Company Notebook

White Lion Expands Beer-garden Footprint

SPRINGFIELD — White Lion Brewing Co. obtained local licensing approval to operate a series of beer gardens in three Western Mass. cities: Holyoke, Westfield, and Springfield. As a local brewer, White Lion collaborates with community stakeholders and engages a broad audience that embrace and support outdoor programming. In Springfield, to stimulate small-business awareness, White Lion will rotate through downtown and set up near key points of business. The two primary locations are One Financial Plaza, 1350 Main St., which is home to a small-business incubator made up of several startup businesses. White Lion will be downtown every Wednesday through Aug. 28. The beer garden opens at 4 p.m. The second location is the Plaza at 1550 Main St., the home of the Springfield School Department and other government offices. Holyoke’s Armour Yard is located at the Cubit, 164 Race St. Centrally located, the site offers live music, food, and craft vendors. White Lion partnerships include the Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce and Holyoke Craft Beer. White Lion can be found every Monday at the Cubit through Aug. 26th. The beer garden opens at 5 p.m. For several years, 53 Elm St. in Westfield was home to live music, food vendors, and a White Lion pop-up. White Lion, in partnership with ArtWorks Westfield, helped sponsor the weekly music events. This summer, White Lion will be on site very Friday through Aug. 30. The beer garden opens at 5 p.m.

 

HCC Awarded $832K to Boost Clean-energy Workforce

HOLYOKE — Holyoke Community College (HCC) has been awarded an $832,000 grant to help train workers for jobs in the clean-energy sector. The two-year grant, announced earlier this month, was part of an overall $3.4 million allocation from the Healey-Driscoll administration to three higher-education institutions for climate-related workforce-training initiatives. HCC was the only institution in Western Mass. to receive funding. Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology and Roxbury Community College, both in Boston, also received grant awards of $1.3 million each. Overall, the grants will lead to green-industry-specific training for an estimated 400 individuals, 150 of them through HCC. The college and its community and industry partners will spend the next few months developing training programs in five areas: EV (electric vehicle) charging station installation; energy auditing, solar installation, green industry supervision and management, and green careers job readiness. HCC’s partners in the grant include Holyoke Gas & Electric, Springfield Works, and the Coalition for Equitable Economy (CEE), an organization that supports businesses owned by people of color. Holyoke Community College is a federally recognized Hispanic-Serving Institution, which was one of the eligibility requirements for the grant. Training is expected to begin in early 2025, if not sooner.

 

Garvey Law, LLC Opens West Springfield Office

WEST SPRINGFIELD — On June 20, attorney Katherine Garvey, founder of Garvey Law, LLC, celebrated the grand opening of the firm’s office at 1312 Memorial Ave., West Springfield. Garvey Law, LLC, an all-female law firm specializing in Massachusetts and Connecticut real estate, estate planning, and probate law, recently celebrated its fourth year in business.

 

Graduate Engineering Programs at UMass Amherst Earn High Marks

AMHERST — UMass Amherst graduate engineering programs place among the best in the country in the U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate Schools rankings for 2024, announced last week. UMass Amherst is the only public university in New England to place in the top 50, and most of its College of Engineering doctoral degree programs also made significant gains over last year’s rankings. Overall, the College of Engineering moved up seven spots from last year to reach the top 25%, tying with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of Florida in the 48th spot. Nine engineering specialty areas that offer doctoral degrees rank between 35 and 69 for 2024. Notably, four engineering specialties — chemical, industrial, computer, and materials — place in the top 40. Chemical engineering ranks 35th, followed by industrial at 36th; computer at 38th, up six spots from 2023; and materials at 40th, which climbed significantly from its ranking in the 57th spot last year. Environmental engineering ranks 41st, civil 48th, and electrical 53rd. Other specialty areas that also place higher this year include mechanical at 56th, up five spots, and biomedical at 69th, which improves 10 spots from 2023. U.S. News compares schools on their research activity, faculty resources, academic achievements of entering students, and assessments by other engineering schools and employers.

 

MountainOne Supports Berkshire Community Action Council

NORTH ADAMS — MountainOne announced recently donated $10,000 to the Berkshire Community Action Council (BCAC) as part of its 2024 Community Dividend Program. The BCAC is a nonprofit human-service organization that assists low-income residents of Berkshire County toward achieving sustainability and self-sufficiency. Working with the community to find creative and maintainable solutions that promote economic stability and alleviate the destabilizing effects of poverty for those in Berkshire County, the BCAC has had “self-sufficiency and dignity for all” as its vision since incorporating in 1966. MountainOne’s donation is earmarked specifically for the BCAC’s Warm Winter Clothing Program, , which provides children age 12 and under with new coats, boots, hats, mittens, and gloves. While the cold-weather season is still months away, MountainOne is providing these funds now because preparations for the program span all four seasons. Families are provided with the opportunity to shop for items at the Children’s Winter Boutique at BCAC, allowing them the opportunity to chose items that best suit their children’s taste, style, and comfort. The Community Dividend Program at MountainOne supports nonprofits throughout the Berkshires and South Shore, particularly organizations that positively impact community members most in need. In addition to corporate sponsorship, BCAC offers the ability to for community members and groups to sponsor a child during the winter. For further details on the Warm Winter Clothing Program, visit bcacinc.org/winter-clothing-program.

 

Baystate Health Awards $500,000 in Better Together Grants

SPRINGFIELD — Baystate Health, in partnership with the Community Benefits Program, announced the recipients of the 2024 Better Together Grants. This year, proposals considered focused on advancing youth well-being through strategic interventions that seek to decrease adverse youth mental-health outcomes. Projects funded by Better Together must apply a framework of social determinants of health, be evidence-based, include routine performance evaluation, and align with Baystate’s community health needs assessment. The grantees are Community Legal Aid ($100,000 for its Family Preservation Project); Follow My Steps Foundation ($100,000 for its Steps to Empowerment Program); Latino Counseling Center ($100,000 for its Mindful Connections/Conexiones Conscientes); Martin Luther King Jr. Family Services ($100,000 for its Beat the Odds Project); and Springfield Pride Parade Organization ($100,000 for its Safe Space Program). Funding for the Better Together grants is made possible through the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s determination-of-need requirements. In addition to funding the grantees, Baystate Health has also contracted with the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts to provide technical assistance and evaluation support to the grantee cohort over the next one to two years.