People on the Move

People on the Move

Catherine Rioux

Catherine Rioux

Monson Savings Bank announced the recent promotion of Catherine Rioux to commercial portfolio officer. She will be based out of the Monson Savings Bank Loan & Operations Center at 75 Post Office Park in Wilbraham. Rioux is very involved in the local communities. She is a member of the Ludlow Rotary Club and the Monson High School scholarship committee, and volunteers with local organizations, including St. Patrick’s Church and I Found Light Against All Odds. She is a graduate of Western New England University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration. She is also a graduate of the New England School of Financial Studies and the Springfield Regional Chamber Leadership Institute. Rioux has had the unique opportunity of working in many departments of the bank, gaining vast knowledge of the industry. In 2006, she started her career with Monson Savings Bank as a high-school intern in the Human Resources department. When her internship ended, she accepted a position as a receptionist, shortly after moving to the Retail department. In 2013, she joined the Residential Lending department as a residential loan servicer. In early 2015, she accepted a position in the Commercial department as a commercial loan servicer. She thrived in this department and would go on to become a junior credit analyst before being promoted to credit analyst. Prior to this most recent promotion, she served as commercial portfolio manager.

•••••

Matt Eddy

Matt Eddy

UMassFive College Federal Credit Union recently introduced the newest leader of its Northampton VA Medical Center branch, Matt Eddy. Eddy began his career at UMassFive three years ago as a member service specialist at the credit union’s King Street, Northampton branch, where his standards for outstanding service quickly created a rapport among the Northampton membership and built the foundation for his promotion to manager of the Northampton VA Medical Center branch. In his new position, he now oversees the day-to-day operations of the Northampton VA Medical Center branch, including leading a team that cultivates a positive banking experience with each member interaction. He is also in charge of maintaining branch compliance.

•••••

Lachlan Harris

Lachlan Harris

Florence Bank promoted Lachlan Harris to the position of information security administration officer. Harris joined Florence Bank in 2016. Prior to his recent promotion, he had served as the information and cybersecurity administrator. In his new role, he will be responsible for security protocols throughout the bank’s information infrastructure. He is a certified information systems security professional and also a member of the Global Information Assurance Certification Advisory Board.

•••••

Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts (JFS) announced the appointment of Gabriela Sheehan as its new Berkshires resettlement coordinator. Sheehan comes to JFS with master’s degree in career and technical education from Northern Arizona University, and more than 10 years of experience teaching in the Pittsfield public-school system. In addition, she served on the United Educator of Pittsfield board for two years, and recently taught ESL to multilingual students in grades 5-8 at Du Bois Middle School. She will join JFS’ New American Program to facilitate the reception and placement of Afghan evacuees in Berkshire County, including coordinating with legal, housing, education, government, advocacy, and social-service agencies and businesses to advance opportunities for refugees to survive, integrate, and thrive in Berkshire County. She will also work closely with volunteer leaders and organizations taking part in resettlement efforts. She will begin her new position on Dec. 6. Sheehan credits growing up in a multi-lingual, bicultural home, and her late father, Ramiro Guerrero, who was a champion for justice for the Latino community in the Berkshires, for giving her the incentive to become a strong advocate for immigrant families. She looks forward to sharing her passion for cultural diversity with the greater community.

•••••

Cecile Mejean

Cecile Mejean

OMG Inc., a Steel Partners company and a leading manufacturer of fasteners, adhesives, and construction-productivity tools marketed through its FastenMaster and Roofing Products divisions, named Cecile Mejean director of the New Product Development & Innovation Department for its OMG Roofing Products division. She will lead the new-product development team, driving product and application innovation for the division. In addition, she will lead the Technical Services organization in delivering technical product support and managing codes and approvals. She reports to Peter Coyne, senior vice president and general manager. Mejean joins OMG Roofing Products from Saint-Gobain High-Performance Materials. She spent the past nine years in research and development and business-leadership roles, most recently as business manager for the electronic market. Before Saint-Gobain, she held research positions at Yale University Medical School and Harvard University. She holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and materials science from Yale University and master’s degrees in soft matter, colloids, and polymers from the University of Bordeaux and in chemical engineering from the Ecole National Superieure de Physique et Chimie de Bordeaux, both in Bordeaux, France.

•••••

Mike Kelly

Smith Brothers Insurance hired Mike Kelly as private client practice leader. He is responsible for private-client growth initiatives, client service, and enhancing the company’s people-focused culture. Kelly brings 15 years of experience in the insurance industry on the agent, broker, and carrier sides, with key leadership roles in high-net-worth personal lines. Most recently, he was vice president, regional executive for PURE Insurance, a carrier that specializes in financially successful families.

•••••

Dr. Simone Alter-Muri

Dr. Simone Alter-Muri, Springfield College’s director and professor for Art Therapy/Counseling and Art Education Programs, recently received the American Art Therapy Assoc. (AATA) 2021 Outstanding Creative Applied Practice Award (OCAPA). Alter-Muri received her honor during the AATA’s recent 2021 virtual awards ceremony. The criteria for this award included personal art making that emphasized social justice, resilience, and the promotion of art therapy in the community. Alter-Muri’s art making has demonstrated a commitment to creative practice and has significantly influenced the art-therapy community with these art-based practices. She has demonstrated support for the value of art in art therapy as evidenced by both personal and professional practice as an artist and art therapist. The OCAPA is designated for an active member of the AATA whose contributions as an artist and art therapist (or student in a current art-therapy program) have significantly influenced the art-therapy profession. The AATA is dedicated to the growth and development of the art-therapy profession. Founded in 1969, the association is one of the world’s leading art-therapy membership organizations. Its mission is to advance art therapy as a regulated mental-health profession and build a community that supports art therapists throughout their careers.

•••••

Diane Brunelle

Diane Brunelle

Dennis Duquette

Dennis Duquette

Mark O’Connell

Mark O’Connell

The Elms College board of trustees appointed three regional leaders — Diane Brunelle, Dennis Duquette, and Mark O’Connell — to serve on the board. Brunelle, a 1984 alumna, is president of the Elms College Alumni Assoc. and has been a member of the association since 2012. She is a retired nurse executive who has more than 30 years of experience serving in leadership positions at acute healthcare facilities in both Massachusetts and Vermont, including Shriners Hospital for Children, Baystate Health, Holyoke Medical Center, and Brattleboro Memorial Hospital. She has served on numerous boards throughout her career and was the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award from Elms in 2013. Brunelle was a member of the college’s first RN-to-BSN class. She also received her master’s degree in nursing administration from the University of Massachusetts and is a graduate of the Wharton Nursing Leaders Program through the Wharton School and Leonard David School of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania. Duquette is head of Community Responsibility for MassMutual in Springfield and president and CEO of the MassMutual Foundation. He and his team are responsible for setting corporate community-relations strategy development and driving community investments, philanthropy, and community-impact program management for the firm nationally. Duquette has worked in financial services for 40 years; he began his career at MassMutual just out of college and then worked for Fidelity Investments in Boston for 27 years. He returned to MassMutual in his current role in 2016. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Boston College, graduating cum laude with a double major in communications and English. He earned a master’s degree in administrative studies, also from Boston College, and later earned a master’s degree in public policy and administration from Northwestern University. He currently serves on the board of directors at the Jump$tart Coalition in Washington, D.C. as well as the community and government relations committee for the Springfield Museums. O’Connell is a principal in Wolf & Company’s assurance group and is the firm’s president and CEO, responsible for leading Wolf’s overall strategic direction. He has more than 40 years of experience providing audit and financial reporting services to both privately held and publicly traded financial institutions, as well as holding companies (including community banks and mortgage banking institutions) across New England. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Western New England University and is a former board member and board president with the Children’s Study Home in Springfield.

•••••

Marylou Fabbo

Marylou Fabbo

Timothy Murphy

Timothy Murphy

Amelia Holstrom

Amelia Holstrom

Meaghan Murphy

Meaghan Murphy

Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C. announced that two of its attorneys, Marylou Fabbo and Timothy Murphy, have been selected to the 2021 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list in the field of employment and labor law. Additionally, attorneys Amelia Holstrom and Meaghan Murphy were named to the 2021 Massachusetts Rising Stars list. Fabbo has been selected to Super Lawyers 11 times and was twice prior named to the Rising Stars list. A partner and head of the firm’s litigation team, she represents employers in litigation before state and federal courts as well as agencies in Massachusetts and Connecticut. She also has more than 25 years of experience providing legal advice to clients to reduce the risk they will unknowingly engage in illegal employment practices. Murphy was selected to Super Lawyers for the third time after twice being named to the Rising Stars list. Focusing his practice on labor relations, union campaigns, collective bargaining and arbitration, employment litigation, and employment counseling, he has been included in The Best Lawyers in America every year since 2013 and was named Lawyer of the Year in 2015, 2019, 2020, and 2021. He is very active within the local community, sitting on boards of directors for several area organizations, including the Human Service Forum and Community Legal Aid. Holstrom and Murphy have both been selected to the Massachusetts Rising Stars list for the fourth time. Massachusetts Rising Stars recognizes no more than 2.5% of the lawyers in the state. Holstrom defends employers against claims of discrimination, retaliation, harassment, and wrongful termination, as well as actions arising under the Family Medical Leave Act and wage-and-hour laws. She also frequently provides counsel to management regarding litigation-avoidance strategies. She was awarded the Massachusetts Bar Assoc. Community Service Award in 2016, and was named in 2017 as an Up & Coming Lawyer by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly at its Excellence in the Law event. Murphy advises clients regarding all employment-related matters, including compliance with state, federal, and local laws, as well as discipline of employees. She also creates workplace policies for clients and represents them in various forums, including at the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, government agencies, and in state and federal court.

•••••

Antonio Dos Santos

Antonio Dos Santos

Crear, Chadwell, Dos Santos & Devlin, P.C. announced that Partner Antonio Dos Santos was selected to the 2021 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list in the field of real estate. Dos Santos focuses his practice on all facets of commercial real estate, commercial finance, and general business law. He has significant experience representing developers, investors, and lenders regarding complex commercial real-estate transactions, including acquisitions, dispositions, leasing, financing, zoning, and permitting. Additionally, he represents many closely held businesses regarding entity formation, succession planning, mergers and acquisitions, and financing. Active in the community, Dos Santos currently serves as general counsel for a local nonprofit organization, providing advice for all its day-to-day operations, including its development of affordable housing in Massachusetts and throughout the U.S. He also currently serves as chairman of the Westmass Area Development Corp. board of directors.