Company Notebook

Elms College Receives $567,000 from Two Grants

CHICOPEE — Elms College recently received two grants totaling more than $567,000 to grow and strengthen the college’s online learning academic programs and continue the work of the Center for Equity in Urban Education (CEUE). The Davis Educational Foundation awarded Elms College $317,627 for its Strengthening Online Learning and Engagement (SOLE) initiative. This three-year grant will enable Elms to increase its online learning capability throughout the curriculum and also expand the transfer pipeline. The Davis Educational Foundation was established by Stanton and Elisabeth Davis after the former’s retirement as chairman of Shaw’s Supermarkets Inc. In addition, Elms also received $250,000 from the Irene E. and George A. Davis Foundation to continue its support of the college’s CEUE, which was founded five years ago to diversify the pipeline of well-prepared, culturally responsive K-12 teachers throughout Western Mass. By offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs that lead to teaching licensure, the CEUE addresses the educational inequities and obstacles for underrepresented populations to enter the teaching profession.

 

Two Berkshire County Agencies Partner with Wheeler & Taylor

GREAT BARRINGTON — Deep Associates Insurance Agency of North Adams and Thompson & Linscott Insurance Agency of Adams each recently entered a partnership with Wheeler & Taylor Insurance, the oldest independent insurance agency in Berkshire County. The two long-established insurance agencies joined Wheeler & Taylor of Great Barrington to broaden their insurance offerings locally, regionally, and nationally. Both firms retain their name, staff, location, and management. Deep Associates is located at 34 Ashland St., North Adams. Thompson & Linscott Insurance Agency is at 32 Park St., Adams. Mirick Insurance Agency of Shelburne Falls and Albert B. Allen Insurance Agency of Greenfield also each recently entered a partnership with Wheeler & Taylor.

 

Keiter Donates $25,000 for Annual Gift-card Promotion

FLORENCE — To reaffirm its commitment to community, Keiter recently announced a $25,000 donation to the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce for its annual Keiter Card promotion. This initiative, now in its fourth consecutive year, seeks to inject more than $50,000 into the local economy. Through this promotion, Keiter’s contribution enables consumers to receive $50 in spending power with the purchase of a $25 Northampton Gift Card. Keiter Cards will be available while supplies last. They can be purchased only at the chamber office at 99 Pleasant St., Northampton, Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The promotion is applicable only to $25 Northampton Gift Card purchases with a limit of one card per customer, per transaction. The Northampton Gift Card is accepted at more than 115 local businesses, spanning restaurants, shops, services, and spas.

 

Longmeadow Veterinary Clinic Opens to Families Seeking Care

LONGMEADOW — The old saying ‘the dog days of summer’ has taken on new meaning in Longmeadow. Caroline Joos, Kristin Lappetito, and Angela DuBois officially opened the doors of Longmeadow Veterinary Clinic, the town’s only veterinary clinic, on Aug. 5 at 916 Shaker Road. Joos grew up in Rochester, N.Y., where she started working at a vet clinic at 15 as a kennel attendant. She worked as a veterinary technician throughout high school, as well as in college and veterinary school at Cornell University. Joos and Lappetito met at Cornell, where they both graduated from veterinary school in 2009. Joos then worked in New Jersey, Pittsburgh, and in the Springfield area before purchasing Feeding Hills Veterinary Clinic in 2020. Joos met DuBois when she moved to the area; the two have been business partners since 2022. After graduating from Cornell, Lappetito began working on horses in California, then moved to Pennsylvania to focus on veterinary care for rural mixed animals. In 2012, she moved to Massachusetts and has been working in a small animal emergency room ever since, focusing on sick pets and ultrasound. DuBois has been in the veterinary field for 23 years, earning her certified veterinary practice manager certificate in 2019. She started as a kennel technician and worked her way up through the years, giving her valuable experience all aspects of veterinary clinic management.

 

Tech Foundry Marks 10 Years, Launches Innovation Fund

SPRINGFIELD — State and local leaders consistently recognize the growing need for innovation in, and strategic growth of, workforce-development programs to connect more Massachusetts residents to living-wage jobs while driving economic growth in the Commonwealth. This opportunity has spurred regional workforce-development program Tech Foundry to launch an Innovation Fund as the organization celebrates its 10th anniversary. With a goal of raising $250,000 to serve more people and employers, Tech Foundry will utilize this fund to fuel expansion of programs and curriculum in partnership with organizations throughout Massachusetts. To catalyze this effort, a group of donors has provided funds for a $100,000, dollar-to-dollar matching campaign through the end of the calendar year. Currently, Tech Foundry provides hands-on technical training, work experience, coaching, and leadership development so its graduates can successfully access information-technology careers. The organization also recently launched its first Tech Hub, a free service providing bilingual digital-literacy classes, tech support, and device distribution throughout Western Mass., serving more than 300 people per month.

 

Happier Valley Comedy Awarded $115,000 Grant

HADLEY — Happier Valley Comedy, the only improv comedy theater in Western Mass., was recently awarded a $115,000 capital grant from the Mass Cultural Council’s Cultural Facilities Fund to take its theater expansion plans from dream to reality. The matching grant gets this local arts nonprofit one step closer to building a new performance space with expanded and raised audience seating, a larger stage with an improv-friendly set, new theatrical lighting, and a fully accessible stage to welcome every performer and student. The final, construction-ready drawings have been inked by Thomas Douglas Architects of Northampton, which is are working closely with Braidman and the team at Integrity Development & Construction of Amherst. To unlock the full matching grant, Happier Valley Comedy must raise another $57,000 by the end of 2024 in hopes of beginning construction in January.

 

Asnuntuck Selected for Metallica Scholars Initiative

ENFIELD, Conn. — Connecticut State Community College Asnuntuck announced its selection as the first community college in Connecticut and one of 18 nationwide recipients this year to join the prestigious Metallica Scholars Initiative (MSI). This honor comes as part of the largest expansion of the initiative to date, supported by a $75,000 grant aimed at enhancing the Asnuntuck student experience and career readiness within its advanced manufacturing programs. Through the grant, Asnuntuck will be able to award $30,000 in scholarships to 30 students in the program’s summer advanced manufacturing cohort. Manufacturing students will also receive OSHA 10 training and certification and have access to new robotics simulation software. The campus will also use the funds to supply welding students with their own equipment, which they can take with them to use in future employment. Launched in 2019 by All Within My Hands (AWMH) in partnership with the American Assoc. of Community Colleges, MSI began with 10 colleges and primarily manufacturing programs. It now offers diverse workforce opportunities for students interested in gaining the skills and training necessary to find meaningful and well-paying careers. Additional curricula will include construction, healthcare, and engineering, contributing to more than 25 fields of study offered within the initiative. To date, AWMH has invested more than $10.5 million in the American workforce, reaffirming a commitment to career and technical education at the local level.

 

PeoplesBank Wins 2024 Top Workplaces Industry Award

HOLYOKE — PeoplesBank announced it is a 2024 Top Workplaces Industry winner, determined by Energage, a national employment organization. The Top Workplaces program has a 17-year history of surveying and celebrating people-first organizations nationally and across 60 regional markets, with more than 27 million employees interviewed across 70,000 organizations. Top Workplaces Industry awards celebrate organizations that have built people-first workplace cultures within their sector. The award marks them as an employer of choice for those seeking employment in the industry. Top Workplaces awards are based on feedback from a research-backed employee-engagement survey. Details about how PeoplesBank builds its workplace culture are available at topworkplaces.com/company/peoplesbank.

 

LEDC Supports Hispanic Heritage Domino Tournament

CHICOPEE — The Latino Economic Development Corp. (LEDC) announced a donation of $1,000 to the Chicopee Police Department’s C3 Unit for its second annual Hispanic Heritage Domino Tournament. The LEDC empowers businesses by providing access to case-management coaching, capital, and essential connections. Its mission is to support local businesses and foster community engagement. The C3 Policing Unit’s mission is to facilitate unity of effort and criminal intelligence gathering through interagency, community, and private-enterprise cooperation. The essential goals of C3 Policing include creating a safe environment, fostering community relationships, reducing gang activity and violence, and establishing effective youth and parental programs. These goals are achieved through community meetings, walking and bike patrols, and events like coffee with a cop, youth sports events, and community picnics. The second annual Hispanic Heritage Domino Tournament was held on Aug. 17 at Wisnowski Park.

 

MountainOne Named Among Most Charitable Companies

NORTH ADAMS — MountainOne announced it has been named one of the Commonwealth’s top corporate charitable contributors by the Boston Business Journal. MountainOne will be honored with a Corporate Citizenship Award in September at the Seaport Hotel in Boston. The 2024 Top Charitable Contributors in Massachusetts list honors companies that gave $100,000 or more to Massachusetts-based charities in 2023. Collectively, the 96 companies who qualified for the distinction gave more than $362 million in cash contributions. MountainOne has a strong, long-standing history of supporting nonprofit organizations that directly and positively impact the communities it serves. Among the organizations it contributed to in 2023, notable recipients include 1Berkshire, Berkshire Running Foundation, Community Health Programs, Friendship Home, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Plymouth, Hillcrest Educational Centers, Lever Inc., MCLA, Manet Community Health, Quincy Public Schools, South Shore Health Foundation, and the Brien Center.

 

HNE Creates $250,000 Grant Fund to Honor Dr. Mark Keroack

SPRINGFIELD — To honor Dr. Mark Keroack’s 10 years on the board of directors of Health New England, the health plan is creating a $250,000 grant-making fund to help community organizations improve health equity. Keroack, president and CEO emeritus of Baystate Health, retired at the end of June. As chair of the board of Health New England, a not-for-profit health plan owned by Baystate Health, he helped form a deeper, more collaborative relationship between the entities. The Dr. Mark A. Keroack Health Equity Grant program will provide local nonprofit organizations with a one-time grant of up to $50,000 to advance health equity in healthcare over a one-year period. Programs are required to promote health equity and include community collaboration resulting in improved health outcomes. Programs must target communities in Franklin, Hampden, or Hampshire counties and focus on one or more of these populations: children and youth, communities of color, individuals experiencing poverty or with low incomes, or older adults. Nonprofit organizations can learn more or apply for the grant by Aug. 28 at healthnewengland.org/community/grantprogram.

 

AIC’s Criminal Justice Program Receives Quinn Bill Approval

SPRINGFIELD — American International College (AIC) announced that its master of science in criminal justice program has been approved under the Guidelines for Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Academic Programs by the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education (BHE). This approval qualifies the fully online degree for the Police Career Incentive Pay Program, also known as the Quinn Bill. The Massachusetts Legislature enacted the Quinn Bill to encourage police officers to earn degrees in law enforcement and criminal justice by providing educational incentives for full-time officers in participating cities and towns through salary increases. This approval means that AIC’s master of science in criminal justice program meets or exceeds all quality standards established by the guidelines, making its graduates eligible for incentive pay increases. By participating in the Quinn Bill, students who are full-time police officers in Massachusetts can receive significant salary increases upon graduation, providing a tangible return on their educational investment. This incentive not only encourages professional development, but also enhances the quality of law-enforcement services by ensuring officers are well-educated in the latest theories and practices in criminal justice.