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Daily News

GLASTONBURY, Conn. — United Bank announced that John Peculis, vice president and commercial real estate banking officer covering the Central Mass. and Metrowest markets, was appointed to Nichols College’s board of advisors.

Peculis, who is based at United’s 33 Waldo St. location in Worcester, joins a group of fellow alumni and others in participating in semi-annual board of advisor meetings, attending alumni events, and volunteering to help advance the college’s overall mission.

In addition, Peculis will serve as an ambassador for Nichols and use his personal and professional networks to promote the college, its students and alumni while increasing its profile in the region’s marketplace. He was appointed to this leadership role by the college’s vice president of Advancement.

Peculis joined United Bank in December 2014 and attended Nichols College from 1997 to 2001, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in management.

Daily News

NORTHAMPTON — Gove Law Office, LLC announced that founding attorney Michael Gove has been chosen as a 2015 Super Lawyers Rising Star in Massachusetts.

Only 2.5% of lawyers are named to the Rising Star list after having first been nominated by their peers. Nominated attorneys are then vetted and evaluated by practice area using a rigorous, multi-phase process for their professional achievement and activities, including experience, honors, and education.

Gove is a 2001 cum laude graduate of UMass Amherst, where he received a bachelor’s degree in political science. In 2004, he earned his juris doctor degree from Boston College School of Law. He is admitted to the Massachusetts and Connecticut bars, the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts, and the U.S. District Court of Connecticut.

Gove Law Office, with offices in Northampton and Ludlow, is a bilingual firm with attorneys who can assist clients in both English and Spanish, providing legal representation in the areas of business representation, commercial lending, residential and commercial real estate, estate planning, immigration, and bankruptcy. For more information, visit www.govelawoffice.com.

Banking and Financial Services Sections

Measure Entitles Businesses to Reimbursement

By MICHAEL A. FENTON, Esq.

Michael A. Fenton

Michael A. Fenton

Does your business import products from a foreign country? If so, you may be eligible for reimbursement of some or all of the import duties you paid over the last three years. In some cases this can equate to hundreds of thousands of dollars in refunds.

Swift action is required because the deadline to apply for reimbursement is Dec. 28. What follows is some detailed advice on what to do.

Through a trade program known as the Gen-eralized System of Preferences (GSP), the U.S. promotes economic growth in the developing world by providing preferential duty-free entry for up to 4,800 products from 129 designated beneficiary countries and territories. The GSP was instituted on Jan. 1, 1976, by the Trade Act of 1974 and has continued in various forms since its enactment.

As with other legislation, Congress often allows the GSP authority to lapse before it is renewed. This causes duties on imports that are normally covered by the GSP to be charged at the applicable port of entry. Said duties are held in escrow pending renewal of the GSP. Once the GSP is re-authorized, duties held in escrow can be retrieved by importers who paid them on GSP products during the period in which the GSP lapsed.

However, if any item’s GSP status changes, thereby losing eligibility for duty-free treatment, the duties held in escrow will not be refunded to the importer.

Most recently, the GSP expired on July 31, 2013, causing companies all the U.S. to be charged tariffs on imports that previously entered the United States without such fees. The lapse of the GSP continued until June 29, 2015 when President Obama signed into law a bill (H.R. 1295) which reauthorized the GSP retroactively to July 31, 2013. This enables importers of GSP-eligible products to seek reimbursement for tariffs paid during the lapse in GSP coverage. The GSP reauthorization provided retroactive benefits only for goods from a country that is a beneficiary of the GSP program as of July 29, 2015. As such, this would exclude countries such as Bangladesh and Russia that lost eligibility between July 31, 2013 and July 29, 2015.

If your business imported products from a foreign country between July 31, 2012 and June 29, 2015 effective legal counsel can help you determine your reimbursement eligibility and navigate the process of seeking a refund.

Importers who filed their entries electronically, used the appropriate special program indicator for GSP, and paid duty on GSP-eligible goods, will receive an automatic refund. However, many entries were made without using the special program indicator for GSP refunds. Unfortunately, many local importers use couriers that did not properly claim eligible GSP products at the time of entry. Many couriers did not claim products as having GSP status at the time of entry because the GSP legislation was expired. Because the products were not claimed at GSP at the time of entry, a formal request must be made of US Customs and Border Protection for a refund of the tariffs.

A refund request for duties deposited must be received by U.S. Customs and Border Protection no later than Dec. 28. There are very specific requirements for processing these requests and our office has experience in handling these claims. Typically, the only documentation needed to determine eligibility and process any applicable refunds can be found on a statement of the transaction from your courier (e.g. FedEx, UPS, etc.)

These tariff refunds represent thousands of dollars to many area business, but swift action is required to receive the reimbursements. If you have questions about GSP reauthorization and whether your company is entitled to a refund contact qualified legal counsel immediately.

Attorney Michael A. Fenton, of Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin, P.C., concentrates his practice in the areas of business planning, commercial real estate, estate planning and elder law; [email protected]; (413) 737-1131.

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Robinson Donovan, P.C. announced that eight attorneys have been selected to the 2015 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list, and three attorneys have been selected to the Rising Stars list.

Super Lawyers, part of Thomson Reuters, is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The annual selections are made using a patented, multi-phase process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates, and peer reviews by practice area. No more than 5% of lawyers in Massachusetts are selected by Super Lawyers, and no more than 2.5% of lawyers in Massachusetts under the age of 40, or in practice for 10 years or fewer, are selected to Rising Stars.

• Kevin Chrisanthopoulos was selected to the 2015 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list in the field of general litigation. He practices litigation.

• Richard Gaberman was selected to the 2015 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list in the field of estate and probate law. His practice focuses on corporate and business counseling, commercial real estate, tax, and estate-planning law.

• James Martin was selected to the 2015 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list in the field of closely held business law. He practices corporate and business counseling, litigation, and commercial real-estate law.

• Jeffrey McCormick was selected to the 2015 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list in the field of general litigation. He practices litigation.

• Carla Newton was selected to the 2015 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list in the field of family law. She practices divorce and family law, litigation, corporate and business counseling, and commercial real estate.

• Nancy Frankel Pelletier was selected to the 2015 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list in the field of civil litigation (defense). She exclusively practices litigation.

• Patricia Rapinchuk was selected to the 2015 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list in the field of employee litigation (defense). She practices employment law and litigation.

• Jeffrey Roberts was selected to the 2015 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list in the field of estate and probate law. His practice focuses on corporate and business counseling and estate planning and administration.

• David Lawless was selected to the 2015 Massachusetts Rising Stars list in the field of state, local, and municipal law. He practices municipal, business, and employment law and litigation.

• Michael Simolo was selected to the 2015 Massachusetts Rising Stars list in the field of estate and probate law. He practices corporate and business counseling, estate planning, and litigation.

• Jeffrey Trapani was selected to the 2015 Massachusetts Rising Stars list in the field of personal injury (defense) law. He practices litigation and employment law.

Community Spotlight Features

Community Spotlight

Courtney Hendricson spends a moment with Sean Vaccarella

Courtney Hendricson spends a moment with Sean Vaccarella in the newly opened Vitamin Shoppe on Elm Street.

Courtney Hendricson thinks of herself as a matchmaker.

Although it’s an unusual way to describe the job of a town official, she is doing all she can to strengthen and facilitate the growth of Enfield’s key industries by introducing people to each other and keeping them informed about opportunities via networking events and social-media platforms.

“Some of our key industries are really strong, and others are burgeoning, but we’re taking a very proactive approach to growth, and I have relationships with builders, developers, site selectors, property owners, and brokers,” said the assistant town manager of development services. “It’s my job to connect them and let them know what is happening in town.”

Retail business is among the community’s key industries, and it is home to 3,000 stores. “Enfield is a regional retail destination, and many people spend their Saturdays here,” Hendricson said, pointing to the presence of industry giants such as Sears, Home Depot, and Costco, as well as a plethora of other stores and eateries found in the mall, shopping centers, and business corridors easily accessible off Interstate 91.

She added that the retail corridor — which starts immediately after vehicles exit from 91, runs along Elm Street, and connects to Freshwater Boulevard — continues to grow.

“Starbucks and the Vitamin Shoppe opened in late August in a renovated building on Elm Street that used to be an Arby’s restaurant, Asian Grille and OMI Grocery are opening this month on Enfield Street, and a new, 14,500-square-foot Goodwill store is under construction on Palomba Drive,” Hendricson said. “Hannoush Jewelers put up a new building on Elm Street, expanding from a much smaller space in the Stop & Shop Plaza, and Chick-fil-A built a pad site and opened in the parking lot of an existing shopping center on Hazard Avenue.

“We rarely have vacancies in our retail corridors, and when they occur, the space is filled very quickly,” she continued, adding that the town is working with a food franchiser who hopes to move into the former Rockville Bank building, which sits on 1.1 acres and has been empty for several years.

One of the town’s many retailers, Vitamin Shoppe Manager Sean Vaccarella, views Enfield as an ideal location.

“We’re really excited to be here; the economy is thriving in terms of retail, and there are acres of stores in Enfield,” he said. “We’re looking to penetrate the market and develop a footprint here.”

Advanced manufacturing is another thriving industry, and a pipeline of employees is continually being created, thanks to the strong program at Asnuntuck College.

“They’re known as the leader in Connecticut for this type of education. In fact, the governor took their model and replicated it in other community colleges across the state. Enfield students are exposed to the program in middle school, and every grade from that point on has a program for interested young people,” Hendricson said. “The advanced-manufacturing industry here is robust. ”

The third key industry in town is logistics and distribution. “We’re very strong in this area,” she told BusinessWest. “Advanced Auto Distribution Center moved to Enfield after completing a major renovation of a former 400,000-square-foot Lego warehouse and brought more than 200 jobs here in the last year, and Brooks Brothers Distribution Center is in Enfield and is thriving in our industrial park.”

Hallmark Cards Distribution Center plans to close next June, but town officials are working to connect Hallmark’s commercial real-estate team with interested brokers. “It’s critical to fill all of our buildings to their best use, and we are very proactive in this area,” Hendricson said.

The town is also looking for an interested manufacturer or tenant to occupy a 235,000-square-foot building on 19 acres at 35 Manning Road. “It’s zoned industrial and is part of the commercial real estate that is available,” she told BusinessWest.

Meanwhile, growth is occurring in residential real estate, and revitalization efforts continue in the Thompsonville section of town.

For this, the next installment in BusinessWest’s Community Spotlight series, we look at the many forms of progress being recorded in this community just south of the Massachusetts state line.

Raising Awareness

While existing, traditional sectors of the economy are thriving in Enfield, town officials want to build even more diversity into the equation.

For example, while there are some biomedical-related companies in Enfield, officials want to increase their number.

“The industry is growing, and we’re trying to cultivate it here. Johnson Memorial Hospital has a campus in Enfield, and we have companies that are thriving,” Hendricson said, mentioning Davita Enfield Dialysis on Palomba Drive as an example. New zoning was created about 18 months ago within a few industrial sites to spur growth and facilitate the use of properties for biomedical manufacturing, which include Metro Park North on Route 5, a 135-acre site that could be subdivided.

Town officials are encouraged by the decision by Cirtec Medical Systems, LLC to move from East Longmeadow into a new, 35,000-square-foot plant in Enfield. It will have a 5,000-square-foot clean room and a 6,000-square-foot, controlled-environment assembly space, in addition to a machine shop and laboratory. The company provides outsourced services for the medical-device industry that are used in stroke recovery and heart-disease treatment.

“The move will bring 100 jobs to Enfield, and they have told us they plan to add another 50,” Hendricson said. “We’ve made a concerted effort in the past year to do more outreach to spur additional economic growth. We have also strengthened our revitalization efforts in Thompsonville, and continue to foster an environment that provides new ways to unite our business community.”

To that end, the city’s Economic Development Commission held its first Business Development Summit on Sept. 23, and the 150 available slots were filled quickly.

“It highlighted all of our key industries, and people came from both the Greater Hartford and Springfield areas,” Hendricson said, adding that there were breakout sessions with panels composed of experts who discussed the town’s main industries: advanced manufacturing, logistics and distribution, healthcare and the environment, and the future of retail.

“These are areas where we are really strong, and our goal was to showcase them,” she told BusinessWest, adding that each participant received a booklet with photos and detailed information about every available commercial property in town. “The properties range from 600 to 235,000 square feet; from small, rentable spaces downtown and in Thompsonville  to an available building in our retail corridor that was a car dealership. We worked hard on the summit in hopes that, by bringing players to the table together, they could make deals.”

She added that copies of the booklet, which contain photos and detailed information about available property, were given out last year during a breakfast for commercial real-estate developers.

Hendricson also records quarterly video news clips called “V-News,” which can be seen on YouTube and keep viewers up to date on economic development.

She just finished her third video, and a link to each broadcast is e-mailed to more than 3,000 of what she refers to as “key players,” who range from commercial and residential real-estate developers to businesses and CEOs of leading companies.

Efforts have also been made to streamline the town’s permitting process and make sure it is consistent and predictable. To that end, Enfield recently purchased new, customer-friendly software that is being customized and will allow people to apply for a permit online, 24 hours a day, then check its status.

“It’s exciting. We’re really trying to serve developers and businesses and figure out what we need to do to get people to invest and grow their companies,” she explained.

Growth is also being recorded in residential real estate. A 340-unit, luxury apartment community called Mayfield Place is under construction, and will contain 10 two-story buildings.

“There is a real demand for this type of housing. Bigelow Commons is completely filled, and these units are likely to appeal to professionals,” Henricson said, referring to the former carpet mill that was renovated and converted to apartments.

In addition, revitalization efforts continue in Thompsonville, which include infrastructure improvements. “We’ve been very proactive; we have formed partnerships with building owners and continue to work with state officials to make sure a new transit center there becomes a reality,” she went on, explaining that the vision for Thompsonville is to turn it into a vibrant, walkable village centered around the transit center, as a commuter rail line between New Haven, Hartford, and Springfield is slated to begin operating next year.

Moving Forward

Town officials urge business owners and investors to visit www.thinkenfield.com, a site established a year ago devoted entirely to news and opportunities related to economic development.

“It contains demographics on all of our commercial properties,” said Hendricson. “There is also a calendar of current events and information about revitalization work being done.”

In addition, Enfield offers space for business classes and meetings free of charge, and employees in its information-technology department help new businesses with tasks ranging from creating Excel spreadsheets to establishing websites.

“We continue to show investors and developers the potential of Enfield,” she went on. “The town is on the move, and we are making things happen. There is room to grow and open a business here.”

Enfield at a glance

Year Incorporated: 1683 in Massachusetts; annexed to Connecticut in 1749
Population: 44,654 (2010)
Area: 34.2 square miles
County: Hartford
Residential Tax Rate: $29.89 (plus fire district tax)
Commercial Tax Rate: $29.89 (plus fire district tax)
Median Household Income: $68,356
Type of government: Town Council; Town Manager
Largest Employers: MassMutual; Hallmark Cards Distribution Center; the Lego Group
* Latest information available

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin, P.C. announced that eight attorneys have been selected to the 2015 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list, and three attorneys have been selected to the 2015 Massachusetts Rising Stars list. Each year, no more than 5% of the lawyers in the state are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to receive the honor, while no more than 2.5% of attorneys in Massachusetts are selected as Rising Stars.

• Shareholder Michele Feinstein concentrates her practice in the areas of estate planning and administration, elder law, probate litigation, health law, and corporate and business planning, including all aspects of planning for the succession of business interests, representation of closely held businesses and their owners, and representation of physicians in their individual and group practices. She was selected to the 2015 Super Lawyers list in the field of closely held business.

• Shareholder Gary Fentin concentrates his practice in the areas of commercial and real-estate finance and development, industrial revenue bonds, affordable housing, estate planning, business law, and business foreclosures and workouts. He manages the firm’s tax-exempt bond practice and has acted as bond counsel and/or purchaser’s counsel in hundreds of such issues since 1978. He was selected to the 2015 Super Lawyers list in the field of government finance.

• Shareholder Carol Cioe Klyman concentrates her practice in the areas of elder law, estate planning and administration, special-needs-trust planning, estate settlement, guardianships, and trust and estates litigation. She was selected to the 2015 Super Lawyers list in the field of elder law.

• Managing Partner Timothy Mulhern concentrates his practice in the areas of family-business planning, taxation, corporate law, commercial real estate, and estate planning. He was selected to the 2015 Super Lawyers list in the field of tax law.

• Shareholder Steven Schwartz concentrates his practice in the areas of family business planning, mergers and acquisitions, corporate law, and estate planning. His practice involves representation of principals in family-business planning (including exit planning for business owners), representation of individuals and corporations in the purchase and sale of business enterprises, strategic planning for the future of clients’ businesses, and providing advice on alternatives in financing through loans and venture capital. He was selected to the 2015 Super Lawyers list in the field of business and corporate law.

• Shareholder James Sheils concentrates his practice in the areas of commercial finance law, creditors’ rights, banking law, and telecommunications siting matters. He was selected to the 2015 Super Lawyers list in the field of banking law.

• Shareholder Ann Weber concentrates her practice in the areas of estate planning, estate administration, probate, and elder law. She has a particular interest in creative estate planning for authors, artists, farmers, and landowners. She was selected to the 2015 Super Lawyers list in the field of elder law.

• Shareholder Steven Weiss concentrates his practice in the areas of commercial and consumer bankruptcy, reorganization, and litigation. He supervises the firm’s bankruptcy, reorganization and workout practice, and represents creditors, debtors, and others in both commercial and consumer bankruptcy cases throughout Massachusetts. He was selected to the 2015 Super Lawyers list in the field of bankruptcy and business law.

To be selected as a Rising Star, an attorney must be either 40 years old or younger or in practice for no more than 10 years.

• Attorney Michael Fenton concentrates his practice in the areas of business planning, commercial real estate, estate planning, and elder law. He represents principals in business formation and succession planning, businesses in the purchase and sale of enterprises, developers in the acquisition and permitting of projects, and high-net-worth individuals in establishing comprehensive and sophisticated estate plans. He was selected to the 2015 Rising Stars list in the field of business and corporate law.

• Attorney L. Alexandra Hogan concentrates her practice primarily in business, litigation, and bankruptcy law. She was selected to the 2015 Rising Stars list in the field of bankruptcy and business law.

• Attorney David Webber practices in the areas of business transactions, estate and succession planning, taxation, and nonprofits. He was selected to the 2015 Rising Stars list in the field of closely held business.

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Crear, Chadwell, Dos Santos & Devlin, P.C. announced that attorneys James Chadwell and Bruce Devlin have been selected to the 2015 Massachusetts Super Lawyers List, and attorney Antonio Dos Santos has been selected to the 2015 Massachusetts Rising Stars list. Each year, no more than 5% of the lawyers in the state are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to receive the honor, while no more than 2.5% of attorneys in Massachusetts are selected as Rising Stars.

Now in its 12th year, the Super Lawyers list recognizes area attorneys who have distinguished themselves in their legal practice through a rigorous selection process and third-party validation of their professional accomplishments. To be selected as a Rising Star, an attorney must be either 40 years old or younger or in practice for 10 years or less, and must be nominated by other lawyers who have personally observed them in action, either as opposing counsel or co-counsel, or through other firsthand courtroom observation.

• Chadwell was selected to the 2015 Massachusetts Super Lawyers List in the field of workers’ compensation. He focuses his practice on consulting with and representing insurers, self-insurers, and employers throughout Massachusetts, and has experience advising his clients regarding workers’ compensation claims, safety programs, cost-control programs, insurance coverage, and disability and employment-related issues. He has lectured extensively and participated in numerous seminars on Massachusetts workers’ compensation issues.

• Devlin was selected to the 2015 Massachusetts Super Lawyers List in the field of estate and probate. He has worked in both the legal and accounting professions. He founded the law firm of Frankel Devlin, LLC, where he worked from 2007 to 2014, when he joined Crear, Chadwell, Dos Santos & Devlin, P.C. He has effectively incorporated his tax background into his legal expertise, focusing on business law, wills, trusts, and other aspects of estate-planning probate, estate administration, taxation, and elder law.

• Dos Santos was selected to the 2015 Massachusetts Rising Stars list in the field of real estate. He specializes in 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.

Commercial Real Estate Sections

Part and Parcel

Kevin Kennedy

Kevin Kennedy stands at the site of the former Chestnut Junior High School in Springfield’s North End. Below left: the school during demolition.

School demolition

Recent calamities in Springfield, including the tornado of 2011 and the natural-gas explosion of 2012, created hardship — but also intriguing development opportunities. The same can be said of the 2013 fire that leveled the historic Chestnut Street Junior High School. It eventually resulted in four shovel-ready acres in the heart of what has come to be called the Medical District.

Kevin Kennedy says that, before Chestnut Junior High School was essentially destroyed by fire in 2013, Springfield had what amounted to a development opportunity in the city’s North End.

It just wasn’t a very solid opportunity, Kennedy, the city’s chief development officer, went on, as evidenced by the fact that at least three requests for proposals (RFPs) involving that property over the past decade or so — he admits to actually losing count — failed to yield a workable project.

The reason was simple: the cost of repurposing the school or demolishing the structure, built in 1901 and vacant since 2004, and then remediating the four acres it sat on, made redeveloping the site financially prohibitive.

And there were other issues as well, said Kennedy, adding that the building was listed on the Massachusetts Register of Historic Places, thus limiting what could be done with the building and even making demolition a stern, time-consuming hurdle to overcome.

But the fire changed the dynamic in many ways by essentially removing all those obstacles.

Amid safety concerns, the city demolished the four-story structure, and, to apply a lesson it learned from what it did (or, more to the point, didn’t do) following a fire at the former Gemini manufacturing complex in the South End, it remediated the site, including removal of the foundations, said Kennedy.

“This site is now highly developable,” he told BusinessWest, adding that, while the price tag for razing and cleaning the site exceeded $1.5 million, the city may well come to consider that bill a sound investment rather than an aggravating expense.

Thus, like other recent calamities in Springfield — most notably the 2011 tornado and 2012 natural-gas blast — the suspicious fire at the Chestnut Street school has created an intriguing development opportunity.

But, as with those other opportunities spawned from disaster, this one comes wrapped in challenges, the biggest being the fact that those four acres lie in what is statistically one of the poorest neighborhoods in the Commonwealth, a possible stumbling block when it comes to some of the possible strategies for redevelopment, including retail.

But that area is rich in other ways, said Kennedy, adding that it lies in the heart of what city economic-development officials have come to call the Medical District.

Springfield’s Medical District

The former Chestnut Junior High School is at the center of this map showing Springfield’s Medical District.

Indeed, Baystate Medical Center, Mercy Medical Center, and Shriners Hospital for Children are all within only a few hundred yards of the school site, he explained, adding that a number of other medical facilities, many under the Baystate umbrella, are now located just off Main Street in the so-called Wason section of the North End.

More than 10,000 people, many of them in well-paying positions, work at facilities considered part of the Medical District, said Kennedy, adding that the numbers add up to some compelling opportunities, ranging from the broad spectrum of retail to the creation of market-rate housing for some of those workers, including the hundreds of young doctors in residence at Baystate.

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, Kennedy laid out some of the possibilities for this potential-laden blank canvas in the North End’s Memorial Square neighborhood.

Out of the Ashes

The deadline for responding to the RFP for the Chestnut Street site was Sept. 14, said Kennedy, adding that it will be extended to Oct. 5 (with questions due by Sept. 25) to give the development community more time to consider options.

“We’ve had a number of calls, and for that reason we think there’s a bit of interest,” he noted. “And that’s why we’re going to extend it and give people a few more weeks.”

At the very least, he is expecting a far more energetic response than when the 82,000-square-foot school was still standing, with its hundreds of windows boarded up, a state it had been in for several years.

“We had some proposals,” he said, referring to those RFPs issued while the imposing school was still standing. “But when the developer actually got down to brass tacks and put pencil to paper, it didn’t pencil, and all those RFPs went for naught.”

The shovel-ready nature of the property distinguishes it from most not only in Springfield, but also neighboring communities, he went on, as does its close proximity to so many prominent healthcare facilities.

The fire that engulfed the Chestnut Middle School

The fire that engulfed the Chestnut Middle School in 2013 has in many ways created a better development opportunity.

Indeed, the North End has been the site of a number of new developments in recent years, topped by Baystate’s massive $270 million expansion formerly known as the Hospital of the Future. But it has also been a source of speculation about what could — and should — happen next.

So much so that the city commissioned the UMass Amherst Center for Economic Development to undertake a study of the area. That document, “The Springfield Medical District: An Analysis of the Medical Industry and Its Workers,” was completed in 2012.

The report’s authors identified opportunities and challenges in equal abundance.

“The concentration of the medical industry in the district offers many opportunities for commercial and residential development,” they wrote. “However, the city must overcome considerable barriers if it wishes to realize this potential; there is a large potential market for additional shopping, eateries, and other services that cater to medical workers and clients — although few such opportunities currently exist.”

Expanding on those challenges, the report’s authors list everything from I-91, which slices through the North End and creates what they call a “spatial barrier to pedestrian circulation within the district,” to the low-income nature of the residential neighborhood, which is currently home to a very small percentage of the medical personnel working in the district.

The report implies that, if the city could create more attractive housing in the area and, overall, make it a more sought-after place to live, it could capture a large amount of purchasing power it is currently losing to surrounding communities.

“There is a fairly consistent trend — the more one earns, the further away they live from the district, with the highly paid physicians and administrators living the furthest away,” the authors note. “We estimate roughly $400 million in aggregate purchasing power of employees who live outside the city. This means that Springfield fails to capture the indirect economic benefits of its medical industry — the jobs and businesses that are supported by the spending of households.”


Click HERE to download the latest list of available commercial properties in Western Mass.


 

The Chestnut School site won’t change this dynamic on its own, certainly, said Kennedy, noting quickly that market-rate housing on the site could keep some employees not only in Springfield, but in the North End.

“We’ve had conservations with both hospitals,” he said, referring to Baystate and Mercy. “And they both have a need for housing for both employees and trainees. Baystate, for example, is a teaching hospital, and you have residents who aren’t looking for permanent housing, but may need something.”

But there are several options for the property, which is currently zoned residential, he went on, adding that there are several potential opportunities within the broad realm of retail.

The Memorial Square area lacks a major supermarket and other types of shopping, he noted, adding that the parcel is large enough for a supermarket or a chain pharmacy such as CVS. Inquiries to date have reflected an interest in both commercial and residential developments, he went on, adding that the city doesn’t really have a preference.

“We don’t want to presuppose anything,” he told BusinessWest. “We want to see what we think the best deal is and talk with the residents of the neighborhood to see what they want, and then balance the economics with those preferences.”

Razing Expectations

Looking at the Chestnut Street opportunity and the circumstances that created it, Kennedy mixed optimism with some philosophy.

“Oftentimes, as we’ve seen several times in Springfield in recent history, when something bad happens, something good can come of it,” he said, adding that the tornado’s path of destruction certainly contributed to MGM’s choice of the South End for its $800 million casino project.

Whether a similar, smaller-scale success story can be written a few miles to the north in another challenged neighborhood remains to be seen.

But Kennedy believes that fateful fire may have set the stage for another landscape-altering development.


George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]

Daily News

NORTHAMPTON — Gove Law Office announced that Katrina Anop will join the practice as an associate attorney.

As a bilingual (English- and Spanish-speaking) lawyer, Anop will assist clients with their real-estate, family-law, guardianship, and probate needs. She received her bachelor’s degree in legal studies from UMass Amherst and her juris doctorate from Western New England University School of Law in 2011.

Gove Law Office, with offices in Northampton and Ludlow, is a bilingual firm with attorneys who can assist clients in both English and Spanish, providing legal representation in the areas of business representation, commercial lending, residential and commercial real estate, estate planning, guardianships, probate administration, and bankruptcy.

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Robinson Donovan, P.C. announced that seven of its attorneys were listed in The Best Lawyers in America 2016.

Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers has become widely regarded as a guide to legal excellence. The program is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey. More than 79,000 attorneys have cast more than 6.2 million votes to date on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas. Lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice.”

Patricia Rapinchuk has been selected by her peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2016 in the fields of employment law, management; and litigation, labor and employment. Additionally, she was recognized by Best Lawyers as the 2016 Lawyer of the Year in Springfield in the field of litigation, labor and employment.

“I am honored to have been selected by The Best Lawyers in America as the 2016 Lawyer of the Year in Springfield for my work in employment litigation,” Rapinchuk said. “The Springfield area is home to a number of interesting and diverse businesses, and it is a pleasure to help business leaders and employees realize their full potential.”

Meanwhile, Richard Gaberman has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2016 in the fields of corporate law, real-estate law, tax law, and trusts and estates. Previously, he was named the Best Lawyers 2014 trusts and estates Lawyer of the Year in Springfield and the 2013 real-estate Lawyer of the Year in Springfield. His practice focuses on corporate and business counseling, commercial real estate, and estate-planning law.

James Martin was selected for inclusion in the fields of franchise law and real-estate Law. He practices corporate and business counseling, litigation, and commercial real-estate law.

Jeffrey McCormick practices litigation and was selected by his peers for inclusion in the fields of personal-injury litigation, defendants; and personal-injury litigation, plaintiffs. He was previously named the Best Lawyers 2011 personal-injury litigation Lawyer of the Year in Springfield.

Carla Newton was selected for inclusion in the field of family law. She practices divorce and family law, litigation, corporate and business counseling, and commercial real estate.

Nancy Frankel Pelletier was selected in the field of personal-injury litigation, defendants. She exclusively practices litigation.

Finally, Jeffrey Roberts practices corporate and business counseling and estate planning and has been selected by his peers for inclusion in the fields of corporate law and trusts and estates. Previously, Roberts was recognized by Best Lawyers as the 2013 corporate-law Lawyer of the Year in Springfield and the 2012 trusts and estates Lawyer of the Year in Springfield.

Commercial Real Estate Cover Story Sections

an architect’s rendering of the Mill District

Above, an architect’s rendering of the Mill District, the latest business venture for the Cowls/Jones family, which has operated everything from a farm to logging ventures, such as the one seen below, circa 1900.

Cowls Loggers 1900

Planting New Seeds at Cowls Mill District

It’s said to be a place “where history and opportunity meet.” That’s one of the marketing slogans being used for the Mill District in North Amherst. Over more than 250 years and nine generations of the Cowls/Jones family, the site has been home to everything from a trolley station to a cow barn; from one of the nation’s first electric saw mills to a massive building supply store. Now in its latest incarnation, it is being fashioned into a unique mixed-use facility, described, alternately, as a ‘destination’ and a ‘community.’

Cinda Jones says that each generation of her family, going back more than 250 years, has left its mark on the family business, which started as a dairy farm in what is now North Amherst — and also on the community.

Usually, several marks.

In 1741, for example, Jonathan Cowls, who would eventually serve the town as a selectman, acquired what was known as the Home Farm, which stretched across a long strip of land from what is now Route 63 west to the Hadley line. He would eventually expand the small farm into lumber manufacturing. And in 1768, Jonathan’s son, David Cowls, and Sarah (Eastman) Cowls built the farmhouse at 134 Montague Road. Nine generations of the same Cowls/Jones family have lived in that house, which has also served as the operations center for the family business.

Fast-forwarding more than 125 years, Walter Dickinson Cowls, or WD, as he was known, would expand that house. He would also help build the North Amherst Library and eventually give the family enterprise the name it still uses today — W.D. Cowls Inc. As a partner in Cowls & Childs, a contracting business, he built roads and undertook several large construction projects, such as the Amherst and Sunderland Street Railway System. He was also a selectman and later a state representative.

WD’s grandson, Walter Cowls Jones, meanwhile, would expand the business into real estate, and he’s credited with building one of the first, if not the first, electric saw mills in the country. He was Amherst’s water commissioner and chairman of the Planning Board. His son, Denison, founded DH Jones Real Estate in 1958 and built several apartment complexes. Denison’s brother, Paul, ran the family sawmill and timberland operations and built Cowls Building Supply on the Home Farm site in 1980.

“There’s a long legacy of business innovation and community involvement,” said Cinda Jones, Paul’s daughter and current president of W.D. Cowls Inc., and one that she and her bother, Evan, many cousins, and even a niece (the 10th generation involved with the family business) are continuing.

Cinda Jones, left, and Mollye Wolahan

Cinda Jones, left, and Mollye Wolahan stand in Sarah Cowls’ cow barn, currently being transformed into an Atkins Farms Country Market.

And while Jones and her bother have many accomplishments on their resumes — in 2011, for example, they orchestrated a deal that would preserve a 5.4-square-mile forest in Franklin County now named after their father — perhaps their most significant contribution to that family legacy is a development known as the Mill District.

An intriguing work in progress, it embodies the past, present, and future, and is an ambitious redevelopment effort that involves several of the buildings and business operations started or expanded by previous generations of the Cowls/Jones family.

For example, on the site of what used to be a trolley barn on the north side of Cowls Road sits a new development called, appropriately enough, the Trolley Barn. It now houses The Lift salon, the Bread & Butter restaurant, and several apartments on the upper floors. Across the street and a few hundred yards to the east, in what’s still known as Sarah Cowls Cow Barn (named after WD’s only child), an Atkins Farms Country Market is taking shape, with an August soft opening planned.

There are other buildings and sites still to be developed, including a 14,400-square-foot saw mill, a replacement for the one Walter Cowls Jones built and that burned to the ground in 2001; the so-called Onion Barn; several mill houses along Cowls Road, and former farmland stretching to Route 116 called Goat Meadow. Potential uses range from additional retail to facilities for the arts to senior housing.

But Jones told BusinessWest that this development is not simply about finding new uses for properties named by and for her ancestors. It’s also about creating what she described, alternately, as a community and a destination, something she believes is sorely needed in an area less than a mile north of the UMass Amherst campus and three miles from Amherst Center.

“The vision for the Mill District is for an eats, arts, and entertainment destination, built with respect for our industrial and agricultural past and reflecting that history,” she explained. “This is where history and opportunity meet; it would be a place where you would have unique experiences not found on the Internet, a destination for not just college students, but people of all ages.”

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, BusinessWest talked with Jones and Mollye Wolahan, vice president of Real Estate and Commercial Development for W.D. Cowls Inc. about the Mill District and how it has the potential to change the landscape in North Amherst in myriad ways.

Board Feat

As she talked with BusinessWest in that farmhouse on Montague Road built by David and Sarah Cowls, Cinda Jones was supremely confident that the new Atkins Farms market, and the Mill District as a whole, would thrive.

And when asked why, she quickly dove into a discourse on geography — and business — concerning that decidedly rural area north and west of Amherst, starting with the town of Gill, population 1,500, where she lives.

The new Atkins taking shape in the Mill District

The new Atkins taking shape in the Mill District, set for a soft opening next month, is expected to be an anchor for the North Amherst development.

“They call it a food desert around here, and with good reason,” she said, referring to the area that also includes Leverett, Shutesbury, Ashfield, Conway, Deerfield, and other communities from which people commute to Amherst and Northampton. “I live on Route 2, and there’s nothing between Amherst and Route 2 of any substance; there’s no grocery stores of any size.

“Most people who work at UMass, in Amherst, and in points beyond, commute from more-affordable towns,” she went on. “These commuters are demanding better shopping and stopping options on their way home.”

This food desert, coupled with the need to redevelop several of the family’s shuttered or underperforming facilities, such as the saw mill, eventually led to the years-long process of conceptualizing the Mill District and then making it reality.

“We always knew that we would have the chance to do what every generation before us did, which was to figure out what our generation needed and then build it on the Home Farm site,” Jones explained. “The saw mill was sucking wind — it was losing money on 20 acres of land a half-mile north of UMass Amherst, and we decided to build what we know this area needs.”

And also build what is permitted on the commercially zoned property, she added quickly, noting that attempts to amend the zoning to allow more residential density have thus far failed. If that situation should change, then the future course of the district may be reshaped. But for now, the company is dealing with the present reality — meaning both the zoning laws and needs within the community.

This goal for the property is captured in an architect’s rendering of the district that is used as a marketing piece. It shows a mixed-use facility teeming with activity of both sides of Cowls Road. The image represents that mix of commercial and residential development that is sought, as well as a sense of community that both Jones and Wolahan described.

“We want to create a sense of place here in North Amherst,” said Wolahan, who brings a diverse resume to her assignmemt, including work as community development director for the Town of Mountain Village, the resort town adjacent to Telluride in Colorado. “And we found with the opening of the Trolley Barn and also with people coming into our office to explore opportunities with us is that there is such a demand for services and activities in this area.

“There is a large community here that doesn’t have the same services available in downtown,” she went on, adding that there is considerable vehicular traffic in the area on Routes 116 and 63. “There are a lot of families and many students living here, and what we’re trying to do is build on what’s already here and create not just the bricks and mortar, but the sense of community as well.”

While talks with Atkins about creating a presence in North Amherst and, more specifically, on the Cowls/Jones property had been going on for years (more on them later) the first piece of the Mill District development was the Trolley Barn.

The Trolley Barn

The Trolley Barn, now home to The Loft salon, Bread & Butter restaurant, and several apartments, opened its doors last year.

The apartments on the second and third floors leased out quickly — no surprise in an area always starved for market-rate housing — but the businesses also got off to fast starts, said Wolahan.

“Bread & Butter was packed when it first opened,” she recalled. “And it has pretty much stayed that way ever since.”

What’s in Store

When asked how she eventually corralled Atkins as a tenant, Jones didn’t mince words, and only needed a few of them.

“We begged them, begged, them, begged them, and begged them some more,” she said, adding that to cinch a deal, the developers essentially took as much of the risk out of the equation as possible, building out the property to suit and pledging to expand it if (or, more likely, when, Jones predicted) need arises.

That property, a.k.a. the Cow Palace, was, as the name suggests, a functioning dairy barn until only a few decades ago and more recently served as a lumber-storage area. The property bears Sarah Cowls’ name, because it was her operation, said Jones, adding that she was a cattle farmer who also bred sheep, pigs, chickens, dogs, and peacocks, while also growing onions, corn, tobacco, and potatoes.

The barn was actually the third property on the site presented to Atkins as a potential new home, said Jones, adding that she first proposed the saw mill and later the Trolley Barn site, before the company became sold on the dairy barn.

As she offered BusinessWest a tour of the Atkins facility, Jones said the store represents mostly historic preservation, with most all of the old barn kept intact.

The new Atkins will not have a kitchen, so foods will not be prepared there, she said, adding quickly that prepared items will be transported to the new site from the South Amherst flagship facility several times a day. And overall, the new location will offer essentially everything the company sells — from apples and cider donuts to floral arrangements; from cheese to meats.

Atkins is expected to serve as the Mill District’s anchor, said Wolahan, adding that it will likely bring the volume of traffic that can attract other kinds of businesses and create the momentum needed to make that conceptual rendering of the area in question a reality.

Once Atkins is up and running and traffic within the facility increases, both Jones and Wolahan expect other pieces of the Mill District picture to fall into place.

Indeed, while walking past the old saw mill, closed in 2010, Jones said its future use is limited only by one’s imagination.

“We could tear that structure down and build a 3 ½-story building on top, and that would probably be the smartest thing to do,” Jones explained. “But with so many acres of open space, I’m hoping to lease that space.”

As an example of what might work there, she cited Kings Bowl, which has several locations in the Northeast and as far south as Orlando. Billing itself as “the classy bowling joint,” it features a host of games in addition to bowling — shuffleboard, skee ball, and air hockey, for example — as well as a restaurant and bar. Such a concept, said Jones, would certainly be appealing in the five-college area.

Meanwhile, another small barn on the property, known as the antique barn, is drawing some interest from a bank as the possible site of a branch and community center, said Jones, adding that those talks are preliminary in nature, as are discussions with UMass Amherst about utilizing one of the facilities as a possible home for startups.

saw mill on the family’s property

Cinda Jones says the saw mill on the family’s property, a replacement for the one Walter Cowls Jones built, presents a number of development opportunities.

As for Goat Meadow, the large open tract off Sunderland Road, Jones said there have been some discussions with the builders of senior-housing developments about that parcel. Amherst is rated as one of the most attractive communities nationwide for retirees, mostly because of the activities and life-long learning opportunities related to the five colleges, she went on, and there is a shortage of housing for such individuals.

Overall, discussions are being conducted with potential tenants in many categories, said Wolahan, adding that a number of multi-family housing developers have expressed interest because the zoning permits commercial businesses on the ground floors of properties and residential above, as seen in the Trolley Barn.

One of Wolahan’s current assignments is to finalize a master plan for the site, which will essentially act as a road map for developing the various properties and parcels.

Plane Speaking

As she talked about the need for a destination, one that would create experiences for people of all ages, Jones referenced her nieces and nephews, some of whom who are already working at W.D. Cowls, and thus represent the 10th generation of the family to do so.

“There’s no place for them to go around here, no place to go and have fun,” she noted, adding that creating such a place constitutes one of the many ways she intends for her generation to leave its mark on the Cowls business — and the community.

Indeed, the family that has been writing history for three centuries is poised to script some exciting new chapters.

George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]

40 Under 40 The Class of 2015
Co-owner and Partner, A. Crane Construction; Age 32

Andrew Crane

Andrew Crane

Andy Crane says he doesn’t have much downtime between work and family, but he devotes a decent chunk of what he does have to “old-man softball” and especially touch football. He plays mostly defensive tackle in the Western Mass. Touch Football League, and when its fall season ends, the squad plays through the winter in a domed facility in Greenfield on Friday nights.

“I really like football. It’s a good release, although it’s almost time to give it up — my joints are starting to creak and crack,” he joked, adding that he won’t have to look hard for new uses for that time if he is forced to retire.

Indeed, Crane, the father of two (ages 7 and 1) is co-owner of A. Crane Construction in Chicopee, a venture started by his father (also named Andrew) that specializes in all phases of residential and light commercial construction and also manages condominium complexes and other types of commercial real estate.

The Cranes divide the various, and many, responsibilities, with the elder serving as primary salesperson and the younger handling outside operations and most day-to-day activities. They make all the key business decisions as a team, and together they’ve generated strong, steady growth over the past several years.

While providing effective leadership for the company, Crane is doing the same within the community. He is immediate past president of the Home Builders and Remodelers Assoc. of Western Mass., and is still heavily involved locally as chair of the organization’s building maintenance committee and the Home Show committee, and he’s also on the state board.

He’s also on the board of the Pioneer Valley Red Cross and serves as chairman of the committee that selects the organization’s Hometown Heroes, and he played a key role in an Extreme Makeover project in 2011 as construction manager.

Most recently, he was named to the board of Westmass Area Development Corp., which oversees several industrial parks in the region, the latest being the Ludlow Mills initiative.

He’s been on that board only a few months, but he takes great pride in its mission to spur economic development.

“I really enjoy the work — bringing economic opportunities to the region is rewarding on many levels,” he explained. “I don’t see any other way to grow Western Mass. other than bringing industry here; with industry comes people to work here, and when people work here, I get to build houses for them.”

In other words, he gets to help build momentum in many different ways.

— George O’Brien

Photo by Denise Smith Photography

Commercial Real Estate Sections
MGM Springfield Set to Begin Changing the Landscape

Casino Rendering Main StMike Mathis wasn’t offering much by way of details.

MGM Springfield is slated to stage a groundbreaking on March 24 for its $800 million casino complex in Springfield’s South End, and there is naturally widespread speculation about what’s on tap for that event, given the nature of the company staging the ceremony and an intriguing, more flashy time for groundbreaking ceremonies in general.

Indeed, recent events in Boston, which is witnessing an explosion in new construction, have featured everything from mimes to confetti cannons to mayors operating backhoes. Meanwhile, the casino industry has long been noted for its imagination and extravagance with such events.

Mathis, president of MGM Springfield, hinted that there might be something dramatic unfolding that morning on the grounds of the former Zanetti School, the first of several buildings that will come down over the next few months. But for the most part, he was, as might be expected, keeping things pretty close to the vest.

“We’re still finalizing some of the details. We’ll have a show — that’s all I want to say for now,” said Mathis. “We’re known for throwing good parties — and for keeping the details of those parties under wraps. Suffice to say, we won’t disappoint.”

He was, however, much more forthcoming about what will transpire after the ceremonies.

Indeed, after years of planning, formalizing its unique inside-out concept, negotiating with Springfield and a host of neighboring communities, and eventually winning the contest for the coveted Western Mass. casino license, MGM is finally set to begin altering the landscape — and in a number of ways.

But especially with the look and feel of several blocks within Springfield’s South End.

Things will start with the demolition of nearly 20 properties, starting with the tornado-damaged school, but then moving on to a host of buildings on State, Main, Howard, Bliss, and Union streets. And as structures start coming down, MGM’s huge parking garage, able to accommodate more than 3,000 cars, will start to go up, probably by this summer, said Mathis, adding that it is due to be ready for occupancy by the end of 2016.

The next structures to take shape will comprise what’s known as the project’s “podium,” meaning the low-rise buildings on the property, said Mathis, evoking an industry term. The signature hotel tower — 25 stories tall, according to the latest plans, and easily the most visible component of this complex — will be the last component to take shape.

As for the overall look of the project. Mathis said the phrase “final design” is not one that he’s comfortable using, because, well, things are far from final, and that state will continue to be a moving target in many respects.

“The concept continues to evolve,” he told BusinessWest. “There are certain elements that are fairly permanent, and there are others that we’ll continue to tweak; 90% of the project will stay largely the same as what we’ve shown in the past.”

The former Zanetti School on Howard Street

The former Zanetti School on Howard Street will be the first of 19 buildings razed to make way for MGM Springfield.

By that, he meant the concept seen in the artist’s rendering on page 41, which shows the hotel tower, casino area, retail elements, and more. There is a tight timetable for getting it all done, and the clock essentially started ticking at midnight on Nov. 5.

“Technically, we could go into 2018 in terms of an outside date for getting this done,” he explained, “but we certainly want to get this project up and going as quickly as we can for the benefit of the city and the Commonwealth, as well as our company and our stockholders. We’re looking at a 33- to 34-month window that should put us into the fall of 2017.”

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, BusinessWest talked with Mathis about the next steps in this, the largest commercial project in the region’s history, and how and when the skyline will begin to change.

Razing Their Game

As he talked with BusinessWest from Las Vegas, where he still spends most of his time, Mathis joked that he hoped what the region has witnessed over the past 90 days or so constitutes what he called a “100-year winter,” and that it’s officially over by the time work commences March 24.

“I hope you’re getting it all out of the way before we really get going — and we don’t need another one like this,” he said with a laugh, noting that frequent snowstorms and bitter cold aren’t helpful when it comes to meeting a tight construction deadline.

But, then again, neither are the 120-degree days that frequent Las Vegas, he went on, adding that the company has worked through and around those while building the massive City Center project and other initiatives there.

“Las Vegas construction is as sophisticated as any in the country or the world,” he explained, while noting that the company is well-versed with large-scale projects and demanding timelines. “City Center was many times the size and cost of what we’re doing here. This [MGM Springfield] is well within our comfort zone in terms of scale.

“What makes it unique are the historical aspects and the New England environment,” he went on, adding that the company now has three projects underway simultaneously — MGM Springfield, the National Harbor project just outside Washington, D.C., and a large casino complex in Macau.

Overall, it’s been a busy four months of activity for MGM since the state’s voters turned aside a referendum question that would essentially have outlawed casinos in the Commonwealth.

As chronicled in the real-estate-transaction pages of this magazine, the company completed acquisition of the various properties it secured options on in 2013 and 2014, and then proceeded to issue notices to vacate to occupants of the buildings to be torn down or made part of the casino complex (see related story, page 44).

There have also been discussions and negotiations with the city’s Historical Commission regarding some of the properties in the footprint — including 73 Main St., the former Electric Light building, the Western Mass. Correctional Alcohol Center (formerly a YWCA) and its façade, and the State Armory on Howard Street — and some of those talks are ongoing.

“As always, this is about striking a balance,” Mathis explained, “and we’ve been recognized by the Gaming Commission for going above and beyond the work that many other developers would do in terms of incorporating historic buildings into the plan.”

As an example, he cited one recent tweak to the overall plan for MGM Springfield. Indeed, 95 State St., one of the properties vacated and scheduled to come down, will instead become part of the new casino complex, likely housing MGM administrative offices. Meanwhile, 101 State St., which was targeted for internal use, will instead be leased to outside tenants.

“The plan was to put our executive offices into 101 State, but that would not have left much capacity for other commercial tenants,” he explained. “Keeping 95 State is a significant step toward giving some capacity back to the downtown.”

As for the Correctional Alcohol Center, tests on that site have determined that the façade cannot be saved and the building will have to be razed, he noted, adding the MGM has proposed replicating some of its architectural elements elsewhere in the complex.

Demo Daze

MGM also named a general counsel — Seth Stratton, formerly with Fitzgerald Attorneys at Law, and, earlier this month, it named Brian Packer vice president of Development and Construction. In that capacity, he will provide executive oversight for all aspects of construction and program-management activities at MGM Springfield.

The company has also hired a construction manager, Tishman Construction of Boston, in a departure from the general-contractor model, said Mathis, a move that brings numerous advantages for the developer.

This aerial architect’s rendering

This aerial architect’s rendering shows the various elements of MGM Springfield, including the 25-story hotel tower.


Elaborating, he noted that a CM, as one is called, is traditionally brought into a project at the very beginning as a partner of sorts, handling every phase of the construction program, fielding bids, managing the job, crunching numbers, and devising ways to add value. A general contractor, meanwhile, is brought in after a full set of finished architectural and engineering drawings have been created. The GC then bids out the various components of the job and presents the client with one final number.

In the CM model, MGM will have greater flexibility when it comes to parceling out in the work in various-sized packages, or “spreading the wealth,” as Mathis put it, especially among local firms.

“We don’t intend to give the entire project to one general contractor that would then typically bring in their own established teams of subcontractors — the traditional list of people they would go to,” he explained. “This [CM model]gives us the ability to break the project up into components and allow smaller packages for more local opportunities.”

As one example of this, he cited the demolition work soon to commence at the former Zanetti School and other buildings in the casino footprint. Rather than include the fencing that accompanies such work in the demolition package, that item has been kept separate, giving more companies, and especially those in the 413 area code, a slice of the pie.

“Not surprisingly, there’s a pent-up desire for a health capital project like this one,” he explained. “We’ve done general notices on certain construction packages for demolition, excavation, fencing, and other elements of this work because we want to make sure we reach as many different companies as we can about the various opportunities.

“We’re going to work hard to create smaller packages, which is somewhat unique,” he went on. “We’re customizing things to this market to provide as many opportunities to different contractors as we can. There will be smaller, less-lucrative single packages, but we’ll be able to touch more smaller businesses this way.”

Building Momentum

While the specifics of the March 24 groundbreaking remain a closely guarded secret, the company’s plans, as Mathis said, will not disappoint.

And it will certainly work to make sure the same can be said for each aspect of the project — from the design to the construction timeline, to the opportunities for local business to share in the wealth from the $800 million.

Whether all that goes as planned remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: the landscape is going to start changing, and in some very big ways.


George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]

Commercial Real Estate Sections
Shakeout from Casino Project Stabilizes Downtown Market

Attorney Gerald Berg

Attorney Gerald Berg in his new office at 130 Main St. in Springfield. In the background is 95 State St., his former business address.

Attorney Gerald Berg says the letter arrived in late January.

It was from MGM Springfield, and it essentially informed him that he had to vacate his offices at 95 State St. in Springfield, inside the footprint of the planned $800 million casino complex, within 30 days.

He was expecting such a missive — as well as that time frame — and basically knew he would have to find new quarters once the election returns started coming in last Nov. 4 and it became clear that voters would reject a referendum question that would have effectively ended the casino era before it really got started.

So Berg, who specializes in real-estate and domestic-relations law, started looking for a new mailing address within days of the election. He briefly considered leaving downtown Springfield after spending nearly four decades in a succession of offices at 95 and 101 State St., but eventually concluded that he still wanted to be within walking distance of the various courts and the Hampden County Registry of Deeds just down the street.

What’s more, he feared that casino construction and pending repair work on the I-91 viaduct would make parking in the vicinity of the court complex a nightmare, so he passed on the suburbs.

He looked at several locations in the central business district, experienced some mild (but, again, certainly expected) sticker shock as he looked at certain properties, especially the Class A buildings, and eventually settled on 990 square feet in 1350 Main St., a.k.a. One Financial Plaza.

“It’s a nice spot,” he told BusinessWest. “It’s good space, I’m on the 11th floor, we have a nice view, we face southeast, so we get the sun … things worked out well.”

With those comments, Berg is truly representative of what has transpired since the election and during the great commercial-real-estate shakeout prompted by MGM’s pending transformation of Springfield’s South End. The shuffle isn’t officially over yet, but most of the dust — at least the immediate fallout from MGM’s property acquistions —has settled.

And while this wasn’t exactly a seismic event, it has had a definite impact on the downtown market, in terms of filling some long-vacant space and bringing a dose of stability to rates when, by most all accounts, some was needed.

“There’s still a good amount of office space left in downtown Springfield,” said Doug Macmillan, president of Macmillan & Son Inc. “But this has done a lot to stabilize rents; it’s put something solid under lease rates that had been vacillating and floating up and down for years.”

Evan Plotkin, a principal with NAI Plotkin and co-owner of 1350 Main St., agreed, and said MGM’s movement into the South End and the forced relocation of several commercial tenants helped improve an occupancy rate that had been lagging for the better part of the past 15 years and certainly since the economic downturn.

“It’s great for the market when you can absorb office space when we’ve had chronically high vacancy rates in the Class A office market, as well as Class B and C,” he explained. “There’s long been a glut of office space downtown, and that’s why I’ve been against the development of new space.”

But while most everyone forced to relocate by the casino project has found a new home or is close to doing so, the overall impact from the MGM project downtown may be far from over.

Indeed, Kevin Jennings, owner of Jennings Real Estate, who has placed — or is placing, to be more precise — several of the impacted businesses, says he’s seeing heightened interest downtown from those not in the official casino footprint.

“I don’t think we can look at it purely in terms of those who needed to be relocated,” he said. “I think there’s activity in addition to those parties, a heightened interest in downtown overall.”

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, BusinessWest looks at what’s transpired in recent weeks — and might happen next — as the casino era enters a new and intriguing phase in Springfield.

New Lease on Life

Macmillan called it “an interesting footrace.”

That’s how he chose to describe the past four months or so, or since the fate of the referendum question became clear.

What that vote did was send dozens of commercial tenants — a slew of lawyers, a few nonprofit agencies, Springfield’s Office of Health & Human Services, and the Hampden County Alcohol Correctional facility, among others — looking for new quarters into a greatly accelerated process of acquiring space.

“It’s been interesting because many of them had a demanding timeline to meet,” he explained. “It was ‘here’s your notice; you have less than 90 days to get out.”

95 State St.

Tenants in 95 State St., most of them attorneys, were among those who had to relocate to make way for MGM Springfield.

The lawyers, spread out across 73, 83, 95, and 101 State St. — long-time homes to the legal community because of their proximity to the court complex and Registry of Deeds — all faced the same basic questions. These involved whether to stay downtown, and, if so, where.

Some did go to the suburbs — Macmillan said he placed a few in surrounding communities — but most chose to stay in the central business district (CBD), and for those reasons listed by Berg.

There were some incentives offered by MGM to do so — $3 per square foot to stay in what’s considered downtown and $4 to remain in the CBD (generally considered to be the stretch between the Arch and State Street) — but Travaun Bailey said that was not a real consideration in his decision to relocate his office at 83 State St. to 1350 Main.

He was swayed more by convenience and parking, and that’s what prompted him to grab nearly 3,000 square feet on the third floor, a large portion of which he’s subleasing out to several other lawyers.

“We had a conversation about moving out of downtown, but it wasn’t seriously considered, said Bailey, who specializes in criminal defense, personal injury, and family law. “We wanted to stay close to the courts.”

Overall, 10 lawyers landed in 1350 Main, the Class A building closest to the court complex, together occupying nearly 8,000 square feet on three different floors. Others touched down in 115 State St. (a.k.a. the Clocktower Building), the Colonial Block further south on Main Street and across from the casino site, as well as Monarch Place, Tower Square, the TD Bank Building, and the buildings between Harrison Avenue and Falcons Way.

“Almost every building downtown has benefited from these relocations, in addition to those coming in from outside the market,” said Jennings. “It’s just been a real healthy shot in the arm for downtown.”

Some of the displaced entities are still looking for homes, including a few law firms, HHS, and the correctional facility, but much of the shakeout is over.

However, the overall activity level remains high — or at least higher than it’s been for much of the past 10-15 years.

Jennings said he’s been talking with interested parties about space in Harrision Place, including the long-vacant and highly visible ground floor, and to others, including a restaurateur, about storefronts along Main Street.

Meanwhile, Plotkin said he’s showing space at 1350 Main to a number of prospective tenants, including an insurance company, an entity specializing in shared office concept, and others.

Both attribute at least some of this interest to the casino and, more specifically, the interest they believe it is generating in Springfield and its downtown.

“There’s a new optimism concerning Springfield,” Plotkin said, choosing that word carefully. “And much of it stems from the building of this resort. Forget for a minute that it’s a casino as well, which is a huge draw; this is a resort, a destination resort, and one that will bring 8 million visitors a year to Springfield. The spinoff and benefit from that tourism and that activity in the downtown is huge.

“There’s been a lot of interest in downtown office space from some of the large real-estate search firms, the site selectors that are looking at space for clients based outside of the area that are looking for locations in different markets,” he went on. “And Springfield is one of them.”

Jennings agreed.

“We’re showing space to a lot of interested parties, and it runs the gamut, from restaurants to professionals,” he told BusinessWest. “It’s an exciting time for Springfield.”


Building Momentum

Meanwhile, Plotkin believes the destination resort that will be MGM Springfield will have an impact throughout downtown, not only in the direct vicinity of the casino’s footprint, including Pynchon Park, Union Station, Stearns Square, and other landmarks.

“Now that there’s new optimism and a new direction for downtown — and more money available to do these kinds of things — I see lots of positive things happening,” he said.

In other words, the impact downtown will likely extend far beyond the recent game of musical chairs.


George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]

Daily News

NORTHAMPTON — Gove Law Office is proud to announce that Attorney Michael Gove has recently been certified by the National Assoc. of Development Companies in regard to business-loan programs under by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), including the Section 504 loan program.

In existence since 1981, NADCO is the trade organization for certified development companies of the Small Business Administration and other lenders delivering SBA loans. Its training courses cover SBA loan programs and ensure that CDCs, lenders, and attorneys are well-versed in SBA regulations, allowing for an effective and efficient loan process.

Gove is the owner of the Gove Law Office, a law firm with offices in Northampton and Ludlow, which concentrates in business representation, commercial lending, residential and commercial real estate, estate planning, bankruptcy, and personal injury.

Commercial Real Estate Sections
Casino Vote Spurs Movement in Real-estate Market

Main Street between Harrison Avenue and Falcons Way

The buildings along Main Street between Harrison Avenue and Falcons Way are among those expected to draw interest from businesses to be displaced by the casino.

Kevin Jennings called it “an election-night hangover.”

That’s how he chose to describe the relative — and unexpected — quiet on the morning of Nov. 5, maybe a dozen or so hours after it became clear that ballot Question 3 was going to be defeated and that the casino era had officially begun in Springfield.

“But then on Thursday, the floodgates opened,” said Jennings, president of Springfield-based Jennings Real Estate, in reference to the volume of phone calls to his office, most of them from business owners who will be displaced by the $800 million gaming complex to be built by MGM Resorts International in the city’s South End.

And he expects the calls to keep coming in the weeks and months to come as the dust only begins to start settling from this momentous development, one that has the potential to lift the local real-estate market from the general doldrums that have characterized it for the more than a decade now.

“My expectation is that we will be busy, and the whole trickle-down from this will be fantastic,” he told BusinessWest. “It will involve not only the real-estate brokers, but the lawyers, the phone companies, the contractors, the rug companies, the movers, and many others.

“The trickle-down will be significant and exciting,” he went on. “For the first time in I don’t how long, the landlords in Springfield who have slugged it out for the past 15 years will finally see some rent appreciation.”

While he was somewhat more reserved in his tone, Doug Macmillan, president of Macmillan & Son Inc., said essentially the same thing as he speculated on what will certainly be an intriguing time for the downtown real-estate market.

“I don’t think we’ve ever seen anything quite like this — it’s a dynamic change,” said Macmillan, who came into the business started by his father just as the real-estate bust of the late ’80s was gaining steam and has seen a number of economic cycles since. “This is certainly going to be interesting.”

73 State St

The stately building at 73 State St., part of which will be used for the casino’s hotel, is among those whose tenants must find new homes.

And the relocation of businesses to be displaced by the casino is only one of the reasons why.

Indeed, while many tenants in buildings along State, Main, and other streets in or near the South End will have to be moved to make way for the casino and MGM’s operations, there are others who will want to be near that $800 million complex — or away from it, as the case may be. Meanwhile, Macmillan has started getting calls from some parties concerned about the casino and I-91 reconstruction projects happening simultaneously, and the possible negative impact on their business.

“We’ve seen a fair amount of people who are actively contingency planning for how all this construction for the casino and the viaduct might impact their business downtown,” he said. “They’re wondering if customers are going to be able to get to them and if employees are going to be able to get to work. They’re thinking about whether they should set up a satellite office or do something different. It’s created a lot of … not pandemonium, but certainly uncertainty.”

MGM is offering incentives to businesses to be displaced by its complex — $3 per square foot for those who stay in Springfield and $4 per square foot for those who remain in the central business district.

And while the downtown market has tightened up somewhat in recent years, with new businesses and organizations ranging from MassLive to Bay Path University moving in, there is still plenty of space available in many different categories.

One full floor and many smaller spaces are available in 1350 Main St., also known as One Financial Plaza, said Bill Low, a broker with NAI Plotkin, which is leasing agent for the top 12 floors in that building. There is also some space in both Tower Square and Monarch Place, Macmillan noted. Meanwhile, considerable square footage is available in Harrison Place and other buildings along Main Street between Harrison Avenue and Falcons Way, noted Jennings, who is handling those properties for owner Glenn Edwards.

Jennings said he’s already had a few soon-to-be-displaced business owners sign on the dotted line, and he expects several more in the months to come as the project moves forward.

“Our goal is to be 100% occupied,” he said of the properties along Main Street. “That’s ambitious, but we’re optimistic.”

1350 Main St.

One Financial Plaza, a.k.a. 1350 Main St., is another property expected to draw interest from displaced businesses, including many law firms.

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, BusinessWest takes an in-depth look at this exciting time for the local market and at how this unique opportunity might play itself out.

New Lease on Life

MacMillan told BusinessWest that he didn’t care to speculate on how many businesses will be displaced by the casino and MGM’s day-to-day operations and how much square footage is represented by those pending relocations. “I really have no idea, and if I guessed, I’m sure I’d be way off.”

Jennings said he’s heard some numbers, such as 250,000 square feet, in reference to the amount of real estate involved — meaning property to be demolished or made part of the casino complex.

Whatever the figure is, it adds up to an unprecedented opportunity for area landlords and brokers to fill space that in some cases has been vacant for more than a decade.

And, in many ways, movement to seize that opportunity began months ago.

Indeed, Edwards has invested a significant amount of money in capital improvements to the properties along Main Street in anticipation of the casino moving forward, said Jennings, adding that his firm has been proactive with regard to marketing the space, opting not to wait until after the vote on Question 3.

“We put together a strategic list of properties that we have both for sale and lease in Springfield,” he explained, “and knocked on doors.”

And there are many to knock on within the 14.5-acre area in which the casino will be built, he said, noting that there are many lawyers and other professionals in both 95 State St. and 73 Main St. — located just a block or two from the Hampden County Hall of Justice — which will both become part of the casino complex.

Meanwhile, there are several retail operations along Main Street and other service businesses within the casino site that will have to be relocated.

Some will move out of that area and perhaps out of the city, but Jennings and Macmillan believe many will opt to stay downtown.

And some of these business owners are being proactive themselves when it comes to finding a new address, opting not to wait until the votes were counted on Nov. 4 to consider some options.

“The day after the election, my phone did ring a little louder and a little longer than it normally does,” said Macmillan. “But a lot of these people have been forward-thinking enough to understand that they need to be proactive about this, because they’re only going to have X amount of time to find a new home.

“We’ve been working with some groups for more than a year now,” he continued, “because they’ve recognized this eventuality and wanted early on to identify where they thought they might like to be.”

However, some waited until after the vote, said Low, and now they’re making up for lost time.

“There were some people who didn’t bother calling — they just showed up at 1350 Main St. and asked to see space,” he told BusinessWest, adding that a few businesses have made verbal commitments to take space there. “You hardly ever see anything like that.”

He noted that the building is attractive to the law firms and solo practitioners that will be displaced by the casino because of its proximity to the courthouse and the flexible nature of the available space.

Jennings said he’s brokered some deals for smaller spaces, 2,000 square feet and under, and also a few in the 2,000-to-4,000-square-foot range. And since Question 3 was defeated, the volume of inquiries has increased exponentially.

They come during a time that Macmillan described as a “resurgence of interest in downtown,” a period during which UMass Amherst has opened a center in Tower Square; Bay Path, MassLive, and Thing5 have moved into 1350 Main St.; New England Public Radio has relocated into the Fuller Block; and Accountable Care Associates has taken a full floor in Monarch Place; just to name a few developments.

“There’s been a renewed interest in downtown that is unrelated to the casino,” he explained. “We’ve been extremely busy leasing an awful lot of downtown office space for the past two years. Some of them are new tenants, some of them expanding; there’s been a lot of activity, and we’ve done a number of deals.”

The “shuffling of the deck,” as he called it, that will result from the casino projectg — and is, in many respects, already underway, will further tighten and stabilize the market, and likely push lease rates higher.

“With all this interest we’ve seen in downtown before the casino, the downtown market has tightened up; there’s still a fair amount of space, but there’s not the same amount that there was two years ago,” Macmillan said, speculating that perhaps 80% of the Class A space and 70% of the Class B space downtown was occupied.

Jennings said the surge of interest is already impacting rates in some of the properties he’s representing. At Harrison Place, he noted, space that was quoted at $11 or $12 per square foot is now being quoted at $17, and there have been similar increases at other properties along Main Street.

Low said the asking prices at 1350 Main St. may soon be rising, adding that those who wait to begin the process of finding a new home will likely pay more for that square footage.

Building Momentum

As he talked about the recent history of the downtown commercial real-estate market, Macmillan said there have been a number of “fits and starts” over the past few decades, small gains that have been slowed or reversed by economic declines in the early ’90s, just after 9/11, and the Great Recession.

The dawn of the casino era presents the opportunity for something far more substantial and lasting, he said, although the overall impact of this massive development is still difficult to predict.

What is known is that this situation presents a rare opportunity, one that all those involved are committed to take full advantage of.

George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]

Features
Hadley Fire Victims Maintain an Entrepreneurial Spirit

VietnameseOwner

Jorge Sosa and his wife, Dora Saravia

Chuong Son, left, and Jorge Sosa and his wife, Dora Saravia, are among those who have overcome myriad challenges and gotten back in business.

A year later, Chuong Son remembers each of the many emotions he experienced that fateful night when he learned that the Norwottuck Shoppes, the Hadley strip mall that housed his Vietnamese restaurant, was ablaze — and also those that characterized the weeks and months to follow.

The first was an intense fear that he might have been the one responsible for this conflagration that lit up the night sky and displaced a dozen small businesses.

“I remember it like it was yesterday. A friend of mine called me … he was driving down the road and said, ‘there’s smoke coming from where your store is at the back of the building; did you leave something on?’” said Son, who emigrated to this country in 1989 from Vietnam. “We got scared and nervous and made the drive right down there.”

Later, he would learn, from one of the firefighters who responded to the blaze, that the prevailing theory was that it started in the laundromat located within the mall, news that brought a sense of relief, to be replaced later by a feeling of relative calm rooted in the belief that his business was insured for $1 million.

This was followed by disappointment and anxiety, however, when he was informed that his insurance involved two fewer zeros. And over the next 10 months, there would be gratitude, frustration, resolve, and finally pride and controlled euphoria as he reopened Banh Mi Saigon, a Vietnamese sandwich shop he operates with his wife, Mung Pham, on Main Street in Northampton.

The emotions Son felt during his long climb back were common among the other business owners victimized by the blaze — especially the frustration and resolve.

The fast-moving fire

The fast-moving fire quickly raced through the strip mall, displacing 12 small-business owners.

The former resulted from fights with insurance companies over coverage and, especially, large amounts of confusion and misinformation that characterized attempts to secure support and loans from agencies such as the Small Business Administration. And the latter defined the efforts to overcome all that and get back in business.

Not all of them have made a full recovery, but as the anniversary of the Oct. 27 blaze approaches, one of the many themes of this multi-tiered story has been the ability of several business owners to overcome various forms of adversity and continue to demonstrate a strong entrepreneurial spirit.

Consider the case of Jorge Sosa and his wife, Dora Saravia, owners of Mi Tierra, a popular Mexican restaurant leveled by the blaze. After struggling through a period when simply paying his mortgage and the loan on a box truck he had recently purchased for his business became a stern challenge, Sosa secured a loan from the Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream program, in conjunction with Common Capital. He used that money to acquire a $54,000 tortilla-making machine and become a partner in a Springfield-based venture called Estelita’s Taqueria, which supplies tortillas to a number of local clients.

Meanwhile, thanks in large part to the cash flow created by that venture, he is ready to reopen Mi Tierra on the site of a former Japanese restaurant further west on Route 9. As he talked with BusinessWest about the past 12 months — as well as what lies ahead — he was putting some finishing touches on the new eatery with the goal of making a statement by opening one year after the tragedy.

“It’s been a long nightmare,” he said, using that word for the first of many times. “It’s been very difficult for many of us to make it back. But here we are.”

Three other businesses destroyed in the fire — a bakery, a dry cleaner, and a karate studio — have reopened almost across the street in the former Registry of Motor Vehicles plaza, while for others, the recovery is still a work in progress.

Overall, it’s been a trying ordeal and a learning experience, not only for the business owners, but for the agencies that have provided various forms of assistance.

Len Gendron, chairman of the Western Mass. chapter of SCORE (the Service Corps of Retired Executives), said that agency, which eventually provided assistance to several of the displaced business owners, will likely be more proactive the next time such a crisis occurs.

“Ordinarily, we don’t go straight to the victims in such cases — we do solicit, but we don’t go out and touch them,” he explained, adding that things changed when a news accounts indicated that, nine months after the fire, many business owners were having problems getting any real assistance.

“We reacted to that, approached the victims, and said, ‘how can we help?’” he went on, adding that SCORE set up meetings with the SBA and local banks and later assigned mentors to those who attended the meeting. “This was a good experience, and it opened our eyes to what these disaster victims go through, and we’ve decided, as a chapter, that, should we get another business disaster like this, we’re going to step up very early and offer our assistance.”

From the Ground Up

Like Son, Sosa is able to recall many moments, and emotions, both during that fateful night and then over the next several months.

He remembers being at work that evening when one of the bartenders on duty alerted him to “some kind of fire on the roof.”

He recalls going outside to investigate and seeing nothing emanating from his kitchen. He went back inside, saw growing amounts of smoke, and directed patrons to leave. He stayed, with the goal of finding out what had happened — but for too long.

“I started to get scared — the smoke was starting to get really, really thick,” he noted. “I was trying to see where the fire was coming from and if there was any way to stop it; the police started screaming, ‘get out,’ and that’s when I realized I couldn’t breathe anymore and just got out.”

He also recalled a question from his 8-year-old daughter a few days later. “She said, ‘are we going to lose our house because we don’t have a job?’” he told BusinessWest, adding that while he gave a resounding ‘no,’ deep down, he wasn’t entirely sure.

Such sentiments help explain that, while the fire was a fast-moving conflagration that started near the middle of the strip mall and worked its way to both ends, devouring everything in its path, this was in many ways a slow-moving ordeal that tested the patience, and the will, of those involved.

Son remembers help coming from many directions — from monetary donations collected and distributed by the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce soon after the fire, to assistance from representatives of U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern’s office, to direct support from Common Capital and SCORE more recently. And he was grateful for all of it.

“We come from a place where people are very reserved; culturally and traditionally, people keep to themselves and don’t open up in terms of receiving help from the public,” he explained. “Going through this situation, we found out that there were people who didn’t even know us but took the time to send encouraging e-mails and donate their hard-earned money to help us rebuild.

“People came out of nowhere and said, ‘how can we help you?’” he went on. “Coming from where we’re from, it’s difficult to open up to receive that help, so just the initiative from all these people saying ‘we can help you’ helped us in terms of being more open. We did all that we could to reopen just because of strangers who helped us out.”

But while there was support from the community and many agencies, there were also large amounts of confusion, miscommunication, and, as it would turn out, misinformation, that would frustrate and delay comeback efforts.

Gendron told BusinessWest that many problems were related to SBA loans, who was eligible for them, and what they could be used for.

“The real problem wasn’t a lack of information, because there was a lot of it being provided, but it was conflicting information,” he explained. “These folks were reaching out to everybody, and everybody told them something different.”

Elaborating, he said the governor had declared the area an economic disaster, but his administration didn’t fully explain that this designation, and the support it creates in the form of loans, is not related to rebuilding, as most fire victims assumed, but for paying bills that were due at the time of the disaster and for carrying forward.

“The victims started calling around and even reached an SBA representative down south, who basically told them they weren’t qualified, which was true — they weren’t qualified for rebuild loans. They started reaching out to absolutely everybody, and everybody had a different answer. It got totally confused, and they didn’t get the information they needed.”

Len Gendron

Len Gendron says the fire and its aftermath have provided a learning experience on many levels — for the victims, but also for the agencies that worked to help them.

Meanwhile, victims faced another challenge. While the Norwottuck Shoppes sat on heavily traveled Route 9, considered a prime location for commercial real estate, business owners there were generally charged rents far below what others in that area were paying — and far below what they were being quoted for possible new sites they could call home.

“They had more affordable rents for a prime location like that than you would find in downtown Northampton or downtown Amherst,” said Dan Crowley, who covers Hadley and some other towns for the Daily Hampshire Gazette. “To recreate that tenant/property-owner relationship from scratch somewhere else was going to be difficult — it was going to be more expensive for them.

“And a lot of them really liked being where they were, in the center of Hadley,” he went on. “In listening to them, I got the impression that this was working for them and appealing to them. And some of them had been there a long time — they had established clienteles and relationships with customers that develop over 10, 15, or 20 years.”

It was one of Crowley’s stories recounting the challenges and frustrations of the victims that caught the attention of those at SCORE, which later scheduled meetings, assigned mentors, and helped link victims with needed support from banks and agencies such as Common Capital.

Recovery Mission

Sosa told BusinessWest that the fire occurred at a time when things were really coming together for Mi Tierra.

The couple had recently purchased tortilla-making equipment and was supplying them to a steadily growing list of clients. Meanwhile, the restaurant and its recently opened bar were drawing a steam of regular and new customers.

Things all changed in a matter of those few chaotic minutes when he realized the building was on fire.

And if there was chaos that night, there would be more in the months to come, as the couple would wrangle with insurance providers and struggle to get their various business operations back up and running.

“It’s been a long, very difficult year,” said Sosa, adding that the financial support from Common Capital and the Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream program have been instrumental in creating needed cash flow, momentum, and resolve to reopen Mi Tierra.

He acknowledged that there is a good amount of risk with this new venture — the footprint is much larger and the rent considerably higher than what they were paying — but he believes it is worth taking on.

“People have supported us over the years, and we believe they will continue to support us here,” he said. “We can offer a lot to our clients. It’s going to be difficult, but we can make this work.”

Son used similar language to describe his comeback. He told BusinessWest that, while the fight to get back on his feet has been long and difficult, he drew needed inspiration from the many forms of support he has received, and has been driven by his desire to be in business for himself.

He arrived in Amherst after a long, twisting journey that took him from Vietnam to Thailand and then Camden, N.J. He worked for many years in the food-services operation at UMass Amherst, but long desired to start his own venture. Realizing that there were no Vietnamese restaurants in the region at the time, and sensing there was a need for one, he opened Banh Mi Saigon, complete with just 20 seats, in the Norwottuck shops in 2012.

It took some time to build a clientele, primarily because few were familiar with Vietnamese food and the company had little, if any, money for advertising. Slowly but surely, however, the venture established a firm footing.

As he watched the fire quickly consume the wood-framed strip mall, Son knew he would soon have to start over. But little did he know how difficult that would be.

“We thought we were covered for $1 million, so we went to sleep saying to ourselves, ‘I think we’ll be all right; we can rebuild easily with $1 million,’” he told BusinessWest. “But then we called the insurance company and found out we were only covered for $10,000, and it took all our savings, $100,000, to build the place.

“We didn’t know what to do or who to ask for help, and we didn’t think we could do it again because we didn’t have the capital,” he went on, adding that, through the help of SCORE and his mentor, Dan Healy, he was able to secure a $50,000 loan from Common Capital, the Holyoke-based nonprofit loan fund, to relaunch Banh Mi Saigon.

After the fire, Son originally desired to stay in Hadley, but he eventually set his sights on the Northampton location — the former home, ironically enough, to a failed Vietnamese restaurant — because he thought that made more sense and offered more potential to help him grow the venture.

He said business was slow at the start (he ropened in late August), but it has picked up via word of mouth and repeat business. (He is closed Mondays, the day BusinessWest visited, but several people came to the door in the belief that he might be open).

He is optimistic, but also realistic, and understands that he must drive more volume to his venture if he is going to pay rent that is roughly five times higher than what it was in the Norwottuck Shoppes.

The Bottom Line

Summing things up for his family — and no doubt all the others impacted by the fire — Sosa again reached for the word ‘nightmare,’ but quickly added that it’s been one with countless instances of people, often perfect strangers, reaching out to help the victims of this tragedy realize new dreams.

“We’ve gone through every emotion,” he said. “Many times we cried because of our situation, and many times we cried out of happiness for what friends had done for us.”

And a full year later, with their business once again open, they will likely cry again.


George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]

Commercial Real Estate Sections
New Headquarters Facility Promotes Fun, Professionalism

Paragus Strategic IT founder Delcie Bean

Paragus Strategic IT founder Delcie Bean in ‘Beantown.’

Sherwin Williams calls it “outrageous green.”

That’s the exceedingly bright, neon-like shade that has come to define the company now known as Paragus Strategic IT since it changed its name from Valley ComputerWorks and embarked on an aggressive branding initiative several years ago.

And there’s a lot of it at this technology-solutions company’s new headquarters facility on Route 9 in Hadley, which was unveiled at an elaborate launch last week. There’s also a somewhat softer, muted version seen on some interior walls, carpeting, and other places, as well as a host of other exotic colors, including shades of orange, blue, and purple.

But the colors only begin to explain why this 8,200-square-foot facility is now among the most unique — and destined to be emulated — workspaces in the region.

There are also the small meeting rooms (there are no private offices at Paragus, so employees need spaces in which to gather and talk privately), including one with an image of founder Delcie Bean called Beantown, another called the Bat Cave (yes, there are images of bats on the wall), and still another called the Bullpen, with a Fenway Park backdrop.

Then there’s the game room, now outfitted with a ping-pong table, with a pinball machine on the way; a huge kitchen (called the Hatch) complete with a pub with several beers and wines on tap; an outdoor patio equipped with grills; a locker room complete with a shower for those who want to work out during the day; a large classroom for training dubbed Paragus University, and inspirational quotes from noted entrepreneurs and business consultants — such as Peter Drucker’s “the way to predict the future is to invent it” — hanging on the walls.

And don’t forget the weathervane on the roof. It’s a large representation of the company’s logo — an infant lifting a barbell, complete with a stainless-steel diaper — and it’s equipped with a large spotlight so it can be seen day or night.

Paragus University

Paragus University, like all areas in the new headquarters facility, reflects the company’s vibe — and prominently features the color green.

All these components and many more reflect what Bean, one of the region’s most celebrated entrepreneurs, called the “Paragus vibe,” which he described as a mix of fun and professionalism.

“That’s what our brand has become — these externally facing, very professional individuals who behind the scenes are a ton of fun and very relaxed,” he explained. “So we tried to create a space in a building that emulated that vibe.”

And he put very strong emphasis on that word ‘we.’ Indeed, this new workspace came about through a team effort, one involving a number of players, including employees at all levels.

Usually, things don’t go well when they are handled by committee, especially one with a number of subcommittees, but in this case, they did, said Bean, who told BusinessWest that several small groups of employees were given assignments ranging from the furniture to the pub to the décor in the conference room, or the war room, as it’s called. An interior designer was also hired, and there were many design contributions (including the weathervane) from the marketing firm Darby O’Brien Advertising, which orchestrated the Paragus branding efforts.

Roughly two years after they started, and with ideas inspired by companies ranging from Microsoft to the online shoe retailer Zappos, the new Paragus workspace is ready for prime time, and Bean believes it will succeed in its primary missions — to create a workplace that’s comfortable, inspires innovation, and helps the company with the critical assignment of attracting and retaining talent.

“Having a really cool space helps us recruit the really best employees, and that’s something that’s very important to us,” he said. “And it will help us retain them once we’ve got them.”

Gainer O’Brien, creative director at Darby O’Brien Advertising, also used that word ‘vibe,’ mixing it in with ‘culture,’ ‘brand,’ and ‘mentality’ to describe what the new facility was designed to capture — and amplify.

“We were trying to customize every inch of the place with the company culture and brand,” he said. “And we’ve done that, right down to the weathervane.”

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, BusinessWest toured the new Paragus space and talked with some of those who shaped it to gain some perspective on the many ways it reflects what this company has become — and where it might go.

Space Exploration

On a shelf in the front lobby of Paragus’s new facility sits the many plaques the company has earned by making Inc. magazine’s recent lists of the country’s fastest-growing companies.

They effectively, and succinctly explain why this expansion was necessary, but Bean offered some details. He told BusinessWest that the company, which he started as a one-person operation when he was 13, eventually settled in an old Colonial on Route 9 in Hadley. As it grew, it expanded into the Colonial next door, he explained, adding that his venture soon outgrew that combined space as well.

An employee hangs license plates

An employee hangs license plates identifying cubicle occupants by their first names — one of several design features borrowed from Zappos.

As the search for a site on which to create a larger facility commenced, the company moved into temporary quarters in Harrison Place in downtown Springfield, making the black-and-green-painted Paragus Mini Coopers common sites on the streets of the City of Homes.

Bean said the company considered a number of locations in and around Hadley for its new headquarters, and nearly closed on a site in Northampton before eventually opting for a site behind the county courthouse on Route 9. The existing structure there, which most recently had served as a school, was in poor condition and needed to be razed, he noted.

While that search was taking place, Bean and company employees began to visit other workplaces to gain perspective, insight, and ideas. Among the facilities toured were Microsoft’s NERD (New England Research and Development) Center in Cambridge; the Harvard Innovation Lab, or iLab, as it’s called; the Cambridge Innovation Center; and Zappos’ headquarters in what was once City Hall in Las Vegas.

From those visits, and especially the Zappos tour, participants absorbed ideas such as the inspirational quotes on the walls and the use of license plates to identify the occupants of cubicles (the registration sticker in the corner indicates what year he or she started with the company), said Bean.

But the broad goal was to create something unique, he added, something that “said Paragus” and reflected the company’s culture.

“We wanted something of our own that’s kind of a combination of what we saw at other companies,” he explained. “We definitely love our brand and our culture and the vibe that we’ve created, and we’ve never had a building that emulated that vibe because we’ve always been fitting into something that already existed. We had the opportunity to build it the way we wanted from scratch.”

From the beginning, there has been plenty of input from employees, because that is a big part of the company’s culture, said its founder.

“I’m a huge believer in getting staff buy-in at every level, so we formed what we called the New Building Committee and picked out the different assignments and created subcommitees,” he explained. “Every other week, we’d get together, and the subcommittees would report. It sounds very bureaucratic, but it was quite effective because the subcommittees were very focused on specific topics, and it was things that were going to affect them and things they were very interested in.”

Building Excitement

What all those subcommittees and others involved in this undertaking produced is space that, as Bean suggested, effectively mixes fun with professionalism, form with function.

Indeed, just around the corner from the game room is a wall that will soon host a huge screen that will enable the staff to monitor the servers at its dozens of clients and instantly spot trouble.

“If any glitch happens, immediately you’ll see the whole screen change and highlight what network is down,” he explained. “And we can drill down and see exactly what the problem is; we monitor about 126 clients and about 270 servers, and this will let us monitor them on one big screen.”

The weathervane

The weathervane with the company’s logo was perhaps the only opportunity for Paragus to fully express itself with the building’s exterior.

As for that game room/kitchen complex, O’Brien said it will soon be outfitted with a sign that reads, “once you enter this space, you can’t even think about work,” or words to that effect, a message that, like all other components in the facility, reflects the company’s culture, or the “Paragus mentality.”

Matt Dubard, art director for Darby O’Brien Advertising, agreed, and said the facility’s design captures and perpetuates a spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship.

“This company has a startup feel,” he said. “It’s not a startup — it’s been around in various forms since Delcie was 13, and a lot of the people have been working with each other for a long time. But it definitely feels like a startup; it has that excitement about it, and we wanted to capture all that in how it was designed.”

O’Brien used the word “youthful” to describe the company, its culture, and what needed to be conveyed in the various elements of the new facility.

“There’s a lot of youth, a lot of energy,” he explained. “And that energy definitely comes across in the design.”

As for the weathervane, well, it was perhaps the best, and only, chance for the company to express itself through the property’s exterior, said O’Brien, noting that it lies in an historic-overlay district that is heavily regulated when it comes to design. But there are no regulations that anyone knows about regarding weathervanes.

“There might be some soon after people see that one,” he said with a laugh. “I’d be curious to see what the town of Hadley feels about it. It’s not a weathervane; it’s a piece of art.”

The same might be said of the new facility as a whole, and Bean acknowledged that the company will likely be fielding some requests for visits to see the space. And while he expects to be leading some tours himself, he will let others at the company share that responsibility — and privilege.

“I’ll certainly do a fair share of them myself, but I believe there’s huge value in having the staff leading those tours,” he said. “This really is their building, built for them and, in many cases, by them.”

Workplace in Progress

One framed picture not up on the wall when BusinessWest visited Paragus (Bean’s not sure what he’ll do with it) depicts the downtown Springfield skyline maybe seven to 10 years from now, when the company is expected to have outgrown the new space on Route 9.

It shows a gleaming steel skyscraper, perhaps 40 stories high, with the Paragus name on the side — in huge ‘outrageous green’ lettering, of course.

This imagery was a gift from the O’Brien agency to indicate one possible future for Paragus and other small businesses that may be started by some of its employees in the years to come, said Bean, who’s not sure whether it represents anything approaching what might be reality.

What he does know is that the current home represents a big step forward for his venture — and a true reflection of its vibe.

George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]

Sections Supplements

In September, BusinessWest presented its 2014-15 Resource Guide. What follows are needed additions and corrections to the charts that appeared in that issue:

• Changes to Accounting Firms
:
Meyers Brothers Kalicka, P.C.
Services: Management-advisory services; audit and accounting services; multi-state and international taxation; tax planning and return preparation; employee benefit-plan audits; family and independent business services; business valuations; financial planning and wealth management; cost-segregation studies; certified fraud examiners; construction; healthcare; education; not-for-profit; real estate; manufacturing, wholesale, and distribution
Bova, Harrington & Associates, P.C.
Number of CPAs: 7
Number of Partners: 2

• Addition to Audio-Visual/Multi-Media Companies:
Kirby Productions
1 Doane Ave., Agawam, MA 01001
(413) 388-5714; www.kirbyproductions.com
Employees: 1
Services: Full-service HD video production company specializing in writing, videography, and motion design; TV commercials; promotional videos; viral videos; event videos; video blogs; production studio with green screen available
Contact: Al Liptak

• Changes to Auto Dealers:
Balise Chevrolet Buick GMC
General Manager: John Perez
Balise Ford of Wilbraham
General Manager: Charles Dansby

• Addition to Banks in Western Mass.:
Farmington Bank
www.farmingtonbankct.com
Assets: $2,110,028,000
Deposits: $1,513,501,000
Net Income: $3,704,000
Total Equity Capital: $232,209,000
Total Loans and Leases: $1,822,487,000
Commercial Loan Volume: $253,406,000
Secured by Real Estate: $546,350,000
(Figures are year-end 2013. Farmington Bank, based in Connecticut, entered the Massachusetts market in 2014.)

• Change to Colleges with MBA Programs:
Elms College
Contact: Donna Graziano

• Addition to Computer Network/IT Services:
Network Advantage Associates
2098 Roaring Brook Road, Conway, MA 01341
(413) 223-9007; www.net-vantage.com
Contact: Roy Cohen
Service Area: Pioneer Valley
Services: Integrates advanced strategic technologies in small businesses, professional practices, and nonprofits; business continuity/disaster recovery; on- and off-site backup and recovery; information-technology management; systems and network administration; virtualization solutions; custom VoIP solutions; server upgrades and migrations; Enterprise wireless; Google/Oracle solutions

• Addition to Day Spas:
Elements Hot Tub Spa
373 Main St., Amherst, MA 01002
(413) 256-8827; www.elementshottubspa.com
Owners: Jeff and Diana Krauth
Services: State-of-the-art private hot tubs; infrared saunas; aromatherapy steam room; individual and couples massage; advanced therapeutic bodywork modalities; natural facials; spa services
Preferred Product Line: France Laure Natural Care

• Change to Dental Services:
Florence Dental Care
Head of Practice: Benjamin Falk, DDS
Specialties: General and cosmetic dentistry for all ages including  tooth-colored fillings, porcelain veneers, and crowns; smile makeovers and ZOOM whitening; preventive care including all phases of gum (periodontal) treatment; comprehensive dental care including root-canal therapy, oral surgery and extractions, dental implants, and bone grafting; digital X-rays and photographs; emergency care

• Addition to Financial Services/Brokerage Firms:
Gage-Wiley & Co. Inc.
120 King St., Northampton, MA 01060
(413) 584-9121; www.gagewiley.com
Licensed Brokers in Western Mass.: 8
Total Licensed Brokers Nationally: 9
Branch Manager: Christopher Milne
Services: Comprehensive wealth management; independent brokerage and investment-advisory services; retirement, estate, and financial planning; life and long-term-care insurance.
 
• Additions to Home Care Options:
Porchlight VNA/Home Care
32 Park St., Lee, MA 01238
2024 Westover Road, Chicopee, MA 01022
(413) 243-1212; www.porchlighthomecare.org
Director: Holly Chaffee
RN/LPN Care: Yes
Services: Skilled nursing; wound care; infusion therapy; telemonitoring; physical, occupational, and speech therapies; mother/baby care; nutritional counseling; mental-health services; psychiatric nursing; home health aide services; CHF disease management; community health programs
Porchlight Home Care
21 High St., Lee, MA 01238
2024 Westover Road, Chicopee, MA 01022
(413) 243-1122; www.porchlighthomecare.org
Director: Dawn Dewkett 
RN/LPN Care: Yes
Services: Care management; personal care attendants; home health aides; certified nursing assistants; homemakers; companionship; live-in services; transportation/door-to-door program; medication reminders; 24-hour care; complimentary assessments; long-term-care planning; 24-hour nurse oversight; home visiting nurse practitioner

• Addition to Insurance Agencies:
John M. Glover Agency
4 Open Square Way, Suite 213, Holyoke, MA 01040
(413) 534-1500; www.johnmglover.com
Full-time Agents: 2
Full-time Employees: 2
Local Offices: 1
Type of Insurance: Property/casualty, auto, home, business, life, health, workers’ comp
Top Local Officials: Kyle Sullivan, John Sullivan
 
• Change to Insurance Agencies:
The Dowd Insurance Agencies
Type of Insurance: Commercial, personal, life, employee benefits, surety

• Change to Law Firms:
Gove Law Office
Second address: 358 Sewall St., Ludlow, MA 01056
(413) 583-5196; www.govelawoffice.com
Lawyers: 2
Areas of Practice: Business representation; commercial and banking matters; residential and commercial real estate; estate planning and probate administration; landlord/tenant; bankruptcy; personal injury

• Addition to Physical Therapy Outpatient Facilities:
Active Physical Therapy & Wellness, LLC
2301 Boston Road, Wilbraham, MA 01095
(413) 596-5362; www.activeptw.com
Administrator: Patricia O’Brien
Services: Outpatient clinic offering individualized manual therapy treatment for neck and back pain, sports injuries, post-surgery, arthritis, shoulder and knee problems; private treatment rooms; fitness center

• Change to Physical Therapy Outpatient Facilities:
HealthSouth Hospital of Western Massachusetts
Administrator: Victoria Healy

• Addition to Skilled Nursing/PT Facilities:
Life Care Center of Wilbraham
2399 Boston Road, Wilbraham, MA 01095
(413) 596-3111; www.lcca.com/182
Administrator: Dennis Lopata
Services: Subacute and rehabilitation programs provide a bridge between hospital and home; physical, occupational, and speech therapy; orthopedic recovery program; VitalStim therapy for swallowing or dysphagia difficulty; CPI wound care; aquatic-therapy program; long-term and respite care

• Addition to Telecom/Voice/Data Providers:
Network Advantage Associates
2098 Roaring Brook Road, Conway, MA 01341
(413) 223-9007; www.net-vantage.com
Contact: Roy Cohen
Service Area: Pioneer Valley
Services: Integrates advanced strategic technologies in small businesses, professional practices, and nonprofits; business continuity/disaster recovery; on- and off-site backup and recovery; information-technology management; systems and network administration; virtualization solutions; custom VoIP solutions; server upgrades and migrations; Enterprise wireless; Google/Oracle solutions

• Change to Web Development Companies:
Last Call Media
136 West St., Suite 01, Northampton, MA 01060

• Addition to Western Mass. Area Computer Retailers:
Northeast IT Systems Inc.
777B Riverdale St., West Springfield, MA 01089
(413) 527-8090; www.northeastit.net
Employees: 8
Owner/Manager: Joel Mollison
Products/Services: Computer and network equipment sales and service; hardware and software; computer network and IT consulting services for small to midsized businesses and municipalities; firewalls; network security; remote access/VPN; servers; virtualization; VoIP phone systems; backup and disaster recovery; spam filtering

Commercial Real Estate Sections
Art and Commerce Intersect at Thriving 1350 Main Street

Evan Plotkin

Evan Plotkin says 1350 Main Street, with its robust leasing activity and artsy “vibe,” is a microcosm of what could happen across downtown Springfield.

There’s an art and science to marketing commercial real estate. In some cases, lots of art.

Take 1350 Main Street, or One Financial Plaza, in downtown Springfield, which was recently branded the MassLive Building after its newest tenant, which is leasing 11,000 square feet of space and paying for the right to emblazon the tower with its logo. MassLive is among several companies and colleges that have recently forged deals at 1350 Main, drawn by its location, its noteworthy art galleries (more on that later), and what Evan Plotkin describes as a palpable “vibe” at the site.

“One of the fascinating things about this building is that it represents, in my mind, a microcosm of an economic-development concept that is arts-driven,” said Plotkin, president of NAI Plotkin, which co-owns the property. “When we acquired this property in 2007, the storefronts [on the first floor] were empty. We made major improvements in the plaza, including bringing the fountain back, putting in benches, and creating an environment conducive to gathering.”

That’s quite a contrast to seven years ago. When NAI Plotkin invested in 1350 Main, occupancy was 34%, the café now in the lobby was just a dark space, and there wasn’t much reason anyone would want to be on the property if they didn’t work in the tower, he said. “Most companies we approached said there was not enough foot traffic, and they would not be willing to make an investment.”

1350MainDPartBut some of the more recent tenants — like the Baystate Innovation Center, which will move in around Nov. 1; Bay Path University, which leased space last year; 180 Fitness, which opened its doors on Jan. 1; and MassLive — say that’s changed dramatically.

“What I’m hearing over and over again is that what we’ve done here is build a community in this building,” Plotkin said. “That happens because we’re getting people out of their offices, and they’re able to interact with each other, and that’s how innovation happens. That’s why the Innovation Center, of all the places they could have gone, wanted to be here, because they felt it was right for innovators because of the vibe this place gives off.”

That vibe includes a unique collection of paintings, sculptures, and other works of art assembled by John Simpson, manager of the Hampden Gallery at UMass Amherst and an art professor in the Commonwealth Honors College at the university. He has been working with Plotkin over the past few years to bring art to 1350 Main, from the impressive ninth-floor art gallery to the myriad paintings decorating the lobby.

Plotkin has also revitalized the outdoor pavilion, not only with those aforementioned tables and fountain, but with regular music events. The Palazzo Café, opened in 2007, remains busy, and 180 Fitness has not only thrived in its new space, but is attracting people who have no other connection to the tower.

“We’re talking about marketing their membership to the new market-rate housing developments coming to downtown,” Plotkin said. “I’ve offered these types of opportunities so we can start connecting the dots downtown. We need to stop building silos and start looking beyond the walls where we live and work and realize we have this incredible, walkable city.”

And that, he told BusinessWest, is the real story of the newly christened MassLive Building — not the success of the tower itself, which has more than doubled occupancy in the past seven years, to 79%, but how it models the kind of vibrancy he envisions for the entire downtown area.

Framing the Issue

Plotkin placed 1350 Main in the context of a recently released report detailing a potential innovation district centered around Worthington Street and Stearns Square. “There are major improvements being proposed in that study that will ultimately attract restaurants and other retail to that dining district. That’s what we did here by improving the outdoor community space and creating vibrancy here.”

John Simpson

John Simpson, who curates the art at 1350 Main Street, has also painted a series of murals, like this one of B.B. King, on the walls of nearby 31 Elm St., bordering Court Square.

That included offering an extremely attractive rate to the Palazzo Café. “Someone had to prime the pump. We had to do something to increase the vibrancy in the area, knowing that a retailer was reluctant to take that kind of risk. A small business can’t afford to take the risk if there isn’t foot traffic. It’s incumbent upon private business and, I think, the public sector as well, to create an environment where people want to gather.”

It’s clearly working. “We’re getting companies — large, established companies — renewing their leases now, even when they have term left. They’re seeing the demand for the building and understanding that, as vacancy goes down and demand increases, rates usually go up.”

As for MassLive, “we’re happy to be identified with them. It’s a very positive organization, and it says a lot that the company wants to grow in Springfield. They can go anywhere they want, but their commitment to Springfield is important.”

Although it’s significant for the building’s branding, the MassLive lease is just one more in a string of deals, including Thing5’s occupancy of the entire sixth floor in 2012. “In the last three years, in a declining market, we’ve leased 90,000 square feet of space,” Plotkin said. “So I look at this as a microcosm of what is possible.”

He looks specifically to Stearns Square, a gathering place that the city is looking at as a linchpin of its innovation district. “The fountain hasn’t worked in 15 years, and the turf has been worn away by concerts, with no restoration to it. You have vacant properties all around.”

It will take investment — both from the city and private developers — to change the aesthetics and provide incentives to attract retailers and restaurants, and hopefully housing will follow, he explained. “There has to be that initial investment by the property owners and the city to make the infrastructure improvement.”

Elm Street and State Street

Simpson will continue his mural project and liven up this alleyway connecting Elm Street and State Street.

That will require the participation of organizations like the Springfield Business Improvement District, the Convention and Visitors Bureau, the mayor’s office, and other stakeholders, working together to promote the cultural assets of the city and continue developing the market-rate housing necessary to drive more retail, dining, and other business. “That’s what’s going to make site selectors look at downtown as a cool, vibrant place,” Plotkin said.

“It helps to have the other dynamics going on,” he continued, “with Union Station up there, the possibility of MGM coming in, and the sale of Morgan Square to a company that’s investing in market-rate housing. We have UMass downtown, Bay Path College, Cambridge College, NPR — all these companies and schools down here. Now you need to create an urban theme park — an urban campus, in the colleges’ case — where students and faculty leave their buildings. That’s a huge customer base, and they feel trapped in their buildings. We need to get them out.”

In other words, create foot traffic.

“To create an urban theme park, where you can access your cultural assets, you have to deal with people’s fear,” he continued. “But the more you engage people in walking, the more foot traffic you have, the less people are concerned about crime. You have fear when you have no people around, when you have vacant storefronts. People don’t want to walk on a block where they don’t see anyone.”

Art of the Deal

Plotkin and Simpson believe that art installations can go a long way toward creating an atmosphere where people want to be outside.

“John and I have been collaborating on public art for almost as long as I’ve been here, and it’s been a wonderful thing,” Plotkin said. “Even people who are not art aficionados can’t help but be taken by the beauty of our lobby and the paintings there. Then, when we take them up to the ninth floor, the incredible gallery up there, and they see the different conference rooms and a fitness center on the other side of the hall, people talk about mind, body, and spirit all here on one floor.”

The floor has become a popular spot for business meetings and school tours, but in 2007, it was considered a liability.

“That was a dark floor with a former call center and a cafeteria,” Plotkin said. “I was told by the appraiser, when I bought the building, that they deducted value from the ninth floor because of the cafeteria; the way it was laid out, it would cost so much to restore it to office use.”

Instead, he continued, “we have turned that space in to this beautiful asset which, if nothing else, has brought people here who would otherwise never see the building. We’ve created this vibe and this word of mouth about the building being such a cool place. Nobody has anything like this downtown. But I remind people that we’re trying to do this all over the downtown.”

Take neighboring Court Square, for example. During the Jazz & Roots Festival held there last month — an event that drew several thousand music lovers — Simpson painted a series of murals of musical icons on the black panels covering the darkened storefronts of 31 Elm St., a project that’s far from complete.

“Not a day goes by that people don’t thank us for doing it,” Simpson said of the public art displays he’s helped bring to 1350 Main and downtown in general. “A woman just told me it makes her day.”

It’s just one way the downtown can distinguish itself as a place people want to live, work, and shop, Plotkin said, noting that Springfield’s location at the center of the Knowledge Corridor, at the crossroads of Interstates 90 and 91, already make it an intriguing location for site selectors.

“But if we don’t have a city that people want to work in, if they say, ‘look, I don’t want to move to Springfield because I’m afraid there’s nothing to do,’ or any number of other reasons, that needs to change.

“The walkability of the city is what we have going for us, but we have blockages,” he added. “I use the analogy of a heart that’s pumping; if you have blocked arteries, you have extremities that aren’t getting oxygen. I would say that’s an example of what’s happening in many pockets of the city. It takes four and a half minutes to walk from here to the riverfront, but nobody talks about that; no one thinks of going there. We need to bring back these linkages and create walkability. If you don’t have walkability, people feel isolated.”

On the Horizon

Plotkin continues to work to fill that remaining 21% of the MassLive Building. For instance, he’s been talking to a video-game company interested in space. “They’re impressed with 1350 Main Street and the murals and sculptures all over.”

And he’s confident that the city and its developers will continue to work together in a holistic way to create the environment — the vibe — needed to keep drawing businesses and jobs downtown.

As one example, he cited MassMutual’s recent $5 million investment in the Springfield Venture Fund — an attempt to cultivate high-potential startups in the City of Homes — as an example of a proactive effort to keep talent local and stimulate the economy. “But that alone won’t do the trick. We need to create an environment downtown where people want to go. I’m seeing a huge uptick in rents. It’s working at 1350 Main, and it will work in other places. It’s not that complex — in fact, it’s very simple.

“At the end of the day,” he added, “we’re trying to get students who are graduating from the colleges up and down the Knowledge Corridor to say, ‘why not Springfield?’ By attracting retail, restaurants, coffee shops, we will generate the foot traffic to support other businesses. And it just builds on itself.”

Plotkin said he’s consulted with other property owners on how to bring art into their buildings, yet some people have wondered why he’d help rival real-estate owners accomplish something that already distinguishes his own tower.

“But it’s not about having exclusivity in having good taste in art; it’s about putting a mirror up and saying, ‘look, you can do this too,’” he said. “I hope other businesses downtown do this; imitation is the best form of flattery. Let’s talk about it so we’re not just an island here all by ourselves. We’re connected.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Departments People on the Move

Maria Burke

Maria Burke

JERICHO, the Bureau for Exceptional Children & Adults, has announced the appointment of Maria Burke as Associate Director. JERICHO is well-known for its programs and services, begun by Fr. Robert Wagner and continued by Sr. Joan Magnani, emphasizing inclusion for all people with disabilities in Western Mass. over the past 44 years. “I am delighted that Maria has been named associate director,” said Magnani. “Working with her allows us to move forward with new strategic-planning efforts focused on how we can best serve the families and individuals living with disabilities, as well as the professional agencies and staff who care for these people in Western Mass.” Burke brings expertise in many areas of nonprofit management and a substantial fund-raising history in the region, as well as a strong personal focus on the needs and challenges facing many families and individuals living with disabilities. “I look forward to continuing this important work,” she said, “as well as expanding our reach with new partnerships, training, and networking opportunities to serve the many families who face difficulties and challenges. It will be wonderful to include new people and provide services that make life at least a bit easier for all families and providers serving the disabled.”
•••••
The Professional Women’s Chamber, a division of the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield, recently honored Carol Campbell, president of Chicopee Industrial Contractors, as its 2014 Woman of the Year. The annual Woman of the Year Banquet was held at the Castle of Knights in Chicopee. The award is presented to a woman in the Greater Springfield area who exemplifies outstanding leadership, professional accomplishment, and service to the community. The Professional Women’s Chamber promotes the status of women professionals, working to empower career-oriented women through participation in leadership, education, and networking opportunities, and striving to strengthen the positive impact of women in the business community and on the economy.
•••••
Michael Gove

Michael Gove

Attorney Michael Gove, of Gove Law Office LLC in Northampton, recently announced that he has purchased a law practice in Ludlow and will open a second office in that community, his hometown. Gove’s 10-year-old practice concentrates on business and corporate law, real-estate transactions, and estate planning. On Sept. 2, Gove assumed ownership of Thompson & Bell of Ludlow, the business formerly operated by the late James “Jason” Thompson and his associate, Gregory Bell. Bell and Gove will work together to cover the Ludlow and Northampton offices; in addition, the Ludlow office will also handle bankruptcy and personal-injury law. Gove earned his law degree from Boston College School of Law in 2004, after graduating cum laude from UMass Amherst in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in political science. He is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Assoc., the Hampden County Bar Assoc., the Hampshire County Bar Assoc., the Connecticut Bar Assoc., the Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield, and the Northampton Assoc. of Young Professionals. Gove has also served on many area nonprofit boards and presently serves as a corporator of the Horace Smith Fund, which grants scholarships for Hampden County residents pursuing a college or graduate education. He also volunteers for Cooley Dickinson Hospital and serves on the board of Best Buddies of Western Massachusetts. In 2012 and 2013, Gove was selected as a Massachusetts Rising Star by Super Lawyers, a designation earned by no more than 2.5% of lawyers in Massachusetts. Bell is a 1983 graduate of Western New England College School of Law. He concentrates in residential and commercial real estate, consumer bankruptcy, probate administration, and personal-injury law.
•••••
Dr. Thomas Cleary Sr. was recently recognized as a William McKenna Volunteer Hero by the Mass. Dental Society (MDS), a statewide organization serving nearly 5,000 member dentists. He was acknowledged by his peers for substantial contributions to organized dentistry at both the state and local district levels. Cleary is currently a member of the MDS Council on Dental Care and Benefits, and has served as a volunteer coordinator for the Yankee Dental Congress, New England’s largest dental meeting. Within the Valley District Dental Society, he has been chair of Dental Connections, an educational program for dental auxiliaries; co-chair of the education committee; and a member of the executive committee. He is also past president of the Hampshire Dental Society. Cleary is a graduate of Tufts University School of Dental Medicine (TUSDM). In addition to maintaining a dental practice in Easthampton, he is an assistant professor of operative and prosthetic dentistry at TUSDM. Several years ago, he was a member of a group of TUSDM faculty who went on a fact-finding trip to Cuba, and this summer he took part in a service mission to the Dominican Republic organized by students. He established his general dentistry practice in Easthampton in 1974. His son, Dr. Thomas M. Cleary Jr., joined him in 2008. The Volunteer Hero award is given in memory of the late Dr. William McKenna, who was a driving force behind the development of the Yankee Dental Congress and considered by many to have been a model of volunteerism within the MDS.
•••••
Craig Johnsen

Craig Johnsen

Loomis Communities announced the appointment of Craig Johnsen as Administrator at Loomis Lakeside at Reeds Landing. In this role, Johnsen is responsible for administering and overseeing the day-to-day operation of the retirement community in Springfield, as well as serving as a member of the Loomis Communities Senior Leadership Team. Johnsen is a licensed nursing-home administrator with more than 30 years working with older adults. Prior to joining Loomis Communities, he served as executive director of Eastview at Middlebury in Middlebury, Vt. He holds a bachelor’s degree in long-term-care administration and has completed a graduate fellowship in strategic and financial planning with Leading Age and Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management at Harvard University. Loomis Lakeside at Reeds Landing offers independent-living cottages and apartments, assisted living, skilled nursing care, medical offices, and primary-care physician services, all under one roof.
•••••
Leadership Pioneer Valley (LPV) announced that Dawn Leaks has joined the LPV team in the newly created position of Program Manager. In this role, Leaks will be responsible for managing LPV’s signature 10-month regional leadership development program and helping recruit future participants. Leaks is a certified coach and speaker and adjunct professor of Business at Bay Path University. She joins Leadership Pioneer Valley after nearly five years in communications and development at the American Red Cross Pioneer Valley Chapter. As director of communications, she was responsible for public affairs, media relations, social media, and marketing communications. In previous roles, she worked as recruiter for a mid-size public school system and an account executive for MassLive.com. She is an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. and has served on several boards of local organizations, including Next Level Development for Women of Color and Dress for Success of Western Mass. She is an active board member at the New England Public Radio Foundation Inc.
•••••
Christopher Marini

Christopher Marini

Meyers Brothers Kalicka, P.C. announced the appointment of Christopher Marini to the board of trustees for the Springfield Symphony Orchestra. In addition to serving on the board, Marini will also be serving on the audience development and education committee. Marini has been an audit associate with the firm for just over one year, specializing in nonprofits and HUD, reviews and compilations, and income-tax returns for individuals, nonprofits, corporations, and partnerships. Before coming to MBK, he worked for two years at a local public accounting firm. Marini earned a BBA from the UMass Amherst Isenberg School of Management and Commonwealth Honors College. He is currently pursuing his MSA at UConn. He is a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma International Business Honor Society and the Massachusetts Society of CPAs.
•••••
The Springfield Falcons
announced that Andy Zilch will join the organization as the team’s play-by-play broadcaster and Manager of Broadcasting. Zilch comes to the Falcons after spending two seasons with the Greenville Road Warriors of the East Coast Hockey League. While being the voice of the team, he also oversaw media relations and served as an account executive. The St. Louis native generated several corporate partnerships and was strongly involved in the community. The majority of his donated time was spent assisting the local children’s hockey program. Prior to his time with the Road Warriors, Zilch served two years in the National Hockey League as a broadcast intern with the St. Louis Blues. He also spent time with the National Football League’s St. Louis Rams on the team’s radio network. A 2009 graduate of Lindenwood University in Missouri, Zilch entered broadcasting as the play-by-play broadcaster for the men’s hockey team on KCLC, the student radio station. He has a bachelor’s degree in mass communications with an emphasis on radio and television.
•••••
Main Street Hospitality Group (MSHG) announced that Adam Brassard has been appointed to the position of Executive Chef of the Williams Inn. His responsibilities include all kitchen operations and menu development. Brassard’s appointment marks his return to the Williams Inn. In 2007, he began his professional culinary career as the Williams Inn sous chef. From there, he joined the Red Lion Inn as sous chef under the leadership of Red Lion Inn Executive Chef and MSHG Vice President of Food and Beverage Operations Brian Alberg. Brassard began his career as an intern in the McCann Technical High School Culinary Arts department and went on to graduate from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., in 2007. Brassard has participated in numerous farm-to-table events and food and wine festivals throughout the Berkshires, Boston, and New York. Brassard also works with the Railroad Street Youth Project, demonstrating culinary techniques to young adults; is on the advisory board of the Culinary Arts department at McCann Technical High School; and takes part in judging projects for Skills USA, a competition among technical high schools. Brassard has cooked at the renowned James Beard House in New York City, working alongside Alberg.

Daily News

LUDLOW — Attorney Michael Gove, of Gove Law Office LLC in Northampton, recently announced that he has purchased a law practice in Ludlow and will open a second office in that community, his hometown. Gove’s 10-year-old practice concentrates on business and corporate law, real-estate transactions, and estate planning.

On Sept. 2, Gove assumed ownership of Thompson & Bell of Ludlow, the business formerly operated by the late James “Jason” Thompson and his associate, Gregory Bell. Bell and Gove will work together to cover the Ludlow and Northampton offices; in addition, the Ludlow office will also handle bankruptcy and personal-injury law.

Gove grew up in Ludlow and has been friends with Thompson’s son Sean since middle school. After the elder Thompson unexpectedly passed away in April, Gove was invited by the Thompson family to take over the practice.

Gove said he met Jason Thompson when Gove was a student at Ludlow High School in the late 1990s. Thompson was the town moderator at the time, and Gove was an elected representative to Ludlow Town Meeting. Gove later served as chair of the Ludlow Democratic Committee, represented Ludlow at the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, and chaired the Ludlow Cultural Council. “Jason Thompson was somebody I looked up to as a leader in our community,” he said. “I am honored to be taking over his practice.”

Gove earned his law degree from Boston College School of Law in 2004, after graduating cum laude from UMass Amherst in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in political science. He is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Assoc., the Hampden County Bar Assoc., the Hampshire County Bar Assoc., the Connecticut Bar Assoc., the Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield, and the Northampton Assoc. of Young Professionals.

Gove has also served on many area nonprofit boards and presently serves as a corporator of the Horace Smith Fund, which grants scholarships for Hampden County residents pursuing a college or graduate education. He also volunteers for Cooley Dickinson Hospital and serves on the board of Best Buddies of Western Massachusetts. In 2012 and 2013, Gove was selected as a Massachusetts Rising Star by Super Lawyers, a designation earned by no more than 2.5% of lawyers in Massachusetts.

Bell is a 1983 graduate of Western New England College School of Law. He concentrates in residential and commercial real estate, consumer bankruptcy, probate administration, and personal-injury law.

For more information, visit www.govelawoffice.com or call Gove at (413) 570-3170 or Bell at (413) 583-5196.

Law Sections
Robinson Donovan Is in a Growth Mode

Jeff Roberts

Jeff Roberts, managing partner with Robinson Donovan, P.C.

Jeff Roberts, managing partner with Robinson Donovan, P.C.[/caption]For Jim Martin, understanding where Robinson Donovan, P.C. is headed requires an appreciation of the past.

“I always think it’s illustrative, when we talk about Robinson Donovan, to acknowledge our historical connections,” he said of the Springfield-based law firm that will mark its 150th anniversary in 2016. “We trace our roots back to Gov. George Robinson, and we’re the longest continuing law firm in the Pioneer Valley — perhaps in the state.”

Martin, a partner at the firm, said the late Milton Donovan — one of the founders of the practice long known as Robinson Donovan Madden & Barry — always stressed client service, and that’s what the six current partners and nine associates continue to emphasize today. “We feel we’re able to deliver high-quality legal services in an effective manner.”

According to Jeffrey Roberts, the longest-tenured partner at Robinson Donovan, building that reputation has been a multi-generational effort.

“When I started here, there were six or seven lawyers,” he told BusinessWest. “But even at that size, I never had the impression that the firm was being run by a few owners doing it for themselves, who didn’t care to leave anything behind. And today, I think all the partners want this firm to keep going after they’re gone.

“That’s why we keep hiring, why we made the decision to remodel the place,” he said of the firm’s offices high in Tower Square. “We’re looking for people to come here in the early stage of their career and stay here, stay in the community. And it’s working. It’s enjoyable to see everyone working as a team here and growing. Even through the recent recession, we’ve been in the game the whole time and expanding again.”

A general-practice firm, Robinson Donovan specializes in a number of legal niches, including corporate and business law, commercial real estate, estate planning and administration, divorce and family law, employment law, and litigation. After a period of rapid contraction last decade — more than 30 lawyers worked there as recently as 15 years ago — business is growing in virtually all those specialties, Roberts said, and the practice is on the rise again, hiring five attorneys over the past five years.

“With employment-law work, we’re talking about all types of employment-law issues — harassment, wrongful termination, age discrimination, all kinds of discrimination claims, and counseling employers,” Roberts explained. “Another area that’s been really active for us has been family-law work — divorce and domestic relations.

“We continue to have a lot of demand,” he said, “so we’ll likely keep hiring. But we try to be careful in how we grow, so we don’t grow just for the sake of growing. We want to keep our level of service up, keep our expertise up, while bringing in more people. We’re pretty confident, notwithstanding swings in the economy, that we’ll keep growing.”

For this issue’s focus on law, BusinessWest sits down with several attorneys with Robinson Donovan to talk about why this firm with an extensive history is anticipating a bright future.

Raising the Bar

Roberts was quick to note that the firm’s recent hires have spanned most of its specialties.

“It’s interesting to note, when you look at the people we’ve hired, they work in general litigation, trusts and estates, corporate transaction law, labor and employment, domestic relations. In each one of those areas, the partners and lawyers say there’s more work coming in, and we need to hire more people. That’s a good indication where the key practice areas are in Western Mass.”

He and Martin said Robinson Donovan has been quick to assimilate fast-growing subspecialties into its roster of services. Take, for example, the growth of solar projects and other installations involving ‘green’ forms of energy production — projects that require legal services to navigate a host of real-estate, zoning, and regulatory issues.

Associate Mike Simolo

Associate Mike Simolo, right, says younger attorneys at Robinson Donovan benefit from a culture of mentorship promoted by Jim Martin, left, and the other partners.


“Every time you pick up the paper, there’s something new with these projects,” Roberts said. “We’ve become involved in these opportunities to the point where one of our younger lawyers, Nick Lata, is extremely knowledgable about them.

“We now have a considerable amount of expertise in solar work,” he continued. “There aren’t too many wind farms around, but Jim started representing a company putting up windmills. As you do these projects, you learn a lot, acquire a lot of expertise. We’re excited about that.”

Martin, an expert in transactions who is also a leading automotive franchise attorney, said the transfer of closely held businesses is another fast-growing field. “People would be very surprised how difficult it is to effectuate a smooth transition of a family business from one generation to the next. It’s fraught with variables and rarely as smooth as the owners or their successors would like it to be.”

Nancy Frankel Pelletier, a partner who specializes in litigation, also has plenty on her plate these days, including municipal issues ranging from zoning to civil rights. “It’s a substantial amount of work. The law is very broad, but the aspect of litigation is somewhat specialized. You need someone experienced in the courtroom, and we are.”

One growth area in litigation involves dissolving business partnerships in which only one partner wants to walk away. “In these cases, no one really thought about what would happen if they didn’t want to stay together anymore; they didn’t create an agreement that didn’t allow for someone to walk away. I’ve seen a spike in people trying to get out of those arrangements.”

Jeff Trapani, another associate who works in litigation, noted that cost factors tend to drive trends, which is why alternative dispute resolution and arbitration continue to rise in popularity.

Meanwhile, Roberts noted that estate planning has taken on new importance at a time when Baby Boomers are aging and estate-tax rules have drastically changed, with exemptions rising from $1 million in 2000 to $5.5 million today.

All these factors, he said, contribute to a fertile environment in which a law firm can thrive and expand its reach — and he expects Robinson Donovan to continue to do just that.

The Next Generation

Martin said this growth is possible because the firm has long emphasized a culture of mentoring, with senior partners, influenced by those who came before, constantly training the younger generation, including tax-law specialist Lata, estate-planning specialist Michael Simolo, and family-law specialist Katherine McCarthy. “We continue to build a foundation of new talent, which we’re proud of.”

Simolo, for one, appreciates that culture. “It’s comforting to me to know I’ve got help available to me from both the partners and associates and the paralegals, if I need to turn to someone with an issue.”

Gesturing to Roberts and Martin, he noted, “there’s probably 65 years worth of legal experience sitting at this table, and it’s nice to be able to draw on that both in terms of not only getting the work done in a professional manner, but also client development. The culture here is to be applauded. Frankly, I feel totally comfortable going to any one of the partners with a question — ‘want to grab lunch? I’ve got an issue I want to talk over.’ That kind of thing happens here all the time. It’s very collegial, very team-oriented. For me, that’s one of the real pluses.”

It’s also a practical matter, Roberts said, to make sure all attorneys are up to speed.

“We’re big enough that we can take on big projects. On the other hand, we’re not too big. Clients want effiency, they want service, and when things go awry, they want someone to talk to,” he explained. “We’re well-positioned to do that. When we get young lawyers in, we get them involved right away in things that the other lawyers are doing. We don’t hide them for five years; we get them directly involved with clients. It gives a lot of depth to the practice. I’m on vacation, they know who to call. If somebody’s in a meeting or out of the office for two days, there’s always somebody they can call.”

Martin also praised the firm’s paralegal staff, many of whom have been at Robinson Donovan for many years. “We work as a team here, and we draw on their areas of training and deliver services in an efficient way, which is important to us.”

Attorneys Jeff Trapani and Nancy Frankel Pelletier

Attorneys Jeff Trapani and Nancy Frankel Pelletier say their litigation work has become more complex in recent years.

The firm has also built strong bonds in the community, with partners and associates serving on the boards of dozens of area nonprofits.

“It’s hard to do because everyone is so busy at work,” Roberts said, before emphasizing that such efforts are more than worth the time and energy. “I don’t think we’re any different than any other law firm. It’s hard to have a family, do all your work, and stay involved in the community. When somebody is able to do that, it really reflects some strong character. And we really like to see it.”

Looking Up

Robinson Donovan has come a long way since its early days, when it was best known for George Robinson’s successful defense of Lizzie Borden on double murder charges in 1892. These days, Martin noted, the firm is being recognized in a host of ways, such as the citations many of its attorneys have received from organizations like Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, and Martindale-Hubbell. Simolo expects more of the same in the future.

“I think they’ve made some great hires since I’ve been here,” he said. “It’s encouraging to me to see the partners investing in the future of the firm.

“They’re very pragmatic and results-oriented in helping people solve issues,” Simolo continued. “They do that very well, as a result of having decades of experience. And it works out very well for the client.”

“We’re very results-oriented,” Frankel Pelletier agreed. “People don’t always perceive it this way, but we’re problem solvers. That’s what we do.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at  [email protected]

Commercial Real Estate Sections
Cooper’s Commons Complex Is Shaping Itself into a Destination

Kate Gourde

Kate Gourde

Kate Gourde laughed as she talked about how she’s spent the past several weeks rolling up her sleeves and “diving back into things” at Cooper’s, the curtain and specialty gift shop she’s been managing for the past several years.

“I felt like I had been neglecting my own business and was anxious to really sink my teeth back into it,” she told BusinessWest, using some intriguing language to sum up what she and her husband, Robert, have been doing for the past three years.

This would be a comprehensive conversion of the former Country Squire Furniture Shop on Main Street in Agawam into a home for a host of small, and complementary, businesses — a project that is far from complete, but has advanced to the point where Gourde feels comfortable spending much more time at Cooper’s, which is located directly behind the landmark named after Ensign Thomas Cooper, the Civil War naval hero who once lived there.

Only a few small spaces in the 14,000-square-foot building on Main Street in Agawam are not occupied, and plans are emerging for those rooms as well. And as the business names on the large sign on the front lawn reveal, the repositioning of this property has gone pretty much according to the vision that Gourde related when BusinessWest first talked with her in February 2012.

Indeed, as she led a tour of the property back then, Gourde pointed to a large space at the front she thought would be ideal for a small restaurant. It is now home to the Squire’s Bistro, operated by Fred Withee, former owner of Storrowton Village. Likewise, she said another two-room space toward the front would be ideal for a hair salon — it is now occupied by Shear Techniques, which moved roughly a mile down Main Street — and that a large space toward the back of the property would be perfect for a dance studio; LHQ Danceforce & Wellness has set up shop there.

These ventures have been joined by a consulting business, a skin salon, a massage therapist, the Individual and Family Counseling Center, Dupre Hypnosis, and even state Rep. Nicholas Boldyga, who set up his regional office there last fall.

Not everything has gone according to the script, certainly, said Gourde, who noted that some early tenants had short stays, promoting more due diligence before leasing out space. Overall, she described the conversion as both a “journey” and a “learning experience on many levels,” as she and her husband have added ‘landlord’ to their professional résumés. But the blank canvas that existed in the winter of 2012 has been filled in pretty much as they envisioned it would be.

What remains is more hard work to make Cooper’s Commons the destination that the Gourdes intend it to be. This includes effective marketing of the complex, she said, adding there has been use of a website, social media, and some television spots to promote the location as a place to “spend an hour or spend a day.”

“We’ve done our best to continue to work on the branding of the location and the promotion of the location to help all of our tenants move forward,” she explained. “That’s all we want — to see everyone take care of their own business and do well.”

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, BusinessWest talked at length with Gourde and some of her tenants about how Cooper’s Commons has come together, and what the future holds for what all those involved hope will become a retail destination.

New Lease on Life

Dianne Palazzi had been doing business about a mile to the south on Main Street, in one of Agawam’s myriad strip malls, for more than a quarter-century, and had no real desire to leave that location.

But one day, while she was shopping at Cooper’s, Gourde asked her to take a look at a two-room space within the old Country Squire building.

It wasn’t love at first sight, but something approaching it, said Palazzi, who admitted that the ornate fireplace in one of the rooms helped stir the imagination and eventually prompt her to sign a lease.

Fred Withee

Fred Withee says the unique space in the old Country Squire furniture building was a perfect fit for his new venture.

I saw the fireplace, and that’s all it took,” said Palazzi, who became the first tenant in July 2012, with a laugh. “It took a while for people to find out we were here, but now things are picking up  — we’re getting more walk-ins. This is a great location for us.”

This same story, or something closely approximating it, played out several times over the next several months as the Gourdes worked to fill in that aforementioned blank canvas, with spaces tranging in size from 200 to 2,700 square feet.

Indeed, Withee said he was semi-retired after selling Storrowton, but was looking at a possible new venture, a coffee roaster, when he started talking to Gourde about the old furniture store he’d frequented years earlier.

Today, his establishment features some furniture he bought there, as well as a collection of antique tools amassed by Gourde’s father, Arthur Leary.

“I have a grandfather clock, a painting, and some lamps — I brought them back home,” he said. “I knew the building well, I was a good customer, and when I looked at this space I knew that this is where I wanted to be.”

He said business has been good, though challenging, as it has been for many in this sector. Overall, he sees a good deal of promise, not only for his eatery, but for the complex as a whole.

“As people find out we’re here and visit, the ambiance gets their attention,” he said. “We couple it with good food and a friendly atmosphere, and they come back, and the same is true for the whole complex.”

When she talked with BusinessWest in 2012, Gourde said the space wouldn’t exactly sell itself, but she believed that once people saw it, they would want to make it home.

And that’s what has happened.

Gourde said the property has been developed in two phases, with the ground floor coming first, with a focus on retail, and then the second floor, which has been shaped mostly into offices for professionals, ranging from Boldyga to a business consultant to a home-care business operator.

The first floor was filled by the end of 2012, said Gourde, adding that there was a short lull, followed by a somewhat frantic push last fall and early this year to fit out the second floor for interested parties.

The process of tenanting the structure — a home that was expanded several times after being converted into a furniture store — has gone very much according to the original vision, with the size, shape, and amenities in each space often dictating its new use.

“We let the building speak to us about where the spaces would fall,” said Gourde. “And it’s an interesting building, because there were so many additions over the years. We had to figure out how to connect that addition to this addition and connect the front to the back. And with everything having to be up to code, for fire and handicap accessibility, it had its challenges, but it all worked out fine.

“Each space is definitely unique,” she went on, “and it’s been fun to watch how each tenant’s personality has come out in their space. We kept the common areas kind of subdued and calm, with classic colors and such, but the tenants took the ball and ran with it when it came to their own space. Overall, it’s classic and charming, with a contemporary twist.”

She said converting the Country Squire has been both a “monumental undertaking” and a labor of love, one that has included taking on the often-challenging role of landlord.
“We’ve learned a lot of lessons,” she said with a laugh, adding that the learning curve is ongoing. “It’s been an interesting project; about a year into it, my husband looked at me and said, ‘how do you like being a landlord now?’ I kept hoping it would get easier, but it hasn’t.”

Moving forward, while contemplating whether to convert the remaining second-floor space into apartments, as originally planned, and deciding when to start the elaborate (and expensive) process of repainting the complex, the Gourdes will focus much of their energy on marketing, making people aware of the of all that’s happening in the old furniture store, and helping their tenants succeed.

“It’s amazing how many people know the building because it’s a landmark,” said Gourde, “but because we didn’t change the front of the building drastically, many people are still unaware of all the changes that have happened within, so we’re trying to get the word out.”

The sign outside Cooper’s Commons

The sign outside Cooper’s Commons tells the story of how the complex has become populated with an eclectic mix of businesses.

To make them aware, the Cooper’s Commons website has been revamped, with links to the websites of the tenants. Meanwhile, there has been some marketing across several media, said Gourde, adding that the message is that the complex isn’t an office building — it’s a retail destination.

“I think that we can make this into more of a draw to bring people in,” she went on, “and let people know that there are so many things here to do and see. You can spend an hour or spend the day, depending on how much time you want to give it.”

Building Momentum

While Gourde is neglecting her own business far less than she was months ago, there is still much to do at the Commons, from finalizing plans for the remaining space to that aforementioned painting project, to marketing the complex.

This was all part of the vision Gourde laid out nearly three years ago.

As she said, it hasn’t all gone according to the plan. But for the most part, the complex has come together as the couple had hoped, and when people see the huge red building now, they don’t think of furniture — they think about an intriguing mix of small businesses.


George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]

Departments Incorporations

The following business incorporations were recorded in Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin counties and are the latest available. They are listed by community.

ADAMS

Dealer Helpers of MA Inc., 69 Columbia St., Adams, MA 01220. Daniel Gendron, same. Advertising, marketing, consulting, and product enhancement.

BELCHERTOWN

Halon Landscapes Inc., 324 Barton Ave., Belchertown, MA 01007. Mitchell Halon, same. Landscape services.

BRIMFIELD

Autism In My Pocket Inc., 101 John Haley Road, Brimfield, MA 01010. Robin Lee Gamache, same. Nonprofit organization designed to help families understand what autism is and how they can get help. Dedicated to helping parents and their families learn about interventions and treatments and where they can turn to in finding the help they need.

CHICOPEE

Ace Metal Fabricators Inc., 1045 Burnett Road, Chicopee, MA 01020. Mark Duda, same. Metal fabrication.

EAST LONGMEADOW

Bkaye Insurance Company Inc. 444A North Main St., Suite 230, East Longmeadow, MA 01028. Bryan Kaye, same. Insurance agency.

FLORENCE

Capers Construction Inc., 423 Ryan Road, Florence, MA 01062. Michael Capers, same. Residential construction.

HOLYOKE

Care Improvement Inc., 17 Nick Cosmos Way, Holyoke, MA 01040. Jose Dias, 53 Christopher Dr., Westfield, MA 01085. Commercial and residential building maintenance and repairs.

Holyoke Auto Glass Inc., 1584 Dwight St., Holyoke, MA 01040. Mark Sadler, same. Auto Glass sales and installation.

LENOX

Buddy Boys’ Specialty Foods Inc., 120 Reservoir Road, Lenox, MA 01240. Jason Macioge, same. Manufacturing of food products.

LONGMEADOW

Harrington Holdings Inc., 163 Western Dr., Longmeadow, MA 01106. Robert Harrington Jr., same. Commercial real estate services.

LUDLOW

1ST American Sewer & Drain Inc., 58 Cross Circle, Ludlow, MA 01056. Matthew Faulha, same. Service of maintaining sewer and drain lines.

Cops Under Fire Project Inc., 261 Woodland Circle, Ludlow, MA 01056. Frank Joseph Gallo, same. Provides therapy and non-medical services (e.g., trainings).

MONSON

Chicopee Auto Farm Inc., 290 Wilbraham Road, Monson, MA 01057. Dwayne Pafumi, same. Sales and marketing of automobile parts and used automobiles.

NORTH ADAMS

East Drink Inc., 135 Bonair Ave., North Adams, MA 01247. Jared Bruce Decoteau, same.

PITTSFIELD

Berkshire Muslims, 5 Melville St., Pittsfield, MA 01201. Gokseven Yidiz, 87 Michael Dr., Pittsfield, MA 01201. A mosque serving the communities of Western Massachusetts with attendant facilities.

Food Allergy Allies Inc., 93 Blythewood Dr., Pittsfield, MA 01201. Gail Cantor, same. Organization designed to educate people about restaurants, hotels, and other establishments that support and make accommodations for people with life-threatening food allergies

SOUTHAMPTON

Fitzgibbon Enterprises Inc., 31 Bissonette Circle, Southampton, MA 01073. James FitzGibbon III, same. Commercial real estate appraisal services.

SPRINGFIELD

Care Point Home Healthcare Inc., 155 Maple St., Suite 401, Springfield, MA 01105. Susan Kibaiya, 10 Primrose Way, St., Apt. 1108, Haverhill, MA 01830. Home healthcare services.

WEST SPRINGFIELD

Alsm Trucking Inc., 191 North Blvd., West Springfield, MA 01089. Alexander Blinov, same. General freight trucking service.

Badazz Runners Inc., 47 Southworth St., West Springfield, MA 01089. Jessica Lynn Pereplyotchi, same. Organization established to raise money for runners who either can’t afford or are in the need of running items.

WESTFIELD

EAA, 1561 Inc., 110 Airport Road, Care of Bruce Green, Westfield, MA 01085. Lindsey Pell, 23 Stafford Water St., Somers, CT 06071. Non-profit organization of aviation pilots and enthusiasts promoting general aviation through community outreach and awareness.

WORTHINGTON

Family FM Inc., 712 Route 112 South, PO Box 84, Worthington, MA 01098. Tim Allen, same. Radio broadcast designed to provide wholesome family programing and spread the love of God.

Commercial Real Estate Sections
Technology Park Is Writing a New Chapter to Its Rich History

An architect’s rendering of the Phoenix Charter Academy

An architect’s rendering of the Phoenix Charter Academy that will take shape in the Technology Park at Springfield Technical Community College.

When Beth Anderson conceived what became the Phoenix Charter Academy more than a decade ago, the goal was to create an environment where young students who had failed in the traditional high-school setting, often repeatedly, might overcome their challenges and move on to pursue a college education.

It was a laudable concept, but one she wasn’t at all sure would actually work.

And as she commenced a search for a place to fulfill this dream in the city of Chelsea, it became abundantly clear that few others were sure it would work either.

“I had to practically beg people to let us be in a building,” Anderson recalled. “We had no track record, no history, and a brand-new model no one had tried. And we were working with some really tough characters.”

Eventually, space was secured in the former Assumption School, and Phoenix opened its doors in the fall of 2006. Conditions were not ideal — in fact, they were far from it. But the school’s staff and those first 75 students persevered, and soon Phoenix began making real headway toward meeting its stated mission.

In the process, said Anderson, she and other administrators learned invaluable lessons about creating an environment where students could not only learn, but also aspire to excellence.

“We learned early on how important space is,” she explained. “You can’t just stick kids in a space that looks like you’re not going to hold them to a high standard, or one that says they don’t deserve a beautiful space in which to learn.”

Fast-forward to the fall of 2012, and Anderson and her staff had those lessons clearly in mind as they went about searching for space in which to expand the Phoenix network in Western Mass. The charter was extended to include Springfield, Holyoke, and Chicopee, communities that have large numbers of at-risk students and struggling school systems, and school officials focused their search for space in the City of Homes.

A few months later, that search ended in what some might consider an unlikely location — the Technology Park at Springfield Technical Community College, and, more specifically, long-vacant space once occupied by Springboard Technologies, or at least a big part of what will be left of that building after a large portion of it is razed.

Indeed, the Phoenix facility will become the cornerstone of an imaginative reuse plan for the 110,000-square-foot Springboard building — a.k.a. Building 104 in the former Springfield Armory complex that was also once home to Digital Equipment Corp. — which has been vacant since early 2009.

Plans call for razing roughly 70,000 square feet of the structure — the middle portion of the building — then creating a temporary home for Phoenix in 16,000 square feet of surviving space on the south end of the site (classes are expected to begin in mid-August), while also building out a permanent home for the school in 30,000 square feet of Building 104 left standing on the north end. The school’s temporary quarters will then be leased out to new tenants.

Bob Greeley, leasing agent for the Tech Park

Bob Greeley, leasing agent for the Tech Park, stands in front of the portion of Building 104 that will soon be coming down.

Meanwhile, that space in the middle will be converted into roughly 300 parking spaces, replacing roughly the number that will be lost to the college and the Tech Park when a parking lot that was leased by the school off Walnut Street is redeveloped into a grocery store for the Mason Square neighborhood.

Considering all that, Paul Stelzer, president of Holyoke-based Appleton Corp., which manages the tech park for its owner, the STCC Assistance Corp., called this series of developments a “win-win-win” scenario, with maybe a few more ‘wins’ as well. He counted Phoenix, the college, the Mason Square area, and the city as a whole among those that will benefit from these projects in one way or another, while the Tech Park itself will get a new look and new opportunities to expand its tenant base.

“We’re excited about this, because we have the ability to do something good for the community,” Stelzer said, referring to the charter school. “And we have more space to lease, which could lead to bringing more jobs to this region.”

Challenges remain for those operating the Tech Park — Western Mass. Electric Co., which moved in more than a decade ago, will soon be vacating more than 15,000 square feet of space serving as its headquarters — but the complex (not including Building 104) is more than 90% occupied, and the WMECO space and remaining portion of Building 104 create possibilities for bringing new companies, and jobs, to a region that needs them.

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, BusinessWest looks at what is shaping up to be an intriguing next chapter for the Tech Park, and possible subsequent developments for the historic facility.

Building Blocks

Since Springboard closed its doors in 2009 after struggling and downsizing for several years, and even well before that as the demise of the company became increasingly apparent, Building 104 has been a persistent challenge for Tech Park managers trying to reposition that space and generate needed revenue.

The space became a source of controversy and even contentiousness as the assistance corporation offered it as an alternative location for the state-operated data center that was eventually built at the site of the former Technical High School. U.S. Rep. Richard Neal pushed hard for the Tech High site, and eventually prevailed in what became a bitter fight over where the center would be located.

In the years since, there has been little interest in cavernous Building 104, used for manufacturing by both Digital and the Armory, primarily because there is a glut of such space on the market — and has been since the start of the Great Recession — and the Tech Park space is generally not able to compete with such properties on price, said Bob Greeley, owner of R.J. Greeley Co., long-time leasing agent for the park.

However, a new vision for the property began to take shape starting in late 2012, as plans for the neighborhood grocery store — a project pushed by city officials and agencies such as DevelopSpringfield — started to come together and, later, when Anderson and her staff began a hard search for a location in which to create Phoenix’s Springfield facility.

The aerial photo at left shows the massive Building 104 at the top of the image. At right is a site map showing what the park will look like when a large section of the building is razed.

The aerial photo at left shows the massive Building 104 at the top of the image. At right is a site map showing what the park will look like when a large section of the building is razed.

1-Federal-Aerial“For eight or nine years, we’ve been trying to lease all or part of that former manufacturing building,” said Stelzer. “We were looking for a solution, and circumstances emerged that presented us with an opportunity to do something meaningful there.”

The assistance corporation applied for and received a $3.86 million infrastructure grant from the state to essentially move the parking facilities off Walnut Street into the Tech Park, said Stelzer, adding that the funding will cover the costs of demolition and creating a new parking lot.

When those funds were secured, work commenced with the National Park Service and state and local historical commissions on how the assistance corporation would adaptively reuse the park and how demolition would be accomplished and also remain sensitive to the historic nature of the site for the Armory days.

Meanwhile, park administrators started working on a viable plan for repositioning the portions of the building that would be left standing, said Stelzer, adding the charter school presented itself as an attractive option.

“The Tech Park board and the college had long had thoughts of having a charter school near the campus,” he explained. “And this [Phoenix] facility will give a real boost to the community because it serves a different population.”

That population consists of students who have struggled in a traditional high-school setting, said Anderson, noting that many have dropped out for various reasons, such as academic issues, teen pregnancy, and others.

The school presents an alternative for such individuals, she went on, adding that the model involves a blend of rigorous academics — a longer school day and year, advanced-placement classes, college-class dual-enrollment options, and a strict culture — with social and emotional supports for each student.

“We develop teachers and leaders who believe in the possibility of human change and growth,” she said, “and who fight tirelessly for better outcomes for kids.”

Sara Ofusu-Amah, chief operating officer for Phoenix, said the school is planning to open in its temporary quarters on August 15, with the goal of being in the permanent building in January. Already, 88 students have enrolled — a number that reinforces the perceived need for such a facility — and school officials believe they will easily reach their target of 125 for the fall semester.

The permanent facility will include several classrooms, she said, as well as an on-site day-care facility for the children of students, a small library, a student-support center, science labs, and multi-purpose space school officials call the ‘nest,’ which will serve as the gym, auditorium, and meeting space.

“We want a beautiful space that celebrates academics and scholarship,” she said. “But there’s not a lot of bells and whistles; this is a place focused on preparing students for college.”

The 16,000 square feet that will become the temporary home for the charter school has the potential to host businesses of varying sizes across a number of sectors, said Stelzer, who described it as “higher-end flex space.”

“It will have the ability to do office, light assembly, a clean-energy tenant, or a small call center,” he explained. “We can be flexible there.”

While work begins to demolish the middle 70,000 square feet of Building 104 and outfit the south portion of the property as the temporary home for Phoenix, Greeley is seeking new tenants for the space occupied by WMECO, which is slated to move out in June.

The space was formerly part of a large call center operated by RCN, and while it’s attractive and well-appointed, it brings some challenges as well, said Greeley.

There are a number of small offices and conference rooms, he noted, which would make it ideal for use as a corporate headquarters. However, many companies today favor more open floor plans to facilitate communication between employees and improve work flow.

The space may also prove difficult to subdivide because of the way it’s laid out, he went on, adding quickly that the space gives the park some valuable inventory at a time when the economy is showing signs of life and many businesses are possibly gaining the confidence to move forward with expansion plans and new initiatives.


Space Exploration

It’s unlikely that those who conceptualized the Tech Park and were there when the ribbon was cut in 1996 could have imagined the developments unfolding on the site today.

Then again, the park has always been a work in progress, a regional asset that has evolved as the region’s economy and business community have. It’s an evolutionary process that continues today.

In other words, a site already steeped in history is continuing to write more of it.

George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]

Commercial Real Estate Sections
DevelopSpringfield Targets ‘Impactful’ Projects

Above, the Gunn Block on State Street; below, 83 Maple

Above, the Gunn Block on State Street; below, 83 Maple, also known as the Ansel Phelps House, after the city’s fourth mayor, who lived there.

Jay Minkarah says there’s a course of action, or series of steps, traditionally followed by developers as they are contemplating whether to acquire a piece of commercial real estate and ready it for tenants.

“Typically, you undertake your feasibility analysis and make sure the market’s there,” he said, adding that most developers will take a cautious, conservative approach to such work, especially in difficult financial times such as those experienced over the past several years. “Then, you go through your financial analysis, you line up your financing, get tenants or an end user in place, and then you start work.”

But when it comes to projects currently being undertaken by DevelopSpringfield — the private, nonprofit agency tasked with spurring development in the City of Homes, which Minkarah took over roughly 16 months ago — most, if not all, of those steps have been skipped.

This is especially true for initiatives involving two historic properties just outside the central business district — the Gunn Block on State Street, said to be one of the oldest commercial properties in the city, and a once-stately former residence known simply as 83 Maple — and there is a reason for this.

Actually, there are several.

For starters, these are properties deserving of the descriptive adjective ‘blighted.’ Both have been condemned, and, in the case of the Gunn Block, the large red ‘X’ above the door — placed there to warn firefighters that in the event of fire they are not to enter the building — is clearly visible. And bringing new life to blighted properties is one of the main tenets of DevelopSpringfield’s mission.

Jay Minkarah

Jay Minkarah says the current projects in the DevelopSpringfield portfolio don’t make sense financially, but they do from the standpoint of the agency’s mission.

What’s more, the properties are highly visible. The Gunn Block is located across State Street from the main entrance to Springfield Technical Community College, just a few hundred feet past Commerce High School, and around the corner from a planned Mason Square grocery store, another project with which DevelopSpringfield is involved. Meanwhile, 83 Maple is at the intersection of Maple and Union streets, meaning that thousands of people pass it every day and have watched it deteriorate.

These properties are, in many ways, symbolic, said Minkarah, adding that they have been vacant and underutilized for many years and thus have become signs of a city that is stagnant and in decline.

So, considering all of the above, Minkarah decided — and rather quickly after assuming directorship of the agency in December 2012 — to essentially bypass those due-diligence exercises listed above and acquire the properties. They are both undergoing extensive renovations with the goal of having them retenanted in the next few years.

“We skipped a few steps and went right to implementation,” he told BusinessWest. “And that’s important for a variety of reasons. I think it’s important to demonstrate that progress is possible, that we really can make great things happen, that we can actually change things on the ground.

“The projects that we have chosen have been designed to have maximum impact,” he went on, adding that another initiative — acquisition of the former River Inn further east on State Street, subsequent demolition of that property, and preparation of the site for resale — also fits this description. “And we believe that successfully developing these will create some real momentum in the city.”

Minkarah used that word ‘we’ repeatedly as he talked about these projects, and he used it to reference not only his agency, but the many constituencies it works with, from Springfield city officials to other development-focused organizations.

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, BusinessWest talked at length with Minkarah about the current roster of projects in the DevelopSpringfield portfolio, why they were chosen, and what they mean for the city moving forward.

A Developing Story

Minkarah told BusinessWest that he not only works downtown but lives there as well, and frequently walks the area.

He has a number of preferred routes, including a trek up State Street into Mason Square; another that covers a wide swath of Main Street, essentially from the South End past the Arch; a walk that covers the full length of Union Street; and still another that takes him along Maple Street and often to the Springfield Cemetery.

It was while taking some of these walks — and also many drives throughout the city —that Minkarah identified some potential priority initiatives for DevelopSpringfield, including those that are currently in progress.

“I made it a point to drive around the city and walk around the city and try to understand the dynamic of what was happening,” he explained. “I was looking at it strategically and saying, ‘if we were to intervene, where would it make the most sense to do so? Where could we, while staying within our means, have a maximum impact?’ And these buildings popped out right away.

“We have properties in this city that are very distressed,” he went on, “but because of their location, while they may have value to some people, an intervention on those buildings wouldn’t be strategic.”

He chose that word ‘intervene’ carefully, and summoned it to show how the agency has chosen to inject itself into situations where solutions are both necessary and elusive.

That was certainly the case at the River Inn, acquired at auction roughly a year ago, which had become not only an eyesore, but a frequent crime scene.

“This was a real source of problems for the city and the neighborhood,” said Minkarah, adding that the 1.5-acre property, enlarged through the acquisition of some adjacent parcels, is currently being readied for redevelopment and is officially on the market.

“We’ve had a few nibbles,” he went on, adding that retail is the likely eventual use, and if a deal comes together, it could help spur additional development in an area he believes should capture the attention of national chains, but historically hasn’t.

“State Street is a corridor with tremendous potential,” he said, “and part of what we’re trying to do is get that message out. A lot of things have happened that are really significant, but it can be a challenge to get national chains to recognize the value of that corridor and what a tremendous investment and development opportunity it is.”

“Part of the reason why we’re making these very strategic investments is to enhance the development potential of that corridor,” he went on. “Taking down a building like the River Inn, which was a blight in that area, is one step toward doing that.”

The River Inn site is just a few hundred yards east of the Gunn Block, another property that seemingly begged for intervention.

This landmark predates the Civil War, said Minkarah, adding that its historical significance — it’s on the National Register of Historic Places — coupled with its location and blighted condition made it a prime candidate for the agency’s attention.

“To me, having a condemned building of obvious historical significance, located on State Street at a major intersection, directly across from STCC and the Tech Park … that’s just not OK,” he said. “That’s a condition that has to change. Like the River Inn, the Gunn Block is a property that had deteriorated and was acting as a blight on the area, inhibiting future investment and development.”

Building Momentum

Acquired for $90,000, the property is part of a row of buildings between Commerce High School that are vacant or underutilized — the long-closed Cavanaugh Furniture building is part of the mix — and that Minkarah believes have great potential.

“When I look down that block, I realize that we have this whole row of historically significant buildings that, if they were revitalized, if they were rehabbed, could become a small but interesting and vibrant district that serves the college, serves the neighborhood, and serves the people who work in the area,” he told BusinessWest.

Many of the properties in that row present challenges, and the Gunn Block is clearly the most challenged, said Minkarah, adding that asbestos was found on the walls of the second and third floors, and the process of abating it is slowing the extensive process of stabilizing and then rehabbing the property.

The agency was able to secure a $200,000 brownfields grant from the Environmental Protection Agency through the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, he noted, adding that it will pursue historical tax credits and grants to help finance what will likely be a $1.5 million project to ready the property for tenants.

A restaurant/pub is the most likely next use for the first floor, while residential development is eyed for the upper floors, said Minkarah, adding that a re-use plan will be created for not only the rest of that aforementioned area, but also a planned grocery store across Walnut Street and the surrounding blocks.

Meanwhile, work continues at 83 Maple, which was built in 1841 by Solymon Merrick, inventor of the monkey wrench (one of Springfield’s many firsts) and later bought by Ansel Phelps Jr., Springfield’s fourth mayor.

It has been vacant for several years and was also condemned by the city, said Minkarah, adding that there were two previous, and unsuccessful, attempts to redevelop the 4,500-square-foot brick structure.

This poor track record, coupled with the building’s location and its deteriorated state, made it another target for intervention by DevelopSpringfield, he noted, adding that, while the development community has essentially given up on the property, he sees vast potential.

“The house has a lot of attributes that I really like — it has floor plans that lend it to office use, and, on the whole, it’s structurally sound,” adding quickly that water that poured through two skylights damaged by the 2011 tornado caused significant, but not irreparable, damage.

Crews are currently restoring the large porches on the property and repointing the brick, said Minkarah, adding that the exterior work should be completed this summer, and the focus will then shift to the interior and readying the property for professionals, such as lawyers or accountants.

The price tag will likely reach $750,000, he went on, adding that he’ll try to mitigate that cost with historic tax credits and grants.


Impact Statement

As he talked about his agency’s current projects, Minkarah made early and frequent use of the phrase ‘if all goes well.’

It was summoned to qualify everything from the timelines for rehabilitation of the properties to the ongoing search for funding, to the intended future uses of these landmarks.

There are question marks in each realm, and therefore some uncertainty about whether all will go well. But Minkarah is sure that nothing would ever happen at these properties were it up to the private development community, because the bottom line is that these projects don’t make financial sense.

But they do make sense when it comes to this agency’s mission and its desire to undertake initiatives that will be, in a word, impactful for the neighborhoods that surround them.

“If these were properties that were attractive to private developers, they would be developed. But they’re not, and those are the conditions we have to change,” he said. “We haven’t accomplished anything yet, but with these projects, I believe there is a greater sense of hope, a greater sense of what the possibilities really are, a new appreciation of how far we can really take this community.”

George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]

40 Under 40 The Class of 2014
Associate Attorney, Doherty, Wallace, Pillsbury & Murphy, P.C., age 39

Michael-Schneider-01bMichael Schneider studied theology and political philosophy as an undergraduate, and considered heading to divinity school for his master’s studies.

Eventually, though, “I didn’t think some of the work was for me,” he said. “I was happy with the education, and I really enjoyed learning about that field, but I didn’t enjoy the prospect of writing those books. I decided I wanted to work with people a little more.”

So he switched gears in favor of law school, and is now an associate attorney with Doherty, Wallace, Pillsbury & Murphy, with a general business practice that encompasses everything from zoning and permitting in commercial real estate to mergers and acquisitions, especially in the precision-manufacturing field.

“We did two fairly large deals in 2012 that involved European buyers,” he recalled. “That was a lot of fun; it gives you an opportunity to punch above your weight class. In a Chicago or D.C. law firm, there might be 10 or 12 people on a team for that project; here, there’s one or two of us.”

In addition, Schneider was the lead attorney for the permitting and financial work for the Sisters of St. Joseph senior residences at Mont Marie in Holyoke.

“I enjoy getting people over the goal line on things that are difficult or complex, but ultimately very rewarding for them,” he said. “It’s a pretty intimate relationship, and we help them do some major things in their life. And it’s satisfying to help facilitate that with someone.”

Schneider enjoys helping people outside of work as well, including serving on the Longmeadow Conservation Commission and as vice president of the Children’s Chorus of Springfield. “This great group is in its seventh year,” he said, noting that it fills — or at least begins to fill — a serious need in Springfield, where fewer than half of grade-school students have access to music education in their curriculum.

“The kids in this chorus come from about 25 different schools,” he continued. “Countless studies show that kids with access to music education do better in school. My mother is a teacher, and my brother is an opera singer, so I have a lot of respect for it. Music education was something I took for granted, and to help fill that gap now is important.”

— Joseph Bednar

Commercial Real Estate Sections
The Experiments Continue in John Aubin’s Evolving Open Square

OpenSquareDPartAs John Aubin talked about Open Square, the massive former mill complex along the canals in downtown Holyoke that has been his passion for the past dozen years or more, he continually referred to it as an “urban laboratory” — for architecture, planning, sustainability, and economic development.

By that, he meant this was a place to experiment and drive innovation in response to an ongoing movement that has more people apparently willing and able to work, live, and locate businesses in urban settings, although many cities are struggling to take full advantage of that phenomenon.

To succeed in this environment and move the needle in Holyoke when it comes to attracting businesses there, Aubin said he doesn’t focus on filling square footage in an old mill. Rather, he’s committed to creating workspaces in which business owners can thrive.

“My business is really about creating an environment for people to live in, work in, socialize in, and play in,” he explained. “The real-estate development is almost secondary; as an architect, designer, and planner, that’s what I’m really doing — creating that environment.”

Aubin believes this philosophy is working and creating great progress in his laboratory. Over the past decade, he told BusinessWest, he’s been adding five new businesses a year, and all of these ventures are new to downtown Holyoke.

The tenant list now includes more than 50 companies employing more than 200 people in sectors ranging from healthcare to technology; from insurance to marketing; from finance to hospitality.

John Aubin, owner of Open Square

John Aubin, owner of Open Square

And the latest addition to that list could be one of the most significant.

VertitechIT, a networking and IT engineering company that provides a wide range of services to clients, many of the them in the healthcare sector, is planning to move into 3,500 square feet of custom-designed space on the mostly undeveloped third floor of what’s known as Mill 4. And it could expand into more than 9,000 square feet across the hall if the firm successfully consolidates currently outsourced services on that site, as planned, said the company’s president, Michael Feld.

“We’ll need that space for a 24/7/365 support center with probably 25 to 30 people in it,” Feld said, adding that, even if those plans do not come to fruition, the company will likely continue its pattern of doubling in size each year and will certainly need additional space.

VertitechIT’s new offices, which should be ready for occupancy next month, are an example of Aubin’s efforts to create an attractive, efficient, custom (that’s a word you’ll read again) work environment that makes Open Square — and Holyoke — an attractive destination for businesses across many sectors.

“We wanted a space that is quite presentable to clients, but the real value is to the engineers,” Feld explained. “For example, everybody loves whiteboards, so all the walls are curved, with large expanses of painted whiteboard so you can write on it. And our conference-room table is glass that you can write on as well.

“There are a lot of large screens in various places, and the desks are designed so that people can collaborate on projects,” he went on. “The whole site is a visual interpretation of the way we work.”

Looking forward, Aubin said he plans to continue his pattern of steady growth. What direction it will take is still to be determined as Holyoke continues its comeback from the extreme hard times of the ’70s and ’80s, fueled by the loss of thousands of manufacturing jobs and demographic shifts that saw the nation’s first planned industrial city become one of the poorer communities in the Commonwealth.

Recent developments such as the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center, the emergence of a creative economy, and a more positive outlook about the community could attract many different kinds of businesses to the city — and Open Square, said Aubin. Meanwhile, plans to bring rail service to Holyoke could open other kinds of doors, he said, adding that there is preliminary talk about the prospects for developing a hotel at one of the mills on the Open Square complex (more on that later).

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, BusinessWest toured Open Square, gaining a perspective on both the many new developments there in recent years and possible future development on this historic site.

History Lessons

As he elaborated on that notion of Open Square as a laboratory, Aubin referenced that trend toward urban living and working. He said Holyoke is squarely in the middle of this phenomenon, and perhaps better positioned than others to take full advantage of it.

“We all know that, over the past 10 years, the world has become more urban. Demand is growing for urban space,” he explained. “Holyoke, and many small cities in this country, have enormous potential — they represent a tremendous, untapped market. And what I do is take a design-based approach to taking advantage of that, to leveraging what is really a very strong market.

“There are a number of cities that are well-poised to take advantage of this market,” he went on, “but no one seems to be able to figure out how to do that — we’re seeing cities struggle with it. I actually consider Open Square to be a prime example of how to leverage that market.”

Setting the tone in this new and emerging urban landscape has been Aubin’s unofficial job description since he started filling in the canvas that is the historic mill complex his father purchased in the mid-’60s but then struggled to fill as Holyoke went into its long and pronounced tailspin.

The Great Recession that officially began in late 2007 and continued into late 2009 slowed his progress somewhat, but Aubin has been able to successfully fill nearly 100,000 square feet of space with everything from a successful events facility called Mill 1 (that’s where it’s located) to arts groups such as the Massachusetts Academy of Ballet, to energy and environmental companies such as Sovereign Consulting.

As he’s filled in floors on Mill 1 and Mill 4, he’s done so with the approach that, while he’s willing to experiment in his laboratory, there are limits on what he’ll try.

“As a private business, I don’t have the luxury of experimenting on things that are not going to work or where the costs are too high — I’ve been to able to identify markets and capture them, and ideas that don’t work were discarded quickly,” he said, adding that this reasoning explains why there is only one residential unit in the complex — one that Aubin lived in himself for a time and then Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse called home for a while before buying a house in the city — and also why there is a comparatively small number of artisans, specifically those who do what they do for a living, not a hobby.

“Housing is a good idea, a core idea, but you can’t do it in a vacuum,” he said, adding that conditions are not right for market-rate housing in Holyoke at the moment, primarily because two low-income projects in progress or on the drawing board — Lyman Terrace and the former Holyoke Catholic High School — will weaken demand for a higher-end product. “Market-rate housing is a long-term investment, and we hope to revisit it soon, but for now, it’s been tabled.”

So Aubin continues to focus his experiments on what he believes — or knows — will work, and this brings him back to that notion of creating attractive but also affordable environments in which to do business, but also in which to stage weddings and other types of events. And Open Square, with its great critical mass, provides seemingly endless opportunities for doing so.

“Because we have this great foundation, this wonderful building to work with, we’re able to do beautiful, custom-designed space at a very affordable rate that’s difficult to match,” he said while making a clear distinction between affordable and ‘cheap,’ something Open Square is not.

These ingredients allowed Aubin to successfully fill Mill 4’s second floor with what he called “studio space,” generally one large, open room with build-out costs much lower than what was created two floors up.

There, Aubin has created larger, custom spaces, up to 3,000 square feet, for an eclectic mix of clients, ranging from Common Capital to Cover Technologies, an environmental company, to Emergent Billing, which focuses on the healthcare industry.

Plans to create still-larger custom spaces on the third floor, which started with buildout for Sovereign Consulting, were sidetracked by the recession, said Aubin, but with the economy improving, those plans are now moving forward, starting with VertitechIT.

VertitechIT

This artist’s rendering shows the unique features in the space created for VertitechIT, including curved walls and a centrally located conference room.

Technically Speaking

In many ways, that company’s arrival provides an effective example of how Open Square is deepening its tenant list by creating custom work spaces that put Holyoke — and the mill complex — on radar screens they would not have been on years ago.

Launched in 2001, the company was located in Northampton for many years, where the fit wasn’t perfect, for several reasons, said Feld.

“It’s hard for companies like us to exist there — they want retail, and we’re not that type of organization; we don’t match what the town is looking for and is prepared to work with,” he said, adding that this mismatch was compounded by the fact that the company quickly outgrew its quarters.

“We were just hanging on by packing people into every corner. We loved Northampton, but we simply ran out of space and couldn’t put it off any longer,” he said, adding quickly that Holyoke wasn’t on his short, or even long, list of possibilities for relocation.

“My understanding of Holyoke was limited and quite negative,” he told BusinessWest. “But our operations person really runs our show, and she lives in Holyoke, and she was really pressuring me to come down here. When I finally met John [Aubin] and looked at the space, I was very surprised and very much interested.”

Then came meetings with the mayor, school department leaders, and business executives, and Feld came away with the opinion that Holyoke should be his new business address.

As he talked about the space he will occupy, Feld made early and frequent use of the word ‘custom,’ and even put the adjective ‘quite’ before it. The space will include:

• Three private offices for secure communications within the main work area;

• Flowing, open areas featuring three main work ‘pods,’ or islands creatively configured to enhance collaboration;

• Uniquely curved inner walls, a signature of Aubin’s accessible modern design, that are mounted with whiteboards, providing ample work surfaces within the pods; and

• A curved conference room whose central position emphasizes VertitechIT’s collective brainpower and focus on creating solutions for clients.

“We gave John our ideas, not expecting to see much in return,” said Feld. “But he understood exactly what we were trying to do and, more importantly, understood the reasons for it. It wasn’t just like he could simply translate his customers’ desires into designs — he actually understood the reasons for it and agrees with it, and it follows the way he thinks in general. It’s a match made in heaven.”

Looking forward, Aubin said the obvious goal is to create more of these matches as controlled experimentation continues in his urban laboratory. What shape it will take remains to be seen, he noted, adding that, in many ways, Open Square will evolve as Holyoke does.

Elaborating, he said the planned return of rail service could drive economic development in many ways, because it will make the city more accessible — to workers, business owners, and even tourists.

“We’re looking at what the future is for this region, how soon it will get here, and how quickly we can move on it,” he explained. “The train will certainly open up opportunities — it will make commuting easier and open up markets as far south as New York City.

“We’re already looking to market our events space further south because of the train,” he went on, “and we’re looking at the possibility of a hotel. Like with the event space, there are other options within this market, but I think we can create a unique option for a hotel. It’s something we’re going to take a close look at.”

Finish Work

Aubin’s business card reads ‘Architect/Principal.’

The juxtaposition of those words speaks volumes about how he views his broad-ranging responsibilities with the company. In short, he’s an architect first, and he believes his focus on design and creating attractive, efficient working environments is helping Holyoke and Open Square reach that vast potential he mentioned, taking full advantage of the shift to urban living and working.

At the moment, he has designs on continued growth and leveraging the tremendous asset his family has owned for close to a half-century now.

And he’s confident that the pieces are in place for that to happen.

George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]

Opinion
Coworking Spaces Can Be Idea Factories

For many years now, we’ve been preaching the virtues of inspiring and facilitating entrepreneurship as a sound economic-development strategy, one that is often overlooked by many.

Indeed, that phrase ‘economic development’ is usually associated with filling industrial parks or convincing foreign automakers to build a 1 million-square-foot factory in one’s community. And that’s one way to go about it, granted a very difficult way.

The more old-fashioned way is to encourage the creation of startups and then finding ways to help them grow — and stay — in one’s region. It takes longer, but the results are often more sustainable. This is why we have encouraged groups and initiatives such as Valley Venture Mentors (VVM) in their efforts to help get businesses off to the ground and then get to that next level.

And also why we’re quite impressed with what’s going on at 20 Hampton Ave., Suite 150 in Northampton.

This is the address of Click Workspace (see story on page 12), a unique facility that its founders and current president Paul Silva, also involved with VVM, say specializes in “collisions.”

These are meetings of the minds that often turn into business opportunities in the form of collaborations, assistance that might help an idea come to fruition or a business take a critical next step, or startups that could eventually employ dozens of people.

Click Workspace has seen all of the above, and repeatedly. Maybe the best example of such a collision involves Randall Smith and Chris Landry. The former is a digital strategist and founder of a company called PowerLabs. The latter is the founder of Landry Communications, a branding venture that helps organizations get their stories out. The two met at Work Clickspace and quickly determined that their skills were complementary. They wound up responding as a team to a request for proposals from Boston-based Chorus Foundation and won a sizable contract from the agency.

There are countless other examples of how these collisions work, and they provide ample evidence of the fact that the region needs to find ways to create more of them.

Those involved with ‘Click,’ as it’s called, are interested in taking the concept to other area cities and towns, and we hope they are successful in doing so.

They need some ingredients to fall into place for that to happen, though, including a critical mass of entrepreneurs and creative professionals and affordable commercial real estate, something they somehow managed to find in Northampton, despite the long odds against doing so.

Their next target should be downtown Springfield, and there is already movement to establish a facility there. It’s a common-sense step, because there is considerable activity involving entrepreneurship in the city’s central business district — VVM meets there regularly — and there could be much more in the years to come with UMass having an active presence and initiatives underway to create a larger, more vibrant creative economy there.

What’s needed is a space where the minds can meet and collisions can happen.

There is already much happening when it comes to economic development in Springfield, from the planned $800 million casino complex in the South End to the long-awaited revitalization of Union Station to UMass Amherst’s planned satellite center. These should all create more vibrancy and more interest in the City of Homes, but what’s needed is more focus on inspiring entreprenership and spurring new small businesses.

A coworking facility that can replicate some of those collisions happening at 20 Hampton Ave. in Northampton would be a great place to start. n

Entrepreneurship Sections
Click Workspace Puts Members on Collision Courses

Randall Smith, left, and Chris Landry

Randall Smith, left, and Chris Landry connected at Click Workspace and are now collaborating on a project.

‘Collisions.’

That’s the term Paul Silva absolutely wore out as he talked about what happens when entrepreneurs — or ‘crazy people,’ as he calls them — as well as creative types, such as writers, editors, musicians, and website designers, get together in close quarters.

“There are collisions — and lots of them,” said Silva, adding quickly that these developments take many forms, such as individuals collaborating on an idea that becomes a business concept. Or an entrepreneur finding an angel investor that can provide the capital to get an idea off the ground. Or a writer making the acquaintance of a social-media expert who has some suggestions on how she can better communicate with her readers.

All these scenarios and countless others have played out at a unique facility in Northampton called Click Workspace, or simply ‘Click,’ as most members call it. It is one of the more recent manifestations of a trend toward coworking, a style of work that involves a shared environment, said Silva, the nonprofit facility’s president, noting that it was inspired by much larger projects such as the Cambridge Innovation Center and the Innovation Pavilion in Colorado, which was founded by serial entrepreneur Ali Usman, who would later help start Click.

The basic concept behind coworking is simple. Create a work space where people can share a table or an office, provide fast Internet service, charge modest fees or rent, create a critical mass of those crazy people and creative professionals (who are also entrepreneurs), and wait — and not for long — for collisions to happen.

Like the one involving Randall Smith and Chris Landry.

Paul Silva

Paul Silva says collisions are at the heart of the mission at Click.

Smith is a digital strategist and founder of a venture called PowerLabs, which helps organizations use the Internet to recruit supporters and raise money by integrating data-driven digital strategies into their work. Landry is the founder of Landry Communications, a branding company that works with businesses, foundations, and non-government agencies to get their stories out.

The two came to Click Workspace primarily because they often found it better, for various reasons, than working at home, although they do that, too. The two started talking, then collaborating, and eventually wound up responding as a team to a request for proposals issued by the Chorus Foundation in Boston, which has a stated mission to end the extraction, export, and use of fossil fuels in the U.S.

“I got this RFP and instantly thought, ‘I need Randall on this job,’” said Landry. “Here’s a guy I probably wouldn’t have met if we hadn’t been working here; he’s the perfect person, and he helped us land the contract.”

Smith had similar observations.

“This wouldn’t have happened if I wasn’t here,” he said of the Chorus work, which included a recent trip to Kentucky, where the foundation was presenting funds to several groups. “The biggest projects I’ve landed have been a direct result of my being here at Click.”

In addition to fostering collisions, the facility has also been the birthplace of several startups, most notably one called Fiksu, which specializes in cohesive mobile app marketing. Micah Adler, its president and founder, was one of the first members of the facility, said Silva, adding that he now employs dozens of people.

The obvious goal is to help foster more startups and generate many more collisions, said Silva, adding that the plan is for Click Workspace to expand. When, how, and where it will do this are the key questions still to be answered.

Expansion into larger quarters in Northampton is a possibility, but this will be difficult because of the high price of real estate there (the facility is currently getting an attractive deal on 1,000 square feet on Hampton Avenue), said Silva, adding that the more likely scenario is creation of additional offices in other area cities and towns.

Amherst is one possibility, but lease rates are quite high there as well, he went on, noting that downtown Springfield holds vast potential as a site, and exploratory talks with some building owners and managers are underway.

For this issue and its focus on entrepreneurship, BusinessWest examines the shared-workspace concept, the early success recorded at Click, and the prospects for expanding that operation to other communities.

Getting a Read

Middle School: My Brother Is a Big, Fat Liar. That’s the title of the latest work, in a genre known as young-adult fiction, to which Lisa Papademetriou, one of the co-founders of Click, has attached her name.

The tome, the third in the acclaimed Middle School series of books, was co-written with James Patterson, but she has many titles she authored herself, including Sixth Grade Glommers, Norks, and Me, The Wizard, The Witch, and Two Girls from Jersey, and How to Be a Girly Girl in 10 Days.

She said these are humorous books aimed at an audience she calls ‘tweens,’ those ages 8 to 12, and that she conceived some of her ideas and did a good bit of the writing at Click.

“I come here for two reasons,” she said, noting that she’s at the facility four days most weeks. “First, it’s good to interact with human beings — writing can be a very isolating profession. But also, I come to ask people about the best ways to use social media and to build a customer base, and also to focus on the business aspect of my writing.”

Indeed, when asked about collisions, a word used by just about everyone at Click, Papademetriou put her hands together and then pulled them apart abruptly with verbal commentary consisting of the one word: “boom.” It was a gesture aimed at indicating the magnitude of these developments.

“I’ve had several very productive collisions here,” she noted. “In fact, I was just raving to my husband that I had one just last week that was so helpful in terms of using Facebook and interacting with fans in a way that’s meaningful to them.”

These are the kinds of synergistic developments that the founders had in mind when they conceptualized Click Workspace in late 2011.

Silva, who was not involved with the organization then but knows the history, recalled it this way: three serial entrepreneurs, Papademetriou, Usman, and Rocco Falcone, were looking for space in which to conduct their operations and develop new ones, and turned their focus to Northampton.

“The smart thing to do would have been to find an office somewhere and split it three ways and be done with it,” said Silva, who is known to spice his commentary with humor. “But they’re entrepreneurs, so they’re not smart. We do crazy things. What they said was, ‘what we really would like is to be around crazy people; there’s this coworking thing that really hasn’t come to this area — let’s try that.’”

Usman, whose latest venture, Credit Market Intelligence, provides software engineering to Fortune 100 companies, noted that the trend toward coworking space began five or six years ago, and when he would visit New York or Boston, he would visit such facilities.

“I would say to myself, ‘wow, this is great,’” he recalled. “I spent a lot of time convincing people that they should start one, and when I realized I wasn’t being very persuasive, I just banded together with some other people and started Click Workspace.”

Like others, he said the facility allows him to be around, and work with, talented people across a number of sectors and specialties. It’s an environment and constituency that can inspire ideas and fuel growth for a business.

“As an entrepreneur, I need access to talent, so it’s very good for business,” he explained. “If I need social-media help, Randall is there; if I need some technical help, I have a number of people I can turn to; if I need anything about entrepreneurship, Paul is there … it’s a lot of fun.”

Click occupies roughly 1,000 square feet and includes a main room with several tables that can host perhaps 12 to 15 in what is called ‘open space,’ with those seats priced at $175 per month. There are also three small offices with two or three desks that run for $350 per month.

The facility also includes a few conference rooms that are shared by members, as well as a copier, a kitchen, and nearby classroom space.

“It has everything you’d find in an office but a boss,” said Silva with a laugh.

Time and Space

Young-adult fiction writer Lisa Papademetriou

Young-adult fiction writer Lisa Papademetriou is one of Click’s founders and one of its strongest advocates.

Overall, this atmosphere has proven very conducive to collisions — and the opportunities and jobs that they generate.

While each story told by the members is different, there are many similar threads, such as the factors that inspired them to come to Click in the first place.

Landry, who had worked in the nonprofit realm for 20 years before going into business for himself, seemed to speak for everyone when he said simply, “I got tired of working at home — it’s too easy to get distracted, and I wanted people to bounce ideas off.

“That’s what I found here — smart people, people I could just grab and say, ‘what do you think of this?’” he went on. “It’s fun, it’s smart people, it’s thinkers — it gives me what I need. I don’t always come here; some days, if I’m editing video, it’s easier to sit at my dining-room table, or if I need a break I’ll go sit at a coffee shop. But it’s great to have this as my home base. It makes me more productive.”

John Galvin, who’s been coming to Click for more than two years now, feels pretty much the same way.

A magazine writer by trade — he’s written pieces for the New York Times, National Geographic, and Wired — he left that field nearly a decade ago and started a company called One Day University, which he called the “ultimate day of college.”

“We’d bring in professors from across the country to give their best one-hour lecture to an audience of mainly adults ages 50 to 75 who were thrilled with the idea of learning from the best minds in the country without having to take a test or pay $50,000 a year,” he said, adding that he sold the business in 2009 and soon thereafter started the Strategic Media Group.

He works with a host of organizations to create engaging content for their audiences, a concept known as content marketing. And he’s hired a number of individuals working at Click to handle graphic design, promotional materials such as signage, proofreading, and more.

“I travel a fair amount, but when I’m in town, I’ll be in here working — it’s a great environment,” he explained. “It has all the benefits of an office without all the office politics.”

Ali Usman

Ali Usman, another of Click’s founders, says it’s patterned after initiatives in Cambridge, Denver, and other cities.

Looking forward, both Silva and Usman said coworking space is a concept with staying power, and they will look to expand it in Western Mass.

While Northampton has a large number of people who fit the coworking profile, the concept doesn’t easily lend itself to expensive commercial real estate, at least in this region. The Cambridge Innovation Center, which hosts more than 600 companies, now occupies 207,000 square feet in Kendall Square, and recently announced plans to open a major outpost in Boston’s Financial District with enough space for about 300 startups.

“I tried to expand in Northampton first,” said Silva, “and I had some very pleasant interactions with landlords, but the market rates are such that it’s not feasible; they’ve got too many people from New York coming here who are really happy to pay New York prices for Northampton real estate.”

So, at the moment, most of the focus of expansion talks centers on downtown Springfield, said Silva, as that’s where many young entrepreneurs are coming together — Valley Venture Mentors meets monthly in Tower Square, for example, and Paragus IT founder Delcie Bean has relocated that company temporarily into Harrison Place — and the real estate is, in theory, anyway, more attainable and affordable.

But a facility like Click represents a challenge, as well as sizable risk for a landlord, said Silva, adding that he usually has to offer an education in the potential benefits, which are sometimes difficult to envision.

“I say to landlords, ‘you have small fish come to you all the time, and it’s not worth your time to deal with them, but you know that if someone feeds the small fish, they may grow up to be big fish — you just don’t want to be in that business,’” he explained. “‘So give me some space, and send all the small fish to me; we’ll feed them and care for them and nurture them. Some of them are going to die, but some of them are going to grow up to be big fish, and they’re not going to fit in our tank.’”

Despite some inherent challenges to getting them off the ground, Usman said, coworking facilities represent the future of incubation and efforts to foster entrepreneurship.

“I really believe coworking spaces will be in every large town — New York probably has 60 coworking spaces, if not more, and almost every major city has them,” he noted. “And many of the startups now are through coworking space — they don’t get their own office space, but they just go to a coworking facility.

“If you want to promote entrepreneurial activity, you have to have coworking space,” he went on. “Greenfield should have a facility. Westfield should have one.This is the wave of the future.”

When Something Clicks

Smith and Landry don’t know how long they’ll be working for the Chorus Foundation, or how much the contract will eventually be worth to them.

What they do know is that it’s highly unlikely that their partnership, and this assignment, would have come about had they not both been working at Click.

Theirs was a highly effective collision, one that Silva and others hold up as a model for what can, and often does, happen when creative minds and crazy people share a table, a copier, a conference room, and an office without a boss.

The goal now is simply to create more of them.

George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]

Class of 2014 Difference Makers

Executive Director of the Springfield Chapter of Rebuilding Together

This Administrator Is Certainly a Momentum Builder
Collen Lovelace

Colleen Loveless

The large whiteboards in the conference room/kitchen of the Springfield office of Rebuilding Together are mostly clear at the moment.

The period from the holidays through the first few weeks of the new year are comparatively quiet at this agency — which touts itself as the “nation’s leading nonprofit working to preserve affordable homeownership and revitalize communities” — so there are only a handful of jobs, or projects, listed on the boards.

But that will change soon, said Colleen Loveless, executive director of the Springfield office, which is ramping up for what she expects will be another huge year. And as the calendar inches closer to the last Saturday in April, or National Rebuilding Day, as it’s called, those boards will be filled from top to bottom with projects, sponsoring groups, volunteer units, and other pertinent information.

It was that way last year, when the agency marked the occasion with a tightly coordinated campaign, aided by an army of 1,000 volunteers and 70 sponsors and donors, that changed the face of Tyler Street in Springfield’s Old Hill neighborhood. This ‘cluster rebuild’ — also called a Green-N-Fit project because of its focus on ‘green’-related initiatives such as converting heating systems from oil to natural gas — featured efforts to renovate, repair, and refurbish 25 homes on that street, most all of which were close to a century old, tired, and energy-inefficient.

The rebuild brought a new look to Tyler Street, but also new enthusiasm, new hope, and some unexpected consequences.

“One positive outcome from last year that we hadn’t anticipated was that neighbors who didn’t really know each other — everyone kind of sticks to themselves — did get to know each other,” she said. “And they’re now looking out for each other; there’s much more of a sense of community.”

The crowded whiteboards in the conference room have become one indicator of what Loveless has accomplished since she became the first executive director of this office more than four years ago and promptly began taking it to another, much higher level. But there are many others.

The Rebuilding Together brand

The Rebuilding Together brand, not to mention its reach, have been taken to a new level under the leadership of Colleen Loveless.

Most are to be found in the office’s front lobby. There hang collections of photographs chronicling last April’s cluster rebuild, as well as a recent project to rehab a transitional facility for 12 homeless veterans on Maple Court, and another to repair and refurbish 25 homes damaged by the June 2011 tornado that tore a path of destruction through the city. There’s also a shot of Loveless being presented with the Booze Allen Hamilton Management Excellence Award in 2012 as the top affiliate among the more than 200 chapters nationwide.

Beyond the photos, though, there are numbers, and many of them, to quantify what Loveless has accomplished in her tenure. She has grown the affiliate from being the 149th largest of the agency’s chapters to the 18th largest, and from nine home projects and a $130,000 budget to a high of 71 rebuilds (in 2012) and a $612,000 budget. Using a formula of leveraging an additional $4 in monetary and in-kind donations for every dollar spent, that adds up to an annual investment of more than $3 million in Springfield’s housing stock, which has made the City of Homes more deserving of that historic moniker.

But if current events and those of the recent past have prompted generous amounts of optimism, enthusiasm, and energy, one could make a strong case that the future looks even brighter.

Indeed, Loveless and her staff are putting the finishing touches on an ambitious strategic plan for the organization. It has a long name — ‘Rebuilding Together: Green-N-Fit 10 in 10; Maximizing Cluster Builds to Benefit the Old Hill Neighborhood, the State Street Corridor, and the City of Springfield’ — but a broad, yet simple, objective.

This endeavor will continue the work started last April for the next nine years, revitalizing contiguous blocks from Tyler Street to Hickory Street (see map, page A12) thus changing the look — and, in many ways, the fate — of what is statistically one of the poorest neighborhoods in the country.

Green-N-Fit 10 in 10

This map shows the battle plan for Green-N-Fit 10 in 10, which will change the face of several blocks within the Old Hill neighborhood.

While building on the impressive set of numbers compiled in her first four years at the helm of the agency, Loveless has some other work to do in the months and weeks to come, especially in the realm of awareness and telling the nonprofit’s story.

Indeed, there are many who are not aware of what Rebuilding Together does, how, or why, she noted, and there is also considerable confusion with regard to other agencies with like-sounding names — DevelopSpringfield and Rebuilding Springfield are just a few — and other nonprofits with housing-related missions, such as HAPHousing and Habitat for Humanity.

“Our brand is resonating, but we have to work harder to get the word out. We don’t build new houses, and we don’t do extreme makeovers,” she said, referencing the missions of other nonprofits (or TV networks). “Our goal is to preserve existing home ownership and help people stay in their homes.”

And because of the effective manner in which she has articulated, communicated, broadened, and carried out that mission, Loveless is clearly worthy of the designation Difference Maker.

Board Meetings
Photographs of the massive National Rebuilding Day effort last April certainly help tell the story of how this agency has evolved and grown over the past several years, and changed the landscape in Springfield — figuratively and quite literally — in the process.

One aerial shot (see below) conveys the scope of the effort, the high level of coordination, and the large amounts of energy, camaraderie, and good will that were generated by convening so many volunteers and supporting businesses to bring new life to one small but significant corner of the city.

“It was truly a community effort — many different groups and individuals were involved with making it all happen,” said Loveless, who spent much of the day choreographing the production, which was compared by many to a movie set because of the sheer volume of people, not to mention the drama that was unfolding, on site.

It was a world — or several worlds, to be more accurate — apart from what the local affiliate of Rebuilding Together was doing back in the early ’90s, when the national agency was called Christmas in April.

That’s because it only did projects on that one day each April, said Loveless, adding that the organization was launched locally by three banks — SIS (now TD Bank), Hampden Bank, and BayBank Valley — and had no paid staff, just a volunteer board that would work on perhaps a half-dozen houses a year, focusing on painting, landscaping, and other small projects.

As the nonprofit expanded into a year-round initiative, a name change was obviously necessary, she went on, and Rebuilding Together, which accurately and succinctly sums things up, was chosen.

It was in 2009, she said, that the board decided that the Springfield affiliate needed to respond to consistently growing need within the community and expand its mission and scope. Demographics played a big part in that decision, she told BusinessWest, adding that the population of Springfield, as in all cities, was aging, and individuals were finding it more difficult to remain in their homes and keep them properly maintained.

“Many of these people had lived in their homes for dozens of years, decades and decades,” she said. “Now, they’re on Social Security, and they want to stay in their home. So we would build them a handicap ramp or fix their leaking roof.

“The board saw this growing demand and decided it was time to open an office, hire staff, and make it a year-round program to serve more people in need,” she went on, adding that the opportunity to manage that office appealed to her, professionally and otherwise.

At the time, Loveless was operating her own category-management company, called Popmax (short for point-of-purchase maximization) International, which she launched 15 years earlier, while also venturing into commercial real estate with a small portfolio of rental properties. She also built her own home.

“I really enjoyed what I was doing, and it was a successful business, but I was looking for something different,” she said. “And this was a good match for me, because I could use my marketing, sales, and business skills; after all, a nonprofit is a business as well. I love doing this more than running my own business, and not many people can say that.”

Loveless first set up shop in the Scibelli Enterprise Center (now the Business Growth Center) in the Technology Park at Springfield Technical Community College, but quickly outgrew that space and moved into the Colonial Block on Main Street in Springfield, just a block or so from where the tornado tore through the South End on that fateful June day.

Bringing It Home
Over the past few years, Loveless has expanded the agency in a number of ways, from the number of projects to the types of endeavors to the work done on the houses chosen as projects.

“When it was an all-volunteer organization, it was just painting and landscaping,” she explained. “Now, we’ll do anything to a house — mold issues, pest control, lead abatement, roofs, energy-efficiency … anything that focuses on safety, health, and the well-being of the owner.”

She related the story of one individual who pressed the agency for a fence, something that would ordinarily fall outside its purview because it doesn’t meet those criteria listed above.

“He said, ‘those crackheads are cutting through my backyard, and I really don’t feel safe; I really want a fence so I can lock up the gate and they can’t cut through,’” she recalled. “It was a safety issue, and our mission statement says ‘a safe and healthy home for everyone,’ so we did it.”

Funding from the agency comes from a number of sources, said Loveless, listing national retailers such as Sears and Home Depot, which target funds for specific constituencies, as well as regional and national foundations, corporations such as MassMutual and Columbia Gas, and a number of area banks.

Meanwhile, volunteers come from all corners of the community, she said, adding that individuals and groups have found the work rewarding because they can not only see where their money, time, and energy is going, but they meet the people they’re assisting and see how they’re making a difference.

“You’re transforming someone’s life,” she said. “And that’s the best feeling at the end of the day.”

The budget for the local affiliate has swelled in recent years simply because the need has grown, and for reasons ranging from weather calamities to a still-lingering recession that has kept many out of work, to the simple graying of America, she said, adding quickly that, while the agency has broadened its reach, it can serve only a fraction of those who qualify and request assistance.

“That’s the hardest part of this job,” she said of the decisions about which projects to undertake, a process that involves matching requests with funding, available volunteers, and other tangibles. “There has been such a huge need, and the economy has made it worse for families with children and people who have been out of work.”

Therefore, the agency works diligently to allocate its resources in ways that will maximize their impact and improve quality of life for those who are served.

Tyler Street

Many have compared the scene at last April’s cluster rebuild on Tyler Street to a movie set.

Tornado victims comprise a constituency that clearly falls into that category, she said, adding that the agency responded to obvious need with a project that repaired and rehabbed 25 homes across the damaged sections of the city in five days.

But there are other, usually smaller examples of how Rebuilding Together is putting resources to work in different and far-reaching ways, everything from work to renovate a playground at a Square One facility to that aforementioned project at the facility for homeless veterans.

“We did extensive work inside and out — we invested $150,000 in that one house,” she explained, adding that the project was funded in part by a grant from Sears and its Heroes at Home program, which assists veterans. “We had volunteers from Westover and Barnes … there wasn’t a part of that house that we didn’t touch. We put in new floors, paint, a new roof, a new kitchen and baths, carpeting, curtains. At the end of the day, Bob’s Discount Furniture brought in all new furniture.

“It was incredibly rewarding to see the veterans come in at the end of the day and see that transformation,” she went on. “Moments like that make this the best job in the world.”

And it is with the goal of maximizing resources that the agency focused all of its National Rebuilding Day efforts on one street last April, and also why the plan for the next decade is to continue focusing on the Old Hill neighborhood, even while there are many areas of the city that need assistance.

“To really, truly revitalize a city, you have to take it block by block,” she told BusinessWest. “Yes, it’s house by house, but to have a large, profound, sustainable impact, it has to be block by block.”

“We’re going to go block by block for the next 10 years,” she continued. “And we believe it will have a profound impact on the Old Hill neighborhood.”

The next block will be Pendleton Street, she said, adding that she expects that the agency will be able to duplicate the intensity — and the results — recorded last year, in large part because of the momentum generated that day and the positive energy created by a collaborative effort that involved church groups, several businesses, the roughly 100 people involved with the Western New England College football team, and especially the people who live on Tyler Street.

Finishing Touches
After Pendleton Street, moving southwest, Green-N-Fit 10 in 10 will focus its resources and energy on Pickett Place, King Street, Lebanon Place, Nelson Avenue, Prince Street, Merrick Avenue, Lebanon Street, Monson Avenue, Green Place, Greene Street, Alden Street, Manhattan Street, Searle Place, Marshall Street, Crosby Street, Walnut Street, Melrose Street, Hickory Street, and Eastern Avenue, said Loveless, conceding that, to those not from Springfield, those are merely words on a map.

But to the families who live on those streets, it’s home, and it’s been their home for more than 20 years, on average. And they want it to be home for many years to come.
Helping them accomplish that goal has been Rebuilding Together’s ongoing mission. It’s a broader, more impactful mission now, and because of that, this agency, and especially its first executive director, are truly Difference Makers.

George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]

Construction Sections
Expert in Eco-friendly Construction Offers 10 Trends to Watch in 2014

GreenConstructionWhat are the major trends likely to affect the green-building industry and markets in the U.S. in 2014? Jerry Yudelson thinks he knows the answers.
Yudelson, a LEED fellow, is the founder of Yudelson Associates
and is recognized as one of the nation’s leading green-building and sustainability consultants and speakers, as well as the author of 13 green-building books. In 2011, Wired magazine dubbed him the ‘Godfather of Green,” and he annually releases a top-10 list of green-building megatrends. Here are this year’s trends to watch:
1. Green building in North America will continue its strong growth in 2014. Yudelson predicts ongoing expansion of green commercial real-estate construction together with government, university, nonprofit, and school construction. “Green building is the tsunami of the future that will inundate the entire real-estate industry,” he notes.
Other studies back up this perception, including one last summer from from McGraw-Hill Construction reporting that the percentage of retail and hospitality developers building green for more than half of their projects rose from 18% in 2011 to 38% in 2013 — and is expected to jump to 52% by 2015.
In addition, 65% of retail owners and 73% of hotel owners say they use green operations and maintenance practices, citing a number of business benefits. In fact, according to McGraw-Hill, building green reduces operating costs by 8% to 9% on average, increases building value by 7.5%, improves return on investment by 6.6%, and increases occupancy ratios by 3.5% and rent ratios by 3%.
“Green building has taken such hold in the industry that even sectors with unique challenges, such as retail and hospitality, are making stronger investments,” said Harvey Bernstein, vice president at McGraw-Hill. “Clearly, the benefits that owners are reporting are key reasons for their green-building investments, and as they find better ways to measure those impacts and quantify the value to their sales velocity and to the well-being of their staff, customers, and guests, we expect even more rapid engagement in green.”
2. We’ll see a growing focus on energy efficiency in all kinds of buildings, including the increasing role of building automation for energy efficiency using cloud-based systems. “The convergence of corporate and commercial real estate, information technology that is based in the cloud, and energy efficiency leads my list of new green-building megatrends for 2014,” Yudelson says.
3. Design and operation of zero-net-energy buildings will expand. According to Yudelson, “we know that green building has hit the mainstream. To distinguish themselves, many building owners and developers are taking the logical next step: getting to zero net energy on an annual basis. Why? The most widespread reason is that more people than ever believe it’s the right thing to do.”
4. LEED will attract competitors as never before. “It’s likely that LEED’s cost and complexity will open up the market to other competitors such as the Green Globes rating system offered by the Green Building Initiative,” Yudelson notes. One reason is that recent Obama administration actions have now put this system on a par with LEED for federal projects.
5. The focus of the green-building industry will continue its switch from new building design and construction to greening existing buildings. This trend has been in place since 2010, and Yudelson predicts that more than 500 existing federal buildings will seek green-building ratings in 2014.
6. Green buildings will increasingly be designed and managed by innovative information technologies that are based in the cloud. In fact, Yudelson calls 2014 “the year of the cloud” based on how quickly he believes this trend will become fully established.
7. Green-building performance disclosure will continue as a major trend, highlighted by disclosure requirements enacted in 2013 by more than 30 major cities around the country, laws that require commercial building owners to disclose actual green-building performance. Yudelson says he expects this trend to spread rapidly as the easiest way to monitor reductions in carbon emissions from commercial and governmental buildings.
“It should come as no surprise that cities and states are rethinking their approach to green building,” notes a recent report by the Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership, a project of Wharton College at the University of Pennsylvania. “Not only do buildings consume more than 40% of the energy in this country and more than two-thirds of the generated electric power, but in cities where effective transit systems take cars off the road, building energy use also accounts for the vast majority of greenhouse-gas emissions.”
8. Healthy-building product disclosure declarations, along with various ‘red lists’ of chemicals of concern, will become increasingly contentious. “Building product manufacturers will increasingly try to gain or maintain market share based on open disclosure of chemicals of concerns,” he said. “We also foresee that industry-developed disclosure systems will compete with systems offered by dozens of third-party rating agencies.”
9. Solar-power use in buildings will continue to grow. Yudelson expects that third-party financing offerings will continue to grow and provide capital for larger rooftop systems on low-rise commercial buildings, parking garages, warehouses, and retail stores, as well as on homes.
10. Awareness of the coming crisis in freshwater supply, both globally and in the U.S., will increase, as global climate change affects rainfall and water-supply systems worldwide. In his 2010 book about water conservation, Dry Run: Preventing the Next Urban Water Crisis, Yudelson discusses how this is being done in green buildings all over the developed world.
“Even without new laws,” the Wharton report notes, “forward-looking companies find options, such as the use of energy-services companies, green leasing, and affordable approaches to solar and other renewables. They’re motivated by more than ‘eco-correctness’; adding sustainable features reduces operating costs and often increases a building’s value and the rent levels it can command, though payback periods can be long.”
In fact, the report says, some in the industry are increasingly looking beyond modest green standards to the ‘net-zero’ strategy of constructing buildings that generate as much energy as they use.
“Cities are developing their own audit and energy management procedures, often using software unavailable 10 years ago,” the authors note. “Clearly, green building has gone from a feel-good exercise to an impending baseline for all construction.”

— Compiled from various sources

Departments People on the Move

The law firm Bulkley Richardson, with offices in Springfield, Boston, and Amherst, recently announced that 10 lawyers have been named to 2013 Massachusetts Super Lawyers, a list of top lawyers in the state, and that two lawyers were named to Rising Stars, a list of top up-and-coming lawyers. No more than 5% of the lawyers in Massachusetts are selected for the Super Lawyers list, and no more than 2.5% of the lawyers in the state are selected as Rising Stars. Both lists will be published in the 2013 New England Super Lawyers magazine. The following Bulkley Richardson lawyers were named Super Lawyers:

Francis Dibble Jr.

Francis Dibble Jr.

J. Patrick Kennedy

J. Patrick Kennedy

Mary Kennedy

Mary Kennedy

Kevin Maynard

Kevin Maynard

Kelly McCarthy

Kelly McCarthy

David Parke

David Parke

John Pucci

John Pucci

Donn Randall

Donn Randall

Ellen Randle

Ellen Randle

Ronald Weiss

Ronald Weiss

Francis Dibble Jr., whose practice areas include business litigation, health law, and antitrust litigation;
J. Patrick Kennedy, business litigation, banking, and intellectual property litigation;
Mary Kennedy, employment and labor and schools and education;
Kevin Maynard, business litigation, general litigation, and nonprofits;
Kelly McCarthy, health law;
David Parke, business/corporate law and mergers and acquisitions;
John Pucci, criminal defense, white collar;
Donn Randall, banking and business litigation;
Ellen Randle, family law; and
Ronald Weiss, mergers and acquisitions, closely held business, and estate planning and probate.
Named Rising Stars were:
Matthew Kane
Matthew Kane

Matthew Kane

Kelly Koch

Kelly Koch

, banking, business litigation, and general litigation; and
Kelly Koch, family law and estate planning and probate.
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Kirk Smith

Kirk Smith

Kirk Smith, President and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Springfield, has been invited to join the Board of Directors for the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ), an organization founded in 1927 as the National Conference of Christians and Jews. The human-relations organization is dedicated to fighting bias, bigotry, and racism in America. NCCJ promotes understanding and respect among all races, religions, and cultures through advocacy, conflict resolution, and education. Smith took on the role of President and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Springfield in 2011. Among his many leadership roles in Western Mass., he serves on the board of directors for the Springfield Chamber of Commerce and the Executive Committee for the Alliance of YMCAs of Massachusetts. He also serves as the head coach for the YMCA of Greater Springfield Buckeyes, a U16 AAU basketball team.
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James Chadwell

James Chadwell

Antonio Dos Santos

Antonio Dos Santos

Crear, Chadwell & Dos Santos, P.C. recently announced that shareholder James Chadwell, Esq., and shareholder Antonio Dos Santos, Esq. have been selected as a 2013 Massachusetts Super Lawyer and Rising Star, respectively, and will appear in the 2013 New England Super Lawyers magazine. Each year, no more than 5% of the lawyers in the state are selected to receive the Super Lawyer honor, which recognizes attorneys who have distinguished themselves in their legal practice through a rigorous selection process and third-party validation of their professional accomplishments. Chadwell, who has received this honor four years in a row, focuses his practice on representing insurers, self-insurers, and employers in workers’ compensation requests. Dos Santos, who specializes in all facets of commercial real estate, commercial finance, and general business law, and represents many closely held businesses regarding entity formation, succession planning, mergers and acquisitions, and financing, has again been selected as a Massachusetts Rising Star for his work in real estate, the ninth year in a row. No more than 2.5% of lawyers in the state are named to the Rising Star list, and they must be nominated by other lawyers who have personally observed them in action, either as opposing counsel or co-counsel, or through other firsthand courtroom observation.
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Easthampton Savings Bank announced that Randall Gage has been hired as the new Senior Vice President of Residential Lending. Gage has more than 20 years of banking experience. Most recently he was Senior Vice President and Special Assets Officer at United Bank. Gage’s lending background dates from his early career as a bank examiner in the Holyoke Field Office of the FDIC, and includes experience with all areas of residential lending at Hometown Bank, Apple Valley Bank, and finally New England Bank and United Bank. Gage obtained his bachelor’s degree from the University of Rochester and his juris doctor degree from Quinnipiac University School of Law. He is a member of the Connecticut Bar Assoc. and the American Bar Assoc., and coaches youth soccer and basketball.
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Hilton Hotels Corporation has honored Mary Annis, Guest Service Agent, Hampton Inn, Hadley, with the company’s national Spirit Award, designating Annis as a top performer within the Hilton family of hotels.
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Jeannette Strange

Jeannette Strange

PeoplesBank has announced the appointment of Jeannette Strange as a Mortgage Consultant who will focus primarily on the communities of Chicopee, Holyoke, Springfield, South Hadley, and Ludlow. Strange, who is fluent in Spanish, will offer mortgage refinancing and special first-time homebuyers’ programs. She brings more than 10 years of mortgage and lending experience to her new position, and most recently served as a Senior Loan Associate at PeoplesBank and, prior to that, as a Loan Specialist. Strange is an active member of the Realtor Assoc. of the Pioneer Valley, BuyHolyokeNow, BuySpringfieldNow, and the Latino Chamber of Commerce.
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Annie Lajoie

Annie Lajoie

The Northampton-based management-side only labor and employment law firm of Royal LLP recently welcomed Annie Lajoie to the firm. Lajoie will focus her practice in labor law and complex employment litigation, and counsel companies on the multitude of state and federal employment laws impacting them, including employment discrimination and harassment, wage and hour, disability and leave, workplace safety, OSHA, affirmative action, and contract negotiations. Her work will also includes drafting employee manuals, preparing non-disclosure, non-solicitation, and non-compete agreements, and conducting management training. Lajoie is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a graduate of Western New England University School of Law.
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The Springfield-based regional law firm of Bacon Wilson, P.C. is pleased to announce that Kenneth J. Albano, Esq., has been elected Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Western Mass. Division of the March of Dimes. Albano is a shareholder and a member of the firm’s corporate, finance, and healthcare departments. He is also a member of the Mass. Municipal Law Association, and he currently serves as Town Counsel to the communities of Monson, Southwick, and Holland. Albano earned his BA from Providence College and his JD from Western New England University School of Law.
•••••
Springfield College recently named Brian Magoffin Director of Sports Communications. Magoffin is responsible for all aspects of media and sports information relating to the 26 intercollegiate men’s and women’s sports teams. His responsibilities include website maintenance and redesign, designing recruiting publications, updating and creating all social media elements involving Pride Athletics, and overseeing game-day functions. He has been a member of the athletics staff at the college since 2007, serving as the assistant director of sports communications, also serving as the interim director since July 2012. Magoffin earned a BS in Sport Management from Springfield College in 2005.

Community Profile Features
Wilbraham Embraces Vision of the Future

Amy Scott

Amy Scott says businesses in Wilbraham try to support each other whenever possible.

Amy Scott, principal of Wild Apple Design Group in Wilbraham, was heading out to look for a new car on the day BusinessWest spoke with her about the general business climate in that community.
The Hampden resident acknowledged that, like other Western Mass. residents, she has plenty of options when it comes to where to shop for a new ride, but she entered the search firmly committed to making sure it started and ended on nearby Boston Road.
“It’s part of the loyalty factor,” said Scott, who used that term to cover not only her buying habits but her willingness to serve the community in a number of roles. It’s an attitude that emerged not long after she took a gamble and leased more expensive space in Post Office Park in Wilbraham when she was searching for a new home for her venture two years ago.
She accepted that risk hoping that her services would appeal to the more than 50 businesses in the park and the hundreds of others in the community and just beyond it in Springfield — and the gamble has been rewarded. And she’s made it her policy to repay the loyalty shown to her.
“I feel like every time I have an opportunity to make a purchase, I look around at my neighbors, and they seem to be doing the same,” she explained. “It shows good faith on everybody’s part.”
Good faith is needed in this community that suffers, in many respects, when it comes to that old axiom about commercial real estate: location, location, location.
Indeed, Wilbraham is not exactly easy to get to from most anywhere in Western Mass. So, in recent years, those involved in town government and its business community have been actively involved in providing reasons for people to withstand the many traffic lights and stopsigns they encounter when trying to get here.
Post Office Park is part of that equation, but so are ongoing efforts, waged by the Boston Road Business Assoc. (BRBA), to make that thoroughfare a true destination for those looking for everything from a car to a major appliance to a good meal.
Scott has recently helped the group revamp its Best of Boston Road awards, which now has thousands of Wilbraham and Springfield residents voting for their favorite retailer, insurance company, dentist, restaurant, and more.
But while civic and business leaders work to help convince consumers that Wilbraham is a good place to do business, they’re also focused on quality of life for those who have chosen to live there — and also those who will join them in the decades to come.
The town christened its new, $65 million Minnechaug Regional High School just over a year ago, and also opened a new fire station, thanks to some imaginative financing. The next priorities, said Robert Boilard, vice president of Boilard Lumber and a selectman, are a new police station and senior center.
They are likely to be key components in a new vision, or comprehensive plan, for the town taking shape through the work of the recently formed Vision Task Force.
Working under the slogan “honoring the past, understanding the present, and imagining the future,” the group began work in early 2012 and gave its final report a few weeks ago, said its chairman, Charles Phillips, a long-time resident. “The Vision Task Force expected a largely positive response and received it,” he noted. “We were surprised, however, at some of the creative ideas that were expressed for improvement.”
For this, the latest installment of its Community Profile series, BusinessWest will look at some of those ideas, and also some of the ongoing — and generally successful — efforts to help people in this region, and sometimes from well beyond it, find Wilbraham.

School of Thought

“Tweedy” and “New Englandy.”
Those are two adjectives concocted by Rodney LaBrecque, head of school at Wilbraham Monson Academy, to describe the institution and help explain why it currently boasts students from 34 countries and several U.S. states, and is at full enrollment.
Those terms (the former is actually in the dictionary, while the latter is not) help paint a picture of the 209-year-old campus, one that is obviously appealing. “It’s certainly a selling point,” said LaBrecque, adding that this quaintness is only one reason for the institution’s success and current growth pattern; the diversity of its programs and the school’s emergence as a leader in such fields as entrepreneurship and business studies are more pertinent factors.
And they (or at least ‘New Englandy’) can also be used to describe Wilbraham itself, which was incorporated in 1763 and, like many neighboring communities, was largely agricultural until quite recently.
Robert Boilard

Robert Boilard says the Vision Task Force has helped define future goals for the town.

The town was once famous for its apple and peach orchards and several farms — including Pheasant Farm, Rice’s Fruit Farm, and Bennett’s Turkey Farm — that are no longer operating. In fact, the Wilbraham Peach Festival, a popular fall tradition for a quarter-century, was discontinued in 2010.
In its place, the Wilbraham Nature and Cultural Center (WNCC) — steward of Fountain Park, located off Tinkham Road, where the peach festival was held — has re-energized a summer music series on Thursday nights, which has drawn great reviews and strong attendance for regional bands such as The Kings, Trailer Trash, and The Frank Manzi Band.
This evolution, from peaches to rock music, mirrors other transformations in the town, from agricultural center to one of the region’s more popular bedroom communities, and from a business community that could only be described as sleepy to one that is growing — and diversifying.
Indeed, the tenant list at Post Office Park, which has seen explosive growth over the past decade, includes everything from marketing firms to the Scantic Valley YMCA; from medical facilities to law offices.
The park has helped make Wilbraham the business mailing address for many entrepreneurs who previously had little reason to give the community a look, and it is fueling the potential for more commercial development, albeit controlled, as civic leaders cope with some of the growing pains that come with the population surge recorded in recent decades.
The new high school is a manifestation of this growth, said Boilard, as is the need for a new police station and senior center — and the new vision plan itself, which was commissioned with the knowledge that the community needed to anticipate its future and properly prepare for it.
The Vision Task Force, with which Scott was involved through her work with the BRBA, completed phase one of the initiative, called the “Community Vision,” which laid the groundwork for the next step, creation of a comprensive plan, which will be the road map for the community, said Phillips.
The key priorities identified by respondents, he said, include the need to work harder alongside the business community, continue to insist on excellent education, preserve the feel and beauty of the community, place added emphasis on individual recreation, offer reasonably priced housing with excellent town services, and improve service on sidewalks and bikeways.
And while contemplating the future, the town is coping with the present, which in recent years has meant everything from the Great Recession to the tornadoes that caused extensive damage within the community in June 2011 to the ongoing budget challenges faced by all cities and towns and exacerbated by the state’s own fiscal turmoil.
Effective teamwork in Town Hall has been the most important ingredient in meeting these challenges head on, said Boilard.
“Our department heads are phenomenal, and no matter what our political affiliation, we’ve always been on the same page fiscally,” he said. “When you have a team that is running for that common goal, it makes the end result easier to get to, and we all work as slim as we can to get the job done.”

The Bottom Line
‘Getting the job done’ is a phrase used by a number of people in a many different contexts in this community.
For town officials, it means creating that roadmap for the future while dealing with current challenges. For LaBrecque, it means continuing to build WMA’s brand around the world while also strengthening an already-solid town-gown relationship. And for Scott and others in business community, it means growing their own ventures while working, collectively, to convince the world that Wilbraham really isn’t that far away.
“I love that I’m doing business with my neighbors and they’re doing business with me,” she said. “It’s a pretty healthy place to be.”

Elizabeth Taras can be reached at [email protected]