Company Notebook
UMass Amherst Again Named to List of Best Value Colleges
AMHERST — UMass Amherst has once again been named to the Princeton Review’s guide of the nation’s Best Value Colleges, placing in the top 50 ranking for public schools for the fifth straight year in the 2025 edition of the guide. UMass Amherst slots in at 41 in this year’s public schools ranking, up nine positions from last year and the only New England public institution to make the top 50 for 2025 in the category. All 209 public and private schools listed in the guide scored exceptionally in areas of academics, affordable cost of attendance and/or financial aid, and strong career prospects for its graduates. The 68 public and 141 private institutions were chosen based on a return-on-investment (ROI) rating analysis of more than 40 data points, primarily collected from surveys of administrators at 650 colleges between the fall of 2024 and spring of 2025, as well as data from surveys of enrolled students and payscale.com’s surveys of alumni about their starting and mid-career salaries and job satisfaction. UMass Amherst also placed in the Top 20 Best Schools for Financial Aid (Public Schools) rankings at 12, one of only two New England institutions to make the list. The public schools in this category received the highest financial aid rating, which is based on school-reported data on the percentage of students who were determined to have need and received aid, the percentage of need met for those students, and the percentage of students whose need was fully met. In the past year, the flagship university of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was also named to the Princeton Review’s list of Top 50 Green Colleges for the ninth straight year, landing at 25th on the 2025 edition of the list, and UMass Dining earned the top spot on its list of Best Campus Food for an unprecedented eighth consecutive year.
Belt Technologies Certified by Great Place to Work
AGAWAM — Belt Technologies, manufacturer of PureSteel custom metal belt conveyor solutions, has been Great Place to Work certified for the second year in a row. Great Place to Work is a global authority on workplace culture, employee experience, and leadership behaviors proven to deliver market-leading revenue and increased innovation. The prestigious award is based entirely on what current employees say about their experience working at Belt. Great Place to Work certification recognizes employers that create outstanding employee experiences. Becoming certified is a two-step process that includes surveying employees and completing a questionnaire about the company’s workforce dynamics, policies, environmental stewardship, and community engagement. In order to gain certification, a business needs to score a minimum of 65% on its evaluation. The average score for a company evaluation is 57%. Belt achieved a score of 93%.
bankESB Included in List of America’s Best-In-State Banks
EASTHAMPTON — bankESB has been recognized on the Forbes 2025 list of America’s Best-In-State Banks. This award is presented in collaboration with Statista, the statistics portal and industry ranking provider. Financial institutions serve as the foundation of the financial world, playing a critical role in maintaining the stability of global systems. America’s Best-In-State Banks 2025 aims to showcase the institutions most valued by residents in each state and to recognize the banks that have excelled in meeting the unique needs and expectations of their local communities. The ranking is based on an independent survey of over 26,000 customers in the U.S. Participants evaluated banks on several criteria, including trust, financial advice, customer services, digital services, branch services, and terms and conditions. They also rated the importance of these criteria. A sentiment analysis was conducted using the publicly available reviews and a score.
Bay Path Launches New Associate Degree in Nursing
LONGMEADOW — Bay Path University is launching a new associate of science in nursing (ASN) program to help address the national nursing shortage and create new entry points into the profession. The ASN program offers a flexible pathway for students to gain the knowledge, clinical experience, and credentials needed to take the NCLEX-RN exam and enter the workforce, typically within two years. For those with a non-nursing bachelor’s degree, the ASN can lead into Bay Path’s RN to BSN program, and ultimately into a master of science in nursing (MSN) or a doctorate-level nurse practitioner role. Courses follow a flexible, supportive model. Students without prior college coursework begin with two terms of online academics, followed by four terms of in-person clinical labs and practicums paired with online coursework. No prerequisites are required; all competencies are built into the curriculum. Bay Path is also launching a direct-entry MSN program for students with non-nursing bachelor’s degrees. This pathway enables graduates to earn RN licensure and an MSN, preparing them for leadership and teaching roles in healthcare. Applications for both programs are open now, with classes starting in September.
NEPM Wins Three Awards from Public Media Journalists Assoc.
SPRINGFIELD — The New England Public Media (NEPM) newsroom has received three 2025 Public Media Journalists Assoc. (PMJA) awards. Stations competed against others with similar-sized newsrooms. Former NEPM reporter Nancy Eve Cohen’s piece, “‘Another Level of Coverup’: How a Mass. Law Prevents Clergy Abuse Survivors from Getting Justice,” secured first place in the News Feature category. Cohen has done extensive reporting on criminal justice for survivors of child sexual abuse. Investigative reporter Dusty Christensen teamed up with Republican reporter and editor Greta Jochem on a three-part series about asset forfeiture. Their piece, “Robin Hood or Legalized Theft? Why It’s Easy for Massachusetts Police to Seize Property,” won second place in the category of Collaborative Effort. Christensen also reports and edits for the Shoestring, and Jochem has served as an investigative editor at the Republican since 2023. Reporter Ben James secured a first place PMJA award, also in the category of Collaborative Effort, for his five-part series “Life on the Connecticut.” This was a collaboration with New Hampshire Public Radio, Vermont Public, and the New England News Collaborative. James is a national, award-winning print and audio journalist whose work has also appeared on NPR, the BBC, and more.
Bulkley Richardson Prepares YMCA Camp for Opening
SPRINGFIELD — Bulkley Richardson recently returned to the YMCA’s Stony Brook Acres Day Camp in Wilbraham for its second annual day dedicated to preparing the grounds for campers to arrive. Thirty attorneys and staff turned out to paint, clean, and do yardwork on the 20-acre property. “We chose the YMCA as a firmwide community project to honor the legacy of our partner, Jeff Poindexter, who passed away in 2024,” said Dan Finnegan, Bulkley Richardson’s managing partner. “Jeff knew summer camp was a privilege not all kids had access to and was an advocate of advancing equity in our local neighborhoods. This is our way of honoring Jeff’s longtime commitment to the YMCA and giving back to the community.”
River Valley Counseling Center Becomes Member of ServiceNet
NORTHAMPTON — Two of the Pioneer Valley’s leading nonprofit community mental healthcare providers are coming together on July 1, as River Valley Counseling Center (RVCC) becomes a member organization of ServiceNet. Since 1986, RVCC has operated under the umbrella of Valley Health Systems (VHS), which includes Holyoke Medical Center, Holyoke Medical Group, and Holyoke VNA Hospice Life Care. River Valley Counseling Center, established in 1953, employs approximately 350 staff who provide mental health treatment in Hampden and Hampshire counties. These include outpatient clinics in Holyoke, Chicopee, Easthampton, Springfield, and Westfield; services for students in dozens of schools and universities throughout the region; and an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) that provides in-person support to many local municipalities and businesses. ServiceNet, which had its start in 1965 when mental healthcare began shifting away from the Northampton State Hospital, now employs more than 2,500 staff in a variety of residential support and clinical programs, including outpatient clinics in Northampton, Greenfield, Holyoke, Amherst, and Pittsfield, and the PREP program in Holyoke for young people who have experienced psychosis. With ServiceNet becoming the new umbrella agency for River Valley, it will provide administrative support for RVCC and identify opportunities to further collaborate.
