Company Notebook

Bulkley Richardson Opens Office in Hadley

SPRINGFIELD — Due to expanding needs, Bulkley Richardson has moved from its Amherst location into a more spacious office at 380 Russell St. in Hadley. “This move supports the growing needs of our clients and offers a more centralized location in Hampshire County,” said Peter Barry, managing partner of the 35-attorney firm. Seunghee Cha, partner, will be located primarily in Hadley, where she has a comprehensive estate-planning and administration practice, including special-needs planning for individuals living with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Scott Foster, chair of the firm’s business and finance group, noted that “our client base continues to grow, especially as we expand our services to meet the evolving changes to legal needs. Among other areas, a Hampshire County office is relevant to the unique needs of startups, reality of cybersecurity threats, and emergence of cannabis facilities. Our clients range from large hospitals and medical practices to small brewery startups, and nationwide manufactures to local farmers and artists — and a whole lot in between. By having a local office, it just brings us closer to these clients.”

Thunderbirds Honored with Two Awards from AHL

SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield Thunderbirds were honored by the American Hockey League with four Team Business Service awards at a gala reception during the board of governors’ annual meeting at Hilton Head Island, S.C. As part of its Team Business Services program, the AHL honored one club from each conference for top revenue growth in four areas during this past season: overall ticket sales, season-ticket sales, group-ticket sales, and corporate sponsorship sales. For the 2017-18 season, the Thunderbirds took home two Awards of Excellence in the areas of season-ticket sales growth and corporate sponsorship sales growth. This marked the second consecutive season that Springfield captured these awards. These awards came just weeks after the Thunderbirds received numerous honors at the 2018 AHL Marketing Meeting presented by ExteNet Systems in Des Moines, Iowa. At that meeting,the Thunderbirds received the AHL award for Most Unique Community Relations Promotion. This past March, Thunderbirds player Eddie Wittchow approached team management with the idea of presenting loyal season ticket holder Katrina King with specialty glasses that would allow Katrina, a legally blind fan, to have the ability to see the action — through her own eyes — for the first time in her life. Springfield was also recognized for achieving a greater-than-15% increase in per-game full-season equivalents, a statistic that tracks the combined sales of all ticket packages. The Thunderbirds’ corporate sales team also was recognized for having a greater-than-15% growth in corporate cash sponsorships generated in the market. The organization also was honored for reaching the benchmark of a greater-than-15% growth in per-game group-ticket-sales revenue for a second straight season. On an individual level, Thunderbirds Senior Account Executive Matthew McRobbie beame the first Thunderbirds sales representative to be recognized as the Eastern Conference’s Top New Season Ticket Sales Executive.

PeoplesBank Announces Acquisition of First National Bank of Suffield

HOLYOKE — PeoplesBancorp, MHC, the parent company of PeoplesBank, both of Holyoke, and First Suffield Financial Inc., the parent company of the First National Bank of Suffield, both of Suffield, Conn., jointly announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement for PeoplesBancorp to acquire First Suffield Financial and PeoplesBank to acquire the First National Bank of Suffield. The parties anticipate the transaction will close in the fourth quarter of 2018 or the first quarter of 2019. Under the terms of the agreement, shareholders of First Suffield Financial Inc. will receive $12,001.85 in cash per share, representing a total transaction value of approximately $60 million. The merger consideration represents approximately 202% of the First National Bank of Suffield’s tangible book value at March 31, 2018. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of state and federal regulatory approvals and approval by the shareholders of First Suffield Financial Inc. In 2017, PeoplesBank donated almost $1 million to area nonprofits. Its employees devoted more than 15,000 hours to volunteer work over the past two years, and 48 of the bank’s officers serve on the boards of directors and committees of 115 nonprofit organizations in the area. Upon completion of the transaction, PeoplesBank will expand its community-development efforts in Suffield and the surrounding Connecticut communities. The combined organization will have approximately $2.8 billion in assets and $1.9 billion in deposits. Upon completion of the transaction, one current member of the board of directors of First Suffield Financial will be appointed to serve as a member of the board of trustees of PeoplesBancorp and the board of directors of PeoplesBank. Following completion of the merger, the current branches of the First National Bank of Suffield will remain open and will conduct business under the trade name First Suffield Bank, a Division of PeoplesBank.

Berkshire Community College to Receive $5.5M for Student Success Center

PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Community College (BCC) has been awarded $5.5 million for a major project that will transform the first floor of the Field Administration building into a One Stop Student Success Center, transforming the student experience by making the entire admissions and enrollment process easier. The project will renovate the first floor of the Field Administration building, which currently houses Enrollment Management, Advising, Career and Transfer services, Financial Aid and Student Accounts, and Admission and the college registrar. BCC is currently completing $34 million in campus projects for the renovation of Hawthorne and Melville halls, including a connector with upper and lower courtyards, paving of the parking lots and access roads, and installing a community turf field for football, soccer and lacrosse.

Valley Steel Stamp Expands with $1.9M MassDevelopment Bond

GREENFIELD — MassDevelopment has issued a $1.9 million bond for CJBW Stamp, LLC, the real-estate arm of Valley Steel Stamp, which will use bond proceeds to construct a 17,500-square-foot building in the Greenfield Industrial Park that the company will then lease. The new building will be next to an existing 27,500-square-foot building that Valley Steel Stamp also leases and has reached full capacity. When completed, the new building will accommodate additional equipment needed to fulfill customer orders. The project is expected to create nine jobs and support 13 construction jobs. GSB Securities Corp., an affiliate of Greenfield Savings Bank, purchased the bond. Valley Steel Stamp was founded in 1971 by William Capshaw as a two-man operation that produced custom-made steel-marking stamps. Over the years, William’s son, Steven, has expanded and diversified the company’s product line to now include general machining and tooling for customers in the aerospace, defense, and firearm industries. Valley Steel Stamp’s facility in Greenfield is a world headquarters for more than 50 highly skilled precision machinists serving over 300 companies in 10 countries. MassDevelopment previously issued bonds to support the purchase and expansion of this facility in 2008 and 2012.

Normandeau Technologies Attends NASRO Show

WEST SPRINGFIELD — Normandeau Technologies Inc. (NTI) attended the National Assoc. of School Resource Officers in Reno, Nevada in June. The annual, one-week NASRO conference brings together SROs from throughout the U.S. and international locations to meet, discuss the current state of school safety, and receive updates and training on the latest issues surrounding school-safety policy and procedures for school-based law-enforcement officers. NTI has undertaken a program to introduce the StaffAlerter Emergency Notification System (ENS) to school districts throughout the New England area. In association with this endeavor, Brett Normandeau, president and owner of NTI, is positioning the StaffAlerter with organizations associated with K-12 education, including NASRO. StaffAlerter is an ENS and cloud-based systems control. Any teacher or staff can press a button on a wi-fi personal access device and send a notification to thousands of people, lock doors, sound alarms, and page over loudspeakers. NASRO national leadership spent time with NTI to see and hear about StaffAlerter and were impressed and positive with their feedback, he added. NTI is looking to attend future SRO regional and national meetings as both exhibitor and presenter.

Bradley International Airport Receives A+ Revenue Bond Rating

WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. — The Connecticut Airport Authority (CAA) announced that the credit-rating agency S & P Global Ratings has raised Bradley International Airport’s rating on its general airport revenue refunding bonds from ‘A’ to ‘A+’ with a stable outlook. S & P Global Ratings assigns a credit rating for Bradley International Airport’s public debt obligations. Some of the factors taken into account during the rating process include the airport’s strong financial and risk-management practices, steadily improving liquidity, low and declining debt burden, strong origin and destination base, diverse service-area economy, airline diversity, and increasing number of enplanements and positive trends.