People on the Move

Michael Tucker, president and CEO of Greenfield Cooperative Bank (GCB), announced that the board of directors has approved the promotions of Christopher Wilkey to MIS officer, Adam Baker to vice president – commercial loans, Janet Rosenkranz to vice president and senior credit officer, and Erin Tautznik to assistant vice president and branch officer.

• Wilkey is responsible for administration of the bank’s internal network and assisting staff in technology issues. He has been with GCB since 2007 and has been lead technology specialist since 2014. He attended the accounting program at Greenfield Community College.

• Baker has more than 11 years in banking, primarily in commercial credit. He is a graduate of UMass Amherst and received his MBA from Southern New Hampshire University. He is based in the King Street office of Northampton Cooperative Bank, a division of Greenfield Cooperative Bank. He is responsible for developing new commercial-loan business in the bank’s market area, with a focus in Hampshire County. He is active in Horizons for Homeless Children, the Special Olympics, and Lighthouse Holyoke.

• Rosenkranz has more than 23 years in banking and has been with GCB since 2016. She is a graduate of UMass Amherst with a degree in economics. She is based at the 62 Federal St. office of GCB and is responsible for managing the bank’s commercial credit-analysis staff and assisting in managing the overall bank loan portfolio. She is active with the American Cancer Society, the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, and Safe Passage.

• Tautznik has more than 14 years of banking experience. She is responsible for managing the 67 King St., Northampton office of the bank. She joined the bank in 2004 and has attended Holyoke Community College and numerous banking seminars and courses. She is also a volunteer with the JFK Middle School’s after-school program.

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In recognition of her leadership in supervising social-work students from Springfield College, Square One Chief Family Services Officer Jenise Katalina was recently named Field Supervisor of the Year. The award was presented by the Springfield College School of Social Work at a ceremonial breakfast on April 26. The recognition comes following Square One’s longstanding partnership with Springfield College and Katalina’s years of leading the school’s aspiring social workers by supervising their field work at Square One. Before joining Square One, Katalina served for six years as a supervisor in a Springfield-based residential program for latency-age children struggling with emotional and behavioral challenges related to trauma. Her prior experience includes the supervision and coordination of after-school programs and drop-in teen youth programs with the YMCA of Greater Springfield. She received her bachelor’s degree from Westfield State University and her master of social work degree from Springfield College. She is a licensed certified social worker in Massachusetts. Katalina is the past chair of the Springfield Department of Health and Human Services’ Maternal Child Health Commission. She currently serves in a leadership capacity for the Hampden County Perinatal Support Coalition and the Springfield Baby Bottoms Diaper Bank. She serves on the board of directors for MotherWoman and is a Baystate community faculty member for the Population-based Urban and Rural Community Health program. She is also a member of many community collaborative groups, including the Project ACCESS Maternal-Child Health Partnership and Springfield’s Project Baby.

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Coldwell Banker Upton-Massamont Realtors announced the addition of Realtor Melissa Brunt to its roster of professional real-estate agents in its Main Street, Northampton office. After working in the hospitality industry for a number of years, Brunt decided to make the switch to residential real-estate sales. Brunt is a member of the Realtor Assoc. of the Pioneer Valley, the National Assoc. of Realtors, and the Massachusetts Assoc. of Realtors. As a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Upton-Massamont Realtors, her primary focus will be residential real estate in Hampshire and Franklin counties.

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Berkshire Bank announce the 2019 Volunteer Service X-ellence Award winners: Leonard O’Dea, money desk officer in Pittsfield, for his leadership and individual volunteer service activities outside of his role at the bank; Melissa Myers, compliance analyst in Pittsfield, for her leadership and service in both company-supported and individual volunteer activities; and Shanatia Bygrave, financial services representative in Hudson, N.Y., for her leadership and participation in the bank’s corporate volunteer program. Each year, the bank recognizes employees for their volunteerism in the community by naming three top volunteers. The annual awards program celebrates company employees who have made outstanding contributions to their communities.  The three recipients were selected based on their strong record of volunteerism to nonprofit organizations through both company-supported activities and individual service in the broader community. Each of the award winners received a $1,000 donation that will be made to the nonprofit organization of their choice.

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The largest healthcare IT managed-services provider in Western Mass., baytechIT, is expanding its leadership team with the appointment of David Rooks as director of Operations. A seasoned IT and telecommunications industry leader, Rooks previously served as manager of the Project Management Office at VertitechIT.

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With more than 25 years of business-development and public-relations experience, Joe Mitchell has joined Eversource as its newest community-relations and economic-development specialist. He will serve as the company’s liaison for communities in Hampden and Hampshire counties. His focus is supporting Eversource’s electric service business. Mitchell is a past co-chair of the Economic Development Partners of Western Massachusetts, executive director of the Westfield Redevelopment Authority, and a graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Most recently, he served as the city of Westfield’s Advancement officer. In this role, he successfully completed numerous large, long-term projects directly related to business development and retention for the city. His previous duties involved site location, expansion, and technical assistance generating private investment, economic opportunities, and jobs. He has worked with all of the Western Mass. communities and has strong relationships with municipal officials and business leaders.

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Mark Kempic will assume the role of president of Columbia Gas of Massachusetts on May 1. The role of president is in addition to his current role as chief operating officer of Columbia Gas, which he has held since January 2019. From September 2018 to January 2019, Kempic was a key part of the leadership team for the Greater Lawrence recovery efforts. Since January, he has led the team focused on restoring the communities of Andover, Lawrence, and North Andover, including overseeing the introduction of the Columbia Gas Equipment Repair Plan, the Heating Equipment Replacement Program, and the private-property restoration work that is currently underway. In his role as president and chief operating officer, Kempic will continue to focus on improvements to statewide infrastructure and implementation of a number of safety enhancements for the company’s infrastructure and operations, as well as phase-two restoration efforts. He will also focus heavily on community engagement, including planned partnerships with local schools for efforts such as career days and other STEM education programs. Kempic first started with Columbia Gas 40 years ago. His experience in the energy industry includes roles in information technology, engineering, gas supply, corporate planning, and legal and regulatory policy. Prior to his assistance in the Merrimack Valley, Mark served as NiSource’s chief transformation officer, responsible for enhancing efforts to integrate processes and technology across the company’s seven-state footprint. He also previously served as president of Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania and Columbia Gas of Maryland. He holds a law degree from Capital University School of Law, a bachelor’s degree in computer and information science from the University of Pittsburgh, and an associate degree in solar heating and cooling engineering from Pennsylvania State University. He has been licensed to practice law in four states, including Massachusetts.

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The U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) announced the election of 100 new members to the academy in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. They include Lila Gierasch, distinguished professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Chemistry at UMass Amherst. The NAS is charged with providing independent, objective advice to the nation on matters related to science and technology. Scientists are elected by their peers to membership in the NAS for outstanding contributions to research. Gierasch’s research focus for decades has been protein folding — that is, how amino-acid sequence determines the three-dimensional structure of a protein. She is particularly focused on how proteins fold in the cellular environment and the role of molecular chaperones in ensuring high fidelity in the folding process. Gierasch’s honor is the latest in a recent series of recognitions she has earned from research peers and professional societies. Last year, for example, she received the American Chemical Society’s Ralph F. Hirschmann Award in Peptide Chemistry for “her seminal contributions to peptide structure and function, peptide models for protein folding and function, and roles of peptide and protein aggregation in disease.” In 2016, she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. That same year, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology named Gierasch editor in chief of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the society’s flagship journal, for a five-year term. In 2014, Gierasch was named to the National Institutes of Health Council of Councils, established to advise the NIH director on policies and activities of the Division of Program Coordination, Planning and Strategic Initiatives, which includes making recommendations on research that represents important areas of emerging scientific opportunities, rising public-health challenges, or knowledge gaps that deserve special emphasis or would otherwise benefit from strategic planning and coordination. Most recently, she was recognized for her “outstanding contributions to peptide science” by the American Peptide Society.

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Fierst, Kane & Bloomberg, LLP announced that Jonathan Kane, who joined the firm in 2001 and became a partner in 2005, has been appointed associate justice of the Housing Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. His last formal day at the firm will be May 31. Meanwhile, Susan Cooper has become a partner in the firm. She has more than 25 years of experience representing businesses of all types and sizes, from sole proprietors to international corporations. Her primary areas of practice include transactional matters such as business acquisitions and sales, corporate reorganizations, advising startups, and commercial lending. She is a graduate of Cornell University and the George Washington University National Law Center. In addition, Mae Stiles has recently become of counsel to the firm. She has 11 years of experience in complex commercial litigation, including antitrust and intellectual-property matters as well as a wide variety of corporate, business, and licensing transactions. She is a graduate of the University of Vermont and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She is admitted to practice in the state and federal courts of Massachusetts, New York, and California.