BusinessTalk with Jennifer Core, Executive Director, Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture: Experts in Their Field

By Ryan Leary June 8, 2026

Business Talk Podcast Special Coverage

With new episodes airing every other Monday, BusinessTalk features in-depth interviews and discussions with local industry leaders who offer thoughtful perspectives on the Western Massachusetts economy and the many business ventures that keep it running. BusinessTalk is sponsored and presented by Greenfield Cooperative Bank.

Go HERE to view all episodes

Episode 258: June 8, 2026

George O’Brien talks with Jennifer Core, Executive Director, Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture: Experts in Their Field

Agriculture has always been a large and important part of the region’s economy, even it is often overlooked. But this sector faces many stern challenges, everything from the rising cost of everything to issues with succession at family farms; from weather extremes like the current drought to workforce shortages. Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) works to strengthen area farms and engages the community to build the local food economy. On the next episode of BusinessTalk, Jennifer Core, CISA’s executive director, talks with BusinessWest contributing writer George O’Brien about the agency’s broad mission and specific initiatives, such as its Senior Farmshare program, which serves more than 800 seniors in Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin counties. It’s must listening, so tune into BusinessTalk, a podcast presented by BusinessWest over both audio and video platforms, and sponsored by Greenfield Cooperative Bank.

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

By Joseph Bednar June 8, 2026

Features Special Coverage

All Together Now

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Steady On

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Looking Forward

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

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

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

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

Northampton Builds Connection Through Arts

By Joseph Bednar June 8, 2026

Community Spotlight Community Spotlight Features Special Coverage

Northampton at a glance

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

* Latest information available

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

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

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

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

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

Art and Commerce

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

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

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

Music to Her Ears

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

The Reality of Dementia Can Be Overwhelming for Families

By Joseph Bednar June 8, 2026

Features Healthcare News Special Coverage

Overcoming the Stigma

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mary-Anne Schelb

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

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

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

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

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

Accepting the Truth

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Let’s Talk

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

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

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

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

Kathy Walker

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

BusinessTalk Suzanne Parker, Executive Director, Girls Inc. of the Valley: Investments in the Future

By Ryan Leary May 26, 2026

Business Talk Podcast Special Coverage

With new episodes airing every other Monday, BusinessTalk features in-depth interviews and discussions with local industry leaders who offer thoughtful perspectives on the Western Massachusetts economy and the many business ventures that keep it running. BusinessTalk is sponsored and presented by Greenfield Cooperative Bank.

Go HERE to view all episodes

Episode 257: May 26, 2026

Joe Bednar talks with Suzanne Parker, Executive Director, Girls Inc. of the Valley: Investments in the Future

The mission of Girls Inc. is to inspire all girls to be strong, smart, and bold. And Girls Inc. of the Valley has certainly been all three during the buildout of its new headquarters in Holyoke, which offers more opportunity to help girls succeed — both now and in the future — through STEM studies, career preparation, skills to overcome challenges and achieve mental wellness, and much more. On the next episode of BusinessTalk, Executive Director Suzanne Parker talks with BusinessWest Editor Joe Bednar about the long journey to open those doors, and how the organization’s focus and programming continue to evolve in the service of helping girls thrive in myriad ways. It’s must listening, so tune into BusinessTalk, a podcast presented by BusinessWest over both audio and video platforms, and sponsored by Greenfield Cooperative Bank.

Sponsored by:

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Great Barrington Remains a Seasonal Draw

By George O'Brien May 26, 2026

Features Special Coverage

While soaring gas prices and the rising cost of plane tickets have most people seeing red, Betsy Andrus sees some opportunity.

Indeed, the exploding cost of traveling far away might prompt some people in this region to travel … well, maybe not so far, said Andrus, executive director of the Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce, adding that one community that stands to benefit from such a development is Great Barrington.

It already sees large numbers of visitors taking in everything from restaurants, clubs, and hiking trails to the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, an eclectic mix of shops, a few breweries, and a collection of art galleries. And the numbers could move higher, given current trends.

“Because of the price of gas and because of the way the economy is moving, for people to do lavish vacations and fly to Paris or whatever will be more difficult and expensive,” Andrus said. “Instead of spending $4,000 to get to the Caribbean, hopping into the car and spending a few dollars on gas going to the Berkshires seems like an easier choice.”

Great Barrington at a glance

Year Incorporated: 1761
Population: 7,172
Area: 45.8 square miles
County: Berkshire
Residential Tax Rate: $13.24
Commercial Tax Rate: $13.24
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

As noted, there’s always been plenty to do in this town, and now, there’s more, such as concerts and comedy shows at Barrington Hall, the reinvented former Chrissie Farm, which has become what its owners, Dan Baker and Daniel Latzman, expected it to become — a true destination.

Indeed, the new owners have added live concerts, comedy shows, lectures, family events, and more to the mix.

“We like to think of ourselves as a gathering space for the community,” Baker told BusinessWest. “We really try to be community-oriented, both with our public schedule and our private events.”

As for that mix of stores and eateries, it’s in a seemingly constant of change, and even more so in recent years as many long-time store owners have moved into retirement. That was the case with the Gorhman & Norton package store, a Great Barrington institution that Robbie Robles has transformed into Robbie’s Community Market, another gathering place that offers fresh sandwiches and salads, brick oven pizza, live music Saturdays, and, as the name over the door suggests, community.

“I work hard on making this a quality place that you want to be in — you want to have memories there; you want to go back and have parties and events,” he said, adding that the word ‘market’ is meant to convey the more European definition of gathering place.

And then, there Tom’s Toys, another downtown Great Barrington institution that has been selling specialty items for three decades. Owner Tom Levin said he’s seen a lot of change over 30 years — in the toys that the public is buying at any given time, and in downtown Great Barrington itself.

“Change has been the one constant,” he said, adding that a once-sleepy community started to change and become a destination about the time he went into business, and it remains one today.

Those we spoke with talked about the rhythm of doing business in Great Barrington, which has a slow season, from January until early May. But then, things start to pick as owners of second homes return for the summer and tourists start arriving in larger numbers. Things really pick up when the summer seasons start at Tanglewood in Lenox, Jacob’s Pillow in Becket, and other venues, and it remains steady, if not quite as robust, through the fall and into December.

Understanding and making do through these seasonal ups and downs is one of the challenges of doing business here, said Levin, adding that, since COVID, the winters have been better, and the summers have remained solid.

And this year, Andrus and others are hoping that those aforementioned economic forces — everything from high gas prices to lingering uncertainty about the future — will make this community even more of a destination.

Staying Power

Abdrus noted that, while January to early May is traditionally slow in Great Barrington, the past four months have been slower than normal, despite a strong season for the ski resorts.

Dan Baker, left, and Daniel Latzman in Barrington Hall, which they have transformed into a destination for a wide array of public and private events.

She’s not sure if the closure last summer of the Simon’s Rock of Bard College campus, the future of which remains a large issue moving forward, had anything to do with that, but she’s more certain that the economy and general uncertainty about what comes next did.

She’s hoping for a full rebound during the summer, when the town’s population triples from 7,000 to 21,000, and believes that, if a ‘stay closer to home’ mentality gathers any steam, it will certainly benefit the Berkshires as a region and individual communities where there’s lots to do.

And Great Barrington fits that description, she said, citing everything from a wide variety of shows at the Mahaiwe to Berkshire Busk, the 10-weekend street music and arts festival that makes downtown streets come alive; from an eclectic roster of restaurants to opportunities to hike the Appalachian Trail.

“I think the summer is going to be busy,” she said, adding that the nation’s 250th birthday may bring more opportunities to celebrate the Berkshires’ museums, other cultural institutions, and history, such as the Knox Trail, which winds through several communities in the area, including Great Barrington.

‘Busy’ would certainly suit the many shops in the downtown area, which include a mix of old and new, with Levin now counting his business — located in the heart of downtown, at the corner of Main and Railroad streets — as among the oldest.

“We like to think of ourselves as a gathering space for the community. We really try to be community-oriented, both with our public schedule and our private events.”

“We’ve lost some of our old-time stores, like the photo shop, a hardware store, and a shoe repair shop, and we’ve definitely seen a trend of more upscale shops opening in town,” he said, adding that, for him, business has been generally good as a mix of locals and tourists snap up what’s hot — if he can keep them in stock.

That list includes Japanese blind box toys, Needoh squishy toys for stress relief, and Jellycat stuffed animals, he said, adding that many visitors have specific items on their list, but many come just to browse.

As for Robbie’s Community Market, it is a work on progress, said Robles, a serial entrepreneur with two other businesses in nearby Sheffield, who will mark a year in his storied Great Barrington location — Gorham & Norton was in business for 113 years — later this month.

“I was building the rocket ship while I was going to the moon,” he said of his work to transform the space and add such features as a pizza oven while expanding the overall menu.

Like others who have set up shop in town, he’s experienced a learning curve, especially the ebbs and flows to the calendar.

“It’s a short season, but we’ll be strong until December now,” he said, adding that he’s learning the rhythm of the business year and, thus far, gathering momentum as a place where people gather year-round.

Developments of Note

Baker told BusinessWest that the former Chrissie Farm was mostly a banquet hall, handling weddings, galas, and other gatherings such as corporate outings.

Barrington Hall still hosts such events, but it has broadened the portfolio in dramatic fashion, he said, adding a roster of live, public events that is drawing both area residents and visitors to the region.

This includes live music, including upcoming shows such as “Big Yellow Taxi: The Music of Joni Mitchell,” “Afrobeat Concert with Armo,” “Billy Keane and the Waking Dream,” and “The Rock and Roll Playhouse Plays Music of the Beatles.” There are also comedy shows and events for children and families.

This was the vision that Latzman, a software company owner, and Baker, formerly in the financial services industry, and before that, the entertainment industry (in everything from production to management), brought to their entrepreneurial venture.

The two moved to the Berkshires five years ago and met as neighbors in the nearby town of Egremont and developed a strong friendship.

“We started to align as to our ideals and what it means to live here in the Berkshires, and how there might be opportunities to really establish some roots on the business front,” Baker said. “We then started to look at various venues to accomplish this mission.”

“I work hard on making this a quality place that you want to be in — you want to have memories there; you want to go back and have parties and events.”

In early 2025, when Chrissie Farm came on the market, they gave it a look.

“We walked in, and we knew that we could do what we wanted to do with that space,” he said. “On our side, a lot of this is about a want and need to throw down roots here, grow our families, and create something meaningful for the community, both in Great Barrington and Berskhire County as whole.”

Not quite a year since the sale was completed and several months since the first events were hosted, Baker said the venture is off to a very solid start, with events on both the public and private side of the ledger, especially the former.

“We’ve really packed the schedule with public events,” he said, adding that, beyond the number of events, there has been great diversity as well. “We’ve had rock and singer-songwriter things, jazz, world music like Afrobeat … we’ve really tried to inject some diverse offerings for the people in the Berkshires. We’ve also had a number of comedy shows since the beginning of the year, and some successes beyond that.”

There is a hard focus on local talent — “Live shows. Local energy” is the venue’s marketing tagline — as well as an emphasis on children and families.

“We’ve had at least one kids and family show, and that was a huge success, and we have at least three more lined up for the summer and early fall,” Baker noted, adding that the flexibility of the space provides opportunities to host many different kinds of events. “We can accommodate different setups; that’s one of the beauties of our space, and you might see something different every time you come in here.”

Cornering the Market

By Joseph Bednar May 25, 2026

Features Special Coverage

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

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

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

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

Dr. Robert Roose

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dr. Scott Lichtenberger

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

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

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

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

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

Local Impacts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Challenges Continue

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

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

Michal Horny

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hire Concerns

By Joseph Bednar May 25, 2026

Features Special Coverage Workforce Development

Numerous Factors Are Complicating the Region’s Job Market

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Unhealthy Outlook

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Right Stuff

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Amherst’s Mill District Continues to Evolve

By George O'Brien May 11, 2026

Cover Story Special Coverage

Creating Community

Cinda Jones, architect of the Mill District

Amy McDonough was working in the renewable energy business when, in her words, she “picked up pinball again” after putting it down following graduate school at the University of Vermont.

“I couldn’t get pinball off my brain, and I started picking up pinball machines here and there,” she told BusinessWest, adding that she would eventually amass a collection of nearly 70 machines. “And then, I was thinking about pinball much more than I was renewable energy.”

This thinking soon became serious in nature, and it led to an entrepreneurial venture called the Tilted Orbit Arcade, with that name borrowing two terms from the pinball world — orbit, which refers to the path for the ball along the outer rim of the game, and tilt, of course is when the machine is tilted or shaken beyond an acceptable level and the game ends.

Amy McDonough with one of the more than 70 pinball machines she’s collected.

Due to open in the fall, the arcade will feature many machines from McDonough’s collection, as well as a golf simulator, a few vintage ’80s video games, a kitchen, and bar. It is being designed to attract many different constituencies, including families, area college students, teens, and the Boomers who discovered pinball in the ’60s and ‘70s, and then put it down.

And it is part of the ongoing evolution of the Mill District in North Amherst, a mixed-use facility that features housing, retail, art, and hospitality — a canvas that Cinda Jones, its architect owner, has been filling in over the past 15 years or so.

“We’ll still occasionally hear that people don’t know that the Mill District is here and how shocked they are when they find it.”

Indeed, Tilted Orbit will occupy what’s known as the Cow Barn, which was once home to Provisions, the wine and cheese emporium, which was moved to another building on the property (more on that later), and before that, Atkins, said Jones, adding that other additions and improvements include everything from a new pavilion taking shape on the site of another former barn, a new Herrell’s ice cream parlor (the company has been operating a small, pop-up facility the past few years); from recent additions such as Three Amigos, a restaurant that fuses the flavors of Chile, Mexico, and Puerto Rico and Carefree Cakery, and even some demolition — of another former barn and a seven-car garage — that will improve visibility and allow travelers on Route 63 to see all that the site has to offer.

“We’ll still occasionally hear that people don’t know that the Mill District is here and how shocked they are when they find it,” said Jones, adding that the broad goal, as it has been from the beginning, has been to create what she called a ‘downtown’ in North Amherst, a mix of shops and amenities that deliver food, fashion, and fun — a true destination, attracting people from across Amherst and nearby Franklin County, but also a much wider circle.

Elaborating, she said current work involves creation of public open space, a ‘town common,’ leading from the highway to the shops. It will include the pavilion, which doesn’t have a formal name yet, although Jones calls it the ‘Manta Ray,’ because the architect has given it something approximating that shape.

It will include a catering kitchen and host a wide array of events, she said, adding that a tent has been erected on the site to hold gatherings such as a recent wine tasting staged by Provisions, with construction of the pavilion set to begin this spring, and due to be completed in time to host events this fall.

Judy Herrell stands in the almost-finished new location for Herrell’s in the Mill District.

The Tilted Orbit Arcade is one of many new developments at the Mill District, which has been in a seemingly constant state of change since it opened, and

Meanwhile, the location of the Mill District, and the diverse mix of tenants, eventually drew the attention of Judy Herrell, president of Herrell’s, who said the iconic, Northampton-based brand has been searching for a site for a second location, and zeroed in on North Amherst village.

“What we found out is that people didn’t want to venture over the bridge,” she said, referring to the Calvin Coolidge Bridge, which many in the Amherst/Hadley area simply don’t want to cross, even after significant infrastructure changes made it easier to do so. The new location, due to open in several weeks, will make Herrell’s more accessible, she said.

For this issue, BusinessWest talked with Jones and many doing business in the Mill District, or soon to do so, about this evolving concept and the diverse mix of ventures that are drawing visitors from across town and well beyond.

Flipping the Script

McDonough joked that her affection for pinball, developed while she was working toward her master’s degree at the UVM, probably put off her thesis by a year.

“I did a lot of procrastinating playing pinball,” she said, noting that one game in particular, The Addams Family, became especially addictive.

Just some of the local art to be found at the General Store.

It was among the first machines she acquired when she started building her collection, and it will be one of those on the floor at Tilted Orbit Arcade when it opens its doors, she said, adding that, before settling on the Mill District as home for her venture, she considered several other sites, including the Canal Lanes bowling alley in Southampton when it briefly came on the market.

The Mill District site offers what she was looking for, she said, meaning visibility and an opportunity to attract a diverse customer base, and also take advantage of a resurgence for pinball.

“It’s making a comeback; it started during COVID,” she noted. “Right now, pinball is serving mostly the male population, ages 40 to 65, but women are up and coming, and there’s a whole tournament world out there as well as leagues.”

McDonough said she’s looking to attract a wide audience that crosses all age groups, “families, seniors, teen-agers, college students, and adults.” And not just for pinball, but also the golf simulator, some arcade games, and other attractions she will offer, although the overriding goal is to inspire all those groups is to get them introduced to pinball and make them regulars.

“You can’t count on the weather in New England, and this will make it much easier to plan things.”

The Tilted Orbit Arcade is one of many new developments at the Mill District, which has been in a seemingly constant state of change since it opened, and the Cow Barn is where Jones began a detailed tour of the property.

Other stops included the town common area and spot for the new pavilion, which will provide larger, better space for the many types of events held there, and, especially, a roof, which will cut down on the rainouts and other weather problems that occurred with frequency last year or moving events to cramped indoor quarters.

“You can’t count on the weather in New England, and this will make it much easier to plan things,” said Jones, noting that the facility is being designed and built by Hardwick Post and Beam, and she is excited by the possibilities it presents.

“It will be a wonderful place where high school groups could perform, or you could have birthday parties,” she said, adding that performances could include seating in the pavilion and the lawn space outside, much like Tanglewood in Lenox.

And the pavilion is one of many steps being taken to attract more visitors and make the Mill District more of a destination.

“There are roughly 25,000 vehicle trips a day, including buses, that go within a block of the Mill District.”

Jones described the location as the ‘gateway to Franklin County,’ and on the route that many employees and students take to get from homes in communities like Greenfield, Montague, Conway, and Sunderland to jobs at UMass Amherst, nearby Northampton or points to the south. From the beginning, the goal has been to create a community, a village where people can shop, eat, see and buy art, and take in the many cultural events staged by tenants.

“There are roughly 25,000 vehicle trips a day, including buses, that go within a block of the Mill District,” she noted, adding that the goal is provide reasons to pull over and explore, while also creating a tenant mix and calendar of events that would prompt planned visits from across the region.

“My goal is to make this a place where community members, full-time, long-term community members, enjoy connecting with friends and enjoy the spaces and shops we’ve brought together,” she said.

The mix of tenants has changed over the years, said Jones, adding that she has always been looking to improve that mix and provide more to see and do. Most of the space is occupied, or soon to be occupied, she noted, adding that there is roughly 4,500 square feet — with high ceilings — available in the building currently home to Provisions.

“We’re listening to people, hearing what they like, and responding to what they’re saying,” she said, adding that this strategy applies to tenants and visitors alike.

Meanwhile, there are concerted efforts to make the Mill District more visible, literally and figuratively, said Jones, adding these include the creation of the common that will improve sight lines to the shops as well as new signage currently winding its way through the permitting process.

Food for Thought

As they talked with BusinessWest, Jose Diaz and Matias Martinez, owners of Three Amigos, the next stop on the tour, were gearing up for Cinco de Mayo.

They were putting together a special menu for the occasion and were expecting a strong turnout for what has become a day of celebration for many in the region.

But most days have produced good crowds at this unique eatery, which, as noted earlier, blends dishes from Puerto Rico, Chile, and Mexico, with many offerings inspired by meals prepared by the owners’ mothers.

Matias Martinez, left, and Jose Diaz, co-owners of Three Amigos, share a moment with Cinda Jones and Shauna Wallace, project manager of Mill District General Store and Local Art Gallery.

“My mom has some really good recipes, and Jose’s mom has really good recipes from Puerto Rico; we take both and we put together a good menu,” said Martinez, a native of Chile, adding that Diaz also brings knowledge of Mexican cuisine to the table — literally and figuratively.

This knowledge and deep menus will have even more local flavor, said Diaz, adding that the partners are now committed to buying more locally produced vegetables, meats, eggs and more, and are further committed to bringing different kinds of experiences to the venue, such as karaoke nights.

“My mom has some really good recipes, and Jose’s mom has really good recipes from Puerto Rico; we take both and we put together a good menu.”

And, like other business owners in the Mill District, the two partners (there was a third, hence the name, but he is no longer involved) said the location brings a diverse mix of patrons across all age groups.

As Jones’ tour of the Mill District left Three Amigos, it made a quick stop in the vacant space adjacent to Provisions and below housing units. As noted earlier, it has high ceilings and what she considers enormous potential as home to a small grocery store, an indoor play space for kids, or similar that will be compatible with and complementary to everything else that exists on the property.

From there, the tour would continue to several existing and emerging businesses, such as Provisions, Futura Coffee Roasters, Carefree Cakery, Everbloom Salon, the Balanced Birch Studio, the Mill District General Store and the art gallery inside its walls, and the Herrell’s now taking shape.

Not on the tour, but technically part of the Mill District are businesses in a mall on Route 63, including Amherst House of Pizza, Big Guys Liquors, Mindy’s Barber Shop, and the Harp Irish Pub.

Collectively, these businesses provide ample reasons to get off the highway, whether one is heading home from work or planning a day trip, said Jones, adding that the Mill District comes as advertised, with that mix of food, fashion, and fun, including several play areas for children and families.

Herrell’s will make an intriguing addition to the mix, she said, adding that the pop-up facility has attracted solid numbers of visitors, and the larger, permanent space is expected to bring more.

Herrell told BusinessWest that the new location needs to be open by summer, for obvious reasons, and it is on track to do so.

She said the location in the Mill District brings the brand closer to other markets, such as Franklin County, and also closer to UMass Amherst, where she teaches a course — a lab on how to make ice cream “from a chemistry point of view” — and partners with the university on an ice cream competition, which is the final exam, if you will, for the that class, with Herrell’s featuring the winner’s flavors in its stores.

“We try to make all of them if we can, but we definitely make the four top finishers,” she said. “We’ve had some incredibly great, creative ideas from that group, and their lab is one mile from here.”

Beyond that partnership, Herrell’s is looking to tap into a broad base of loyal customers that know the Northampton store and now have something that for many will be more convenient.

And then, there’s the Tilted Orbit Arcade, which will present a novel new use for the Cow Barn, and an interesting addition to the mix.

For McDonough, it’s her first real entrepreneurial venture, which means there’s a mix of excitement and trepidation.

Overall, she’s optimistic that she can make something a little different work out in a big way. And in many respects, that’s been the goal at the Mill District from the very beginning.

Colleges Face Looming Enrollment Crunch

By Joseph Bednar May 11, 2026

Education Special Coverage

Keeping School in Session

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

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

American International College Provost Michael Dodge

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Return on Investment

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Focus on the Future

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

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

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

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

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

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

Salute to Nurses

By BusinessWest Staff May 11, 2026

Healthcare News Special Coverage

This Career Brings Plenty of Challenges, but Also Rewards

Left to right: Maddy Gray, Dick Easton, and Jolene Alexander.

Behind every nurse, there’s a story — in many cases, several stories. They involve why the individual in question chose to get into this profession, how their work inspires others, and, very often, how they overcame different kinds of adversity to get where they are. For its annual salute to nurses, BusinessWest tells three such stories. They typify the resilience and passion of all those who choose this profession and are as compelling as they are inspirational.

Click on each name to read their story:

Maddy Gray

Despite a Cancer Diagnosis, She Refused to Let the Dream Die

Dick Easton

This Nurse Proves That Age Really Is Just a Number

Jolene Alexander

‘Earn-and-Learn’ Initiative Has Helped Her Realize Her Dream

Southwick Thrives as a Recreational Community

By George O'Brien May 11, 2026

Community Spotlight Features Special Coverage

They called it the Woods O’Cross.

That’s the name that was affixed to a recent event at Motocross 338 in Southwick, a.k.a. ‘the Wick.’ And as that name suggests, it’s a race that takes participants onto the vaunted track behind American Legion Post 338 on Powdermill Road, and also into the woods nearby.

“It was really well received; we were amazed at how many people came out for it; the feedback was phenomenal, so we’re going to another one this month and another at the end of the year,” said Rick Johnson, who, with his son, Keith, is now coordinating events at the Wick, which has, for most of the past 50 years, been a destination as well as a driving force, literally and figuratively, in the local economy.

The Ranch Golf Club has become a draw for players across the state and beyond.

The venue now hosts more than 40 events each year, capped by the Nationals, the three-day event that has become a tradition in Southwick, with dates that are circled by many business owners in town because the population of people in town swells from roughly 9,000 people to more than 30,000.

The nationals will be in July this year, said Johnson adding that, because Southwick doesn’t have any hotels, attendees must stay in surrounding communities. But many other types of businesses in town see and feel the surge, he said.

“You need to have a passion for it. If you handle it properly, you’ll pay the bills and make a few bucks. But you’re never going to retire in the Bahamas and drive a Lamborghini.”

The Wick is one of many recreation and hospitality-related businesses that give Southwick its unique flavor. People come here to eat — there are many restaurants and institutions such as Mrs. Murphy’s Donuts in town — and to play.

They do so at the Congamond Lakes (North, Middle, and South) which offer boating, fishing, swimming, and lakeside dining, and also at several parks, the Wick, and two golf courses (there used to be three), including The Ranch Golf Club.

Now celebrating its 25th year, the Ranch, on Sunnyside Road, is a higher-end course that was designed to be a destination layout that would draw players from across the state and beyond, and a sought-after venue for weddings and other events.

And it has become just that, said Nick Tamburini, the Ranch’s general manager and former golf professional. He told BusinessWest that the club has enjoyed a solid run on both sides of the ledger, with golf continuing to ride a COVID-induced wave of new interest and renewed interest, and events bouncing back from the turmoil prompted by COVID.

On the golf side, the course, among the best and most challenging in this part of New England, continues to draw players from well beyond Western Mass., while maintaining a steady local membership.

“We have a ton of non-local play,” said Tamburini. “Every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, we’ll get players who say, ‘I drove an hour and a half,’ or ‘I drove two hours;’ ‘I’m coming from the Cape,’ ‘I’m coming from New London.’ Obviously, we get a lot of play from Hartford and from Worcester. Once the member play ends, there’s not a lot of play on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from people in Southwick or Westfield; it’s people coming from all over.”

“You have to try things like this; you have to freshen things up and give people new things to do.”

Some of these players will make the Ranch part of a Western Mass. golf trip, with Crumpin Fox in Bernardson and Taconic in Williamstown among the other stops, he went on. But many are coming just to play the Ranch, which has received good reviews over the years, and continues to draw both first timers to the venue and repeat customers.

On the events side, the venue continues to draw a solid mix of gatherings, and its barn has become increasingly popular with couples planning weddings, as we’ll see.

For this, the latest installment of its Community Spotlight series, we take an in-depth look at Southwick and the some of the institutions that help create its recreational quality.

On the Right Track

When asked about the business of motocross, Johnson paused for a minute, searching for the right words.
“I’ve been in business all my life — I’ve been in the footwear business and was president of New Balance for Kids,” he explained as he set the tone. “Motocross is not kind of business that you get into thinking it’s going to lucrative to the point where you’re dancing naked in the streets.

“You need to have a passion for it,” he went on. “If you handle it properly, you’ll pay the bills and make a few bucks. But you’re never going to retire in the Bahamas and drive a Lamborghini.”

Passion is something the Johnsons brought with them as they helped resurrect motocross in Southwick after a few years of decline more than a decade ago.

But they brought some other traits as well, including imagination and a willingness to try new things to keep the product fresh and bring more people to the track — meaning competitors and spectators alike.

Which brings us back to the Woods O’Cross.

“It brings in not just the motocrosser, but the trail rider as well — you get a good mix of people, and they had a great time,” Johnson explained, adding that this was the first new event that organizers have run, and it drew close to 600 participants. And it was followed up a few weeks later by another new offering — a Massachusetts state championship.

“We’ve been racing since the ’70s, and we never realized that Massachusetts never had a motocross state champion,” he said, adding that the Wick rectified this with an event that drew good crowds and hundreds of competitors to the track.

“You have to try things like this; you have to freshen things up and give people new things to do,” he explained, adding that the Wick has a full slate of events on tap for the year.

The Johnsons brought another trait to this venture — a willingness to re-invest in the facilities and continually upgrade the facility, known hills and overall stern challenge.

Indeed, over the years, they’re added a new scoring tower, a new starting line, new irrigation lines to water the track and make it safer for riders, and more.

“We’re the only national track in the Northeast, and we have a reputation, and we have a commitment to maintain the highest level that we can,” he explained. “When you are national caliber and you’re on NBC television (for the nationals), you can’t slack off, you have to make sure you do it the best you can.”

Round Numbers

“Barns are in … people want old, rustic, charm.”

With that, Tamburini started to explain why the Ranch has been doing well on the events side of the operation’s ledger, specifically weddings.

Indeed, couples are looking for different kinds of venues these days, and barns have become a popular choice. The Ranch has two of them — extensively renovated — that date back to the late 1800s; one houses the pro shop and restaurant/pub, and the other is used for functions.

“We’ve had the same number of rounds every year since COVID, which is good. COVID created a boom, and we were worried that we couldn’t maintain those numbers, but we have; it’s been really good.”

This trend, coupled with a resurgence in gatherings following COVID has helped the Ranch put more events on the calendar, he noted.

“We’re not the busiest venue in Western Mass., but we do between 40 and 50 weddings a year, on average, and probably the same number of other events, like retirement parties, baby showers, and bridal showers.”

Tamburini said the Ranch benefits from strong, hands-on ownership — Pete and Korby Clark and a partner living in the Boston area — and a team that has remained intact for the past several years, a rarity in this business.

“We’ve had the same superintendent, the same event coordinator, the same front-of-house manager, the same chef,” he said, adding that this continuity helps the operation provide consistent, high-quality services, from the course to the event facilities. “At a golf course, that’s extremely rare; I’ve been around a little bit, and I know that’s hard to keep the same people for an extended period of time in our industry.”

As for the course itself, while it’s pricey — $125 for 18 holes and a cart, peak season, among the highest fares in this part of the state — it continues to be a strong draw, and because it’s semi-private (although Tamburini doesn’t like that phrase) it’s more playable that private venues such as GreatHorse and Longmeadow.

“We’re a public golf course,” he said, adding that players can book tee times all seven days of the week, although there are often tournaments on Mondays and early Saturday morning is reserved for members.

Overall, golf enjoyed a surge from COVID because so many other activities were put on ice, and the Ranch, like many venues, has been able to maintain the momentum generated by that unique moment in time.

“We’ve had the same number of rounds every year since COVID, which is good,” he noted. “COVID created a boom, and we were worried that we couldn’t maintain those numbers, but we have; it’s been really good.”

And many businesses in this recreational community can say the same thing.

BusinessTalk with Alex Balise, Director of Corporate Strategy for Balise Auto Group, and Giancarlo Crivelli, Executive Director of Fishing Friends: Welcome to the Club

By Ryan Leary May 5, 2026

Business Talk Podcast Special Coverage

With new episodes airing every other Monday, BusinessTalk features in-depth interviews and discussions with local industry leaders who offer thoughtful perspectives on the Western Massachusetts economy and the many business ventures that keep it running. BusinessTalk is sponsored and presented by Greenfield Cooperative Bank.

Go HERE to view all episodes

Episode 256: May 5, 2026

George O’Brien talks to Alex Balise, Director of Corporate Strategy for Balise Auto Group, and Giancarlo Crivelli, Executive Director of Fishing Friends

There are now 800 people in the club — that would be the BusinessWest 40 Under Forty club. That’s 20 classes of rising stars, with the latest, the class of 2026, announced late last month. For this episode of BusinessTalk, George O’Brien sits down with two members of the class of 2026 — Alex Balise, director of Corporate Strategy for Balise Auto Group, and Giancarlo Crivelli, executive director of Fishing Friends. They exemplify the class of 2026, the many accomplishments of its members, and its commitment to giving back. On the podcast, we tell their stories, and we also hear some fish stories — Alex counts that among her favorite pastimes as well — along the way. It’s must listening, so tune into BusinessTalk, a podcast presented by BusinessWest over both audio and video platforms, and sponsored by Greenfield Cooperative Bank.

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Local Cannabis Industry Leaders Concerned About Repeal Effort

By Joseph Bednar April 27, 2026

Features Special Coverage

Up in Smoke?

UpInSmokeCannabis

Meg Sanders calls it “a huge threat.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

Meg Sanders

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

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

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

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

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

Behind the Campaign

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

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

Jessica Troe

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Relief and Accountability

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Area Institutions Ready Programs, Exhibits to Mark the 250th

By BusinessWest Staff April 27, 2026

Special Coverage Tourism & Hospitality

A Milestone Celebration

It’s a big word that’s hard to pronounce: semiquincentennial.

It’s a lot easier to say ‘250th birthday,’ and that’s what the nation will be celebrating this summer. Only, in many ways, the celebration has already begun, especially in this region, which is eager to showcase the many ways in which Western Mass. played a vital role in the nation’s fight for independence.

Indeed, whether it’s stops along the Knox Trail, the so-called Noble Train of Artillery that Col. Henry Knox brought from Fort Ticonderoga in New York to Dorchester Heights in Boston; or programs at the Springfield Armory, the region is already commemorating its strong role in the formation of a new nation.

And the celebrations will continue — with everything from special exhibits at area museums to lectures to an Independence Day celebration featuring fireworks viewing from the Armory grounds.

Area museums and other institutions are expecting an influx of visitors, from this region and well beyond, and they’re hoping the many 250th anniversary celebrations can bring opportunities to introduce, or reintroduce, people to all that they offer.

For this issue, BusinessWest talked with three area institutions — Springfield Museums, the Norman Rockwell Museum, and the Springfield Armory — about what they have planned for the semiquincentennial, the planning that went into these exhibits and programs, and what they expect visitors will take home from these experiences.

To read more about the three institutions click here:

Springfield Museums

Norman Rockwell Museum

Springfield Armory

How to Control Business Costs While Reducing Risk

By Contributor April 27, 2026

Law Special Coverage

When Savings Aren’t Savings

By Tanzi Cannon-Eckerle, Esq.

When employers cut costs, the wrong cuts can get expensive fast.

As employers head into the second quarter of 2026, a lot of businesses are in the same mode: cut costs, stay lean, keep moving. The problem is that some ‘savings’ decisions don’t save anything; they just shift the spend from payroll to legal fees, investigations, back pay, and distraction. Here are five cost-cutting moves I’m seeing right now that can blow up fast, and what to watch before you make them.

1. Cutting Payroll by Restructuring Too Fast

Layoffs, role consolidations, and schedule cuts are classic budget levers. They’re also where employers make avoidable mistakes. Massachusetts final-pay rules are strict, and wage and hour claims can come with automatic treble damages. If you’re moving fast, slow down just enough to get the basics right: final pay timing, earned vacation where required, clean documentation, and accurate time records.

2. Reclassifying Employees as 1099s to Save on Benefits and Taxes

This one looks like an easy win on a spreadsheet. In practice, it’s a liability magnet. Massachusetts uses a tough independent contractor standard (the ABC test), and misclassification can trigger wage claims, tax exposure, and insurance issues all at once. If the job walks and talks like employment with a set schedule, supervision, and core business work, then the 1099 label won’t hold.

3. Handling Complaints Off the Record (and Triggering Claims)

When budgets tighten, HR becomes everyone’s side job. That’s when a small issue turns into a big one. Many retaliation claims start with a simple complaint about wages, safety, leave, or discrimination/harassment, followed by a rushed manager move: hours cut, schedule changed, discipline, or termination without a clear record. And if you treat similar employees differently (or a decision hits a protected group harder), you’ve also created discrimination risk. The low-cost fix is boring but effective: consistent process, tight documentation, and manager discipline.

4. Treating Accommodations as ‘Nice to Have’ to Keep Staffing Efficient

When every head-count line matters, accommodation requests can feel like operational chaos. But obligations for disability, pregnancy, mental health, and schedule flexibility are expanding, and Massachusetts law is more strict, and accommodation requirements are broader, than federal law. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act adds another layer. The cheapest path is a consistent, documented interactive process. The expensive path is a quick ‘no,’ a delay, or radio silence.

“The problem is that some ‘savings’ decisions don’t save anything; they just shift the spend from payroll to legal fees, investigations, back pay, and distraction.”

5. Cutting Website Spend (and Getting Tagged with an Accessibility Demand)

Website updates are often first on the chopping block. Plaintiffs’ firms know it, and they look for easy targets: missing alt text, inaccessible menus, unlabeled forms, and non-compliant PDFs. Massachusetts is a hotspot for ADA website accessibility claims, and there’s no small business exemption. Basic fixes usually cost far less than responding to a demand letter or lawsuit.

Where Smart Prevention Pays Off

Even in a cost-cutting cycle, a few targeted investments pay for themselves because they prevent the disputes that drain time, money, and leadership bandwidth:

• Payroll and classification audits catch problems before they become claims (and stop payroll leakage).

• Manager training prevents the one bad conversation that turns into a retaliation or leave claim.

• Structured accommodation processes improve retention and reduce ‘quick no’ risk.

• Website accessibility updates reduce demand-letter exposure and improve usability (and often SEO).

• Simple documentation habits make decisions defensible and keep issues from snowballing.

• Fractional general counsel support gives you a senior legal sounding board without the full-time overhead. Just make the phone call so you catch risk early, negotiate smarter, and avoid emergency outside-counsel spend.

Tanzi Cannon-Eckerle

“Even in a cost-cutting cycle, a few targeted investments pay for themselves because they prevent the disputes that drain time, money, and leadership bandwidth.”

Why Fractional General Counsel Is a Cost-control Move

A fractional general counsel is designed for businesses that need experienced legal coverage, but don’t need (or can’t justify) a full-time inhouse hire. The ROI is straightforward: you’re buying fewer surprises and faster, cleaner decisions.

Here’s what that looks like in real life and where engaging a fractional GC typically pays for itself:

• Restructure triage before you push ‘send.’ Use sanity-checking layoff selections, documentation, and final-pay steps so a cost-cutting RIF doesn’t turn into a wage claim or discrimination case.

• Clean up classification before it becomes back pay. Review a ‘convert to 1099’ plan and flag the roles that fail the ABC test so you fix the model (or pricing) before you create misclassification exposure.

• Stop the retaliation claim at the manager level. Step in when a complaint comes in to script the next steps (what to document, what not to say, and what actions to pause), so a simple issue doesn’t become a termination plus a lawsuit storyline.

• Replace one-off legal fires with reusable tools. Build offer letter language, separation checklists, accommodation forms, and investigation templates so you’re not paying outside counsel to reinvent the wheel.

• Create contract and vendor leverage. Tighten vendor terms (auto-renew, indemnity, limitation of liability, data/security) and negotiate faster, avoiding the ‘sign now, fix later’ premium.

• Ensure accessibility demand readiness. Create a response plan and coordinate quick remediation so a demand letter doesn’t spiral into expensive, time-sensitive outside counsel work.

• Focus on cost avoidance. Spot wage-and-hour, leave, classification, and documentation issues early before they become claims, audits, or back pay.

• Reduce outside counsel spend. Reserve outside counsel for true specials (litigation and complex deals), not routine day-to-day calls.

• Make faster decisions. Get real-time guidance on terminations, restructures, policies, and vendor contracts so leadership doesn’t stall or improvise.

• Create cleaner documentation. Tighten records, templates, and manager practices so your decisions hold up if challenged.

• Make better risk tradeoffs. When you do take risk, do it with eyes open and with a plan.

For Massachusetts employers trying to lower overhead without creating new liability, the goal is simple: don’t ‘save’ money today and spend more money tomorrow cleaning up the fallout. A little structure, plus the right legal support at the right time, goes a long way.

Five Quick Fixes to Reduce Risks and Save Money Now

1. Audit Payroll and Timekeeping. Spend 30 minutes pressure-testing overtime calculations, meal break deductions, and final-pay procedures, and make sure your handbook explains the your compliant procedures properly. This is one of the most expensive categories of Massachusetts employment claims.

2. Re-evaluate Contractor Classifications. Apply the state’s strict ABC test to every 1099 role. Fixing misclassification early beats defending it later.

3. Train Frontline Managers. Most retaliation and accommodation claims start with one poorly handled conversation. Short, targeted training reduces risk fast.

4. Document the Accommodation Process. Use a simple, repeatable form to track ADA and pregnancy-related requests. Consistency is one of your strongest defenses.

5. Fix Website Accessibility Basics. Add alt text, label forms, caption videos, and update PDFs. These are low-cost improvements that can reduce ADA exposure and improve customer reach.

Tanzi Cannon-Eckerle is a local business and labor & employment attorney operating as fractional general counsel for businesses in the New England area; [email protected]; (413) 369-9220; www.gcbycannon.com

Greenfield Seeks Downtown Momentum

By Joseph Bednar April 27, 2026

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

Community Spotlight Special Coverage

Community Spotlight

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

On the Move

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

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

Hannah Rechtschaffen

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Street-level View

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

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

Greenfield at a Glance

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Area Landscapers Say Business Is in a Growth Mode

By George O'Brien April 13, 2026

Construction Special Coverage

Spring in Their Step

Brian Campedelli says the harsh winter benefited landscapers in a few ways; it gave a solid start to those that plow snow, and it created great anticipation for spring.

After the long, hard winter of 2025-26, Brian Campedelli notes, “people are saying, ‘get me outside — I don’t want to be in my house anymore.’”

And not just get out there, but enhance their outdoor spaces and make it so they can spend more quality time there.

He knows this because of the number and nature of the phone calls to his Easthampton-based business, Pioneer Landscapes, and also because of the turnout at the company’s booth at the recent Home & Garden Show at the Eastern States Exposition and the eagerness of many visitors to do something with their backyards.

“We got a lot of quality leads,” he said. “And these are people who came prepared; we saw people who came in with sketches, photos on their phones, and the ones who didn’t have photos were bringing up their ring cameras and showing us their yard. They knew the sizes of the patios they wanted, the water features … everyone was driven this year; they were ready to go.”

An overwhelming desire to move on from this past winter is just one of the many factors likely to contribute to a good year for businesses in the broad landscaping category in 2026. Another factor is that winter itself; indeed, many companies in this realm, like Pioneer, also handle commercial and residential snow removal, and Campedelli counted 14 plowable events and dozens more salting events over the past four months, helping the bottom line in 2025 and getting 2026 off to a solid start, much better than many recent winters.

“Everything that takes your weekend away from you throughout the summer … we can handle that for you.”

Other factors include a still-strong market for everything from patios and retaining walls to waterfalls and koi ponds, the need for many residents to put a fresh face on work done years ago, and an improved labor market generated by slower times in other sectors. The landscape professionals we spoke with also describe a growing reluctance among homeowners to give up quality time to mowing, fertilizing, and trimming, and a growing desire to let someone else do all that.

“Everything that takes your weekend away from you throughout the summer … we can handle that for you,” said Campedelli, noting that, while a segment of the population has always been willing to pay to let professionals tend to their lawn and gardens, that constituency is growing, based on interest in the different packages offered by the company (more on them later).

Jacob Hall, an enterprising 17-year-old Minnechaug High School student who started his own landscaping business with two friends two years ago, agreed.

“They just don’t have the time to it, and they don’t want to get dirty,” he said, adding that this trend has helped him grow the mowing client list at Caesar’s Lawn & Landscape to more than 50. “In many cases, it can be cheaper in the long run to hire someone, and people are really busy; it just takes one thing off their plate.”

As for those backyard elements, everything from pavilions to firepits to waterfalls large and small, Stephen Roberts says they are part of an ongoing trend toward making these spaces entertainment centers that meld technology with comfort. And the list of what goes into backyards today continues to grow and evolve.

“There’s a lot that goes into creating a nice backyard with all the amenities,” the owner of Springfield-based Stephen A. Roberts Landscaping told BusinessWest. “There’s the shed, the pool house, fencing, retaining walls, paving, lighting, sound systems, and structures that can protect furniture from the elements.”

Roberts said his firm has a full slate of projects for the months to come — all of them booked last fall — and he’s spending his time now scheduling projects for later in the summer and fall, while also managing the expectations of those who thought they could call in March and get a pool put in by the start of summer.

Overall, he said the volume of work has declined from the boom times during the COVID years, when seemingly everyone was investing in their backyard. But it has picked up from a few years ago, when he was in “downsize mode” and doing more of the work himself.

If there is a concern heading into the meat of the landscaping season, it involves whether residents and businesses will continue to spend on their outdoor spaces amid rising prices for many items and general uncertainty about the economy and global conflicts, said Dan Ziomek, general manager of Sugarloaf Gardens in Sunderland, the retail arm of Snow & Sons Landscaping, which sells to the general public as well.

“People are investing more in their yards and gardens, but given the price of gas and the price of groceries, are people going to spend their disposable income with us?” he asked rhetorically. “We’re just going to have to see as we go along.”

But, overall, he and others we spoke with were generally optimistic that 2026 will be a year to grow — literally and figuratively.

A Cut Above

As he talked with BusinessWest, Roberts was working with a repeat customer — a Holyoke resident who was replacing a pool put in 20 years ago while also putting in a new backyard complete with retaining walls — and coping with a tight deadline.

“It’s a big project, and a lot goes into it because he wants to be swimming by May, and there’s a lot of pressure to get it done,” said Roberts, adding that this project typifies the opportunities and challenges facing those in this business.

“People are investing more in their yards and gardens, but given the price of gas and the price of groceries, are people going to spend their disposable income with us? We’re just going to have to see as we go along.”

There are many homeowners putting in new installations or upgrading old ones, he said, adding that managing expectations for many of these customers is now a big part of the job.

“A lot of people call and want miracles done in the spring,” he explained. “They need to realize that we’re booked up with projects that were signed up in the fall.”

Overall, business is good across the broad spectrum of the landscape business, from mowing lawns to designing and building those backyard elements.

Pioneer Landscapes does all of that, Campedelli said, adding that, on the design side, much of the project work involves designing and building what the industry calls outdoor rooms.

“They give you a space that makes you feel relaxed and cozy, between using all the elements such as lighting and music, waterfalls, and fire rocks — if you can dream it, we can do it.”

And what people are dreaming about are spaces where they can entertain, but that are also easy to maintain and protect from the elements, said Roberts, adding that many homeowners are moving from gazebos to pavilions.

“We’re seeing the outdoor rooms, the covered space outside, more than just a gazebo, which was a quick fix — those were mostly underutilized because there’s only so much you can do under a gazebo,” he explained. “People are putting in outdoor entertainment systems — maybe a drop-down TV, a fireplace, some nice couches that don’t get wet, sound systems, and outdoor lighting systems that are controlled by Wi-Fi so they can change colors and dim the lights.”

And, by and large, there remains strong interest in these big investments, said those we spoke with. While demand is not as strong as it was at the height of the pandemic, when the backyard was the only place people could go for vacation, it remains solid.

The Home & Garden Show provided ample evidence of this, said Campedelli, adding that most visitors to the Pioneer booth were driven and ready to move forward with projects.

“They were saying, ‘I want a fence,’ or ‘I want irrigation,’ or ‘I want a backyard makeover’ … there was a lot of that,” he said, adding that, while there is some uncertainty with the economy and concern over recent events globally, many consumers still have the requisite confidence to move forward with what can be a big-ticket item.

Roberts agreed, but said there is certainly some lingering angst concerning inflation and tensions overseas.

As for the businesses handling this work, the hard winter of 2025-26 was the best in years when it came to plowing, generating solid cash flow, and creating momentum for the seasons to follow.

“We’re rolling right now, and I hope it just keeps on going,” Campedelli said, adding that he expects it will, given all those factors he listed earlier.

Mow of the Same

These include that trend toward letting someone else mow the lawn and trim the hedges, he told BusinessWest, adding that, in addition to their backyards, people also value the time they spend in them.

And this has translated into growing interest in the company’s maintenance programs, which range in price from $130 to $995 a month, such as the ‘carefree weekend package,’ which includes mowing and trimming around beds, fences, and walkways, and blowing off driveways, sidewalks, and patios; the ‘outdoor living protection package,’ which includes a fertilization plan and mosquito and tick control services; and the ‘complete outdoor care and seasonal maintenance bundle,’ which includes spring and fall cleanups, aeration and overseeding, irrigation maintenance, and much more.

“These programs are becoming more popular,” he explained. “We just started offering the packages, and so far, they’re a hit.”

This trend helps explain the fast, steady growth of Caesar’s Lawn & Landscape, a company that, like many in this sector, started with a young person mowing lawns for family, friends, and neighbors, and eventually turning it into a business.

And like most entrepreneurs, Hall has been involved in all aspects of this endeavor, from naming it — Caesar is his middle name, and “I thought it had a nice ring to it” — to taking calls and giving estimates; from mowing lawns himself to doing the legwork on forming an LLC.

He started in 2024 with a small portfolio of 10 to 12 lawns and has since worked with partners Trevor Plante and Jonathon Knight to grow the venture and its list of services to include hardscape work such as patios and retaining walls, tree trimming, brush removal and land clearing, lawn maintenance, and, starting a few months ago, snow removal, using snow throwers and a salter on his truck.

“Those two big storms really helped us get that side of the business going, and we’re going to get more into that next year,” said Hall, a junior at Minnechaug, who works after school and on weekends, with his Ford F-250 serving as his workhorse vehicle and office.

Long-term, he and his partners plan to continue growing the venture, build on the momentum they’ve generated, and, for the short term, at least, find ways to balance school and work.

“It’s definitely fun, but also challenging to have your own business,” he said, noting that most high-schoolers work for someone else. “It’s rewarding to work hard and build something like this.”

The same can be said of homeowners and their gardens, said Ziomek, adding that gardening has always been a release for people, and he expects this will continue amid the economic uncertainty and global tensions of the moment.

“We’re hopeful that gardening remains an outlet for people to get away from all the noise happening the world,” he said. “And they’ll garden more because of that.”

Elaborating, he said that, in tough or uncertain times, people will grow more of their own vegetables and fruits as a hedge against higher prices, and he expects to see more of that this year.

“The other thing we notice is people just wanting to build a small oasis, if that’s the right word, to escape from all the stuff that’s going on in the world,” he went on. “It might just be a small perennial garden, or a few flowers in a spot where they see them all the time — just something to make them smile as they go in or out of the house.”

If these trends and the others mentioned above continue into 2026 and beyond, it will be all those in the broad landscape sector who will be smiling.

New Series Launches by Examining the Role of AI in Manufacturing

By Joseph Bednar April 13, 2026

Special Coverage Technology

The Future Is Now

John Fazzio of Pilot Precision Products leads a breakout session.

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

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

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

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

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

SEE: Scenes from the event below

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sharing Success Stories

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Continuing the Conversation

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Area Mental Health Organizations Tackle Growing Community Demand

By Joseph Bednar April 13, 2026

Healthcare News Special Coverage

Mindful Approach

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

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

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

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

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

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

“We look at that all the time — we look at where is the need, do we have the expertise to offer something, where is it in the geographical area, and do we have the capacity?”

“We’re very fortunate to have this kind of presence and the ability to offer services,” she said — and those services are broad. They include:

• Behavioral health, which encompasses a broad array of clinical and substance use services for adults, families, children, and adolescents, including individual and group psychotherapy, diagnostic assessments, and treatment;

• Youth, young adult, and family services, including children’s behavioral health, foster care, and youth and young adult residential homes;

• Substance use and recovery, with services include recovery coaching, peer recovery centers, and long-term residential treatment for men, women, and young adults with substance use disorder and co-occurring mental health disorders;

• Community and prevention, including health education programs and initiatives that provide resources and information addressing numerous public health areas while representing the multicultural needs of the region; and

• Intellectual and developmental disability services, which promote the health and well-being of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and those with behavioral health and/or substance use disorders.

“We have our finger on the pulse. We know where the needs exist,” Nesci said, noting that some of this is anecdotal data from program participants themselves, while Gándara also works with the state and other entities to determine where the gaps are, and strive to fill them.

Shelley Zimmerman

“Across the region, we’re seeing sustained demand outpacing inpatient behavioral health capacity, particularly for high-acuity or dual-diagnosed patients.”

“We look at that all the time — we look at where is the need, do we have the expertise to offer something, where is it in the geographical area, and do we have the capacity?”

Take the organization’s residential recovery services, which include seven transitional homes across the state, soon to be eight with one coming online in South Hadley.

“The homes are designed to help individuals who are getting ready to transition into the community to have a place to live, be able to secure employment and housing, and maintain their sobriety before they move back into the community,” Nesci said.

Cutchins Programs for Children and Families in Northampton is another regional mental health organization evolving with growing need. It recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of the first floor of its Children’s Clinic, an expansion that increases access to outpatient mental healthcare for children and families in Western Mass.

Meanwhile, Springfield-based Behavioral Health Network (BHN) continues to add programs to meet growing needs. For example, in January, it launched a Family-based Intensive Treatment (FIT) program, which expands the organization’s commitment to delivering behavioral healthcare to children, youth, and families through a community-centered approach.

The FIT program helps families in crisis to stabilize by providing intensive, home-based support. Each family is supported by a dedicated team that provides clinical support, 24/7 availability, and peer support from someone with lived experience. The team teaches practical skills to help children thrive at home and connects families with community resources for long-term success.

Michelle Michaelian

“FIT expands the continuum of care within BHN’s child and family programs, ensuring families receive intensive, home-based support when they need it most. These programs reflect our commitment to building stronger, healthier communities.”

“FIT expands the continuum of care within BHN’s child and family programs, ensuring families receive intensive, home-based support when they need it most,” said Michelle Michaelian, senior vice president of Child and Family Community-Based Programs. “These programs reflect our commitment to building stronger, healthier communities.”

On the Front Lines

At MiraVista, Zimmerman said, services for adults and adolescents range from inpatient psychiatric treatment to outpatient substance abuse services. Its direct admission model allows patients to be admitted directly, often from outpatient resources and community mental health crisis centers.

“It eliminates some of that bottlenecking that I mentioned that happens in the emergency room. It reduces delays, and it lowers stress for patients and families,” she explained. “We’re the subject matter experts, essentially. When patients come to us for care, they experience care that’s therapeutic and patient-centered. An ER is a very difficult place for someone in a mental health crisis.”

But to provide that care effectively, organizations need to provide appropriate levels of staffing, and that can be a hurdle. Zimmerman understands the challenges of being a behavioral health nurse, but she also touts the personal rewards.

“It’s very gratifying to help someone go from their very lowest to stable and able to function and be part of society again,” she told BusinessWest, adding that there’s an intuitive quality that comes into play when diagnosing and treating this population — one that people at home don’t really have.

“We understand if someone has a cardiac issue; we understand if someone has diabetes; we don’t seem to understand mental health,” she said. “It takes intuition, it takes compassion, it takes care to help these patients, and an understanding of mental health and what that looks like. So they come in at their worst, at their lowest, and then you get to support them, lift them up, and help get them back so that they can function and integrate with their families, with their jobs, with their lives.”

One of the biggest challenges of the job is being able to handle both physical and mental wellness, as many patients have co-morbid conditions, Zimmerman added. Meanwhile, the reasons professionals choose this path vary.

“A lot of times, folks are drawn to this aspect of nursing because they have a family member that suffered with mental health, or they have a loved one that tried to commit suicide, or a friend.”

And adolescents are dealing with more pressures today than in years past because of how technology and social media have turned peer pressure and bullying into a 24/7 experience.

“Kids don’t know how to handle that. And it can be very upsetting for a parent if a child is starting to become reclusive, maybe not eating as much, doesn’t want to go to school because there’s cyberbullying stuff that’s going on, the social media stuff. We help our staff understand what those things are, how they impact our patients, and then how they can help our patients.”

For both adults and young people, she added, there remains some stigma around seeking mental healthcare, though conversations are more open and frequent than they were decades ago.

“People are hesitant to tell their jobs if they need time off to seek treatment. And they’re hesitant to seek that treatment, whether it’s for addiction services or mental health,” Zimmerman said. “I think it’s getting better, but there’s a lot of opportunity for more global understanding of how mental health affects your total person. I tell our team here all the time, ‘mental health doesn’t discriminate, and neither do we.’ And by that I mean, it can be your neighbor, it can be your pastor, it can be your grandma, it can be a famous athlete, it can be your mother, it can be anybody. It could be you.”

“It’s very gratifying to help someone go from their very lowest to stable and able to function and be part of society again.”

Nesci also said she has seen more willingness from people to either self-identify or say a family member needs help.

“People who know that I work in this industry often ask me, ‘how can I help my friend, my nephew, my niece, my sister, my brother?’ So people talk about it. Years ago, it was never spoken of. I think we’ve come a really long way.

“At the same time, there’s a lot of bias that still exists because people make judgments about the people we serve — the way they look, the way they dress, the language they speak, whether they’re employed, all that stuff,” she added. “So we still have a long way to go.”

Changing Lives

As it approaches its 50th anniversary next year, Gándara continues to add programs and services where it sees a need. For instance, a few years ago, it invested in transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), a non-traditional method of managing depression for patients who have not been successful with other modalities.

“Substance use is another big need,” Nesci said. “More and more people are identifying as having that as a major issue or stressor in their lives. So we need people where they’re at, which is why we’re providing recovery coaching services to people in the community.”

As Zimmerman noted earlier, a lot of this capacity building comes down to staffing. “Staff is our greatest resource — without staff, we can’t provide the services,” Nesci added. “So I have a great team that is focused on hiring and retaining people.”

In the end, meeting these critical needs in the community, especially at a time of such demand, is challenging work to be sure, but can also be tremendously rewarding.

“I believe that people have the ability to change behavior, and I have a team that believes the same thing,” Nesci said. “That’s what I find most gratifying — when we hear the stories of people who have gone through our program. That’s really heartwarming.”

Amherst Strives to Take Advantage of Its Many Assets

By George O'Brien April 13, 2026

Community Spotlight Special Coverage

Community Spotlight

Jeff Bagg says Amherst is well-stocked with assets as it goes about competing with other area communities for the dollars spent by visitors.

Jeff Bagg says he’s come full circle. Sort of.

He graduated from UMass Amherst back in 2002 and then worked for the town of Amherst as senior planner from 2008 to 2016. But now, after gaining different types of experience in various settings, he’s back in Town Hall, serving as director of Planning & Economic Development, a melding of two roles.

He started in December and has spent the past four months getting reacquainted with a community that is in a seemingly constant state of motion, but with challenges and opportunities that have been present for decades.

“I knew a lot about the town of Amherst, but it had been 10 years since I last worked there, so there was a learning curve,” said Bagg, who is involved in several initiatives at present, from a project to set new design standards for the downtown to a study of the East Amherst area with an eye toward creating core commercial development opportunities, to the collection of data to be used in creation of the town’s first economic development plan in several years.

“What we have available is pre-pandemic, and there have been really big shifts in the way people spend their money,” he said of that last initiative. “Knowing that businesses need a strong customer base and foot traffic, we really need to figure out ways to bring more residents out and visitors in, and the data drives a lot of that.”

“Knowing that businesses need a strong customer base and foot traffic, we really need to figure out ways to bring more residents out and visitors in, and the data drives a lot of that.”

These are just some of the many converging storylines in Amherst, a community that those we spoke with said is a college town, but so much more. Others include:

• Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce, which continues to grow membership and become ever more diverse — Executive Director Jacob Robinson said the chamber added 57 new members in 2025, roughly double the number welcomed in 2023 and the years prior — and build new events into the schedule, including a revitalized business expo;

• A Business Improvement District (BID) that is working with the chamber and individual businesses to make the community a true destination year round;

• The ongoing success story that is the Drake, a downtown live-performance venue that is planning 200 nights of performances for 2026 involving 500 artists from both the 413 and around the globe and more than 33,000 audience members, many of whom will support other hospitality-related businesses before and after those shows;

• The ongoing saga of Hampshire College, which has been fighting for survival in recent years amid declining enrollment and continuing fiscal hardship. That fight took a new twist recently when the New England Commission of Higher Education announced late last month that it will require the school to show cause in June as to why it shouldn’t be placed on probation or have its accreditation withdrawn over concerns the college may no longer be meeting the organization’s institutional resources standard; and

• Continued evolution of the community’s downtown, including several new businesses, the owners of which told BusinessWest there is a rhythm to the downtown, one dictated by the calendar, which takes some getting used to (much more on this later).

For this latest installment of its Community Spotlight series, we take an in-depth look at one of the more intriguing communities in the region — one marked by learning of all types.

Developing Story

Bagg brings a diverse résumé to his new position in Amherst. Indeed, after his stint as senior planner there, he served as project manager for the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission before beginning what would become a six-year stint as director of Planning and Economic Development in Easthampton and then serving as senior planner for the BSC Group in Worcester.

He described his new role as a “good fit” and an opportunity to return to the public sector — in a community where change is a constant.

“I’ve been working in many different communities in Massachusetts, and more and more towns have increased their efforts to attract visitors; it’s an intense competition for people’s time and limited disposable income.”

Like others we spoke with, he said Amherst has both a number of assets and … let’s call them liabilities.

In that first category, he started with the obvious, the three colleges that provide the community with its distinct flavor — Amherst College, UMass Amherst, and Hampshire College — but also its many cultural attractions, ranging from the Emily Dickinson Museum and the Eric Carle Museum to the Drake and Amherst Cinema, which make it more than your typical college down.

John Page says downtown Amherst is in a seemingly constant state of change and is always welcoming new businesses.

On the downside, this can be a difficult town to do business in, and Bagg acknowledged this with a comment intended to be diplomatic.

“We have a very engaged community, but there is some lack of agreement on where new growth should happen. Amherst struggles with its vision for the future and an identity that we can get most people to agree to,” he said, adding that town officials are making it a priority to make it easier to do business in town, such as with the hiring of a permit administrator to facilitate the process of setting up shop there.

Which brings him back to the economic development plan, and the collection of data that will help drive it.

“What we don’t have a good handle on is where people are spending their money — we don’t know where residents are spending their money, we don’t know where visitors spend their money when they come here, and how all that relates to demographics — population changes, the age of people coming and going, those are factors for what’s going to drive new businesses in Amherst, and we don’t really have a handle on that.

“I’ve been working in many different communities in Massachusetts, and more and more towns have increased their efforts to attract visitors; it’s an intense competition for people’s time and limited disposable income,” he went on, adding that this competition is one of myriad factors that will go into the development of an economic development plan over the next year or so.

Overall, the community is well-suited to succeed in this competition to attract visitors, said John Page, executive director of the Amherst BID, adding that there is already plenty to do in town — such as the recent Fire and Ice Winter Festival, which drew more than 2,000 people — and plans to provide more good reasons to make the trip.

That list includes the Amherst Literary Walk on April 11, a day of literary events throughout the downtown, including readings, workshops, literary trivia, and more, said Page, adding that one of the BID’s broad goals is to get people out and have them experience Amherst.

Another is to help bring new businesses to town and create an environment that will enable them to succeed year-round. Like others we spoke with, Page said Amherst has some unique assets, but especially the colleges and the people who go there to learn and to work.

“We have to keep showing up for these businesses that give this place its identity. These are not just storefronts — they create jobs, they build relationships, and they shape the character of the community.”

“There is this youthfulness,” he said, speaking to the environment created by the melding of the higher learning institutions and the omnipresent arts and culture. “You’ve got bands, you have artists of all ages, and a college town both because of the students and the faculty. There’s this appreciation for arts and culture — we have a lot of museums and a lot of live music going on, and that goes hand-in-hand with a college community, and that helps us out even when the students aren’t here because that reputation is great in the summer, when we want to invite other people to join us from across Massachusetts, across New England, and across the world.”

Robinson agreed, noting that the chamber is committed to promoting and supporting the downtown, but other ‘villages’ in the community as well, such as the Mill District in North Amherst and the South Amherst section of town.

“We have to keep showing up for these businesses that give this place its identity,” he said, summing up the chamber’s mission. “These are not just storefronts — they create jobs, they build relationships, and they shape the character of the community.”

What’s in Store

As she spoke with BusinessWest, Becky Guyer was gearing up for Easter, but also a very busy three-month stretch that includes Mother’s Day, college and high school graduations, some weddings, and other events that require flowers.

She can speak from experience about what this time means for her Floral Affairs shop in downtown Greenfield. But the one she opened last July on North Pleasant Street in Amherst … not so much.

Indeed, Guyer said she is still experiencing a learning curve when it comes to doing business in downtown Amherst. She was invited to look at the North Pleasant location, long a flower shop, at the behest of the building’s owner, who thought she might be interested in opening a second location there.

Amherst at a Glance

Year Incorporated: 1759
Population: 39,263
Area: 27.7 square miles
County: Hampshire
Residential Tax Rate: $16.91
Commercial Tax Rate: $16.91
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

After some due diligence, she determined that she was.

“I thought that this could be a good opportunity — this is a college town, there are some venues in town, some that we already do weddings with, as well as UMass events and Amherst College events,” she said, adding that the location was also across the street from a funeral home, which, in the floral world, is a real benefit.

“There were a lot of positives,” she went on, adding that the storefront, which had to be completely gutted, wasn’t one of them. But she moved forward with confidence, has found the move worthwhile, and has high praise for the chamber and the BID. But there has been a learning curve as she adapts to life in a college town.

“When the college kids leave … it was the worst Christmas I’ve ever seen in my life — so much so that it’s made us completely restructure our game plan,” she told BusinessWest. “I don’t necessarily have a designer in Amherst — it’s meant for convenience; all orders get run out of Greenfield, and we’ve made this location more of a convenience store.”

Overall, the downtown Amherst location is a work in progress, she said, adding that she is learning the cadence, if you will, of this college town, and the nuances of the calendar. Christmas was a letdown, and she’s not sure what to expect this summer, but she is optimistic about the upcoming few months and what they could bring, and the location itself.

“The walk-up traffic is fantastic — there’s a young, growing community there that comes in quite a bit,” she said. “There are a lot of $10, $15, and $20 sales, which is great.”

Andrea Marion is also getting used to the rhythm of Amherst’s downtown. She moved the Closet from a location in the Mill District to a storefront (a former restaurant) on Main Street last fall. She enjoyed the Mill District atmosphere but said there is more foot traffic in the downtown, and that suits her operation.

She described her business as a “curated resale boutique,” and herself as a “fashion concierge.”

“I hand-pick every piece that comes into the store — I don’t do consignment, generally, and I try to make sure I have something for everyone … I sell for all genders and all sizes,” said Marion, a nonprofit manager before she went into business for herself, adding that, while many items would be described as high-end (Fendi, Givenchy, and Prada handbags, for example), she has items at all price points.

Like Guyer, Marion said it takes some time to get used to the patterns of the downtown, especially when it comes to the students’ schedules, but overall, she says the area is becoming ever more vibrant and remains a good place to do business.

“There’s a lot of energy and activity,” she said, adding that she is accessible to more people now, which has broadened the customer base and made it more diverse, especially age-wise. “Amherst’s downtown has so much potential, and I’m really happy to be here.”

BusinessTalk with Lois Nesci, CEO, Gándara Mental Health Center: A Broad Mission to Serve

By Ryan Leary April 1, 2026

Business Talk Podcast Special Coverage

With new episodes airing every other Monday, BusinessTalk features in-depth interviews and discussions with local industry leaders who offer thoughtful perspectives on the Western Massachusetts economy and the many business ventures that keep it running. BusinessTalk is sponsored and presented by Greenfield Cooperative Bank.

Go HERE to view all episodes

Episode 255: April 1, 2026

Joe Bednar talks with Lois Nesci, CEO, Gándara Mental Health Center

When Lois Nesci took the reins at Gándara Mental Health Center in early 2020, she did so during a time of pandemic challenge, but this large, regional agency — with more than 70 locations serving the mental health and other needs of people across all ages and demographics — has overcome plenty of challenges in its nearly 50-year history. As that milestone approaches next year, Lois sits down with BusinessWest Editor Joe Bednar for this episode of BusinessTalk, explaining how Gándara identifies and then meets needs, how it continues to expand, and why the work of helping clients achieve healthier, happier lives is so gratifying. It’s must listening, so tune into BusinessTalk, a podcast presented by BusinessWest over both audio and video platforms, and sponsored by Greenfield Cooperative Bank.

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Callaway Uses Technology, Experience to Build a Better Golf Ball

By George O'Brien March 30, 2026

Features Special Coverage

Getting a Bounce

Algis Norkevicius says Callaway is the world’s second-largest golf ball manufacturer

Algis Norkevicius says it’s difficult to effectively quantify and qualify the overall impact from all those close-up shots of Callaway golf balls during television broadcasts as the professional golf tournaments wind to their climax on Sunday afternoons.

But he knows it certainly helps when ‘Callaway players’ such Akshay Bhatia storm from behind and win the Arnold Palmer Invitational, as he did earlier this month, or when Xander Schauffle is in contention at the Players Championship — and also at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Or when Sam Burns is near the top of the leaderboard at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

“It’s great exposure for our products, and it’s fun to watch and follow these players,” said Norkevicius, senior director of Global Golf Ball Manufacturing for Callaway, which has facilities in different corners of the globe, but makes most of its balls in a sprawling facility on Meadow Street in Chicopee that was once home to Spalding.

He said these strong performances from those Callaway players comprise just one of many factors contributing to the company’s rise to number two among golf ball manufacturers, behind Acushnet, maker of Titleist, and on a path to steady growth — in sales, and in the number of balls produced at the Chicopee facility.

Another factor is the continued strong health of the game, which enjoyed a surge during COVID and has, by and large, been able to maintain that momentum since.

“Rounds of play and golf ball sales are directly correlated; statistics show that the average person uses around three golf balls a round,” Norkevicius said. “As rounds of play increase, so do golf ball sales. Last year, the National Golf Foundation released its annual report — golf grew again by 1% over the previous year, which was a record year.”

Then there are new products, such as the company’s recently introduced second generation of the Chrome Tour line, balls that tout greater speed, more consistency, and tighter dispersion, and are expected to be popular with players at all levels.

“We’ve grown our workforce, and we’ve increased our technical staff — all in pursuit of making a better golf ball.”

Norkevicius calls what’s going on at Callaway a “transformation,” one marked by everything from new products and the growing popularity of those products to new efficiencies in the manufacturing processes and, overall, more than $130 million in capital investments inside the facility.

“We took a look at each process and upgraded the equipment,” he said. “It started with our mixing line, and then core molding and injection molding; our printing equipment has been upgraded; and the last thing we’re upgrading is our packaging line, and we’re in the middle of that now.

“We’ve grown our workforce, and we’ve increased our technical staff — all in pursuit of making a better golf ball,” he noted, adding that recent results have shown that these substantial investments are certainly paying off.

Looking forward, he said the company is looking to continually grow its market share — the new Chrome Tour products are certainly expected to help improve those numbers — and eventually become the number-one golf ball maker in the world.

To get there, the company will look to make ever-greater use of technology, including artificial intelligence (AI) to not only produce a better golf gall, but achieve the most important quality in the manufacturing of these products: consistency.

The growing popularity of golf is a boon to manufacturers, as the average player uses about three balls per round.

For this issue, BusinessWest talked at length with Norkevicius about the golf ball business, the manufacturing of those products, and how Callaway continues on a strong growth trajectory.

Positive Spin

Norkevicius has been involved with golf ball manufacturing for nearly 30 years now. He started at Acushnet, which is both a company and a town in Bristol County where the golf balls are made.

He came to Callaway in 2019 to lead worldwide golf ball manufacturing operations, meaning the facility in Chicopee, but also other plants in Thailand, Taiwan, and Vietnam that produce mostly value and range products. He’ll visit those facilities once a quarter, on average, spending the bulk of his time in Chicopee.

“That knowledge base in how to make a golf ball is one of the key assets we have here.”

Over his time at Callaway, the company’s share of the overall golf ball market has risen from roughly 14% to 22% (Achusnet remains on top, with nearly 50% of the market). He attributes this to products that have captured the attention of players at all levels, such as those within what’s now known as the ‘Chrome family’ — the Chrome Tour, Chrome Tour X, Chrome Tour Triple Diamond, and Chrome Soft — but also other offerings, such as the popular Supersoft, Superfast, and Warbird.

Many of these balls are made in Chicopee, including the Chrome Tour products, as well as the Supersoft and the ERC Soft, he said, adding that the facility will churn out 5 million dozen golf balls a year, or 25,000 dozen a day, with three shifts operating five days a week (there are roughly 450 employees), with overtime on weekends during busy seasons — like this one.

Indeed, the months leading up the start of the golf season in the Sun Belt (March) and then the rest of the country (early- to mid-April) are among the busiest times for the Chicopee facility.

“There’s a seasonality to the business,” Norkevicius explained. “Typically, the summer months are one of the slowest times, and then it will ramp up in September and October in advance of the holidays, and then plateau — and then, around Memorial Day, it starts to get a little lighter.”

Overall, 2025 was another sold year for both the company and the Chicopee plant, he told BusinessWest, adding that the game continues to grow a percentage point or two a year in terms of the number of rounds played; as noted, this translates directly into more balls being used.

“We’ve created what I’d call a quantum data universe; on any given day, we’ll take 150 million data points from our processes, equipment, and our testing, and we load this data into the cloud. And from there, our engineers will use AI to help predict outcomes or potentially get ahead of failures before they occur.”

And this growth pattern is expected to continue in 2026, especially as the company releases the next generation of its Chrome Tour products, first introduced in 2024.

“We changed the ball so significantly that we separated Chrome Tour from Chrome Soft,” he explained. “That marked a leap in technology and performance. And over the past two years, we’ve continually refined the golf ball, working with R&D on some material changes as construction changes to optimize it even more, adding more speed and more distance, and then we were able to decrease our dispersion along the fairway; the ball lands in a tighter spot compared with previous models.”

The Chicopee plant started producing the new Chrome Soft balls last summer, he went on, adding that production has ramped up as the new season draws closer.

Drive to Improve

As he gave BusinessWest a tour of the Chicopee plant, Norkevicius said its best asset is its workforce, which boasts many team members who have been making golf balls for decades — some for a half-century.

“That knowledge base in how to make a golf ball is one of the key assets we have here,” he said, adding that the company has been working to blend this experience with new technology and improved processes to take golf ball manufacturing to the proverbial next level.

This includes the use of AI, which Norkevicius called one of the plant’s more significant advancements over the past several years.

“We’ve created what I’d call a quantum data universe; on any given day, we’ll take 150 million data points from our processes, equipment, and our testing, and we load this data into the cloud,” he explained. “And from there, our engineers will use AI to help predict outcomes or potentially get ahead of failures before they occur.

“They can monitor our processes, and as soon as there’s an indication that a process may be going out of control, they will alert a technician or engineer, and they can address that before we make a bad product,” he went on, adding that, with golf balls, the most important quality — even above distance, which is still important — is consistency.

“With every golf ball you use, you want it to perform the same … and we want to ensure that each ball goes the same distance, has the same dispersion, same flight, same spin,” he said. “And to do that, it’s difficult. Making golf balls is hard, and if we can understand and control all these parameters, we can make it a little easier.”

Elaborating, he said there is much that goes into the making of a golf ball, from its core to its cover; from rubber chemistry to injection molding, and maintaining quality through the many stages of the complex process is as difficult as it is essential.

“It’s not an easy process — it’s very challenging, especially to make things consistent,” Norkevicius told BusinessWest. “We need to have those controls in place, we need to have the knowledge of our processes, and we need to have those tools to help us identify when those processes go out of control — or start to go out of control.”

AI also helps the R&D teams create better products, he added.

“They can create virtual models based on what’s going on here, and then come up with an even better model for the next generation,” he explained. “They can basically do this analysis and future trials, utilizing AI to do that — they can then predict outcomes. Things that would take weeks to do, to test and compile … we can do that in minutes today.”

With this focus on quality and the use of technology to not only make better products but produce them more efficiently and more consistently, Norkevicius believes Callaway is well-positioned to not only continue on its strong growth trajectory, but achieve that ambitious goal of rising to the top among golf ball manufacturers.

“With the investments we’ve made here and the continued improvements to our products and processes, we know we have the foundation in place to increase our market share,” he said, adding that Callaway shares a goal common with golfers of all handicap levels — continuous improvement.

Workforce and Career Development in the Accounting Industry

By Contributor March 30, 2026

Accounting and Tax Planning Special Coverage

A Gen Z Perspective

By Samantha Calvao

The accounting profession is undergoing a generational and technological transformation. As seasoned professionals retire and new talent steps in, members of Gen Z (those born between the late 1990s and the early 2010s) are beginning to leave their mark.

For this group, career advancement is not defined solely by promotions or years of service. Instead, it’s about building adaptable skills, seeking meaningful work, and maintaining flexibility in a profession that’s shifting faster than ever before.

Starting a Career in a Changing Industry

Gen Z’s first years in accounting look different from those of earlier generations. Many individuals now start early in their careers by gaining experience through internship programs, where they develop a deeper understanding of the accounting industry by actively engaging with seasoned professionals and learning from their real-world experiences.

The days of starting with stacks of paper and hours of manual reconciliations are largely gone. Modern accounting systems, automation tools, and cloud platforms handle much of the repetitive work that once defined entry-level roles. This change means new graduate hires often jump directly into analysis, client communication, and strategic discussions — responsibilities that previously took years to reach.

Because of this early exposure and industry evolution, many young professionals are shaping careers that are more fluid than linear. They are open to moving between public and private practice, trying out specialized areas like forensic investigations or sustainability reporting.

In addition to moving between private and public, young professionals are open to being cross-trained in multiple industries and services. This diverse approach to career development provides opportunities for growth from multiple perspectives, positioning career advancement as a menu of options rather than a rigid path.

Samantha Calvao

“Many Gen Z professionals seek roles where they can make a meaningful impact, whether by contributing to sustainability initiatives, participating in socially responsible projects, or aligning with companies that demonstrate strong ethical standards.”

Workplace culture plays a central role in these decisions. While salary still plays a factor, Gen Z places high value on flexible schedules, hybrid work arrangements, and leaders who prioritize a balance between well-being and workload. The young accountants anticipate regular feedback instead of waiting for annual reviews. They look for mentors who will provide guidance not only on technical work, but also on professional development and career planning.

Learning, Connection, and Purpose

For Gen Z, professional development is an ongoing process. Beyond the mandatory continuing professional education hours, they actively pursue training in areas such as data visualization, financial modeling, and cybersecurity. Many are drawn to learning methods that fit into busy schedules, consisting of short online modules, peer-led workshops, or interactive webinars. They appreciate employers who support a variety of educational formats creating the diverse web of opportunities in a career.

Networking has also evolved for this generation. While in-person industry events remain valuable, digital spaces have expanded their reach. Platforms like LinkedIn, virtual conferences, and even niche online communities allow Gen Z accountants to connect with peers, mentors, and potential employers around the globe. These connections often lead to opportunities that traditional local networking might not uncover.

Firms support young professionals by having business development groups, allowing them to take initiative in creating relationships among themselves and further in the business community. Business development groups not only expand young professionals’ networks, but also help them build essential soft skills such as communication, leadership, and relationship management, all vital for long-term career growth.

Purpose-driven work is another key motivator. Many Gen Z professionals seek roles where they can make a meaningful impact, whether by contributing to sustainability initiatives, participating in socially responsible projects, or aligning with companies that demonstrate strong ethical standards.

In short, firms should encourage young professionals to be actively involved with internal business development groups, niche-driven work, or being deeply rooted in ways to give back to the community.

The Road Ahead

As Gen Z gains experience and advances within the profession, their influence is likely to accelerate ongoing changes in accounting. Their desire for adaptability, meaningful engagement, and skill diversity aligns closely with the industry’s shift toward technology-driven advisory services.

They also understand that technical expertise alone won’t guarantee long-term success. Many are actively seeking opportunities to strengthen soft skills like leadership, collaboration, and clear communication abilities that enhance client relationships and open doors to management roles. By blending strong interpersonal skills with technical knowledge, they are positioning themselves for a wide range of career options, including roles that didn’t exist a decade ago.

In the years ahead, Gen Z will continue to build the profession, pushing for workplaces that balance tradition with innovation and value both the numbers and the people behind them. For these emerging professionals, accounting isn’t just about maintaining the books — it’s about creating a career that reflects their values, skills, and vision for the future.

Samantha Calvao, MBA is a senior associate at the Holyoke-based accounting firm Meyers Brothers Kalicka, P.C.

CitySpace Project Gathers Momentum, Funding

By Joseph Bednar March 30, 2026

Architecture Special Coverage

Music to Their Ears

A rendering from Kuhn Riddle Architects & Designers of the planned exterior of Old Town Hall in Easthampton.

For Andrew Bagge, the ongoing CitySpace project in Easthampton is a meaningful endeavor in more than one way.

“Two of the greatest assets in Western Mass. are beautiful old buildings and community-minded nonprofits. Pairing the two is really a win-win situation,” said Bagge, senior architect with Kuhn Riddle Architects & Designers in Amherst, which began collaborating on the project in 2016. “Over those 10 years, we’ve been working closely with CitySpace to help them realize their vision for the entire project, including the entry addition and second-floor performance space.”

And recently, the project received a massive boost from the federal government: $3.5 million in congressionally directed spending to support the ongoing restoration of Easthampton’s historic Old Town Hall, a significant boost to the long-term effort to transform the landmark into a fully accessible, multi-level center for arts, culture, and community life.

Specifically, the funding will advance the next phase of work to restore the building’s second floor as a 350-seat performing arts venue.

“The restoration and development of Easthampton’s Old Town Hall serves as a shining example of what is possible when a community has a vision,” said U.S. Sen. Edward Markey, whose office — and that of U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren — worked with CitySpace and local partners to further advance the project. “CitySpace, local leaders, and the Easthampton community have breathed new life into this historic structure, transforming a stranded municipal asset into an anchor of the local economy and a nexus for community initiatives.”

Easthampton Mayor Salem Derby added that “this $3.5 million federal investment is a powerful vote of confidence in Easthampton’s vision for Old Town Hall and in the extraordinary work of CitySpace to bring that vision to life.”

Two Decades in the Making

For more than a century, Old Town Hall housed municipal offices, and while its second floor served as a public performance and gathering space, it has been unusable for more than two decades.

The nonprofit known as CitySpace began managing the first floor of Old Town Hall as a multi-genre arts and community center in 2006, one that now welcomes more than 15,000 visitors annually. In 2019, the organization secured a 40-year lease from the city of Easthampton to fully manage Old Town Hall and restore the second floor, a project its leaders say has been shaped by regional community input and the needs of the performing arts community.

“Two of the greatest assets in Western Mass. are beautiful old buildings and community-minded nonprofits. Pairing the two is really a win-win situation.”

Since Burns Maxey joined the CitySpace board in 2011 — she became board president in 2015 — she and her all-volunteer team have worked to create a flexible arts and community space in Old Town Hall, which was built in 1869 and housed the town’s municipal offices until 2003. They have helped secure Community Preservation Act funds, multiple foundation grants, and historic tax credits, as well as operating a capital campaign in an effort to raise about $8.5 million for the project.

Phase one of the project involved renovation of the first floor, including the creation of a small, 80-seat rental performance space called the Blue Room. In conjunction with that, Maxey established a program called Pay It Forward to allow low-income artists the resources, space, and support to create or collaborate on a project, or have a residency to complete a project prior to public performance. The first floor also includes a number of art spaces.

Phase two of the project, which has already seen the HVAC system upgraded and modernized, will introduce a new accessible entryway, an elevator serving every floor, and the repair and display of a historic stained-glass window on the building’s street-facing entryway.

Michael Tautznik, the former long-time mayor of Easthampton who now serves as board treasurer for CitySpace, told BusinessWest that “the intention back in 2018 was to try to do this in one shot, but as we saw inflation and as COVID come in, we decided that it just wasn’t feasible. So we’ve broken that project down into three phases.

“We’ve got a great local contractor, Keiter Corporation, that’s doing the work, and we’ve had help from a couple of state grants, the city of Easthampton, and some very generous donors. And we’ve got that project underway; it’ll be finished this summer. And then we’re going to move into the final design and hopefully execution of the final phase, which is to create that venue on the second floor. That’ll be for entertainment, but it will also be a place for public gathering and just a way to celebrate that building’s history.”

The new federal funding will advance that third phase — easily the most expensive part of the project — which centers on the restoration of the second floor, creating a 350-seat performing arts venue in the space that once served as the building’s historic meeting hall, including restoring the ceiling and floors, adding restrooms, installing new electrical and fire safety systems, and investing in state-of-the-art theatrical and lighting equipment.

“The addition is a contemporary steel and glass structure, creating a light and transparent distinction between new and old. The materials, lighting, and finishes complement the existing building and establish an inviting presence on Main Street.”

Tautznik said the project reflects Easthampton’s growing identity as a hub for arts and culture — a priority for many regions, he added, and one he has seen the city embrace through reuse of its copious mill space.

“Easthampton is a community that has become aware of its purpose in the arts. The idea that arts are just for entertainment, I think, is past. We look at the arts as an economic engine. Our mill space is pretty inexpensive, so it attracts tenants that maybe can’t afford to be in downtown Springfield or class A space. So, from the perspective of reutilizing older mill buildings, you become an attraction. And bringing people into the community brings traffic to your downtown, which supports local businesses.”

As for the future performance space upstairs at Old Town Hall, he said it meets a regional need. “It’s a size that isn’t readily available in the region. There are lots of smaller venues, 200 seats and under, and there are some big venues — well, big for this region. But there’s not a lot in the 300- to 500-seat range.

Mike Tautznik

“The idea that arts are just for entertainment, I think, is past. We look at the arts as an economic engine.”

“We think that there’s a real opportunity to try to tap into some of the artists that move through the Northeast,” he added. “It’s also the kind of space that an up-and-coming artist might be able to fill. And that’s important when you have a show, when you’re doing a performance — you want a full house. Bringing a 300-person performance to an 800-seat venue is sometimes disheartening for the artist.”

Realizing the Vision

For Bagge, the project is a chance to positively impact what is arguably the most iconic building in Easthampton.

“The primary goal of the addition is to provide an accessible way for the public to enjoy the entire building, particularly the second floor,” he said, adding that a “nuanced challenge” for Kuhn Riddle was to minimize the project’s impact on the building’s historic form while also showcasing CitySpace as a vibrant hub for the arts — in other words, respecting both old and new.

“The addition is a contemporary steel and glass structure, creating a light and transparent distinction between new and old,” he noted. “The materials, lighting, and finishes complement the existing building and establish an inviting presence on Main Street.”

Another hurdle was achieving all of this within the limited space adjacent to the building, which remains a challenge during construction.

“We’re asking a lot of a small elevator addition, but collaborating with a forward-thinking client has made it all possible. We’re applying the same strategies moving forward with the second floor performance space design, which will be the main event.”

Bagge said Kuhn Riddle has worked on countless adaptive reuse projects to help organizations like CitySpace find their home in an existing building.

“When we lose historic buildings, we collectively lose a piece of our cultural heritage, which plays a vital role in the unique character of the Valley,” he told BusinessWest. “I’m hopeful that our building codes will adapt to recognize the carbon impact of removing and replacing an existing building. The embodied energy in these buildings should be treated as an asset. It has been incredibly gratifying working on the Old Town Hall and collaborating with a client who understands the value in historic buildings.”

As for Tautznik, who has been both working and volunteering in Easthampton for more than 50 years, “I see this personally as an investment in my community, as a way to provide an anchor for that part of downtown,” Tautznik said. “The building is a place I remember as a child. Then when I first served as a selectman, it was in that building. And when I first became mayor, it was in that building.

“The fabric of the community is really what its citizens make it,” he added. “I hope to be a thread in the weaving of that fabric. And I think CitySpace is a big panel in that fabric. And the benefits are going to far outweigh the costs, which are the immediate challenge. It’s going to be exciting.”

In Business Consulting, Samalid Hogan Speaks from Experience

By George O'Brien March 30, 2026

Special Coverage Where Are They Now?

Where Are They Now?

Samalid Hogan as a 40 Under Forty honoree in 2013 (below), and today.

Samalid Hogan in 2013

Samalid Hogan likes to say she practices what she preaches.

By that, she means she applies what she tells her small business consulting clients — as well as those she assists as director of Business Support Services for the Boston Impact Initiative — to her own entrepreneurial ventures, including her latest one, Greylock Management Consulting, for which she has some ambitious expansion plans we’ll get to in a bit.

“I tell people the most important things are to know what your business is really good at, and keep an eye on the market, the industry, so that you know where things are going in the future, so you can be prepared to pivot and change your business model,” she said, adding that she does just that with Greylock, a growing venture that provides a wide portfolio of services that will soon get wider.

Hogan also likes to say she speaks the language of small business owners — because she’s been there (and is there), so she can relate to what they’re going through. She can speak from experience about what has gone right and, just as importantly, the mistakes she’s made and seen others make.

Hogan’s résumé is complete with a number of stops involving work with small businesses, many other aspects of economic development, and work on both a community- and region-wide basis. And while assisting entrepreneurs at many of these stops, she has always been entrepreneurial herself.

Indeed, her first professional stop was chief of staff for state Rep. Cheryl Coakley-Rivera in 2003. Later, she served as an economic development and policy analyst for the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission.

She was working as senior project manager and brownfields coordinator for the city of Springfield when she was selected as a member of BusinessWest’s 40 Under Forty class of 2013, and she was serving as regional director of the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center when she won the coveted Alumni Achievement Award — given each year to a 40 Under Forty alum who has most notably built on their success — in 2017.

Along the way, there have been entrepreneurial ventures of her own, such as CoWork Springfield and different consulting ventures, culminating with Greylock, which she launched in 2021.

There have been several other awards along the way as well, everything from the Women Trailblazers and Trendsetters Award from the Latino Chamber of Commerce to the Harold Grinspoon Foundation’s Entrepreneurial Spirit Award; from the Gateway Cities Innovation Award to her latest honor, the ALX 100 Award for Latino Leaders in Massachusetts.

“I don’t like telling people what to do. I want to help them discover their path, but also learn from others’ mistakes, so they don’t make those same mistakes, which can be costly.”

The various words in those award titles — ‘leader,’ ‘innovation,’ ‘trailblazer,’ and others — speak to how Hogan has dedicated her career to not only inspiring entrepreneurship and assisting small businesses, but also being involved in the community on many different levels.

And while the honors are nice, she says a greater reward has been her involvement, at various levels, with some intriguing entrepreneurial success stories — in this region and beyond. These include Las Kangris Restaurant & Bar in Springfield, for which she helped secure a $50,000 BizMPower grant from MassDevelopment; GJC Signs & Digital Signs; and Rozki Rides, a transportation service in Springfield.

For this latest installment of its Where Are They Now? series, BusinessWest checks in with Hogan, who is always getting down to business — and helping others do the same.

Reaching Higher

As for Greylock Consulting, that name was chosen as a nod to the state’s highest mountain and how she can help her clients achieve similar altitude, if you will, with their ventures.

“We want to take small business to new heights,” she said, adding that, as a consultant, and in her work with the Boston Impact Initiative, she acts as a guide of sorts, but one that lets the business owner choose the path. She acts to help keep that path clear of crippling setbacks.

“I don’t like telling people what to do. I want to help them discover their path, but also learn from others’ mistakes, so they don’t make those same mistakes, which can be costly,” she told BusinessWest. “It’s a great advantage, and I think I speak with a lot of credibility with the entrepreneurs. They’ll say, ‘she knows, she understands, she knows this is a 24/7 thing.’ As a business owner, you’re never off the clock. You might go on vacation, but you’re still thinking about it.

“I understand the frustration and the hard work it takes to run a successful business and the ups and downs that come along the way,” she went on. “Whether you’re dealing with people or cash flow issues, or your industry is changing, such as with AI, there’s always juggling.”

Helping business owners keep the many balls they’re juggling in the air has become a career for Hogan. In her current capacity with the Boston Impact Initiative, she provides strategic advisory and technical assistance to early-stage and growth-stage businesses, helping entrepreneurs strengthen business models, financial stability, and community impact.

In that role, she’s been involved in several key initiatives, including the securing of $532,000 in state Small Business Technical Assistance funding to launch and operate Accelerate Your Impact, the agency’s pre-investment business coaching program, as well as co-designing the GreenEdge Accelerator, a statewide program supporting 23 women and minority-owned businesses in the clean energy and climate sectors.

At Greylock Consulting, she is part of a small team that provides an array of services, including business development, operations development, financial models and business plans, applications for funding, technical assistance, marketing, and more.

That team, and that list of services, are both set to grow, Hogan said, adding that she is responding to recognized need in the marketplace with expansion plans.

“We’re going to be offering business support services in addition to the coaching that we do; this will include bookkeeping, human resources, payroll, marketing, and website development, as well as AI tools,” she said, noting that these additions will be launched in April.

“I understand the frustration and the hard work it takes to run a successful business and the ups and downs that come along the way.”

She’s been contemplating this expansion effort for some time now, noting that it was inspired in part by a study on barriers confronting minority contractors in Western Mass. as they bid for contracts. It revealed that, while these contractors were good at their various trades, they needed help with various aspects of running their businesses, such as back office help.

So Greylock is responding to this need in an aggressive but measured way, another example of practicing what she preaches to her small business consulting clients.

“I said, ‘we need something here in Western Mass. that can provide all those services under one umbrella,” she said, sounding like a true small business owner when she added, “I’m excited about all this, and I think it’s going to be great, but I’m also a little nervous. It’s a lot of moving pieces, and I’m bringing on three additional people.”

Stepping Out

As she moves forward with plans to expand her business, Hogan is also getting more involved in the community, another aspect of being in business that has always been very important to her.

Indeed, she is currently a trustee at Springfield Technical Community College, a board member at Tech Foundry and the Springfield Regional Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Governor’s Latino Advisory Committee, and vice president of the Rotary Club of Springfield.

“Slowly, I’ve been able to support more community more,” she said, citing, as just one example, becoming a sponsor of the Service Above Self luncheon put on by the Rotary Club and the Basketball Hall of Fame. “To me, it’s very rewarding to be able to make those investments in our community.”

All this sounds fitting for someone who has not only a 40 Under Forty plaque on her desk, but an Alumni Achievement award as well — and continues to build on all of it.

BusinessTalk with Nicolle Cestero, President, American International College: Making Progress

By BusinessWest Staff March 16, 2026

Business Talk Podcast Special Coverage

With new episodes airing every other Monday, BusinessTalk features in-depth interviews and discussions with local industry leaders who offer thoughtful perspectives on the Western Massachusetts economy and the many business ventures that keep it running. BusinessTalk is sponsored and presented by Greenfield Cooperative Bank.

Go HERE to view all episodes

Episode 254: March 16, 2026

Joe Bednar talks with Nicolle Cestero, President of American International College

It’s called the Pathway to Progress. That’s the name of a strategic plan that Nicolle Cestero has helped shape and shepherd at American International College, first as interim president, then since shedding that interim tag last summer — a plan that responds to a shifting higher-ed landscape by reimagining significant aspects of AIC’s academic programs, faculty roles, degree options, and more. For the next episode of BusinessTalk, Nicolle sits down with BusinessWest Editor Joe Bednar to talk about all that and many other aspects of a job she never imagined she’d have when she joined the AIC team 15 years ago — from the importance of the on-campus student experience to how she sees higher education continuing to evolve. It’s must listening, so tune into BusinessTalk, a podcast presented by BusinessWest over both audio and video platforms, and sponsored by Greenfield Cooperative Bank.

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Four Phantoms Brewing Co. Emphasizes Community Connections

By Joseph Bednar March 16, 2026

Breweries & Wineries Special Coverage

Good Times in Season

Four Phantoms Brewing Co. owner Drew Phillips.

When it comes to brewing, Drew Phillips enjoys something a little off the beaten path.

“I love offbeat styles, things that don’t get a lot of love, especially with IPAs being so popular in taprooms,” he said before talking about the ciders and meads he produces at Four Phantoms Brewing Co. in Greenfield. “Cider is one of the only sectors in bev-alc that is actually growing right now, whereas craft beer is shrinking in a period of closures and consolidations. And the sector hasn’t even started to figure out what it means to be an American meadery, really.”

But there’s some cider history in the region; in fact, West County Cidery in Shelburne is the founding post-Prohibition American cidery, he noted.

“We are what’s called a single-source cidery. All of our cider is made with fruit from Pine Hill Orchard in Colrain. So we get to highlight the great character of their fruit and really just celebrate Western Mass. apples.”

“Being in Franklin County and farm country, we’ve got access to a ton of local apple orchards, peach orchards, and all kinds of stuff around here. So we wanted to take the mindset that, when we can use local, we will.”

Meanwhile, Phillips plans his beer offerings seasonally. “We don’t really have what you would call a flagship beer, so our taps are constantly rotating. There are certain styles that people like, and that I like brewing, that we’ll bring back every now and then, but it’s not like we’re always going to have something on tap. We’ll always have something new depending on what season you visit in.”

Some have developed enough of a following to be mainstays, like an Irish stout called Cork by Candlelight and an English nut brown ale. “We try to keep those on just because we can consistently sell them over the entire year; they don’t really need to rotate out,” he explained.

“But in terms of spring and summer coming up, we’re going to dip into lagers and Belgian styles and get into those easy-drinking styles for when it’s hot outside, those really approachable classic pub styles.”

All artwork on the brewery’s cans is created by local artists.

But he’s also got a doppelbock on tap now, which is made from black birch in Cummington — specifically, a property owner with a lot of black birch stands on his land.

“Every winter, there’s usually a storm that comes in that knocks down a bunch of the trees. So we can go in there with a chainsaw, and the wood gets used in the mash. And then, depending on how I’m feeling about it, sometimes I’ll hang a sack of it in the fermenter as well.

“That’s our overall approach to beer,” he added. “We try not to lean completely into what everybody else is doing.”

Fruits of His Labor

Phillips has been brewing for a long time, starting out with volunteer work for breweries before brewing professionally starting in 2012. Four Phantoms began its life as a contract brewery in 2019.

“At the time, I was making cider for Artifact Cider Project in Florence as their lead cider maker and running Four Phantoms as a contract brand on the side. But we always knew we wanted to do bricks and mortar,” he recalled.

“It was that personal engagement, I think, that was very attractive about craft beer and made it grow so quickly, which we are losing quite a bit of.”

The pandemic interfered with the timeline but was also good for cider sales at a time when bars were locked down and the beer business was shaky. “We took that windfall and bootstrapped up the brand to be able to open this place. We got a loan from Greenfield Savings Bank and then opened on Halloween in 2021.”

The name Four Phantoms is a way to metaphotically evoke the passing of the four seasons, he explained.

Four Phantoms opened its physical location in Greenfield in 2021.

“Brewing has always been, at least in American craft beer, very seasonal. So we wanted to highlight that. Being in Franklin County and farm country, we’ve got access to a ton of local apple orchards, peach orchards, and all kinds of stuff around here. So we wanted to take the mindset that, when we can use local, we will — and then, just celebrate what we love about the passing seasons.”

In addition, “we wanted it to be an old-school pub style — we really wanted people to feel like this was an extension of their living room,” Phillips told BusinessWest. “Coming out of the pandemic, I felt there was going to be a slow transition to going back to bars after lockdown, especially in Massachusetts, which had one of the more aggressive policies in terms of COVID and bars shutting down.

“So we wanted it to feel like a family environment — we really wanted to drill down and make sure our neighbors felt comfortable here. And so far, that strategy has been great,” he went on, adding that about 100 patrons have a taproom membership, getting discounted access to events and other perks, and most live within a few blocks of Four Phantoms’ Wells Street address.

As for those events, game nights have become hugely popular, with 50 to 60 people reliably showing up for Dungeons & Dragons on Monday nights, and Magic: the Gathering and other games bringing in crowds as well.

“Even if you’re not interested in craft beer or you’re not a drinker, we’re trying to make this space comfortable for everyone.”

“We also have fundraisers for community organizations, and a lot of people who attend those have never been here before, but end up becoming regulars, which is awesome,” Phillips said, noting that Four Phantoms has used trivia and bingo nights to fundraise for nonprofits ranging from local survival centers to the Immigrant Justice Coalition.

Meawhile, Four Phantoms hosts some music shows, and meetup groups are welcome to use the space as well. The brewery also supports local artists by soliciting them to illustrate its cans and featuring their work on its website.

“I’m just trying to support fundamental organizations in our community and functioning the way that I observed while traveling through Ireland — the pub is like a cornerstone of the community,” Phillips went on. “So that’s what we set out to do, and so far, I feel like it’s been successful.”

That’s despite the industry encountering some rough sailing in recent years, with people drinking less in general — and the pandemic itself may be one reason, as many people may have turned to alcohol during the dark days of isolation and are re-evaluating their relationship with it now, Phillips noted. But that doesn’t mean they can’t come out for a good time.

“We have a pretty extensive menu of non-alcoholic beverages. Our mocktails are really nice beverages. And we have locally made root beers and ginger sodas and stuff like that. We try to make it feel special instead of ‘well, you’re getting whatever we had lying around.’ I’ve noticed, in some bars I’ve gone into, that non-alcoholic beverages can be an afterthought. We try to be a little more thoughtful about it.”

Another downward trend is simply that the youngest generation of drinking age just isn’t patronizing bars and taprooms as previous generations did.

“Craft beer exploded when I started in 2012; we had just come off the financial recession that started in 2008, but we still enjoyed periods of exponential growth during that time. People took it very seriously and were very enthusiastic, but that has definitely cooled off quite a bit.”

One effect of all that is consolidation in the brewing industry, with large companies buying up craft brewers that once thrived in a smaller space, but have since struggled.

“When I was coming up, I saw people putting things they cared so deeply about into their brand identity. And when you get acquired by Anheuser-Busch, it’s sort of hard to believe in that ethos anymore,” Phillips said. “It was that personal engagement, I think, that was very attractive about craft beer and made it grow so quickly, which we are losing quite a bit of.”

In addition, “it makes the sector as a whole a lot less interesting when there’s less variety in terms of styles.”

Supporting an Ecosystem

Four Phantoms is doing its part to bring variety through its products — and community-minded values and personal connection through its events. Phillips distributes his beers, ciders, and meads in some local package stores and restaurants, but he’s most proud of the culture he’s built at the brewery and taproom.

“I feel really grateful, especially at this turbulent time in the craft, to have a reliable community of people who support us and are enthusiastic about the product, but also enthusiastic about coming to the space to see people they know. A lot of our regulars became friends by hanging out here.”

That includes furry friends in this decidedly dog-friendly destination. “It’s cool to me to see a dog that was brought in as a 14-week-old puppy now grown up and still sitting in the same barstool that its owner put it in when it was a little pup.

“Even if you’re not interested in craft beer or you’re not a drinker, we’re trying to make this space comfortable for everyone,” Phillips went on. “And sometimes, I think folks on the outside don’t understand that this doesn’t exist in a vacuum. We’re supporting other local businesses. That’s where we get our local root beer from. We’re supporting local orchards by making cider with their apples exclusively. We’re not just existing in a sort of island. Other shops depend on us patronizing them as much as we depend on our customers patronizing us.”

That’s why he’s committed to being mindful of those community connections and encouraging others to do the same.

“You never know, when one of those businesses closes, how many others are going to follow it. So if you really appreciate your local businesses, and there’s stuff in your community that you’re into and you appreciate the work that they do, try to get in there and show them love,” he went on. “Try to get in there regularly — because we need it right now.”

Heather Caisse-Roberts Leads the SSO with Passion, Purpose

By Joseph Bednar March 16, 2026

Special Coverage Women in Businesss

Orchestrating Change

Heather Caisse-Roberts

Heather Caisse-Roberts never gets tired of seeing people enjoy the symphony.

“I think one of the most gratifying things for me has been watching individuals’ perception of the symphony change,” she told BusinessWest. “I’ve been able to see young children go into Symphony Hall for the first time and think they’re in a castle; they’re truly taken out of the world that they’re living in. And I have seen 80-year-olds walk into Symphony Hall for the hundredth time and still get their breath taken away.

“I don’t think you get that anywhere else,” said Caisse-Roberts, who was named president and CEO of Springfield Symphony Orchestra (SSO) last summer. “Like I’ve said a million times over, music is so powerful. It is so innately important to me. So, to be able to put it back into the world is something that I feel honored to do. This is a dream job for me. Every day, I wake up and am excited to come here. It’s a beautiful thing. I’m really lucky.”

Caisse-Roberts came on board in 2022 as previous President and CEO Paul Lambert’s first hire; he retired from that role this past October. Over those post-pandemic years, she has held a series of senior leadership roles, from development and grants associate to chief development and operations officer to, most recently, chief operations officer.

“I’ve been able to see young children go into Symphony Hall for the first time and think they’re in a castle; they’re truly taken out of the world that they’re living in. And I have seen 80-year-olds walk into Symphony Hall for the hundredth time and still get their breath taken away.”

Across Lambert’s tenure, during which time two labor agreements with musicians were completed, Caisse-Roberts played a key role in driving the strategic growth and sustainability of the organization, overseeing the areas of development and grants, sponsorships, box office, office administration, and marketing.

“Paul was brought on board right after COVID — actually, it was still here, and had started to come back to life a little bit again. We were in the middle of the negotiations with musicians,” said Caisse-Roberts, whose jobs before the SSO included a decade at American International College and a short stint at New England Public Media (more on those later).

“Paul came here because he had such a love and passion for this. We had worked together briefly at NEPM, and when I was at AIC, I had worked with him at the Basketball Hall of Fame for events. He was like, ‘any chance you’d want to come and maybe help write a grant or two or do a little fundraising?’”

She was certainly interested. “I love music. I mean, I love it. I am not blessed with the talent to play an instrument. But if I can’t do that, at least I’m able to put it back into the world on some level. But so I said yes.”

Symphony Hall in downtown Springfield hosts about nine SSO concerts each season.

A part-time role became a full-time one, and Lambert — a long-time veteran of the Hall of Fame who had come on board to provide the SSO with some stability and leadership at a critical time — eventually started talking with her about a succession plan. And Caisse-Roberts was enthusiastic about the opportunity, bringing to her new role an expansive vision.

“The symphony is important for a million reasons: economically, artistically, culturally. It’s an outlet for people. Music has so many proven benefits on top of what it can bring into the city. So we’re just trying to educate people about that,” she told BusinessWest, adding that one goal is to help people understand that a symphony concert is for everyone.

“One of the goals I have is to make our symphony in Springfield the most accessible symphony in New England over the next five years. Because music changes people, and it changes communities.”

“I think there’s been a long-standing assumption about what the symphony is and what you have to be to go to the symphony. You look back, and it was always black tie and top hat and very fancy. One of the goals I have is to make our symphony in Springfield the most accessible symphony in New England over the next five years. Because music changes people, and it changes communities.”

Changing with the Times

One major undertaking in Caisse-Roberts’s early tenure is an ongoing search for a music director, a position the SSO hasn’t filled since Kevin Rhodes served in that role from 2001 to 2021.

The next music director — finalists will conduct one concert each during the 2026-27 season, and a director will be chosen in 2027 — will serve as the SSO’s principal conductor while driving the artistic vision of the SSO, and also participating in the organization’s long-standing education programs and building bridges with schools, universities, and cultural organizations with the aim of growing audiences and inspiring the next generation, among other roles.

That vision, Caisse-Roberts said, will continue to honor traditional symphonic music while embracing innovation in the concert programming as well.

“There is a lot of new music out there. There are a lot of new composers. There are also really beautiful, updated ways to play traditional pieces,” she explained, citing, as one example, a concert in January that incorporated Motown and the Philly Sound.

“So, not a typical classical concert, right? But we had a full house, and no one was on their phone. People were up and dancing. We had an actual love train going through the aisles at Symphony Hall. There were little kids singing, people ballroom dancing together. It was one of those moments where I took a step back and was like, ‘wow. This is what the world needs.’ So we have to keep figuring out how to do that.”

A typical show — the SSO schedules about nine of them at Symphony Hall each season — will offer both traditional compositions and pieces by modern composers, and Caisse-Roberts admits that not all long-time concertgoers appreciate that expansive vision equally.

“Change is scary. I get feedback constantly in both directions. I get feedback from our very traditional patrons that they are just appalled that a screen came down and we had a video experience along with the music, for example. And then I hear from a family who had their two kids in the house, and were like, ‘this was the most incredible way to introduce our children to symphonic music.’

“It’s not about ‘classical’ or ‘pops’ — it’s just a way to introduce them to this type of music. It’s about access,” she reiterated. “We don’t live in 1955 anymore. If we think we do, we’re not going to survive.”

Also key to the survival of symphonies in general is cultivating the next generation — of both patrons and musicians. That’s why the SSO maintains a youth orchestra program, in which 115 young people currently participate in three groups of varying skill levels.

“I would love to keep seeing that grow — this commitment to putting art back into the world is something that we need to cherish and expand upon hugely,” she said. “They should be the musicians that are playing on our stage in the next 10, 15, 20 years.”

In addition to each group rehearsing throughout the year and performing their own concerts, young musicians were also able to perform side by side with the SSO at Symphony Hall during its season opener last fall.

“That was the coolest thing ever. I cry a lot because I’m an emotional human, but seeing the two generations next to each other was incredible.”

Caisse-Roberts noted that kids don’t get the music education they used to in school, and they’re growing up in a much more fragmented media landscape, with fewer shared experiences.

Heather Caisse-Roberts says the symphony’s importance to Greater Springfield is both cultural and economic.

“They’re not being introduced to music the way we all once were, the way our traditional concertgoers once were. Sitting and listening to a symphony was something you did with your family. Now, you can listen to whatever you want, whenever you want, by yourself on your phone. So we have to teach people that this is an experience and teach them about these different types of music.”

She also touted community partnerships, such as with the MGM HCC Culinary Arts Institute, whose culinary students cater SSO events, as well as the nonprofits whose work is boosted at the start of shows. But another type of partnership is essential to the symphony’s very survival — the businesses, organizations, and individuals who financially support the SSO’s work.

“Ticket sales don’t even touch the costs of a concert. That’s such a common misconception in the arts world in general,” Caisse-Roberts said. “So the community support is so important, whether that’s corporate, individual, foundation, all of the above. Every little bit of support helps us — sharing a post on Facebook so more people might buy tickets, or coming to a concert and bringing someone who’s never been to one, or buying an ad for our program, or maybe backing one of our concerts.

“So many cities have lost their symphonies. The fact that Springfield has one is something that people cannot take for granted — because when it’s gone, it’s gone. It won’t be back.”

“I mean, we have so much that we’re doing,” she went on. “We have a large group of youth students that are on scholarship because they are unable to pay, and they would never be able to experience this if we couldn’t provide support. So we’re very grateful.”

Impactful Work

That said, Caisse-Roberts noted, “we’re going to be heavily focused on sustainability over the next three years, which means we will probably be out asking for support. So many cities have lost their symphonies. The fact that Springfield has one is something that people cannot take for granted — because when it’s gone, it’s gone. It won’t be back.”

And that would be a blow not just culturally, but economically.

“We’re trying to get people to understand that it’s more than just the Brahms or the Mendelssohn. It’s the experience, it’s community, and it’s helping support our city,” she said. “Every time somebody comes downtown, they’re eating at a restaurant, staying at a hotel, parking in a parking garage, stopping at the casino. We’re not blind to any of that. We are trying to build up this really strong partnership base in Springfield because, if we don’t do this together, none of us succeed. I feel very strongly about that.”

Caisse-Roberts is no stranger to fundraising and development. As noted earlier, prior to the SSO, she worked at American International College for about a decade, first in alumni relations and events, and later as executive director of Institutional Advancement. Her stewardship work with alumni yielded significant growth in alumni engagement and landed one of the largest-ever single donations to the college. She also worked closely in supporting the grant director to secure Title III funding and develop scholarship funds to help AIC students continue their education.

More recently, she was senior director of Development at New England Public Media, where she focused on overseeing the nonprofit organization’s fundraising efforts, including grants, on-air fundraising campaigns, and planned and major giving programs. She also served as development director for the Young@Heart Chorus, reflecting her passion for music and its power to connect communities.

All this work represented a shift in what she wanted from her career. After teaching elementary school in Vermont early on, then working overseas for a while, she moved back to Western Mass. hungry to work for hyper-local, community-based organizations that make an impact in Western Mass. She certainly realized that ambition at AIC and NEPM, and is still passionate about it — and about the power of music in general — today at the SSO.

“I hope people will continue to get to know us more because we can’t exist without the world around us supporting us,” she said. “It’s only way we can succeed.”

Women and Wealth

By Contributor March 16, 2026

Special Coverage Women in Businesss

A Defining Shift Is Happening Right Here in Western Mass.

By Patricia Grenier, CFP

Something significant is happening in the world of wealth — and it’s not just on Wall Street, but across Western Mass.

Women are increasingly becoming the primary decision makers when it comes to managing, inheriting, and building wealth. This isn’t a trend that’s coming someday. It’s already here.

Research from McKinsey & Co. shows that women currently control roughly one-third of U.S. household financial assets, and that percentage is expected to grow significantly over the next decade. Boston Consulting Group projects that, by 2030, women could control nearly $30 trillion in investable assets in the U.S.

Those are national numbers. But I see the local impact every day in my practice.

“When women understand their cash flow, tax exposure, estate structure, and retirement projections, something shifts. Anxiety decreases. Engagement increases. Leadership emerges.”

Women at the Center of the Great Wealth Transfer

Over the next two decades, trillions of dollars will move from one generation to the next. Women will be central to that transition.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, women live nearly six years longer than men on average. In practical terms, that means many women will eventually manage household wealth independently — often after decades of sharing financial decisions with a spouse.

I frequently meet women who were very involved in family life and major decisions, yet were not always leading the investment conversations. Then life changes — a retirement, a health event, or the loss of a spouse — and suddenly they are responsible for everything.

The issue is not capability. The issue is preparation.

Longevity, Caregiving, and Real-life Planning

Women’s financial lives are often more complex than traditional models assume. Research from the Pew Research Center confirms that women are still more likely to take time away from the workforce for caregiving — whether for children, aging parents, or both. That affects lifetime earnings, retirement contributions, and Social Security benefits.

Layer on longer life expectancy, rising healthcare costs, and market volatility, and the need for proactive planning becomes clear.

In my office, conversations with women rarely start with, “what’s the rate of return?” They start with:

“Will I be OK if something happens?”

“How do I protect my children?”

“How do we prepare our kids to handle money responsibly?”

“What happens if one of us needs long-term care?”

Those are deeply personal questions. They reflect values — especially around family.

Wealth as a Tool for Family Stability

In Western Mass., family businesses, multi-generational homes, and strong community ties are common. Wealth here is rarely just about accumulation. It’s about stability.

I see women thinking not only about retirement, but about funding grandchildren’s education; supporting adult children responsibly; caring for aging parents; or leaving a legacy to a church, charity, or local nonprofit. This perspective changes the planning process. It shifts the focus from short-term performance to long-term sustainability.

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, women own approximately 42% of businesses in Massachusetts. Many of those owners are also mothers, daughters, and caregivers. Their financial lives are interconnected — business planning, personal planning, estate planning, and tax strategy all overlap. A siloed approach simply doesn’t work.

Confidence Comes from Education

One of the most consistent themes I encounter is this: highly accomplished women who are incredibly capable in their careers still question their investment knowledge.

Studies have shown that women often report lower confidence in investing, even when their long-term results are equal to or better than men’s. That gap is not about intelligence or ability. It’s about access, education, and being invited fully into the conversation.

My role as a financial advisor is not just to manage portfolios. It is to educate, to simplify, and to ensure my clients understand why we are making certain decisions.

When women understand their cash flow, tax exposure, estate structure, and retirement projections, something shifts. Anxiety decreases. Engagement increases. Leadership emerges.

An Opportunity for Our Business Community

For the broader Springfield-area business community — attorneys, CPAs, bankers, and advisors — this is a moment of opportunity.

Women are not just inheriting wealth. They are building it. They are selling businesses. They are serving on boards. They are leading nonprofits. And, increasingly, they are directing where capital flows.

Firms that recognize the importance of collaborative planning, financial literacy, and long-term family governance will thrive in this environment. Firms that continue to treat women as secondary participants in financial conversations will fall behind.

From Participation to Leadership

Over the years, I have had the privilege of sitting across the table from widows finding their footing, business owners preparing to exit, mothers determined to raise financially responsible children, and daughters stepping into leadership of family assets for the first time. In every one of those conversations, what stands out is not just the numbers — it is the strength, the thoughtfulness, and the deep commitment to family.

As a financial advisor serving families here in Western Mass., I believe our responsibility goes beyond managing money. It is about helping women feel informed, confident, and prepared for whatever life brings. When women are fully engaged in their financial lives, the impact extends far beyond a portfolio — it strengthens families, businesses, and our broader community.

The shift in women and wealth is already underway. And from where I sit, it is one of the most important and promising developments in our local economic landscape.

Patricia Grenier is a financial advisor and founder of Grenier Financial Advisors, serving individuals, families, and business owners throughout Western Mass. She specializes in comprehensive financial planning, retirement strategy, and multi-generational wealth planning, with a focus on helping clients make informed and confident financial decisions. Securities and advisory services offered through LPL Financial, a registered investment advisor and member FINRA/SIPC. Content in this material is for general information only and not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

Collaborative Efforts Enable Auto Business to Stay Afloat

By George O'Brien March 16, 2026

Commercial Real Estate Special Coverage

Driving Forces

Peter Kearing, left, and Harley Andrew in the new home of Springfield Tyre Track and Auto Service.

Harley Andrew remembers feeling down, emotionally, and then up, as in way up.

He remembers packing up some things one day and then, seemingly just a few days later, unpacking them and returning them to their place in a Springfield auto shop where he had worked for decades.

“We went from being dead to being in business again,” he said. “There was a huge swing of emotions.”

This swing is perhaps the best way to sum up a unique … let’s call it real estate transaction, one that has allowed a thriving business to remain in an area of the city that has long been neglected.

That business, Springfield Tire and Auto Service Inc., was located on a parcel that was acquired by a team looking to build a new Springfield courthouse in the area just south of the North End, a parcel dominated by the former, long-vacant W.F. Young factory. And with that acquisition, Peter Kearing, owner of the auto service center — and several others across the region — was told to vacate.

“We went from being dead to being in business again. There was a huge swing of emotions.”

He was doing just that when Jeb Balise, leader of the development team that acquired the property, presented Kearing with an opportunity to move one block north, into the Tyre Track Automotive Center, a staple in the region that was started by Andrew’s father, Tim, and that was closing amid the land grab accompanying the state’s pursuit of a new site for a courthouse.

Kearing seized on that opportunity, and Andrew seized on an opportunity to join Kearing in a business that brings the names of both ventures together — Springfield Tyre Track and Auto Service.

In that way, two businesses have been melded into one, where there might not have been any, and Balise has demonstrated his commitment to that area, north and east of downtown, whether his group’s plan is ultimately chosen for the courthouse or not.

“Pete was prepared to close down his business, but then, it was like, ‘why?’ And we said, ‘OK, let’s do it,’” said Balise, comparing, on some levels, his work in this section of downtown with initiatives in the South End, where Balise has a huge presence that includes several dealerships, a collision center, a laundromat, and, most recently, the purchase and gifting of a building near Square One’s new facility on William Street for agency operations.

“We don’t know what the plans are long-term for that property,” he said of 175 State St., noting that the courthouse project may change the trajectory of that site. “But the bottom line is, whatever it is, my outlook is no different from what we did in the South End. Pete will not be deserted by me; we’ll figure this out, and that’s what’s so fulfilling to me — figuring out the win-wins.”

The two ventures have essentially merged and are now doing business at 175 Dwight St.

As for Kearing, he’s thinking short-term and also potentially long-term, noting that, in the larger scheme of things, the 175 Chestnut St. location isn’t an ideal site for an auto services business given recent changes in the business community — there are fewer people working downtown — and the higher cost of doing business in an urban setting, “but being in the footprint of where Jeb Balise wants to build a courthouse is ideal.”

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, BusinessWest looks at how this deal came together, and what it means for that section of downtown moving forward.

Court of Opinion

Our story begins with Kearing, a serial entrepreneur who, as noted earlier, would eventually own several auto service centers across the region.

He started as an employee of the business at 435 Dwight St. in 1980, and would eventually run it as a company-owned Gooodyear store, thus beginning a 45-year relationship with that neighborhood and the eclectic clientele of the store, which included area residents, but also large numbers of downtown employees taking advantage of its location for tuneups, tire rotations, inspections, and more.

“The neighborhood was pretty rough back then, and there were a lot more people working downtown,” he recalled. “And in 1980, on a hot day, all you could smell was W.F. Young; Absorbine Jr. permeated the senses of the city in 90 degrees.”

Eventually, he would go on to acquire the property from his landlord and continue that relationship with the neighborhood.

And it was a desire to continue serving that area that led him to discussions with Balise about strategies for keeping that business in operation — not at 435 Dwight St., but at 175 Chestnut St., home to Tyre Track, which, like the Goodyear facility, had become an institution of sorts in that region, serving generations of area residents and downtown workers.

Balise acquired that property last fall for $1 million amid widespread speculation — and property acquisition — regarding sites for a new courthouse.

“Having the number of people who would work in a courthouse right next door to you would be awesome. Jeb’s vision is to build a whole neighborhood there, but he doesn’t want to get too far ahead of himself.”

His original intention was to convert 175 Chestnut St. into a central service center for advanced driver assistance systems, said Kearing, adding that such a facility was planned to centralize the service on such equipment for the Balise company’s many dealerships across the 413.

But his discussions with Kearing concerning that section of downtown, and his desire to continue serving a customer base he had built up over nearly a half-century, prompted Balise to change those plans.

“I went to him and said, ‘you’re taking 10 bays away here [Goodyear] and six bays away there [Tyre Track] … that’s a big hit on the neighborhood,” Kearing recalled. “He thought about it and said, ‘you’re right,’ and he gave me a very sweet deal to operate out of this place.

“People still shop for automotive service in a tighter radius than they do for tires or shop for cars; they want to operate within a few miles of where they live or work,” he went on, adding that, while there are fewer people working five days a week, or at all, downtown, there is still a solid customer base for the ‘new’ business.

Meanwhile, auto service centers are, by and large, being priced out of urban centers like downtown Springfield, he continued, adding that the taxes and rents are both high, and, often, the numbers don’t pencil out.

They do in this case, Kearing said, adding that the picture will be exponentially brighter if the Balise site is chosen for the new courthouse.

“Having the number of people who would work in a courthouse right next door to you would be awesome. Jeb’s vision is to build a whole neighborhood there, but he doesn’t want to get too far ahead of himself.”

Bottom Line

Balise concurred with that assessment, noting that, while Kearing may not be looking past his 18-month lease on the property, he is.

“I think there is a great opportunity long-term — we just have to figure it out,” Balise said, adding that that this section of the city wants and needs this business to continue operating in that neighborhood.

The parties involved have figured out how to transform two ventures into one and keep it in business, so they’re confident they can figure on the next chapter in this intriguing story as well.

BusinessTalk with Mike Tautznik, Board Treasurer, CitySpace: Momentum at Old Town Hall

By BusinessWest Staff March 2, 2026

Business Talk Podcast Special Coverage

With new episodes airing every other Monday, BusinessTalk features in-depth interviews and discussions with local industry leaders who offer thoughtful perspectives on the Western Massachusetts economy and the many business ventures that keep it running. BusinessTalk is sponsored and presented by Greenfield Cooperative Bank.

Go HERE to view all episodes

Episode 253: March 2, 2026

Joe Bednar talks with Mike Tautznik, Board Treasurer, CitySpace

In some ways, progress on CitySpace — a project to transform Easthampton’s Old Town Hall into a vibrant arts and performance space — has ebbed and flowed over the past several years, but it has never stopped. And now, with an infusion of $3.5 million in federal funds, the final phase has real momentum. For the next episode of BusinessTalk, BusinessWest Editor Joe Bednar sat down with Mike Tautznik, treasurer of the CitySpace board, about what’s happening there now, and why it’s important to the identity and economic vibrancy of a city that has become known for its arts and culture scene. Mike also talks about his 17 years as Easthampton’s mayor, and why he’s been passionate about this city and its institutions for his entire life. It’s must listening, so tune into BusinessTalk, a podcast presented by BusinessWest over both audio and video platforms, and sponsored by Greenfield Cooperative Bank.

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Under New Leadership, Greenfield Savings Bank Forges Ambitious Plans

By George O'Brien March 2, 2026

Banking and Financial Services Special Coverage

Time of Transition

Peter Albero, left, takes the reins from Tom Meshako on April 1.

As Tom Meshako remembers it, by the time he was done interviewing Peter Albero, he was convinced the latter was not only his best candidate to become CFO and treasurer at Greenfield Savings Bank, but also a possible successor when he moved into retirement in a few years.

“I thought we had a lot of similarities — we felt the same way coming from a public institution; we came here for the same reason, the right reason,” said Meshako, noting that, like Albero, he came to GSB to be in a mutual bank setting and in a position to give back to the community it was serving.

Albero, who came to GSB from Salisbury Bank in Connecticut after it was acquired by NBT Bank, added that, “as a community bank, we didn’t do a lot for the community, because we had to pay dividends to shareholders. “I wanted to work at an institution where we could give back to the community instead of giving to shareholders.”

Meshako’s initial thoughts back in the summer of 2023 turned out to be prescient, as Albero prevailed in nationwide search last year for a successor to Meshako, who will retire to Florida in the spring.

Albero, who will take the helm on April 1, does so at an intriguing time in the bank’s history — although he says the banking industry is “always interesting.”

Indeed, the institution is expected to reach $1.5 billion in assets in the first quarter of 2026, an important milestone and another threshold as GSB continues its quest for an all-important commodity in the banking industry — size.

“I wanted to work at an institution where we could give back to the community instead of giving to shareholders.”

“Scale matters, and our goal is to continue to grow our loan book without increasing our head count and become more efficient,” said Albero, noting that much of the bank’s growth has come on the commercial lending side.

Meanwhile, the bank will cut two significant ribbons in the coming weeks. One will be at the renovated Leavitt-Hovey House next door to the bank’s headquarters on Main Street in Greenfield, and the other will be at its latest branch, a key piece in a massive redevelopment project at the site of the former Tasty Top in Easthampton.

The former is a nearly $7 million initiative that will transform the landmark, built in 1797 and home of the city’s public library between 1909 and 2023, into a home for the bank’s trust and wealth management, residential lending, and cash management teams.

GSB’s ‘southern headquarters’ in Easthampton is slated to open within the next several weeks.

The latter is a $7 million investment that marks the bank’s latest and boldest effort to “move south and east,” as Albero put it, meaning into Hampden and Worcester counties, and beyond the bank’s historic base in Franklin and Hampshire counties.

And as the bank continues this expansion east and south, the ‘community’ it serves has become much larger, noted both Albero and Meshako, adding that GSB has responded accordingly, increasing its charitable giving from $300,000 when Meshako started at the bank a decade ago to $1.2 million last year, with that number expected to move higher as the bank continues to grow.

“Tom and I both agree that, if the bank does better, the communities can do better,” Albero said. “When you move into a community, you have to support that community and its nonprofits.”

For this issue and its focus on banking and financial services, BusinessWest talked with Albero and Meshako about the transition in leadership at GSB and what’s in the broad business plan for this 157-year-old institution.

Purposeful Journey

Albero spent the bulk of his career in a setting far removed from rural Greenfield — New York City.

He spent 26 years in senior roles in the financial controller group at Morgan Stanley and also worked as a risk advisory consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Desiring a change from the Big Apple, he joined Salisbury Bank & Trust in Connecticut as CFO.

He did that for six years before Salisbury was acquired by NBT Bank in 2023, prompting him to seek another significant career change, this time in the mutual bank setting.

“Tom and I both agree that, if the bank does better, the communities can do better.”

“Salisbury Bank was a community bank, but it was public,” he noted. “We found that it was very hard to grow as a public bank, trying to compete with much larger institutions, when you’re focused on growth and earnings quarter over quarter.”

While Albero was chosen as GSB’s new CFO in early in 2023, he stayed with Salisbury until the merger with NBT had been finalized before coming to Greenfield, a wait Meshako was willing to endure.

“I waited nine months for Peter to finish that transaction because I knew he was the person I wanted,” he recalled. “We seemed to be on the same page, and I kind of knew he was the person that would be taking my position when I retired; I knew he’d make a great candidate.”

As he takes the helm, Albero will be focused on keeping the bank on a strong growth trajectory, a pattern that has emerged “organically and safely,” and continued in 2025, with roughly 6% growth.

“Sometimes, when you try to grow your portfolio, you’ll do a little higher risk rating, but we didn’t — we stayed with high-quality customers while also moving more south,” Meshako said, adding that the move to open a branch in Easthampton is the latest and boldest manifestation of this strategy.

The renovated Leavitt-Hovey House will become home to the bank’s trust and wealth management business, residential lending, and cash management teams.

Actually, this will not be just a branch, Albero said, referring to it instead as the bank’s “southern headquarters.”

Indeed, the facility, due to open its doors later this month or early in April, will include a commercial lender, a wealth management and trust services representative, and a residential lender, as well as the branch, he noted, adding that it will serve as a staging point, if you will, for continued growth in Hampden County, in all facets of banking, but especially commercial lending.

Indeed, where once the bank’s commercial portfolio had 50% to 60% or more of its originations in Franklin County, that number is now less than 25%, a nod to both slow growth in the Greenfield area and the bank’s pursuit of business east and south of its traditional base.

“We have a lot of borrowers in the Springfield market, and they refer other borrowers to the bank because of our ability to get the deals closed,” Albero said. “And we have some other borrowers more toward Worcester, and they refer more borrowers to our commercial team for the same reason.”

Meanwhile, with assets now approaching $1.5 billion, GSB has expanded its sweet spot when it comes to commercial loans, its niche now being the $3 million to $7 million range, where it was once $1 million to $3 million.

“That’s another way that you can grow, not just doing more loans, but larger loans as well,” Meshako said, adding that this higher ceiling creates many more opportunities to do business across the region.

Points of Interest

When asked about plans for further expansion beyond Easthampton and when and where that might take place, Albero said there was nothing on the drawing board yet.

Indeed, the bank is focused on its two large investments — the Easthampton facility and the renovated Leavitt-Hovey House — and assimilating those into the corporate portfolio.

“We have a lot of borrowers in the Springfield market, and they refer other borrowers to the bank because of our ability to get the deals closed.”

“Our plan is to make sure that Easthampton becomes profitable very quickly,” he noted. “We’ll continue to evaluate the markets, but we’re not going to jump in immediately. We have a lot to digest from a cost perspective.”

Renovation of the Leavitt-Hovey House represents a different kind of investment in the community — not a check to a nonprofit, but the restoration and reuse of a city treasure, Meshako said.

“If we didn’t buy it, I think it would have sat in the state that it was in and continue to deteriorate,” he said. “This is something we did to help the city of Greenfield and create some tax revenue. We needed additional space, and we were looking for some place to build or possibly buy, and we thought that renovating the Leavitt-Hovey House would help this whole corner of downtown.

“We’re bringing it back to its original luster,” he went on, referring to the color scheme from the 1950s, when the home was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, adding that the facility is slated to open late this month or early in April.

Peter Albero says GSB’s overall growth strategy involves moving “south and east.”

As for Easthampton, the leaders at GSB saw that community as the logical spot for its southern expansion. That city is similar to Greenfield in many ways — a former manufacturing hub that is reinventing itself as a center for the arts and hospitality, especially in renovated mills — but it also neighbors thriving Northampton, a city where the bank already has a presence.

“There’s been quite a resurgence in Easthampton,” Meshako said. “That whole mill district just took off, and it has helped the whole downtown. The city continues to prosper, and we decided that this is where we wanted, and needed, to be.”

As for the former Tasty Top site itself, plans call for a Starbucks, a steak restaurant, housing, and other developments that should bring foot traffic — and additional business — to the bank.

Continued growth is important to GSB, as it is to all banks, said Albero, as the cost of doing business continues to rise on many fronts, and institutions seek economies of scale.

“Technology costs continue to rise, and it’s difficult, also, to attract employees, particularly where we are in Western Massachusetts, so you ending up paying higher salaries to attract individuals,” he explained. “We find that’s it’s challenging. Every time you continue to grow, you can’t just continue to add head count; you must become more efficient, but the technology costs to do that are very expensive.”

And while the bank plans to continue to grow organically and safely, as Meshako mentioned, it will explore options for acquisitions as well.

“We will consider M&A transactions, but we will be the acquirer,” he told BusinessWest. “But our focus over the next three years is on efficiency, increasing our earnings, and boosting our capital so we have a long runway for organic growth. And while we’re doing that, we’ll keep an eye on the M&A market; if the opportunity is there, we’ll take advantage of it.

“We’ll keep our options open,” he went on, adding that this might be considered the overall game plan moving forward for an institution that it is in a time of transition — in many different ways.

Home & Garden Show Lets Contractors Put Their Best Foot Forward

By George O'Brien March 2, 2026

Home Improvement Special Coverage

Getting Down to Business

The leadership team at Ace Chimney Sweeps, Kelly Kapinos and her sons, from left, Kelly, Matty, and Joey.

Kelly Kapinos says it started with one of those cereal box records that were prevalent in the ’60s and ’70s.

Her husband, Jay, was looking at a trade magazine in a doctor’s office after an on-the-job injury, she explained, when he came across an item for chimney sweeping.

“It talked about how you could be your own boss, help people stay safe, meet a lot of people, and not have to work in a cubicle,” she recalled, adding that he sent away for the record, which started with “Chim Chim Cher-ee” from Mary Poppins.

“It talked about the advantages of being a chimney sweep, like being outside in the nice weather. It didn’t talk about how cold it gets, or how hot it can be on roofs, or how dangerous it can be,” Kapinos recalled with a laugh, adding that, after some deeper due diligence on this business, they bought in and hung out their shingle. Sort of.

They kept their full-time jobs and started cleaning chimneys on weekends before it became a full-time pursuit called Ace Chimney Sweeps. And 40 years later, Kelly and her three sons, Matt, Jamie, and Joe, are still at it (Jay went on to get his class A license and now moves heavy construction equipment), as one of the very few locally owned chimney sweep companies still doing business in the 413 and just beyond.

And this is one of the points they stress to visitors to their booth at the Original Western Mass Home & Garden Show, which will stage its 71st edition at the Big E on March 26-29.

The company has become a regular at the show over the past several years, said Kapinos, adding that it uses those four days to help fill an already-crammed schedule for the coming seasons, but also just to get the word out and build some brand recognition.

“For the first time in a long time, people want to sign up to get work scheduled. In past years, they’ve been so busy … they came to the show because they didn’t want to lose their spot and they wanted to keep their name out there, but they really weren’t trying to sell work. This year, there’s a different mindset.”

These are the main motivations for vendors at the show, many of which have been appearing for decades, said Andy Crane, president of the Home Builders & Remodelers Assoc. of Western Mass., which produces the show.

The showcase provides a great opportunity for businesses to do some brand building and, quite often, put some business on the books, said Crane, adding that, with the economy slowing in some respects, many vendors are more focused on looking for work than they have been in recent years, when they were booked solid heading into the show.

“A lot of businesses are really busy, but there are many businesses that would like to see more booked jobs to feel good,” he explained.

Meanwhile, for visitors, the show presents an opportunity to get a break from winter (especially this year), see what’s new, and perhaps find someone to handle the next project on their to-do list.

For BusinessWest, its annual show preview provides a chance to tell the stories behind some of the vendors — like Dimauro Carpet & Tile. The East Longmeadow-based company, now celebrating 30 years in business, will be making its first appearance at the show, and Jeff Beturne, project manager for the company, is expecting … well, he’s not really sure what to expect.

“I’m excited about what it might bring — we’re really not sure,” he said, adding that members of the company’s leadership team are putting together a game plan for the show, including deals to be offered to customers.

Overall, they will be looking to introduce themselves to the region and “get our personality out there,” he went on, adding that the company will stress its longevity and the fact that it is locally and family-owned.

Andy Crane says the Home & Garden Show provides vendors with an opportunity to be visible — and also put some business on the books.

For Earthlight Technologies, an energy solutions company based in Ellington, Conn., and with offices locally in Northampton, the goals are similar, said Andrew Bessette, content manager.

“The trade show is a good way for us to get more visibility and get direct lines to our customers,” he noted, adding that, while the company gains several jobs directly from the show, it also builds name recognition and tries to separate itself from competition that is not as focused on quality and customer service (more on this later).

For this issue and its focus on home improvement, BusinessWest previews the Home & Garden Show and talks with several area businesses about why these four days at the Big E are time very well-spent.

Home Work

This is the slow season for chimney sweeps.

It starts in January and goes until about the end of winter, said Kapinos, adding that this general quiet allows the company to make the significant investment in time required of home show vendors.

“We start revving up for spring cleanings, and then we’re out straight again until next January,” she explained, adding that the show, while time-consuming, is a solid investment for Ace when it comes to getting its name out and making acquaintances.

“The show keeps us in front of people that have been coming to us for years,” she said. “They stop by the booth to say ‘hi’ and put my face with my voice on the phone, and also meet the guys because they’re at the show with me.”

This business of putting faces with voices and ‘meeting the guys’ might be the unofficial mission of the home show, said Crane, who said organizers are on track for another sellout when it comes to vendor space.

Crane noted that, in the wake of COVID, a time when people spent more time at home — and also when many had more disposable income — most contractors and home improvement companies had all the work they can handle. Some didn’t want to come to the home show and tell those visiting their booth that they couldn’t put them on the schedule for several months at least.

Most contractors are still busy, he said, but there is now more need to get in front of people and, hopefully, fill the calendar with work.

“For the first time in a long time, people want to sign up to get work scheduled,” he said. “In past years, they’ve been so busy … they came to the show because they didn’t want to lose their spot and they wanted to keep their name out there, but they really weren’t trying to sell work. This year, there’s a different mindset.”

Like many home improvement companies, Dimauro received a significant boost from COVID, said Beturne, noting that the company’s portfolio leans heavily (about 80%) toward commercial and municipal work, and there was a lot to be found in 2020 and 2021.

“Municipalities had an influx of money, and it was just sitting there,” he explained, adding that the company gained a significant amount of work taking out carpeting and putting in hard surfaces.

“This past year was the first quiet year after all of that,” he went on, adding that there was less work to be had on the municipal side and more competition for what did emerge, and it was also slower on the residential side amid inflation, tariffs, and general uncertainty. The company is looking at home show participation as one strategy for putting more work on the books for 2026 and beyond.

“We want to be aggressive; we want to put our best foot forward in terms of getting people to knock out the room they’ve been holding out on,” he explained. “If they’re renovating a room, a home office, bedroom, you name it, then we want to be able to provide products at excellent prices.

“It’s about making sales, but it’s also about getting our name out there,” Beturne added. “It will be good to remind people that we’re here and that we’re willing to travel to handle a project.”

For Earthlight Technologies, there are several motivating factors when it comes to trade show participation, and the company takes part in several, Bessette noted.

It does so to educate the public on its many products and services, he said, listing EV charging stations, energy efficiency, and other energy solutions. But it’s best known for commercial and residential solar, which remains a popular option, despite the end of the 30% federal solar tax credit on Dec. 31 with the signing of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

“The value proposition doesn’t really go away because there’s no tax credit,” he explained. “The sky is not falling; solar is still going to be a very viable option for a long-term return on investment.”

There is a good amount of work on the books for 2026, he noted, adding that the show will hopefully generate more, while also helping the company tell its story and differentiate itself from what is still a crowded field of competitors.

“The trade show is a really good way for us to stand out, specifically when customers can talk to our sales reps,” Bessette said. “Unfortunately, our industry doesn’t have the best reputation. In any industry, there are bad actors or people that might promise more than they can actually deliver. You have that in any industry, but it’s fairly prominent in the solar industry. When you talk to our sales reps and the people at our company, that’s a differentiating factor — we take really good care of our customers.”

Bottom Line

Each company has its own message to get across, said Crane, adding that the Home & Garden Show has been connecting contractors with the public — and existing and potential customers — for seven decades now.

This tradition will continue later this month, with a four-day show at which vendors and visitors can get down to business, in every sense of that phrase.

Britt McGrath Helps People Achieve Healthy Bodies — and Healthy Self-image

By Joseph Bednar March 2, 2026

Healthcare News Special Coverage

Creating a Movement

Britt McGrath opened the Hadley studio of My Health Matters Fitness in late 2023.

In her bio on the website of My Health Matters Fitness, Britt McGrath makes it clear what she thinks of ‘diet culture.’

“I have been on a decades-long journey of learning to look at my body for everything it is, rather than everything it is not. And through years of certifications, training, and actual hands-on work, I’ve found my purpose. I’ve found my worth again,” she wrote. “And that is to help other people who have had similar histories as mine give diet culture and all of its toxic friends a huge middle finger — to finally start living our lives in ways that do not revolve around how our bodies look, but rather everything else life has to offer.”

Now in her sixth year of helping a growing roster of clients make fitness and wellness work for them, she believes in that philosophy even more.

In short, too many people have been let down by a fitness and diet industry that puts too much emphasis on weight numbers and body shape, and have grown up in a society that overly focuses on the way they look, and places all the value on that, McGrath told BusinessWest during a broad conversation at her Hadley fitness studio.

“For as long as I can remember, I always fixated on my body. I was an athlete for many years, and I felt strong, but once I stopped playing, that’s when my eating disorders started happening because I didn’t know how to control my body anymore,” she said. “And over the years, as I started healing my own body image, I started making more connections with other people speaking out and letting me know they’ve also experienced that.”

“Over the years, as I started healing my own body image, I started making more connections with other people speaking out and letting me know they’ve also experienced that.”

My Health Matters contains many trappings of a traditional gym — weights, circuit training, boxing, group classes, personal training, and much more — but with a few key differences, from a lack of mirrors to a deliberate de-emphasis on number of pounds lost. Instead, fitness plans are individualized to each member’s needs, goals, and body type, with an emphasis on improving quality of life rather than chasing specific numbers.

“We’ve created a community of people who have been wanting something like this, to be able to escape a lot of what they’re exposed to in other places or by their own families and friends — whoever is telling them, ‘you have to look a certain way, or else you’re unhealthy,’” McGrath explained.

My Health Matters features a host of different exercise modalities, plus group classes and personal training.

“A lot of folks are coming in and saying, ‘thank God there’s a place where I can just be me. I can say no to a movement that I don’t want to do. I can flip off the trainer if I want to. I can leave halfway through class if I feel like that’s what I needed.’ And I think the bodily autonomy of it, being able to make those choices without shame or guilt, is really important for us here.”

It’s an idea she’s become passionate about, and which drove her to create a safe space that’s welcoming to all body types — and women and men of all ages and backgrounds who want to express themselves and find their own path to wellness.

“I think it’s important to go against the grain a little bit,” McGrath said. “How many centers are talking about, ‘lose the weight,’ ‘burn this off,’ ‘eat this.’ There’s constantly another diet, another thing that’s coming up. But if all these diets were supposed to work, then why haven’t they worked? It’s because they’re not supposed to work, and they’re damaging to our bodies, and they’re damaging to our mental health. And they make us feel like failures if nothing happens.

“And also, why do we have to lose the weight? Why do feel like we have to hate our bodies if they don’t fit into a little box that society has deemed as appropriate this year? And that changes every year. I just felt like this needed to change,” she went on. “We have many amazing companies in our area, and a lot of personal trainers that I started getting to know as I was developing this space, who are practicing these things, but only in bits and pieces.”

Body Talk

McGrath didn’t always intend to work in this field; she has a background in environmental studies. But in many ways, fitness was always at the back of her mind.

“I was an athlete growing up; soccer was my baby. I ended up playing lacrosse for a few years, but soccer was always at the forefront.”

She picked up soccer at age 9 because a close friend was playing, and she wound up competing in a municipal league in Belchertown, then Belchertown High School, and was scouted by colleges — but a knee surgery early in her college career shut everything down. She did wind up coaching soccer at the high school level, which she enjoyed.

“Playing sports always felt really at home for me and made me feel connected to my body — but then, also disconnected, because I didn’t know how to feed it and how to take care of it when I wasn’t being an athlete.”

Britt McGrath says she wants to be the kind of positive fitness example to people that she wishes she had growing up.

Seeking to get back in touch with what she enjoyed about movement, McGrath started working as a spin instructor at Energia Fitness in Hadley, now known as 50/50 Fitness/Nutrition. Later, she became a high school physical education teacher and a personal trainer, before launching her own business in 2020 that started with remote classes and home visits, before she hung out a shingle on Route 9 in October 2023.

“What I love is teaching folks, helping people see that there’s always potential, there’s always a possibility of finding a way that feels good in your body rather than feeling like you’re stuck. You should never feel stuck,” she said. “There should always be another option that someone can provide you so you’re like, ‘wow, look how cool my body is doing these things.’ That’s what I want to teach people — I want people to experience how good it can feel to be like, ‘my body is cool,’ rather than, ‘what’s wrong with me all the time?’

“We don’t need that, especially with everything going on these days,” she went on. “The last thing we need is feeling bad about ourselves continuously. So fitness is an opportunity to be able to connect with our bodies and with other like-minded folks and be like, ‘yeah, let’s do this.’”

Having struggled with body image and eating disorders in her past, McGrath is convinced that, had she encountered a role model with a body-positive take on fitness, her experiences might have been very different — and she wants to be that kind of positive influence for her club members today.

“I wanted this to be inclusive — different bodies, different identities, different lived experiences. We wanted to have a lot of variety for folks to be able to choose what works best for their bodies,” she explained. “So we have a mix of some higher-engaging classes like spin classes and boxing and strength classes. And then we wanted classes that have a sweet balance of making sure that you’re not just like beating your body into submission to feel like your value based on that — so we have mat pilates, yoga, we’ve even had meditation in the past. Bar classes are also nice because they work the smaller muscle groups and help keep your joints supported in those ways that you might not in the larger muscle groups.”

“I hear so many stories from our clients about the crap they’ve dealt with. Then they connect with other community members and are like, ‘my God, that happened to you too.’ And then they become closer.”

Aubrey Endress gets to the heart of choosing the right activities in a recent post about ‘joyful movement’ on the My Health Matters Fitness blog.

“Whether you’re walking with a friend, dancing solo to your favorite song in the kitchen, or finding your center in a yoga class, finding joyful movement establishes a level of trust within ourselves. You are taking the time to really listen to your body and respect it by choosing movement that supports what you need in the moment. No guilt, no shame, no punishment — just connection with what your body truly will benefit from.”

McGrath loves seeing members, many of whom have been scared off by other gyms and who have struggled with body image, find their connection — and a new passion for movement.

“I hear so many stories from our clients about the crap they’ve dealt with. Then they connect with other community members and are like, ‘my God, that happened to you too.’ And then they become closer,” she told BusinessWest. “I think it’s so needed. To be able to make those connections with like-minded folks is really important for a lot of us. And it’s really beautiful to see.”

Down to Business

McGrath reiterated more than once that opening a physical location and bringing on employees — she has 14 of them now — has been challenging and scary, but also deeply gratifying.

“I was terrified to do it — still am, sometimes. At the beginning, I really was trying to figure out what was best for my mental health and how to mix the balance of work and my personal life. With the pandemic, my mental health got pretty bad, and that gave me some perspective of what I was looking to do.

“Then a lot of my clients were starting to express that they wanted to lift heavier weights and be able to go somewhere and do that. That was at a time where a lot of us were saying, ‘OK, maybe we can start going out in public more.’”

She has partnered with other like-minded businesses, like Happy Valley Nutrition, a group of dietitians who, led by founder Amanda Mittman, also promote an anti-diet, weight-inclusive view of fitness and wellness.

“I love connecting with people and making people feel strong and validated in their experiences and their bodies,” McGrath said. “A lot of times, we go through the world thinking that everyone either hates our bodies or sees things about our bodies that aren’t there, and we develop bad body image or eating disorders.

“A lot of people have specifically sought us out because they’re like, ‘you’re different. This is cool.’ This is something they’ve actually been wanting to do, but might not have had the means yet. Or they’re looking for something that can heal their own trauma with movement. I say all the time that I needed this growing up so I could have healed my relationship with my body and my mind. And a lot of people working for us have specifically come here to help people with that.”

Clearly, McGrath has figured out that relationship for herself, and is passionate about helping others get there as well.

“I think this is the first job I’ve had where my cup is filled after I leave, rather than being completely depleted,” she said. “I feel very grateful. I mean, owning a business is no joke. That can be draining. The people are not.”

Lenox Keeps Building Its Brand as a Destination

By George O'Brien March 2, 2026

Community Spotlight Special Coverage

Community Spotlight

Marion Hayden says she’s always had a “love for color, design, and merchandising,” and all three come together in her new venture, Home on Main.

When it comes to the arts, hospitality, history, and architecture, Sara Goodberlet says, Lenox has an extremely strong brand.

It’s been built over time and is fortified by institutional landmarks such as Tanglewood, Shakespeare & Company, the Mount (Edith Wharton’s home), Ventfort Hall (home to the Gilded Age Museum), spas, inns, restaurants, retail shops, nature trails, and much more.

And as the relatively new director of the Lenox Chamber of Commerce, she said one of her primary directives is to protect, nurture, and enhance that brand.

“I want to keep building Lenox as a brand, as a destination,” she said. “It’s a strong brand, but I want to freshen it up a little bit. We’re in a unique position … we have some older, mature, historical roots, but then we also have this fresher, modern vitality that’s also in the mix.”

Elaborating, Goodberlet said one of her goals is to educate and inform the public about not only the pillars of Lenox’s strong arts and hospitality sector — like Tanglewood, which has two Paul Simon concerts featured in a packed 2026 schedule, or Shakespeare & Company, which also a full slate of shows starting in June — but the many small businesses and nonprofits that help make this brand as strong as it is, and the people behind them.

People like Molly Lyon-Joseph, who owns two restaurants in town — Frankie’s, an Italian-American eatery, and Pizzeria Boema — and is set to open a third, Bea’s House, in a historic property, the former Café Lucia on Church Street.

“I want to keep building Lenox as a brand, as a destination. It’s a strong brand, but I want to freshen it up a little bit. We’re in a unique position … we have some older, mature, historical roots, but then we also have this fresher, modern vitality that’s also in the mix.”

Or Scott Shortt, a former financial services veteran turned serial entrepreneur whose latest venture is a unique event space, called the Belvedere, carved out of a former retail space in downtown Lenox.

Or Marion Hayden, a long-time employee at the former Annie Selke store in downtown Lenox, who, after the store closed, decided to keep that destination alive with a venture she calls Home on Main.

Individually and collectively, these businesses (much more on them later) contribute to the vibrancy that defines Lenox for at least three seasons each year — winter is considerably slower and a challenge for many businesses — and also to a highly supportive environment.

“I wouldn’t choose to do business anywhere else — I love the Lenox community. I feel like everyone supports each other; there’s collaboration on many levels,” said Lyon-Johnson, adding that the many hospitality businesses benefit from Tanglewood, especially, but all the major draws, and they support those institutions in kind.

Added Goodberlet, “I’ve never been in a business climate where there’s so much being created. It’s such a treat to help support them, bring people together, and market our area and continue to give it the personality it has.”

For this latest installment of its Community Spotlight series, BusinessWest takes an in-depth look at Lenox and how its brand is stronger than ever.

The Play’s the Thing

Jaclyn Stevenson, director of Marketing & Communications for Shakespeare & Company, described 2026 as an important year for the live theater venue, for many reasons.

For starters, it will be a time to remember Tina Packer, the company’s co-founder and founding artistic director, who passed away on Jan. 9. There will be a celebration of life on May 31 at the Shakespeare & Company campus, said Stevenson, adding that Packer remains an inspiration to all those at the company, and in her honor, the Tina Packer Legacy Fund has been established to support the future of the institution and the work she founded.

Meanwhile, 2026 will mark a financial milestone — this will be the first time since its founding in 1978 that the nonprofit theater is completely debt-free, having paid off the remaining $1.7 million of the $4 million mortgage on its campus, thanks to contributions from its board of trustees and a combination of successful property transactions, community support, and a strong box office season, Beverly Hyman, chair of the board of trustees, described this financial development as a turning point for the institution.

The Arthur S. Waldstein Amphitheatre, seen here during last season’s production of Romeo and Juliet, is one of three outdoor theaters at Shakespeare & Company.

“We have some long-term board members who have been around the block a few times in terms of financial ups and downs, and even they see this as a turn into all new territory,” she said. “We now have the opportunity to expand education programs — including our nationally recognized Shakespeare in the Courts program — and to focus on our Center for Actor Training, which requires highly skilled faculty.”

There are other developments as well, said Stevenson, noting that Shakespeare & Company, named by Newsweek as one of the top outdoor theater companies in the country, is now the new home to six sculptures created by noted philanthropist Harold Grinspoon. Each more than 30 feet high, the sculptures create a new attraction on the property that visitors can enjoy year-round.

Then there’s the 2026 schedule, which includes a limited run of Midsummer Dreamers, a two-person interpretation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Matthew Barber’s Fireflies; and a production of Twelfth Night.

Goodberlet said that, while large institutions such as Tanglewood, Shakespeare & Company, and the Mount are in many ways the foundation of Lenox’s arts and hospitality base, this sector has many moving parts, with the emphasis on moving.

“You always put together a plan, you make assumptions, and you work through the details and consider a lot of scenarios and how things will work. But it’s all theory until you actually start putting it into practice.”

Indeed, while there are some constants, there is always change and new additions to the landscape, all of which contribute to the overall Lenox vibe.

These pieces include Lyon-Joseph’s restaurants, which, in addition to fine dining, provide jobs to people of all ages, but especially young people. She said she’s diligent about providing not just a paycheck, but learning experiences on many levels.

Indeed, she recently took her leadership team to the Gramercy Tavern in New York City’s Flatiron District to get a first-hand look at how that landmark establishment provides customer service, and to learn from what patrons experience.

“The Gramercy Tavern is known for their hospitality,” she said, “and I wanted my team to see what it’s like on the other side of that, so they can take it home and have that amazing experience.”

As for Lyon-Joseph’s latest endeavor, it involves renovating an 1853 landmark, as well as opening another restaurant, in this case one focused on contemporary new American cuisine.

“I love old antiques, and I’ve spent the past year and a half collecting things that are going to be placed in the restaurant,” she explained, listing, among other things, a telephone from the early 20th century that will carry a sign that says ‘Call Mom.’

“We’re a very serious restaurant in terms of our menu and our wine list, but our approach is very whimsical; we don’t take ourselves too seriously,” she told BusinessWest, adding that she’s expecting to open later this month.

Designs on Growth

Hayden brings a diverse background to her new role as shop owner and entrepreneur.

Indeed, she worked in publishing for many years, and later as an assistant to Doug Trumbull, Academy Award-winning film director and visual effects producer, before studying interior design at the New York School of Interior Design and then working for local designers.

She became the on-site manager of the Anne Selke store on Main Street in Lenox, named after the interior designer who created, and later sold, the Pine Cone Hill and Dash & Albert brands of home décor.

When the store that was created to showcase those brands closed in October 2024, Hayden sensed the disappointment among customers and those in the community and decided to take an entrepreneurial plunge and open a similar outlet at that location, taking her career in a different and rewarding direction.

Lenox at a Glance

Year Incorporated: 1767
Population: 5,095
Area: 21.7 square miles
County: Berkshire
Residential Tax Rate: $9.85
Commercial Tax Rate: $14.37
Median Household Income: $85,581
Median Family Income: $111,413
Type of Government: Select Board, Open Town Meeting
Largest Employers: Canyon Ranch, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Kimball Farms
* Latest information available

“I have always had a love for color, design, and merchandising,” she told BusinessWest. “Opening Home on Main gave me the opportunity to stretch those creative inspirations and knowledge. I can merge this creative side with my administrative skills — because a retail business heavily relies on both when you are the sole owner.”

Home on Main opened in January 2025 and recorded a solid first year thanks to a a wide range of brands, including Pine Cone Hill and Dash & Albert, and products ranging from rugs — there’s a ‘rug library’ that affords individuals the opportunity to take out samples and see how they look in their homes — to candles, diffusers, and pillows.

Hayden said she attracts a broad base of customers that include local residents, those with second homes in and around Lenox, and those vising the community and taking in all it has to offer.

“Once Tanglewood opens, the population swells — it’s a big draw,” she explained, adding that, like other businesses in town, she struggles during ‘shoulder season,’ but understands the year-long pattern of business and plans accordingly.

Shortt, as noted earlier, worked in finance for many years before moving to Lenox in 2010, when he purchased an inn and spent seven years renovating it and then operating it before selling it in 2022.

He then put his focus on renovating the former retail space at 21 Housatonic St. into something he said was lacking in Lenox, a versatile event space that could host everything from weddings to company retreats to nonprofit events.

Opened just over a year ago after an extensive, two-year renovation that included construction of a commercial kitchen, the Belvedere has become a popular alternative for all types of gatherings.

“We’ve done birthday parties, weddings, rehearsal parties, corporate meetings, product launches, baby showers, bridal showers, a little bit of everything,” Shortt said, adding that the facility’s first year was solid, and the business now has a firm foundation on which to build.

“We got our legs under us, and we had a large number of various events,” he noted. “The thing that was great was … you always put together a plan, you make assumptions, and you work through the details and consider a lot of scenarios and how things will work. But it’s all theory until you actually start putting it into practice and have all those different types of events to make sure it comes together.

“And it did — we’ve proven it out in various scenarios and ways, and we’re very pleased,” he went on, adding that, for year two, the goal is to continue adding events, especially meetings and other corporate uses.

“Those typically happen outside the summer season and usually happen in the middle of the week,” Shortt explained. “So those events are additive — they don’t take away from weekend social events.”

The Belvedere is just one of dozens of businesses contributing to the Lenox ‘brand,’ one that has stood the test of time and continues to grow, evolve, and make this community a truly unique destination.

BusinessTalk with Julie Quink, Managing Principal, Burkhart Pizzanelli, P.C.: Beyond the Numbers

By BusinessWest Staff February 17, 2026

Business Talk Podcast Special Coverage

With new episodes airing every other Monday, BusinessTalk features in-depth interviews and discussions with local industry leaders who offer thoughtful perspectives on the Western Massachusetts economy and the many business ventures that keep it running. BusinessTalk is sponsored and presented by Greenfield Cooperative Bank.

Go HERE to view all episodes

Episode 252: February 17, 2026

George O’Brien talks with Julie Quink, Managing Principal, Burkhart Pizzanelli, P.C.

Julie Quink says the accounting profession has changed quite a bit in her 35 years of practice, but one of the more positive changes has been a focus on workplace culture, mentorship, and the well-being of team members — all areas she has continued to cultivate at Burkhart Pizzanelli. Julie sat down with Contributing Writer George O’Brien for the latest installment of BusinessTalk to talk about all this and more, including how she and her team have prioritized giving back to the community in many ways, and why she’s gratified to be named one of BusinessWest’s Difference Makers for 2026. It’s must listening, so tune into BusinessTalk, a podcast presented by BusinessWest over both audio and video platforms, and sponsored by Greenfield Cooperative Bank.

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Gasoline Alley’s Businesses — and Customers — Create a Unique Environment

By George O'Brien February 16, 2026

Features Special Coverage

‘A Place, an Idea, an Inspiration’

Tim and Andrea Monson, owners of Monsoon Roastery.

Technically, it’s a collection of old industrial buildings on Albany Street in Springfield in the shadow of the huge oil storage tanks that provide its name.

But Gasoline Alley is so much more, say the people doing business there now.

They describe it as a community, an incubator of sorts, a sustainable business collective, a place for events, and … well, did we mention community?

“It’s an amazing place,” said Andrea Monson, co-owner, with her husband, Tim, of Monsoon Roastery, one of several businesses now part of what’s called the Urban Food Brood, also described as an avant-garde culinary haven.

It was created, with the help of a MassDevelopment grant, by the Monsons; Teri Skinner, owner of Nosh Café and Restaurant; and Jack Wysocki, owner of Urban Artisan Farm — entrepreneurs who knew each other and were already partners of sorts.

The vision was to build a pandemic-proof business, a place for “community, collaboration, and culinary innovation,” said Monson, adding that, in recent years, like-minded individuals have joined the venture as tenants within the collaborative. These include the owners of Rumspringa Books, Corsella Butcheria, Forest Doe Botanicals, Journeys Lemonade, and Happy Man Freeze Dried, which, as name suggests, specializes in all things freeze dried, from smoothies to dog treats.

Monson described the assembled businesses as family, with each member taking on the many challenges of operating a business individually, but also collectively.

“It’s a family, and with any family, there’s conflict and resolution,” she explained. “We don’t give up on each other.”

“We each have our little part that we do that creates that magic that we have here.”

Skinner agreed. “It’s definitely an interesting community, and the best thing about it is the support that you have from your fellow partners or entrepreneurs that are working here,” she said. “Everyone in this place is a business owner, and that alleviates some of that pressure from being the sole business owner who has to do everything. We each have our little part that we do that creates that magic that we have here.”

The Urban Food Brood is a huge part of the broad picture at Gasoline Alley, but there is a diverse list of other tenants as well, including Chris Marion Photography, Street LXL Mixed Media Arts, FJR Towing, and many others.

Collectively, they are continuing a long tradition of entrepreneurship, innovation, and collaboration at this location.

Indeed, since 1990, more than 1,000 jobs have been created through more than 100 alumni companies, including Al’s Beverage Co., Marty’s Soda Mix, the Salon at Gasoline Alley, Mad Gab’s, the ReStore, and many others, said Joe Sibilia, founder and creator of Gasoline Alley, which he describes as “a place, an idea, an inspiration,” and so much more than a mailing address.

“Culturally, it’s a campus and culture that embraces the arts,” said Chris Marion, who started taking pictures as a side hustle years ago and eventually made it his career, and Gasoline Alley his home — a studio out of space that was formally a club for motorcycle police. “It’s a fun place to be. We all have our own businesses, but in a lot of ways, it’s like family.”

Joe Sibilia describes Gasoline Alley as an ever-evolving community of entrepreneurs.

Behind the ventures that now call Gasoline Alley and the Urban Food Brood home are entrepreneurs who are, as Skinner noted, learning from one another and often leaning on one another as they try to grow their ventures.

“What’s nice about being here is that, as a small business owner, I have the ability and opportunity to talk it over with other small business owners,” said James Brooks, owner of Happy Man Freeze Dried. “We’re always helping each other out; it’s a great environment to be in.”

For this issue, BusinessWest takes an in-depth look at a truly unique spot on the local business scene, a community of business owners who all contribute to the magic being created there.

Coming Together

Sibilia doesn’t really like to talk about himself or his various roles at Gasoline Alley.

He would rather put the focus on the businesses and the programs there — and that’s essentially what he’s done from the beginning. When pressed, he said he’s a landlord, yes, but he’s also a facilitator of sorts and a mentor to many, passing on advice to entrepreneurs and sometimes advising them that it might be best if they found something else to do.

He said Gasoline Alley has had a long history of not only incubating businesses and hosting them — sometimes for a dozen years or more — but also for supporting local police (there remains on site a stable where police horses are fed) and providing job training and life skills to young people.

“We had, for many, many years, young men between the ages of 15 and 20 who hadn’t graduated from high school, never held a job, some of them homeless or living with extended family, may or may not have been convicted of a crime, on a six-week job training program here — basically triage for the local thugs,” he said, adding that the program ran until COVID. “That was very rewarding.”

Kate Forest (left) and Missy Doe are co-owners of Forest Doe Botanicals, one of the many diverse and interconnected businesses at Gasoline Alley.

Sibilia is proud of Gasoline Alley’s strong track record for helping businesses get off the ground and get to the next level. The list of alumni also includes several other soda companies, the Springfield Journal, Todd Lemieux Design, Artifact Cider, and even state Rep. Athan (Soco) Catjakis. The list goes on and on, everything from a skincare salon and car detailing shop to photography and yoga studios and a car wash.

They’ve all called that relatively hidden slice of Springfield home. And now, it’s time for the current generation — an equally eclectic mix of businesses that live by one of Gasoline Alley’s credos, “to give value to that which has been abandoned” — to thrive.

“In nature, and in humanity, there is no waste,” said Sibilia, adding that another credo is for the businesses there to create a “learning community,” which is another tradition that continues today.

He referenced almost all the current tenants on a tour during which he emphasized everything from the diversity of the businesses to the many, often unlikely, success stories, such as FJR Towing, to the manner in which the businesses support one another and create a community.

Ventures like Forest Doe Botanicals. Founded by Kate Forest and her wife, Missy Doe, the venture specializes in a broad range of eco-friendly gifts, including plant-based body care — soaps, salves, face and beard oils, relaxation roll-ons, and body oils handcrafted with organic, vegan ingredients.

“Our mission is around self-care and planet care,” Forest explained. “We’re helping people be a little more eco-conscious about the products they put on their bodies, the products that they use that go off their bodies and down the drain and into our bodies of water and affect our marine life and go into our air and effect our breathing.”

“What’s nice about being here is that, as a small business owner, I have the ability and opportunity to talk it over with other small business owners. We’re always helping each other out; it’s a great environment to be in.”

The two started three years ago in Doe’s kitchen, dabbling in oils and shea butter, and eventually expanded into soaps and took their act on their road, transforming a 2016 Ford van into a home on wheels. On their travels, they met a soap maker, and “it snowballed from there.”

Like many, they frequented Gasoline Alley and the eateries in the Urban Food Brood — Nosh catered their wedding roughly 18 months ago — before making it their own business home.

“We walked into this space, and Teri [Skinner] said, ‘they’re bringing vendors in here,’” Forest recalled, referring to a space created when a wall was knocked down within the 5,000-square-foot complex that was home to the Urban Food Brood. “We asked if they would consider letting us come in with our production space and our retail space. Teri said, ‘let’s talk to Joe,’ and we signed a lease a week and a half later; it was pretty quick.”

The two set up shop last April, becoming the first tenants in the marketplace. Their large suite includes a production area and the retail space, and it was expanded into recently vacated space for an eco-conscious gift shop.

“It’s such a great community to be involved in,” Forest said of Gasoline Alley. “As we grow together, we become more like a family — it’s great to be a part of this.”

Food for Thought

Those sentiments were echoed by others we spoke with, especially in the Urban Food Brood — open Friday through Sunday — where things are generally humming.

Even within this small space, there are some intriguing stories about entrepreneurs finding a home — and finding their stride.

Like Brooks, an operating room nurse by trade who once made jerky but found it wasn’t a good business model, and who is perhaps better known as the ‘freeze dried guy.’

During the pandemic, he did some scrolling, came across the freeze drying process, and eventually decided he could create a business that would fit in nicely with the overall mindset at Gasoline Alley.

“It’s very much what Joe Sibilia wanted — there’s no waste at all, and the health benefits are off the charts,” he said as he showed off his space and his equipment.

Brooks noted that he freeze dries just about everything, from fruit to meats; from candy to those smoothies and dog treats. He was making some of the latter when he spoke with BusinessWest.

“It’s all chicken,” he said of the treats. “There’s no additives; there’s no preservatives. This machine will freeze the chicken livers to like 20 below zero, and over a period of time, it starts to heat back up … this vacuum pump turns on, and the water from the chicken collects on the cylinder on the inside. It takes out 96% of the water and holds 96% of the nutrients, so it’s shelf-stable.”

The smoothies are a recent addition to the stable, he said, adding that he makes them in a blender and then pours the mix into a mold, creating small squares that are put into a freezer and then the freeze drier, creating snacks that have become a best seller, with flavors such as mango, pineapple, banana, and more.

Brooks is a tenant, but he has also helped Sibilia build out some of the spaces at Gasoline Alley. And as he noted earlier, the businesses support one another in many different ways.

Skinner agreed, noting that she decided to expand into Gasoline Alley with a second location after a space became available — and some prompting from the Monsons and Wysocki. And while there were some logistical challenges and build-out issues, “now, it’s awesome.”

Skinner said that, while the businesses started the process of creating the intriguing overall environment at Gasoline Alley and its Urban Food Brood, the customer base that has emerged has certainly contributed to that ‘magic’ she described earlier.

“We have a really diverse base of customers,” she said, noting that, while the Urban Food Brood is open only three days a week, those days are busy, and the location has become a real destination for people living across the 413.

Andrea Monson agreed, noting that she and Tim explored Gasoline Alley at Wysocki’s advice — the two ventures crossed paths at a winter farmer’s market.

“Tim actually went first and, unbeknownst to me, signed a lease,” she recalled. “And then we both went to check out the space and meet Joe.”

They opened in 2019 and survived the pandemic through a delivery service and then a walk-up window on the Gasoline Alley property. “People would come in the rain and the snow; they’d order at one window and walk around and pick up at the other window.”

Through the MassDevelopment grant, they and their other partners embarked on what would be a three-year journey to create the Urban Food Brood, which, with its condensed schedule — a broad effort to address changing spending habits as the economy slowed — has become a bustling destination those three days of the week.

“On Saturday, it’s packed — there’s a line out the door,” she said, adding that the businesses take full advantage of a location just off several major highways. “We get a lot of people passing through, but we also have a large number of regulars.”

They come for the traditional offerings, but also special events like farm-to-fork table dinners on Thursday nights, where Skinner handles the food, Andrea Monson mixes drinks, and other businesses in the complex chip in as well.

“People come, and they spend three hours with us for a six-course meal,” she said, adding that Gasoline Alley has become a gathering spot for businesses and patrons alike, continuing a unique tradition at a place that is most certainly also an inspiration.

Employers Concerned About Broader Immigration Enforcement

By Contributor February 16, 2026

Law Special Coverage

ICE at the Door

By Marylou Fabbo, Esq.

In 2026, employers across the U.S. are expected to continue to face intensified and broadened immigration enforcement efforts. Executive actions, regulatory shifts, agency‑level mandates, and recent events reflect aggressive enforcement within and outside of the work environment.

ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) has become a household word. Restrictions on enforcement in certain areas, such as schools, hospitals, and places of worship, have been lifted. Unannounced visits to the workplace, expanded audits, and coordination between ICE and other enforcement agencies has strengthened.

In 2025, certain cities, states, and industries were affected more than others when it came to the Trump administration’s efforts to enforce immigration policies. The focus was on agriculture and farming, food processing, construction, healthcare workers, and cleaning and maintenance services because they often employ immigrant workers.

In 2026, efforts have been expanded, and are expected to continue to expand, to employers in all businesses of all types, sizes, locations, and number of employees. All employers, regardless of industry, size, or location, must be prepared for ICE visits to the workplace as well as other potential enforcement actions, such as unanticipated Form I-9 audits conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Marylou Fabbo

“All employers, regardless of industry, size, or location, must be prepared for ICE visits to the workplace as well as other potential enforcement actions, such as unanticipated Form I-9 audits conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor.”

Importantly, employers must also be prepared for conflicts that may arise when employees or ICE agents engage in actions that may have unintended and serious consequences, such as personal injury.

ICE Visits to the Workplace

Immigration agents may go to a workplace to conduct a Form I-9 audit, a raid, or to detain specific people. ICE doesn’t always ring the bell before entering. ICE can enter the public areas of a business, such as the reception area, without permission. Still, ICE does not have the unrestrained authority to stop, question, or arrest someone, even if they are in a public area.

Rather, for access to the private areas of a business, ICE needs either company permission or a judicial warrant. A judicial warrant is from a court and is signed by a judge. Although some agents may present an administrative warrant, that type of warrant is insufficient. An administrative warrant usually says “Department of Homeland Security” or is from an immigration court, and it does not give ICE the right to enter private areas of your business without your permission.

Having a judicial warrant only gives ICE authority to enter the areas identified on the warrant to be searched. Be wary, however. While it is illegal for ICE to enter any private area without a judicial warrant, there have been many reports of ICE failing to adhere to legal standards when entering the workplace, and employees permitting ICE agents to do more than they would otherwise legally permitted to do. Such actions give rise to one of the newer concerns being discussed among employers: whether the deadly results of community enforcement actions having turned violent spread to the workplace.

Access to Employees

Attempts to arrest an employee may also lead to physical altercations between ICE agents, the employee at issue, or other employees protecting the employee who is being sought or employees who wish to aid ICE’s efforts.

The desire to assist ICE often derives from U.S. citizens’ concerns about losing employment opportunities to undocumented workers, regardless of whether an employer intentionally employs individuals who are not authorized to live and/or work in the U.S. There is a misconception that all employers who are employing an employee who does not have authorization to work or be present in the U.S. knowingly do so.

For Form I-9 purposes, employers are not required to be document review experts. If the document reasonably appears to be genuine and related to the employee, it is sufficient. Therefore, some employers are shocked when ICE arrives with a judicial warrant to arrest someone who has been a hardworking, long-term employee and who presented what appeared to be genuine Form I-9 supporting documentation.

If a judicial warrant is presented, employers must comply. If ICE has an administrative warrant identifying an employee, the employer does not have bring the agent to the employee or even have to let the agent know if the employee is working that day. That is, if ICE enters the employer’s property at all, it has become more common for immigration officials to stop employees before they pull into the employer’s parking lot. Employers must consider whether they want to have a plan in place if such a circumstance arises.

Employers’ Right to Legal Advice

Human resource personnel, the company president, and all other employees can ask to speak to a specific attorney or ask the immigration officer for a list of pro bono lawyers before speaking to immigration authorities or answering any questions. It’s not certain, however, that the request will be granted.

Still, no one is required to speak at all. No one must state where they were born or whether they are in the U.S. legally, sign anything, or group according to country of origin. Employees do not have to show identification or other papers to ICE agents. However, if someone does not cooperate, it is not out of the realm of possibility that ICE would claim that the person is ‘impeding’ their efforts and arrest them. Employers should communicate to employees their position on ICE cooperation even whether or not ICE’s actions appear to be legally supported.

Difficult Choices

Employers who violate immigration-related employment laws or lawful enforcement actions can be subject to fines, large penalties, the inability to work on government contracts, and even criminal liabilities. But in today’s immigration landscape, there’s been much contention that even lawful activities can be penalized. An even greater concern is increasing violence.

If an ICE agent demands action that you believe to be illegal, what do you do? Efforts to assert an individual’s rights in the face of an improper action may lead to unexpected — and even dangerous — situations. Most employers do not know what their employees will do who take offense to ICE’s action, whether right or wrong, and also lack action plans when circumstances begin to present a risk of harm to one more people involved.

Regardless of the position employers take on Minnesota’s enforcement-related deaths, they must recognize that similar situations could occur in their workplaces and should consider having a plan in place to address them.

Attorney Marylou Fabbo is a senior partner at Skoler Abbott and heads the firm’s immigration team. She has successfully represented the firm’s clients in state and federal courts, as well as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, and other forums.

Insurance Industry Grapples with Need for Young Talent

By Joseph Bednar February 16, 2026

Insurance Special Coverage

Protecting the Future

Lisa Johnson admits an insurance career can be challenging — and a constant learning experience.

“Even our veterans will tell you, nobody knows everything about insurance. They’re learning something new every week — from each other and from formal education,” said Johnson, chief operating officer of Encharter Insurance in Amherst. “We make sure we have people taking classes every year. We incentivize learning; it improves our businvess.”

And that goes double for new employees; even after landing a job, she said, it takes about a year of training to fully ramp up on personal lines, and three years on the commercial side.

“It’s a complicated business. As an agency owner, you have to be willing to put in the time and the energy to make sure people are getting the training they need,” Johnson told BusinessWest. “Sometimes people underestimate the learning curve, and it’s tough to stick with it and get licensed and have a career. You’re dealing with a lot of regulations, it can be a very technical business, and it can be very overwhelming.”

That may not sound like the most appealing pitch, but there are rewards on the other side, she said.

“We have a career that’s not stagnant; you’re always learning new things, learning to manage obstacles, and that should be presented as an opportunity. It’s enrichment for your career. It’s furthering your personal value. This career offers exceptional long-term benefits, a lot of stability. It’s recession-proof, with a lot of variable and transferable skills like customer service and sales. I always tell people, a great salesperson will never starve.”

That said, according to a recent article in Insurance Journal, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the industry will face approximately 21,500 job vacancies each year over the next decade, and “this growing talent shortage is compounded by a rise in the severity of claims and by the industrialization of plaintiff litigation. As veteran employees leave the workforce, the industry loses invaluable expertise. That creates a ripple effect of challenges for claims-management organizations.”

Lisa Johnson

“It’s a complicated business. As an agency owner, you have to be willing to put in the time and the energy to make sure people are getting the training they need.”

And that leaves growing agencies with a real challenge. John Dowd Jr., president and CEO of the Dowd Agencies in Holyoke, said recruiting may be more of a problem in the 413 than elsewhere.

“It has been a challenge for a long time to attract more people into this industry. I don’t think that’s unique to Western Mass., but compared to Eastern Mass. or more metropolitan areas, we just have fewer candidates that are drawn to the industry.”

Still, “I think it’s a great industry,” Dowd said. “We have many people come here to work with us, and most stay. Some don’t because they either don’t like it or they move to a different area, whatever the case may be.”

Recruiting the right people, those who will stick for the long term, has become so important, in fact, that the firm has, for the first time, hired a talent recruiter, as opposed to running ads in newspapers or working through headhunters.

“We’ve done those things for years, trying to attract people, both young people interested in the industry and seasoned people who have been in the industry for a period of time,” Dowd said. “Obviously, it’s easier to hire an experienced person to step in with minimal training and be effective at their job. But those people are not that easy to find. So a lot of times, we’ll say, ‘let’s recruit young people and train them and teach them our way.’ That way, they’re more likely to assimilate into our company’s culture.

“It is a great business, with a lot of different things you can do, depending on what your skills and interests are, and what your long-term ambitions are,” Dowd added, noting that the new recruiter will help build a pipeline of young talent. “We have multiple locations in multiple states. We’re going to have people retiring, people moving out of the area, and we have to fill those positions. We’re excited about this new role because we really think it’s going to help us fill positions and find better-qualified people — either experienced or inexperienced with lots of upside.”

Because of the training involved in hiring younger people, Johnson said, “it’s a huge savings if you can grab one of the seasoned people in our area, but I think it’s kind of a small group of people rotating from one agency to another.”

John Dowd

“Colleges typically don’t direct course curriculum to the insurance industry, and people don’t get introduced to it in high school or college unless they’re looking for that. And even then, it’s difficult to find courses specific to the insurance industry.”

So the industry absolutely needs an influx of young talent — and insurance careers can be appealing to them in a number of ways, she added.

“I do think it’s been a challenge in today’s labor market to find the right people. We’re competing with banks and other roles that appear more modern to younger candidates,” she said. “But it’s definitely an industry that is going to supply young people with a lot of upward mobility, particularly because they’ll bring their technical knowledge that some of the folks retiring don’t have.”

School’s Out

Part of the problem, Dowd said, is educational. “Colleges typically don’t direct course curriculum to the insurance industry, and people don’t get introduced to it in high school or college unless they’re looking for that. And even then, it’s difficult to find courses specific to the insurance industry.”

Considering that landscape, Sam Hanmer, president and CEO of Rush Insurance Group in Chicopee, said it’s valuable to work with community colleges and high schools to recruit through internships and generally expose students to opportunities in insurance.

“We have plenty of work, and they’re paid internships, so we hope we can get some young people to stick around,” he told BusinessWest. “We’ve even reached out to local high schools as well, creating opportunities for them. We want them to come work after school, do some data entry work, that kind of thing. We’re talking to guidance counselors about the potential for them to send over kids who are looking for after-school jobs.”

Sam Hanmer

“Depending on what side of the fence you want to be on, there’s also a lot of financial work, payables, receivables, billing, all of that. And as an agency, we also need IT support. So there are a lot of different areas.”

The problem, as noted earlier, is that only a handful of colleges in the country actually offer coursework in insurance.

Hanmer noted that the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst has put together an insurance club — one more oriented toward the carrier side of the business, not the agency side, but it’s a start toward exposing more young people to career opportunities.

“These are good jobs; they’re actually very-well-paying jobs relative to Western Mass. It’s really about educating people, getting them interested in trying this career path,” he added. “And the interns, we’re paying $22 an hour to keep them engaged. Minimum wage is not going to keep them engaged.”

Dowd, obviously, had an unusual level of exposure to insurance, as his family has been in the business for 128 years, and the business now includes the fifth generation of company leaders.

“I had plenty of introduction to the industry, and I always had an eye on it because it was a family thing. I watched my father and uncle over the years, and I went to work right out of college for an insurance company in New Jersey as an underwriter.”

That said, “I knew being an underwriter wasn’t something I wanted to do for the rest of my life, so I came back and joined the agency as a salesman. I knew that was the area I wanted to focus on. I liked interacting with people, helping them sort through the complexities of the insurance business and insurance policies.”

That movement speaks to one of the draws of an insurance career, Hanmer said.

“Insurance is a lot of contract law, and you get to learn a lot of insurance policy,” he said. “But, depending on what side of the fence you want to be on, there’s also a lot of financial work, payables, receivables, billing, all of that. And as an agency, we also need IT support. So there are a lot of different areas. Someone could come in and hang around and say, ‘hey, there’s an area I want to potentially continue my career path on.’”

Dowd agreed. “What I say to them is, ‘look, there are a lot of different things you can do in this business. You can be in customer service as an account manager, or be on the claims end of things, or be on the accounting end of things, or be in sales, or start as a receptionist and work your way up,’” he explained. “We’ve had some of our best people start as receptionists and work their way up to senior account manager positions or claims directors; it’s really about how ambitious you are, and we nurture them along the way.”

In fact, three current employees in leadership roles started as receptionists, he noted. “They’re thriving, and they’re happy, and we’re happy with them.”

Of all those roles, salespeople may be the hardest to find, Dowd said. “Or, I should say, good salespeople. Everyone thinks they can sell until they find out how hard it is. But it’s easier if you like people, if you’re ready to work hard, and if you’re patient, knowing you have to work your way through and gain experience and gain the confidence of clients. That takes time.

“You have to have perseverance and dedication to the process, becoming a student of the business, to be an effective service professional and service customers far and wide,” he went on. “If you are of that personality and have that dedication, you can thrive in our business.”

Johnson also has senior employees who started as receptionists, so she can testify to the opportunities for advancement.

For most young recruits, she noted, “whether they’ve just come out of high school or they have a PhD, we’re still training them from square one. Typically, our agency is looking for people with experience, but it’s not that we don’t take people without experience — we have done quite a bit of that.”

Youth Movement

Hanmer told BusinessWest that the insurance business may not be flashy enough for teenagers considering career paths, and they’re more likely to gravitate toward more technology-oriented fields.

“Insurance is not tech-heavy, although it’s evolving,” he noted. “So I don’t think insurance is exciting enough for them, and it’s too bad because it’s a great business. When I find a young person and I can bend their ear for a minute, I encourage opportunities to be in the insurance world.”

The Insurance Journal article argues for better efforts at understanding the workplace needs of younger generations, which include remote work, modern tools and technology, a collaborative environment, and clearly outlined core corporate values.

Johnson said Encharter has cultivated an environment that not only values constant learning, but the importance of relationships.

“It’s a person-to-person business, and that’s how you build relationships. I can’t overestimate how important that is,” she explained. “Also, if they think they’re valued and what they do matters, it’s a much more rewarding career — and that’s something we build on with that team environment.”

Dowd said agency leaders check in with new hires 90 days after onboarding process, “to find out not only how they’re doing, but how we’re doing. Are we living up to the promises we made, to the commitments we made, to provide training and support so you can thrive in your new position?

“It’s a great business because you meet all kinds of new people and learn about businesses of all types, inside and out, and the clients become your friends. Oftentimes, you can have decades of relationships with these people who really become your friends,” he added.

“I say to every one of them, ‘we want you to retire here.’ We’re proud when we can see somebody employed and happy. I always say, ‘we can’t do it without you. And together, we can survive and thrive in a competitive industry.’”

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