they could better “professionalize” the way they were doing student coaching and mentoring, she added.

“The people who come to Tech Foundry are people with tremendous potential and tremendous assets. But there’s a reason why they’re here. Maybe the traditional college path didn’t work out for them, or the traditional career path didn’t work out for them. They may be changing careers. They may be returning to the workforce after a period of time away.”

Seeking a social-work element in the program, Tech Foundry recently partnered with EMPath, a Boston-based economic-mobility organization nationally known for its work with people who are seeking to move from poverty into more stable financial situations.

“We were fortunate to receive funding for the entire staff to become certified practitioners of the EMPath model,” Canavan said. “We use a standard system which helps us work in a more standardized way with the students to set goals and troubleshoot, and for us to share information as a team so that we can help people overcome obstacles to their success.”

Students work at these stations in the just-opened second Tech Hub location in Springfield; the first launched in Holyoke 18 months ago.

Students work at these stations in the just-opened second Tech Hub location in Springfield; the first launched in Holyoke 18 months ago.

As part of that process, Tech Foundry hired a coaching manager to tackle professional-development training, as well as some part-time coaches to work with him.

“So, in addition to the technical training that we offer through our 18-week program,” she explained, “we do significant professional-development work with the students — everything from time management to résumés to mock interview practice and networking skills.”

In the past three years, Tech Foundry has grown its staff from four people to 19, while still offering all its programs free of charge, thanks to a robust network of support from foundations, corporations, and other sources.

“I love that quote that ‘talent is universal, but opportunity is not,’” Canavan said. “That’s what drives us. And another quote: ‘vision with action can change the world.’ Those are some framing wisdom for us as we think about further growth.”

 

Hub of Opportunity

Recent growth has taken numerous forms. Working in collaboration with other partners, Tech Foundry launched a program called Tech Hub in downtown Holyoke in the fall of 2023. It offers basic and intermediate digital-literacy training, with an eye on enabling people to access jobs of all kinds, not just specifically in IT.

Those accessing the program have skills gaps ranging from using programs like Word and Excel to understanding the basics of using a mouse and the internet — all skills necessary for jobs in myriad fields. Tech Hub also provides computers free of charge to eligible people, as well as technical support and one-on-one troubleshooting services.

And now Tech Hub has a second location, at the new Tech Foundry location in downtown Springfield, where it can serve even more individuals, thanks to an ARPA grant through the city, as well as other funding sources.

“We knew that there was a need for digital literacy and technical support in the community,” Canavan said, noting that the initial tranche of funding for Tech Hub came through the $50 million allocation the Baker administration made to address digital literacy and digital equity in Massachusetts.

“We’ve done a ton of research, but where the rubber hits the road is the employer community — we need to ensure there are employers eager to work with these young adults, to potentially hire them into their jobs.”

“We had set a goal of serving 100 people a month at Tech Hub Holyoke. And we’ve been blowing those numbers away. I mean, the demand far exceeded our expectations, and last summer, it was so incredibly busy, we actually had to put in an appointment system because the staff was just overwhelmed. We want to serve as many people as we can, but it was standing room only there. So we are really, really pleased with the results at Tech Hub.”

In fact, she added, seven students who started at Tech Hub learned enough skills that they had the foundational knowledge to come to Tech Foundry, and now they’re starting to get jobs.

In addition to offering training and technical support to the community, Canavan noted, Tech Hub also allows Tech Foundry to provide hands-on work experience for students and alumni. “So students, who are in class down the hall, can walk down here if they’re in good standing and get service learning hours working with the team here,” she explained.

“We also have an internship program and a one-year professional digital fellowship, which is a program for Tech Foundry alumni. They’re full-time, paid employees at Tech Foundry,” she went on. “They’re practicing their skills by assisting in class, assisting with repair, assisting with technical support, and over time, they start doing more and more things on their own under the direction of our technical managers. And then, at the end of the year, they have a portfolio of work.”

One intriguing pilot program is a collaboration with the Springfield Empowerment Zone Partnership to help area high-school graduates who do not have firm post-graduation plans.

Tech Foundry’s most recent cohort of graduates celebrates at a ceremony in January.

Tech Foundry’s most recent cohort of graduates celebrates at a ceremony in January.

“I think one of the good news stories about education in Springfield is that our graduation rate has gone up tremendously in the last 10 years,” Canavan said. “But a statistic that doesn’t get looked at quite so much is the plans of those students after they graduate. These are talented students who have tremendous potential. On average, about 37% of Springfield public high-school students go to college. But a much smaller percentage of those students actually graduate — it tends to hover around 10% to 20%.”

So the question, she noted, is what are their options, and what can be done to help them? The pilot program, called Tech Bridge, will start with a small cohort of students, probably about 15, for the first year to trial proof of concept.

“This is going to be a program that focuses a ton on community building, but we’ll have two separate technical training modules,” she explained. “One will be IT-focused, based upon what we currently do.

“The second one, which will be next spring, we are still developing based upon labor-force needs. We’re looking at low-voltage electrical certification or advanced manufacturing skills. We’re still talking to a wide variety of employers to determine where the needs are. We’ve done a ton of research, but where the rubber hits the road is the employer community — we need to ensure there are employers eager to work with these young adults, to potentially hire them into their jobs.”

Canavan said the hope is that roughly half of Tech Bridge participants go to college — “we’re building significant college readiness into this program” — and half will enter good-paying jobs with certifications they earn through the program.

“We’re really trying to think about how to engage them and how to provide the support so that they can complete another year of supported education and training and go thrive, whatever that means for them,” she added. “Hopefully, the Tech Bridge program will prove the concept, and we can expand on that — because there’s an incredible need for us to do better for our young people that are on a non-traditional path.”

 

Forward Thinkers

Looking forward, Canavan said Tech Foundry is wrapping up its current three-year strategic plan and formulating the next one. To celebrate its 10th anniversary last year, it raised $300,000 for what it calls an innovation fund — money that will be used specifically to fuel growth opportunities.

She said Tech Foundry is also discussing what it would look like to bring its services to other communities. “We love the idea of expanding Tech Hub and Tech Foundry together — bringing those as a joint project to another community here in Massachusetts or Connecticut.”

In short, it’s an organization that thinks big — but with a focus on every individual success story.

“One of my favorite stories is our very first Tech Hub student,” she told BusinessWest. “He came on the day we opened because he saw us on the news, and he completed most, if not all, of our training programs. He had been in a manual job before, had gotten hurt at work, and was no longer able to work in a physically strenuous job. And to his credit, he was like, ‘I have to get back to work; I have to learn a different skill set.’ So he came to us, then he came to Tech Foundry, and he did really well in the program, and now he’s working in a tech job.”

It’s all part of the mission that has powered the organization since its inception 11 years ago — to help people access careers while helping employers succeed as well.

Handling Workplace Investigations in the Right Way Matters

By Contributor
Law Special Coverage

Cooling the Drama

By Tanzi Cannon-Eckerle, Esq.

We all know about workplace investigations, right? At least from TV. Much TV these days is some form of investigation-related drama — Law & Order, Suits, Jack Reacher, and, for you history drama fans, The Law According to Lidia Poët.

And from real life as well, as nearly every organization conducts (or should conduct) investigations from time to time. Heck, technically, trying to find your missing red stapler is a workplace investigation. “Where did I last see it? Where is it supposed to be? Who used it last? Ah — there it is!” Investigation concluded.

Of course, most investigations are not quite that simple. But no matter how serious or trivial the allegation, the approach should be consistent. The scope may change — but the method should not.

 

What Is a Workplace Investigation?

Merriam-Webster defines “investigate” as “to study by close examination and systemic inquiry.” An effective investigation allows a company to identify and analyze workplace issues in an organized way, leading to meaningful, rule-compliant solutions.

In practice, a workplace investigation is a tool — carried out through trained investigators and appropriate policies — that helps an organization stay compliant with laws and industry regulations, maintain a safe and productive workplace, support a healthy company culture, boost employee morale and decrease employee turnover, troubleshoot efficiency and/or productivity issues, maintain a positive company brand, and, importantly, save money.

 

Is an Investigation Really Necessary?

As a labor and employment attorney, I often hear, “do I really need to do an investigation?” Usually, this question arises when the allegation seems minor, the employee has a history of complaints, it is a repeat issue (or the company thinks the issue has been addressed and is moot), the employee is about to quit, or all of the above.

The answer? Yes. Every time.

If there is an incident report, a complaint, or even a hallway conversation that raises concern, it should be addressed. Investigations are necessary for allegations involving harassment, discrimination, or retaliation; misconduct (such as theft or fraud); policy violations or safety concerns; whistleblower complaints; performance issues; and production mishaps.

Once an employer is on notice of a potential issue, the obligation to investigate kicks in — regardless of whether the employee stays or leaves. The company has a duty to maintain a safe, lawful, and equitable workplace.

Tanzi Cannon-Eckerle

Tanzi Cannon-Eckerle

“Beyond litigation risk, investigations signal to employees that the company takes concerns seriously, the workplace is safe and fair, and inappropriate behavior has consequences.”

The Risk of Inaction or Poorly Executed Action

Well, aside from avoiding lawsuits (kidding … but not really), a timely, impartial investigation can help resolve internal issues, prevent escalation, and demonstrate a commitment to a respectful workplace.

According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), workplace investigations are a crucial tool in addressing and preventing claims of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. In 2024, the EEOC received more than 88,500 claims, while the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) received more than 3,500 claims (with approximately 70% of them moving beyond administrative dismissal in one form or another).

A well-executed investigation can provide a solid defense in legal matters — and even help companies avoid them altogether. Side note: 22% of the MCAD claims are retaliation claims, and 21% are disability-related. These types of issues are more preventable than most, but we can talk about that next time; there is no room in this article for me to stand on my soapbox to discuss those issues.

But beyond litigation risk, investigations signal to employees that the company takes concerns seriously, the workplace is safe and fair, and inappropriate behavior has consequences. All of this contributes to employee engagement — and engaged employees are productive employees. Conversely, failure to act can lead to chaos, disengagement, and liability.

The average cost of a workplace harassment lawsuit? About $75,000 to get to pre-trial settlement, while pre-trial to trial defense costs average $125,000 to $250,000. That does not even include a potential jury award for the plaintiff, reputational damage (64% of consumers have stopped purchasing a brand after hearing news of a company’s poor employee treatment), or regulatory scrutiny. A poorly handled (or non-existent) investigation can make matters worse, opening the company, and sometimes individual managers or executives, to further legal exposure.

So, yes, it is necessary to conduct timely investigations using skilled investigators that utilize a productive investigation process that can later be defended.

 

Who Should Conduct the Investigation?

Good question. The wrong investigator can create a problem all by themselves. Is the person too close to the issue? Do they have a conflict of interest? Have they been trained?

I have recently had several conversations (be still my investigator-geek heart) about who should investigate and whether hiring an outside consultant is always necessary. Some argue, “if I can run the company, I can run an investigation.” Technically? Probably.

But should the owner or a C-suite executive do it? Absolutely not. That is a recipe for accusations of bias, and also, don’t they have better things to do — like, I don’t know, running the company? Others say every investigation should be outsourced. That is a bit extreme, too. You wouldn’t hire a consultant to find your red stapler.

“Though external investigators may be more costly, the cost is likely less than a poorly handled investigation, and external experts likely have no motive for bias.”

The right answer is the classic lawyer fallback: it depends. On the issue. On the people involved. On the scope. Investigating is a learned skill. If your team is trained, and you have a solid policy and process, many internal investigations can be managed in-house.

For higher-risk matters, or for investigations that are broad in scope, bringing in an external, independent expert is often the better move. Though external investigators may be more costly, the cost is likely less than a poorly handled investigation, and external experts likely have no motive for bias. And because of their expertise, which includes being skilled interviewers, they often investigate efficiently, create less workplace disruption, and make better witnesses if a lawsuit were to be filed.

In the words of Reacher, “you do not mess with the special [external] investigators!”

 

What Should a Typical Investigation Involve?

Not all investigations are the same, but there should be a consistent procedure. Depending on the type of issue being investigated and the scope, some procedural steps may not be necessary, but it is best to leave that to the investigator to determine.

Generally, the company should receive and respond to the complaint or allegation; this is usually someone in human resources. At this point, the ‘timeliness’ clock starts ticking, which is important to a defense of a claim.

The initial response to the complaint should briefly state that the concern has been received, and next steps are being taken, ensuring confidentiality (to the extent practicable). Next, the company should take immediate interim action to prevent further harm, if applicable (such as separate employees, administrative leave, or temporary accommodations). It is also a best practice to remind stakeholders about the rules governing retaliation.

Then the company chooses an investigator. Once this is done, the investigator should do a preliminary review of the allegations, do initial fact gathering, and determine the scope of the investigation. At this stage, the investigator should decide whether it is necessary to use an external expert.

Next, the investigator should develop an investigation plan, outlining the objectives, scope, and timeline of the investigation. The investigator then collects evidence, such as gathering relevant documents, records, and witness statements, reasonably ensuring confidentiality and maintaining a chain of custody.

Next, impartial, thorough witness interviews should be conducted using active listening skills and open-ended questions. Then the investigator should analyze the evidence, identifying patterns, inconsistencies, and credibility issues, and draw conclusions based on the findings. Then the investigator must compile a comprehensive report detailing the findings, conclusions, and recommendations for corrective action or remedial measures.

Lastly, the investigator should counsel the company on implementing the recommended actions, and the company should ensure accountability and provide employee support. If a lawyer is used as an external investigator, the lawyer may counsel the company about legal risks and make recommendations.

Best practices include using trained, impartial investigators; avoiding conflicts of interest; maintaining confidentiality and proper documentation; being thorough and prompt; and keeping accurate records and reports that can stand up to scrutiny.

One of the most overlooked areas? Record keeping. Even the best investigation won’t help in court (or with regulators) if there is not adequate documentation. Investigators must maintain accurate and detailed records of the investigation, including notes, documents, and evidence, and must know how to draft accurate investigation reports in a manner that will withstand opposing counsel, agency, or judicial scrutiny.

 

Final Thoughts

Workplace investigations aren’t just for TV dramas; they are essential risk-management tools for every organization. When done right, they protect your business, your people, and your reputation. And if you happen to find your red stapler along the way? Even better.

 

Tanzi Cannon-Eckerle is the principal attorney at General Counsel by Cannon, PLLC, a fractional general-counsel law firm that focuses on labor, employment, and business law. She is also a certified workplace investigator and equity and inclusion officer. For more information about workplace investigations or to seek legal assistance for business matters or labor and employment concerns, schedule a free, 30-minute consultation by emailing [email protected], or visit gcbycannon.com and fill out the contact form.

In Greenfield, Puzzle Pieces Are Coming Together

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

Community Spotlight

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

Which it did, in 2019.

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

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

Greenfield Garden Cinemas is just one of many intriguing storylines in Greenfield — others involve everything from a new Starbucks to some new housing initiatives to the anticipated start of work to reimagine the former Wilson’s department store — and just one reason why many see a surge in energy and optimism in the community.

“What we’re seeing right now is a kind of renaissance — a dynamic fusion of entrepreneurship, creative energy, and community investment that is strengthened by deep collaborations between business and municipal support organizations,” said Jessye Deane, executive director of the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce. “The city’s evolution is not just happening — it’s being shaped intentionally. Greenfield isn’t growing by accident; it’s growing because people believe in it. They’re investing here. They’re creating jobs, art, and experiences that can only happen in a place like this — where rural ingenuity meets downtown opportunity.”

Hannah Rechtschaffen, director of the Greenfield Business Assoc. (GBA), which recently moved into its own space on Main Street, agreed.

“Greenfield is in a lovely moment of revitalization,” she told BusinessWest. “A lot of pieces of the puzzle were here when I got here two years ago; they just needed a push behind the visibility, the story we’re telling, the partnerships we’re building, and getting Greenfield more visibility Valley-wide.”

While there is progress, many challenges remain, especially when it comes to the loss of manufacturing jobs, ongoing struggles to replace them, county-wide population loss, and the housing front, where some new units are in the pipeline (more on that later), but the issue of affordability is causing some concern.

Hannah Rechtschaffen shows off the new Greenfield Business Assoc. space on Main Street.

Hannah Rechtschaffen shows off the new Greenfield Business Assoc. space on Main Street.

“Housing is becoming a particular issue, both in the lack of inventory and the cost,” said Tony Worden, president and CEO of Greenfield Cooperative Bank. “Rents have increased, but even more troubling to me is the cost of single-family homes. Greenfield has always been the affordable alternative here in Western Mass. People who were priced out of other areas — particularly Hampshire County — could find reasonably priced homes here in Greenfield, but that is increasingly becoming a thing of the past.”

For this latest installment of its Community Spotlight series, BusinessWest turns its lens on Greenfield, a community where many pieces of the puzzle are coming together to make an intriguing picture — not unlike the ones shown in the cinemas.

 

Strong Arguments

It’s called the Strongest Towns Contest. This is a nomination-driven competition staged by strongtowns.org, with 16 communities competing in a bracket-style format similar to the recent March Madness.

Greenfield was one of those 16 towns, which are being measured essentially on how they’re faring against the complex problems facing cities and towns today. And it advanced to the Final Four, beating out Manchester, N.H. and then Silverton, Ore. to get there, with voters determining who will advance.

The city eventually lost to Harrisburg, Va., which went on to finals against Marion, Ohio, with the latter prevailing. Greenfield Mayor Ginny Desorgher was disappointed not to advance further, but buoyed by what the strong showing indicated — especially, in her view, unity and a sense of everyone pulling in the same direction when it comes to the city’s opportunities and challenges.

“People are working together,” she said, referring to everything from downtown cleanups and crosswalk-painting efforts to long-term economic-development initiatives. “So many things are citizen-led.”

Deane agreed. “Sometimes, rural communities fall into a scarcity mindset when it comes to economic development, but I’m seeing a fundamental shift in that mindset at the leadership level,” she noted. “We’re building bridges, not silos, which is critical in a county of 70,000 residents with a tax base that’s 75% residential.

“A business like ours relies upon a smart, educated workforce, and this cost of housing is worrying me for the future. Where are our employees going to live? Will there be a pool of qualified workers able to live in this area?”

“There is a palpable sense of alignment now,” she went on, adding that, last year, Greenfield secured a Massachusetts Downtown Initiative grant, which enabled the city, the GBA, the chamber, and the Crossroads Cultural District to explore opportunities for collaborative marketing and capacity building to enhance Greenfield’s regional profile.

Meanwhile, the GBA has initiated a roundtable series, which has effectively opened lines of communication between Greenfield stakeholders and re-engaged business owners and nonprofit leaders as local advocates, said Rechtschaffen, adding that these events have covered a wide range of topics, such as the return of a police substation to downtown.

“We recently started a property owners’ group to bring property owners together and get on the same page with them about new development that they’re looking to do, development that’s coming to Greenfield, best practices, lines of communication … we have a very active property-owners contingent.”

Along with this palpable sense of alignment comes several visible signs of progress, said Deane, noting, as one example, the expansion of Ja’Duke onto Main Street.

The Turners Falls-based provider of childcare services, performing-arts education (singing, dancing, and acting), and even driver education needed to expand, said owner Kim Williams, and chose a 25,000-square-foot space on Main Street in Greenfield, formerly occupied by Greenfield Community College.

Tony Worden says Greenfield has long been an affordable alternative in Western Mass., but times are changing, and it is becoming far less so.

Tony Worden says Greenfield has long been an affordable alternative in Western Mass., but times are changing, and it is becoming far less so.

“We’re excited … we believe this will be a catalyst downtown,” she said, adding that the facility, which will bring people of all ages to downtown Greenfield, is expected to increase vibrancy and stimulate economic growth. “Childcare is such a driver of economic development; if people have childcare, they can enter the workforce. Meanwhile, the arts center and drivers ed will bring more foot traffic, more vibrancy, more arts.”

 

Progress Report

There are other things happening in and around downtown, said Desorgher, including the reimagining of the former Wilson’s department store into a mix of street-level retail and housing on the upper floors, as well as new life for the historic Leavitt-Hovey House, the former home of the Greenfield Public Library.

The landmark, built in 1797 and vacant since the new library next door opened in the summer of 2023, was acquired by Greenfield Savings Bank, whose main office abuts the library, with the intention of housing its residential-lending program and wealth-management offices.

Meanwhile, there are some additional housing initiatives, said Desorgher, including units at the Wilson’s site and another 30 to 40 units at another site on Main Street. Meanwhile, the city is issuing an RFP for redevelopment of the Hope Street parking lot into additional housing.

That RFP has yet to be issued, but several developers have already expressed interest in the project, said Desorgher, adding that this is another indicator of positive energy in town and growing sentiment that Greenfield is a good place to land — for families, small businesses, and, increasingly, regional and national chains.

The arrival of Starbucks at the rotary off the I-91 exit — as well as the Aldi’s discount supermarket chain in that same area — provide more evidence, the mayor said.

“All this is indicative of what the future holds, and I can feel it in the fact that we haven’t even put out an RFP for the Hope Street parking lot for housing, but people have already reached out, indicating they’re interested. That’s a really good sign.”

As for the larger housing picture, she said studies indicate a need for several hundred additional units, and the projects in the pipeline will make only a small dent in overall need. But there is progress, especially downtown, which should provide a boost to existing businesses and also spark additional investment.

Greenfield at a Glance

Year Incorporated: 1753
Population: 17,768
Area: 21.9 square miles
County: Franklin
Residential Tax Rate: $19.56
Commercial Tax Rate: $19.56
Median Household Income: $33,110
Median Family Income: $46,412
Type of Government: Mayor, City Council
Largest Employers: Baystate Franklin Medical Center, Greenfield Community College, Sandri
* Latest information available

Still, there is general concern over the way home prices are rising and changing the equation in what has historically been an affordable community.

“My wife and I live in a neighborhood just off the Federal Street corridor — in close proximity to the Greenfield High School and Four Corners Elementary School — that has historically been known for its mid-sized homes and its affordability,” Worden told BusinessWest. “Over the past few years, we’ve seen a handful of homes on our street and adjacent streets sell for amounts that we used to expect from the Northampton and Amherst market.

“A business like ours relies upon a smart, educated workforce, and this cost of housing is worrying me for the future,” he went on. “Where are our employees going to live? Will there be a pool of qualified workers able to live in this area?”

Deane concurred.

“Like many communities across the Commonwealth, our growth is hindered by a shortage of available housing — and this is further exacerbated by aging infrastructure that requires significant investment,” she said. “At the same time, we’re seeing a real uptick in businesses and families looking to relocate here because the quality of life is exceptional, and at a glance, the cost of living is more manageable than in more urban markets. That growing interest is energizing, but we know we can’t grow sustainably unless we also address those foundational needs.”

 

Coming Attractions

As he talked about Greenfield, Bob Provost spoke with more than 75 years of experience. Sort of.

He’s the third-generation co-owner (with his sister, Robyn) of the general-contracting firm Mowry & Schmidt, which is handling the renovations of the Leavitt-Hovey House. He knows firsthand how the city has changed, and he has stories from those who managed the company before him.

“Greenfield was once a manufacturing hub back in the ’40s and ’50s, even up to the ’70s, but most all of those places have closed,” he said, adding that this has changed not only the employment equation, but the jobs mix for his company.

Indeed, Mowry & Schmidt did a good deal of work in many of the former mills — from exterior work to office renovations to millwright work, said Provost, adding that the portfolio has since shifted and now includes residential projects and more work for institutions such as the many banks in town, Greenfield Community College, Baystate Franklin Medical Center, and area private schools.

Overall, the city’s economy has largely shifted from manufacturing to service and the tourism and hospitality sector, with the latter becoming an ever-stronger force, said Deane, noting that Greenfield and Franklin County are growing as a destination, with Greenfield alone generating 6.7 million visits in 2024.

There are specific destinations and attractions, but also popular events such as the upcoming Bee Festival, during which the town celebrates its designation as the place where the beehive was invented, as well as the Green River Festival, a three-day celebration of music.

“Our marketing focus has shifted from generic outreach to specific, interest-driven storytelling — targeting Boomers who want to stay active, Millennials chasing Insta-worthy landscapes, and Gen Z looking for positivity and purpose,” Deane said. “We’ve also partnered with local event coordinators to promote bigger-ticket cultural and sporting events like Franklin County Pride, the Greenfield Winter Carnival, the Greenfield Triathlon, the Franklin County Fairgrounds, and the Green River Festival, with its great lineup of bands, coming in late June.

“Last April, the Franklin County Chamber launched an aggressive digital ad campaign promoting the Green River Festival and virtually introduced the fairgrounds and Greenfield to more than 2 million people,” she went on. “In large part to the success of this campaign, this year’s Green River Festival ticket sales saw a 13% increase over last year, with 25% of ticket buyers attending the festival for the first time.”

At Greenfield Garden Cinemas, Mass said people are going to the movies again — not quite as much as they did pre-pandemic, but the numbers are steady and even improving slightly.

And there is optimism for this summer — one of two busy times for movie theaters, with Christmas being the other — and later this spring as well. Indeed, in addition to a new Superman movie, there’s a live action Lilo & Stitch production, another Jurassic World offering, and a new Avengers movie, said Mass, adding that the cinemas cater mostly to seniors and families, so action movies don’t play particularly well.

But, overall, business is good at the cinemas, and across downtown Greenfield, where the coming attractions are, indeed, quite compelling.

Regional Better Business Bureau Affiliate Hones Its Dual Mission

By
Features

Matters of Trust

Recently, Megan MacBride, director of Marketing and Communications for the Better Business Bureau of Central New England, paid a visit to our BusinessTalk podcast, talking with BusinessWest Editor Joseph Bednar about the role of the BBB. Here are some abridged highlights of that conversation.

 

BusinessWest: Can you give us a basic idea of some of the programs and services of the BBB and how they benefit both business owners and customers?

MacBride: We have the business side, and we have the consumer side. We have a consumer foundation that offers support to consumers. For example, we put on a lot of scam presentations and seminars. It’s really helpful for people who are getting older because there are a lot of elder scams out there. So we’re continuously trying to educate those people.

We also have a complaint service. For example, if you went and bought a hot dog at a hot-dog stand and you were charged $2 and the person behind you was charged $1, and you were mad about that $1, you could call the BBB, and we’ll open up a complaint, whether the business is accredited with us or not, and we’ll be a neutral third party that will bring the unhappy customer and the business together to find a positive resolution that works for both.

Megan MacBride

Megan MacBride

“Don’t let these scammers bully you with threats and rush tactics like, ‘you need to pay now, or otherwise you’re going to get a fine, or you’re going to get arrested.’ The IRS will send you a letter in the mail. It’ll never be a threatening phone call.”

What the business wouldn’t want, whether they’re accredited with us or not, is a bad rating on our website because we document all of this stuff, and we vet all of our businesses before they can become accredited with us. Even if they’re not accredited with us and there are complaints, we’ll still fully investigate it, and we’ll make those complaints public so people are aware of what’s going on.

 

BusinessWest: What does it mean to be a BBB-accredited business?

MacBride: We have to go through your entire business and make sure that you fit our standards of trust. Our BBB standards of trust are to advertise honestly, tell the truth, be transparent, honor promises, be responsive, safeguard privacy, and embody integrity. We want to have businesses that follow our standards of trust to be accredited.

And there are a lot of benefits. We had about 220 million viewers in 2024 on bbb.org. As an accredited business, you can list your business with us. We also do advertising for businesses, so they can buy ad spots as well. There are tons of other opportunities to work with the BBB beyond just getting the seal.

We’re always here as a resource for anyone on the business or consumer side if they ever need anything. I think it just fosters trust in the community. We all want to do business with good businesses, and we want to avoid scams and frustration. So when we’re all in this together and we have these accreditations to back it up, it makes you feel just a little bit better.

Another part of being a BBB-accredited business is that you have opportunities for e-learning seminars, so you can learn different things about various business topics. It’s an additional resource for lifelong learning. Even as a business owner, you’re still learning every day.

 

BusinessWest: You mentioned consumer scams. What are some examples of scams that are common right now?

MacBride: One that’s been ongoing recently is an EZ Pass scam. I don’t know if you’ve ever received an unsolicited text message claiming to be from an EZ Pass service. They make you follow this weird link, and then, next thing you know, your information is stolen. There have been over 800 reports in our region alone, and I know that other regions have also been targets of this.

I want to continue to remind people, do not respond to that text. It is absolutely fake news. EZ Pass would never send a text to you saying that you have an outstanding balance. It’s important to delete those, and it’s also important not to respond back. That’s a big thing. Even if you’re trying to respond just to say stop or unsubscribe, don’t even do that. Immediately block the number, report it, don’t even engage with it.

Another big scam that’s been going around recently is the wrong-number scam. You’ll get a random text and somebody says, ‘hi, I’m trying to reach so-and-so; this is my new number.’ And you might respond back and say, ‘hey, sorry, I think you might have the wrong number. I am not so-and-so.’ And then the scammer will respond, ‘oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know. How are you today? My name is X. I’d like to start talking to you now.’

And it just gets a little weird, right? So again, don’t respond to these. If you ever get an unsolicited text or phone call, review the number with caution, and if it’s a call, they can always leave a voicemail.

The other one relates to tax season. Everyone’s preparing for that April 15 date, so I’ve been trying to warn people about the IRS impersonation scams, when you receive a phone call from the IRS and they’re demanding money from you. The IRS does not do that, so don’t let these scammers bully you with threats and rush tactics like, ‘you need to pay now, or otherwise you’re going to get a fine, or you’re going to get arrested.’ The IRS will send you a letter in the mail. It’ll never be a threatening phone call.

 

BusinessWest: It would seem to me there is more awareness of scams, but I imagine you’re seeing the complaints at ground level, and there’s probably still a lot of need for education and to keep reinforcing these messages, right?

MacBride: Absolutely. Like I said, we have some of these vulnerable populations, older people, and with the rise of AI and the ability to manipulate photos and videos, it’s so important for us to continue to trying to get get ahead of it, making sure we’re on top of the curve, so we can continue to warn people of these things.

 

BusinessWest: There are a lot of organizations out there that advocate for the business community or for the consumer community. You really do both. How gratifying is it to be involved in that sort of work, to help consumers find what they need and also help businesses succeed?

MacBride: Honestly, it’s great. We are a nonprofit advocacy group for not only businesses, but also consumers, and it feels really good to get all the good businesses to come together and work together. I think our values are important. And I think having resources for consumers is amazing too, because sometimes people don’t know where to turn when things happen. So we want to always be there for both sides of it.

 

Governor’s Executive Order Targets Public Construction Projects

By Contributor
Construction

The Case for Project Labor Agreements

 

Gov. Maura Healey recently signed an executive order requiring that administrators of state-funded construction projects with budgets over $35 million take steps to ensure on-time, on-budget delivery of the jobs — including through the consideration of project labor agreements (PLAs), which have been demonstrated to reduce costs and ensure timely completion.

“There are so many critical construction projects underway all across the state — upgrading our roads and bridges, improving infrastructure for small businesses, and more,” Healey said. “We know that it’s really important that these projects are set up for success. This means ensuring that contractors have a trained and ready workforce to turn to and a plan for meeting deadlines, staying within budget and keeping everyone safe. In many cases, PLAs can help make that happen, while promoting good job opportunities for workers of all backgrounds, including veterans, women, and minorities.”

The order calls for the state to sign a PLA if it is in the best interest of the project, workers, and community. The state analysis will be based on the project’s scope, complexity, proposed schedule, site conditions, and the size and nature of the construction workforce required.

Healey signed the order at the Massachusetts Building Trades Unions’ (MBTU) 106th annual convention at MGM Springfield, surrounded by local construction workers and labor advocates, including workers who were employed as part of the construction of the new Massachusetts Veterans Home in Holyoke.

“This executive order will make a huge impact on the quality of life for current and future workers in the construction industry,” MBTU President Frank Callahan said. “It will contribute to ensuring fair competition for all contractors while creating opportunities for great careers and opportunities for workers. Every worker in the construction industry deserves the opportunity to earn good wages and benefits with safe working conditions that ensure they return to their loved ones each day after work. By signing this executive order, Governor Healey is helping to expand those opportunities for construction workers all across Massachusetts.”

A PLA is a collective bargaining agreement, executed between contractors and labor organizations, that establishes the terms and conditions of employment for all contractors, subcontractors, and craft labor employees performing work on a specific construction project.

Advocates say PLAs help deliver high-quality jobs for a diverse workforce and maintain competitive costs and project timelines. Studies have also found that PLAs do not add costs to construction projects, and in fact lower them. A recent analysis of a similar policy in Illinois found that PLAs increased competition and helped lower costs for taxpayers.

“Project labor agreements have been proven to result in successful construction projects in the public and private sectors, from the new Holyoke Veterans Home to Gillette Stadium and TD Garden,” Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said. “We’re proud to take this action today that will make sure our agencies are paying close attention to ways in which they can maximize the success of their projects while supporting our incredible, diverse workforce in Massachusetts.”

 

Matters of Compliance

The executive order lays out the process for implementing PLAs on public-works projects to comply with a measure in the state economic-development bill signed by Healey last year, which called for agencies to require a PLA when in the best interests of Massachusetts. The order does not require a PLA for any construction project and allows for union and non-union bids.

“Our administration looks forward to leveraging this as a tool, when applicable, complemented by efforts to build a more diverse pool of apprentices and reduce barriers to attract more women and people of color as we work collaboratively with the industry to grow the workforce,” said Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Lauren Jones, who joined the governor at the order signing at MGM.

Andrew DeAngelo, Executive Director of the Greater Boston Plumbing Contractors Assoc., which represents more than 70 union plumbing businesses in Massachusetts, added that “the contractor community applauds Governor Healey for this executive order. Project labor agreements not only make sense for worker safety and job-site protections, they also make business sense for both the contractor and the end user. By leveling the playing field for those bidding and ensuring an efficient and on-time completion, more subcontractors bid on the work competitively — and the end user gets the best finished product achievable.”

Chrissy Lynch, president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, argued that “project labor agreements guarantee good wages and benefits, safe working conditions, and sustained investment in the local economy and workforce.

“These agreements ensure that projects create meaningful opportunities for workers across the board,” she added. “Currently, unions train 80% of all apprentices of color and 88% of all women apprentices in our state, and they have been critical to achieving the Commonwealth’s diversity goals for construction. PLAs also have a proven track record in Massachusetts, where they keep projects moving and costs low. The Massachusetts AFL-CIO applauds this executive order for doing better by workers, the community, and taxpayers across the Commonwealth.”

 

More Statements of Support

Karen Courtney, executive director of the Foundation for Fair Contracting of Massachusetts, called the executive order “a major step forward in ensuring that public projects not only deliver high-quality infrastructure but also uphold the principles of fairness, transparency, and opportunity for workers across Massachusetts. By strengthening oversight and accountability on projects exceeding $35 million, we are reinforcing the state’s commitment to equitable access, ensuring that skilled workers receive fair wages and providing a level playing field for all contractors.”

Ziquelle Smalls, senior organizer with Community Labor United, called the executive order “a monumental step toward an equitable and sustainable future for Massachusetts. Committing to strong project labor agreements across sectors will create family-sustaining careers, advance opportunities for women and communities of color, and build the infrastructure our state urgently needs.”

Cindy Luppi, national field director with Clean Water Action, characterized the executive order as “a pivotal moment for both climate justice and public health. By focusing on sustainable infrastructure, we have the chance to address urgent environmental needs — improving our water system, reducing pollution, and creating green careers that support our communities. It’s essential that, when Massachusetts invests in major projects, we not only tackle climate change, but also safeguard the well-being of those most impacted, ensuring clean, safe environments for future generations.”

Mimi Ramos, executive director of New England Community Project, called the announcement a game-changer for New England communities, especially for those seeking access to green careers and childcare opportunities. “At the New England Community Project, we know that a just transition means creating pathways to family-sustaining careers as well as building more green, affordable, equitable, and accessible housing.”

Finally, Dwaign Tyndal, executive director of Alternatives for Community & Environment, noted that, “for frontline communities across New England, and especially in Massachusetts, the executive order on PLAs for state-funded projects over $35 million presents a pivotal opportunity to create green transit infrastructure that addresses both the climate crisis and long-standing inequities. This investment provides a chance to build transit systems that not only reduce carbon emissions but also ensure that working-class communities have access to reliable, sustainable transportation.”

Girls Inc. of the Valley Shines Light on Youth Mental Health

By Contributor
Healthcare News

Turning the Tide

By Suzanne Parker

 

Mental health is important at every stage of life and is critical for a girl’s success in school. Yet we are currently facing a mental-health crisis among youth.

Based on the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance of 2023, almost 53% of female students in the U.S. experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness during the past year, and over 27% seriously considered attempting suicide. This issue persists in Canada as well, where emotional, behavioral, and psychosocial problems affect approximately 1.2 million children, yet fewer than 20% receive appropriate treatment.

Girls Inc. affiliates report that world issues have contributed to trauma and mental-health concerns for girls. ​​These environmental and social factors contribute to deteriorating mental health among girls and can have dangerous consequences.

Suzanne Parker

Suzanne Parker

“Many factors impacts girls’ mental health. While community and family dynamics, specific traumatic experiences, and even our genetics play a role in our mental health, media and schools can have an outsized impact, both positive and negative.”

Many factors impacts girls’ mental health. While community and family dynamics, specific traumatic experiences, and even our genetics play a role in our mental health, media and schools can have an outsized impact, both positive and negative.

 

Role of Media

A recent Pew Research study found that almost half of U.S. teens ages 13-17 use the internet almost constantly, with young girls more likely to spend too much time on social media. Girls particularly face limiting and unrealistic representations of female bodies in the media, which can adversely affect their self-perception, self-worth, and mental health.

Teens’ negative perceptions of their bodies may steer them toward extreme diets or harmful dieting trends. Eating disorders are complex and have a number of social, psychological, and biological causes. Social media is one component of this, as it works to perpetuate the ‘thin ideal,’ especially for young girls.

A researcher at Brown University identified several more risks that social media poses to young girls, including contributing to inadequate amounts of sleep, preventing in-person socialization, exposure to explicitly dangerous content, and even cyberbullying.

On the reverse, moderate use of media that supports users or teaches about well-being or other topics can be a positive resource. Think about how different a comment section full of compliments is!

 

Role of Schools

Schools could play an important role in connecting girls with the services they need if school staff members are trained to recognize the signs of trauma or other mental-health concerns. Oftentimes, girls, especially girls of color, are disciplined for behavior that may be the result of unaddressed trauma or mental-health issues but is not recognized as such.

Additionally, there is a critical shortage of school counselors, and many high-school counselors report being overburdened by huge caseloads, especially at schools where a majority of children are first-generation and low-income students. The American School Counselor Assoc. (ASCA) recommends maintaining at least one school counselor for every 250 students. For the 2023-24 school year, however, ASCA found that the national average ratio in the U.S. is only 376 to 1.

 

Why It Matters

Mental health impacts girls’ and young women’s ability to lead healthy, fulfilling, and meaningful lives. Even though mental-health issues are treatable, girls may not receive the services they need if their schools and communities do not have the necessary resources and the adults in their lives do not know how to identify the need for help.

Girls with unaddressed mental-health problems may get punished or withdraw from classes or activities, thereby losing access to critical development opportunities. Mental illness can also be isolating given the stigma that still surrounds seeking treatment or even admitting one suffers from mental-health issues.

“Even though mental-health issues are treatable, girls may not receive the services they need if their schools and communities do not have the necessary resources and the adults in their lives do not know how to identify the need for help.”

What Policymakers Can Do

Policymakers can improve access to, and quality of, mental-health and wellness support for all youth by:

• Protecting and increasing access to mental-health services, including telehealth;

• Increasing funding for school-based mental health professionals and services, including screening, treatment, and outreach programs;

• Increasing funding for evidence-based suicide awareness and prevention programs, as well as mandating that schools train students in suicide and eating-disorder awareness and prevention;

• Strengthening laws, policies, and funding for programs that promote trauma-informed practices, training, and healing-centered engagement for children and families who may have experienced trauma.

• Ensuring that resources in schools are tailored to students’ specific needs, and ensuring access to more inclusive mental-health and wellness education, as well as linguistically accessible and culturally competent services for youth and parents.

We can also encourage appropriate content from media sources and hold social-media platforms accountable for youth mental-health impacts by ensuring they implement robust youth-protection measures and are held accountable for promoting harmful content to minors, through measures including age verification, usage limits, and AI safety scans for inappropriate or dangerous content.

They can also create industry standards to regulate digital alterations, fund research on social media’s impact on youth, and support the promotion of diverse body representation, while also encouraging collaboration among schools, healthcare providers, and communities to offer comprehensive media-literacy education, mental-health support, and body-positive programs.

 

What We’re Doing at Girls Inc. of the Valley

Girls Inc. Week is celebrated by Girls Inc. affiliates all over the U.S. and Canada. This is a time when we galvanize around topics important to girls.

This year, Girls Inc. Week is happening May 5-9, with the theme “Youth Mental Health: Helping Kids Feel Better,” which was thoughtfully selected by Girls Inc. students. It shines a spotlight on one of the most critical issues facing youth today — mental health — and celebrates the resilience, strength, and proactive spirit of girls.

At Girls Inc. of the Valley, we have a week full of meaningful activities to acknowledge and support their questions and challenges, including our Real Essentials curriculum with a focus on mental health, MADD’s substance-abuse prevention workshop for teens, a fun spa day, and more.

We’ll celebrate the extraordinary achievements of our girls and alumnae, who exemplify what it means to be strong, smart, and bold. Together, we’ll lift up their voices, break down stigmas surrounding mental health, and champion the actions girls are taking to support their peers and communities.

Also, on Thursday, May 8, Girls Inc. is launching its second annual network-wide fundraiser, and Girls Inc. of the Valley is participating to support “Youth Mental Health: Helping Our Kids Feel Better,” right here in the Valley. To learn more about how to participate, visit www.girlsincvalley.org or contact Sasha at [email protected].

 

Suzanne Parker is executive director of Girls Inc. of the Valley.

 

Apprenticeship Programs Fail to Meet Construction Workforce Needs

By
Construction

Problems in the Pipeline

At current rates of participation and completion, federal and state government-registered apprenticeship programs, or GRAPs, are still failing to meet the construction industry’s short- and long-term skilled workforce-development needs, according to an annual Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) analysis of recently released U.S. Department of Labor data.

ABC estimates that, in fiscal year 2024, the construction industry’s federal and state GRAPs had about 290,000 apprentice participants and yielded fewer than 40,000 completers.

“Unfortunately, America’s government-registered apprenticeship system isn’t keeping up with construction-industry demand for skilled craft professionals, despite encouraging progress by many stakeholders to create new programs, attract new apprentices, and graduate journeymen and women at the end of a rigorous, four- to five-year apprenticeship program,” said Ben Brubeck, ABC’s vice president of Regulatory, Labor, and State Affairs.

“Despite the growth of nonunion GRAPs,” he added, “this data is further evidence that an all-of-the-above approach to workforce development — in contrast to the Biden administration’s policy that advanced only government-registered apprenticeship programs — is the best way to address the construction industry’s chronic skilled labor shortage.”

ABC recently projected the construction industry workforce shortage to be 439,000 in 2025.

“Unfortunately, America’s government-registered apprenticeship system isn’t keeping up with construction-industry demand for skilled craft professionals, despite encouraging progress by many stakeholders to create new programs, attract new apprentices, and graduate journeymen and women at the end of a rigorous, four- to five-year apprenticeship program.”

U.S. Department of Labor data presents five-year trend lines indicating there has been stronger proportional growth in the number of nonunion GRAPs, apprentice participants, and apprentice completers compared to union-affiliated GRAPs since 2019.

In FY 2024, 84% of the construction industry’s GRAPs were non-union providers. The number of non-union GRAPs has grown by 25% since 2019, compared to a 7% decrease in union-affiliated GRAPs since FY 2019.

Participants in non-union GRAPs increased by 43% from FY 2019 to FY 2024, compared to 11% for union programs. Completers of non-union GRAPs increased by 31% from FY 2019 to FY 2024, compared to 11% for union programs.

However, in FY 2024, 31% of all construction-industry GRAP participants were in non-union programs.

“With construction unions representing a record-low 10.3% of the workforce, the fact that 69% of all apprenticeship program participants are in union programs illustrates why the union lobby pushes for registered apprenticeship requirements on taxpayer-funded construction projects and advocates for federal grant money for GRAPs as a whole,” Brubeck said. “Workforce-development solutions outside of the GRAP paradigm are a threat to union market share.

“ABC champions government-registered apprenticeships as part of a diverse, all-of-the-above solution to workforce-development needs to solve the construction industry’s demand for skilled craft professionals, as well as engineers, estimators, and project managers,” he added. “ABC’s 67 chapters are educating craft, safety, and management professionals using innovative and flexible learning models like just-in-time task training, competency-based progression, and work-based learning, in addition to more than 450 federal and state GRAPs in more than 20 different occupations across America, in order to develop a safe, skilled, and productive workforce. ABC members invested an estimated $1.6 billion in construction-industry workforce development to upskill 1.3 million course attendees in 2023, including hundreds of GRAPs administered independently by ABC member companies.”

According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the construction industry had 8.31 million employees as of February 2025 and experienced an unemployment rate between 3.2% and 4.2% during peak construction months in 2024.

According to DOL apprenticeship data, apprentices enrolled in construction-industry GRAPs comprise 35.7% of the 679,105 apprentices enrolled in GRAPs across all industries in FY 2024.

Construction Spending Up, but Hires, Job Openings Slump

By
Construction

Mixed Signals

Construction spending increased 0.7% from January to February, even as contractors kept hiring and job opening rates at low levels, according to an analysis of two new government reports by Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials noted that industry hiring appears to be slowing as demand for most types of construction cools.

“Construction spending rebounded in February, following widespread severe weather that may have slowed projects in January,” said Ken Simonson, chief economist of Associated General Contractors of America. “Investment remains positive compared to a year ago, but the growth rate for all major categories has cooled, while contractors have trimmed hiring and slashed job openings.”

Spending totaled $2.20 trillion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate in February. The total was 0.7% higher than the January rate, but only 2.9% above the February 2024 level. Simonson noted that year-over-year growth rates in January (2.7%) and February were the slowest since 2019.

“Investment remains positive compared to a year ago, but the growth rate for all major categories has cooled, while contractors have trimmed hiring and slashed job openings.”

A separate government report showed that the number of workers hired by construction firms in February totaled 354,000, seasonally adjusted, a decline of 20,000, or 5.3%, from a year earlier. The number of job openings on the last day of February totaled 264,000, a drop of 165,000, or 38%, from a year earlier, while the rate of job openings fell to 3.1%, the lowest February rate since 2018. Simonson said these figures show contractors expect to need fewer workers in the near future, a sign that spending may slow further.

Private residential construction climbed 1.3% for the month, led by a 2.0% increase in improvements to owner-occupied homes and a 1.0% rise in single-family homebuilding. Spending rose 2.0% year over year, a slowdown from the 7.9% gain from February 2023 to February 2024.

Private non-residential construction increased 0.4% for the month, with a pickup in nearly every segment. The year-over-year increase totaled 2.5%, down from 9.3% a year earlier.

Public construction edged up 0.2% from January and rose 6.0% from February 2024. A year earlier, public construction jumped 14.0% from the February 2023 total.

Association officials said they were working with Trump administration and Congress to explore ways to reduce regulatory burdens and limit the time it takes to greenlight work on new infrastructure and other economic-development projects. They noted that cutting red tape could help boost activity levels for many types of publicly funded construction projects.

“We are working closely with administration officials to streamline the environmental permitting process and eliminate needless regulatory burdens,” said Jeffrey Shoaf, CEO of Associated General Contractors of America. “There is a way to hold projects to the same high standards of environmental protection without delaying decisions for years at a time.”

Golf Enjoys ‘Stickiness’ in Post-COVID Times

By
John Thomas
Sports & Leisure

Round Numbers

John Thomas

John Thomas says the recently opened Max’s Swing Lounge is off to a solid start, attracting individuals of all ability levels, high-school teams, and corporate outings as well.

 

As he talked about golf in March and how many of the Bay State’s courses were able to open for business for large stretches of that month, Jesse Menachem first lamented that February was an almost total loss.

The fact that he even brought up February was a sign of recent times — for golf and the climate in New England. Indeed, area courses have enjoyed a prolonged run of golf-season-extending weather, with earlier starts, later finishes, and mostly decent weather through the season.

And this run of good weather has perhaps played a small role in the game becoming “more sticky” since enjoying a surge during COVID, when there was little else to do, and becoming “cool again,” said Menachem, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Golf Assoc. (MGA), who acknowledged that he gets paid to promote the game, but is genuinely optimistic about what he’s seen and what he projects for this season and beyond.

“We are again bullish about participation numbers and membership numbers,” he said, adding that all signs point to another solid year. “People are fitting golf into their daily lives and their daily routines in a different way than they did a few decades ago.”

Meanwhile, another aspect of golf’s surge has nothing to do with climate, other than being an antidote for bad weather. Yes, we’re talking about simulators, which continue to grow in popularity, with many private courses now adding such facilities to allow members to keep clubs in their hands 12 months a year — while also providing a boost to the food-and-beverage side of the house.

But there also more such facilities not tied to clubs, such as the recently opened Max’s Swing Lounge at Max’s Tavern at the Basketball Hall of Fame.

John Thomas, general manager of Max’s Tavern, part of the Max Restaurant Group, said the facility, which opened last November in an underutilized banquet room, provides users with opportunities for everything from basic practice to playing iconic courses like Pebble Beach and Cypress Point, and is off to a solid start.

“We’re seeing everyone from toddlers to retired people who are picking up golf for the first time,” he said, adding that the facility features nine bays using Trackman simulation technology. “We see people who play two or three times a week, we see pros, we see people just getting into the game, and people just out to have a good time.”

As for facilities that are dependent on the weather, many area courses were open by the end of March, and some were open before St. Patrick’s Day. That continues a trend that covers the past several years, and it’s a positive development in that it extends the revenue-generating season to weeks, or even months, when overhead is much lower than at other times of the year; Menachem calls this “bonus time.”

Jesse Menachem

Jesse Menachem

“We are again bullish about participation numbers and membership numbers.”

The longer seasons comprise one of many bright spots for the golfing industry that still share space with a host of challenges — from the rising cost of just about everything to ongoing workforce struggles. All these issues, in both categories, are visible at clubs large, small, and even very small, such as Quaboag Country Club in Monson.

Celebrating its 125th anniversary this year, the semi-private club has nine holes, maintains a stable but older-than-normal membership of about 125, and has enjoyed growth in play since COVID, said General Manager Dale Swanson, a 71-year-old who described himself as a jack of all trades.

That’s his way of saying there’s a very small staff at the club, and he does whatever is necessary, including work in the kitchen, the 19th hole, getting carts ready for the season, and the pro shop.

As he does all that, he said a new greenskeeper — evidence that the course is in the best shape it’s been in for this time of year — general optimism about the state of the game, and a milestone anniversary have the club primed for what should a good year.

“We’re optimistic, and we’re already off to a good start,” Swanson said, adding that the course had a soft opening in late March with reduced greens fees. “COVID brought a lot of people into the game, and they’re sticking with it.”

For this issue, BusinessWest looks at the state of the golf business and the outlook for the year ahead.

 

Out of the Rough

As he talked with BusinessWest on March 29, a Saturday that was predicted to be a total washout, Ted Perez Jr., the head pro and co-owner of East Mountain Country Club, was in the pro shop checking in a few groups trying to steal a round before the weather rolled in.

“I think the forecast scared most of them away, but we had a few groups come out,” said Perez, whose course is known across this region — and well beyond — for being open pretty much whenever there is no snow on the ground.

Which means it’s been open almost year-round since the pandemic, said Perez, noting that February was, indeed, a total loss, making 2025 the first year since 2020 when East Mountain will not be open at least a part of all 12 months.

Still, this season officially started earlier than most, he said, noting that the course opened March 8, two or three weeks before most others, getting 2025 off to a decent start, again, at a time when there are minimal expenses to cut into the revenues.

Dale Swanson says Quaboag Country Club, like most courses in the area, has enjoyed early starts and, overall, growth in play since COVID.

Dale Swanson says Quaboag Country Club, like most courses in the area, has enjoyed early starts and, overall, growth in play since COVID.

“My father used to say that golf this early in the year is like finding money on the street,” said Perez, whose dad, Ted Perez Sr., designed and built the course in the early ’60s. “That’s because it costs you almost nothing to be open; you’re not mowing greens, you’re not changing cups, you’re not fertilizing … there’s zero expense other than gas for the carts.”

These early starts — and later finishes, at least the past few years — have certainly played a role in overall business growth at most area courses, said Perez and others we spoke with. But the bigger reason has been the surge in participation prompted by the pandemic, and strong evidence that many of those who took up the game then, or went back to it after leaving for any of several reasons, have stayed with it.

Whether golf is now ‘cool’ — the word Menachem chose — is a matter of debate, there’s no doubting that the game is more popular than it was 10 to 15 years ago, when its cost, lengthy time to play, and other factors were leaving empty lines on tee sheets and private clubs with dramatically lower membership numbers.

“Now, most private clubs have waiting lists for membership,” said Menachem, adding that there are other barometers for measuring the game’s comeback, from consistently higher numbers of rounds logged statewide to a slowing in the number of course closings; from an impressive list of courses open by mid- to late March to strong early signups for the major tournaments staged by the MGA each year, including the Massachusetts Amateur, which this year will played on a local course, GreatHorse in Hampden, and is already sold out.

Swanson agreed, noting that Quaboag has enjoyed limited but steady growth in overall play since the pandemic, a trend he expects will continue in 2025 with the gaining of new members as some courses, such as Leominster Country Club, have closed.

“I just signed up one that was at Leominster, and he said he’s going to bring some of his buddies with him,” said Swanson, adding that, while membership is up slightly, public play has increased as well.

Meanwhile, simulators provide additional opportunities for courses to extend the season and perhaps generate more food and beverage revenue.

“There’s all sorts of different options to outfit indoor space for simulators and keep clubs in people’s hands,” Menachem said, acknowledging that these facilities don’t do as well when the weather improves. Still, they have become a solid addition to the amenities offered by many clubs, and, overall, they have become an intriguing new aspect of the business, with perhaps the most visible example being TGL (Tomorrow’s Golf League), the tech-infused 3-on-3 golf league composed of PGA Tour golfers that drew solid audiences for matches broadcast on ESPN.

Those matches showed how far simulation technology has come and how it will be a big part of the game, said Thomas, noting that Scott Smith, president and CEO of the Max Restaurant Group, became inspired to create the swing lounge in Springfield after seeing a successful, 11-bay facility in Wallingford, Conn.

The chosen site is a banquet facility that had seen declining use since COVID, said Thomas, noting that retrofitting the location for golf simulation and a sports bar began in early 2024.

“When you walk in, it looks like a golf club,” he noted. “And we designed it to be more of a restaurant or golf club than a bar and swing lounge.”

He said the day he spoke with BusinessWest was typical, with Wilbraham & Monson Academy’s golf team coming in for practice that afternoon and a corporate function slated for the evening.

He acknowledged that, once the weather turns nicer and area courses are open, demand for simulators declines. Still, he noted, there is enough business — from corporate outings to players trying to stay sharp — to make this a successful year-round business.

 

Drive Time

Swanson said Quaboag has a few 125th-anniversary celebrations on tap for this year.

There’s a two-day tournament slated for Memorial Day weekend, and another competition set for August that will take participants back in time. Indeed, there were originally six holes when the course opened in 1900, he said, adding that six of the current nine will be chosen for a tournament that will feature the original yardages and some loaned persimmon clubs that will give players a taste of older equipment and keep them from driving the greens with their titanium and composite drivers.

There will likely be some participants in period outfits as well, he noted, adding that, while the club celebrates its past, it will press on with matters of the present and future, which look bright, but, like the game itself, come complete with a full set of challenges and issues that, like the weather, cannot be predicted.

 

Kitchen Concepts Specializes in Rooms for Improvement

By
Owners Ellen and Jim Boyle
Construction Cover Story

Home Team

Owners Ellen and Jim Boyle

Owners Ellen and Jim Boyle

 

Any customer who hires Kitchen Concepts for a home-improvement job is asked to sign a piece of paper. On it is a promise they won’t yell at the contractors.

“Because someone did that one day, and I had had enough,” said Ellen Boyle, who co-owns the business with her husband, Jim Boyle. “I told Jim, ‘we’re making some changes.’ It’s just a simple piece of paper with a general explanation that they have to sign, and it’s made such a huge difference in our work because nobody deserves to be talked to like that, and I don’t want to ever speak to somebody like that. But it also creates this kind of camaraderie.”

It’s also part of a general focus on strong communication, she told BusinessWest.

“If someone decides to move ahead with us, we detail their payment schedule, so there’s never an uncomfortable moment of saying, ‘by the way, I need a check today.’ It’s set up from the beginning. Before we even get started, we explain what their schedule is going to look like, so there’s no question of when we’re starting and what our anticipated finish is going to be.”

And then, of course, there’s that expectation of mutual respect, right up front.

“As we’re walking into someone’s home, everybody that works for us is respectful, but we expect the same thing in return,” Ellen said. “We don’t have anybody above us, so if someone has an issue, we’re the ones that take care of it, but it has to be on a very mature and adult level.”

Jim said clients chuckle a little bit about signing the paper, but they also understand it — and it makes a difference.

“I think sometimes people have this expectation of contractors being gruff and rough and disappointing in nature. But we have done an incredible job over the years without having that kind of demeanor.”

“It just ruins the relationship if people yell at somebody over a knob or coming at 8 o’clock instead of quarter of 8,” he noted. “So we have a conversation for five minutes about all the little things that can happen when you’re in the house. And now, when something happens, this is what we get: ‘Ellen, I know I promised not to yell, but I’m a little upset.’ And they tell you the thing, but they preface it with that, and they don’t yell. And we easily handle whatever problem has come up and kind of move on.”

The consistent growth of Kitchen Concepts over the past quarter-century, much of it driven by word of mouth and customer loyalty, has validated that unusual ‘contract,’ if one could call it that. It’s also an effective icebreaker, Ellen said.

“I think sometimes people have this expectation of contractors being gruff and rough and disappointing in nature. But we have done an incredible job over the years without having that kind of demeanor. It’s not necessary, you know?”

 

From Painting to Kitchens … and More

Before meeting Ellen, Jim started a business called ASAP Painting — by accident, sort of — in 1998.

“I had started kind of cutting grass and doing some other stuff. I left an ad for painting in the paper by mistake, and somebody called me on it. So I painted an exterior house with a buddy of mine. We bought a couple brushes and paint, and that’s how that was born.”

Ellen was an executive secretary at Holyoke Community College when they met, and she eventually began helping with Jim’s business in an administrative role, handling scheduling, estimates, and the like.

“It grew right away,” he said. “It kind of organized us, and it made me able to concentrate on the work itself. And we grew incredibly fast.”

Kitchen Concepts grew out of Jim Boyle learning cabinet installation, and has grown from there.

Kitchen Concepts grew out of Jim Boyle learning cabinet installation, and has grown from there.

They moved to an office in Hadley in 2001. “It was a dilapidated building that we renovated, and we were able to buy work vehicles and improve our equipment and bring on guys; I think we had at least four full painting crews,” Ellen said.

In addition to those interior and exterior paint jobs, they also built about 20 houses during that decade, drawing on Jim’s background in construction; his father was a developer. And they quickly outgrew their space and moved, in 2011, to their current, larger space on Russell Street, which used to house the Hadley Post Office and, later, an insurance company.

But the Great Recession had begun to take a bite out of the home-construction business, so they pivoted to selling cabinets and countertops, and eventually to full kitchen and bath renovations.

“We went out and did some training on how to design,” Ellen said. “And we had to renovate this entire building. We’ve made a lot of changes over the years, and we renovated this whole space to make it the showroom that it is. And maybe seven or eight years ago, we decided to solely concentrate on kitchen and bath remodeling.”

More specifically, they ditched whole-home construction; ASAP Painting is still going strong, as is a third business, called Premier Self Storage, which currently has a facility open in Greenfield and one under development in Southwick.

Their business partnership works for multiple reasons, Jim said. One is that they get along well as co-workers; not every couple does. The other is that they excel at different things. Jim realized early on he was much better at managing work crews and projects in the field, while Ellen, besides her organizational and administrative prowess, was much more at ease talking at length to customers about what they were looking for in a renovation.

“We’ve made a lot of changes over the years, and we renovated this whole space to make it the showroom that it is. And maybe seven or eight years ago, we decided to solely concentrate on kitchen and bath remodeling.”

Jim tells the story of spending two hours with a client early in the kitchen business and becoming frustrated.

“I’m a contractor-type person, so I care about being on budget, making sure the tiles and materials are there, making sure the guys are doing everything like they’re supposed to. I don’t necessarily care about colors and shades and things like that. When I buy cabinets, it takes me five minutes: ‘what are my colors? What’s my shape? OK, that’ll be good. Can you send me the price?’ And I’m done. And I thought that’s what everybody did.

“What we found was that she cares about all that stuff. So now, I have very little to do with scheduling or meeting with the customers. From that day, she started dealing with the clients, and I would get tied up with the guys, making sure they’re on budget, that they’re there on time. And she actually built the company to kind of a powerhouse, where we’re doing 15 to 25 kitchens a year, and maybe 25 to 30 bathrooms a year. It works really well.”

 

Time Management

The Boyles’ operation employs between nine and 15 employees, depending on the season, while the subcontractors that do plumbing, electrical work, and cabinet installation tend to be the same from project to project.

“Many of our people have been with us for a long time,” Jim said. “I have one guy that started with me since day one. Our assistant’s been with us 12 years. Two other guys have been here 17, 18 years. Everybody’s been around for a long time.”

Speaking of a long time, most remodels are completed in three weeks, though some larger, more complex jobs may go four or five. The three-week goal is out of respect for customers, he noted.

“If I build a garage for you at your house, if I take too much time, you could care less. I’m outside every day, and you might come say ‘hi’ to me when you leave for work and when you get back. But if I’m in your kitchen, when you get into a third week and everything’s still going on, it can be difficult for your wife or your partner, and if you get into a fourth week, they don’t want you there anymore; they need their stuff back.”

That consideration was even more acute during the pandemic — a time when home-improvement businesses everywhere reported soaring demand as people stayed home, stopped investing in vacations, and ramped up household projects.

“We were working at least 50, 60 hours a week. There was zero downtime,” Ellen said. “I had my two best years for kitchen consultancy. But yes, there was definitely a learning curve with how to interact with homeowners.

The bathroom and kitchen renovation business surged during the pandemic and has stayed relatively robust.

The bathroom and kitchen renovation business surged during the pandemic and has stayed relatively robust.

“Social distancing was new to everybody. But, again, we had honest conversations with homeowners, like, ‘this is how we will come into your house, this is how we will meet to do an estimate and a design, and this is how we will work to get the job done.’ And things took a little bit longer because we couldn’t really pile a lot of people into someone’s home, but the customers would just come in later in the day after we took off.”

Whatever the circumstance, Ellen said most clients have specific ideas in mind when they enlist Kitchen Concepts for a project.

“There’s a lot of information out there, and what makes us unique is having the construction background — so there’s what you see in a magazine or online, or what you’ve seen on TV, and then there’s the reality of what can be done,” she explained. “If someone has a certain dollar amount that they can spend, that definitely directs us where we need to go to. I never want to show somebody something that is three times the amount of money they’d actually be able to spend. So we do have discussions on what their total budget is going to get them and what we can do.”

How a customer intends to use the property makes a difference as well, she added. “Is someone renovating to sell their house? Are they renovating, but they’re only going to be there for five years? Or are they renovating because this is it — this is where they’re going to be for the rest of their lives?

“There are people who walk in and say, ‘I need a new kitchen, and I have no idea what’s out there.’ But I always encourage people to do all of the hard stuff first,” she went on. “I never want someone to come in here and feel like they have to pick their cabinets and pick their countertops. The hard stuff is understanding what design change would make it more efficient for you, and especially working in someone’s budget.”

Premier Self Storage, including this facility in Greenfield, is a successful side business for the Boyles.

Premier Self Storage, including this facility in Greenfield, is a successful side business for the Boyles.

Because budget is key, Ellen said, no matter the customer.

“One of our countertop companies, Cambria, has beautiful quartz countertops. But a lot of their designs are geared more toward, say, Boston-area homeowners, where it’s a very different demographic, a very different type of budget. Here in the college towns, some of the more expensive materials don’t fit into what their budget is going to be. So we have that conversation very openly with our Cambria reps, that we love these contemporary materials that they offer, and they’re big sellers in one area, but we say, ‘that’s never going to sell here.’

“But those products are out there, and you never know what someone will walk in and say they want,” she added. “Our cabinets are well-priced cabinets, so we have everything from standard SKU models up to full custom cabinetry.”

 

Another New Day

Jim called his partnership with Ellen — in life and in business — a good one, saying his day begins with a morning goodbye kiss, but they often see each other soon after — unless he’s on a job site.

“We’ve been working together since the beginning,” Ellen added. “We take separate cars to and from work, which gives us flexibility if he’s out on the road and I’m here, or vice versa. It’s good. It works.”

Anthony Gulluni Strikes Balance Between Fighting Crime, Building Community

By
Anthony Gulluni
Features

Law and Order

Anthony Gulluni

Anthony Gulluni

The ‘young jokes’ have stopped.

Well … there are fewer of them, anyway.

Indeed, Anthony Gulluni is still the youngest person in the room — by maybe 15 years, by his estimate — when the Massachusetts District Attorneys Assoc. gathers for its monthly meetings and an annual conference to discuss “whatever the crisis of the day is,” such as Rule 14, which puts greater burden on prosecutors and police departments to furnish discovery more quickly.

“It’s no fun; it’s not a good thing,” said Gulluni, 44, Hampden County’s DA, who has been the youngest person in that room for a full decade now, a milestone — there’s a handmade sign in his office congratulating him on that anniversary — that presents a time to pause and reflect on his tenure and what he calls its primary, overarching goal, then and now: “to build a safer community in Hampden County.”

This represents work in progress, noted Gulluni, who told BusinessWest that it’s difficult to quantify just how much safer area cities and towns are a decade after he took office. But he can qualify progress on several levels, everything from the ongoing fight against drugs to efforts to solve cold cases, while also stressing a need to continually improve.

“Ten years provides an opportunity to look back, look forward, and say, ‘what can we do better?’” he said. “And that’s a daily pursuit for this office because the work is so important. We’re serving the public, not unlike other public officials, but we’re working with people who have been victimized, people who have experienced some of the worst things imaginable and things they never expected.”

Overall, building a safer community involves a broad spectrum of programs, initiatives, and simply getting tough on crime and criminals, said Gulluni, adding that efforts at education, prevention, and providing second chances — everything from flag football to 3-on-3 basketball; from Stop the Swerve safe-driving events to the Emerging Adult Court of Hope — and imposing harsh sentences on offenders are not mutually exclusive.

“It’s not ‘lock them up and throw away the key,’ or ‘we want to be progressive and rehabilitate everybody.’ We can combine the two, we can be moderate, and we can be in the middle, and we’ve achieved that.”

“What I’ve tried to do is operate on the principle that we can do progressive things in this law-enforcement space and criminal-justice space,” he noted. “And it doesn’t prevent us from also upholding the law and understanding that there are violent people and repeat offenders who hurt people and need to be incarcerated.

“We can do both things,” he said, adding this has been his goal since he first campaigned for the office. “It’s not ‘lock them up and throw away the key,’ or ‘we want to be progressive and rehabilitate everybody.’ We can combine the two, we can be moderate, and we can be in the middle, and we’ve achieved that.”

Elaborating, he said his office has not “run from the enforcement stuff — taking drugs off the street and locking the person up for as long as possible because this person is killing people.”

Anthony Gulluni speaks at a ceremony marking the five-year anniversary of EACH, the Emerging Adult Court of Hope.

Anthony Gulluni speaks at a ceremony marking the five-year anniversary of EACH, the Emerging Adult Court of Hope.

But it has also broken new ground with programs like the Commonwealth’s only Emerging Adult Court of Hope (EACH) — a name he came up with — which provides second chances to young offenders and brings graduates into careers, not merely entry-level jobs that most often fail to prevent recidivism.

“Each person matters; each person should have hope,” he told BusinessWest, adding that the program is designed to break the cycle whereby young people become repeat offenders essentially because there is no real alternative. EACH was designed to help such individuals earn a viable alternative.

There are many other initiatives as well, involving everything from preventing dating violence to internet safety to FLOS (Future Lawyers of Springfield), which seeks to identify young students who aspire to be lawyers and guide them into a career in the legal system. In short, his first decade has been guided by a desire to be tough on crime and creative with ways to build community.

For this issue, BusinessWest talked at length with Gulluni, who has been honored by the magazine as a 40 Under Forty honoree and Alumni Achievement Award winner, about what has been accomplished over the past 10 years, and the hard work that remains.

Coming to Terms

As he talked with BusinessWest on the last day of March, Gulluni was coming off a hard week.

Indeed, he was just a few days away from press conferences announcing charges related to a motor-vehicle accident on an I-91 off-ramp in West Springfield that killed three construction workers, and a hit-and-run incident in Springfield where a motorist struck and killed a pedestrian walking his bike across an intersection.

“This was tragic stuff, but this is what we do — it’s really about public safety, helping people be safe, and helping people make good decisions,” he said, adding that incidents like these help emphasize all aspects of his office’s work, from prosecuting offenders to helping to prevent such tragedies in the future.

“One of the points of frustration over my 10 years, and it’s become more acute and frequent, is the results in court.”

Such press conferences are one of the more visible aspects of a job where far more goes on behind the scenes, in offices spaced across four floors of Tower Square — after Gulluni ordered his staff out of the Roderick L. Ireland Courthouse amid growing health concerns — but in many different settings as well.

That move to Tower Square is one of many bold steps taken over the past 10 years, all aimed, in one way or another, at achieving that broad goal of making communities safer.

Others include everything from adding prosecutors (bringing the number from 61 to 90 over the past decade) and staff to bring the Hampden County DA’s office, among the busiest in the state, more in line with others in the Commonwealth, to ‘specializing’ those prosecutors.

“We’ve taken many of our most experienced and most talented prosecutors to work on cases involving children in our special-victims unit, domestic-violence cases, and homicide cases,” he said, adding that this region has led the state in homicides per capita, reflecting the demographics of a region with four gateway cities.

Overall, there have been several important initiatives undertaken over the past decade, said Gulluni, including a focus on cold cases that has brought charges — and, in some cases, resolution — to crimes committed decades ago.

“That was one of my initial focal points and something we talked about during the campaign, something we acted on immediately, and over the past 10 years we’ve had a great deal of success,” he said, citing the recent instance of an arrest involving a double murder on Route 5 in West Springfield 47 years ago.

Elaborating, he said cold cases require time and resources, factors that make it difficult to address them. But he has made such cases a priority.

“It’s all about focus,” he explained. “We’ve tried to, and we have, dedicated people to work on unresolved cases. I created a unit, I have a coordinator, I have an advocate, I have a prosecutor, and I have two, soon to be three, investigators working exclusively on these cases. You can’t throw a 30-year-old case at a prosecutor who has 50 other cases and expect her or him to really dive into that case.”

Court of Opinion

Meanwhile, some initiatives fall more into the category of prevention, community building, promoting healthy lifestyles, and even inspiring young people to join the legal profession.

“We’ve approached our work with a preventive lens — how can we get in front of issues; how can we identify things that metastasize and become worse?” he said, adding that his office devotes considerable time and resources to what it calls its Community Safety and Outreach Program.

Anthony Gulluni speaks with an attendee at the recent Stop the Swerve event at the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Anthony Gulluni speaks at 94.7 WMAS for its Radiothon for Baystate Children’s Hospital.

It includes more than a dozen initiatives, such as Stop the Swerve, a presentation (the latest staged last month) that addresses the dangers of impaired and distracted driving; Hoop Up Springfield, a 3-on-3 basketball tournament; a Youth Advisory Board consisting of student representatives from high schools across the county who identify issues facing youth today and provide recommendations on how best to address them; and a recent addition, a youth flag-football tournament, staged in partnership with Excel Sports Academy of New England.

The first such tournament was staged last June, and it will return this summer, said Gulluni, adding that, in addition to competition on the gridiron, it features several nutrition and wellness sessions.

Then there’s FLOS. Undertaken in partnership with Western New England University School of Law, it’s designed to inspire young people to enter the legal profession and bring more diversity to the legal community.

“Diversity is important, for our office and for the bar here in Hampden County,” he told BusinessWest. “We thought about how we can encourage and support young people, especially young people of color, to go down the road toward law school and become lawyers.”

As for the Emerging Adult Court of Hope, it is perhaps the most unique and ambitious initiative of Gulluni’s tenure.

Designed for those between ages 18 and 24, it gives individuals a chance to turn an arrest into a positive step forward, he said, adding that participants are carefully screened and, if chosen, assigned a team that includes a judge, service providers, assistant DAs, probation officers, case managers, and case coordinators.

“They come to the court, and it’s entirely different than any other court session anywhere,” he said, noting that the judge, probation department, and ROCA provide resources to make sure participants get needed support.

“Because a lot of these young people started their lives off in a very disadvantaged position — they started their lives off with horrible examples around them, no support, poor parenting, traumatic situations — and they set them adrift, it set them on a bad path.

“Look at the parole hearings … just over the past six months or year, the Parole Board is letting everybody out. There’s a pendulum that swings back and forth, and the pendulum is swinging, and has swung, a little too far, in my view, in the wrong direction.”

“And this is an opportunity for them to accept a hand up, not a handout,” he continued. “It’s not a slap on the wrist, and it’s not a gift; it’s an opportunity to change their lives with their own hard work and their own commitment to themselves.

“I talk to these young people extensively, and on the front end, I’m saying, ‘this court is about you. It’s about giving you an opportunity, but you have to work for it; it comes with a lot of small failures, ups and downs,’” he went on, adding that there have been seven graduates of the program, and another 15 individuals are working their way through it.

Full Sentences

While creating and expanding progressive initiatives in the broad realm of education, prevention, and rehabilitation, Gulluni said he and his staff have also been focused on the other half of that equation he mentioned earlier — upholding the law and punishing those who break it.

And as the discussion entered this area, he didn’t attempt to hide his dissatisfaction with current trends and patterns when it comes to how judges and parole officers are carrying out their work.

“One of the points of frustration over my 10 years, and it’s become more acute and frequent, is the results in court,” he said. “There’s been two or three rounds of criminal-justice reform over my tenure going back to [former Gov.] Deval Patrick early on and recently, over the past few years. The Supreme Judicial Court and other courts have continued to orient toward ‘how is the system wrong, and how can we provide more opportunities for defendants?’

“You look at the parole system, you look at medical parole … systemically, there’s a movement toward defendants’ rights, and that’s extraordinarily important; don’t get me wrong,” he went on. “The system operates rightly on the axiom that it’s better to let 100 guilty men go free than imprison one innocent man — that is the essence of our system, and that’s how it should be.

“But our sentencing practices across our courts, how we’re treating violent offenses, how we’re treating serious drug-trafficking and drug-dealing cases that have poisoned our communities and killed thousands of people through addiction, how we’re treating those who commit crimes against children, domestic-violence abusers, the worst of the worst, has really changed, even in the spectrum I’ve had over the past 10 years.”

The result, he went on, is that violent offenders and repeat offenders are not being held to account.

“That’s a point of great of frustration. Look at the parole hearings … just over the past six months or year, the Parole Board is letting everybody out,” he said, adding that he can’t pinpoint why, but conjectures that it could be everything from overall philosophy to appointments to the board. “There’s a pendulum that swings back and forth, and the pendulum is swinging, and has swung, a little too far, in my view, in the wrong direction.”

Elaborating, he said there are some cases in which those in his office will agree that someone should be granted parole. “But for most of these cases, we’re saying, ‘this person killed someone, took someone away from his or her family, and the sentence is a life sentence, and that’s what it should be.”

Work to help that pendulum swing back the other way is one of many focal points for Gulluni and his team. With this issue and others, it is difficult to measure success, he said, but added that he’s seeing progress on several fronts — and more momentum in the many efforts to build a safer community in Hampden County.

Youth Mental Health Roadmap Sets Course for Healthier Teens

By
Healthcare News Special Coverage

Critical Connections

 

 

It’s called Beat the Odds.

That’s the name of a youth group that meets across three community centers in Springfield: New North Community Center, South End Community Center, and Martin Luther King Jr. Family Services.

It was conceived a few years ago as a safe space for teenagers to express their thoughts or feelings without feeling judged or dismissed, and to reduce the stigma around mental health for youth and families and promote the importance of a prioritizing a healthy mental state.

“We’re able to provide a space for over 60 kids to be able to come together on a weekly basis and talk about topics of mental health that are prevalent in their lives, and also around problem-gambling awareness and how that’s showing up in their lives,” said Tiffany Rufino, senior manager of the Youth Mental Health Coalition, a program of the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts (PHIWM).

“We also partner with Behavioral Health Network, and we have therapeutic mentors who come to each of the meetings. They’re another leader in that space, and they do one-on-ones with the youth, including goal planning. Whether that’s around mental health or their academics, or just different skills that they want to learn throughout life, we make sure they’re checking in with them on their goals and providing a safe space for having private conversations. And it’s been really great so far.”

Beat the Odds — as noted, a partnership with other area health organizations — is just one way the Public Health Institute has been working to tackle some of the most pressing issues among area young people.

In fact, in late 2023, it began developing its Youth Mental Health Roadmap for Western Massachusetts, which focuses on five distinct themes: destigmatizing and normalizing mental health, conversations around it, and seeking help; boosting social connection for teens who have become isolated and lonely; developing social and emotional learning to support mental health, overall well-being, and productivity in school and society; social media, recognizing its potential as a tool for connection and social support but also the ways it can be harmful; and connecting mental-health promotion and prevention strategies with clinical care when necessary.

These themes were developed with the input of youth health surveys in Springfield Public Schools, as well as input from Beat the Odds participants themselves, said Kathleen Szegda, director of Community Research and Evaluation at the Public Health Institute.

KATHLEEN SZEGDA

KATHLEEN SZEGDA

“With the shutdowns and the prevention measures, I think it was hard. And one of the studies that we cited deals with the impacts of social isolation in students and young people.”

“These are the areas we’re focusing on for prevention and promotion, and we’re trying to better understand how can we support young people in these areas in the schools and community organizations,” she told BusinessWest.

PHIWM can also use the data to advocate for more resources for Western Mass., as well as policy changes at the state level.

“We’ve had young people at the table as part of the advisory group, along with different organizations who are doing prevention work focused on youth mental health and substance-use prevention, and people working in school districts,” Szegda explained.

“So it will have both the data from young people in schools about youth mental health, and also, on the same site, prevention and promotion strategies and examples of how some of these are taking place in Western Mass., because there’s so much good work going on, and we can learn from each other.”

Take, for example, social isolation, one of the Roadmap’s five focal points, and an issue certainly exacerbated by the pandemic.

“With the shutdowns and the prevention measures, I think it was hard. And one of the studies that we cited deals with the impacts of social isolation in students and young people,” Szegda explained. “Studies have shown that the effects can last as long as nine years later. So, if you look at it developmentally, as kids are developing, they are feeling these impacts for a long time.

“When I was looking at the data — and it’s both for Springfield Public Schools from the youth survey, and also data from our colleagues up in Franklin County, which is a more rural area — even before the pandemic, we saw a rise in ‘depressive symptoms,’ where they report being so sad or hopeless, they stop engaging in their usual activities. During the pandemic, it was particularly escalated. And now it’s gone down a little and is kind of plateauing, or even going down a little. But we’ll have to see how that continues, both here and in Franklin County.”

 

Multi-generational Approach

Szegda said it’s critical that young people themselves have been involved in this process, not just through surveys, but at the strategy table with adults.

“It’s important. It takes an intentional effort to be able to do that, to have everyone in the same space.”

That’s the same philosophy behind Beat the Odds (BTO), which elevates the voices and concerns of area teenagers, but connects with their parents as well.

“We are engaging parents and guardians more, recognizing that we’re educating youth, but then they’re going back home to their parents and guardians, and we want to make sure they also have some awareness around what their youth are learning,” Rufino said, adding that the young participants are also building skills beyond emotional learning.

“We have subgroups. We have a group that’s focusing on content creation and communications and learning about public speaking. We have a group that’s learning how to become facilitators so they can deliver workshops to their peers. We also have an event-planning group; we’re working with a couple of other youth organizations in the community to put together youth mental-health events. And then we have our data-to-action group, which is working on learning more about the youth health survey, how to interpret data and the stories it tells, and things like that. So there’s a lot going on.”

TIFFANY RUFINO

TIFFANY RUFINO

“We’ve definitely seen youth being more open to talking about their mental health, which helps to destigmatize it so much.”

As a youth-led organization, Beat the Odds also connects with other youth organizations and community nonprofits. Earlier this month, the Hampden County CHIP and nonprofit organization Breaking Oppression put together Voices for Change: A Youth Summit for Peace at the Basketball Hall of Fame. And BTO youth will also be facilitating a problem-gambling workshop with middle-schoolers across Springfield, Holyoke, and other communities — a priority for the group, which receives some funding through the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Office of Problem Gambling Services.

“With the boom of online gambling, and with us now getting programs and actual trainings and workshops together, it’s taken some time to build those tools up, but now we’re ready to start educating our youth about how problems show up and parenting guardians so they know how to look for it too,” Rufino said.

Beat the Odds has been helpful not only for the young group members, but as a learning experience for the adults who are involved in various ways.

“Because we have such a welcoming space, I can truly say they open up to our program coordinators. They share a lot about what they’re going through,” said Rufino, who was named to BusinessWest’s 40 Under Forty class of 2024 for her impactful work with the Youth Mental Health Coalition.

“We’re also seeing, more and more, that the young people are requesting one-on-ones with the therapeutic mentors because they just have things they want to share with them, or they’re going through different things at school or at home that they want to talk through. So they’re using the resources that we’re putting forth, and they are vocal and open to talking about challenges that they’re facing.”

“They are also really excited about sharing information with the community,” Rufino added. “Through different tabling events, they have been super excited to be able to deliver training to their peers. So, really, the awareness and advocacy is what they’re excited about. And that’s good to see.”

 

Tearing Down the Walls

In fact, many of those working in the mental-health realm, especially youth mental health, have been heartened by a lessened stigma around these issues compared to one or two decades ago.

“We’ve definitely seen youth being more open to talking about their mental health, which helps to destigmatize it so much,” Rufino said. “And as the Youth Mental Health Coalition, we recognize that it’s been a multi-generational stigma, which is why we’re focusing on parents and guardians now.

“We’re doing a two-generational approach — educating youth and encouraging them to be self-advocates and recognize their feelings and what they mean and how to cope and help themselves and others, but then also doing the same with parents and guardians and educating them also about some of the things that their youth are learning.”

One of the coalition’s recent projects was called “I Am More Than My Mood.” That public-awareness campaign, seen on billboards, buses, and digital ads in 2023, aimed to destigmatize the subject of mental health and empower young people to talk about it — and, hopefully, take steps toward self-care.

“I think it is getting better, but we still have a lot of work to do,” Szegda said. “We have a lot of resources and programs that folks can join, but now we need the promotion piece, with the Roadmap and really making sure that youth and families know about the programs that are accessible to them — and getting youth to sign up and meeting them where they’re at, so we can continue to see them getting involved and finding meaningful things in their lives.”

The Youth Mental Health Coalition meets the third Thursday of every month from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. over Zoom. The public is welcome to these conversations about what youth and adults are experiencing around mental health and what resources are available. Email Rufino at [email protected] to receive a link.

Marty’s Local Boosts the Region’s Food Economy

By
CEO Nick Martinelli
Features Special Coverage

Produce and Promise

CEO Nick Martinelli

CEO Nick Martinelli

 

As he gave BusinessWest a tour of his 12,500-square-foot warehouse in Deerfield, winding past long, high racks of boxes and bags of fresh produce and other food and beverages, as well as a brightly lit cold-storage area, Nick Martinelli eventually came to a three-bay loading dock which he called perhaps the most important part of the decade-old operation known as Marty’s Local.

“We have eight trucks, and they’re going six days a week. They’re going out to the farms in the area, and then to the restaurants and colleges and grocers,” he explained. “Everything comes in and out of here.”

Indeed, food that arrives at the facility from farms doesn’t stay long; it heads right back out to its final destination, wherever that may be. The operation has about 115 different partners, counting both the farms and food producers on one end and those purchasing food on the other.

“They’re primarily in Western Mass., but also elsewhere in New England and New York,” Martinelli said. “There are instances where food will be picked up and delivered the same day. But the great majority of our business is having trucks on the road, making deliveries, and then ideally picking up from our farm partners on the way back to the facility, to be packed that night and go out the next day. That’s the ideal.”

Martinelli, founder and CEO of Marty’s Local, began this career in 2015, completing a farming program in Orange called the Farm School, knowing he wanted to work in agriculture, but not sure exactly how.

“I was looking to figure out a place in the local agriculture economy,” he recalled. “I was going to work on a farm, but then I started to talk to a bunch of farmers and realized that there was a real need for distribution. I was seeing some of the growers that I knew driving their own product around, and I knew the demand was strong for these these foods that are really good. So maybe there’s a business opportunity to play that role and just focus on distribution, marketing, trucking.”

So Martinelli started doing just that, first in his car and then with a rented truck. “Then folks would say, ‘what else can you bring us?’ So it started to grow organically that way.”

That was the birth of Marty’s Local, whose network of partners are based not only in Western Mass., but also Vermont, Connecticut, Maine, and New York’s Hudson Valley.

Produce and grains were the first focus of the operation, but it soon expanded to dairy, including butter and cheese, as well as eggs, honey, maple syrup, and even products like sriracha and salsa.

“Almost every week, another farm or maker would reach out and say, ‘we heard you have this distribution service; could we work with you?’ So that’s how we built our roster of partners.”

In 2019, Marty’s Local acquired Squash Inc., a similarly minded local food distributor that had been around since 1973.

“We’d started to do some work with them, and then their owners were looking to retire, so we acquired that business. They had a lot of relationships with growers in the area, and a great customer base, and that was a nice merging of the two businesses that’s worked well,” Martinelli said. “With Squash, we added non-locals. They were sending a truck to the New England Produce Center in Chelsea, outside of Boston, three times a week to get non-local produce — avocados, limes, things you can’t get around here. We continued that, and it’s been a helpful component of the business.”

About 50% of the operation’s food purchasers are retailers, meaning everything from farm stores to independent grocers to chain stores. On the food-service side, which is most of the other half, are colleges, K-12 schools, caterers, restaurants, and wellness and retreat centers.

“There are a ton of farms, and we’re just scratching the surface with the ones that we’re working with.”

Martinelli said one plus for this business is that schools and colleges — not all, but many — have become more diligent about serving healthy options, while restaurants, everywhere but especially in Western Mass., have increasingly seen the farm-to-table concept as a selling point.

To supply those end users, farms have several options, he explained. “Farms are still doing self-distribution. They’ll either have a refrigerated truck that they use, or they’ll have a pickup truck or their personal vehicle, depending on the scale they’re operating at. Some of the farms we work with have multiple trucks, depending on how many customers they have. Some of them are working with distributors that are much larger than us, or some of them work with regional distributors like us. It really depends on the scale of the grower and maker.”

 

What’s in a Local Name?

Grateful for the farms that choose to partner with him, Martinelli takes a broad view of the operation’s impact on the region.

“On a personal level, all of us are motivated and compelled by the trust we have in food when we know where it came from. And when I say all of us, I mean on our team, although I think, in the market, too, there’s some truth to that for sure.”

That idea has driven growth in the local food economy over the past couple decades, he added.

“The sector has grown so much. And I think the reason is that trust, in terms of what food you’re putting in your body, but also who you’re supporting. Are you supporting somebody that’s down the road that you might run into, a business that you’re familiar with, whether you know those people personally or just drive by their business regularly? That’s meaningful to me personally, and I think that’s meaningful to a lot of people, and it’s an opportunity to put your money where your values are.

“So that’s certainly a driver for us — facilitating that, making it easier for people to see more products they recognize on the shelves,” he went on. “On a lot of shelves, it will say, ‘product from X country.’ OK, that’s not really that helpful, right? But if it says it’s from such-and-such farm in Northampton, Massachusetts, well, that’s different.

Eight trucks, both box trucks like this one and larger trailers, move food six days a week for Marty’s Local.

Eight trucks, both box trucks like this one and larger trailers, move food six days a week for Marty’s Local.

“Then you know what you’re getting,” he went on. “And you’re not only supporting the person or the business that’s down the road and putting food in your body that you can trust, you’re also supporting your regional economy, and maybe you’re preserving farmland. There are all sorts of ancillary benefits that come with it.”

Then there’s the matter of healthier eating.

“It’s more nutritious if it’s local,” Martinelli said. “I mean, there are studies showing that the nutrients are stronger after fewer days. So, if it’s coming in a truck five days across the country, it starts to leach out flavor — not in every single product, but there can be meaningful differences in the flavor and nutrition.”

Fortunately, he sees potential to grow this operation and continue to influence food freshness and nutrition while stimulating the local food economy.

“Are you supporting somebody that’s down the road that you might run into, a business that you’re familiar with, whether you know those people personally or just drive by their business regularly? That’s meaningful to me personally, and I think that’s meaningful to a lot of people, and it’s an opportunity to put your money where your values are.”

“There are a ton of farms, and we’re just scratching the surface with the ones that we’re working with,” he noted. “And not only farmers, but entrepreneurs who are one- or two-person businesses saying, ‘I have this great new product’ or ‘I make this great jerky.’ We’re talking about sauerkraut, yogurt, any number of different things where someone is eager to take their craft and get it out to the world, and that’s the role that we want to play.”

Recognizing that impact, Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) named Marty’s Local one of its Local Hero honorees in 2024.

“Marty’s functions in a part of our local food system that is absolutely essential but largely invisible to the general public (except inasmuch as we might see a truck making deliveries),” CISA noted. “We’re lucky to have thriving farmers’ markets, farmstands, and CSAs in our region, but the reality is that direct sales from farm to consumer make up only about 10% of Massachusetts farm sales. That means that 90% of the food grown by Massachusetts farms is winding its way through more complex channels from farm to table — and Marty’s Local smooths that complexity out, bridging the gaps and getting more local food onto more local peoples’ plates.”

 

Special Delivery

Martinelli said his operation’s continued growth is a testament to untapped demand in what is, after all, an agriculture-heavy region.

“That’s also a testament to the number of people growing great food or making great food. So you have people who want it and people who are providing it, and we get to do it really well in the middle,” he told BusinessWest. “We take pride in doing that and paying real attention to good relationships with our vendor partners and with our customers, and all three parties valuing one another.”

And he enjoys making the connections that drive that growth.

“It’s exciting to be able to say to another customer, ‘you know, I just talked to a guy recently who didn’t know there was a service like this, saw our catalog, and said, ‘these are exactly the kinds of foods that I want to have in my store.’ And we make it easy for them to get those foods in there, and do it in a way that’s just as professional as any very large distributor, but with a special focus on local and regional high-quality foods.”

Again, Martinelli added, “we feel like we’re scratching the surface, 10 years in, with the amount of suppliers that have food to go out into the world and the amount of people out there who want that good food.”

 

Amherst Is College Town with ‘Metropolitan Vibe’

By
John Page describes Amherst as a “cultural college town.”
Community Spotlight Special Coverage

Community Spotlight

John Page describes Amherst as a “cultural college town.”

John Page describes Amherst as a “cultural college town.”

John Page calls it a ‘retail incubator.’

That’s the unofficial name given to a facility — still very much in the planning stages — designed to bolster retail in downtown Amherst and bring more balance (and more reasons to visit) to an area more known for its arts, culture, and restaurants.

“It’s a small location for retailers — people who are online, they’re artists, they do things at farmers markets — who are not quite ready to make the jump to a brick-and-mortar store, which is high-risk and quite complicated, said Page, executive director of the Amherst Business Improvement District (BID). “We’re hoping to make a half-step, where folks can start to test their concept out and learn more about being a brick-and-mortar retailer.”

The retail incubator (more details to come later this year, he said) is one of myriad initiatives in various stages of development in Amherst — a town where there is almost always a lot happening — that cross a wide spectrum, from housing to education; from new restaurants to new retail. That long list includes:

• A new elementary school that will be 100% carbon-neutral and ready for occupancy in the fall of 2026;

• Several new housing projects that include everything from market-rate apartments to home-ownership opportunities (much more on these later);

• An extensive, $46 million renovation and expansion of the Jones Library;

• A new restaurant, the Amherst Oyster Bar, which will bring much-needed new life to an historically vibrant spot, site of the former Judie’s restaurant on North Pleasant Street;

• An enhanced presence for both UMass Amherst and Amherst College downtown, with UMass Amherst recently opening UMass Downtown, a multi-purpose retail, event, and meeting space on North Pleasant Street, and Amherst College having opened a campus store on South Pleasant Street;

• Conversion of a former VFW post into a homeless shelter and supportive housing for veterans;

• The continued success story that is the Drake, a live-performance venue in the heart of downtown;

• The planned arrival of another cultural attraction downtown — Ancestral Bridges, an organization that celebrates the history of contributions of Black and Afro-Indigenous families in Amherst; and

• A reimagining of the space called North Common, a former a parking area that has become a popular gathering place downtown.

City officials and business leaders alike are enthusiastic not only about these individual developments, but how they will — and, in many respects, already are — working together to create more foot traffic and vibrancy in the downtown area.

“We’re between Boston and New York, and in such an academically driven area, you get a lot of people from those areas, and they’re looking for something they expect from a city vibe. That’s certainly new to Amherst, but that’s the direction we want to push things in.”

Indeed, the new housing units are bringing more residents to support the full spectrum of businesses downtown, said Page, adding that cultural attractions like the Drake and Amherst Cinema are bringing people to restaurants and bars before and after shows. Meanwhile, new retail, like Aster & Pine Market and the two college stores, are broadening the mix of things to do and reasons to come to the downtown.

“We have a lot of housing in our downtown, and that’s been very helpful to us because we have more people; those people go out to lunch and for coffee, and they spend money,” said Page, who referred to Amherst as a “cultural college town.”

Alden Peotter shows off the recently opened Amherst Oyster Bar.

Alden Peotter shows off the recently opened Amherst Oyster Bar.

“Meanwhile, with Amherst Cinema and the Drake, we encourage people to enjoy a meal before or after, or maybe a cocktail, so that there is that stickiness — people linger and enjoy the downtown.”

Paul Bockelman, Amherst’s long-time town manager, agreed.

“The Drake, along with the Amherst Cinema, has made a huge impact in bringing people downtown to live events,” he said. “And once they’re there, they stay and they support other businesses.”

As for the Oyster Bar, it has been a long time coming. Its grand opening had been pushed back so many times that the eventual date, April 1, was taken by some as an April Fools joke, said Alden Peotter, operations manager for Amherst Innovative Hospitality, which also operates the nearby Protocol bar and restaurant.

He spoke with BusinessWest the day after a soft opening late last month, and said that both the Oyster Bar and Protocol, which opened as a bar but has evolved into a popular restaurant drawing people of all ages, provide what he called a “metropolitan vibe,” something he believes young people, and some not so young, are looking for.

“We’re between Boston and New York, and in such an academically driven area, you get a lot of people from those areas, and they’re looking for something they expect from a city vibe,” he said. “That’s certainly new to Amherst, but that’s the direction we want to push things in.”

For this, the latest installment of its Community Spotlight series, BusinessWest looks at the many forms of development and progress in Amherst, a college town that is so much more.

 

Building Momentum

For Page, who took the helm at the BID last October, his new job is a return to downtown Amherst.

Indeed, he worked at the Amherst Regional Chamber of Commerce, which shares space with the BID in an office on South Pleasant Street, handing marketing and membership, before taking a job at UMass Amherst working on large events like commencement.

“I wanted to get back involved with the town of Amherst and all that was happening downtown,” he said, adding that he was inspired to seek the BID job after doing consulting work for the agency on its summer concert series.

“It reignited my passion for that economic-development work,” he said, adding that, since arriving, he’s continued the BID’s work in tandem with the chamber to promote the downtown and generate more vibrancy in the central business district, which has made a nice recovery after being devastated by COVID — but with changes.

Indeed, while food and beverage taxes are exceeding 2019 levels, there are still fewer people going out, overall, with restaurants still doing strong takeout business. One goal — at the BID, the chamber, and with new destinations like the Oyster Bar and Protocol — is to get them back out.

Amherst at a Glance

Year Incorporated: 1759
Population: 39,263
Area: 27.7 square miles
County: Hampshire
Residential Tax Rate: $17.82
Commercial Tax Rate: $17.82
Median Household Income: $48,059
Median Family Income: $96,005
Type of Government: Town Council, Town Manager
Largest Employers: UMass Amherst; Amherst College; Hampshire College
* Latest information available

“Our real view on downtown Amherst is promoting not just nightlife, but getting people out of their house, getting people to form these communities that have really been missing due to COVID and what came after; we want to give them that location,” said Peotter, who described both establishments as “that third place.” By that, he meant it’s not home, and it’s not work — “it’s another place to be.”

Page said one of his focal points is what would be considered traditional, brick-and-mortar retail. The downtown has some, he said, and the goal is attract more, while also retaining what exists, through initiatives like the planned retail incubator, a site for which has yet to be determined.

“It’s a difficult industry,” he said, adding that Amherst is not known as a retail destination, but could become one. “You need critical mass — you need other retailers so that people view you as a shopping destination.”

Jacob Robinson, executive director of the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce, agreed.

“Fortunately, downtown Amherst isn’t experiencing a significant vacancy issue, but there’s strong interest in attracting more retail to diversify the mix of businesses and further enhance the pedestrian experience,” he said.

“Of course, retail-space turnover is a normal and expected part of any dynamic downtown. As business owners retire, pivot, or evolve their offerings, it naturally creates opportunities for new entrepreneurs to bring fresh ideas and energy into the community. We’re seeing that play out in Amherst, with some beloved businesses closing for personal or planned reasons — often after years or decades of serving the community — and new ventures preparing to take their place. It’s a sign of a living, breathing local economy that continues to adapt and grow.”

Among the relatively new retail offerings are the Amherst College Store, which opened a year ago in the former A.J. Hastings space at 45 South Pleasant St., and UMass Downtown, which opened its doors in February at 108 North Pleasant St., in space most recently occupied by Greenfield Savings Bank.

The latter is a multi-purpose retail, event, and meeting space, said Nancy Buffone, associate vice chancellor of University Relations, who spoke with BusinessWest at the facility.

She said a downtown presence for the university has been talked about for many years, and it became a priority for Chancellor Javier Reyes when he arrived in 2023.

“This is truly about bringing UMass and the community together,” she said, adding that the facility will host both UMass events, such as lectures slated for this spring, and community events, such as registration for the Big Brothers Big Sisters Daffodil Run.

UMass Downtown has seen steady volumes of foot traffic, said Buffone, adding the numbers are expected to move higher as the weather improves and especially for commencement week and ‘destination days,’ when those students who have been accepted to the university, and their parents, are invited to take in the school and the town.

 

Developing Stories

Bockelman calls it the “mixing middle.”

He was referring to the broad segment of housing involving homeownership opportunities for segments of the population that might otherwise not break that barrier. This middle area is being addressed in a project on Ball Lane, undertaken by Valley Community Development Corp.

“We’re seeing a lot of apartments being built, but what has been largely missing has been homeownership opportunities, which is why the Ball Lane project is so exciting,” he told BusinessWest, adding that plans call for 30 units on an eight-acre tract.

The project is one of many housing initiatives, public and private, in various stages of development in town, and they address a critical need for new housing.

Other projects include two public projects totaling 78 apartments, 31 at the former East Street School and 47 at 70 Belchertown Road, said Bockelman, noting that these will be a mix, with varying levels of affordability. The developer, Way Finders, expects to have both sites developed and occupied by 2028.

On the private side, developer Barry Roberts is forwarding two projects, a large (but scaled-down) initiative at the corner of Amity Street and University Drive that will involve retail on the ground floor and apartments above, and the other at the former Hastings site. Meanwhile, Archipelago Investments LLC is set to break ground on a five-story, 68-unit project at Olympia Drive, a dorm-like building that will rise on the site of the former Iota Beta chapter of the Chi Omega sorority, which Archipelago acquired several years ago.

Archipelago has also been named designated developer for a project to create 140 residential units on a large tract of land owned by Hampshire College, adjacent to Atkins Farms.

These projects and others in different stages of development will make a large dent in the overall need for housing across the spectrum, said Bockelman, adding that such projects are needed to help seniors stay in town, young professionals to move there, and employees at many types of businesses, especially the hospitality sector, to afford to live in town.

Robinson agreed. “Housing remains a key issue,” he told BusinessWest. “While Amherst is actively exploring strategies to create more diverse and affordable housing options, it’s clear that housing supply directly affects workforce retention, talent attraction, and the overall economic vibrancy of the region. Our businesses need access to a stable workforce, and that depends in part on people being able to afford to live and thrive here.”

 

Annual Conference Brings Region’s HR Professionals Together

By
Features

Rolling with the Changes

 

The landscape of human resources and the pace of change in the workplace are never static, but some times are more … well, dynamic than others. And 2025 seems to be one of those times.

Which makes the annual Tri-State SHRM Conference — which will convene hundreds of regional HR professionals at Mohegan Sun on April 28-30 — a bit more interesting this year.

“It’s great networking with your peers when you’re at the event because things are drastically changing,” said Dave O’Brien, state director for the Massachusetts State Council of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

“Look at the DEI landscape. Some companies are changing their DEI efforts, and other companies are standing firm, and you can talk to your peers and have an honest conversation with them and say, ‘hey, what’s going on? What are you doing? How are you handling this? What have you encountered?’ Because it does change so drastically and so fast.

Dave O’Brien

Dave O’Brien

“You can talk to your peers and have an honest conversation with them and say, ‘hey, what’s going on? What are you doing? How are you handling this? What have you encountered?’ Because it does change so drastically and so fast.”

“And it’s good because an HR person can’t really talk to anybody but another HR person about these things. They really kind of get it. And there is some concern.”

That’s just one of many reasons O’Brien is looking forward to this year’s conference, hosted by the Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island affiliate councils of SHRM. The three councils began collaborating on a biennial conference around 2000, which later became an annual event and has steadily grown over the years.

Lori McCombs, the Tri-State SHRM Conference manager, remembers the first conference she was hired to run: in 2020, which quickly had to pivot to a virtual event when the world shut down a few weeks before. But after a second virtual event in 2021, the conference has returned to an in-person model and grown significantly: while 242 people attended the 2020 event virtually, 385 showed up in person in 2024.

“The conference is definitely growing in popularity,” McCombs told BusinessWest. “We’ve had to close exhibitor registration due to the large volume of interest from exhibitors and sponsors. That’s a good problem to have. We’re experiencing a lot of positive growth.”

Most attendees are HR professionals, with 69% being HR manager or director level or above. “That means we have a lot of decision makers from these three states that attend this conference,” she said, adding that 32% of attendees represent companies with more than 1,000 employees, and half are from companies of at least 500. “And the type of people that exhibit are companies that provide goods or services to HR professionals — so, a lot of payroll companies, HR data companies, colleges and universities that have advanced HR degree programs, HR consulting firms, talent acquisition firms, recruiting firms, benefit brokers.”

Beth Groccia, a Tri-State SHRM planning committee member who has been involved with the conference for more than 20 years, noted that it used to rotate between venues in the three states, but between that and being held every other year, it was difficult to brand the event and build momentum.

Now a yearly event at Mohegan Sun, it’s much easier to promote, she said. “It’s a destination, people enjoy going there, and they know it’s around the same time of year, so they look forward to it.”

 

Big Ideas for Changing Times

This year’s keynote speaker is Paul Long, a motivational speaker who brings humor, energy, and tactical tips for workplace performance, McCombs said. In addition, a panel of speakers will share creative ideas for recruiting untapped talent, including individuals with disabilities, veterans returning to the workplace, previously incarcerated professionals, and other individuals facing challenges getting back into the workplace.

Lori McCombs

Lori McCombs

“If they’re unable to attend a session, they’re able to go back and watch that, which is very beneficial to those who want as much education as they can possibly get. That’s a great benefit that you don’t see at most other conferences.”

“So, it’s just looking at talent that maybe you’re not thinking of on a daily basis,” she said, adding that another popular panel is called the Stump the Employment Lawyers. “We end the conference with that session. It’s an opportunity for attendees to ask tough legal questions to a panel of employment lawyers from varying backgrounds. People look forward to that.”

Smaller sessions are conducted throughout the conference, three topics per time block, on issues ranging from employment law to professional development; from leadership integrity to combating HR burnout.

“People have the opportunity to attend whatever is of interest to them,” McCombs said. “We also livestream these sessions — we do have a small virtual audience — but we also record all the sessions so that attendees have full access to those recordings for 90 days on demand post-conference. So if they’re unable to attend a session, they’re able to go back and watch that, which is very beneficial to those who want as much education as they can possibly get. That’s a great benefit that you don’t see at most other conferences.”

Another benefit is continuing-education credits, Groccia noted. “A lot of the individuals that come to this conference are certified, and we need to get CEUs to maintain that certification. Plus, as we’ve said, things are changing so quickly. So, what else do we need to know about in our profession to stay up to date with these changing laws?”

O’Brien said the national Society of Human Resource Management provides plenty of general guidance. “But with the way things happen, we just have to stay true to our course and what our companies believe and what we believe.”

Having those discussions with other HR professionals in the field — and, really, just networking in general — is a real positive of the conference, McCombs added. “They’re practicing this every single day, but I would say that the attendees definitely come here to network and get support from each other, in these trying times in particular.”

The conference will also include a fundraiser for the SHRM Foundation, which supports scholarships and research for educational opportunities, O’Brien noted.

 

No Bull (Well, Maybe a Little Bull)

This year’s Tri-State SHRM Conference has a western theme and is titled “HR Rodeo: Saddle Up for Success,” and registration is available at tristateshrm.com. An event party will be held at Comix Roadhouse in Uncasville, “and we’ll be encouraging people to ride the bull and do line dancing and fun things like that,” McCombs said.

During the day, of course, the topics being dealt with are often serious. “The conference has a theme, but we try to stay relevant to what’s happening at the moment and offer best-practice ideas,” O’Brien said. But he quickly added that spending time with fellow HR professionals at a lively venue is, well, enjoyable.

“It’s always good to have more HR professionals join us and have fun,” he told BusinessWest. “You take the job seriously, but don’t take yourself too seriously. That’s the best part of this.”

Jessica Roncarati-Howe Grateful to Uplift Women

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Jessica Roncarati-Howe in the Dress for Success boutique today.
Where Are They Now?

Where Are the Now?

Jessica Roncarati-Howe in her 2012 40 Under Forty portrait

Jessica Roncarati-Howe in her 2012 40 Under Forty portrait

Jessica Roncarati-Howe in the Dress for Success boutique today.

Jessica Roncarati-Howe in the Dress for Success boutique today.

 

When Jessica Roncarati-Howe was honored as a member of the 40 Under Forty class of 2012, she was executive director of the AIDS Foundation of Western Massachusetts — a job with many hats, all of which she wore proudly.

As the foundation’s only paid staff member, she was in charge of marketing and development, administering the grant program, co-chairing most events, and overseeing a cadre of volunteers and interns.

The AIDS Foundation had three missions: providing financial assistance to about 100 patients a year for expenses like rent, utilities, and medications; educational components, including the training of young peer educators to bring awareness into high schools and colleges; and referral services to help people with the disease access healthcare and other resources.

And those efforts made a difference, and even saved lives, considering Greater Springfield had the highest rate of infection in the state at the time.

“It was so gratifying to help them, not just get the services and supports they needed, but build their level of dignity and quality of life,” Roncarati-Howe recalled. “That work really was my heart for the longest time. It taught me a lot about this community, its diversity, how it feels to meet somebody where they are in their lives, as opposed to holding expectations of where people think they should be, and then helping them from that point. It was a remarkable bit of education for me. And that’s something that I wanted to carry into my career going forward.”

Eventually, the heavy workload of that job wasn’t meshing with her home life as well as she would have liked, and she didn’t want either to suffer. “I left the AIDS Foundation because I had a responsibility to both the people who relied on the foundation and my daughter, and I couldn’t juggle both without doing a disservice to one or the other.”

So she moved on to other jobs (and had “surprise twins” along the way), but nothing felt like the right fit — until she became involved with Dress for Success of Western Massachusetts, which she serves as executive director today.

“A friend of mine who was president of the board at the time met with me and asked if I might be interested in a position as program coordinator, but she couldn’t promise me anything except complete uncertainty and lousy pay,” she laughed.

Yet, the executive director at the time felt the organization was on the cusp of rapid growth, and she was right — eventually. Roncarati-Howe’s initial experience was something different, as she came on board in January 2020, just before the world shut down.

“My job went from defining existing programs and building more programs to figuring out what our participants actually needed in that moment and building from there,” she recalled. “And that meant scaling back and scrapping some things, going in different directions that we never expected that we would go. And, lo and behold, we ended up not only successfully delivering programs and services through the pandemic, but also growing.”

From program coordinator, she quickly advanced to director of programs and operations, and began to feel the same sense of ‘right place, right time’ that she had with the AIDS Foundation.

“The more things changed in the world, the more important it became to me to do meaningful work again. And now, I can’t see myself contentedly doing anything else.”

In January 2024, when the executive director position opened up, Roncarati-Howe was named to that role in an interim fashion, and the job became official two months later.

“We’ve all been in a position where we’ve needed help, we’ve needed support, and we haven’t known what the next steps are. To be able to provide that for women is an honor. That’s why I do this.”

It’s impactful work, with services that include the well-known boutique where women can get professional attire for interviews and after landing jobs, and also the Foot in the Door program that focuses on work readiness, from résumé writing and interview skills to networking, workplace etiquette, professional attire, and how to navigate difficult situations on the job.

Dress for Success also partners with a number of organizations, including hiring agencies, employers, and community colleges, to make sure as many people as possible graduate and move right into further training, higher education, or a job within three months of graduating.

“Instead of having siloed programming, we’ve developed a model that we call the continuum of support,” Roncarati-Howe said. “We help a woman from the moment they walk in the door, wherever they are in their life and whatever their needs might be, to whenever they feel that they don’t need us anymore. In some cases, that’s eight to 10 years.”

The program also provides basic computer literacy and a laptop, courtesy of Tech Foundry; basic financial wellness with Liberty Bank; and preparation for the National Career Readiness Certificate exam, not to mention the Margaret Fitzgerald Mentorship Program, a year-long, one-on-one mentorship with a professional or retired professional woman in the community.

The work of Dress for Success of Western Massachusetts is being amplified and expanded with the recent opening of its new Women’s Career Center, which will make the nonprofit’s workforce-development programming available to hundreds more individuals each year, both on a drop-in basis and through regularly scheduled workshops.

The organization will celebrate all of this, and its impact, at its 25th-anniverary Common Threads gala coming up on Thursday, April 17.

“We really try to ensure that, no matter who’s coming to us, the answer is never ‘no,’” Roncarati-Howe said. “It’s just so heartwarming and inspirational and gratifying. It’s also humbling because our perspective is that we’re serving. We are grateful to be able to do this work and do good for people who need us because we’ve all been in a position where we’ve needed help, we’ve needed support, and we haven’t known what the next steps are. To be able to provide that for women is an honor. That’s why I do this.”

Here Are Some Common Tax Mistakes Small Businesses Make

By Contributor
Accounting and Tax Planning

Avoiding the Pitfalls

By Melissa Braun

 

Tax season can be stressful for small-business owners, but it doesn’t have to be. Avoiding common tax mistakes can save time, money, and the headache of an audit. Below are some of the most frequent errors small businesses make during tax season — along with practical solutions to help streamline the process.

 

Mixing Business and Personal Finances

The Mistake: Many small-business owners use personal accounts for business expenses, making it difficult to track deductions and report income accurately.

How to Avoid It: Open a separate business bank account and credit card. Use accounting software to categorize transactions and ensure accurate financial records.

 

Poor Record Keeping

The Mistake: Failing to maintain organized records leads to missed deductions and potential IRS scrutiny.

How to Avoid It: Keep digital and physical copies of all receipts, invoices, and financial statements. Use bookkeeping software like QuickBooks or Xero to maintain accurate records throughout the year.

Melissa Braun

Melissa Braun

“Use IRS guidelines to determine worker classification. If you’re unsure, seek professional advice to avoid costly reclassification issues.”

 

State Tax Filings

The Mistake: Not filing taxes in the correct states, especially for businesses with remote employees.

How to Avoid It: Ensure you are filing state taxes where your employees live and where your business has a tax obligation. Consult a tax professional to avoid missing required filings.

 

Overlooking Deductions and Credits

The Mistake: Many small business owners don’t take advantage of all available deductions, such as home-office expenses, capital improvements, and retirement contributions.

How to Avoid It: Research tax deductions and credits applicable to your industry. Consult a CPA to ensure you maximize all eligible write-offs.

 

Misclassifying Employees and Contractors

The Mistake: Misclassifying workers as independent contractors instead of employees (or vice versa) can lead to IRS penalties.

How to Avoid It: Use IRS guidelines to determine worker classification. If you’re unsure, seek professional advice to avoid costly reclassification issues.

 

Failing to File or Pay on Time

The Mistake: Missing deadlines for tax filings or payments can result in significant penalties and interest charges.

How to Avoid It: Mark key tax dates on your calendar and set reminders. Consider working with a tax professional to ensure timely filing and payments.

 

Underreporting Income

The Mistake: Some businesses inadvertently (or intentionally) underreport income, which can trigger an audit.

How to Avoid It: Report all business income, including cash transactions, digital sales, and third-party payments (such as PayPal or Venmo). Use accounting software to track and reconcile income regularly. Keep track of 1099s received.

 

Neglecting Payroll Tax Obligations

The Mistake: Business owners who handle payroll incorrectly — such as failing to withhold taxes or misreporting wages — can face IRS penalties.

How to Avoid It: Use a payroll service or consult with a tax expert to ensure compliance with payroll tax regulations.

 

Forgetting to Back Up Financial Data

The Mistake: Losing important financial documents due to a system crash or accidental deletion can cause major issues at tax time.

How to Avoid It: Regularly back up financial data to a secure cloud storage solution and keep paper copies of essential documents.

 

Trying to Do It All Alone

The Mistake: Many business owners attempt to handle taxes without professional guidance, increasing the risk of mistakes.

How to Avoid It: Work with a CPA or tax professional to ensure accuracy and compliance. Their expertise can help you save money and avoid costly errors.

 

Final Thoughts

Proactively managing your tax responsibilities throughout the year will make tax time much smoother. By keeping accurate records, making timely payments, and seeking professional guidance, small-business owners can minimize stress, reduce errors, and avoid unnecessary penalties.

Whittlesey specializes in helping small businesses navigate tax season with confidence. Whether you need assistance with tax planning, compliance, or financial strategy, our experienced team is here to help. Contact us today to ensure your business is prepared for tax season — and beyond.

 

Melissa Braun is a partner at Whittlesey, specializing in strategic tax planning, tax provisions, and tax-return preparation for corporate clients, including financial institutions. With extensive experience across real estate, low-income housing, construction, manufacturing, and closely held businesses, she provides expert guidance to help clients navigate complex tax regulations and optimize financial outcomes.

Dietz & Company Architects Values Relationships

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Architecture

Personal Touch

Lee Morrissette says it’s rewarding to see the impact the firm’s completed projects have on the community.

Lee Morrissette says it’s rewarding to see the impact the firm’s completed projects have on the community.

 

As Kerry Dietz planned her transition away from day-to-day leadership of the architecture firm she launched four decades ago, she was on a site visit to one of the firm’s Boston-area projects with Lee Morrissette — now one of the company’s four principals — and he asked her about her vision for the firm after she steps away.

“She said, ‘well, I’ve always envisioned the firm as a place for people to have a career in architecture.’ I thought that was a really interesting perspective,” Morrissette told BusinessWest. “It’s wasn’t ‘we want to build this building’ or ‘we want to get that award or make a lot of money from this particular type of project,’ but rather, ‘we want to be a place for people to have a career, to be part of a community,’ which I think is really rewarding.

“That, for me, has really resonated. Since becoming a principal over the past five years, I’ve realized that, even though I do interviews with clients and try to get new work and take on that competitive process we do for public work — which is great — it’s occurred to me that clients hire architects as people, not really as companies.”

And that’s important, Morrissette added, considering the relationship aspect of this work.

“You get the company, with all the breadth of experience. But you’re really hiring an architect, a person, to work with,” he explained. “The fastest projects barely get done in a year, and the really big, complex ones go three, five, seven, sometimes 10 years. You’re building a long-term relationship with somebody, so it needs to be somebody you can actually work with, someone who has your back. It’s like having a friend with special expertise you can really tap into. Perhaps friend isn’t the right word, but it’s building a relationship.”

Those relationships have grown over the years, and so has the firm, which now boasts a team of 30, completely filling the space in Springfield Union Station it has occupied since 2017. It has also opened a second office in Cambridge.

“Architects don’t build anything; contractors build things. We just provide all of what they need to be able to do that. And over that year of construction, 18 months, whatever it is, it slowly comes to life for us.”

“The bread and butter for our firm has always been affordable public housing, and there are a lot more housing authorities in the eastern part of the state than in the western part of the state, so we found ourselves getting more work in Eastern Massachusetts,” Morrissette said, noting that three team members work at that satellite.

But staff growth isn’t the only goal, he noted. Professional development is critical, as evidenced by the company’s designation, since 2018, as an Emerging Professional Friendly Firm by the New England Components of the American Institute of Architects. That program acknowledges architecture firms that promote the advancement of emerging talent through professional development and personal growth opportunities.

“It’s like a stamp of approval that we have an established professional-development program that includes mentorship and study materials and support of emerging professionals on a regular basis,” he said.

But it’s not just younger team members who are immersed in a culture of learning. Morrissette spent several recent weekends studying for an exam to become a certified passive house consultant, a cutting-edge type of sustainable design that dramatically reduces the amount of energy a building consumes.

“I’ve taken 56 hours of training to do this. And I’m really lucky that I can participate in that lifelong learning, just like the new grads that join our office,” he told BusinessWest. “We’re all learning together, and I think it’s a cool profession to be in. There’s a lot of variety in what we do, and there’s a lot to explore.”

 

Market Diversification

Dietz, like many large, well-established firms, designs projects in a range of sectors, including commercial, education, housing, senior living, hospitality, municipal work, and more.

“It sounds kind of like investment strategy, but it’s very similar. We have our hospitality industry, which is fairly market-driven, and then we have our publicly funded work,” Morrissette said, noting that publicly funded projects tend to land in a few buckets, from schools to housing authorities to municipalities. “They all have different budget cycles and money sources, but we’re working with public money from the very local level all the way to the feds, and that’s a nice balance to have.”

The principals at the firm — architects Morrissette, Jason Newman, and Kevin Riordan and chief financial officer Tina Gloster — regularly strategize on what projects to pursue or types of work to emphasize, and each brings different experiences and expertise.

Dietz & Company designed the new Richard E. Neal Cybersecurity Center of Excellence in Springfield.

Dietz & Company designed the new Richard E. Neal Cybersecurity Center of Excellence in Springfield.

“The business side, for architects, can be challenging. We don’t go to business school; we go to design school. But when you’re a really good designer, you get a lot of work, and you find yourself running a company, and you find yourself having to make business decisions,” Morrissette said.

One of them is Dietz’s continued evolution as a leader in sustainable design, with one recent example being the Wilmington Senior Center, the firm’s first exposed mass timber project.

“Instead of the old timber — huge trees cut into big pieces, like the interior of mill buildings with huge timber frames and brick exteriors — mass timber is when you take a whole bunch of small pieces of wood and glue them together to make either columns or beams or floor blocks or wall blocks,” Morrissette explained.

“It’s a good sustainability story because it’s wood that’s pretty quickly grown because you’re growing little trees instead of big trees. It’s fairly renewable and reasonably fast-growing. It helps manage the forests. It also sequesters carbon into the building.”

But despite the excitement of new designs and industry innovations, the most gratifying part of any project is watching the final product emerge — and the impact it has on clients.

“Architects don’t build anything; contractors build things. We just provide all of what they need to be able to do that. And over that year of construction, 18 months, whatever it is, it slowly comes to life for us,” Morrissette told BusinessWest, using the senior center as an example. “Nothing is more rewarding than walking an owner or a client through a building and saying, ‘over here, remember we talked about what that café was going to be like? This is where the coffee is going to be. This is where that beautiful tile you picked out is going to go.’

“And then you get to the ribbon cutting, and they say, ‘I can’t believe we’re here.’ To see the building full of its occupants — not contractors or architects, but to actually see it full of its occupants, enjoying the space, playing pool in the rec room and doing yoga in the fitness studio and sitting down for a meal — yeah, that’s pretty cool.”

 

Handing It Over

Still president and board chairman of the firm, Dietz can take a lot of pride in the company and culture she has built, which also includes an employee ownership model launched in 2021. Morrissette is proud of the work, too, but it goes deeper than that.

“In truth, there’s something a little bit zen about it. We spend all this time in this building. We argue and collaborate with the contractors and the owners about details and budget. We advocate for it like it’s our baby. And then we just give to the owner — because it’s not our building. You have to get used to giving it up and walking away.

“But it’s very rewarding,” he added. “It is incredibly challenging and nuanced, and I’m always tested, but I’m really lucky that I get to do this on a daily basis.”

Is the Commonwealth Losing Its Competitive Edge?

By
Features Special Coverage

State of the Bay State

 

“The success of Massachusetts’ economy has historically been driven by a number of key strengths: a strong quality of life, an educated and engaged workforce, and economic sectors that adapt to changing conditions and are at the vanguard of innovation. However, these strengths are no longer as unique to Massachusetts, nor are they guaranteed to continue in perpetuity, and in recent years, national demographic shifts and increased mobility for people and employers have threatened to degrade Massachusetts’ competitive edge when attracting residents, businesses, and investment.”

 

That’s the introductory, summary paragraph in a note from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Assoc. (MTF) as it introduced something it calls its Competitive Index, which was first released last fall and will now be conducted annually. And it effectively sets the tone for the document, which compiled 26 different metrics — from grade-8 math test scores to energy costs; from international migration to commute time — that clearly and concisely measure how the Bay State is stacking up. (The full report can be found at masstaxpayers.org.)

The bottom line is that is that, while the state still has several strong attributes, it is not as competitive as it has been historically. Or, put another way, other states, such as California, Florida, North Carolina, and Texas, have become more competitive. And now, thanks to the pandemic and the advent of remote work, it has more competitors, including other New England states.

“Massachusetts has a number of real strengths; the fact that we are the most highly educated state in the nation and have been for a long time, the fact that we have the best K-12 school system, at least on average, and higher education is such a strength, bodes well for us,” MTF President Doug Howgate told BusinessWest. “But at the same time, there are lot of things that we can and do need to do better — we’re either lagging behind the standards we’ve set for ourselves, or we’re lagging behind other states.”

“One of the reasons why we wanted to look into some of these issues within the competitive index is that, during the pandemic, we started to see that location choices became a little more flexible — not for everyone, but for some people,” he went on. “And that has real impacts for the long-standing proposition that Massachusetts has for its residents in terms of what you gain from living here and what the costs are.

“There are lot of things that we can and do need to do better — we’re either lagging behind the standards we’ve set for ourselves, or we’re lagging behind other states.”

“If people became a little less sticky and had a little more ability to move around — the same with employers — was that going to be a competitive advantage or disadvantage for Massachusetts?” he continued. “And at least in the very short term, it appeared to be a net competitive disadvantage as we saw these big surges in domestic outmigration — not everywhere, but certainly in higher-cost areas.”

Since the release of the report, compiled with researchers at the UMass Donohue Institute and with the support of the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership, it has been the subject of discussion and debate — about what the state has lost when it comes to its historic competitive edge, to whom it has lost that edge, and, perhaps most importantly, how it might get that edge back.

Howgate has spoken at several forums about the Competitive Index and the issues related to it, including the Outlook lunch staged by the Springfield Regional Chamber earlier this month.

Doug Howgate

Doug Howgate

“If people became a little less sticky and had a little more ability to move around — the same with employers — was that going to be a competitive advantage or disadvantage for Massachusetts?”

At those forums, and in a wide-ranging interview with BusinessWest, he stressed that the Commonwealth can no longer take its historic advantages — and, again, there are several, from educational attainment to its ability to attract international immigrants — for granted, because other states are gaining ground in those realms.

In the meantime, several factors, such as the rising cost of everything from housing to energy to childcare, as well as the so-called ‘millionaire’s tax’ and the rise of remote work, have contributed to the state losing population — and talent — to other states, although some, if not most, of these losses have been made up through international immigration.

As he talked about the index and what the numbers mean, Howgate said it suggests at least five key areas for policy focus: creating a competitive roadmap, stemming outmigration, growing the labor force, incorporating cost considerations into policy conversations, and fostering and supporting the relationship between the state’s education system and the economy.

We’ll get into each in more detail as we examine the Competitive Index and how it serves as a call to action as the state, which is still very competitive when it comes to businesses, jobs, and talent, faces the hard reality that it must take steps to remain that way.

Moving Targets

As he sliced through the numbers in the index, Howgate reiterated that the Commonwealth still has several competitive strengths.

Indeed, it is ranked at or near the top in such areas as population age 25 and over with a bachelor’s degree or higher, average weekly wage, research and development funding as a share of gross state product, and even life expectancy at birth.

But these strengths are counter-balanced by many weaknesses, with the state ranked at or near the bottom nationally in income inequality, energy costs, overall cost of living, commute time, childcare costs, housing cost burden, and even average unemployment insurance tax amount per covered employee.

In many ways, these weaknesses are now taking their toll, and this is showing up in domestic migration, with the state losing workers to regional competitors such as Maine and New Hampshire, and especially Florida, California, and New York.

This disconcerting trend is what prompted MTF to “look under the hood,” as Howgate put it, and determine if and where the state was losing some of its edge.

“We started looking at questions related to where are we a leader or a laggard, and a lot of the places where we’re a laggard are places where the costs are borne by wealthy folks,” he said, referring to the millionaire’s tax but also other factors. “But also, a lot of the costs make it a challenging place to live for working families, which is another huge challenge for the Commonwealth moving forward.

“What we talk about in the report is that people are more sensitive to cost than they used to be,” he went on. “So that heightens some of our long-standing competitive disadvantages. The fact that childcare costs are higher, housing costs are higher, unemployment insurance taxes … we continue to fare very poorly in those areas, and they’re at the core of where people can afford to live.”

Statistics show that, while outmigration is occurring most in the higher income brackets, especially $250,000 in annual income and above, it is also happening with other groups, such as those in the $75,000-$100,000 range, said Howgate, adding that this speaks to, respectively, people who can afford to relocate and those who can’t afford to stay. And in both cases, the trends started before the pandemic.

“And the factor that’s kind of marbled throughout that is that we’re seeing increasing evidence that it’s our younger professionals who are leaving,” he said, adding that this reality has deep ramifications for the Commonwealth and its businesses, large and small.

Meanwhile, he acknowledged that this challenge does in some ways present opportunities for this part of the state, where some of these costs, especially housing and childcare, are not as burdensome.

Indeed, opportunities exist to convince people, and even businesses, to move to different parts of the Commonwealth rather than to another state, he said, adding that, due in large part to remote work possibilities, some areas, such as the Cape and the Berkshires, are gaining population.

 

Behind the Numbers

Howgate noted that one of the many lessons from the pandemic, a once-in-a-lifetime happening that altered many aspects of life, is that things can change quickly.

“Just like you don’t want to assume that things are going to go right back to the way they were before the pandemic in a couple of months or a couple of years, you also don’t want to assume that the way things looked in June of 2023 is what they’re going to look like forever,” he told BusinessWest. “One of the points with the competitiveness index is to say that, as we find a new normal — and what ‘normal’ is is always changing — how do we start to create these baselines for ourselves about what we’re doing well and not doing well?”

And with this baseline, Massachusetts can continue to track how it’s faring, he said, adding that overall competitiveness is something that the state and its leaders should continually gauge — and work to improve.

It hasn’t been this way historically, he went on, and this is perhaps one of the reasons why some of its edge has been lost.

“You don’t want to overreact as a policy maker, but at the same time, we have some compelling data that something has altered how people are making location decisions,” he said. “So we need to be more mindful of the fact that people aren’t going to just stay because this is where they’ve always been; there has to be more to our argument than that.”

This brings him back to some of those suggested key areas of policy focus and the overall need to emphasize competitiveness as an economic-development priority for the state.

Action, and change, is needed on several fronts, Howgate said, especially housing and what he called the “nexus between transportation and housing.”

“If people can’t afford to live in a place that gets them to where they want to go conveniently, you have a big problem on your hands,” he told BusinessWest. “And that is something Massachusetts has a real crunch on — both accessible and efficient transportation options and affordable housing.

“While there are other things that absolutely matter as well, such as childcare costs,” he went on, “I think that we started to focus more and more, as others have as well, on what are some of the smart things we can do on transportation and housing to get people more quickly to places with inexpensive housing, like Central Mass. and Western Mass., and then also, what can we do on the production side to boost housing so people are able to afford where they want to live?”

The Commonwealth is certainly not alone with these challenges — many other states and urban areas are dealing with sky-high housing costs and transportation issues, he said, adding that some are being more proactive, and effective, in dealing with them and issues such as zoning and land use.

When asked to project ahead five or 10 years to where the Commonwealth might be from a competitiveness standpoint, Howgate said this is difficult because of the profound pace of change. But he did say the state cannot afford to leave anything to chance.

“We know what our demography is, that we’re an aging population, like other Northeast states, and we know that we’re a high-cost area,” he said. “At the end of the day, irrespective of where you are ideologically, it’s in all of our best interests to incentivize people to stay in Massachusetts, and move to Massachusetts, because we’re not going to have that level of growth if we just sit here and do nothing.”

What Every Employee Should Know About Stock Compensation

By Contributor
Accounting and Tax Planning Special Coverage

Unlocking the Benefits

 

By Matt Baran

Stock compensation has become an increasingly common form of employee compensation, particularly in tech startups, large corporations, and publicly traded companies. This form of compensation allows employees to benefit from their company’s success by offering them the ability to acquire shares of the company’s stock. Stock compensation also allows companies to save cash while still providing their employees with a form of payment.

There are different types of stock compensation plans available, each with its own set of benefits and tax implications. The most common types are incentive stock options (ISOs), non-qualified stock options (NSOs), and restricted stock units (RSUs). Understanding these options is essential for employees to make informed decisions about their compensation and plan for potential tax obligations.

 

Incentive Stock Options

Incentive stock options are a type of stock option that provides employees the right to purchase company shares at a fixed price (known as the exercise price) after a certain vesting period.

ISOs have unique tax advantages that make them appealing to employees. When employees exercise ISOs and hold onto the shares for at least one year after exercise and two years after the grant date, any gains from the sale of the stock are taxed as long-term capital gains rather than ordinary income, providing favorable tax treatment as long-term capital gain rates are typically lower than ordinary tax rates.

ISOs do not trigger ordinary income tax when they are exercised, as long as the employee meets the holding-period requirements previously mentioned. This allows employees to potentially defer taxes until they sell the shares. If the holding-period requirements are not met, the sale would be considered a disqualified disposition and subject to ordinary tax rates, on both the spread and any additional gains after purchase.

Matt Baran

Matt Baran

“Restricted stock units are valuable because they provide employees with an equity stake in the company once the shares vest. Unlike stock options, which have value only if the company’s stock price rises above the exercise price, RSUs have intrinsic value as long as the company’s stock has value.”

While ISOs provide the benefit of capital-gains tax treatment, they come with the risk of triggering alternative minimum tax (AMT). The spread between the exercise price and the fair market value of the stock at the time of exercise is considered a preference item for AMT purposes, potentially causing employees to owe additional taxes even if they do not sell the stock immediately. Any AMT paid in a tax year can typically be taken as a credit in the next year the taxpayer is not subject to AMT.

 

Non-qualified Stock Options

Non-qualified stock options are the most common type of stock options granted by companies. Similar to ISOs, employees are granted the right to purchase shares at the exercise price. Unlike ISOs, NSOs do not receive the same favorable tax treatment and can trigger tax consequences at the time of exercise.

When an employee exercises NSOs, the difference between the exercise price and the fair market value of the stock is taxed as ordinary income. This means that the employee will face immediate income-tax liability on the spread at exercise. The combination of the amount paid for the shares plus the taxable spread upon exercise becomes the tax basis in the shares and will be used in the calculation of gain or loss when the shares are sold. Any gains or losses will be treated as capital gains, either short- or long-term, depending on the holding period.

 

Restricted Stock Units

Restricted stock units are valuable because they provide employees with an equity stake in the company once the shares vest. Unlike stock options, which have value only if the company’s stock price rises above the exercise price, RSUs have intrinsic value as long as the company’s stock has value. Vesting, in relation to RSUs, is typically on a time-based schedule.

There are also performance stock units (PSUs), in which an employee must hit certain performance metrics to trigger the stock to vest. RSUs and PSUs are treated the same for tax purposes.

The shares are taxed at their fair market value when they vest, and employees usually elect a ‘sell-to-cover’ withholding method, meaning a portion of the vested shares are sold immediately to cover federal, state, and FICA withholdings. Employees with high tax rates should be conscientious of the withholding rate and consider making additional estimated tax payments, if necessary.

The fair market value that is taxable upon vest becomes the tax basis in the shares. Any gains or losses from sales of that stock are capital in nature and will be taxed at either short- or long-term rates, depending on the holding period.

 

Planning for Stock Compensation

Planning is paramount regarding stock compensation. It is important for employees to be aware of the relevant dates, including the grant date, exercise date, vesting date, and holding period once the employee gains ownership of the shares. For all types of stock compensation, employees must understand what type of stock compensation they were granted and the nature and timing of taxation, and have a plan for managing cash flows and executing sales of the stock down the road.

There are other planning considerations, including the long-term outlook of the company, the employee’s personal portfolio and diversification, and how other sources of taxable income impact tax liabilities and tax rates.

 

Bottom Line

Employees should carefully consider the type of stock compensation they receive and plan accordingly to manage their tax liabilities and maximize the benefits. As always, consulting a tax professional is recommended to navigate the complexities of stock compensation.

 

Matt Baran is a tax manager at MP CPAs

HAI Architecture Focuses on Projects with Impact

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Principals Rick Katsanos (left) and Don Hafner
Architecture Special Coverage

Designs on the Future

Principals Rick Katsanos (left) and Don Hafner

Principals Rick Katsanos (left) and Don Hafner

 

As the long-time principals at HAI Architecture in Northampton, Don Hafner and Rick Katsanos don’t see the healthcare facilities they design — or any facilities, really — as simply physical spaces.

No, they see the impact on the people who live, work, and play in those spaces, and it’s a gratifying feeling, whether they’re designing an ICU for critical hospital care or a small outdoor stage for Forbes Library in Northampton.

“We don’t value healthcare systemically in this country,” Katsanos said of the former. “It’s more than just having a doctor; it’s more than just having the right medications. It’s about wellness. It’s about having an environment. And it doesn’t have to just be in a hospital. It can be in a clinic; it can be in a doctor’s office.”

As for the stage, which he called “a fun community project, a different thing for us,” there’s an element of wellness there, too.

“It’s mental health for the community. I like going and hearing the children’s choir, and instead of just standing on the muddy grass, there’s going to be a place for them. And I’m not placing an overemphasis on, ‘wow, we’re changing the world.’ But we’re changing a little bit of the world for the positive.

“And that’s all each of us needs to do — change the world a little bit for the positive. And then, cumulatively, great things can happen,” Katsanos went on. “That’s why I feel great about what we do. I’ve never felt like we’ve taken a project just for the money or we’ve taken a project that we weren’t proud of. I’m proud of every single thing this company has done.”

“We’re talking about some of these hospitals losing a hundred million dollars, two hundred million. That’s not insignificant. So that’s been an issue.”

Katsanos and Hafner met as freshmen at Penn State in the early ’80s and were among a group of architecture students who gravitated north after graduation to find work. Katsanos, a Wilbraham native, was hired in 1986 by Ed Jendry, who had launched Architects Inc. in Northampton in 1976. Two years later, Hafner, who had been working in Vermont, joined him at the firm.

In 1993, Katsanos and Hafner bought the business, which had also spun off a sister company, Healthcare Architects, to pursue work in the regional healthcare market — a decision that proved lucrative, as the firm still focuses heavily on designing modern, high-tech spaces for hospitals, health systems, and physician practices across the region.

The dramatic main entrance canopy was part of HAI’s work at Salem Hospital.

The dramatic main entrance canopy was part of HAI’s work at Salem Hospital.

Years later, the partners merged Architects Inc. and Healthcare Architects into one company, called HAI Architecture.

“Don and I have known each other for some 40-odd years. We met the first day of freshman year, and then went into business together,” Katsanos said. “We are fairly aligned. We have our differences, like every good relationship. Sometimes it’s like a marriage, sometimes it’s like siblings, sometimes it’s a business relationship. We run the gamut.

“And it’s important that we have differences of opinion; it helps,” he went on. “He’ll see something differently. I’ll say, ‘this is the way I’m going to design this.’ And he’ll go, ‘well, did you ever think that it might work out better this way?’ And that difference of opinion almost always makes it better.”

 

Healthy Returns

The firm is still heavily invested in healthcare projects, such as a just-completed ICU at UMass Memorial Health – Harrington Hospital in Southbridge and a new lobby addition and registration area at Salem Hospital — both of those long-time clients, as are some of the local hospitals, like Cooley Dickinson, Mercy, and the various Baystate facilities.

At Salem, “we’re doing a lot of radiographic technology stuff at their facilities and a bunch of clinical projects,” Hafner said, “and then also a bunch of infrastructure projects because we’ve always been a service provider in the truest architectural sense. We really love doing interesting architecture, but a lot of the stuff we’ve done with hospitals has always come from facility-based projects that help to support their infrastructure.”

“We have no idea if doors, which largely come from Canada, are going to be one and a half times what they were this time last year. Even stuff that is manufactured here is impacted by things like steel and aluminum prices.”

And those needs don’t stop, not even during the pandemic, when HAI stayed very busy.

“We never, other than maybe two weeks, had a slowdown. Everybody learned how to make sourdough bread, but I did not have that opportunity,” Katsanos said with a laugh. “We were fortunate because the healthcare sector needed to continue. The first project that went back online 10 days after the world shut down was a clinical trials facility — a lab that we were designing and in the middle of building for Baystate — because it was needed. The government told us we’re critical infrastructure.”

That said, healthcare is in a challenging time right now, he noted, with many hospitals and health systems — Baystate, for instance — grappling with serious red ink.

“They’re basically looking at scaling back a lot things that aren’t direct patient care. They have to re-evaluate where they’re going to spend money. We’re talking about some of these hospitals losing a hundred million dollars, two hundred million. That’s not insignificant. So that’s been an issue.”

In addition, Katsanos said, “I think we’re seeing the impact of COVID on healthcare. Like, they kept going and kept going because they needed to. Staffing costs were higher; everything cost more, but they needed to keep going. And I think it’s finally caught up, and there needs to be a little bit of a correction because everybody’s overextended.”

That trend happens to coincide with dramatic proposed federal spending cuts in all areas of life, including healthcare.

“That affects our flow of projects. We have some projects that have been delayed almost immediately because there’s just uncertainty. So, if you don’t have to spend — if it’s not, ‘oh my gosh, that piece of equipment is totally broken, and we need to replace it’ — then clients are scaling back.”

One of HAI’s projects in UMass Memorial Health – Harrington Hospital was this ICU renovation.

One of HAI’s projects in UMass Memorial Health – Harrington Hospital was this ICU renovation.

The same promises to be true across higher education, he added. “That’s a big one, and it’s been a target as well.”

But economic uncertainty can affect projects of all kinds, Katsanos added. “Even stuff like the stage [at Forbes] — it’s a steel-framed stage. We don’t know if the tariffs are going to actually impact the pricing on that. The prices are locked in, but there’s always a caveat of ‘barring uncontrolled circumstances,’ and certainly a tariff is not necessarily a controlled circumstance. It’s not in place at the time that somebody places a bid, and then, a week later, it is. It’s no way to run an economy, but here we are.”

 

Branching Out

In addition to its broad roster of healthcare projects, HAI has diversified into many other sectors over the years, from bank branches to work at a number of nonprofits, like Ronald McDonald House and the Northampton Survival Center, to facilities in the education world.

One recent project was the renovation of the Gateway City Arts complex in downtown Holyoke to house LightHouse Holyoke, a non-traditional middle and high school. “Working with those folks was fun and something a little bit different for us,” Katsanos said. “So that was pretty satisfying.”

He added that it’s simply good business practice to diversify, even when times are heady in the healthcare realm.

“You can get very complacent when healthcare is so busy that you can’t keep up with it. But we don’t say no to something that’s out of the ordinary. Sometimes it’s refreshing to work on something that’s just different. Like an outdoor stage for Forbes Library — I would not have targeted that, but it’s a wonderful project.”

He also appreciates the impact of something like creating a family room for Ronald McDonald House at Baystate Children’s Hospital.

“If you have a kid getting cancer treatment at Baystate, you don’t even have to walk two blocks to go to the Ronald McDonald House; you can go to this new family room and get a cup of coffee and check your email and be away from your child’s bedside, but literally 12 seconds away, and that is really cool.”

Hafner said projects like this, with palpable human impact, energize the staff as well. “They understand that we value the community that we live and work in. So it’s very exciting to do those kinds of projects.”

As noted earlier, there’s plenty of concern these days to go along with the highs of today’s architecture industry, stemming from the economic uncertainty of tariffs and funding cuts.

“I think there’s large-scale worry from the contracting area across the board,” Hafner said. “We have no idea if doors, which largely come from Canada, are going to be one and a half times what they were this time last year. Even stuff that is manufactured here is impacted by things like steel and aluminum prices.”

“So I think everybody is really on edge,” he added. “A number of the hospitals that have not signed contracts have put things on hold because they’re not sure if project budgets will hold. I think there’s going to be a wave that happens through the entire construction industry. It’s not going to be limited to any one thing in particular because all those issues impact every single aspect of every single building typology.”

That said, Katsanos told BusinessWest, “we’re positive. We’re optimists … cautiously. It’s not a fun time right now for anybody, on whatever side of the spectrum you are, because uncertainty is always difficult. So I’m not saying I’m not concerned about our industry — I am concerned. But I also am positive. We’ll survive, and we’ll persevere.”

 

Kindness and Gratitude

Katsanos said he committed to making 2025 a “year of kindness,” inspired by his mother, whom he described as very kind, and who passed away in August.

“It doesn’t have to be huge. We don’t have to be political and change the world. We all have to just do better. Cumulatively, there’s a lot of us, and we can do great things.

“That’s why we like healthcare,” he added. “I’m not a doctor, but I think the healthcare system can be improved, and we try to do it. We are very, very affordable, and we could probably make more money, but we do a lot of work for nonprofits, and those are little margins. And we make that work.”

Hafner agreed. “I’m very thankful for what we’ve been able to accomplish. I am very proud of the projects that we’ve done. They don’t always land on the cover of a magazine or anything like that, but over the period of time that we’ve done this, we’ve made an impact. I think we’ve done a reasonable job of making our community a better place through the work that we’ve done.”

Town of Palmer Has Progress in Its Sites

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The former Thorndike School will be converted into 12 to 18 units of market-rate housing.
Community Spotlight Special Coverage

Community Spotlight

The former Thorndike School will be converted into 12 to 18 units of market-rate housing.

The former Thorndike School will be converted into 12 to 18 units of market-rate housing.

 

When it comes to Palmer’s much-anticipated new train station and the return of passenger rail service after a half-century absence, there is no timetable in place yet.

There are several hurdles still be cleared, from design to the huge matter of funding — for this train station and the state’s much larger east-west rail project. Town officials can only speculate that it will be a few years, and likely more than a few — one said it will be at least 2029 — before the facility is up and trains are stopping there.

But this lack of a go date isn’t tamping speculation, both positive and negative — especially since the state has now chosen a site for the station, an open field at 1099 South Main St., south of Palmer Yard, land owned by wire brush manufacturer Sanderson MacLeod (more on that company later) and adjacent to its plant.

To the disappointment of many in the community, this site is not downtown — and, more specifically, not the site of the former, historic train station, now home to the popular Steaming Tender restaurant.

In fact, a group calling itself the Central Rail Passenger Coalition is not entirely ready to give up on the downtown site, even though the state Department of Transportation has deemed it inadequate for several reasons, and town officials are accepting the state’s decision.

“It’s a chance for the town to assess current land use in the area and begin laying some groundwork to really encourage and enable transit-oriented development in that area.”

Scarlet Lamothe, general manager of the Steaming Tender and member of the Central Rail Passenger Coalition, has been outspoken — at public meetings and other forums — about how the South Yard location, known as ‘Site B,’ will not bring real economic benefits to the downtown or the community as a whole, pointing to the example of Windsor Locks, Conn., which built a new train station outside of the central business district, didn’t see much economic development, and is now moving its station downtown.

“Site B is not located in the downtown district, and it will show no benefit to the town,” she said, adding that she, other members of the coalition, and other Palmer residents are trying to gather support for an ordinance that would require that a passenger rail depot and related facilities need to be zoned in the downtown district.

“Also, you won’t see as much ridership at Site B because you won’t have that north-south connection,” she went on, adding that behind the historic station is a diamond junction, permitting rail service in all four directions; Site B would only accommodate east-west service.

Town Planner Heidi Mannarino acknowledged some disappointment concerning the state’s choice of location, but said the site is only a half-mile from downtown, and, overall, it could benefit existing businesses and prompt additional development.

“There is potential to unlock more development in that area,” she said, adding that, while the next steps in this process play out, the town should be looking to maximize the development opportunities from this potentially groundbreaking development, one that could return the community known as the Town of Seven Railroads to its roots.

“It’s a chance for the town to assess current land use in the area and begin laying some groundwork to really encourage and enable transit-oriented development in that area,” Mannarino said, adding that this includes everything from new housing opportunities to businesses catering to those getting on and off trains to creating safer alternatives for multi-modal transportation.

The state’s selection of a site for the new rail station tops the list of developing stories in this community, but there are several others, including plans to convert the former Thorndike School, built in 1910, into 12 to 18 units of market-rate housing, $1.6 million in infrastructure work (from sidewalks to fire hydrants), a new strip mall on Route 32 near the turnpike exit that is nearing the finish line, and a spike in interest in Palmer in the wake of remote work and hybrid schedules.

The Liberty Plaza project on Thorndike Street is nearing completion.

The Liberty Plaza project on Thorndike Street is nearing completion.

Indeed, this dramatic change in how people work has made the commute from Palmer to Springfield, Worcester, and points east of Worcester far more attractive than when people were going to the office five days a week, said John Latour, Palmer’s director of Community Development, adding that there are other incentives.

“There’s quality of life, there’s a grocery store and other amenities, but the housing here is more affordable than going further east,” he explained. “You can get a really nice house here for considerably less than you would, say, in the Shrewsbury area, so you’re seeing more people driving into Worcester and the Boston area from Palmer.”

For this latest installment of its Community Spotlight series, BusinessWest turns its lens on Palmer, where many forms of progress are, well … on track.

 

Train of Thought

Latour noted that, while there is, indeed, some disappointment concerning the state’s choice of a location for the new train station, there is still a buzz surrounding the east-west rail project and how it could change the fortunes of a community that is roughly halfway between Springfield and Worcester, but often (and until recently) considered too far from either for a commute or any economic benefit.

Remote work and hybrid schedules have changed some attitudes about Palmer, he said, noting that this is reflected in growing interest in housing within the community and rising prices, with the median price now exceeding $300,000.

And east-west rail could change the equation further by making the commute easier and thus more palatable, he said, adding that there are many examples of communities that have benefited, in many ways, from being a rail stop.

Mannarino agreed, noting that, in addition to spurring residential growth, a rail stop can benefit existing businesses in the broad hospitality sector and foster new ventures as well. And the chosen site for the station can do both, she added.

“Currently, on the other side of the track from the site, there’s already Seven Roads Brewery and other existing businesses that will shine. It’s going to be a matter of making sure that the rail stop is connected to those businesses in a safe way while also laying the groundwork so that it can be attractive for other business opportunities on the south side of the tracks as well.”

Overall, she said rail service will make Palmer’s location, already attractive because of its turnpike exit and close proximity to the state’s second- and third-largest cities, even more appealing to the development community.

While anticipating — and preparing for — a future with passenger rail service, Palmer is also coping with the present and developments on several fronts.

At the top of that list is housing, which is key to any residential growth and the benefits to be derived from it, said Latour, adding that, at present, there is little in the way of new construction of homes or subdivisions.

But the Thorndike School project is a small step forward, he added, noting that the new units will make a small dent in overall need. Conversion of the former Converse Middle School into 55-and-over housing, a project the town has been pursuing, will make another dent.

Other developments include Liberty Plaza, a strip mall taking shape just a few hundred yards from the Big Y on Thorndike Street (Route 32). The plaza will be home to a Starbucks and a Jersey Mike’s, as well as additional tenants, said Latour, adding that this project will hopefully inspire additional commercial development in that area just off the pike exit.

Palmer at a Glance

Year Incorporated: 1775
Population: 12,448
Area: 32 square miles
County: Hampden
Tax Rate, residential and commercial: Palmer, $18.15; Three Rivers, $18.23; Bondsville, $18.98; Thorndike, $18.28
Median Household Income: $41,443
Median Family Income: $49,358
Type of government: Town Manager; Town Council
Largest Employers: Baystate Wing Hospital; Sanderson MacLeod Inc., Camp Ramah of New England; Big Y World Class Market
*Latest information available

Meanwhile, the town has been awarded a $430,000 grant to design a new sewer infrastructure for a stretch of Thorndike Street, a project intended to alleviate a “ticking time bomb,” Mannarino said, and one that could unlock new development, both commercial and residential, in that area.

The overall price tag for that project will be $4 million to $6 million, she noted, adding that the town will be pursuing other grants to cover that cost, and there is no timeline for the initiative.

 

Making It Happen

Mark Borsari, president and CEO of Sanderson MacLeod, or SanMac, as it’s known colloquially, sidestepped questions about the rail station and east-west rail, noting that both are matters well beyond his control.

He preferred to talk about what is in his control, meaning his company, and its focus, which, technically speaking, is on making twisted wire brushes, but is really on creating an environment where people want to work and can thrive, and also on creating a model for other manufacturers, most of them facing the stern challenges of coping with retiring Baby Boomers and attracting and retaining young talent.

“We can’t control the weather, but we might as well see if we can be as creative as possible internally — we’re having a good time, we really are,” he said, adding that the company is firmly focused on making investments in the next generation of workers and, at the same time, “making it cool,” with ‘it’ being the overall experience.

It does this through everything from food trucks making regular stops at the plant to a cornhole tournament; from one of the company’s operating slogans — “you’ve got to be a little twisted to work here” — to an elaborate employee-appreciation day called Brushes, Blues, and Barbecue, which tells the whole story.

Such initiatives are part of a two-pronged approach at SanMac, said Borsari, adding that the first is to work with area schools to educate young people about the many attractive benefits to careers in manufacturing, while the second is to implement programs that demonstrate how valued employees are and encourage them to grow with the company, be part of the growth process, and encourage leadership.

“You do have to make it cool — I’ve always said that you have to look at through the eyes of someone who’s 18 or 19 years old and create an organizational place that they find cool to be in,” he explained.

“And that means you have to be creative. You make it cool by making the cafeteria a ’50s diner, you make it cool by putting bus wrap around the inside of the factory so you can put colorful graphics up, you make it cool by bringing in food trucks, you make it cool by having fun with the different ways that we work together, by focusing on people and rewarding them.”

Overall, it comes down to treating people as individuals where one size does not fit all, and “pointing out what the big picture is,” he added.

“When young people go out into the real world, they enter the workplace with an enthusiasm that’s a little naive, but it’s potent because they want to prove themselves,” Borsari said. “If they’re not handled properly by an organization, or they just get cast away after putting out 100%, it cuts the knees out from under them. You can only do that so many times to someone, especially if they’re young, before they say, ‘this is ridiculous — I’m just going to find a place where I can make as much as I can by doing as little as I possibly can,’ and that’s leadership’s fault.”

Through leadership that doesn’t take this approach, that truly values employees, SanMac has become not only a standout in the twisted wire brush industry, but a true leader in a changing manufacturing sector — and an economic driver in a changing Palmer, where even more promise may be chugging down the tracks.

Wistariahurst Is a Center for Culture, Education

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Tourism & Hospitality

 

They plan to call it the “Immigration Experience Room.”

And that’s exactly what it will relate, said Megan Seiler, director of the Wistariahurst Museum in Holyoke, adding that this permanent new exhibit, set to open this summer, will give participants a glimpse into everything from the questions asked immigrants arriving at Ellis Island — thousands of whom found their way to Holyoke — to what they would pack in the one suitcase they would bring to this country.

“You come in, and you’ll take the steps that someone immigrating to this country would have taken, from the medical exam to other questions they would be asked,” she said, adding that this will be a hands-on family activity, complete with a passport that can be stamped and a map so visitors can pinpoint where they’re from.

The Immigration Experience is just one example of how Wistariahurst, the estate built by silk magnate William Skinner, is much more than a house museum; indeed, provides educational experiences involving all of Holyoke and much more. One upcoming exhibit is called “Prison Reimagined,” featuring visual art and poetry created by people who are currently incarcerated.

Meanwhile, it has become an event venue, hosting everything from weddings and retirement parties to art exhibits and book discussions.

The home, like Skinner’s silk mill, was originally in Williamsburg, and moved to Holyoke after the great flood of 1874. The buildings and grounds were owned continually by the Skinner family until 1859, when Katherine Skinner Kilbourne, the youngest child of William and Sarah Skinner, and her heirs gave Wistariahurst to the city of Holyoke.

It has become what Katherine Skinner intended it to be — a center for cultural and educational purposes.

Its grounds are open to the public dawn to dusk, Seiler noted. “We get people coming throughout the day, especially when things are in bloom. We get people doing yoga on their lunch break, we get the YMCA preschool … people love the grounds.”

There are also house tours and, as noted, a wide variety of programs, many of them focused on Holyoke and the people who have come here since it became a planned industrial city in 1873. In addition to “The Immigrant Experience,” there’s also a planned permanent exhibit on migrants who came to Holyoke from the South, Puerto Rico, and elsewhere.

In short, while the landmark tells the story of the Skinners, it really tells the story of Holyoke and all who have called it home. Learn more at www.wistariahurst.org.

—George O’Brien

Westfield Starfires Elevate the Old Ballgame

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Tourism & Hospitality

 

Students. Star Wars fans. Dog lovers (both kinds).

There’s something for just about everyone this year as the Westfield Starfires open up their seventh season of play in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League.

“We’re actually opening the season with a few games that are baseball and education day games,” team co-owner Chris Thompson said, noting that these are school field trips, with first pitch at 10:30 a.m., that blend game action with lessons about the regions the players hail from, statistics, and sabermetrics.

Other promotions include a Star Wars night to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters, fireworks presented by Westfield Gas & Electric, Mental Health Awareness Day, team poster and baseball card giveaways, a dollar dog night, and — speaking of dogs — a Bark in the Park night, where patrons can take in a game with their furry friends.

But the biggest draw is still the team itself, which lost in the league championship game last year and returns a solid group from Clemson, Georgia Tech, Louisiana Tech, Ohio, and a host of other schools, including UConn, Boston College, and others from around New England. Prior to last season, the Starfires extended their lease with the city to keep playing at Bullens Field at least until 2034.

“Mayor [Michael] McCabe sees it as an attraction, with people coming to visit from outside of Westfield, and we also have a ton of local partners,” Thompson said. For example, North Elm Butcher Block, a 90-year staple in downtown Westfield, will be dishing out barbecue fare like pulled pork sandwiches, brisket, burnt ends, and mac and cheese balls, while Amherst Brewing Co. is returning for the seventh year with its Starfire IPA.

And for the third year, the team will present the Starfires Summer Classic in June at Forest Park in Springfield. “We go out and do some brand building, build some awareness of who we are, and hopefully the families will come back to the ballpark at Bullens Field. We partner with a lot of regional schools, too, and hope they also might come back with their family.”

There’s also a Father’s Day promotion that culminates with a game of catch between fathers and sons on the field after the game.

“It’s a great family day at the ballpark,” Thompson said. “The goal for us is to try to increase our in-game fan experience, including the between-innings portion. We’re really thrilled by what we’ve been able to do over the last couple years.”

The 2025 season runs from May 28 to Aug. 9. Learn more at www.westfieldstarfires.com.

—Joseph Bednar

Springfield Armory Marks Milestones with a Bang

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Tourism & Hospitality

 

It was just over a half-century ago that the Springfield Armory — the facility that gave the community its heritage of precision manufacturing and even its legacy as the City of Homes — was designated as a national historic site.

And those at the Armory, which now shares its home with Springfield Technical Community College, are celebrating that milestone in many different ways — from merchandise including clothing, pins, and a commemorative passport stamp to a celebration weekend slated for this fall.

But the 50th anniversary is just part of a loaded schedule of programs at the armory this year. There are also events to mark the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, as well as programming that speaks to Springfield’s designation as an American World War II Heritage City by the National Park Service, the only one in the Commonwealth, said Susan Ashman, lead park ranger and historic weapons supervisor at the Armory.

It was during World War II that production at the Armory was at its peak, with more than 14,000 people working there producing weapons such as the legendary M1 Garand, said Ashman, adding that this indelible impact on the war, and the region, are big reasons why the Armory, the site for which was chosen by George Washington, was designated as a national historic site.

Today, as throughout its 50-year history, the Armory is a museum, visited by people from across the region and around the world, where visitors can see displays featuring everything from the Blanchard lathe — a turning point, literally and figuratively, when it comes to mass production — to weapons from several eras, to images of the men and women who worked there.

But it’s also the site of special programs, from recreations of historic battles to public talks, like the ones slated for later this year by several World War II-focused writers, including Alex Kershaw, author of The Bedford Boys, First Wave, and Liberator.

Then there’s the annual big-band show, slated this year for Saturday, July 19, which commemorates Benny Goodman’s band’s performance at the Armory in 1943.

As for that weekend celebration marking the 50th anniversary of the Armory becoming a national historic site, it’s slated for Aug. 16-17, said Ashman, adding that there will be bands, presentations, hands-on demonstrations, and much more. In short, it will celebrate all that the Armory has meant to Springfield, the region, and the country.

The Springfield Armory is open Wednesday through Sunday, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Learn more at www.nps.gov/spar/index.htm.

—George O’Brien

Robert E. Barrett Fishway Highlights Nature, Ingenuity

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Tourism & Hospitality

Kate Craven says the 2025 season amounts to a “rebirth” for the Robert E. Barrett Fishway.

Indeed, it’s been a strange and difficult stretch for the Holyoke attraction, which did not open in 2020, 2021, or 2022 because of COVID, reopened in 2023, and then closed again to the public last year as the Holyoke Gas & Electric (HG&E), which operates the facility, undertook extensive upgrades to one of the hydroelectric units at the Hadley Falls station.

So this spring will bring a return to normalcy, if you will, meaning another 500,000 fish covering dozens of different species will be carried over HG&E’s Holyoke Dam by two large elevators — and some 10,000 visitors (that’s the annual average) will be able to take it all in.

That spectrum includes schoolchildren — third- and fourth-graders comprise the sweet spot — on field trips, college students, area families, and visitors to Western Mass. looking for a different kind of getaway.

“People can see where hydropower production, environmental stewardship, and fish passage all come together in a very powerful way,” said Craven, the HG&E’s director of Marketing and Communications, noting that, aside from 2023, many traditions have unfortunately been paused at the fishway, named after Robert Barrett, the former director of the Holyoke Water Power Co., who became consumed with finding a way to help fish — returning to freshwater steams to spawn — find their way over the dam.

They will resume starting May 7 with the opening of the fishway, said Craven, noting that one such tradition comes on Mother’s Day (May 11), when mothers visiting the facility — and many do — are given a carnation.

As noted earlier, visitors to the fishway can see many different species carried over the dam, from American shad, the most populous species, to blueback herring, sea lamprey, and the occasional shortnose sturgeon, a species protected by the federal government.

“We’re hoping to get a lot of school groups and visitors to the fishway this spring,” said Craven, adding that there will be some pent-up demand as well as the usual fascination with seeing ingenuity assist these species of fish with their annual migration to spawn.

The fishway will be open from May 7 to June 15, Wednesday to Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visitors can enjoy a guided tour with a fishway guide or explore the facility at their own pace with a self-guided walk-through. Learn more at www.hged.com/community-environment/barrett-fishway/default.aspx.

—George O’Brien

Engineering to Wildlife, Quabbin Reservoir Has It All

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Tourism & Hospitality

The Quabbin Reservoir is the main drinking water supply for more than 3 million people in the Commonwealth.

It is also an engineering marvel, home to wildlife ranging from eagles to mountain lions to porcupines, the site of dozens of hiking trails, and sits on the site of four small towns that were taken by the state, later disincorporated, and now covered by some 412 billion gallons of water more than 50 feet deep in places.

So there’s history, engineering, nature, recreation, fishing, and education into how this water supply was created and how it operates today. And all of that and more can be taken in with a visit to the reservoir and the Les and Terry Campbell Quabbin Visitor Center in Belchertown, said Maria Beiter-Tucker, Interpretive Services supervisor for the Quabbin.

She handles public programing and educational programming, and quite a bit falls into those two categories.

Starting with the visitor center, located on the first floor of the Quabbin Administration Building at 100 Windsor Dam Road in Belchertown. There, visitors can learn about the history of the Swift River Valley and those aforementioned towns — Dana, Enfield, Greenwich, and Prescott — and also about why and how the reservoir was constructed and how it is managed today, she said.

There’s also a considerable amount of information about the wildlife that calls the Quabbin home, she said, adding that there are educational programs for visitors and groups, including many school field trips, as well as self-guided tours of the area.

These public programs include hikes of Quabbin Park and Quabbin Reservation, including hikes focused on various habitats. There’s also a hike to Dana Common, where some of the foundations to buildings in that community can still be seen.

Overall, there are dozens of hiking trails, including the Bald Mountain Hill Trail, the Goodnough Dike Vista Trail, the Old Stone Trail, and the Quabbin Park Cemetery tour, which takes visitors to the cemetery created for the relocation of graves from the Swift River Valley.

No dogs are allowed at the Quabbin to keep that drinking supply safe from contamination, but two-legged visitors are more than welcome, and, as mentioned earlier, there is much to see, learn, and experience at this regional gem.

The Quabbin Visitor Center is open every day except Wednesday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Learn more at www.mass.gov/locations/quabbin-reservoir.

—George O’Brien