Company Notebook
Northfield Mount Hermon Receives $50 Million Bequest
GILL — Northfield Mount Hermon has received its largest-ever gift and one of the largest donations ever to an independent school. The $50 million bequest from the late John Mitchell, who graduated in 1956, will endow need-based scholarships and expand support for faculty, key objectives of the school’s $275 million fundraising campaign. Mitchell arrived at the Mount Hermon School for Boys in 1952 as a scholarship student from an unheated home in a small town in Eastern Mass. Recognized early as academically gifted, he participated in several sports and thrived in his NMH courses, graduating as class valedictorian. Following NMH, he earned degrees from Yale and NYU and went on to a long and distinguished career as president of Global Manufacturing at Pfizer. Mitchell later served on the NMH board of trustees, where he brought a particular focus on finances and campus planning. With characteristic pragmatism and modesty, he made numerous gifts to top off the budget for faculty housing projects, athletics facilities, the early-childhood center, and related campus improvements.
Gagne Wealth Management Group Recognized by Forbes
GREENFIELD — Gagne Wealth Management Group has been named to the Forbes 2025 Best-In-State Wealth Management Teams list, a prestigious recognition that highlights the top financial-advisory teams across the country. Since founding the firm 15 years ago, Merrill Gagne has built Gagne Wealth Management Group from the ground up, developing a client-centric approach that emphasizes goal-oriented financial planning, personalized investment strategies, and risk management. The firm is dedicated to creating customized portfolios tailored to each client’s aspirations, ethical values, and risk tolerance, ensuring a financial strategy that is both empowering and educational. Merrill, who now leads a team of financial advisors, has a history of industry accolades, including being named a Forbes Best-In-State Wealth Advisor last year, along with being featured on Forbes’ Top Next-Generation Wealth Advisors list. Earlier in his career, he was recognized as a top producer at Northwestern Mutual, achieving #1 in the Platinum category for the Eastern Region.
MSB Unveils Recipients of Community Giving Initiative
MONSON — Late last year, Monson Savings Bank asked local community members to cast votes for their local nonprofit of choice. Now, the bank is announcing its 2025 Community Giving Initiative recipients. This was the 15th year Monson Savings Bank ran its Community Giving Initiative poll. The public’s excitement to cast their vote has grown throughout the years. This year, more than 4,100 people submitted a vote, a record-breaking response. Now that the votes have been counted, the bank is planning to donate a total of $25,000 among the top 10 vote recipients. They are: I Found Light Against All Odds (Springfield), Scantic Valley YMCA (Wilbraham), Friends of Hampden Seniors (Hampden), South End Community Center (Springfield), Women’s Empowerment Scholarship (Greater Springfield), Monson Free Library (Monson), Whip City Animal Sanctuary (Westfield), Miracle League of Western Massachusetts (Springfield), the Graceful Swan (Ware), and Springfield Ballers (Springfield).
UMass Amherst Ranks in Top 20 for Online Programs
AMHERST — UMass Amherst’s online education programs are recognized among the best in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report’s just-released 2025 rankings. For the fourth consecutive year, the university continues to place in the top 20 public and private colleges and universities for its undergraduate and graduate online degree programs. Three UMass Amherst Isenberg School of Management bachelor’s and master’s online business programs placed in the top five in their respective categories, including master’s business programs supporting military veterans and active-duty service members that do not award an MBA. UMass Amherst online bachelor’s degree programs moved up one spot to 19th out of 350 public and private colleges and universities, and the university remains the only New England institution in the top 20. Among UMass Amherst’s online bachelor’s degree programs represented are degree completion through the University Without Walls interdisciplinary studies program, as well as business administration, nursing, sociology, and sustainable food and farming. The Isenberg School of Management bachelor’s degree in business program ranks No. 5 out of 218 institutions and was the only New England university— public or private— to place in the Top 20. In online master’s business programs, UMass Amherst also placed at No. 5 out of 206 institutions. In other graduate degree programs, Isenberg’s MBA program ranks at No. 16, and the university placed No. 13 in MBA general management, a new category this year. UMass Amherst online programs also ranked in the top 15 for their support of veterans and active-duty service members. The non-MBA master’s program improved to second in the nation, and its bachelor’s program climbed two spots to 11th, while the online MBA ranks 14th. Finally, the Elaine Marieb School of Nursing placed 30th, and the master’s education program climbed 12 spots from last year.
PeoplesBank Reports on Donations, Volunteer Hours
HOLYOKE — PeoplesBank announced that its community investments have totaled $1.6 million annually for the past three years, and $16,364,028 over the past 12 years. The bank made 557 nonprofit grants in 2024, 14 exceeding $15,000, with the average being $3,500. Further, 208 associates or board members participated in matching gift donations or workplace giving pledges for a total of $55,750. Meanwhile, bank associates volunteered 8,500 hours in the community, and sit on boards of directors and committees for nonprofits. The bank is also committed to three longer-term capital campaigns for the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, Square One, and Behavioral Health Network, for a total of $550,000.
Hot Plate Brewing Co. Recognized by USA Today
PITTSFIELD — Hot Plate Brewing Co., the only Latina-owned brewery in Massachusetts, was recently named a finalist for USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards for Best New Brewery.
Since opening its doors in downtown Pittsfield in February 2023, this mission-driven organization has been garnering attention on a local, regional, and national level, for both its beers and the impact it is making in the community. Sarah Real, owner and head brewer, was also recently elected to the Massachusetts Brewers Guild board of directors as well as the Pink Boots Society board of directors, largely because of the work she has been doing to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in an overwhelmingly male industry. While Hot Plate is garnering attention in the world of craft beer, it has also been awarded for its work by organizations as varied as Mass Econ, National Alliance on Mental Illness Berkshire County, and Berkshire Pride. In 2024, it raised more than $10,000 for a variety of mission-aligned nonprofit organizations, including the Pittsfield Area Council of Congregations, which collectively raised more than $27,000 for this year’s Fuel Fund, which the brewery supported in several ways.
Florence Bank Supports Cooley Dickinson Campaign
FLORENCE — Florence Bank has pledged $75,000 to Cooley Dickinson Hospital’s $26 million Transforming Emergency Care Campaign to renovate, expand, and enhance the Emergency Department (ED) and improve the standard of care. Cooley Dickinson broke ground on the extensive project to transform the ED in 2023. Project goals include reducing wait times, increasing patients’ comfort and privacy, enhancing staff communications, and improving the standard of care. The undertaking is one of the largest capital investments in the hospital’s history, and this is the final year of the campaign. Florence Bank is a loyal supporter of Cooley Dickinson and, over the years, has donated to many campaigns, most recently the new Childbirth Center, North Building, and Cancer Center, and has supported many programmatic needs, such as nursing development. Construction in the ED is ongoing, with a new addition in the works and pods being constructed and renovated in phases. Dukette said ED staff have adeptly worked around the construction, reassessing and realigning workflows as necessary.
STCC to Replace 164 Windows in Garvey Hall
SPRINGFIELD — Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) has launched an extensive window-replacement project at Garvey Hall, an historic building on campus, thanks to $792,000 in Fair Share funding from the Healey-Driscoll administration. The window-replacement effort, managed by STCC’s Facilities Department, combines the need for historic preservation with modern energy-efficiency improvements. Facilities and Kuhn Riddle Architects of Amherst worked with the National Park Service to specify a window that met the historic and energy-efficient requirements. The project involves replacing 164 windows on the west side of the building, facing the campus green. Funding for the project comes from the state Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance through the state’s Fair Share Amendment funds. The allocation of these funds specifically supports projects aimed at energy efficiency, making this effort a match for the college’s needs. The phased project began on Dec. 9 and is expected to be completed by early February.
Big Y Donates 1 Million Meals to Food Banks
SPRINGFIELD — Big Y’s annual Sack Hunger campaign provides funds for four food banks within its two-state marketing area. In turn, these food banks support local soup kitchens, food pantries, senior food programs, daycare centers, and many others of the 2,100 member agencies they help every day. Their goal is to maximize access to nutritious food and other resources that support food security for those at risk of hunger. Throughout this past holiday season, customers and employees generously supported Sack Hunger at Big Y supermarkets and Table & Vine Fine Wines and Liquors. Every $5 donation brought 10 meals to those in need of support. Additionally, Big Y added more ways to boost their efforts with specific proceeds from the produce, floral, and meat departments, along with a portion of every one of Big Y’s family of private-label brands. Big Y’s Sack Hunger campaign started in 2010, when 740 meals were donated. With this year’s 1 million meals, the program continues to expand its efforts to support those in need. Big Y’s Sack Hunger donation is part of its ongoing support throughout the year, including almost daily donations of meat, fresh produce, and bakery products, along with grocery, frozen, and dairy items. The four regional food banks are the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, the Worcester County Food Bank, the Greater Boston Food Bank, and Connecticut Foodshare.
Berkshire Bank Reports 100% Employee Volunteerism in 2024
BOSTON — Berkshire Bank employees achieved a milestone in 2024: 100% participation in the company’s award-winning volunteer program. In all, employees completed more than 250 company-sponsored projects that totaled more than 11,500 hours of service across Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, Connecticut and Rhode Island, as well as thousands more hours volunteering as individuals in their hometown communities. Named for the X in its logo, Berkshire’s XTEAM employee volunteer and giving program is a central element of its workplace culture, providing employees with an easy way to put the bank’s corporate values into action and help local communities. In addition, the Berkshire Bank Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Berkshire Bank, invested more than $1.7 million in local communities across its five-state footprint in 2024, including more than $450,000 from October to December. For the year, nearly 400 nonprofits benefited from foundation grants and other giving, which included more than 110 nonprofits in the last three months of 2024.
Davis Foundation Supports Local Farmer Awards
AGAWAM — The Irene E. and George A. Davis Foundation has become the newest lead funding partner with a contribution to the Local Farmer Awards, a program in its 11th year providing annual grants of up to $2,500 to Western Mass. farmers, helping them purchase capital equipment used as an ongoing part of farm operations. Harold Grinspoon — whose foundation, in partnership with Big Y and the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture, and in collaboration with 15 other community funders, makes these awards possible — described the Davis Foundation gift as “a pivotal moment in our ability to help more deserving farmers.”
Community Bank Reports Charitable Giving for 2024
DEWITT, N.Y. — Community Bank announced that its charitable giving, in conjunction with its parent company and affiliated subsidiaries, totaled more than $3.9 million in 2024. More than 2,200 nonprofit organizations that provide essential services to the communities the company serves received support through sponsorships and donations. The bank’s parent company, Community Financial System Inc., includes the companies OneGroup Insurance, Benefit Plans Administrators, and Community Bank Wealth Management. Among last year’s charitable-giving efforts, more than $200,000 was given to United Way agencies across the company’s footprint through a combination of corporate contributions and employee payroll deductions. Beyond financial support, Community Bank branches often host charitable drives and events as a way for employees, customers, and community members to participate in charitable-giving efforts. Employees across Community Financial System Inc. also volunteer their time to a variety of local nonprofits, including cultural, civic, economic-development, and social-service organizations and charities. In 2024, the organization’s team members committed more than 17,800 hours to volunteer initiatives to give back to their communities, and more than 405 team members served on not-for-profit boards and committees.
