People on the Move

The law firm Bulkley Richardson announced that A. Hazel Mugo has joined the firm as Counsel. A member of the Business and Finance Department, she focuses her practice on general corporate, business, and financial law and commercial transactions. Mugo works principally in Bulkley Richardson’s Springfield office, and is also a member of the New York Bar. She has advised borrowers and lenders on all aspects of financing, including secured and unsecured debt financing, and venture-capital and acquisition financing. She has also advised financial institutions on private placements and securities-law matters. Mugo teaches mutual-fund and hedge-fund law at the University of Connecticut School of Law on an adjunct basis, and serves as a fellow at the school’s Insurance Law Center. She earned her doctorate and LL.M. from Harvard Law School, and LL.B., magna cum laude, from the University of Nairobi in Kenya, and practiced as a corporate associate at major international firms.
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West Springfield-based Burkhart, Pizzanelli, P.C. announced that Caron LaCour has joined the certified public accounting firm. LaCour’s prior experience includes six years with J.M. O’Brien & Co., P.C. as a Senior Tax Specialist and 11 years as a Staff Accountant for Kostin, Ruffkess & Co., LLC. LaCour received her BS in Accounting from Western New England University.
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The Gray House recently inducted David Chase, Vice President/Commercial Lender at Hampden Bank in Springfield, to its board of directors for a three-year term. The nonprofit organization is a small neighborhood human-services agency that assists neighbors facing hardships in meeting their immediate and transitional needs by providing food, clothing, and educational services in a safe, positive environment in the North End of Springfield. Chase, who has more than 20 years of banking experience, also serves on the Agawam Planning Board, is a member of the Board of Directors of the West of the River Chamber, and is a member of the Rotary Club of Springfield.
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Hampden Bank recently announced the following:
• Amy Scribner has been promoted to Vice President and Director of Marketing. She joined Hampden Bank in 1990 and has worked in the Marketing Department since 2002. She is now responsible for the support of the bank’s strategic marketing initiatives as well as all marketing and advertising; and
• Tara Corthell has been promoted to Senior Vice President and Director of Finance. She joined Hampden Bank in 2005 as the Financial Manager; she previously worked at Investors Bank & Trust in Boston as a Reporting and Compliance manager. Corthell will oversee all of the organization’s financial functions.
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The Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce announced its first-ever Chamber Ambassador of the Year Award, honoring Darlene Morse, Business Account Representative at CareerPoint. Morse received the award after volunteering the most hours of any ambassador this past year. Since becoming an ambassador in 2006, Morse has attended and assisted in over 100 events. Morse and her manager, CareerPoint Executive Director David Gadaire, will be honored at the chamber’s Holiday Business Breakfast on Dec. 11 at the Delaney House in Holyoke.
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Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C., a Springfield-based labor and employment law firm serving the Greater Springfield area, announced that Ralph Abbott Jr. was named to the Best Lawyers 2014 Springfield, Mass., as Labor Law-Management Lawyer of the Year. A partner in the firm since 1975, Abbott represents management in labor relations and employment-related matters, providing employment-related advice to employers, assisting clients in remaining union-free, and representing employers before the National Labor Relations Board. Those honored as Lawyers of the Year have received particularly high ratings in surveys by earning a superior level of respect among their peers for their abilities, professionalism, and integrity. This is Abbott’s second win in three years.
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Allison Chen has been named Manager of Great Ideas at Springfield Technical Community College (STCC). Formerly with Fidelity Investments in Smithfield, R.I., Chen brings her experience in business analysis, customer experience, satisfaction planning, and service delivery with her to STCC, where she will serve as Manager of Great Ideas, a ‘Voice of the Associate’ program implemented at the college in 2011 to better serve the campus community. The Great Ideas program has implemented more than 1,500 employee ideas with a projected cost savings to the college of more than $700,000. Chen earned her BS in 1997 from the UMass Amherst and her MBA from Boston College in 2011.
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Elvira Loncto, a Service Line Manager of Geriatrics and Extended Care at VA Central Western Massachusetts Healthcare System, was recently honored at the 11th annual Excellence in Government Awards luncheon, hosted by the Federal Executive Assoc. of Western Massachusetts (FEAWM) at the Log Cabin Banquet & Meeting House.  The FEAWM recognizes the best and the brightest employees in federal service in the region in 15 categories. Loncto supervises staff in seven community-care programs, is the local administrator of the Community Living Center, and oversees a substantial budget, which impacts older enrolled veterans from Berkshire County to Fitchburg.
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The Springfield Group of Northwestern Mutual recently appointed Cathy Hunter, Nico Santaniello, and Timothy Barnes as Financial Representatives. They will join a network of specialists offering a wide array of products including business-continuation planning, business risk management, financial planning, retirement planning, and more. Before joining Northwestern Mutual, Hunter was a Real Estate Broker at Goggins Real Estate in Northampton, and received a bachelor’s degree from West Chester University of Pennsylvania. Previous to joining Northwestern Mutual, Santaniello was a Teller at TD Bank in Longmeadow, and received a bachelor’s degree in Finance from Western New England University. Prior to his new position, Barnes was Life Enhancement Director at Loomis Communities, and received an associate’s degree from Holyoke Community College and a Community Health certificate from Springfield Technical Community College.