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Opinion

By Ben Brubeck

 

The Biden administration’s final rule, “Federal Acquisition Regulation: Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects,” implements Executive Order 14063, which requires federal construction contracts of $35 million or more to be subject to controversial project labor agreements (PLAs).

The Biden administration’s burdensome, inflationary, and anti-competitive PLA mandate rule will needlessly raise costs on taxpayer-funded construction projects and steer contracts to unionized contractors and workers. Absent a successful legal challenge, this executive overreach will reward powerful special interests with government construction contracts at the expense of taxpayers and the principles of free enterprise and fair and open competition in government procurement.

When mandated by governments, PLAs increase construction costs to taxpayers by 12% to 20%, reduce opportunities for qualified contractors and their skilled craft professionals, and exacerbate the construction industry’s worker shortage of more than a half-million people in 2023.

Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) will continue to fight on behalf of quality, experienced contractors harmed by this rule and the 88.3% of America’s construction industry who have made the choice not to belong to a union and want a fair opportunity to participate in federal construction projects, but cannot do so because of PLA schemes.

In addition, ABC condemns Biden administration policies independent of this rulemaking that push PLAs on competitive grant programs administered by federal agencies, affecting nearly $260 billion worth of federally assisted infrastructure projects procured by state and local governments, as well as schemes by the Biden administration to coerce private developers of hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of clean energy and domestic microchip manufacturing projects to mandate PLAs. Biden’s PLA policies circumvent congressional intent as none of these policies were passed in funding legislation.

Some background: on Aug. 19, 2022, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council issued its proposed rule implementing Executive Order 14063. In October 2022, ABC submitted more than 40 pages of comments to the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council, calling on the Biden administration to withdraw its controversial proposed rule.

ABC’s opposition was shared by more than 50 members of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, 19 Republican governors, and a diverse coalition of construction-industry, small-business, and taxpayer advocates urging the administration to withdraw its proposal and additional policies promoting PLA mandates on federal and federally assisted construction projects.

At least 8,000 stakeholders across the country — including 2,500 ABC member contractors — submitted comments opposed to this proposed rule during the 60-day comment period. In a September 2022 survey of ABC contractor members, 98% opposed this proposed rule, and 97% said a construction contract that required a PLA would be more expensive compared to a contract procured via fair and open competition.

ABC plans to challenge this Biden administration scheme in the courts on behalf of taxpayers and the majority of the construction industry. In the interim, ABC will continue to oppose its special-interest-favoring policy using all tools in our advocacy and legal toolbox while educating stakeholders about the negative impact of government-mandated PLAs on federal and federally assisted projects.

 

Ben Brubeck is vice president of Regulatory, Labor, and State Affairs at Associated Builders and Contractors.

Construction Special Coverage

Setting Their Sites

Marois Construction

Marois Construction recently converted this single-family farmhouse built around 1860 into a three-story, 30-unit housing complex (top).

 

Construction is a lot like the mail. Projects have to be delivered on time, regardless of the weather.

And to say it’s been a rainy year is an undertstatement.

“Weather is a common occurrence in the construction industry. And, depending on what we have going on at any particular time, we typically have to continue operations, as long as it’s not a total washout,” said Carl Mercieri, vice president of Marois Construction in South Hadley.

On one day of downpours in mid-September, he recalled, “our crews were in the field. They were tying rebar for footings for a project they were doing for the Chicopee Water Department. They braved the weather and set up some collapsible canopies.

“Our project schedules don’t take weather into consideration. So we’ve got to complete them,” Mercieri added. “And not only that, but the crews doing that job need to move on to another job. So we do the best we can with what we got to work with. And, you know, I’ve been doing this for over 40 years, and the weather is not changing here in New England.”

But plenty else has changed in construction over the past 50 years, and Marois Construction — founded by company President Joe Marois in 1972 — celebrated that half-century milestone last year. Those changes run the gamut from new technology to cutting-edge materials to modern priorities in the building world, especially around green, energy-efficient building.

Through all of it, Marois has steadily built a solid reputation, and its current workload reflects that.

“Backing up a year, 2022 was a stellar year, and in 2023, we got off to the same start,” Mercieri said “Every year is a little bit different, though. This year has been a bit quirky. We’ve had a lot on our books, but for one reason or another, we’ve had some projects that got delayed.

“And then, of course, summer is our busy season, with all the college and school work. So we were working six days a week. Typically, when September rolls around, we start to slow down, and things get back to normal,” he went on. “But when those projects that actually got started got delayed, they all came to life in September. So we’re not seeing any slowdown here, looking at the third quarter and toward the end of the year. So it looks like it’s going to be another really good year for us.”

 

Broad Range of Expertise

Marois performs both public and private work, both new construction and renovations, across a range of sectors, including commercial, industrial, and educational projects, Mercieri said.

“Right now we’re doing a branch bank … we’ve got a couple of schools that we’re doing, kitchen renovations in schools. We’re also building a police department for one of the local municipalities.”

Carl Mercieri

Carl Mercieri

“I’d say probably 70% of the guys in the workforce are closer to retirement age than not. So it’s extremely important that we get some of the younger people in.”

This diversity can be a positive in an uncertain economy.

“With all the ARPA money out there, there’s a lot of school work going in the public sector,” he added. “And we’re seeing a trend toward the private schools and charter schools. We’ve got one that we’re working on right now out in Stockbridge.”

In the post-pandemic world, contractors have been faced with a number of challenges all at once, from the impact of inflation to supply shortages. Mercieri said those trends are starting to subside, but not as quickly as most would like.

“We continue to see issues. There seems to be longer lead times on products,” he noted, citing doors and windows as examples. “A few years ago, before COVID, we could call in an order in the morning for hollow metal door frames and have them by in the afternoon. Now, we’re seeing a lead time of several weeks, which really impacts the schedule.

“For a while there, lumber was scarce, but lumber seems to have rebounded,” he added. “Prices have come down somewhat, but they really didn’t get back to where they were.”

And when supplies and equipment are difficult to procure or beset by delays, “it keeps the project going. You can’t close it out, even though it’s substantially complete. So one of the things that we deal with is that, going into a project, you can anticipate these delays, but you really can’t put a finger on how long the delays are going to be; it really depends on the manufacturer’s production line and what they’re doing.”

In one case this year, involving a generator, he was given a delivery date of April, and a week or two before it was supposed to ship, the date was pushed to June, then it was pushed again to August.

“We ended up getting it the first or second week of September,” he went on. “So you have no control over that, and it’s an unfortunate situation. And we don’t know where the problem lies; we don’t know if it’s a matter of materials on the manufacturer’s end or labor or a combination of both. But it has a pretty big impact on the construction industry, for sure.”

So has a persistent workforce shortage, one that has affected many industries lately. “It’s tough, but that’s been a trending issue over the years; I don’t think that’s anything new in this industry,” Mercieri said.

“Ninety percent of it is showing up every day; 10% is paying attention and learning.”

“So … we’ve adapted,” he went on. “We run our crews a bit leaner, meaning when we set up a job, rather than having a large crew over there, we’ll set up a smaller core crew at each job. And then, as a task comes up, we’ll move people around to the job and build up the crew, get them in, get them out, and then move them on to another job.”

The leadership team at Marois is certainly not alone in noting the need for more young talent in the pipeline.

“I go to these job sites, and I see our own crew, or I see our subcontractors, and … some of these guys I’ve known for 35 years,” he told BusinessWest. “I’d say probably 70% of the guys in the workforce are closer to retirement age than not. So it’s extremely important that we get some of the younger people in.”

He said the industry has been hurt over the past couple decades by a prevalent message that young people need to go to college to be successful. In fact, Massachusetts ranks among the top states in sending high-school graduates to college. At the same time, industrial-arts programs have been cut from public-school curricula, due to liability, budget cuts, or other factors, Mercieri noted.

But there is a pitch to be made, at a time when families are growing more concerned with crushing debt coming out of college, that careers in construction are attainable, with a clear path to growth, without much, if any, debt.

“Ninety percent of it is showing up every day; 10% is paying attention and learning,” he said, citing the example of someone who wants to specialize in carpentry but might not have the skills for a specific niche right off the bat. “There are multiple facets in carpentry. And you may be better at one or the other. Maybe you’re good at rough carpentry, and maybe you’re not as good at finished carpentry. But over time, you’re going to be very experienced — and you’ll probably be good at both.”

 

From the Ground Up

Mercieri knows what he’s talking about; he fell into construction at a young age, doing work for a friend’s father who owned a construction business.

“Basically, I was the young kid, and I got to carry all the tools for the tradespeople. I learned the electrical trade, plumbing, carpentry. I got my hands and feet wet being a helper. Then, over the years, it kind of grew on me, and the rest is history.”

He’s been in the field long enough to experience the transition from bid requests via phone calls and snail mail to digital platforms.

“And you think about the field now. Back then, there were no cell phones; there were no iPads. If something came up, a guy would run to a phone booth, or we’d set up landlines with a trailer, and they’d be calling the office. Now our guys in the field have iPads; as soon as we receive something here in the office, it goes right upstream, and they receive it out in the field.”

It’s just one of many changes Mercieri has seen over his decades in construction. And with one more year almost in the books, he’s feeling optimistic about 2024.

“We’ve got a fair amount on the books,” he told BusinessWest. “Some of the jobs that we’re doing now will run into 2024. The bidding market seems very strong. So we think we’re going to do pretty well.”

Building Trades

Generation Next

Nicole Bercume

Nicole Bercume stands outside one of her current projects in Hadley.

 

When Ron Bercume passed away in 2021, his daughter, Nicole Bercume, said there was never a doubt that she would pick up the mantle of leadership in Bercume Builders, the company he started almost 40 years ago.

But it was a winding road that brought Nicole to that point, along which she settled in Florida, got married, built a law career with her husband, Andrew Bass, had kids, and returned home to Hadley.

Before her father succumbed to pancreatic cancer in October 2021, Bercume was already helping him build the final seven homes in a 28-home development in North Hadley called Shattuck Estates and Sapphire Estates; when he passed away, she stepped in and worked with the company’s longtime subcontractors to finish the job. By that time, she had already decided to stay on and continue Ron’s work.

“My dad had created such a fantastic company,” she told BusinessWest. “It would be a shame if it didn’t continue.”

Today, those 28 large homes on Crystal Lane, Indian Pipe Drive, and Nikki’s Way stand as the last success story in Ron’s career and the first in Nicole’s new one. Beyond that development, she is currently building her third house on a lot on Colony Drive, right across Shattuck Road, with a goal of creating a constant flow of residential projects, and even expanding the business beyond her father’s traditional focus on Hadley and Amherst.

“My dad had created such a fantastic company. It would be a shame if it didn’t continue.”

“Forty years is a long time,” Bercume said as she and Bass took BusinessWest on a walking tour of the development. “My parents started it together right when I was born, and they just went from there. Once I got older, I realized how talented of a businessman and builder my dad was. It’s not just that he would build homes; this was all wooded land, so he would design the actual subdivision. He would design the roads, and that takes a lot of skill.”

When he died at age 81, “he was still plugging away,” she added. “He always loved to work. All his subs worked for him for a long time. All the guys have known me since I was little, and I was very lucky to have learned from my father.”

 

Winding Path

Bercume had interest in the family business, but in her early 20s, the timing wasn’t right. “He was still working aggressively, and at that point, he was doing everything himself, so there wouldn’t have been a substantial role for me.”

So she went to college and law school in Florida, met Bass, and moved back to Hadley in 2015 and passed the Massachusetts bar. She started working at a firm in Northampton, while Bass started his own firm; in 2019, they bought a building on Route 9 in Hadley, which today houses Bass/Bercume Law Offices. Bercume handled the firm’s real-estate practice, while Bass handled the litigation practice.

Bass started out in consumer-protection work, particularly around Massachusetts’ lemon law. “That was really strong, so I started doing those cases all over the state; they mostly went to litigation because the dealerships wouldn’t resolve the cases, so that’s how I got into litgation,” he recalled. “After I got rolling, I got into construction litigation because Nicole’s dad had a lot of cases, so litigation became my core focus.”

Nicole Bercume and Andrew Bass

Nicole Bercume and Andrew Bass live in the 28-home development in Hadley that Nicole’s father started and she completed after his death.

Cases in that realm include land-use issues, contracts, and purchases of land; at one point, Ron settled a notable case with Tofino Associates of Hadley over a roadway issue in the Amherst Hills development near the Belchertown line.

Bass was recently recognized by Lawyers of Distinction as one of the top 10% civil-litigation attorneys in Massachusetts. Meanwhile, over the past couple years, Nicole was transitioning away from the practice into her new role leading Bercume Builders. “My father did teach me everything; once we had our kids and moved back here, that’s when he taught me everything.”

Ron typically built large homes with “classy, simple interiors, not a lot of clutter,” Nicole said, noting that homes in the new development start at 3,000 square feet, and typically feature open floor plans, high-end appliances, and maple flooring — and each was built in just four months. After her third house on Colony, she said she’s on the cusp of buying more land to develop a subdivision like the Shattuck/Sapphire project.

Woman’s Work

At a time when it’s still uncommon for a woman to lead a building firm (see related story on page 25), Bercume doesn’t particularly care if people question her abilities, noting that the subs who worked with her father for, in some cases, decades know what she can do — and they know she’s committed to her father’s values.

“My father really had such a great process. Even if you didn’t like my dad, you definitely respected him because he was an astute businessman, and he was just on top of it.”

“My dad’s greatest skill was that he had good taste; he picked out all the plans himself. People always say you know when a home is a Bercume home because they’re attractive and clean and classy-looking,” she said. “Construction defects were never an issue for him because, the second there was a problem, my dad, who could never sit still, would take care of it.

“He always did higher-end homes for whatever the era was,” she continued. “He liked big homes; the bigger he could build, the more fun it was for him.”

And when she got her Massachusetts construction license and reaffirmed her working relationships with those longtime subs, she knew it would be fun for her, too.

“My father really had such a great process. Even if you didn’t like my dad, you definitely respected him because he was an astute businessman, and he was just on top of it. All his subs respected him, and that transferred to me nicely. He taught me a lot, so I know what to expect from everyone, and it was very fluid.”

It’s just another way Bercume Builders has been a generational success story — one that occupies Nicole’s earliest memories, when she’d visit Ron at job sites. “And now, our three kids are always on the job sites with us.”

Because it’s never too early to introduce them to the family business.

Construction Cover Story

Building Momentum

 

Wonderlyn Murphy

Wonderlyn Murphy

 

 

Wonderlyn Murphy has some ambitious plans for City Enterprise, the construction company she started nearly two decades ago.

She wants to take it to $150 million in annual revenue — roughly six times the current level. She wants to expand geographically and open new locations, perhaps one in Florida and another in Maine or New Hampshire. She wants to build a new headquarters facility in this region because the company has clearly outgrown its current home on Berkshire Avenue in Springfield. She wants to add more staff, and she wants to broaden the portfolio with larger projects, likely through partnerships with larger construction firms.

Yes, there is a lot on her ‘want’ list. But she believes it’s all realistic, and, more importantly, she has a blueprint for getting there.

“We’re in a transition period now where I’m growing the company,” she said. “And I have some very aggressive goals for the next five years. I want to be a $150 million company, and we get there by scaling, we get there by duplication, we get there through collaboration and partnerships, we get there by building the employees based on our core values, get there through outside-the-box thinking and vision, more than just focusing on getting the next job.”

Getting where she wants to go will certainly be a challenge, but Murphy has already clearly shown that she has the ability to set goals and then reach them through hard work, determination, and overcoming obstacles in her path.

“We’re in a transition period now where I’m growing the company. And I have some very aggressive goals for the next five years. We get there through collaboration and partnerships, we get there by building the employees based on our core values, get there through outside-the-box thinking and vision, more than just focusing on getting the next job.”

Indeed, she has taken City Enterprise from a small, one-person venture that started with Murphy designing, building, and flipping homes to a multi-dimensional company with 14 employees that has secured work with clients ranging from UMass Amherst to the U.S. Park Service; from the General Services Administration to the U.S. Coast Guard.

She’s done all this by making connections, forging relationships, and, yes, taking full advantage of City Enterprise’s status as a woman- and minority-owned business.

Such status has certainly opened some doors, but Murphy has had the entrepreneurial drive, and that determination, to march through those doors and, as noted, put down some ambitious plans for what comes next.

Today, Murphy told BusinessWest, thanks to some new staff additions, and especially the addition of Vice President of Operations Charles Young, she is able to spend more time on the business, rather than in it.

And with that fundamental change, she believes she is putting the pieces in place for a story of change, growth, and taking her company to places that she probably couldn’t have imagined 20 years ago.

But then again, she probably could.

 

Building a Foundation

As noted earlier, City Enterprise has been a work in progress, or a dream in progress, for Murphy for nearly two decades now, or not long after she graduated from Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston with a degree in architectural design technology.

At first, it was a part-time pursuit, something she did after working the overnight shift (midnight to 8 a.m.) as a correctional officer with the Hampden County Sheriff’s Office at the Western Massachusetts Correctional Alcohol Center on Howard Street, since torn down to make way for MGM Springfield. That work was a learning experience on many levels, she said, and one that has helped in her current roles as employer and entrepreneur.

“It was a very interesting experience, to say the least,” she told BusinessWest. “I got to know the population and came to understand what it really meant to be a corrections officer; there’s much more to it than slamming cell doors, even though there were no cell doors there. The population came from varied backgrounds, and to navigate all of that took a certain amount of finesse.”

Abatement work at the former Court Square Hotel

Abatement work at the former Court Square Hotel in downtown Springfield is one of many municipal projects awarded to City Enterprise.

While working in corrections on Howard Street, she designed, built, and sold a few houses, including her first such endeavor, a home on Eastland Street, just a stone’s throw from City Enterprise’s current home on Berkshire Avenue. Later, she designed and built a two-home development on Parkerview Street in Springfield and handled a few renovations and additions as well.

It was difficult to manage both sides of her work life, but she managed.

“I would get out of work at 8, and I would go straight to my job sites and my projects, because I was the only one doing it at the time,” she recalled. “So I had to line up my subcontractors; I had to be on site and make sure everyone was there. I had to schedule everything … and time is always of the essence in real estate, because you want to hit the market at the right time.”

This was the start of City Enterprise, she said, adding that, as she continued to operate her venture out of her basement and create the first of what would be several business plans for its future, Murphy applied for status under what is known as 8A under the Small Business Administration, a program created to help firms owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.

Applying for such status is a difficult and lengthy proposition, she said, adding that it eventually took her three years to gain that designation. At first, she was turned down, in large part, she believes, because she was still working in corrections at the time and thus — to those reviewing her application, at least — she was not fully committed to her business venture.

After waiting a year — and after leaving the Sheriff’s Department in 2012 and making City Enterprise a full-time pursuit — she applied again, and this time was granted 8A status. And during that year, she was making connections and building relationships with agencies ranging from the General Services Administration to the Army Corps of Engineers to the U.S. Navy.

“I was letting these people know that I was coming — I was developing relationships even before I was admitted into the program,” she said. “Because I knew the 8A was more government-contract-driven, I sought out those agencies.

“I was confident because I made the necessary sacrifices to make that happen,” she said. “I knew there were things I had to do to get past that first rejection, and I did them. I took full advantage of that year.”

The 8A designation certainly opened some doors, as noted earlier, especially at government-owned and operated facilities, such as Westover Air Reserve Base, where she earned first commercial contract — renovation work in the bowling alley on the base.

Wonderlyn Murphy, seen here with recently hired Vice President of Operations Charles Young

Wonderlyn Murphy, seen here with recently hired Vice President of Operations Charles Young, is setting some ambitious goals for City Enterprise.

This was another important learning experience, she said, adding that she initially hired the wrong type of flooring company to work on the bowling lanes, but later secured the right subcontractor, a company in Ohio, and finished the project in good order.

“It was a very difficult entry into the commercial space, but we got through it, and it was a great learning experience,” she said, adding that the company would go on to secure projects with a number of government entities in the ensuing years.

 

Drafting a Plan

That list includes the city of Springfield, which hired the firm to handle the abatement of the historic former Court Square Hotel, which is being converted into market-rate apartments; the National Park Service, which hired City Enterprise to undertake restoration of the porch of the commanding officer’s quarters at the Springfield Armory; UMass Amherst, which has contracted with the company on a number of projects, from renovations of the Rand Theater to envelope repairs at several of the dorms; UMass Medical School, which hired the company to do skylight replacement; the U.S. Coast Guard, which used the company for repairs and renovations to its small-arms range; and countless others.

Current projects include installation of a new marquee sign at the MassMutual Center, work at the Beals Library in Winchendon, and construction of a new amphitheater, also in Winchendon. The company has also submitted a proposal for the Old State House in Boston, what would be its most significant project to date, and is awaiting word on that bid application.

The growing list of clients, the wide range of work undertaken for them, and the growing staff at the company, now numbering 14, including an estimating staff, project managers, an accounting department, and that aforementioned vice president of Operations, shows how far this company has come since Murphy started building houses.

More intriguing, though, is where she wants to take it moving forward.

Indeed, as she mentioned at the top, City Enterprise is in a transition stage in its development, and the broad plan is to essentially scale the operation — in many different ways.

One of them is geographic reach. She said she would like to have a location in South Florida, and perhaps another in northern New England to better serve potential clients in that market. She is also looking at growing through acquisition as well.

“Time is always of the essence in real estate, because you want to hit the market at the right time.”

Meanwhile, as noted earlier, she is settling into … not a new role, necessarily, but a different set of responsibilities as the company makes this transition. Indeed, instead of handling many of the day-to-day matters, which will now be handled by Young, she will be even more focused on the proverbial big picture and goal setting.

“I’m not as involved with the day-to-day as I was a year ago because I have brought on a vice president of Operations,” she said. “But I am very involved with executing my vision and getting my team aligned with the vision, and getting the right people to go with me to that number I just mentioned — $150 million — which is probably the most important part.”

the porch at the commanding officer’s quarters at the Springfield Armory.

City Enterprise has tackled a number of assignments involving government agencies, including work to restore the porch at the commanding officer’s quarters at the Springfield Armory.

Elaborating, the company’s broad portfolio of projects — meaning the depth and diversity of the client base and the wide variety of work — is indicative of “where we’re going and who we are,” Murphy said, adding that the focus moving forward is simply on controlled growth and doing what’s necessary to meet those lofty goals.

A new headquarters building is a key part of that equation, she said, adding that she has plans on paper for a new building and a site in mind. Further diversification of the portfolio of clients is another key goal, she said, adding that the company is working to add more colleges and universities, government agencies, municipalities, and healthcare facilities, among others, to that already significant list.

Continued relationship building and potential collaborations with larger construction companies on larger projects is another part of that equation, she said, adding that the company’s status as a woman-owned and minority-owned company could be a huge asset in such collaborative efforts.

 

Bottom Line

Such conversations are ongoing, Murphy said, adding that, as she moves away from the day-to-day of running City Enterprise and more into the broad task of marketing the company and being its “face,” her job description falls into the category of making and building connections.

“It’s a very ambitious place I’m going to,” she said in conclusion, adding that she is putting the pieces in place for something special. The foundation has been built, and she is now ready to build upon it — and in dramatic fashion. u

 

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

Architecture Special Coverage

Food for Thought

Dennis Group project

This aerial photo is of a large Dennis Group project under construction in Ohio.

 

At any given time, the Dennis Group is working on 400 to 500 projects around the world. But you wouldn’t know it by looking around New England.

Sure, it’s worked with Agri-Mark in West Springfield, Pepperidge Farm in Bloomfield, Conn., and a host of other companies locally over the years, but food-production plants — and that’s exclusively what this design-build engineering firm works on — tend to be bunched in certain pockets of the country, and for good reason, said Mike Damiano, head of the company’s process engineering group.

For example, “Pennsylvania supplies the Northeast. That’s a big distribution corridor. All the major players like to be within a stone’s throw of each other,” he noted, adding that other clusters are located in Ohio (serving the Midwest), Georgia (the Southeast), Texas (the South), and California (the West Coast). “We have a lot of work local to our Utah office, which seems abnormal, but it’s a growing area. A lot of it is about logistics, and where they can get to as many places in the U.S. as economically as possible.”

In addition, food-production companies find labor, taxes, and utilities less expensive outside New England, said Chris Siart, head of the firm’s civil, structural, and architectural group.

“We basically design and build food and beverage facilities. We started off doing food and beverage, and we’re still doing food and beverage, for a wide range of products and clients,” he told BusinessWest. “We work with small startup companies all the way up to top-100 companies — Nestlé, Kraft, Pillsbury, and all those other big guys.”

Damiano said the Dennis Group performs full-service engineering for the facility side of the production systems. That involves detailed design work, procurement of equipment and workforce, and management of the construction of the plant. “We don’t self-perform any construction activities, so we’re design-build in the sense that we do construction management.”

 

Up from the Attic

The Dennis Group has witnessed explosive growth since it was launched by founder — and still president — Tom Dennis in his attic in 1987. It now boasts about 200 employees in its headquarters in the Fuller Block building in downtown Springfield, and another 400 in seven satellite offices: in California, Georgia, Michigan, Utah, Brazil, and two in Canada.

Some of this success can be traced to timing — specifically, an explosion in the popularity of convenience-based foods and the recession-proof (and, as it turns out, pandemic-proof) nature of the food industry.

“A lot of it is about logistics, and where they can get to as many places in the U.S. as economically as possible.”

Each project begins with a concept, Siart said — a new product a company wants to develop or an existing product for which it wants to ramp up production. After a definition study, which is a report defining project scope, scale, cost, and schedule, the study is handed off to the food manufacturer for approval, with projects ranging anywhere from $1 million to $1 billion in cost.

“Then we set the engineering — we have all disciplines in house. We have civil engineers, architects, structural engineers … we have everything to do with the building, but also all the internal engineers as well — mechanical engineers, chemical engineers, control engineers, electrical engineers, basically designing all the equipment inside.”

One reason for the Dennis Group’s sustained success — it has topped Engineering News Record’s annual rankings of the top food and beverage engineering firms by revenue in numerous years — is due to its ability to tackle new industry trends, which constantly drive the design and construction of new plants.

For example, Damiano said, “we’ve been doing a lot of vertical farming, which is kind of new — it’s like a warehouse with an indoor greenhouse.”

That has helped stores keep ever-popular bagged salads on shelves longer because they’re arriving in stores sooner, particularly in the Northeast, said Nathan Marcucci, a process engineer and head of the firm’s project management group.

Mike Damiano and Chris Siart

Mike Damiano and Chris Siart say continual innovation in food trends drives robust production of manufacturing facilities.

“Bagged salads were always field harvested, and you had only a few days to get that salad from the field to somebody’s house,” he explained. “Now, with an indoor vertical grow facility in the Northeast in the wintertime, you can get that bagged salad to the consumer in the Northeast quicker, so it lasts longer. So it’s a combination of new technologies that invigorate some of these older products.”

The Dennis Group has also worked with the Impossible brand on alternative meats, ridden a wave of Greek yogurt and alternative milk production when those products became popular, and worked with Ocean Spray on Craisins.

“That used to be a byproduct; they used to pay to have it hauled away,” Damiano said. “Then they turned it into a product that was more profitable than the juice. The juice became a byproduct on the Craisins line. They basically flipped the table.”

Much of the product innovation in supermarkets begins with smaller companies and gets picked up by larger ones when products become popular. Larger companies are often hesitant to step out of their comfort zone, like J.M. Smucker, a repeat client that has long focused on peanut butter and jelly — and premade Uncrustables sandwiches — as well as a line of pet food. The Dennis Group is currently working on its third Smucker factory; a recently opened facility in Colorado was named Food Engineering’s Plant of the Year for 2020.

Sometimes innovation in the way food is packaged drives plant production as well, Marcucci noted, such as a move toward squeezable containers some years back for everything from peanut butter to yogurt.

 

No Slowdown

When the pandemic hit in 2020, Marcucci said, some jobs got put on hold, but the Dennis Group experienced no real downturn. In fact, demand soared for certain food products, like those aforementioned Uncrustables when kids were largely stuck at home.

“When the economy gets tough, people have less money to buy food at restaurants, so they want pre-made grocery food,” Siart said. “That’s when our clients’ orders go through the roof; they can’t keep up with the orders.”

And that’s when they call on the Dennis Group, which has developed a worldwide reputation in its engineering niche.

“There’s nobody with the title ‘salesperson’ in the company,” he added. “The way we look at it here is that everybody’s a salesperson. You’ve got to do good work to bring in repeat customers, and 80% to 90% of our work is repeat customers; basically, large food manufacturers come back to us and do multiple projects.

“A smaller percentage is new clients that are finding us through different ways — people moving from one company to another,” he went on. “Someone might have been working for Nestlé and is now working for another food company, and work comes to us through word of mouth from former clients. Some of it’s cold calling. Some of it’s someone doing a Google search and finding Dennis Group that way. That’s how our sales work: repeat business and word of mouth.”

It’s business the company’s leaders don’t expect to slow any time soon, if the way people shop — and the convenient products they desire — is any indication.

“Food is essential,” Damiano said. “If you go to the grocery store, you have that one section of fresh produce; everything else is processed. The minute people stop buying processed food, we’re in trouble.”

 

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Construction

Filling Today’s Needs

By Mark Morris

When Craig Sweitzer built his first dental office 37 years ago, he thought it was the coolest thing he had ever done.

As owners of Sweitzer Construction, Craig and his wife, Pat, enjoyed learning the unique design requirements and the technical knowledge required to build dental suites, known as operatories.

“We like to work on projects that are new, fresh, and exciting,” Sweitzer said. “Dental offices fit that bill because dental technology is evolving, and it’s fun to stay current with it.”

In a recent string of projects, the Sweitzers’ firm built or renovated three dental practices in the Berkshires, all owned by women dentists. Berkshire Dental Arts and Krol and Nazarov Family Dentistry, both in Pittsfield, and Shire City Endo in Lenox all presented different challenges to the team, among them building dental practices during a pandemic.

Dr. Sarah Martinelli said the building where her practice, Shire City Endo, does business began as a “rectangular brick box.” Built in 1978, three different banks occupied the site before Martinelli purchased the building in February 2020. Having worked in the area, she knew that dentists referred patients for endodontic work from all over the region, so the central location of this building on Route 7 in Lenox made it an ideal spot.

Craig Sweitzer explained that, when dentists plan a renovation or construction project, they will meet with him early in the process. From the choice of equipment to how each room lays out, together they form a plan.

“By purchasing this unit, it saved us from ripping out the ceiling and replacing the entire ventilation system. That would have been absolutely disruptive.”

“There are lots of decisions to be made,” he said, “from where the plumbing and electrical lines go to whether the doctor is right-handed or left, and do they want cuspidors or just suction?”

A dental-equipment supplier also enters the picture early on to work in partnership with the construction crew and the dentist.

“We do all the underground, behind-the-wall, and under-floor infrastructure work to make sure it will accommodate the specialized equipment the doctor ordered,” Sweitzer said.

Craig and Pat Sweitzer

Craig and Pat Sweitzer say the dental practice owner is closely involved in the design process from the start.

Dental offices fit that bill because dental technology is evolving, and it’s fun to stay current with it.”

For Shire City Endo, part of the early work involved removing a drive-up window left over from the banking days. When the crew was drilling into the foundation to run plumbing and electrical lines, they ran into another legacy of the building’s former use.

Foundation floors in banks are usually much thicker than those in regular commercial buildings to deter would-be thieves from tunneling in from underneath. After much more effort, the crew was able to install the necessary lines in the right places.

“I wasn’t worried before about someone tunneling into my practice,” Martinelli said jokingly. “And I sleep well at night knowing I’m protected from that now.”

The thick floors didn’t slow down the project too much, but as Pat Sweitzer noted, coordinating schedules with the medical supplier is an important part of the process. “The whole project is orchestrated for our crews to finish their work just as the medical equipment and the installers are available.”

As a general contractor, Sweitzer Construction is well-acquainted with the difficulties of sticking to schedules during the pandemic, not to mention recent price increases for raw materials. Lumber is the most notable building material to see wild price increases of up to 250%. Craig said he does not use much lumber, but instead uses steel studs to frame walls in his commercial projects. Still, he noted that steel has begun catching up to lumber in price and difficulty to get when it’s needed.

“We order materials long before we need them and then hope they arrive somewhere around the time we are ready to use them,” he explained. “It takes our office staff much more effort to make sure materials get here on time.”

 

Go with the Flow

When the pandemic first hit, air flow inside buildings suddenly became an essential consideration, especially in healthcare facilities. Sweitzer and the HVAC subcontractors who work with his company began to study how to design new systems and retrofit old ones to keep everyone safe.

Whether COVID-19 had existed or not, Martinelli knew she would have to replace the entire HVAC system in her building. Sweitzer and Mark Edwards from M&E Mechanical Contractors, the HVAC subcontractor for the project, installed a state-of-the-art negative-air system for all the operatories at Shire City Endo. Sweitzer explained it as a system that captures pathogens in the air which are immediately pulled out of the room by an exhaust fan before they can spread. In the past, operatories often had exhaust vents in the ceiling. The standard now is to locate these lower on the wall.

“Dentists and hygienists work in people’s mouths, the main path of respiration,” he said. “With lower vents, any pathogens are directed down to the floor instead of into the provider’s face.”

Dr. Anne Barnes

Dr. Anne Barnes says the 1960s-era space she took over in 2018 “just didn’t work” for today’s cutting-edge dentistry.

Martinelli appreciated that she had the opportunity to install a new HVAC system to deal with COVID and any other airborne maladies. At the same time, she saw her colleagues struggle to find answers on how to retrofit their offices to mitigate risks and improve air quality.

By purchasing this unit, it saved us from ripping out the ceiling and replacing the entire ventilation system. That would have been absolutely disruptive.”

Because Sweitzer and Edwards had been so helpful to her, Martinelli coordinated a Zoom call with the contractors and the Berkshire Dental Society, so dentists could get answers on how to manage air ventilation in their practices.

“Craig and Mark were great resources to the entire dental community, who had plenty of questions on how to keep their patients and staff safe,” she said.

Pat Sweitzer was on the Zoom call and credited Martinelli for organizing it. “The dentists had done lots of research, and we had done lots of research,” Pat said. “It was a time when everyone was learning how to contain COVID through different HVAC systems.”

Dr. Anne Barnes, who runs Berkshire Dental Arts, is one of the dentists who chose to retrofit her office with an air purifier that turns over the air in the entire room in three minutes. She said it does an excellent job, and while it’s a large piece of equipment in the corner of the room, it beats the alternative.

“In addition to knowing all the building codes that pertain to dental-treatment rooms, he also knows how to navigate the whole permitting process.”

“By purchasing this unit, it saved us from ripping out the ceiling and replacing the entire ventilation system,” she said. “That would have been absolutely disruptive.”

In 2018, Barnes established Berkshire Dental Arts after assuming Dr. Neil Pyser’s practice located on South Street in Pittsfield. The building was constructed in the 1960s by four dentists, and while it has changed hands several times over the years, the interior space was not much different from when it was first designed.

“What was here just didn’t work for me and wasn’t planned out for today’s dentistry,” Barnes said. As a captain in the U.S. Army Dental Corps, she had access to all the latest equipment, so while she knew what she wanted, the challenge was how to fit it in a predefined space.

At Martinelli’s recommendation, Barnes asked Sweitzer for help on how to make better use of the defined footprint of the building.

“Craig helped me troubleshoot and think about ways to convert the space we have into something more efficient,” she said. Her practice consists of four operatories, two used by Barnes, with hygienists working in the other two rooms.

She and her husband, Charles, who is also the practice manager, had a mental picture of how the operatories should look, but admitted they didn’t have the expertise on how to bring in new equipment without sacrificing elbow room.

“I wanted to make each room functional and comfortable to work in,” Barnes said. “Craig knows how much space you need around the chair and where to place all the plumbing and electrical hookups we use.”

She enjoys her redesigned office because she now has the equipment to do 90% of her lab work in house instead of sending it to an outside firm. For example, if a patient wanted to change the color of a crown, they would normally have to make an appointment two weeks after their visit while the crown goes to a lab. Because Barnes now has a ceramic oven in her office, the patient needs to wait just 15 minutes for the adjustment.

“A ceramic oven is a small piece of equipment,” she said, “but if you don’t have the counter space for it, you’re out of luck.”

Martinelli was also pleased with her office renovation, noting that she appreciated Sweitzer’s strong knowledge of dental-building infrastructure.

“In addition to knowing all the building codes that pertain to dental-treatment rooms, he also knows how to navigate the whole permitting process,” she said. “And he knew what needed to be done to check all the boxes at the end of the job.”

 

Tooth of the Matter

The knowledge the Sweitzers acquired to build dental offices has allowed his company to expand into other highly technical projects. From photovoltaic solar work to building clean rooms for high-tech companies, their business keeps expanding. Even with the new areas of focus, though, Craig still enjoys dental-office construction.

“Dentistry keeps changing, and there are always technical parts to it,” he said. “Besides, dental construction was my first love, and the complexity is still fun.”

Daily News


SPRINGFIELD — Fontaine Bros. Inc., a construction management and general contracting firm serving the public and private sectors since 1933, announced that it has established a corporate foundation. The Fontaine Community Foundation, led by Fontaine’s director of Diversity, Inclusion and Community Impact, Elizabeth Wambui, is committed to developing partnerships with organizations that help build stronger communities with a mission to contribute to the common good. The foundation envisions communities that thrive in quality education, have access to affordable healthcare, and have the resources to help young people grow and learn.  

“Through the Fontaine Community Foundation, we can further enhance and expand our commitment to supporting the communities where we build and where our colleagues and clients live and work,” said Dave Fontaine Jr., vice president of Fontaine Bros.  

A unique feature of the Fontaine Community Foundation is that each Fontaine team member will be able to direct a portion of the foundation’s annual giving to worthy organizations and causes of their choosing. 

“By creating and funding an employee directed giving component of the Foundation’s efforts, we are excited to not only connect with a broad range of worthy causes that are personally important to our team members, but also to create and grow the habit of philanthropic giving at every level of our organization,” said Wambui.    

This summer, the foundation will host an inaugural golf tournament at Longmeadow Country Club on August 8. 

Proceeds from the tournament, which includes 18 holes of golf, lunch, and an evening program, will benefit dozens of organizations including the Nativity School of Worcester, the Thomas J. O’Connor Animal Control Center, and many more throughout Massachusetts.   

To learn more about the foundation or the golf tournament, visit  [email protected]. 

Construction Special Coverage

Building Momentum

The past year has been an unusual time for the construction industry — one marked by project postponements, soaring prices for materials, and the establishment of strict COVID safety protocols on job sites. But for most builders, it wasn’t a devastating year, and, in many cases, it led to a surprisingly promising 2021. After all, the need for projects to be completed hasn’t gone away, and the backlog is actually creating a surplus of projects to bid on. The aforementioned challenges still remain, contractors say, but the work rolls on.

Laurie and John Raymaakers

Laurie and John Raymaakers say there’s plenty of infrastructure work available — and that trend should continue in the coming years.

 

By Mark Morris

 

For Dan Bradbury, 2020 was “a year of pivoting and finding new ways to get the job done.”

As director of sales and marketing for Associated Builders, Bradbury saw a slowdown at this time last year as several projects that were scheduled to break ground were instead postponed indefinitely.

By including construction as an essential industry, Gov. Charlie Baker allowed job sites to stay open and keep workers employed while following pandemic protocols. While Bradbury appreciated the ability to keep projects moving, other slowdowns were out of his control.

“There are a lot of hurdles to get over in a large industrial or commercial project, and COVID hit the brakes on all of them,” he said, noting in particular the new challenges surrounding what in the past had been routine business with municipal governments.

“We already had some projects scheduled to start this spring, but, more importantly, we’re starting to fill our pipeline again with projects that will take us well into the fall of this year and potentially into 2022 as well.”

“Because municipalities had to move to fully remote meetings, they occurred less often, which made it difficult to get building permits, zoning-board approvals, and the other essential documents we need to start and finish a building project,” Bradbury said, adding that Associated has projects in the works in a number of different sectors. One example is a 30,000-square-foot building in Bloomfield, Conn., where a local chemical company will occupy part of the building and lease the remaining space.

His company’s experience isn’t unique. BusinessWest spoke with several area construction managers to discuss how their industry looks this spring compared to a year ago, when COVID-19 suddenly changed the world — and the main takeaway is one of optimism and promise.

A significant part of Houle Construction’s business involves interior renovations for medical facilities. Company President Tim Pelletier noted that, when COVID first struck, business came to a complete halt as medical professionals were dealing with rapidly increasing numbers of COVID patients. One year later, he’s optimistic about the increase in construction activity.

“It’s absolutely busier than last year,” he said. “We’re seeing more projects taking shape, especially with our hospital clients.” In the meantime, Pelletier has picked up renovation projects at organizations that offer hall rentals, such as the Masonic Temple in East Longmeadow.

“The temple has not been able to host gatherings for the past year, so they are using the downtime to make renovations for when they can open again,” Pelletier said, adding that it’s a way to take advantage of what everyone has gone through and find a positive side.

An aerial view of Worcester South Community High School

An aerial view of Worcester South Community High School, one of the many recent school projects undertaken by Fontaine Brothers.

Bradbury credits pent-up demand for the increase in projects his company has been taking on this year.

“As soon as the calendar page turned to 2021, our phones started ringing,” he said. “We already had some projects scheduled to start this spring, but, more importantly, we’re starting to fill our pipeline again with projects that will take us well into the fall of this year and potentially into 2022 as well.”

Dave Fontaine Jr., vice president of Fontaine Brothers, said his company has been fortunate to have several projects ongoing since before the pandemic hit. Many of his largest projects involve building schools, for which budgets are approved long before breaking ground, so funding for them was not affected by COVID concerns. Since the pandemic hit, Fontaine said some towns have delayed public funding approvals, but not as many as he had anticipated.

“In the last six to eight months, we’ve picked up more than $400 million in new work,” he noted. “Some of these projects are in pre-construction now and will start this summer.”

Among the projects scheduled to begin in June are the $75 million DeBerry-Homer School in Springfield and the $240 million Doherty Memorial High School in Worcester.

Infrastructure construction also experienced steady business last year. J.L. Raymaakers and Sons Construction specializes in installing water and sewer lines as well as site excavation for municipalities, airports, and private companies. After a busy 2019, co-owner John Raymaakers said 2020 was nearly a record year for his company, and he’s on pace to fill up the project list for 2021.

Associated Builders project in Bloomfield, Conn

In this Associated Builders project in Bloomfield, Conn., a local chemical company will occupy part of the building and lease the remaining space.

“It’s amazing the amount of infrastructure work that is out there for bid,” Raymaakers said, explaining that his company subscribes to a register that lists all the new public and private projects available for bid. Since the middle of last year, he has seen no slowdown in the volume of bidding opportunities. “Looking only at our category of construction, there were five to six new projects announced just last week.”

Raymaakers predicted bridge construction, another area of expertise for his company, will also see increased activity.

“In the next few years, I think we are going to see a lot of work on replacing aging bridges in New England,” he said, adding that this should happen even without a federal government infrastructure bill, citing two recent bridge-replacement projects his crews are working on in Stockbridge and Pittsfield. Still, he’s hopeful that some kind of infrastructure legislation passes, saying it would be “a huge boost to us and others in our industry.”

 

Help Wanted

While business activity is brisk for everyone BusinessWest spoke with, they’ve all faced recent challenges; some are unique to doing business in the COVID environment, and others are chronic problems made worse by the virus. The issue of having enough workers was a challenge on both fronts.

“We’ve definitely lost people from the workforce due to COVID concerns,” Fontaine said. “They might be taking care of a family member, or they might be in a group that has underlying health concerns.”

He added that managing COVID on the job site is also difficult. “Anytime someone tests positive for COVID, that individual and anyone in close contact with them has to go home and quarantine for the time period,” he explained. “That can result in a lot of labor disruption on a daily basis.”

COVID also exacerbated the long-running problem of fewer workers in skilled-trade and general-labor jobs. Raymaakers said finding help in construction is a constant challenge. Co-owner Laurie Raymaakers pointed out that heavy-equipment operators and construction laborers can make a good living.

“There’s a misconception that laborers aren’t paid well,” she said. “The pay and benefits at our company are pretty good; the reality is there are just fewer people who want to do this type of work.”

She added that it’s also misleading to suggest laborers are not skilled, pointing out that her company’s laborers are highly skilled at making sure pipes are situated properly and secured to withstand years of service.

“Our workers also put together fire hydrants, which require about 50 bolts that have to be tightened in a certain pattern. Hydrants are under constant water pressure, so if it’s not built correctly, parts of the hydrant will go flying in the air.”

As older craftsmen such as plumbers and electricians continue to retire, their ranks are not being filled by enough younger workers. With projects increasing, Bradbury said an already-competitive labor market gets squeezed even further.

Tim Pelletier, president of Houle Constrution

Tim Pelletier, president of Houle Constrution, at the Masonic Temple in East Longmeadow.

“Between the demand for commercial/industrial as well as residential, everyone in the trades is busy, and they can’t find enough workers,” Bradbury said. “On top of that, solar companies are hiring all the electricians they can find at a time when electricians were already in short supply.”

The biggest hurdle to doing business right now, according to Bradbury, involves managing enormous price increases for materials, in some cases rising by more than 100% compared to this time last year.

“Over a period of months, we’ve seen multiple price increases in steel and lumber products,” he said. “Those two create a trickle up that affects prices for every other building material.”

Bradbury noted that steel manufacturing has been affected by labor outages due to COVID, leading to product-supply shortages. He also pointed to increased demand for lumber, especially on the residential side, where housing starts are booming. In addition, his company and many others receive a great deal of lumber from Canada, where the U.S. still has tariffs in place on lumber.

Bradbury said COVID issues are not affecting project schedules because his firm will not start a job until it has a guarantee that materials are available. “We are also adding cost protections in our contracts as a way to guard against the constant increases in materials.”

It’s too early to determine what immediate impact the pandemic will have on building design, but Bradbury said clients from current and future projects have begun asking about air handling and filtration.

“For sure, air handling and using UV light to sanitize a space are areas where people have been putting more focus,” he said. “I think these requests will continue as there is an increased emphasis on clean air and other ways to keep facilities sanitized.”

At Worcester South Community High School, workers installed air-handling units that use bipolar ionization, or, as Fontaine described it, a system that cleans the air and removes many of the germs and bacteria from the building.

“The motivation to install this system was driven by COVID, but there are other benefits, too,” he said. “Systems like this provide a better environment for people with asthma and other health concerns.”

 

Spring of Hope

The arrival of spring and increased numbers of people receiving COVID vaccines gives all the construction managers we spoke to a sense of optimism about life and getting their projects done.

At press time, asphalt plants in the area had begun to open. Because the plants close for the winter, municipalities will not allow road construction because there is no access to repave the roads. So the plant openings are great news for companies like Raymaakers, which plans its water- and sewer-line projects around those openings.

Other managers look forward to a time when they do not have to socially distance their crews and wear masks all day.

“Masks are another nuisance to deal with,” Pelletier said. “If we can start to get distancing and masks behind us, it will speed things up on the job site.”

As part of planning for future business, Bradbury has begun to ask some fundamental questions about what lies beyond the horizon. “Where is the growth potential going to be as we come out of COVID, and which industries will still want to build and have the money to build?”

As he considers the types of industries that are prevalent in Western Mass. and Northern Conn., such as aerospace and manufacturing, he wonders if government spending will still drive those industries. He has also given some thought to the insurance industry.

“Typically, there has been a huge demand for office space for the insurance industry, and how they address that moving forward is a big question mark coming out of COVID.”

As the insurance industry reconsiders its needs, Bradbury added, there has been a sharp decline in demand for all office space. “We are definitely not building more office space anytime soon.”

But his and other firms are building — and that’s good news after a year of uncertainty and a pandemic that hasn’t yet gone away.

Construction

Firm Foundation

Mark Sullivan

Mark Sullivan says public work — his firm’s main niche — slowed down in 2020, but activity looks strong for the coming year.

Mark Sullivan wasn’t unlike countless other business owners, watching the COVID-19 story develop last February and March and wondering how his construction firm, D.A. Sullivan & Sons Inc., would fare.

While no one knew early on what the pandemic’s impact would be, the general consensus was “this isn’t going to go well at all,” he said. But the company, like all others, managed to keep moving forward, with office staff working from home and Zoom meetings a new fact of life.

“Ultimately, we were able to keep people working in whatever format worked best for the individual, and we’re thankful we didn’t have any layoffs in the field,” he went on. “We were able to employ everyone through 2020.”

What makes that notable is that this fourth-generation family business, which opened its doors in Northampton in 1897 and has been headquartered in that city ever since, relies heavily on public work, including some of the highest-profile municipal and collegiate projects in the region at any given time.

“Now it’s to the point where projects we built 30 or 40 years ago are being renovated or being torn down and replaced. It’s all cyclical.”

“We’ve always had a heavy mix of public work — probably half to 60% of what we do has been public work,” said Sullivan, who is the firm’s fifth president, while his brother, Dennis, is chief executive operator. “We certainly have private clients we do a lot of work for, and we look for that private work, but public work over the years has been the most consistent.”

When Gov. Charlie Baker shut down large swaths of the economy just over a year ago, “we were certainly fortunate we were deemed critical, or essential, and we were able to keep some projects going,” Sullivan recalled. “When COVID hit, we did lose some work; some projects were paused and some outright canceled as people tried to figure out what the pandemic was and what it meant in the near-term future.”

Some of the projects the firm completed in 2020 included a fitness center transformation at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams, a new administration building at Harriman & West Airport in that city, a renovation of the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority para-transit maintenance and storage facilities in Springfield, and the renovation of a mill building in Easthampton into apartments and office spaces.

“We rely on public work, and the state froze most public work after the first quarter. UMass did, too,” Sullivan said. “We had a backlog going into the year, and we finished up that work, but it was difficult getting new work toward the end of the year because everything had been frozen.”

renovation on Ferry Street in Easthampton

This mill renovation on Ferry Street in Easthampton features a mix of office space and apartments. (Photo by Leigh Chodos)

However, after the firm’s work volume in 2020 totaled about 20% from the year before, things are looking up. “What we’re seeing now is that, as the vaccine rolls out and people see the light at the end of the tunnel, those projects paused last year are coming back online.”

Considering that, he said, and the fact that new municipal projects are starting to emerge from the drawing board, “it looks to be a busy year.”

 

Plenty to Build On

Indeed, the projects currently underway — the firm typically manages 10 to 15 each year — speak to the breadth of the opportunities available in the municipal, academic, and other realms. They include:

• General-contracting services for the construction of the Newman Catholic Center at UMass Amherst, the UMass Fine Arts Center bridge renovation, a renovation and expansion of the Worcester Public Library, and the Chicopee City Hall renovation;

• Construction-management services for a renovation of Mount Holyoke College’s Gamble Auditorium and the construction of 38 cottage-style homes at Lathrop Community; and

• Owner’s project-management services for the renovation of the Westhampton Public Safety Complex and a renovation of the historic Grafton Public Library.

“It’s cyclical,” Sullivan said of public work. “You might be doing elementary schools for a decade, then find yourself doing middle schools after that. Now it’s to the point where projects we built 30 or 40 years ago are being renovated or being torn down and replaced. It’s all cyclical. We do a lot of work for the Five Colleges, UMass especially. It’s always varied, and it’s always interesting.”

The mill renovation in Easthampton was a fun challenge because of the condition of the building when the project began, he noted, while the Worcester library project is fun in other ways.

“Our partners got a kick out of the high-end millwork installation,” he said, noting details in the children’s room like a rocket ship and an eight-foot-tall book. “Most projects are budget-driven from a carpentry standpoint and may not get a millwork package that’s particularly interesting, so to speak. But every now and then, we get a library project or private-client work — we do a lot of private work for prep schools in the area — and those are projects carpenters can really sink their teeth into; they’re a lot of fun.”

Sullivan noted that construction management is becoming more the norm in the firm’s projects than straight general contracting. What hasn’t changed, however, is a reliance on cultivating relationships with municipalities, colleges, and other types of clients over time.

“It can be difficult to be a contractor of our size in the area we’re in and sustain longevity,” he said. “Every project is different, every client has a different process, and the relationships are unique, too; we value those relationships and rely on those relationships to keep work coming.”

That stability was in direct contrast to the upheaval of COVID-19, and how that affected the way workers were able to do their jobs.

“Initially, everyone was trying to figure it out,” he said. “There was no guidebook to follow; it was being established as we went along. That was true for everyone in our industry and in other industries deemed essential, and we were able to keep some projects moving forward in the field.

“Certainly, productivity took a hit, when we were sanitizing projects twice a day, taking temperatures, and keeping logs,” he went on, noting that, when a delivery person was found to have COVID, a whole job site shut down for a few days.

“In the big picture, we got through the whole year without too many issues,” he added. “It’s literally been a year since this thing hit; everyone has the protocols down pat.”

 

Getting to Work

Now that things seem to be looking up — both in the public-sector construction world and in general, with vaccines generating positive news on the COVID front — Sullivan is ready to tackle what he sees as pent-up demand.

“The need for work didn’t go away,” he told BusinessWest. “I think there’s a lot of liquidity in the market; last year, people held on to figure out a way through the pandemic, and now that they see an end in sight, things are starting to loosen up, and we’re very busy on the building side of things.”

As his family’s business has been for more than 120 years.

“We’ve been around a long time in Western Mass. We work roughly from Pittsfield to Worcester — that’s our zone — and there aren’t many mid-size contractors of our size left in Western Mass.,” he said, noting that the firm generates about $40 million in sales each year. “There are a few bigger firms and several smaller firms out there, but we’re happy with the size we are; it’s a good size. And we’re thankful just to be able to be working every day and be around as long as we have.”

 

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Construction

Starts and Stops

Total construction starts fell 2% nationally in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $797.3 billion, according to the latest report from Dodge Data & Analytics. Non-building construction starts posted a solid gain after rebounding from a weak January; however, residential and non-residential building starts declined, leading to a pullback in overall activity.

“With spring just around the corner, hope is building for a strong economic recovery fueled by the growing number of vaccinated Americans,” said Richard Branch, chief economist for Dodge Data & Analytics. “But the construction sector will be hard-pressed to take advantage of this resurgence as rapidly escalating materials prices and a supply overhang across many building sectors weighs on starts through the first half of the year.”

Non-building construction starts gained a robust 20% in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $200.3 billion. The miscellaneous non-building sector (largely pipelines and site work) surged 76%, while environmental public works increased 26%, and highway and bridge starts moved 11% higher. By contrast, utility and gas plant starts lost 17% in February.

For the 12 months ending February 2021, total non-building starts were 13% lower than the 12 months ending February 2020. Highway and bridge starts were 4% higher on a 12-month rolling-sum basis, while environmental public works were up 1%. Miscellaneous non-building fell 26%, and utility and gas plant starts were down 37% for the 12 months ending February 2021.

The largest non-building projects to break ground in February were the $2.1 billion Line 3 Replacement Program, a 337-mile pipeline in Minnesota; the $1.2 billion Red River Water Supply Project in North Dakota, and the $950 million New England Clean Energy Connect Power Line in Maine.

Non-residential building starts fell 7% in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $208.1 billion. Institutional starts dropped 8% during the month despite a strong pickup in healthcare. Warehouse starts fell back during the month following a robust January, offsetting gains in office and hotel starts, and dragging down the overall commercial sector by 8%.

For the 12 months ending February 2021, non-residential building starts dropped 28% compared to the 12 months ending February 2020. Commercial starts declined 30%, institutional starts were down 19%, and manufacturing starts slid 58% in the 12 months ending February 2021.

The largest non-residential building projects to break ground in February were Ohio State University’s $1.2 billion Wexner Inpatient Hospital Tower in Columbus; ApiJect Systems’ $785 million Gigafactory in Durham, N.C.; and Sterling EdgeCore’s $450 million data center in Sterling, Va.

Residential building starts slipped 7% in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $388.9 billion. Both single-family and multi-family starts fell during the month, with each losing 7%.

For the 12 months ending February 2021, total residential starts were 4% higher than the 12 months ending February 2020. Single-family starts gained 12%, while multi-family starts were down 15% on a 12-month sum basis.

The largest multi-family structures to break ground in February were Bronx Point’s $349 million mixed-use development in the Bronx, N.Y.; the $215 million Broadway Block mixed-use building in Long Beach, Calif.; and the $200 million GoBroome mixed-use building in Manhattan, N.Y.

Regionally, February’s starts fell lower in the South Central and West regions but moved higher in the Midwest, Northeast, and South Atlantic Regions.

Earlier this month, Dodge Data & Analytics released its Dodge Momentum Index, which rose 7.1% in February. The Momentum Index is a monthly measure of the first (or initial) report for non-residential building projects in planning, which have been shown to lead construction spending for non-residential buildings by a full year. The institutional component of the Momentum Index jumped 26.3% during the month, while the commercial component was essentially flat.

February’s Momentum Index marked the highest levels in nearly three years as a result of a surge in large projects that entered planning. It remains to be seen if this level of activity, especially in the institutional sector, is sustainable given the tenuous economic recovery and rising material prices. Institutional planning projects in February were concentrated in large hospitals and labs, while commercial planning projects primarily included data centers, warehouses, and office projects. Compared to a year ago, the overall Momentum Index was up 9.2%; the commercial component was 15.2% higher, while the institutional component was down 3.3%.

Construction

Building Confidence

Construction may be on the upswing in 2021, according to a report by Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC).

“While many contractors enter 2021 with significant trepidation, the most recent backlog and confidence readings suggest that the onset of vaccinations has generally led to more upbeat assessments regarding nonresidential construction’s future,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Backlog is down substantially from its year-ago level, and profit margins remain under pressure, yet many contractors expect to enjoy higher sales and to support more staff six months from now.”

The organization’s Construction Backlog Indicator rebounded modestly to 7.3 months in December, an increase of 0.1 months from November’s reading, according to an ABC member survey conducted from Dec. 18 to Jan. 5. The backlog is 1.5 months lower than in December 2019.

“While many contractors enter 2021 with significant trepidation, the most recent backlog and confidence readings suggest that the onset of vaccinations has generally led to more upbeat assessments regarding nonresidential construction’s future. Backlog is down substantially from its year-ago level, and profit margins remain under pressure, yet many contractors expect to enjoy higher sales and to support more staff six months from now.”

ABC’s Construction Confidence Index readings for sales, profit margins, and staffing levels all increased in December. The sales index climbed above the threshold of 50, indicating contractors expect to grow sales over the next six months. The index reading for profit margins remained below that threshold. The staffing level index increased to 56.3 but remains well below its December 2019 reading.

“The baseline expectation is that, by the spring, the U.S. economy will blossom,” Basu said. “With many households sitting on mounds of savings and sustaining pent-up demand for many goods and services, the U.S. economy is set for rapid growth as it reopens more fully during mid- to late 2021. While it will take time for that to fully translate into new construction projects, some that were postponed earlier during the pandemic are likely to come back to life over the next several months. That should help many contractors begin to rebuild backlog, and to eagerly await 2022.”

The report comes on the heels of news that the construction industry added 51,000 net new jobs in December, according to ABC analysis of data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. During the last eight months, the industry has added 857,000 jobs, recovering 79.1% of the jobs lost during the earlier stages of the pandemic.

“The expectation remains that, as vaccination proceeds, the U.S. economy is poised for a significant uptick in growth during the latter half of 2021,” Basu said. “That will set the stage for improving industry performance in 2022 and beyond, particularly if the new administration is able to push forward an aggressive infrastructure stimulus package.”

 

Construction Special Coverage

Constructing a Picture

In its recently released 2021 Dodge Construction Outlook, Dodge Data & Analytics predicts that total U.S. construction starts will increase 4% in 2021, to $771 billion.

“The COVID-19 pandemic and recession has had a profound impact on the U.S. economy, leading to a deep dropoff in construction starts in the first half of 2020,” said Richard Branch, chief economist for Dodge Data & Analytics. “While the recovery is underway, the road to full recovery will be long and fraught with potential potholes. After losing an estimated 14% in 2020 to $738 billion, total construction starts will regain just 4% in 2021.”

Furthermore, he added, “uncertainty surrounding the next wave of COVID-19 infections in the fall and winter and delayed fiscal stimulus will lead to a slow and jagged recovery in 2021. Business and consumer confidence will improve over the year as further stimulus comes in early 2021 and a vaccine is approved and becomes more widely distributed, but construction markets have been deeply scarred and will take considerable time to fully recover.”

He noted that the dollar value of starts for residential buildings is expected to increase 5% in 2021, non-residential buildings will gain 3%, and non-building construction will improve 7%. “Only the residential sector, however, will exceed its 2019 level of starts thanks to historically low mortgage rates that boost single-family housing.”

The pattern of construction starts for more specific segments is as follows:

• The dollar value of single-family housing starts will be up 7% in 2021, and the number of units will grow 6% to 928,000. Historically low mortgage rates and a preference for less-dense living during the pandemic are clearly overpowering short-term labor-market and economic concerns.

• Multi-family construction, however, will pay the price for the single-family gain. The large overhang of high-end construction in large metro areas combined with declining rents will lead to a further pullback in 2021. Dollar value will drop 1%, while the number of units started falls 2% to 484,000.

• The dollar value of commercial-building starts will increase 5% in 2021. Warehouse construction will be the clear winner as e-commerce giants continue to build out their logistics infrastructure. Office starts will also increase due to rising demand for data centers (included in the office category), as well as renovations to existing space. Retail and hotel activity will languish.

• In 2021, institutional construction starts will increase by a tepid 1% as growing state and local budget deficits impact public-building construction. Education construction is expected to see further declines in 2021, while healthcare starts are predicted to rise as hospitals seek to improve in-patient bed counts.

• The dollar value of manufacturing plant construction will remain flat in 2021. Declining petrochemical construction and weak domestic and global activity will dampen starts, while a small handful of expected project groundbreakings will level out the year.

• Public-works construction starts will see little improvement as 2021 begins due to continued uncertainty surrounding additional federal aid for state and local areas. Additionally, the unfinished appropriations process for fiscal year 2021, which began Oct. 1, raises doubt about the sector’s ability to post a strong gain in 2021. Public-works construction starts will be flat over the year.

• Electric utilities and gas plants will gain 35% in 2021, led by expected groundbreakings for several large natural-gas export facilities and an increasing number of wind farms.

 

Construction Special Coverage

Safety First

By Mark Morris

Carl Mercieri says the pandemic protocols have been challenging, but they’ve kept his company’s job sites totally free of COVID-19.

Call it a time of constant adjustments.

Since COVID-19 hit, area contractors have continued to work after adopting a number of state-mandated safety protocols to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Construction managers have adjusted to the extra requirements to get the job done, but it has come with a learning curve.

After working with safety consultants, Kevin Perrier, president of Five Star Group, said his company established a COVID-19 compliance plan and implemented it across all its job sites.

“It’s been helpful because it covers everything — daily sign-in sheets, temperature checks, self-reporting procedures, sanitation of the job site, and social distancing.”

Even with a solid plan, Perrier admits the additional protocols make it more challenging to bring projects to completion on time.

“We try to maintain social distancing as much as possible, and that delays our production. The reason for the slowdown is that we can’t cram as many workers onto the sites as we have in the past.”

Tim Pelletier, president of Raymond R. Houle Construction, said it’s a common occurrence on a job site for a large number of people to work in close proximity to each other.

“There’s a point where you have lots of moving parts, where different trades are working together in order to meet a completion schedule,” he said. “Because of coronavirus mandates, we can no longer have large numbers of people in one spot.”

In the beginning, adopting the safety mandates proved cumbersome as Pelletier would allow only one trade at a time to work on a site. After a few adjustments, more crews were able to be on site and still follow the guidelines.

“It’s a challenge to stay on schedule, but at least we’re now able to bring more than one trade in at a time and assign them work in different areas, so they’re not on top of each other,” he noted.

Wearing a mask all day has also been met with grudging acceptance; Pelletier said crews typically look forward to the moment they can remove them. “In the 90-degree weather, wearing a mask is definitely a health concern, as well as a comfort concern, but they are required, so we wear them.”

In the early days of the pandemic, shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) also affected construction projects, as each site needed certain quantities for workers, as well as extra devices such as thermometers and wash stations.

At the beginning of the pandemic, Marois Construction was overpaying for — and overbuying — things like thermometers because they didn’t know how many they would need, said Carl Mercieri, vice president and project manager. On one occasion, he recalled, the project owner stepped in and provided enough hand-washing stations for the entire construction site.

“That worked out well,” he said. “Everyone did what they had to do, and we got through it together.”

 

Pandemic Problems

Implementing safety protocols didn’t always go smoothly early in the pandemic. Mercieri noted a school building project where as many as 30 workers stood in line each morning for a temperature screening and sign-in before they could start their workday.

“Our biggest concern was the loss of labor caused by all the downtime in the beginning,” he said. “It’s hard to put a number on it, and you can never really recoup that cost.”

Building material costs also increased with the onset of the pandemic. Perrier’s construction portfolio includes retail buildings, which require substantial quantities of lumber. So far this year, lumber wholesalers are reporting price increases of 300%, and, to make matters worse, they won’t hold those inflated prices for more than 48 hours.

Kevin Perrier

Kevin Perrier

“We try to maintain social distancing as much as possible, and that delays our production. The reason for the slowdown is that we can’t cram as many workers onto the sites as we have in the past.”

“The volatility of lumber prices makes it difficult to bid on a large, wood-framed project that we wouldn’t be framing until next summer,” he said. “It’s a big problem because you really have no idea where the pricing is going to be.”

Availability of building materials has also been an issue this year. Perrier said light fixtures and flooring materials are two items he’s had trouble procuring for the last several months, while Pelletier said doors and hardware have been in short supply. Rahkonen said finding certain parts for heavy equipment, such as excavators, has been difficult as well.

“We had a couple projects that needed vinyl fencing, and we just couldn’t get it because it just wasn’t out there,” Mercieri said. “We’ve since finished those jobs, but we were delayed by four to six weeks in getting the fencing.”

Much of the supply deficits are caused by overseas factories that experienced shutdowns early in the pandemic. These manufacturing delays from months ago are still being felt now as contractors need these supplies. “We just can’t meet the same deadlines because we can’t get our hands on the materials,” Pelletier said.

From the delays caused by socially distanced workers to not having materials when they’re needed, Pelletier said it’s difficult to take on fast-track jobs that need to hit a deadline. Mercieri echoed that point when discussing his company’s many jobs at hospitals.

“If you are renovating an operating room, for example, the hospital will need it back on line by a certain date, no matter what.”

Mercieri also mentioned a recent instance where he was offered a project that involved complicated construction and needed to be built on a tight schedule.

“When COVID hit, we were up front with the owners and advised them that, with the tight schedule and all the uncertainties of COVID causing delays, they might want to consider some alternate plans,” he told BusinessWest. “They rejected our suggestion and wanted to move forward at 100%, but ultimately they scrapped the project.”

Another concern early on was lost time due to COVID-19 infections. However, Mercieri said none of his workers have tested positive. The closest call was an exposed plumber who was not on site, but had worked with the plumber on Mercieri’s job site. Contact tracing revealed these two had not worked together in the previous six weeks. Perrier said a few of his employees and subcontractors on projects in Eastern Mass. weren’t so lucky and contracted coronavirus.

“We shut down the site for two or three weeks while contact tracing was completed,” he said, adding that the employees recovered, and everyone who had been affected tested negative. “Sites were sanitized, and then back to work.”

Tim Pelletier

Tim Pelletier

“It’s a challenge to stay on schedule, but at least we’re now able to bring more than one trade in at a time and assign them work in different areas, so they’re not on top of each other.”

John Rahkonen, owner of Northern Constructions Service, said four of his employees came down with minor cases of COVID-19, with one showing no symptoms at all. He was quick to point out that no one contracted the virus from the job site.

“Even though most of our crews work outside, we encourage people to stay in their own bubbles,” Rahkonen said. “If you stay within your bubble, you’ll be in pretty good shape.”

 

Widespread Impact

The economic impact of COVID-19 on a national level is often reflected at the local level, especially for construction companies. In the travel sector, Standard and Poor’s recently projected a 70% decline in airline-passenger traffic for 2020. The core business of Perrier’s company involves aviation construction, ranging from airline and rental-car facilities to restaurants and retail stores located at Logan International, Bradley International, and other airports.

“We had a considerable amount of work that, within a period of two weeks, was flat-out cancelled for the airlines,” he said. “A great deal of the other work was either temporarily postponed or put on an indefinite hold.” One large airline client told Perrier that its facility’s goal was to reach a “zero spend by November first.”

Two to three months into the pandemic, Mercieri began getting word of projects being canceled. His company had already bought materials to start construction for one of those projects.

“When they first shut us down, they told us it was temporary,” he said. “Then, six weeks later, they wrote us a letter to say they had canceled the project.”

Two natural-gas compression stations that Rahkonen’s company had planned to build in Pennsylvania this year have been put off until next year. While those still look viable for 2021, they represent $20 million less in projects for Northern Construction this year.

Perrier predicts the long-term impact of aviation construction will be felt by many for years to come. That’s why his company has diversified into other industries besides aviation.

Houle Construction

Houle Construction continues to take on work in the medical field, including this recent project at a local hospital.

“We are doing a decent amount of work in the cannabis industry. It’s booming right now, so that’s helped us out,” he said. One project nearing completion is Dreamer, a cannabis dispensary in Southampton scheduled to open in 2021.

The holiday season tends to be a time when activity begins to slow down in construction and many jobs approach their completion. It’s also a time for active bidding on projects for next year. Mercieri struck a positive tone and suggested a possible rebound in construction activity for 2021.

“Back in March, a lot of projects were delayed, and now they are getting put back on the table and going out for bid,” he said, adding that some of the projects getting approved involve bringing public buildings into compliance with COVID-19 mandates.

When Pelletier surveys the landscape, he senses both uncertainty and hopefulness.

“Clients have had projects on the docket to get done but were skittish for the last seven months, and with a rise in case count, there is still some uncertainty,” he said. “On the plus side, interest rates are extremely low, so borrowing the money for a project is less expensive now.”

Pelletier and the other managers we spoke with have all taken a one-day-at-a-time approach because they understand that coronavirus levels, and the government regulations aimed at lowering them, will most likely change again — and they will simply make the necessary adjustments.

“Because we’re wearing masks all day, everyone has a sore on their nose and a generally irritated demeanor,” Pelletier said. “But we’re navigating through it.”

Construction Special Coverage

Essential Work

Maple Elementary School, a Fontaine Brothers

The new Maple Elementary School, a Fontaine Brothers project, takes shape in Easthampton.

 

 

Back in March, ‘essential’ was a magic word for employers across Massachusetts. It meant they could continue to work, provide services, and generate revenue during a time when so many sectors were completely shutting down.

But to Laurie Raymaakers, the word means more than that, because construction has always been essential to communities — particularly the infrastructure and civil-engineering projects her Westfield-based company, J.L. Raymaakers & Sons, is known for.

“Through the pandemic season, we’ve continued to get new jobs, and we have been able to keep all our employees working,” she told BusinessWest. “We are considered essential workers because we do a lot of infrastructure work for municipalities, which is very important to every community. We do all kinds of infrastructure — sewers, water, drainage, pump stations, culverts.”

Among the firm’s recent seven-figure projects are a large sewer project in Shrewsbury, a large culvert replacement in Pittsfield, and a drainage pond for Barnes Airport that had to be completed on a tight, 45-day schedule.

The company also created a road for the installation of two wind turbines in Russell and replaced a 100-year-old culvert in a pond at Forest Park in Springfield, a job that involved building a temporary dam, as well as creating new walkways and overlooks in the area. And the company’s workload for the fall and winter, and beyond, looks strong.

“During COVID, a lot of our projects stayed open the entire time because a lot of work we were doing fell under the category deemed essential — a lot of public projects. t was a mixed blessing because it was great to continue working, but also difficult to adapt to the changes day by day.”

“We have enough work to keep going,” Raymaakers said. “But we’ve also worked very hard keeping employees safe. It was very difficult in the beginning, trying to get sanitary supplies for sites, like masks and sanitizer, and follow all the standards of the CDC and prepare all the proper paperwork. We value our employees, and we wanted to keep them safe. We’re very fortunate we work outdoors, with the type of work we do.”

David Fontaine Jr. tells a similar story about his company, Springfield-based Fontaine Brothers, when it comes to being essential.

“We’ve got a lot going on — we’re pretty busy this year and into 2021,” he said. “Prior to COVID coming along, we had a lot of backlog and a lot of work we had underway, so we were in a pretty healthy spot.

“During COVID, a lot of our projects stayed open the entire time because a lot of work we were doing fell under the category deemed essential — a lot of public projects,” he went on. “It was a mixed blessing because it was great to continue working, but also difficult to adapt to the changes day by day.”

Recent and ongoing jobs include building new high schools in Worcester and Middleboro, as well as a new K-8 school in Easthampton; the firm was also recently awarded a job to combine the Deberry and Homer schools in Springfield, with construction to begin next summer.

“The nice part about the public work is it’s funded with reliable state dollars; projects being constructed now were funded a year or two ago, so it’s an ongoing source of work,” Fontaine said. “It looks stable going forward next 12 months at least.”

The biggest concern right now, actually, is that some planned projects will hit a funding stall, which would manifest in a slowdown of projects a year or two from now, he added. But so far, 2020 has been a healthy year, even if uncertainty looms around the corner for many firms.

Reading the Signs

The signs were all there in February, Fontaine said, when COVID-19 was already starting to disrupt some material supply chains.

“We started preparing for it before some of our peers; we were already planning for how we were going to approach it when it came,” he told BusinessWest. “We put into place a pandemic protocol from a safety standpoint for all job sites, and tried to stay ahead of it as much as we could. We wanted to be proactive and make sure the job sites stayed open and safe.”

That involved measures that have become common in many businesses, including personal protective equipment like face coverings and gloves, worn 100% of the time.

J.L. Raymaakers & Sons recently completed an extensive project at Swan Pond

J.L. Raymaakers & Sons recently completed an extensive project at Swan Pond in Forest Park, which involved creating a temporary dam and replacing a century-old culvert.

“We also put additional handwashing stations and sanitizing stations on all job sites,” he explained. “We also require, on every job, a daily check-in process; before anyone enters the job site, they have to self-certify they have not had any symptoms or been in contact with anyone COVID-positive the last 14 days. We’ve also been doing temperature screenings on a couple of job sites.”

Those efforts have paid off, he added. “Knock on wood, but all those measures have been effective in not having many safety concerns or incidents.”

At least one trend in the year of COVID-19 has been a positive for J.L. Raymaakers, whose yard-products division, ROAR, has been extremely busy, adding more than 600 new customers this year and tripling sales.

“That’s partly through marketing and word of mouth, but partly because of COVID,” Raymaakers said. “People have been home, not at work, and they were sprucing up their yards and planting gardens.”

Those two elements of her business — public infrastructure work and yard products — have not only helped Raymaakers and her team weather an unusual year, but thrive during it. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t recognize acute needs elsewhere.

“People don’t realize you can make a good living, and we’re hearing that everywhere; it’s very difficult to find employees. If the the trades are dying, what’s going to happen then?”

“Because we’ve been so fortunate this year, and so many people and organizations have been struggling, we upped our charitable contributions to help out with food banks as well as the Westfield Boys and Girls Club, making sure we give back to the community and those that are struggling.”

One trend that has not changed this year, even with so many people out of work, Raymaakers said, is a persistent shortage of workers.

“For ourselves as well as other construction companies, as much as we’re busy, it’s very difficult to find employees or crew — equipment operators and laborers — in this industry,” she told BusinessWest.

“People don’t realize you can make a good living, and we’re hearing that everywhere; it’s very difficult to find employees,” she added, noting that many of her firm’s supervisors and project managers started on the ground floor and worked their way up. “If the the trades are dying, what’s going to happen then?”

It’s not a localized phenomenon. According to a workforce survey conducted by Associated General Contractors of America and software vendor Autodesk, 60% of respondents reported having at least one future project postponed or canceled this year, and 33% said projects already underway have been halted. Yet, a shortage of labor remains, with 52% having a hard time filling some or all hourly craft positions and only 3% of firms reducing pay, despite the downturn in business.

COVID-19 is playing some role in that trend. While some companies have laid off workers during the pandemic, 44% of contractors say at least some employees have refused to return, citing unemployment benefits, virus concerns, or family issues, among other reasons.

“Few firms have survived unscathed from the pandemic amid widespread project delays and cancellations,” Ken Simonson, chief economist of Associated General Contractors of America, told the Engineering News-Record. “Ironically, even as the pandemic undermines demand for construction services, it is reinforcing conditions that have historically made it hard for many firms to find qualified craft workers to hire.”

One positive from all this has been an accelerated adoption of technology. According to the workforce survey, about 40% of responding contractors said they have adopted new hardware or software to alleviate labor shortages.

“As bad as this situation is, it’s also pushing the industry forward into a better place,” William Sankey, CEO of data-analytics solutions provider Northspyre, said in Construction Dive, an online industry newsletter. “Maybe, where it would have taken seven to 10 years to catch up to where the finance industry is in leveraging data, I think that transition will now be underway in the next two to three years.”

Down the Road

What happens over the next two to three years is really the key for all construction firms, which expect COVID-related impacts to continue to be felt down the road.

For now, though, Fontaine is gratified that his company’s workload is healthy, with public projects complemented by a fair amount of private work, including jobs for MGM and several prepatory schools, including Northfield Mount Hermon School, Deerfield Academy, and Wilbraham & Monson Academy.

“We’re hoping those types of schools will have OK years fundraising for those types of projects,” he said, adding that private-sector clients can often move from funding to the construction phase quicker than municipalities, especially when they realize they can take advantage of recession-driven lower prices.

It’s just another way this unprecedented year has cut both ways for construction firms. The big question is what the coming years will bring for a sector that’s essential in more ways than one.

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Construction

Essential Questions

Since the state ordered most workplaces to close their doors last week, there has still been plenty of work going on — just less of it, in most cases, including in construction. Amid that slowdown are questions — is construction considered an essential function during this time? — and concerns, particularly concerning the amount of work being postponed in the short term and the potential long-term impact of a broad economic shutdown.

Is construction essential?

Well, to those who make their livelihood in that field, sure. Which is why they’re pleased that Gov. Baker, in his March 23 order to shutter most businesses in Massachusetts for two weeks, included among the exempt, ‘essential’ services “construction workers who support the construction, operation, inspection, and maintenance of construction sites and construction projects (including housing construction.”

That’s broad enough to include most firms — but it does nothing to prevent individual jobs from being shut down due to widespread uncertainty about the impact of coronavirus on the overall economy.

“Since Governor Baker made his announcement, I would say maybe 25% to 30% of our projects were postponed or put on hold. Some just didn’t want any outside contractors on their site,” Carol Campbell, president of Chicopee Industrial Contractors, said — only two days after Baker’s order.

The news isn’t all bad, she added, especially concerning work that’s critical to a client’s supply chain. “Our phone is still ringing, and we’re still seeing some quotes going out.”

That’s worth noting, especially as many businesses, like bars and restaurants, have closed up shop completely for the time being, Campbell noted. “We’re still working, so we’re still feel quite fortunate. But, quite honestly, I don’t know what this means in the future. We have a pipeline of work, but I don’t know when this is going to break.”

For his part, the governor doesn’t want construction to slow down too much, announcing last week that his administration is finalizing guidance to establish standards around safe practices for construction work during the outbreak of COVID-19. At a press conference, he noted that, when a project is shut down, “you may be shutting it down permanently in some cases.”

While Boston Mayor Martin Walsh ordered construction sites to shut down for two weeks, and a few other communities have followed suit, Baker is trying to avoid a broad rollback of work that could have a long-term ripple effect.

“We have a lot of housing construction currently going on in Massachusetts. To completely lose, potentially, all of that new housing for the Commonwealth, housing stock, would be a tremendous loss,” the governor added. “There’s public construction that’s going on that needs to be completed. Some of it has to do with upgrading existing infrastructure, but a lot of it has to do with expanding infrastructure that people have deemed critical and important, that needs to be continued and finished.”

In other words, essential work. Which is why Campbell hopes the economy comes back to life soon, though not at the expense of public safety.

“We have a lot of housing construction currently going on in Massachusetts. To completely lose, potentially, all of that new housing for the Commonwealth, housing stock, would be a tremendous loss.”

“The president is saying Easter, but I think that’s too aggressive,” she said, adding that she thinks other economic experts’ projections of an early-June return to normal activity seems more realistic.

“But then I fear what that means,” she added. “I made a commitment to myself two weeks ago that we’re not going to do layoffs; we’re going to go two weeks by two weeks. We are keeping people busy; when we have jobs, they’re put on jobs. We’re doing additional things in house to make sure they have a full week’s paycheck and health benefits. So, right now, my business brain is still working, but the empathy and social side of my brain and heart have me worried about my employees.”

Vital Arguments

Across the U.S., the construction sector in in varying shades of limbo at the moment because the federal government recently released a list detailing industries whose workers are “essential” and should continue normal work schedules. Although the document lists industries for which construction is critical, construction itself was not explicitly included — and some states consult that list when determining which industries can work during shelter-in-place orders, notes Stephen Sandherr, CEO of Associated General Contractors of America.

“Halting construction activity will do more harm than good for construction workers, community residents, and the economy,” he said in a statement last week, noting that construction firms are already acting to ensure the safety and health of their employees in the face of the outbreak, including increased hygiene and halting group gatherings of staff, on top of the fact that construction workers already wear protective equipment, including gloves that will help protect them and their co-workers.

“Given the precautions already in place, halting construction will do little to protect the health and safety of construction workers. But it will go a long way in undermining economic vitality by depriving millions of workers of the wages they will need over the coming days,” Sandherr added. “At the same time, these measures have the potential to bankrupt many construction firms who have contractual obligations to stay on schedule or risk incurring significant financial penalties.”

Boston’s temporary construction ban — which excludes “emergency work,” including emergency street repairs and utility hookups — has alread caused concern due to the threat of delay-related claims, note Steven Gates and John Gavin of the international law firm K&L Gates, writing in National Law Review.

“Although each contract needs to be examined individually, many contracts contain force majeure clauses that may excuse delays based on the city’s ban on construction or delays generally caused by the outbreak,” they explain, noting that an analagous situation was the restrictions put in place in New York City in the aftermath of 9/11, when courts recognized that the circumstances could support a defense of impossibility.

During the temporary shutdown in Boston, some companies are looking to make an impact against coronavirus. Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM) reported that Suffolk Construction of Boston is donating more than 1,250 N95 protective masks to the Mass General Brigham hospital network so they can be used to protect patients and medical personnel. The firm has also reached out to other construction companies in the Boston region to encourage them to donate their masks to local hospitals to assist in the effort.

Spreading Anxiety … and Hope

Back in Western Mass., Campbell said her company’s policies and protocols for a time like this are in order, and they’ve always been diligent about cleanliness and reducing the spread of germs.

What she’s more concerned about is the long-term damage any sort of major construction-industry slowdown will produce. The global financial collapse of 2008 spurred the Great Recession, but because of how its projects were scheduled, Chicopee Industrial Contractors had strong years in 2008 and 2009.

“Then, wham, it was like hitting a brick wall,” she said. But at least there was time to see the tough years coming. “With this, we felt it right away with everyone else, and usually we don’t because of the type of business we are.

“If you go back to every recession when I’ve been interviewed by BusinessWest, I’ve made the same statement — ‘I’ve seen nothing like this before,’” she continued — and she especially feels that way right now, even though no one can tell whether the current climate will, in fact, bring on the ‘R’ word.

“I feel every recession should be the same, right? You play by the rules and come out on the other side,” Campbell went on. “I don’t know. With the stimulus package, I hope there’s help for small businesses, yet the other side of me knows, with all the increases in taxes we’ll see, we’re going to be chasing our tails for quite a long time.”

In AIM’s report on employer concerns surrounding COVID-19, Gary MacDonald, executive vice president of AIM HR Solutions, said those he’s spoken with have, like Campbell, been busy exercising the empathy part of their brains because they know workers are worried.

“I made a commitment to myself two weeks ago that we’re not going to do layoffs; we’re going to go two weeks by two weeks. We are keeping people busy; when we have jobs, they’re put on jobs.”

“We have seen an overwhelming sense of concern from companies about their employees’ welfare. ‘How can we best keep them safe? What can we do to keep them employed? If we have to reduce our workforce, how do we continue pay and benefits the best we can?’” he noted, adding that his team has answered countless calls from worried AIM members during the past two weeks. “The crisis has really brought out the best instincts of employers as they fulfill their responsibilities as the keepers of economic opportunity in Massachusetts.”

In short, he added, “we hear this consistent expression of compassion, care, and ‘we are in this together.’”

Sandherr said he hopes that concern is reciprocated by lawmakers and governors who can, in some ways, impact the amount of construction work going forward. “We understand the need for social distancing to help slow the spread of coronavirus. But needlessly shutting down projects where workers are already protected will not help. Instead, it will threaten the livelihood of millions of craft professionals, force many small and family-owned businesses to shut down, and undermine the nation’s ability to respond to natural disasters, including the coronavirus.”

Right now, Campbell said, her employees are not too frightened.

“We’re telling them we will get through this — and it is we — and we will come out on the other end,” she told BusinessWest. “But other people I’ve talked to are panicked, and rightfully so. How many people have six to eight months of income in their savings accounts? I know all the financial advisors say to do that, but most do not.”

At a time when everyone — employers and workforce alike — are in an unprecedented kind of limbo, that other end can seem frustratingly out of reach.

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Construction

A Surge of Confidence

By Kathleen Prause and J.D. Harrison

Results from the USG Corp. and U.S. Chamber of Commerce Commercial Construction Index from the second quarter of 2019 indicate that more than half of contractors are highly confident that the market will provide sufficient new business opportunities in the next 12 months.

Overall, the Q2 composite score of 74 — up two points from 72 in the first quarter — shows a vibrant commercial construction sector, although contractors’ revenue expectations slightly decreased.

“The construction industry is a reflection of our country’s broader economic health, so contractor optimism is a great sign for everyone,” said Chris Griffin, president and CEO of USG Corp. “Even so, it is important that we think about solutions to our big challenges, like building a healthy pipeline of new workers and incorporating technology to make our job sites safer and more efficient.”

More than half of contractors (52%) are highly confident about the ability of the market to provide new business opportunities in the next 12 months, an 11% increase over last quarter’s findings. The backlog ratio — comparing contractors’ average current backlog of projects to the ideal amount of work companies would like to take on — reached 82, the highest since the Index launched in 2017. Hiring expectations also recovered between Q1 and Q2 2019, with most contractors (60%) anticipating employing more people in the next six months.

Furthermore, 60% of contractors report confidence that revenue will remain stable. They also expect access to capital to continue, with 66% believing access to financing will get easier or remain the same over the next six months.

In a notable shift from the last three quarters, the number of contractors who report “high concern” about the availability of skilled labor declined to 46% (down from 54% in the first quarter. While confidence in having access to skilled labor shows some improvement, 85% of contractors still express high concerns about the cost of that skilled labor.

For the third time since the launch of the Index in 2017, this quarter’s survey explored sustainability practices in construction. The findings show that the average share of green projects for contractors is declining. This finding is interesting, since other industry studies reveal no slowdown in the number of green construction projects. One explanation may be that the majority of green work is becoming more concentrated among a smaller group of specialized companies. The study shows that green projects are done more frequently by large contractors.

The Index also reports a mismatch between green standards and green incentives, with most contractors (84%) saying they must meet green standards on at least some projects, but fewer than half (47%) take advantage of green incentives. Finally, general contractors report that the most important green attributes swaying their purchasing decisions are energy efficiency (80%), materials without harmful chemicals (65%), and water efficiency (64%).

The Index comprises three leading indicators to gauge confidence in the commercial construction industry, generating a composite index on the scale of 0 to 100 that serves as an indicator of health of the contractor segment on a quarterly basis. The second-quarter results from the three key drivers were:

• Backlog: contractors’ ratio of actual to ideal backlog rose five points (to 82 from 77), hitting its highest point since the Index launched in 2017;

• New business confidence: the level of overall confidence rose three points (to 74 from 71), suggesting a return of optimism about the market’s ability to provide new business opportunities in the next 12 months; and

• Revenue: the revenue score dropped one point (to 66 from 67), although most contractors (60%) expect revenue to remain the same.

Kathleen Prause is director of Corporate Communications for USG Corp., a manufacturer of building products and innovative solutions. J.D. Harrison is executive director for Communications & Strategy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Construction

From Bedside to Job Site

Dorothy Ostrowski says she’s never been happier than she is at the helm of a venerable construction firm.

After more than a decade in nursing, Dorothy Ostrowski says she’s never been happier than she is at the helm of a venerable construction firm.

Dorothy Ostrowski has never settled for having just one ball in the air.

Like the time, a few years ago, when she was building a house with her husband, Mike, while pregnant with their second child, completing a dual master’s degree, and starting a new nursing job.

“Somehow, I don’t know how everything fits on my plate, but it all does,” she told BusinessWest. “One of the biggest things I believe is that anyone’s capable of anything. It’s really how bad do you want it, and how much does it impact you, your life, and your family?”

“One of the biggest things I believe is that anyone’s capable of anything. It’s really how bad do you want it, and how much does it impact you, your life, and your family?”

She had to ask all those questions, plus a few more, when the opportunity arose last April to purchase Adams & Ruxton Construction, a 110-year-old West Springfield company, from its then-owner, family friend Andy Touchette.

With Mike busy running his own company, Amp Electric, it was a decision that rested fully with Dorothy, who had worked in nursing for well over a decade but was intrigued by putting the MBA she earned in 2015 to good use.

He said, ‘what do you think? Do you think you can run it?’” she recalled. “And I was like, ‘you know what? It’s time to do something for me. It’s time to do something for our family. It’s time to do something where I know I have a passion and I can be a good leader.’ So I immediately contacted Andy and said we’re interested.”

Mike had long admired Adams & Ruxton and the work Touchette did there. “I knew it wasn’t a dud. It was all about if the numbers worked and whether or not we could afford it — and whether or not she wanted to run it. That’s how it came to be.”

Once the deal and a transition plan was in place, Dorothy spent the next six months working with Touchette, unpaid, learning every aspect of the business, from contracts and estimating to equipment and planning — “every nut and bolt,” as she put it.

Mike Ostrowski knew enough about his friend’s company

Mike Ostrowski knew enough about his friend’s company — and his wife’s skillset — to know this would be a good fit.

With a diverse range of work, from excavation to commercial buildings, the firm’s recent clients include Chicopee Electric Light, Bank of America, the Diocese of Springfield, Callaway, and Coldwell Banker, among others. The company is also currently being evaluated for woman-owned and veteran-owned certifications, which would open up more doors, especially in the realm of state and federal contracts.

It’s a new adventure for sure, one far different than her career stops to this point would have predicted. For this issue’s focus on construction and architecture, BusinessWest talked with Ostrowski about the many twists in her path, from the roads outside Afghanistan’s capital to emergency departments at area hospitals, to her new task, building a new career — both literally and figuratively.

Joining the Force

Growing up, Ostrowski’s plans were much different than her eventual path into nursing. Specifically, she wanted to be a police officer, eventually studying criminal justice at Holyoke Community College.

Before that, though, at age 17, she signed up with the Army National Guard. A friend had recently joined the service, so she spoke with the same recruiter, who explained the opportunities available in a military police role.

“It was one of those turning points in life, like, ‘what am I going to do with the rest of my life?’” she recalled. After attending boot camp the summer after her junior year, she left for Fort McClellan in Alabama the following year, after her high-school graduation, for what would become a seven-year stint, with stops in Italy, Honduras, Panama, and — most memorably — a nine-month tour in Afghanistan, two years after the 2001 U.S. invasion.

“Wherever I’ve been, we’ve always talked about us opening a business — maybe a daycare for special-needs children or something else. I’ve always had that desire to do more and be more.”

“We did a lot of security stuff in Kabul; we were there to support the rebuilding of the Afghan national army,” she explained. Partway through, she became a chase driver for Gen. Karl Eikenberry, tasked with ‘defensive driving’ to protect the general and others from gunfire and IEDs.

“I’ve had dinner at President [Hamid] Karzai’s palace,” she recalled. “We traveled by Chinooks and Blackhawks with Apache escorts through the mountains, met with warlords, and rode in armored-up Chevy Suburbans with thick, bulletproof glass.”

But her future wouldn’t be in police work — civilian or military. Instead, while taking classes at HCC, she crossed paths with some people who got her interested in medical assisting. After earning her certification in that field and working for a podiatrist, she landed in the Emergency Department of Baystate Medical Center. It was an eye-opening experience.

“That was my first taste of the chaotic world of emergency-room nursing, and I loved it,” she said. “I don’t think you ever get stagnant in that kind of environment. You never know what’s going to come around the corner next, and if you become complacent somewhere, you start to miss things and start to make mistakes. It’s the ever-changing part of it and the constant knowledge. No two patients have the same cookie-cutter symptoms or diagnosis. It’s that constant education that keeps you on your toes.”

She performed well in that environment, and colleagues began suggesting she attend nursing school, which she did, earning an associate degree in nursing at Springfield Technical Community College with help from G.I. Bill benefits, and soon found herself in a new-graduate residency at Baystate.

“But I always wanted more,” she said. “I stayed there long enough to get experience, then I did travel nursing. I saw a lot of different places and different ways procedures are done.”

Ostrowski eventually returned to Western Mass., where she dated, then married Mike, and earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing at Elms College. She took ER jobs at Baystate and Mercy Medical Center, but soon decided she wanted to shift into a less hectic type of job that allowed her more time with family. So she accepted a job with Sound Physicians, a medical process-improvement company, and went back to Elms for a dual master’s degree in nursing and business administration.

“Throughout these transitions, I always wanted more,” she said. “I wanted to be more in a leadership position.”

She found that by buying Adams & Ruxton.

“Wherever I’ve been, we’ve always talked about us opening a business — maybe a daycare for special-needs children or something else,” she said. “I’ve always had that desire to do more and be more.”

After Sound Physicians, she worked at St. Francis Medical Center in Hartford as a process-improvement nurse, and had moved to a role as nurse manager at Connecticut Children’s Hospital when the opportunity arose to buy the construction company.

“I’ve never not been happy as a nurse, and I think I would have potentially stayed in nursing longer had I stayed at the bedside,” she explained. “But I had moved into more of that management piece of nursing, and I constantly struggled with being a nurse’s nurse versus the business of healthcare. It was a difficult internal turmoil to be in, when you know what you want to do through your nurses and patients, but your constraints are based on finances.”

Furthermore, the job was keeping her busy 60 hours a week or more, and she felt she wasn’t home nearly enough to be with her family, especially her older son. “He was struggling to read as a first-grader, and I could have counted on my two hands how many times I was home in time to be able to read to him.”

Time to Change

Something had to give. And her husband could see it, too.

“Between the unhappiness of where she was and having a friend of ours running this [construction] business the past 10 years and how well he’s done, that put it into perspective — ‘hey, it’s just another type of business,’” Mike said. “We’re buying a fully established business that’s completely up and running. All you have to do is go in and replicate what’s going on. You don’t have to build it from the ground up — you can make your changes, you can improve it and grow the business, but in the beginning, all you have to do is replicate it and keep it going.”

“Knowing where to get the answers and knowing to tell someone you don’t know the answer — you get more respect from that than from anything.”

The transition period was important, Dorothy said.

“Andy said he had gotten multiple offers from people he thought would potentially be able to take this business on, but they weren’t the right fit,” she noted. “There’s a certain quality that Adams & Ruxton provides. You have to be the right kind of person who’s going to be there for your clients and your prospective clients. And Andy really wanted to make this a warm handoff. So, the last six months, he made sure he introduced me to all his key clients, and he’s come back in a consultative way; if there’s someone I didn’t meet during those six months, he goes out and meets them with me so they know they’re in the same hands they were before.”

She said the most gratifying aspect of her career move was the fact that Adams & Ruxton’s employees, many of whom have been there more than 20 years, stayed on board when she arrived — and have been a rich resource.

“There’s a constant conversation — if I don’t know something in the construction realm, I have the support system and the knowledge within these walls to ask the questions. I know finances, and I understand how to run the business. I may not know everything there is to know about general contracting, but I know when to say I don’t know, and I know when to ask the questions. I have a great support team.”

Mike agreed. “Knowing where to get the answers and knowing to tell someone you don’t know the answer — you get more respect from that than from anything,” he said.

Both are pleased that business — both at the firm and in the industry as a whole — is healthy right now, Dorothy said. “Our construction rampup this year has started much earlier this year than previous years, so I have no worries about the busy-ness or sustainability.”

It’s a peace she said she began to forge during the period she worked directly with Touchette.

“Over those first six months, there were times I’d never been more sure of something in my career, even as a nurse, and I’ve never been happier than I am now,” she told BusinessWest. “I probably have more stress because I directly impact the livelihoods of the people who work for me, but I’m happier. I enjoy coming to work every day. I enjoy learning new things every day.”

Ostrowski thinks back to other times of transition during her life — like when she missed her graduation from Elms in 2010 because she was delivering her first child — and sees one whirlwind after another, but that suits her just fine.

“I’ve never backed down from a challenge, and I think this is probably the coolest challenge I can embrace, and I will make this successful because I’ve got a great team around me,” she said. “I’m lucky to be where I am right now.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Construction

Home Free

Partners Stephen Ross (left) and Bob Walker

Partners Stephen Ross (left) and Bob Walker

Construct Associates has built a reputation for home renovation and restoration in Western Mass. over the past few decades, which is fortunate these days, since business is surging in that area. The reasons are myriad — among them, plenty of old housing stock in the Pioneer Valley, a generally strong economy, and the continued aging of America and the desire among the senior set to remain in their homes and age in place. It all adds up to opportunity, and Construct is making the most of it.

Stephen Ross says residential renovation is looking up — in more ways than one.

“We’re doing a lot of aging-in-place stuff — personal elevators, residential elevators, additions,” he told BusinessWest. “I like to say that an elevator costs probably 10 months worth of a decent retirement community. There, you’re not going to get that money back. But with an elevator, it’s equity toward your house.”

Ross and Bob Walker, the partners at Construct Associates in Northampton, say aging in place is a major trend in residential construction and renovation these days, with the Baby Boom generation continuing to swell the ranks of the over-65 age group, many of them loath to give up independent living.

“I saw a poll recently where 88% of people want to remain in their home, and a lot of them are trying to do just that,” Ross said, noting again that elevators, accessible showers, and other additions pay for themselves if they make the difference between staying there and moving to a retirement community. “I’ve got two of those in the works now. One is an in-law suite, where they’re making it accessible for the in-laws, and the other is a professional couple that wants to be able to utilize their whole house.”

Meanwhile, Walker is wrapping up a first-floor master suite in Northampton with an aging-in-place concept. “It’s an older home right in the middle of town, but all the bedrooms are upstairs. A couple years ago, they did a big kitchen remodel, and now they want a bedroom and bath and laundry on the first floor, where they can get to all of it. We’re putting in a curbless shower, in case of limited mobility.”

“We did a pretty serious job search back in the fall, but we we got a lot of people we felt weren’t qualified for the quality work we do. Sometimes you do get good people come in who are older guys. The labor pool is aging, and it would be nice to see a lot more young people coming into the field.”

Not only do older people want to age in place, Ross said, but the Five College area tends to have consistent rotation of housing stock, and new owners want to come in and put their mark on their new house. And many newcomers to the region arrive from pricier markets, so they’re getting relative bargains and have money left over for remodeling.

“We’re a high-end firm,” Walker added. “We’ll do the whole gamut of work, but our real money is in high-end residential remodeling. At this point, we really are working off our reputation, our referral base. I’m doing a major house remodel in Longmeadow now — four bathrooms, going through the house and upgrading. I have another major job like that, a big Victorian in town here with a high-end kitchen, a big master bath, upgrading mechanical systems, making it as energy-efficient as possible.”

New home building remains a quieter market, Ross added, so Construct is in the right place these days. “Kitchens and bathrooms are our bread and butter, and it always seems like weve got one or two, if not four or six, going on in the background.”

Innovative Idea

Walker and three other partners — Hobie Iselin, Bob Reckman, and Chris Dawson — launched Construct Associates in 1984 with a bright idea — and good timing.

The idea was to create a construction company based on the model of a law office, where the owners share space, marketing, and accounting, but are responsible for managing their own projects.

This residential addition in Northampton

This residential addition in Northampton features an elevator, an amenity that has become more popular in recent years.

The good timing had to do with the company’s home city of Northampton, which was growing quickly and had recently begun to capture the imagination of developers. Construct had a hand in shaping the commercial rebirth of the city, building or renovating the Northampton Brewery, the Hotel Northampton, the Calvin Theater, two Bart’s Ice Cream Shops, Bruegger’s Bagel Bakery, Pinch Pottery, Pleasant Street Video, Silverscape Designs, and other properties.

Other partners have come and gone over the years; today, Walker shares ownership with Ross, who first joined the company as a carpenter in 1988 and became a partner in 2006.

The workload has changed over the years; Construct Associates does far more residential work — mainly home-renovation projects — than it used to. But it still does some light commercial work, notably the recent renovation of New England Treatment Access, the marijuana dispensary a block away from its Northampton headquarters.

The firm’s design and construction capabilities cover everything from antique designs to modern styles, the partners note, but they specialize in older buildings, providing innovative designs and construction for kitchen and bathroom remodeling, renovations, and additions, as well as new construction projects.

“We do all our carpentry. We don’t sub out any carpentry because we have our in-house guys,” Walker said.

While the volume of work has been strong lately, he noted, the staffing issues that plague many contractors may be the only thing holding back further growth.

“We lost a few guys last year, and we’re trying to replace them. We did a pretty serious job search back in the fall, but we we got a lot of people we felt weren’t qualified for the quality work we do. Sometimes you do get good people come in who are older guys. The labor pool is aging, and it would be nice to see a lot more young people coming into the field.”

He said he hired a carpenter last year who recently graduated from Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School — one of only three students in the carpentry program at the time. That’s not surprising, as a decades-long emphasis on pushing kids into college has contributed to talent shortages in what are generally well-paying careers in the construction trades.

“The most interesting thing I see in vocational schools is the percentage that are going to college,” Ross said. “Back when we were kids, if you went to vocational school, that meant you were going into a vocation. I’m personally shocked at the kids going on to higher education.”

Walker agreed. “It’s interesting. You can make a really good wage doing this rather than try to come into the job market with some computer skill that every guy and his brother has.”

Smooth Sailing

Other than finding talent, the construction-industry landscape is looking strong in 2019, Walker said.

“One of my lumber-yard reps asked how we were doing because he was really surprised that, right after the first of the year, things are still hopping. He sees it because he supplies a lot of builders. Generally, you get to this time in January, and things kind of slow up, but they’re moving quite well.”

Part of that has been the mild winter — though at press time, shortly after this interview, a major snowstorm was expected to sweep through the Northeast.

“There are jobs where I might have pushed a little harder to get concrete in the ground had I known we would have had this mild weather,” Ross said, “but you had that first [November] snowfall that made you think winter was coming, and then it didn’t.”

He’s expecting a solid spring surge this year, though, once people get their tax refunds and the weather starts to get truly warm.

“One of my lumber-yard reps asked how we were doing because he was really surprised that, right after the first of the year, things are still hopping. He sees it because he supplies a lot of builders. Generally, you get to this time in January, and things kind of slow up, but they’re moving quite well.”

“People are funny,” he said. “They’ll call you in the spring when it starts warming up and want to do something right then, but in reality, some of them should be talking to us right now and planning ahead.”

At the start of 2019, though, the calls have been coming in, partly due to the lack of snow.

“With the weather being mild,” Ross said, “some of them are a little more anxious to get some projects started, when normally they would be hunkered down because they don’t want people tramping sand and salt into their house, and opening and closing doors. So we have more calls than we usually do this time of year, but winter will have to come sooner or later. It’ll be interesting to see what happens then.”

The desire to age in place, however, or simply to turn an old house into something fresh and modern, aren’t ideas subject to the season, and on that front, Construct Associates continues to make its mark on Northampton and the region.

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Building Permits

The following building permits were issued during the month of December 2018.

AMHERST

Amherst Shopping Center Associates, LLC
165 University Dr.
$34,020 — Install ductless HVAC system in existing CVS stockroom

D’Angelo Inc.
48 North Pleasant St.
$65,300 — Tenant fit-out for food-service establishments

Granodonico Properties, LLC
25 North Pleasant St.
$37,000 — Remove ceiling and insulation, reinstall blue boards and plaster

Jewish Community of Amherst
742 Main St.
$120,000 — Straighten and re-roof steeple

Mathews Properties
37 South Pleasant St.
$5,000 — Demolish wall between two offices

One East Pleasant St.
1 East Pleasant St.
$5,000 — Limited demolition

Town of Amherst
4 Boltwood Ave.
$10,000 — Town room alteration

Udrive, LLC
40 University Dr.
$551,250 — Core/shell for future restaurant

CHICOPEE

Chicopee Marketplace Owners, LLC
591F Memorial Dr.
$42,900 — Fit-out existing space for nail salon

G6 Hospitality Property, LLC
36 Johnny Cake Hollow
$30,000 — Remove drywall, repair existing drywall, mold remediation

Dorothy Krawiec
2 Valier Ave.
$25,000 — Add three antennas and replace remote radio heads with new ancillary equipment and cables

Yee Family
705 Memorial Dr.
$110,000 — Complete demolition of former Hu Ke Lau restaurant

EASTHAMPTON

Keystone Enterprises
122 Pleasant St.
$352,800 — HVAC work for Insa Easthampton expansion

Keystone Enterprises
122 Pleasant St.
$62,000 — Extend elevator hoistway above roof line, reconstruct level deck landing and exterior elevator lobby

Seachange Endeavors, LLC
117 Pleasant St.
$224,000 — Construct two-story manufactured addition to side of building

EAST LONGMEADOW

Cartamundi
443 Shaker Road
$275,000 — Roofing

LG Industries, LLC
194 Pleasant St.
$25,000 — Kitchen and bathroom

Stacy’s Cleaners
55 White St.
$1,200 — Rebuild interior stairs

Ventry Properties, LLC
124 Shaker Road
$165,500 — New commercial building

GREENFIELD

American Tower Corp.
180 Country Club Road
$13,500 — Install small backup generator for cell tower

Behavioral Health Network
298 Federal St.
$65,000 — Install fire-protection system

Joyce Drake
427 Davis St.
$6,000 — Cut out concrete wall for door, frame two walls to make office, finish and frame for bathroom

Joyce Drake
427 Davis St.
Attach sign to building for Kenney Automotive

First United Methodist Church
25 Church St.
$12,800 — Roofing

Syfeld Greenfield Associates
259 Mohawk Trail
$40,000 — Retrofit sprinkler heads to new ceiling height

LONGMEADOW

The Longmeadow Mall, LP
827 Williams St.
$8,500 — Install ceiling to bring space up to code

NORTHAMPTON

LHIC Inc.
34 North Maple St.
$125,000 — Construct cidery

Smith College
44 College Lane
$2,365,000 — Upgrade existing air-handling units and exhaust fan in Sabin-Reed Hall

Smith College
44 Green St.
$16,000 — New transom, built-in bookshelves, minor electric work

SPRINGFIELD

125 Paridon Street, LLC
125 Paridon St.
$25,000 — Install three panel antennas, remove three remote radio heads and install six, modify equipment, smokestack installation for AT&T

Springfield College
29 Sheffield St.
$225,000 — Alter space in facilities building for use as a dance classroom

YWCA of Western Massachusetts
1 Clough St.
$5,000 — Convert two existing office rooms into sleeping rooms

WEST SPRINGFIELD

73 State St., LLC
59 Interstate Dr.
$32,560 — Replace carpet, ceiling, sink, cabinet, and front door; remove two walls; add additional electrical outlets

Jim Byrne
24 Parkside Ave.
$4,200 — Repair front entry foyer, install new security door, install new siding, install new roof

Dante Club
1198 Memorial Ave.
$38,975 — Roofing

Eastern States Exposition
1305 Memorial Ave.
$25,000 — Install wireless telecommunications equipment for AT&T

Turkmen Kenan
707 Main St.
$4,500 — Roofing

Red’s Towing
1528 Riverdale St.
$32,000 — Roofing

Town of West Springfield
1 Toccoa Lane
$7,500 — Install generator to existing wireless facility

Van Deene Medical Building Partnership
75 Van Deene Ave.
$80,000 — Expand office into adjacent vacant space, add handicap-accessible restroom

WILLIAMSBURG

Equinox Partners, LLC
183 Main St.
$87,000 — Roofing on clubhouse, remove and rebuild entrance, new pine ceiling in clubhouse, install washable surface in kitchen

Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield
173 Main St.
$14,285 — Roofing

Building Permits

The following building permits were issued during the month of December 2018.

CHICOPEE

660 Broadway, LLC
670 Broadway
$16,000 — Convert building for use as Domino’s Pizza; lighting upgrade, separate front lobby from production area, reface exterior sign, new lobby tile and wall tile in production area

Chicopee Falls Polish Home
27 Grove St.
Roofing

Christy Real Estate, LLC
710 Fuller Road
$65,800 — Roofing and related work

EAST LONGMEADOW

Allied Floor
55 North Main St.
$2,850 — Two signs

Cartamundi
443 Shaker Road
$152,855 — Concrete slab

Chipotle
42 Center Square
Sprinkler system

Go Graphix
31 Benton Dr.
$53,325 — Roofing

St. Mark’s Church
1 Porter Road
$3,250 — Wood stove

EASTHAMPTON

F & G, LLC
34 Water Lane
$2,000 — Repair shed in rear yard

Norwich Properties
123-133 Union St.
$4,500 — Install fence along sidewalk

Terah Properties, LLP
81 East St.
$57,500 — Roofing

GREENFIELD

Rosenberg Property, LLC
311 Wells St.
$8,365 — Strip and replace shingles on addition, install new vinyl siding and trim over existing siding, install new ridge vent

Steven Schechterle
402 Federal St.
$10,000 — Install two windows, put up stone veneer and vinyl shakes on storefront

St. James Episcopal Church
8 Church St.
$10,000 — Install insulation on attic floor and basement rim

Syfeld Greenfield Associates
259 Mohawk Trail
Erect sign attached to building, erect sign on existing free-standing pylon

LONGMEADOW

Peter Cooney
Ely Road
$14,400 — Demolish accessory building (barn)

First Church of Christ
763 Longmeadow St.
$20,000 — Add fence

GPT Longmeadow, LLC
666 Bliss Road
$17,369 — Roofing

Town of Longmeadow
62 Wolf Swamp Road
$102,700 — Replace cast-iron sectional boiler

NORTHAMPTON

Andrew Adams and Joya Adams
185 Main St.
$1,050 — Non-illuminated sign for Tim’s Used Books

Blue Sky Real Estate, LLC
269-271 Main St.
$6,000 — Roofing

Castle Pines, LLC
344 King St.
$1,000 — Illuminated clearance sign for Burger King

Castle Pines, LLC
344 King St.
$1,000 — Illuminated order-station sign for Burger King

Castle Pines, LLC
344 King St.
$1,000 — Illuminated wall sign for Burger King

City of Northampton
240 Main St.
$9,000 — Erect two columns in basement for limited first-floor repairs

City of Northampton
170 Glendale Road
$9,900 — Roofing

Malvern Panalytical
45 Industrial Dr.
$3,500 — Install seven replacement windows

Northampton Terminal Assoc., LLP
1 Roundhouse Plaza, Suite 2
$7,000 — Office renovation; remove three walls and rebuild

Northwood Development, LLC
15 Atwood Dr.
$3,500 — Non-illuminated ground sign for Hampshire Probate and Family Court

Kevin Ovitt
55 Damon Road
$2,000 — Illuminated sign for Kevin’s Haircuts

Smith College
18 Henshaw Ave., Unit C
$12,000 — Roofing and rot repair

Smith College
21 Henshaw Ave., Unit A
$5,000 — Roofing and rot repair

D.A. Sullivan & Sons Inc.
84 North St.
$4,000 — Construct exercise room

SPRINGFIELD

Big Y Foods Inc.
2145 Roosevelt Ave.
$233,000 — Alter new employee entrance at Big Y distribution facility

Blue Tarp Redevelopment, LLC
12 MGM Way
$30,000 — Install three projection screens in Commonwealth Bar at MGM Springfield

Marcom Realty, LLC
155 Brookdale Dr.
$353,543 — Alter interior tenant space for Louis and Clark Pharmacy

Mason Wright Senior Living Inc.
73 Walnut St.
$64,845 — Alter former storage room into new daycare classroom

Mercy Medical Center
271 Carew St.
$38,160 — Alter office space for exam room in Oncology suite on first floor of Sister Caritas Cancer Center

Luis Moctezuma
1490 Allen St.
$5,000 — Commercial tenant space for restaurant

Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield
577 Carew St.
$20,000 — Remove and replace three roof-mounted antennas and three remote radio units and install one hybrid fiber cable for T-Mobile at Our Lady of Hope Church

SAIA Motor Freight Line, LLC
345 Rocus St.
$320,000 — Alter interior office space

WEST SPRINGFIELD

AAA Pioneer Valley
150 Capital Dr.
$28,584 — Roofing

Agri-Mark Inc.
958 Riverdale St.
$45,000 — Foundation work for installation of a new silo

Mike Bertera
180 Westfield St.
$7,100 — Remove non-bearing wall, build two half-walls, remove cabinets and counter frame in old window and sheetrock

Camel, LLC
1452 Memorial Ave.
$35,000 — Remove and replace existing HVAC rooftop units

Bill Dellagiustina
414 Park St.
$7,820 — Deliver pre-built accessory structure

Bill Dellagiustina
414 Park St.
$3,135 — Deliver pre-built accessory structure

Town of West Springfield
255 Interstate Dr.
$20,000 — Remove three existing remote radio units and install three antennas on new mounts and three remote radio units

Westfield Bank
206 Park St.
$66,162 — Construct four offices, install new doors and wood trim

WILBRAHAM

Ampersand Collins Hydro, LLC
176 Cottage Ave.
$43,500 — Roofing

Construction

Screen Test

Andy Crane, executive director of the Home Builders and Remodelers Assoc. of Western Mass.

Andy Crane, executive director of the Home Builders and Remodelers Assoc. of Western Mass.

Online learning isn’t a recent innovation, but in the world of continuing education for construction professionals, there aren’t many programs doing it — and few are doing it more effectively than the Home Builders and Remodelers Assoc. of Western Mass., says the association’s executive director. Its partnership with Holyoke Community College, he notes, is helping contractors get the training they need on a schedule that doesn’t take them off the worksite at critical times — and that benefits everyone.

Education, Andy Crane says, isn’t an afterthought for the Home Builders and Remodelers Assoc. of Western Mass. — it’s part of its mission statement.

“We get calls multiple times a day just asking questions, all over the spectrum,” said Crane, the HBRA’s executive director. “It could range from grading the soil to what you need on the roof to what kind of energy efficiency you need, and we’re expected to know that — and if we don’t, we know who to call. The fact that you can call and get an answer to your question is, I think, critical to the building trade in general. I think it validates us.”

On a broader scale, the association has long conducted continuing-education classes for construction supervisors and building professionals. The state requires 12 hours of classwork every two years, but the value of education goes beyond that, Crane said. Take, for example, a course on writing construction contracts.

“Very few people know how to do it properly, how to write a good contract,” he told BusinessWest. “There are contracts written on the back of napkins, or on lumber yard receipts. You’re collecting thousands of dollars from Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and the contractor may or may not take off, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith have no avenue to turn to. Contracts are not just one-way — they protect me, but they protect you as well. Writing the proper contract and including the right licensing and registration numbers and insurance — it’s huge.”

In recent years, the state began allowing up to six of those 12 hours of classwork to be conducted online. Crane said the HBRA wanted to get into that — but wanted to do it right. So the association approached Ken White, dean of Community Services at Holyoke Community College (HCC), to develop an online continuing-education platform that would compare favorably with any live classroom experience.

“More and more education and training is going from live classroom instruction to convenient online learning,” White said, adding that it makes particular sense in the construction world.

“We’re serving construction supervisors who are critically important individuals on the job; they’re overseeing everything that’s happening,” he explained. “To have them off site to go to a full-day program is a huge commitment of time that many times might not be in the best interest of the homeowner or the builder.

“HBRA has been doing premium classes for decades — of the six or seven home builders associations in the Commonwealth, they’re recognized by the rest of them as the best, by far,” he went on. “They asked us if there was a way to take their live instruction and create an online opportunity. That way, they can wrap their training and continuing development around their schedules, which may be weekends, evenings, and early mornings. And instead of taking it in these huge chunks of four hours or eight hours, they can do it an hour here and an hour there.”

HCC partnered with MindEdge Learning and MRW Connected to create a gateway and learning-management platform, White explained.

“We used a videographer to actually film all the live classrooms that take place here at the HBRA, with a three-camera setup. We keep the anonymity of the students because all you’re seeing are backs of heads; the focus is on the instruction. It’s filmed, it’s edited by the college to make sure it flows correctly, then it’s reviewed by the presenter, who is a builder or someone in the construction industry here in the Commonwealth. They look at it, and when it’s approved, it’s released to the public.”

The current course list is a deep dive into key construction issues: “Building an Airtight House,” “Energy Code Overview,” “Avoiding Costly Building Mistakes,” “Lead Safety Isn’t Just About Lead Paint,” and “Fall Prevention and Silica Exposure” are just a few of the topics.

“The reviews have been superlative,” White said. “They’ve picked some really great individuals who not only know their trade, but have great communication skills and keep up to date.”

He called continuing education the “lifeblood of decision making” for construction supervisors.

“On the job, if you make the wrong decision, people could get hurt, or something could leak, or something might not be up to code. They have a lot on the line. That’s why it’s important to have to be the best-educated, most experienced individuals in this profession. The college is just happy to be a part of it.”

Anytime, Anywhere

Crane said the HBRA is still teaching about 100 people a month at its headquarters in Springfield, but contractors are increasingly choosing the convenience of the online model.

“Some leave the job site and attend a live training,” White added. “But you can get an identical experience taking the same class online around your own schedule.”

Purchasing a class is as simple as logging on to the HBRA website, perusing course options, and paying for them via a secure checkout. A few minutes after payment is processed, the user receives an e-mail with a link to log onto a class at his or her convenience.

Since the online program began in the summer of 2017, it has seen 295 registrations through the portal, White noted, adding that the HBRA of Western Mass. is at the forefront of this type of education in the construction industry.

Ken White says HCC aimed to create an online platform that would be as well-received as the live classes the local HBRA is already known for.

Ken White says HCC aimed to create an online platform that would be as well-received as the live classes the local HBRA is already known for.

“They’re the only ones who have online learning that’s a live video capture of the actual classes, so what students are seeing is a very engaging, identical experience that they can take in smaller portions if they’d like. Whenever they stop, they can get back in back exactly where they left off. And at the very end, there’s a final examination with 20 multiple-choice questions they have to get right to get credit.”

Crane noted that questions need to be answered every 20 minutes or so, too, which ensures that the user actually watches the material.

“The problem with online classes, when they first came out, was that you could literally pay your fee and pay your kid five bucks to pass the test by sitting there doing this,” he said as he mindlessly pressed a button. “Because we’re considered leaders in the industry, we thought that was wrong, so we helped get the rules changed so that, if you want people to learn stuff, you have to create a platform that makes them learn. You take a certain portion of time, maybe 20 minutes, then you’re tested on that 20 minutes. When you pass, you move on to the next 20 minutes. So you get your six hours of credit, you actually have to do six hours.”

After passing the final exam, the user prints a certificate to send in to the state to renew their license.

It works well for many construction professionals, Crane added, though many still prefer to be in a live classroom.

“You can take 12 hours live or do six live and six online. Personally, I don’t like doing things online. In fact, I hate it. I first came here because they offered classes here, downstairs in our conference room. I sat here for two days — there’s no tests when you do it this way; if you’re here 12 hours, they assume you learned.”

To feel the same confidence in an online platform, he said, “we had to build a program that follows the state’s protocol to a T, and make it tough so they’re actually learning something. Our classes are $90 for three classes. For-profit businesses will run that for $29, but they don’t care what you learn. They’re willing to wait for the hammer to drop and then close down, and they don’t care; they’ll just do it to somebody else.”

White said he works with other companies to provide various types of training, both live and online. “But in terms of this particular industry, we’re not aware of anyone else doing this. And the other plus is, with live training, most folks are local supervisors and builders. Online, we have folks as far as Cape Cod, Nantucket, even Cape Coral, Florida. It allows folks, wherever they’re located, to take this and not have to drive a half-day to get here and back and deal with traffic.”

Learning Curve

Even in its live classrooms, Crane noted, the HBRA of Western Mass. has been ahead of the curve.

“If other associations do it, they go get a professor at a college or some local professional and rent a room at the Holiday Inn and run a class,” he said. “Nobody I’m aware of has an online product. We’re the only ones out of the Home Builders Association running an online program. There are bootleg courses online, being taught by people in Arkansas and Canada and California at half the cost, but the content is nowhere near as professional as ours is.”

White said he was impressed by what he saw when he first attended a class in Springfield.

“I was really blown away because it was very professional and intensive, with an incredible amount of information, a lot of interaction between student and instructor, a lot of passion, and all relevant information that helps business owners and construction professionals and supervisors in their day-to-day decision making, whether it’s dealing with OSHA or lead issues or whatever the case may be.

“When I went back to report to my vice president, Jeff Hayden, I told him the instruction is superlative. I said, ‘there’s a lot of engagement, it was interactive — this is perfect for live video capture.”

In the end, he said, HCC and the association have turned out a premium learning experience.

“And it’s due to the folks that Andy hires to teach,” White added. “They’re experts. This isn’t a sideline; it’s what they’ve been doing all their lives. They live this 365 days a year. So folks are really happy about the product the HBRA has put out, and we’re happy to have been selected to partner with them and create these models.”

Crane agreed. “This is a unique partnership that benefits consumers, clients of builders, the state — it benefits everyone who touches this product.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Building Permits

The following building permits were issued during the month of September 2018.

AGAWAM

ICNE Group Realty Inc.
1070 Suffield St.
$14,500 — Roofing

CHICOPEE

City of Chicopee
17 Springfield St.
$2,100 — Add two sprinklers in election and clerk’s vault

Elms College
291 Springfield St.
$328,000 — Replace boiler stack

EASTHAMPTON

CIL Realty of MA Inc.
198 East St.
$31,500 — Install exterior door and spiral staircase to existing deck

Lachenauer, LLC
6 Prospect St.
$4,100 — Insulation and air sealing

EAST LONGMEADOW

Aspen Dental
434 North Main St.
$3,150 — Remove bathroom

Chipotle
42 Center Square
$380,326 — Commercial fit-out

Verizon Wireless
331 Prospect St.
$30,000 — Replace antennas

A Wondering Spirit
169 Shaker Road
$2,000 — Minor interior renovation

GREENFIELD

Buff Beagle Holdings, LLC
330 Chapman St.
$1,519 — Install sprinkler monitoring south building for King’s Gym

Aaron Demaio
5 Park St.
$282,000 — Renovate interior, repair and renovation of roofing, siding, windows, and doors for dental office

Franklin First Federal Credit Union
57 Newton St.
Install new sign with digital temperature display

Jones Properties, LP
21 Mohawk Trail
$22,707 — Remove and replace cabinets, install partition

Adam Martin, Alexandra Martin
341 Plain Road
$21,700 — Construct cow barn

Judith Stein
70 Federal St.
$9,000 — Repair storefront of Tim’s Barber Shop due to car driving into it

Town of Greenfield
125 Federal St.
$2,695 — Construct walls to cover brickwork for room in basement

Town of Greenfield
298 Federal St.
$200,000 — Install new roof, windows, thermal envelope, elevator shaft, stairwells, and doors

Town of Greenfield
Federal Street
Erect two free-standing signs for Shattuck Park

Town of Greenfield
42 Grove St.
Replace two free-standing signs for Hillside Park

Town of Greenfield
Parkway Street
Erect two free-standing signs for Highland Park

HADLEY

Pride Convenience Inc.
19 Russell St.
$12,000 — New ground sign for Tesla

Pride, LP
25 Russell St.
$6,000 — Install kitchen exhaust hood, including ductwork

W/S Hadley Properties II, LLC
337 Russell St.
$3,000 — Change faces on pylon sign at Michael’s

W/S Hadley Properties II, LLC
337 Russell St.
$50,000 — Replace sliding doors with new swing doors in vestibule of Old Navy and extend vestibule two feet inside store

LONGMEADOW

Franconia Golf Course
617 Dwight Road
$236,449 — Post-and-beam pavilion on concrete slab

Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield
56 Hopkins Place
$3,536 — Fence

Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield
489 Longmeadow St.
$20,000 — Modify equipment for Sprint

NORTHAMPTON

B’Nai Israel Congregational
257 Prospect St.
$2,500 — Remove section of wall between classrooms, reframe and install interior door

Max Hebert
46 Round Hill Road
$20,000 — Remove block fill windows and all interior mechanicals at boiler house

Hospital Hill Development, LLC
Prince Street
$74,877 — Roof-mounted solar on ServiceNet building

Michael’s House, LLC
71 State St.
$269,000 — Roofing

P + Q, LLC
114 Main St.
$5,000 — Alter stairwell

Smith College
44 College Lane
$78,000 — Construct temporary animal lab

Smith College
2 Tyler Dr.
$123,000 — Repair water-damaged drywall, flooring, paint, and floor framing in McConnell Hall

Trak Petroleum, LLC
54 Easthampton Road
Reface existing ground sign for Racing Mart

Valley Building Co. Inc.
206 King St.
$15,000 — Frame and drywall partition walls, install interior doors and trim

PALMER

Baystate Wing Hospital
40 Wright St.
$9,500 — Replace hospital logo sign

Baystate Wing Hospital
40 Wright St.
$5,680 — Replace Emergency Department sign

Black Bay Ventures IV, LLC
22 Mt. Dumplin St.
$37,650 — Roof replacement at Palmer Foundry

Stambaugh Realty, LLC
1028 Thorndike St.
Addition to VCA Animal Hospital

SPRINGFIELD

1095 Main St. Irrevocable Trust
1095 Main St.
$8,000 — Alter tenant space

Baystate Health
3350 Main St.
$35,285 — Alter space in first-floor room of D’Amour Cancer Center for office use

Big Y Foods Inc.
90 Memorial Dr.
$20,000 — Remove and replace three cellular antennas for T-Mobile

Purna Chhetri
63 Beaumont St.
$3,580 — Erect walls in basement for bathroom and storage area, and install interior door

Dakin Pioneer Valley Humane Society Inc.
171 Union St.
$84,726 — Install 75 modules of rooftop solar at Dakin Clinic

Dask Partnership
90 Carando Dr.
$485,000 — Alter tenant space for use as autism spectrum therapy

Virginia Ellis Golemba
892 Main St.
$20,000 — Amend permit for new contractor

Five Town Station, LLC
270 Cooley St.
$50,000 — Alter retail tenant space for Verizon

Gateway Hardware
142 Boston Road
$41,705 — Alter space for mercantile/store

Marylyn Rove LL1
1 Allen St.
$20,000 — Replace six cellular antennas, replace three remote radio heads and install nine new remote radio heads

McDonald’s Corp.
809 Boston Road
$300,000 — Alter interior space at McDonald’s restaurant, including restroom upgrade, new front counter and finishes, and renovation of dining area

Patrick Spagnoletti, Laipeng Spagnoletti
67 Texel Dr.
$22,000 — Addition to front of attached garage

Springfield Redevelopment Authority
55 Frank B. Murray St.
$19,000 — Build enclosure over existing elevator shaft servicing platform C at Union Station

Tinkham Management
66 Industry Ave.
$247,000 — Alter tenant office space for Greater Springfield Senior Services

Western New England Children’s Center Inc.
34 Chapin Terrace
$2,800 — Alter reception area into office space at Ronald McDonald House

WEST SPRINGFIELD

1050 Main St., LLC
1050 Main St.
$8,730 — Apply foam to underside of corrugated steel roof to deaden sound transmittance

Hampden Charter School of Science
485 Main St.
$20,000 — Convert existing space into ADA-compliant bathroom and add handicap-accessible ramp to outside of building

Town of West Springfield
429 Moran Road
$90,000 — Install retaining wall and new paver patio at back of building, install fencing and sitting area with pergola at top of wall, new ADA sidewalk to lower parking lot, and driveway paving

Town of West Springfield
357 Piper Road
$10,000 — Construct two interior partition walls with doors for teen center

Van Deene Medical Building Partnership
75 Van Deene Ave.
$80,900 — Interior renovations

WILBRAHAM

Armory Property Management
4 Opal St.
$12,925 — New roofing and one window

Construction

Creating a Solid Foundation

This lake home in Westhampton

This lake home in Westhampton is one of the many projects in Keiter Builders’ portfolio of residential projects.

While earning his master’s degree in finance at the University of Rhode Island, Scott Keiter wasn’t thinking about using it to manage his own construction company. But after a dose of the ‘real world,’ as he called it, while working for an insurance company, his passion for carpentry took his career in a completely different direction. In a short decade, Keiter Builders has constructed a solid business foundation and a diverse portfolio of projects across several disciplines.

Scott Keiter likes to say his company is what he calls “a typical Valley builder.”

By that, he means it is relatively small, at least when compared to outfits in larger cities, boasts a diverse portfolio — out of necessity and good business sense more than anything else — is agile, and also always looking to add new disciplines to the equation.

Florence-based Keiter Builders is quite atypical, however, in that it is a first-generation company, started just 10 years ago, almost at the height of the Great Recession (we’ll get back to that challenge later), and therefore doesn’t have a long history.

Indeed, most of the builders in the 413 can boast in their ads — and on the sides of their trucks — that they were launched a half-century or more ago. Their principals can talk about starting out working for their fathers, who can talk about starting out working for their fathers.

Scott and Jill Keiter.

There isn’t any of that Keiter Builders, said Scott, who noted that his father is an aerospace engineer and he himself earned a master’s degree in economics at the University of Rhode Island, and while he was earning it, thoughts of putting it to use to manage his own construction company rarely, if ever, entered his mind.

However, and this is a big ‘however,’ Keiter worked as a carpenter during the summer while in high school and college, developed somewhat of a passion for building, and stayed in touch with the industry throughout his education.

“I tried different careers, and between my bachelor’s degree and my master’s degree, I went to work for State Farm Insurance in auto claims — that was my introduction to the real world,” he said. “Which wasn’t for me; when I got my master’s degree, I decided I needed a break and went back to carpentry.”

To move the story along, things “progressed,” as he put it, deploying a word he would use early and often, and Keiter Builders started to establish a foothold and begin its transformation into, well, a typical Valley builder.

Download the PDF: List of General Contractors

Today, as noted, it is diverse, specializing in commercial, residential, and institutional work, with clients including Smith College and Amherst College, a number of smaller businesses in and around Paradise City, and the city of Northampton itself — Keiter is currently handling a number of projects within Look Park, for example.

As much as Scott Keiter is into building dwellings, commercial spaces, and softball diamonds, among other things, right now he’s mostly engaged in building his business, a process that, like most, he finds enjoyable, but also quite challenging, given the pressures of what comes day to day.

“One of my challenges is looking ahead,” he explained. “You’re just so busy as a small-business owner, it takes everything you’ve got just to get through the day, but you need to focus on tomorrow as well as today.”

With that in mind, he wants to continuously expand the portfolio, and he’s doing that through various initiatives, everything from investments in the ‘heavy construction division,’ as he called it, which is pursuing subsurface utility work, trenching, and heavy civil projects, to efforts toward gaining certification to handle work for the state Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance, or DCAM, which would enable it to pick up work at UMass Amherst and other state-run facilities (more on all that later).

For this issue and its focus on construction, BusinessWest turns the spotlight on Keiter Builders, a comparatively young firm that has constructed a solid business foundation and is looking to continue building upon it.

By the Booklet

As part of those business-building efforts he described, Keiter said the company has become more aggressive in its efforts to promote its brand.

Like most all builders, large and small, word-of-mouth referrals have always been the most effective marketing tool, but the company has added another component with a slick promotional brochure that Keiter and his staff, including his wife, Jill, invested considerable time and energy in and are quite proud of.

This booklet does a very effective job of explaining the company’s depth and agility — or that ‘progression,’ as Keiter described it, while detailing not only what it does, but also, and perhaps more importantly, how.

Indeed, it devotes pages to the firm’s work to carefully develop a sound pre-construction strategy and manage the construction process and meet the most fundamental of objectives in this highly competitive business — finishing on time and to the specifications set by the client.

But it mostly focuses on wide array of projects in the portfolio.

That list includes everything from a telescope observatory dome at Smith College to the memorial fountain at Look Park; from the Valentine Hall rooftop deck at Amherst College to the work at Roberto’s restaurant in Northampton; from the new Northampton offices of the law firm Bacon Wilson to the Convino Wine Bar in Thornes Marketplace.

It also includes an addition and renovation to the optical studios almost directly across Main Street in Florence from the Keiter offices, as well as a host of new homes, remodelings, and additions.

Overall, that brochure shows a great deal of progression in a decade and how quickly the company has been able to establish itself within this market.

And remember, it started at the height of the recession. Well, sort of.

“We weren’t really a construction company at that time,” said Keiter, adding that the enterprise amounted to him handling a wide array of carpentry work. “We went out and just built a network of clients, and kept at it.”

By that he meant, well, a lot of things, including taking whatever jobs he could get, eventually adding his first employee and then more as the project list grew — “we’re really fortunate to have an excellent group of craftsmen working for us” — and lots of hard work building the solid relationships that are the very bedrock of this sector.

The softball field at Smith College

This relationship-building ability is clearly evident in the list of projects the company is currently handling, including several smaller initiatives at both Smith and Amherst Colleges, for which Keiter has already handled a number of assignments, and ongoing work at Look Park — which is in the midst of a comprehensive capital-improvement project. Renovation of Pines Theater is among the current initiatives.

There are a also a few residential projects ongoing, as well as a new building to support teen housing being developed by a Greenfield-based group called Dial/Self, said Keiter, adding that the company continues to build on the relationships it has forged in its early years while also establishing new ones.

“I don’t think there’s a defining moment over the past 10 years when it comes to how we’ve arrived here,” Keiter explained. “We try to take a long-term approach to our work as it relates to the quality, but also the relationships, and that’s really paid off for us.”

He offered Smith College as an example.

“We’ve been working with them for about six years,” he explained. “We started off doing very small projects, and we’ve just earned their respect and worked our way up to being involved with larger projects. As a first-generation company, we have to consistently prove our value.”

The company currently handles work within a relatively small geographic radius — roughly 15 miles from its Florence base, by Keiter’s estimates — but it is looking to expand that reach as well as its list of core competencies.

Keiter Builders handled renovations of the common area at Amherst College, one of its many institutional clients.

Indeed, Keiter, as noted, is currently investing in a heavy-construction division — a subsidiary of the company, actually — based in Hatfield. This division pursues work with utilities and larger contractors and focus on excavating, trenching, and site work, and it has been growing steadily, said Keiter.

Such diversification is important, especially for a sector so profoundly impacted by downturns in the economy.

“We need to stay engaged in many different disciplines,” he explained. “Sometimes, when commercial or institutional is a little slow, the residential fills the gaps. We really enjoy all the different kinds of projects; it keeps us sharp.”

Meanwhile, the company now owns a number of properties in the Northampton area and will look to develop them, said Keiter, adding that he’s eyeing a mix of commercial and residential development opportunities.

Then there’s the process of becoming DCAM-certified, which, Keiter said, should open a number of doors, including the large one involving UMass Amherst.

“We’re starting to enter the public arena,” he told BusinessWest, adding that DCAM certification should be a catalyst for growth within the heavy-construction division as well as the traditional contracting side of the venture.

Building a Legacy

Keiter, who has young children, said that someday, maybe his company can be one of those that boasts multiple generations of ownership and a half-century of history.

“I really enjoy building the business — it’s a pleasure to build a legacy,” he explained. “My hope is that maybe, sometime down the line, there will be a second generation.”

For now, he’s focused on that business- and legacy-building process, and said the formula for doing that is pretty straightforward.

“You have to keep grinding and building a reputation,” he explained. “And in our industry, there are no shortcuts to doing that.”

Indeed, there’s just hard work — on the job site and in creating and strengthening relationships. And success in those realms has enabled Keiter to come a in way in a short decade.

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

Construction

New Life for an Old Building

Begun almost two years ago, a massive, $50 million project to convert the structure at Springfield Technical Community College, formerly part of the Springfield Armory complex, known as Building 19 into a new learning commons is moving rapidly toward its conclusion. Used more than 150 years ago to warehouse gun-barrel stocks, the building will become home to a wide variety of facilities and services — from the library to the admissions office; from common areas to learning spaces — and should be ready for occupancy late this fall, said Socha.

Building Permits

The following building permits were issued during the months of May and June 2018.

AGAWAM

Baldwin Street Realty, LLC
253 Silver St.
$1,700,000 — Build warehouse and office facility

CH Realty VII/CG Mact Bird, LLC
6 Lealand Ave.
$2,200 — Install two wall signs on building

CHICOPEE

Dimeo Properties
70 Broadway St.
$8,400 — Strip and re-roof pavilion

Elms College
291 Springfield St.
$45,000 — Demolish and remove power house chimney

Viktor Lapik
425-429 Front St.
$12,000 — Roofing, install windows, build deck

Prem, LLC
1175 Grattan St.
$10,000 — Repair building after car strike

Solenis, LLC
1111 Grattan St.
$40,850 — Roofing

Stephen Reilly Sr.
29 Grove Ave.
$23,495 — Install new siding

DEERFIELD

Deerfield Academy
4 Little River Road
$397,000 — Reslate roof on Barton dorm

Deerfield Academy
114 Old Main St.
$12,000 — Repairs to house and garage

PVMA
107 Old Main St.
$7,000 — Insulate exterior walls and attic slopes

EAST LONGMEADOW

Cartamundi
443 Shaker Road
$438,000 — Roofing

HADLEY

63 East Realty, LLC
63 East St.
$13,500 — Remove half-walls in reception area and fix ceiling at River Valley Dental

Shipman Realty Trust
140 Russell St.
$10,500 — Replace six windows at Greenfield Savings Bank

LUDLOW

Basics Mini Mart
192 East St.
$1,500 — Illuminated sign

Dowd Insurance Agency
563 Center St.
$4,800 — Illuminated sign

SPRINGFIELD

Albany Road – Springfield Plaza, LLC
1284 St. James Ave.
$77,000 — Alter tenant space for Quest Diagnostics

Baystate Medical Center
3350 Main St.
$367,000 — Alter interior space for new linear accelerator in D’Amour Cancer Center

Blue Tarp Redevelopment, LLC
12 MGM Way
$144,915 — Tenant fit-out for Western Mass News at MGM Springfield

Blue Tarp Redevelopment, LLC
99 Union St.
$640,000 — Alter existing building for use as maintenance shops for MGM Springfield

CH Realty VII/CG Mact Bird, LLC
827 East Columbus Ave.
$15,000 — Exterior facade modifications and new entry arcade

City of Springfield
1600 East Columbus Ave.
$1,200 — Alterations for new office space on second floor of City Hall annex building

Aurelio Daniele
883 Main St.
$240,000 — Repair fascia and install covered outside dining at La Fiorentina’s

Frank DeMarinis
339 State St.
$3,820,000 — Alter interior space for use by Conservatory of the Arts School

Lingo Associates, LLC
20 Carando Dr.
$650,000 — Install structural foundation and slab for refrigeration vessel skid for Smithfield Foods

Walgreen Eastern Co. Inc.
615 Chestnut St.
$60,000 — Alter space to install compounding room at Walgreens pharmacy

WEST SPRINGFIELD

DDR Riverdale Shops, LLC
935 Riverdale St.
$66,413 — Roofing

DDR Riverdale Shops, LLC
935 Riverdale St.
$177,000 — Remodel storefront for existing tenant

Key Bank
1063 Riverdale St.
$74,537 — Interior renovation, including ceiling replacement, finishes, and alteration to entrance for ADA compliance

Purple Diamond Realty
80 Baldwin St.
$25,000 — Install new siding, windows, and front porch

Shechtman
124 Ashley Ave.
$9,000 — Roofing

Work & Gear
218 Memorial Ave.
$3,000 — Install new anchor bolts for new wooden plate for roofer, repair parapet wall cap

WILBRAHAM

Cumberland Farms
105 Post Office Park
$30,000 — Signage

Stony Hill Road Realty, LLC
805 Stony Hill Road
$25,000 — Replace three antennas

Departments Real Estate

The following real estate transactions (latest available) were compiled by Banker & Tradesman and are published as they were received. Only transactions exceeding $115,000 are listed. Buyer and seller fields contain only the first name listed on the deed.

FRANKLIN COUNTY

ASHFIELD

297 Cummington Road
Ashfield, MA 01330
Amount: $309,075
Buyer: Liza Cassidy-Jeswald
Seller: Beverly Pearcy-Chow
Date: 04/12/18

DEERFIELD

Merrigan Way
Deerfield, MA 01342
Amount: $357,280
Buyer: New England Natural Bakers
Seller: Town Of Deerfield
Date: 04/17/18

ERVING

18 Central St.
Erving, MA 01344
Amount: $151,000
Buyer: Phyllis H. Radcliff
Seller: Deborah J. Verdery
Date: 04/19/18

GREENFIELD

52 Allen St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Ahren B. Fitzroy
Seller: Toth, Joyce K., (Estate)
Date: 04/10/18

135 Harrison Ave.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $176,000
Buyer: Joseph Gamache
Seller: Timothy M. Dunn
Date: 04/19/18

9 Pine St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $223,000
Buyer: Caitlin C. Miller
Seller: Mindy T. Thach
Date: 04/13/18

MONTAGUE

6 Edward Ave.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: John J. Linscott
Seller: Pamela Madera
Date: 04/13/18

25 Turners Falls Road
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Megan A. Atherton
Seller: Jamie L. Poremba
Date: 04/20/18

NORTHFIELD

217-K Adams Road
Northfield, MA 01360
Amount: $187,752
Buyer: Wilmington Savings
Seller: Jared A. Sedgley
Date: 04/10/18

175 Millers Falls Road
Northfield, MA 01360
Amount: $120,500
Buyer: Vida M. Cripps
Seller: Scott D. Wolfram
Date: 04/17/18

781 Millers Falls Road
Northfield, MA 01354
Amount: $131,600
Buyer: Mass Rural Water Association Inc.
Seller: Community Bible Church
Date: 04/12/18

907 Millers Falls Road
Northfield, MA 01360
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Breeana L. Llewelyn
Seller: Elizabeth W. Karlson
Date: 04/12/18

ORANGE

21 Meadow Lane
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Justin Laroche
Seller: Mark E. Burdzy
Date: 04/13/18

310 Walnut Hill Road
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $179,000
Buyer: Kelsie M. Bardsley
Seller: KDMK LLC
Date: 04/13/18

SHUTESBURY

51 Shore Dr.
Shutesbury, MA 01072
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Dean W. Carey
Seller: Paul Beaulieu
Date: 04/11/18

WHATELY

251 Long Plain Road
Whately, MA 01093
Amount: $309,000
Buyer: David L. Boardman
Seller: Heidi Lohr
Date: 04/17/18

HAMPDEN COUNTY

AGAWAM

Barry St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $500,000
Buyer: Vincent Land Holdings Inc.
Seller: Koguts Hemlock Hill Tree
Date: 04/20/18

111 Clover Hill Dr.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $123,000
Buyer: Felix Decesare
Seller: Grus, Edward J., (Estate)
Date: 04/12/18

112-114 Cooley St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Thomas R. Mills
Seller: Liberato Management Co.
Date: 04/20/18

41 Federal St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $217,000
Buyer: Oak Ridge Custom Home Builders
Seller: Tirone Development Corp.
Date: 04/13/18

83 Federal St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $217,000
Buyer: Oak Ridge Custom Home Buildrs
Seller: Tirone Development Corp.
Date: 04/13/18

63 High St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $334,000
Buyer: Alexander Panchelyuga
Seller: Pavel Kuzmenko
Date: 04/18/18

56 Lealand Ave.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $188,120
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Heather Grady
Date: 04/19/18

6-8 Mark Dr.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $410,000
Buyer: Donna Wagner
Seller: Langone Realty Corp.
Date: 04/13/18

132 Meadowbrook Road
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $271,000
Buyer: Olga Ortiz
Seller: Nina V. Tsukanova
Date: 04/19/18

280 North St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $198,000
Buyer: Melissa B. Grant
Seller: Steven Fraga
Date: 04/20/18

13 Pheasant Run Circle
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $273,124
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Tammy J. Buoniconti
Date: 04/10/18

Pine St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $500,000
Buyer: Vincent Land Holdings Inc.
Seller: Koguts Hemlock Hill Tree
Date: 04/20/18

28 Robin Ridge Dr.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Mark Ledwell
Seller: Wayne C. Asselin
Date: 04/12/18

176 Rowley St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $212,500
Buyer: Joseph P. Cotter
Seller: Albert J. Grimaldi
Date: 04/09/18

168 Valley Brook Road
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $281,000
Buyer: Erik G. Sudnick
Seller: Chelsea Lafontaine
Date: 04/18/18

BRIMFIELD

95 Cubles Dr.
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Michael L. Donahue
Seller: James A. Phillips
Date: 04/19/18

201 Dunhamtown Palmer Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Kayla Desmarais
Seller: Richard J. Lunden
Date: 04/13/18

155 Warren Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $256,005
Buyer: William J. Waterman
Seller: Michael D. Plouffe
Date: 04/12/18

CHICOPEE

7 Ann St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Kyle E. Mrozinski
Seller: Fredrick D. Goehring
Date: 04/20/18

132 Carew St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $175,900
Buyer: Brad Rzewnicki
Seller: AEM Property Investment
Date: 04/20/18

111 Casino Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Ian G. Stock
Seller: Miguel Rodriguez
Date: 04/20/18

104 Catherine St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $124,000
Buyer: Michelle Hernandez
Seller: FHLM
Date: 04/20/18

77 Cyman Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $203,500
Buyer: Chester A. Green
Seller: Lisa A. Bessette
Date: 04/17/18

22 Dawn St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: James R. Bergeron
Seller: Moore, Janet M., (Estate)
Date: 04/18/18

72 Dresser Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $178,500
Buyer: Robyn Michaud
Seller: Darlene A. Lemiech
Date: 04/13/18

5 Guyotte Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Donald Pare
Seller: Michael O’Leary
Date: 04/18/18

46 Lafayette St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Norma M. Streciwilk
Seller: Richard R. Paul
Date: 04/11/18

767 McKinstry Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $134,233
Buyer: Pennymac Corp.
Seller: Susan Flowers
Date: 04/18/18

250 Moore St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $193,100
Buyer: Johanna Graybill-Bliss
Seller: Brian Lynch
Date: 04/13/18

202 Old Lyman Road
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Norman R. Langlois
Seller: Casey A. Breault
Date: 04/20/18

184 Rimmon Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Kevin S. Dion
Seller: Mark A. Abel
Date: 04/18/18

20 Sullivan St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Luc A. Roux
Seller: Seth A. Clapp
Date: 04/12/18

1565 Westover Road
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $173,000
Buyer: Migdalia Rodriguez
Seller: Fernando A. Alejandro
Date: 04/19/18

EAST LONGMEADOW

15 Corning St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01108
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Pamela L. Rutherford
Seller: Francesca Cataldo
Date: 04/17/18

31 Donamor Lane
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Alessandra A. Graziani
Seller: Benjamin Wertheim
Date: 04/20/18

296 Elm St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $205,218
Buyer: Debra M. Rico
Seller: Hugh K. Martin
Date: 04/12/18

155 Kibbe Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $127,000
Buyer: Gina Daniele
Seller: Tara A. Dunphy
Date: 04/18/18

162 Pease Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Jeffrey S. Morneau
Seller: Carmax Auto Superstores
Date: 04/19/18

26 Woodlawn St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $329,900
Buyer: Patrick A. Gorham
Seller: Moltenbrey Builders LLC
Date: 04/20/18

75 Waterman Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Dinh Le
Seller: Debra J. Santaniello
Date: 04/12/18

GRANVILLE

151 Granville Road
Granville, MA 01077
Amount: $231,000
Buyer: Krista Lippert
Seller: Brian Banta
Date: 04/19/18

HAMPDEN

56 Allen Crest St.
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Kimberly A. Staback
Seller: Mark D. Shumway
Date: 04/09/18

19 Echo Valley Dr.
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $247,900
Buyer: Susan E. Santos
Seller: Nathaniel S. Anderson
Date: 04/13/18

300 Glendale Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: Timothy Miller
Seller: Timothy B. Shumway
Date: 04/13/18

15 Greenleaf Dr.
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $319,500
Buyer: John T. Dayton
Seller: George J. Semanie
Date: 04/12/18

46 Mountainview Dr.
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Warren Spears
Seller: PD Developments LLC
Date: 04/19/18

14 Raymond Dr.
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $157,500
Buyer: James Dirico
Seller: FNMA
Date: 04/20/18

311 Wilbraham Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $138,000
Buyer: KC 260 Main Street LLC
Seller: Wilson Wong
Date: 04/13/18

HOLLAND

45 Sandy Beach Road
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Andrew Thibeault
Seller: Joseph E. Landry
Date: 04/10/18

HOLYOKE

55 Belvidere Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $131,000
Buyer: Jeffrey Wohlers
Seller: Behyar Roohi
Date: 04/17/18

15 Central Park Dr.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $210,100
Buyer: Paul Healy
Seller: John F. Tobin
Date: 04/20/18

69 Cleveland St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $374,900
Buyer: Michael J. Szawlowski
Seller: Charlotte C. Lussier
Date: 04/17/18

1475 Dwight St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $297,621
Buyer: Dwight Parker LLC
Seller: Yvon L. Leduc
Date: 04/13/18

701 Kelly Way
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $2,250,000
Buyer: 701 Kelly Holyoke LLC
Seller: KWHP LLC
Date: 04/10/18

40 Lexington Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $405,000
Buyer: Justin C. Niles
Seller: Mark D. Watts
Date: 04/19/18

75 Lexington Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $449,000
Buyer: Brad Tuttle
Seller: Aaron G. Earls
Date: 04/13/18

75 Merrick Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $178,000
Buyer: Amy Calandrella
Seller: Joseph Judge
Date: 04/20/18

251 Michigan Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Patrick T. Noonan
Seller: R&H Roofing LLP
Date: 04/17/18

61 Norwood Terrace
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $209,900
Buyer: Nathan M. Hammond
Seller: Sandra E. Blaney
Date: 04/18/18

31 Sheehan Dr.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: William D. Molina
Seller: Patrick T. Noonan
Date: 04/17/18

417 Southampton Road
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $207,500
Buyer: Jeffrey Kent
Seller: Brendan Fuller
Date: 04/17/18

1 Wayne Court
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $224,900
Buyer: Patrick S. Burke
Seller: Trent Rivers
Date: 04/12/18

LONGMEADOW

104 Barclay St.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $151,000
Buyer: CIG 2 LLC
Seller: Jinyoung Seo
Date: 04/11/18

37 Birnie Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $610,000
Buyer: Joseph M. Thompson
Seller: Craig E. Collins
Date: 04/18/18

242 Burbank Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: CIG 2 LLC
Seller: Bruce F. Gregori
Date: 04/12/18

64 Edgewood Ave.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $274,900
Buyer: Max R. Mullen
Seller: Kelly A. Brown
Date: 04/17/18

37 Meadow Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Mary L. Wilson
Seller: Sandra A. Samol
Date: 04/17/18

21 Meadowlark Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $215,150
Buyer: David Chapdelaine
Seller: Nationstar REO Sub 1B LLC
Date: 04/18/18

41 Northfield Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $615,000
Buyer: Matthew W. Jacobs
Seller: Teresa A. Anderson
Date: 04/13/18

15 Pinelawn Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $191,500
Buyer: Theresa Roberts
Seller: Onyx Investments LLC
Date: 04/20/18

LUDLOW

61 Bramucci St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Nicole L. Roy
Seller: Gillian M. Roy
Date: 04/18/18

1680 Center St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Cynthia A. Hunter
Seller: Keem LLC
Date: 04/20/18

39 Cypress St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $206,000
Buyer: Andrew Fenton
Seller: Erica Serrazina
Date: 04/18/18

57 Kirkland Ave.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $199,000
Buyer: Danielle M. Marshall
Seller: Kathleen D. Goller
Date: 04/13/18

25 Lazarz St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $166,000
Buyer: Jonathan Iwasinski
Seller: Lucille P. Hertz
Date: 04/13/18

530 Lyon St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $362,000
Buyer: Sean T. Noonan
Seller: Christine Ribeiro
Date: 04/19/18

183 Reynolds St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $151,700
Buyer: Wells Fargo Bank
Seller: Diane R. DosSantos
Date: 04/19/18

MONSON

Bumstead Road #15
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: John Rahkonen
Seller: Stella Furgal RT
Date: 04/13/18

Bumstead Road #16
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: John Rahkonen
Seller: Stella Furgal RT
Date: 04/13/18

198 Town Farm Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $355,000
Buyer: Joshua J. Gagnon
Seller: Craig M. Szado
Date: 04/20/18

PALMER

10 Alden St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Joshua A. Pelski
Seller: Ryan R. Lavoie
Date: 04/20/18

88 Longview St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $188,000
Buyer: Kevin M. Robbins
Seller: Jamy J. Gagnon
Date: 04/20/18

20 Norma St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Diane E. Outhuse
Seller: Frederick H. Glanville
Date: 04/13/18

SOUTHWICK

15 Beach Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Vicki Burnham
Seller: P. Baiardi-Kantorski
Date: 04/20/18

16 Fenton Dr.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $405,000
Buyer: Michael E. Fregeau
Seller: Justin Klaubert
Date: 04/10/18

47 Lexington Circle
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $442,000
Buyer: Angela M. Whitcher
Seller: Lori S. Bonk
Date: 04/19/18

105 Vining Hill Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Mark A. Plasse
Seller: Mark Plasse
Date: 04/20/18

SPRINGFIELD

60 Aldrew Terrace
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Jose M. Torres
Seller: Stephanie R. Whitley
Date: 04/20/18

11 Aspen Road
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $151,700
Buyer: Citizens Bank
Seller: Christopher M. Miller
Date: 04/19/18

75 Balis St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $122,000
Buyer: Joel A. Maldonado
Seller: Attaford LLC
Date: 04/11/18

18 Baywood St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Emily Niemann
Seller: Joe C. Long
Date: 04/12/18

736 Belmont Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $232,900
Buyer: Antony Massop
Seller: Christiaan X. Vandamme
Date: 04/20/18

63-65 Bloomfield St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $139,000
Buyer: 196-198 Bowdoin St Realty
Seller: Victor C. Tang
Date: 04/10/18

261 Bolton St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $126,772
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Dennis Brown
Date: 04/11/18

45 Bronson Terrace
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $206,000
Buyer: Janine Spinola-Taylor
Seller: Monika Kusy
Date: 04/12/18

56 Bruce St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $212,000
Buyer: Mariama Sonnah
Seller: Amy Johnson
Date: 04/13/18

22 Burr St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: Sugandh Bhatia
Seller: Scott M. Garcia
Date: 04/17/18

107 Carol Ann St.
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $172,000
Buyer: Delia E. Jimenez
Seller: Dianne Draper
Date: 04/20/18

73 Crystal Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Mayra Quinones-Rivera
Seller: Liandro Gonzalez
Date: 04/13/18

269 Denver St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $139,000
Buyer: Juan I. Rios-Colon
Seller: Danil A. Politov
Date: 04/20/18

63 Dexter St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Wallace Vick
Seller: Erik Dahl
Date: 04/19/18

47-49 Draper St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $188,000
Buyer: Aita Gajmer
Seller: Jahjan LLC
Date: 04/09/18

82-84 Edgeland St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Emily Lopez
Seller: Janusz Kosciolek
Date: 04/20/18

99 El Paso St. #134
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $249,000
Buyer: James S. Brown
Seller: June E. Stamand
Date: 04/20/18

218 Ellendale Circle
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $217,000
Buyer: Ricardo G. Barnes
Seller: Stephanie K. Godbout
Date: 04/10/18

17 Ellsworth Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $169,000
Buyer: Amanda C. Claing
Seller: Helder F. Nunes
Date: 04/09/18

54 Fellsmere St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $232,500
Buyer: Morgan R. Tobin
Seller: Herbert S. Berman
Date: 04/17/18

12 Flower St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $207,000
Buyer: Adam Chisholm
Seller: Jason Tremblay
Date: 04/13/18

41 Garfield St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Heather M. Goodyear
Seller: Stacy M. Sheard
Date: 04/19/18

109 Gilman St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $150,934
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Richard A. McCarthy
Date: 04/20/18

185 Glenoak Dr.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $177,000
Buyer: Moises Ortiz-Santiago
Seller: Josue Rivera
Date: 04/20/18

55 Gralia Dr.
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $187,000
Buyer: Jake T. Belanger
Seller: Angela Pafumi
Date: 04/13/18

29 Grover St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Pauline C. Ekajulo
Seller: Bert V. Wright
Date: 04/12/18

17 Hartford Terrace
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Armando Hernandez
Seller: Spencer F. Holmes
Date: 04/20/18

23 Healey St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $273,846
Buyer: 855 Liberty LLC
Seller: Campagnari Construction
Date: 04/11/18

61 Helberg Road
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $239,000
Buyer: James B. Harris
Seller: Agustin B. Roman
Date: 04/20/18

82 Hillside Dr.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Richard F. Bryant
Date: 04/20/18

17 Jefferson Ave.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $127,935
Buyer: Bank Of Amercia
Seller: Tanya E. Watkins
Date: 04/13/18

80-84 Keith St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: Hanh N. Pham
Seller: Michael Sarli
Date: 04/13/18

95 Kimberly Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Joseph Basile
Seller: Alicia Crisostomo
Date: 04/17/18

15 Lawndale St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $129,000
Buyer: Maikel Gonzalez-Grillo
Seller: James W. Fiore
Date: 04/20/18

34 Littleton St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Lisandra Maysonet
Seller: JLC Realty Group LLC
Date: 04/13/18

21 Maebeth St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $182,000
Buyer: Mary M. Macharia
Seller: Michael J. Scanlon
Date: 04/13/18

1500 Main St.
Springfield, MA 01103
Amount: $6,900,000
Buyer: Mittas Hospitality LLC
Seller: Mass Mutual Life Insurance Co.
Date: 04/12/18

217 Mazarin St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $145,500
Buyer: Jesslyn Dejesus
Seller: Helder Nunes
Date: 04/20/18

100-102 Milton St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Christopher J. Behnk
Seller: Louis G. Beaudoin
Date: 04/17/18

339 Naismith St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $239,000
Buyer: Christa A. Nunnally
Seller: Hector L. Martinez
Date: 04/13/18

711 Newbury St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: Derek C. Aviles
Seller: Venessa A. Smith
Date: 04/13/18

152 Newhouse St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $118,000
Buyer: David Bissaillon
Seller: David Knecht
Date: 04/11/18

281 Newton Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Wilfred Fontaine
Seller: Khai T. Bui
Date: 04/17/18

522 Page Blvd.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Marwan M. Awkal
Seller: 522 Page Blvd. LLC
Date: 04/12/18

202-206 Pearl St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $1,192,000
Buyer: 212 Pearl LLC
Seller: Facta Non Verba LLC
Date: 04/13/18

208-212 Pearl St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $1,192,000
Buyer: 212 Pearl LLC
Seller: Facta Non Verba LLC
Date: 04/13/18

75 Pilgrim Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $181,500
Buyer: Gregory G. Sprofera
Seller: Brady Chianciola
Date: 04/09/18

35 Pine Hill Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $345,000
Buyer: Liliya Sadovaya
Seller: Bretta Construction LLC
Date: 04/20/18

29 Rapalus St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Josue G. Feliciano
Seller: Silver P. Serra
Date: 04/17/18

349 Roosevelt Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $130,930
Buyer: Michael Keane
Seller: Maryanne King
Date: 04/12/18

204 Saint James Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $214,100
Buyer: Linda A. Broadwater-Davis
Seller: JJS Capital Investment
Date: 04/17/18

142 Shefford St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $172,200
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Lisa R. Parrow
Date: 04/20/18

89 Signal Hill Circle
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Kyle I. Dieters
Seller: Grahams Construction Inc.
Date: 04/20/18

115 South Tallyho Dr.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $204,000
Buyer: Ryan C. Mickiewicz
Seller: Michelle Stuart
Date: 04/13/18

235 State St. #DG2
Springfield, MA 01103
Amount: $167,000
Buyer: Balazs Kovacs
Seller: Gary S. Watson
Date: 04/17/18

340 Taylor St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Friends Of STCC Inc.
Seller: Springfield SS LLC
Date: 04/09/18

67 Texel Dr.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $214,000
Buyer: Patrick Spagnoletti
Seller: Lucchesi, Louis R., (Estate)
Date: 04/13/18

38 Virginia St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Joseph C. Deliso
Seller: Adam W. Powers
Date: 04/09/18

2-4 Wilmont St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: ZTL Investment Group LLC
Seller: Trang Nguyen
Date: 04/20/18

87 Winding Lane
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Paul E. Smith
Seller: Melvin D. Rossman
Date: 04/20/18

3 Woodcliff St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $122,500
Buyer: Yamillette Diaz-Parra
Seller: James W. Fiore
Date: 04/13/18

557 Worthington St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Damascus Holdings LLC
Seller: Britalian LLC
Date: 04/18/18

WESTFIELD

7 Atwater St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $197,000
Buyer: Erik B. Quinn
Seller: Cody A. Rida
Date: 04/17/18

41 Church St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $206,000
Buyer: Nathan A. Byrnes
Seller: 41 Church St. LLC
Date: 04/18/18

104 Court St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $169,000
Buyer: DED Realty LLC
Seller: Tomestic, Constance L., (Estate)
Date: 04/11/18

1161 East Mountain Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Bryan K. Clauson
Seller: Robert D. Patenaude
Date: 04/13/18

48 Maple Terrace
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $239,000
Buyer: Adam R. Carmel
Seller: Roland R. Deblois
Date: 04/13/18

554 Montgomery Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $243,500
Buyer: Marianne Murphy
Seller: Michael B. Johnston
Date: 04/20/18

49 Northwest Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $204,500
Buyer: Eric Harshbarger
Seller: Myrl W. Clark
Date: 04/11/18

91 Orange St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $156,000
Buyer: Bank New York Mellon
Seller: Darryl J. Lamagdeleine
Date: 04/11/18

78 Otis St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $169,000
Buyer: Christopher D. Roy
Seller: Jessica N. Lambert
Date: 04/20/18

68 Plantation Circle
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Theodore Kopyscinski
Seller: MTGLQ Investors LP
Date: 04/09/18

13 Sycamore St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $162,500
Buyer: Jacquelyn A. Morris
Seller: Adam R. Carmel
Date: 04/13/18

113 Wildflower Circle
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $395,000
Buyer: Jennifer L. Orenstein
Seller: William O. Thompson
Date: 04/12/18

WILBRAHAM

9 Brentwood Dr.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $360,000
Buyer: Janelle A. Gaffer
Seller: Harry Reimers
Date: 04/13/18

21 Brooklawn Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $242,000
Buyer: Sarah Hauser
Seller: Olga C. Geoffino
Date: 04/13/18

27 Leemond St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $319,900
Buyer: Hannah Belcher-Timme
Seller: Kevin C. Peabody
Date: 04/20/18

455 Main St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $831,387
Buyer: NEP LLC
Seller: ARC CBWBMMA001 LLC
Date: 04/10/18

39 Manchonis Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $217,000
Buyer: Randall P. Flagg
Seller: Lynne A. Frame
Date: 04/13/18

104 Manchonis Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $166,100
Buyer: Carol R. Dewolf
Seller: Ken Kowynia
Date: 04/17/18

6 Oakland St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Kevin J. Percy
Seller: Thomas M. Cooney
Date: 04/20/18

63 Oakland St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $370,000
Buyer: Benjamin S. Wertheim
Seller: Lawrence R. Bauer
Date: 04/20/18

16 Pidgeon Dr.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: George J. Semanie
Seller: Christopher J. Baker
Date: 04/12/18

18 Sawmill Dr.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $313,000
Buyer: Gary E. Dion
Seller: Amy B. Fearn
Date: 04/13/18

70 Stony Hill Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Daniel Toniatti
Seller: Michael A. Parker
Date: 04/17/18

WEST SPRINGFIELD

159 Albert St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $161,900
Buyer: Aleksandr Govor
Seller: US Bank
Date: 04/18/18

41 Belle Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $173,000
Buyer: Dheyaa Zaidan
Seller: Mikhail Karapunarly
Date: 04/20/18

14 Brookline Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $340,000
Buyer: Phillip J. Bonk
Seller: Seybold, Anne Marie, (Estate)
Date: 04/20/18

82 Chestnut St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Juancarlos Nunez-Ruiz
Seller: Jonathan D. Jacobsen
Date: 04/12/18

99 City View Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $204,900
Buyer: Amy M. Scalise
Seller: Erik G. Sudnick
Date: 04/18/18

125 Craiwell Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $295,000
Buyer: Regina R. Ranstorm
Seller: Brett Gazaille
Date: 04/17/18

63 Elm Circle
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $116,000
Buyer: Minas Alitbi
Seller: HSBC Bank
Date: 04/13/18

96 Ely Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Nilda L. Garcia-Diaz
Seller: Martyn G. Green
Date: 04/19/18

163 Falmouth Road
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Wilmington Savings
Seller: William B. Burlingham
Date: 04/17/18

57 Farnum St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Michelle A. McCaffrey
Seller: Robert Whalen
Date: 04/13/18

32 Hampden St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $199,900
Buyer: Dadhi Adhikari
Seller: Shu Cheng
Date: 04/20/18

85 Lewis Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Joshua J. Seidell
Seller: Seidell Realty LLC
Date: 04/19/18

501 Memorial Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $2,679,000
Buyer: 363 Boston Post Road LLC
Seller: AF-West Springfield MA LLC
Date: 04/13/18

290 Morton St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: Adam Bryant
Seller: Bolduc, Yvette R., (Estate)
Date: 04/17/18

51 Rogers Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $232,050
Buyer: Jeffrey R. Mitchell
Seller: Adam R. Bryant
Date: 04/17/18

86 Vincent Dr.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Melvin Diaz
Seller: John P. Callahan
Date: 04/20/18

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY

AMHERST

464 Bay Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $231,900
Buyer: Faranak Seihoun
Seller: Virginia L. Espeland
Date: 04/18/18

30 Boltwood Walk
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $450,000
Buyer: Downstairs LLC
Seller: PVP Holdings LLC
Date: 04/17/18

17 Fairfield St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $399,000
Buyer: Romain Vasseur
Seller: Julia M. Alexander
Date: 04/10/18

144 Glendale Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $242,900
Buyer: Benjamin Norrichs
Seller: MTGLQ Investors LP
Date: 04/13/18

55 Lilac Lane
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $472,000
Buyer: Katzman Coldham 2013 LT
Seller: Margaret C. Oakes
Date: 04/13/18

38 Maplewood Dr.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: Charlene Choi
Seller: Dean Brown
Date: 04/17/18

Red Gate Lane
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Alex K. Phakos
Seller: Jonathan S. Klate
Date: 04/17/18

BELCHERTOWN

77 Cheryl Circle
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $484,900
Buyer: Shawn M. Nycz
Seller: Michael S. Kulik
Date: 04/10/18

70 Mill Valley Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Lyn M. Banville
Seller: Shirley M. Dillard
Date: 04/20/18

10 Pine Brook Dr.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $192,000
Buyer: Amanda Beauregard
Seller: Paul E. Brissette
Date: 04/13/18

37 Rimrock Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Adrian J. Manning
Seller: Dale E. Yvon
Date: 04/19/18

233 State St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Amherst Court RT
Seller: Sydney Keyes-Thackeray
Date: 04/17/18

EASTHAMPTON

3 Carillon Circle
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $391,700
Buyer: Neil Hede
Seller: Gertrude E. Hooks
Date: 04/11/18

40 Church St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $131,080
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Timothy S. Clark
Date: 04/13/18

14 Kenneth Road
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $211,000
Buyer: Brian F. Bigda
Seller: Samantha L. Lheureux IRT
Date: 04/20/18

10 Pinebrook Dr.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Michael E. Fregeau
Seller: US Bank
Date: 04/18/18

53-55 Ridgewood Terrace
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $289,000
Buyer: Joseph Darby-O’Brien
Seller: Thomas A. Porter
Date: 04/20/18

88 West St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $246,000
Buyer: Frank R. Talarico
Seller: Ross J. Krause
Date: 04/12/18

GRANBY

111 North St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $268,500
Buyer: Kevin H. Miele
Seller: David P. Wing
Date: 04/09/18

HADLEY

15 Maple Ave.
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $368,000
Buyer: Ethan W. Percy
Seller: Gregory M. Mish
Date: 04/20/18

72 Russell St.
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $249,000
Buyer: Donald R. Dion
Seller: Sandra Houghton
Date: 04/20/18

HATFIELD

186 Linseed Road
Hatfield, MA 01088
Amount: $297,500
Buyer: Jay Messer
Seller: William D. Harlow
Date: 04/10/18

HUNTINGTON

8 Crescent St.
Huntington, MA 01050
Amount: $167,000
Buyer: Scott B. Capponcelli
Seller: Jane F. Martone
Date: 04/13/18

NORTHAMPTON

1300 Burts Pit Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $365,000
Buyer: Mark A. Blais
Seller: Joe Hamill
Date: 04/19/18

87 Chesterfield Road
Northampton, MA 01053
Amount: $335,000
Buyer: Melissa A. Fowler
Seller: Erika M. Hernandez
Date: 04/13/18

211 Chestnut St.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $246,000
Buyer: Suzanne R. Starling
Seller: Murray Melbin
Date: 04/12/18

259 Elm St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $2,250,000
Buyer: Ellery Owner LLC
Seller: Atwood Drive LLC
Date: 04/11/18

61 Ford Xing
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $530,000
Buyer: Jill Meyers
Seller: Peter Fliss
Date: 04/20/18

90 Haydenville Road
Northampton, MA 01053
Amount: $430,000
Buyer: Aba Properties LLC
Seller: SSTT LLC
Date: 04/10/18

63 Maple St.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: 63 Maple Street LLC
Seller: Tom Masters
Date: 04/18/18

8 Middle St.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $451,000
Buyer: Anne-Liesl Swogger
Seller: Nora R. Kalina
Date: 04/18/18

6 Villone Dr.
Northampton, MA 01053
Amount: $340,000
Buyer: Kelcie M. Cooke
Seller: Maureen B. Szawlowski
Date: 04/17/18

PELHAM

8 Bray Court
Pelham, MA 01002
Amount: $238,500
Buyer: Harry H. Brakeley
Seller: Christopher J. Wells
Date: 04/19/18

SOUTH HADLEY

32 Boynton Ave.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $261,000
Buyer: Mary T. Quesnel
Seller: Alliso Marshall-Beaudoin
Date: 04/20/18

33 Boynton Ave.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Lauren E. Obregon
Seller: Matthew Gage
Date: 04/13/18

65 Hadley St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Randy Barthelette
Seller: George J. Langevin RET
Date: 04/17/18

11 Landers St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Alexander J. Rossi
Seller: Dennis Hogan
Date: 04/18/18

60 Michael Dr.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $360,000
Buyer: Catherine M. Scribner
Seller: Raymond E. Rondeau
Date: 04/12/18

128 Newton St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $282,500
Buyer: Daniel T. Laing
Seller: Carolyn L. Couture
Date: 04/13/18

42 San Souci Dr.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $515,000
Buyer: Lisa Ball-Russo
Seller: Thomas W. Senecal
Date: 04/13/18

54 San Souci Dr.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $515,000
Buyer: Lisa Ball-Russo
Seller: Thomas W. Senecal
Date: 04/13/18

23 Saybrook Circle
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Brandyn Boroski
Seller: Andrew Frawley
Date: 04/10/18

54 Sunset Ave.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Norma I. Fontanez
Seller: Deborah A. Church
Date: 04/17/18

SOUTHAMPTON

34 Strong Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $401,000
Buyer: Kathryn A. Przybyszewski
Seller: Brian F. Bigda
Date: 04/19/18

WARE

24 Berkshire Circle
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $117,481
Buyer: Corey Tavernier
Seller: HSBC Bank
Date: 04/12/18

 

DBA Certificates Departments

The following business certificates and trade names were issued or renewed during the month of April 2018.

AMHERST

Amherst Enterprise Park
441 West St.
Leigh Andrews

Domain Masonry, LLC
86 Kellogg Ave.
Christopher Domain

Golden 3 Counseling Services
447 West St., Suite 3
Brittanie Jemes

Gorilla Tactics
145 University Dr., #3541
Jesse Crafts-Finch

J. Hurd & Associates
220 North Pleasant St.
Jason Hurd

J. Shefftz Consulting
14 Moody Field Road
Jonathan Shefftz

Jennifer Lefort, PhD
15 Linden Ridge Road
Jennifer Lefort

BELCHERTOWN

Morning Star Graphics
238 Rockrimmon St.
Roger Duffy, Natalia Duffy

CHICOPEE

The Chinese Kung Fu Wushu Academy
551 East St.
Binh Nguyen

Electra-Sounds Entertainment
5 Julia Ave.
William Butman Jr.

First Stop Grocery
830 Chicopee St.
Sudan Curiel

Generations Salon
588 Chicopee St.
Lisa Carlson

JWI Kitchens, LLC
374 Springfield St.
Ivelesse Perez

MamaRazzi Photography Inc.
165 Front St., Building D
Jenna Medina, Jacqueline Slatton

Meraki Salon
685 James St.
Christine Peacey

RazziKids
165 Front St., Building D
Jenna Medina, Jacqueline Slatton

Serenity Salon & Spa
472 Burnett Road
Alison Metcalfe

Style and Grace Hair Studios
1735 Westover Road
Ruben Camacho Jr.

WP-HL Foundation
16 America St.
Edward Fulke

EASTHAMPTON

Brian Harrison
1 Nashawannuck St.
Brian Harrison

C.R.P. Home Improvement
73 Glendale St.
Corey Pease

Frusho
28 Golden Dr.
Christopher Cabrini

Furs A Flyin
155R Northampton St.
MaryKate Murray

Pressplayhouse Duds
312 Main St.
Matthew Goldman

Worldsongs.com
116 Pleasant St., #334
Charlie Shew

EAST LONGMEADOW

Dreamscape Properties
20 Somerset St.
Marco Basile

G & A Import Auto Repair
41 Fisher Ave.
Alfonso Gioiella

McRae Consulting Solutions
57 Merriam St.
Mary McRae

HOLYOKE

Aeropostale #112
50 Holyoke St.
Aero Opco, LLC

The Clover Pub
102-104 High St.
Michael Rigali

Creative Concepts
24 Old Jarvis Ave.
Thomas Kennedy

Giggles Daycare
53 Argyle Ave.
Siobhan Sullivan

The Honey Pot
264 Sargeant St.
Jocelyn Poirier

Hyperperformance Cuts, LLC
118 Maple St.
Hanser Perez

Mocha Emporium
50 Holyoke St.
Adel Wahhas

Quick Stop
172 Sargeant St.
Tariq Aziz Khan

Reliable Computer
867 Main St.
Daniel Deschaine

Taste Freeze
915 Main St.
Daniel Rios

Your Brother-in-Law’s Handiman Services
33 Clerk St.
Joshua Silva

LONGMEADOW

EDV Home Design and Renovation
121 Willow Brook Road
Elaine D’Alleva-Vehse

SmartCheck
17 Barrington Road
Nora MacKay, Mark Fellows

LUDLOW

The Beauty Studio Boutique Inc.
393 East St.
Marsia Nogueira, Kristen Bousquet

NORTHAMPTON

Absolute Zero
229 Main St.
Meng Qin Wang

C.L. Frank & Co.
50 Cooke Ave.
Christopher Frank

Chill Harmonics
39 Main St., Suite 3
Pamela Smith

Christopher Foley Painting
68 Bradford St., Apt. B
Christopher Foley

Compass Community Education Center
221 Pine St., Suite 320
Shelly Risinger, Elena Allee

Couples Center of the Pioneer Valley
182 Main St., #202
Katherine Waddell

Dodeca
38 Main St.
Endamian Stewart, Robert Stewart

Hygeniks Inc.
106 Industrial Dr.
Todd Marchefka

Joel Russell Associates
16 Armory St., Suite 7
Joel Russell

Kidstuff
90 Maple St.
Tami Schirch

Metalmass Records
670B Haydenville Road
Kristian Strom

MG Coaching Services
98 Pine St., Unit 6
Martha Grinnell

New England Medical Consultants Inc.
124 Maple Ridge Road
Matthew Kane, Ann Markes

Northampton Golden Nozzle #04082
304 King St.
Nouria Energy Retail Inc.

Robinson Real Estate
35C State St.
Steven Slezek

Room 6 Salon & Nails
140 Pine St., #6
Melanie Burnett

State Street Fruit Store, Deli, Wines & Spirits
51 State St.
Richard Cooper

PALMER

JKL Liquid Asphalt
244 Burlingame Road
Raymond Croteau

Marlene’s Beauty Salon
1461 North Main St.
Jean Ciukaj

Tranquility Central
1384 Main St.
Kathleen Jett

SOUTHWICK

Humble N’Kind D-Sign
352 North Loomis St.
Elizabeth Vivier

Total Home Services
445 College Highway
Geno Whitehead

SPRINGFIELD

413 Video Productions
40 Edgewood St.
Aaron Williams

All Seasons Basement Dewatering Inc.
45 Jamestown Dr.
James Kelly

Around the Clock Adult Home Care
130 Fenwick St.
Linda Sheehan

Aer Wireless
119 Maplewood Terrace
Wi4me, LLC

Banh Mi Mia
461 Belmont Ave.
Hung Nguyen

Grez Automotive, LLC
604 Boston Road
Pan Siphanoum

Hariss Beauty
20 Arnold Ave.
Brittany Franco

House of Lockhart
89 Hyde Ave.
Ramon Albizu

J M Towing
56 Loring St.
Jerry Martinez

La Marguencita Bakery
755 Liberty St.
Lorena Vicente

Little Luv Bugs Day Care
24 Mayfair Ave.
Judy Williams

Ma Chere Creole Kitchen
94 Pennsylvania Ave.
Michael Guidry

Maidpro
527 Belmont St.
Heewon Yang

Montalvo Trucking
48 Appleton St.
Victor Montalvo

Mzion Corp.
1341 Main St.
Ni Si Kim

Northeast Mountain Footwear
459 Breckwood Blvd.
Algeni Enterprises

Rex Ambrosia, LLC
145 Ambrose St.
Glenn Mills

Rock Bottom Records
114 Cardinal St.
Abdul Ibrahim Jr.

Trinity Health of New England
271 Carew St.
Mercy Medical Group

Vladmierj Tailor
66 Dickinson St.
Thuy Fuda

WARE

Blissful Moments Hair Skin Body Studio
89 Main St., Suite 4
Tenah Richardson

Dance Unlimited MA
23 West Main St.
Mary Royer

Lost & Found Mercantile
85 Main St.
Kristin Rosenbeck, Dennis Cote

Miss Sue’s Place
42 Greenwich Road
Susan Flamand

Murphy’s Painting
197 River Road
Cole Murphy

Western Mass Home Improvement
81 Greenwich Road
Christopher Wiggin

WESTFIELD

Affordable Building Contractor
26 Northridge Road
David Wroblewski

Ace Photography
29 Beckwith Ave.
Nicholas Ventura

MAR Consulting
83 Pineridge Dr.
Mona Rastegar

Power Control Services & Electric Inc.
227 Loomis St.
Power Control Services & Electric Inc.

WEST SPRINGFIELD

Arbella Insurance Group
1 Interstate Dr.
Arbella Insurance Group

B+ Clean-Outs
10 Elizabeth St.
Joseph Switzler

Ballard Mack Sales & Service
124 Ashley Ave.
John Picking

Custom Railings Tech Inc.
117 Allston Ave.
Armand Cote

Energia Massage
1111 Elm St.
Tatiana McCoy

Holiday Flowers
69 Angeline St.
Joan Marino

Olympia Junior Hockey
125 Capital Dr.
Patrick Tabb

Plato’s Closet
1472 Riverdale St.
Kathleen White

Springfield Inn
1573 Riverdale St.
Dilip Rana

Wendy’s #292
288 Park St.
Inspired By

Wendy’s #318
644 Riverdale St.
Inspired By

WILBRAHAM

Barone’s Landscaping
375 Mountain Road
Nicholas Barone

BJC Consulting
9 Whitford Place
Barry Christman

C & S Construction
9 Meadowview Road
Christian Mills

Trinity Health of New England Medical Group
70 Post Office Park
Carlos Martins

Departments Incorporations

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

AMHERST

Mass Landlord Education Inc., 11 Amity St., Amherst, MA 01002. Thea L. Costine, 131 Main St., Shelburne Falls, MA 01370. To provide education and assistance to individuals new to the business of being a landlord.

BERNARDSTON

Jim Whitney Plumbing & Heating Inc., 336 Huckle Hill Road, Bernardston, MA 01337. James D. Whitney, Same. Plumbing and heating.

CHICOPEE

Interstate Carriers Corp., 78 Robak Dr., Chicopee, MA 01020. Marina Biley, same. Vehicle transportation.

EGREMONT

Kifar Zaydee Corp., 196 Egremont Plain Road, Egremont, MA 01258. Peter Neustadter, same. Real estate rentals.

HAYDENVILLE

Massachusetts Families for College Success Inc., 2 Cole Road, Haydenville, MA 01039. Marc Kenen, Same. Educates the public about the need to increase the number of Massachusetts residents who attend and graduate from college.

SHELBURNE FALLS

Ksw Home & Building Services Inc., 4 Laurel St., Shelburne Falls, MA 01370. Kelly S. Warger, same. Construction.

SPRINGFIELD

L F Meat Food Market Corp., 89 Wilbraham Road, Springfield, MA 01109. Francisco Augusto Cabrera, 55-E Stavord, Springfield, MA 01109. Grocery store products.

Mad Max Transportation Inc., 46 Haumont Terrace, Springfield, MA 01104. Max Charvayev, same. Transportation.

WEST SPRINGFIELD

JC Charter Inc., 425 Union St., West Springfield, MA 01089. John H. Cookley, same. Passenger transportation.

WILBRHAM

Kao Services, P.C., 1225 Stony Hill Road, Wilbraham, MA 01095. Kathleen A. O’Malley, same. Legal services.

Company Notebook Departments

Webber & Grinnell Acquires Ross Insurance

NORTHAMPTON — Ross Insurance agency of Holyoke has been acquired by Webber and Grinnell Insurance Agency of Northampton. Maureen Ross O’Connell will continue to manage the Holyoke operation at 150 Lower Westfield Road in Holyoke under the name of Ross, Webber and Grinnell Insurance. Kevin Ross plans on retiring sometime over the next 18 months. “Ross Insurance is synonymous with community and trust,” said Bill Grinnell, president of Webber and Grinnell. “We are thrilled to have their staff joining our team and enabling us to serve clients across the entire Pioneer Valley. Kevin and Maureen are incredible insurance professionals, and I look forward to Maureen joining our ownership group.” Added Ross O’Connell, “we feel that we found the perfect partner to continue the Ross family legacy. Webber and Grinnell has a long history of generous community support and exceptional customer service.”

Westfield Bank to Open Liberty Street Office

SPRINGFIELD — Westfield Bank announced it will open a full-service branch office at 1342 Liberty St. in Springfield in July. When it opens, the Liberty Street office, which currently has a 24-hour ATM, will be operated as a full-service branch featuring lobby and drive-up banking, a drive-up ATM, and banking specialists trained to assist customers with business banking, residential mortgages, and investment and insurance services (via Westfield Financial Management Services). Construction is already underway, with renovations expected to be completed in late June or early July. Roberta Lussier, who currently oversees the bank’s Tower Square office, will also manage the Liberty Street office. Westfield Bank plans to celebrate the opening of the Liberty Street office with special events and promotions, which will be announced at a later date.

Spacelabs Invests $720,000 in UMass Center Nursing Program

SPRINGFIELD — Spacelabs Healthcare, a Snoqualmie, Wash.-based medical-equipment manufacturer, recently unveiled a $720,000 investment in the UMass Center at Springfield’s nursing laboratory. The state-of-the-art Spacelabs equipment includes two Sonicaid fetal/maternal monitors, ambulatory blood-pressure monitors, multiple nursing monitors, and invasive cardiac outputs that will benefit the UMass Amherst College of Nursing’s accelerated bachelor of science in nursing program, which serves as a pipeline for rained nurses into the region’s healthcare sector. The equipment will be primarily used by UMass Amherst nursing students in the accelerated program, which is based in Springfield.

Tighe & Bond Climbs in National Ranking

WESTFIELD — Tighe & Bond, a full-service engineering and environmental consulting firm, climbed 19 spots this year to No. 241 on Engineering News Record’s “2018 Top 500 Design Firms” ranking. In the past two years, Tighe & Bond climbed 34 spots as the firm continues to grow its regional market. The publication ranks its list of top 500 design firms nationally based on design-specific revenue from the previous year.

Valley Blue Sox Announce New Ownership

SPRINGFIELD — The Valley Blue Sox announced that Hadley native Fred Ciaglo has taken over the reins as team owner and president from the departing Clark Eckhoff. Ciaglo has been a long-time part of the Valley Blue Sox, hosting players for the past seven years and as a bench coach for the last four years. He has been involved with baseball in the Valley since he was able to throw a ball, playing at Hopkins Academy in Hadley and then at Springfield College, helping pitch the Pride to the 1986 Northeast-10 championship when the school competed in Division II athletics. Ciaglo was a staple of the Tri-County Baseball League for more than 20 years, twice winning the league’s Wes Carr Trophy for best pitcher. He has taught and coached at Hopkins Academy since graduating from Springfield, coaching boys and girls basketball as well as baseball over that time; in addition, he spent a decade as Hadley Youth Baseball’s coaching coordinator and on the board of directors for the Cal Ripken level. Vice President and General Manager Hunter Golden will stay on with the team and remain in his role. Also returning this season will be Manager John Raiola, who will return for his fourth season as head coach, as well as pitching coach Jim Woods. Joining the coaching staff, former Blue Sox player Hezekiah Randolph will serve as hitting coach for the team.

Country Bank Donates $15,000 to Domestic Violence Task Force

WARE — Country Bank announced that it recently donated $15,000 to the Ware River Valley Domestic Violence Task Force to support its continued commitment to helping those in need in the Quaboag Hills Region. “Country Bank’s donation has been the foundation of all local domestic-violence services at Valley Human Services of BHN Inc. in the Quaboag Hills,” said Jac Patrissi, director of Domestic Violence Services at Valley Human Services. “Their funds have been the seed money and remain the match for programs now supported by municipal, state, and federal dollars. We literally would not have our team preventing and responding to domestic violence in our region without Country Bank.”

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Reports 63% Increase in Q1 Earnings

BOSTON — Berkshire Hills Bancorp Inc. reported first-quarter 2018 net income of $25 million, a 63% increase over the 2017 first-quarter results of $15 million. This reflected the ongoing benefit of the company’s growth and expansion, together with the benefit of a lower federal tax rate resulting from federal tax reform. “We had a solid start to the year, delivering ongoing growth while integrating our new commerce operations,” CEO Michael Daly said. “With the benefit of greater efficiency, GAAP return on assets improved to 0.88%, and core return on assets improved to 1.04%. We expect continued momentum in the second quarter, where GAAP return on assets will improve to over 1.00% and core return on assets will improve to over 1.10%.” The board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.22 per common share to shareholders of record at the close of business on May 10, payable on May 24. The dividend equates to a 2.3% annualized yield based on the $37.88 average closing price of Berkshire Hills Bancorp common stock during the first quarter. The board also declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.44 per share for the preferred stock issued in conjunction with the Commerce acquisition, with the same record and payment dates as above. The quarterly common and preferred dividends were increased in the prior quarter by 5%.

Girls on the Run Nominated for Award

NORTHAMPTON — The Massachusetts Nonprofit Network (MNN) announced that Girls on the Run Western Massachusetts has been selected a finalist for the 2018 Nonprofit Excellence Award in the Small Nonprofit category. The Excellence Awards will be presented at the Massachusetts State House on Monday, June 4. The Small Nonprofit Excellence Award recognizes an organization making an outsized impact in its community despite limited resources. Girls on the Run inspires girls to be healthy, joyful, and confident, using an experiential, social-emotional curriculum that integrates running. In its third year of operation, Girls on the Run has 180 volunteer coaches, including teachers, parents, and community members operating at 54 school sites serving over 740 girls. To date, Girls on the Run has served more than 1,200 girls around Western Mass.

Chili Chocolate Chip Wins UMass Ice Cream Competition

AMHERST — The winning flavor in this year’s UMass Amherst student ice-cream competition is chili chocolate chip, as selected by judges in the fourth annual food-science event held on campus April 30. It will become the latest UMass student-created ice cream produced by Maple Valley Creamery of Hadley over the coming weeks, said owner Bruce Jenks. For the event, creamery staff, local chefs, and guest judges sampled original ice creams created by four teams of senior food-science majors vying for the honor of developing a new flavor for the UMass label. The three other entries in this spring’s competition were a butternut squash flavor with lemon zest, ginger, turmeric, and semi-sweet chocolate bits; a chocolate banana graham-cracker flavor; and a strawberry-basil flavor with dark chocolate pieces. The strawberry-basil, dubbed ‘summer blush’ by its creators, won the audience’s vote for best flavor, and Jenks said he may make a seasonal batch of it in the summer. Members of the winning chili chocolate chip team are Marina Gela, Gina Grimaldi, Rachael Montigny, Joshua Liao, Erica Snyder, and Jozxelle Tongson.

ESE Donates $240,000 to Big E/West Springfield Trust Fund

WEST SPRINGFIELD — Eastern States Exposition President and CEO Eugene Cassidy presented a donation of $240,198 to the Big E/West Springfield Trust Fund in a ceremony held at Town Hall on April 18. The amount, the largest to date since the fund’s inception in 1994, represents 1% of the Exposition’s gross revenues for 2017. Including this year’s gift, exposition contributions now total $3,999,669. During the presentation of this year’s check, Cassidy pledged a personal donation of $331 to bring the total to an even $4 million. Trustees of the fund are West Springfield Mayor William Reichelt, Cassidy, and Attorney Mary Paier Powers. Grants in 2017 totaled more than $63,209 for 15 town organizations, schools, sports teams, and more.

Arrha Credit Union Awards Five Scholarships

SPRINGFIELD — Arrha Credit Union recently awarded five $1,000 scholarships to area students based on scholastic merit and civic achievement. To be eligible for the Anthony J. Serafino Scholarship, recipients must demonstrate scholastic achievement, be a high-school senior, be a member of Arrha or a student whose parent is a member, be active in extracurricular activities and community endeavors, and intend to attend a two-year or four-year degree-granting college or university. The 2018 recipients are A’Shaela Chaires from Williston Northampton School, Kimberly McLeod from Longmeadow High School, Patricia Moriarty from Phillips Exeter Academy, Owen Serafino from West Springfield High School, and Tamra Zippin from Minnechaug Regional High School. In addition to the scholarships, each student was given $100 to open an account with a debit card to jump-start their financial future on a positive note. “We wish each of our recipients the best of luck with their educational endeavors,” said Michael Ostrowski, president and CEO of Arrha Credit Union.

Departments People on the Move
Moira Maguire

Moira Maguire

Holyoke Community College recently welcomed Moira Maguire as its new dean of Social Sciences. Maguire most recently served as dean of Liberal Arts at Schenectady County Community College in New York. Before that, she spent 12 years as a professor of history at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock, where she was a tenured faculty member and served as a department chair and course coordinator. She holds a Ph.D. in history from American University, a master’s degree in history from Northeastern University, and a bachelor’s degree in political science and history from George Washington University. As a teacher and scholar specializing in 20th-century Irish history, Maguire spent more than 10 years at the University of Ireland Maynooth, where her research on infanticide and the Irish government’s care of unwed mothers and their children led to many articles and a book, Cherished Equally? Precarious Childhood in Independent Ireland. She has also worked as a consultant for the BBC on documentaries related to her research. As dean of Social Science, she will oversee six academic departments: Education, Criminal Justice, Human Services, Critical Cultural Studies (Economics, Geography, History, Philosophy, Political Science, and Women’s Studies), Psychology, and Sociology/Anthropology.

•••••

Sonya Stephens, the acting president of Mount Holyoke College, has been named the college’s 19th president, effective July 1. The Mount Holyoke College board of trustees announced its decision to appoint Stephens on April 23 after an extensive presidential selection process that began in January. A formal inauguration will be held in September. The decision was unanimous. Stephens was made acting president in July 2016. During her tenure, she has overseen the implementation of the Plan for Mount Holyoke 2021 and been focused on ensuring the college’s long-term financial stability. Other key efforts include the creation of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiative, which led to the annual BOOM! (Building on Our Momentum) learning conference and to the hiring of the college’s first chief diversity officer. Stephens led the development of the college’s comprehensive self-study for re-accreditation by the New England Assoc. of Schools and Colleges, and launched the Community Center construction and the opening of the Dining Commons. She is also overseeing the college’s commitment to reach carbon neutrality by its bicentennial in 2037.

•••••

Elissa Langevin

Elissa Langevin

Lee McCarthy

Lee McCarthy

Shelley Daughdrill

Shelley Daughdrill

Lori Jarrett

Lori Jarrett

Celia Alvarado

Celia Alvarado

Alicia Pare

Alicia Pare

Florence Bank has promoted three employees to oversee the management of branches within their designated regions. Elissa Langevin has been named vice president and area manager for the bank’s main office in Florence, Lee McCarthy will serve as vice president and area manager for the King Street office in Northampton, Shelley Daughdrill and will hold the role of vice president and area manager for the Belchertown branch. Langevin is a 10-year employee of Florence Bank. Formerly, she was vice president and branch manager of the main office in Florence. During her tenure at the bank, Langevin has been the recipient of Florence Bank’s Community Service Award, which provides recognition to employees who are actively involved in community organizations. She serves as the current treasurer of the Belchertown Day School and has served as a board member for Junior Achievement of Western Massachusetts. She has also served as board member and president of the East of the River Five Town Chamber of Commerce. McCarthy is a 15-year employee of Florence Bank. Formerly, she was vice president and branch manager of the King Street office. During her tenure at the bank, McCarthy has served as consumer lending officer and branch manager. She is a volunteer for the United Way of Hampshire County and serves on its Community Allocation Committee. In 2015, she was recognized by the United Way as an honoree for the Community Champion Award, presented to a community member who has made a significant contribution to the organization’s mission of creating positive and lasting change in Hampshire County. Daughdrill is a 12-year employee of Florence Bank. Formerly, she served as vice president and branch manager of the Amherst and Belchertown offices. She has been the recipient of the bank’s President’s Award and Community Service Award. She is a board member, attendance chair, and auction committee member for the Amherst Rotary Club, and she also serves on the development committee for the Amherst Survival Center. Meanwhile, Florence Bank has also hired three new employees to serve in various positions. Lori Jarrett will serve as assistant controller in the Finance Department in the main office in Florence, Celia Alvarado was named portfolio officer/commercial loan origination, and Alicia Pare was named to the position of cash management relationship officer. Jarrett holds a master’s degree in accounting from Western New England University. She volunteers for area nonprofits, including Riverside Industries, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County, and Safe Passage, and she runs in the Apple-a-Day 5K, which benefits the elementary schools of Easthampton. Alvarado joined Florence Bank in February with nearly 10 years of banking experience. She currently studies at the New England College of Business, where she’s working on a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance. She volunteers for Junior Achievement of Western Massachusetts and has served on its board in the past. Pare earned a bachelor’s degree in business management from Assumption College in Worcester. In 2014, she received Florence Bank’s prestigious President’s Club Award, an annual tradition that recognizes outstanding performance, customer service, and overall contribution to Florence Bank.

•••••

Mark Fuller, current dean and Thomas O’Brien Endowed Chair at Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst, has been appointed the new vice chancellor for Development and Alumni Relations by UMass Amherst Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy. Fuller will succeed Michael Leto, who announced his upcoming retirement last fall. As the university’s chief advancement officer, Fuller will serve on the chancellor’s leadership team and be responsible for short- and long-term plans to improve private support as well as cultivate strong relationships with UMass alumni and supporters. UMass Amherst, the Commonwealth’s flagship campus, has more than 200,000 living alumni. Fuller has led UMass’s Isenberg School of Management since 2009. Under Fuller’s leadership, Isenberg has generated a four-fold increase in annual gift performance since 2010; received a $10 million endowment to create the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship; increased student giving ten-fold; secured private support for the new, $62 million Business Innovation Wing; and created 12 new endowed faculty positions. Prior to coming to UMass Amherst, Fuller was a professor and chair of the Department of Information Systems and holder of the Philip L. Kays Distinguished Professorship in Management Information Systems at Washington State University. He received his master’s degree in management and his Ph.D. in management information systems from the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management. His research focuses on virtual teamwork, technology-supported learning, and trust and efficacy in technology-mediated environments. Prior to Washington State, Fuller was an associate professor at the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University.

•••••

Maureen “Maura” Guzik

Maureen “Maura” Guzik

Casey Cusson

Casey Cusson

Erin Tautznik

Erin Tautznik

Janet Rosenkranz

Janet Rosenkranz

Michael Tucker, president and CEO of Greenfield Cooperative Bank, announced one new hire as well as three promotions. Maureen “Maura” Guzik joined Greenfield Cooperative Bank as vice president, Commercial Loans. She will be responsible for developing new commercial business in Hampshire County with the Northampton Cooperative division of the bank. She will be based in the bank’s Triangle Street branch in Amherst. She has more than 34 years of commercial banking experience. Guzik is a board member of the Northwestern District Attorney’s Children Advocacy Center and chairperson of the Belchertown Council on Aging. She is also active with the Amherst Area and Greater Northampton chambers of commerce. She earned her bachelor’s degree from St. Anselm’s College and her MBA from American International College. Casey Cusson has been promoted to assistant vice president and branch manager of the bank’s Shelburne Falls location. He has more than 15 years of management experience and joined Greenfield Cooperative Bank in June 2017. He is a board member on the Shelburne Falls Area Business Assoc. He earned his bachelor’s degree in business from UMass Amherst and will attend the New England School of Banking at Babson College beginning in May. Erin Tautznik was promoted to branch officer. With more than 13 years of banking experience, she is responsible for managing the bank’s 67 King St., Northampton office. She joined Northampton Cooperative Bank in 2004 and has attended Holyoke Community College and numerous banking seminars and courses. She is also a volunteer with the JFK Middle School’s after-school program. Janet Rosenkranz, credit officer, has additionally been named the Credit Department manager, and is now responsible for the bank’s Credit Department staff and coordinating its activities. She joined the bank in 2016 and has more than 18 years of experience in banking. She is a volunteer with the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. She received her bachelor’s degree at UMass Amherst and will attend the National School of Banking at the Wharton School beginning in June.

•••••

Brian Kapitulik has accepted the position of dean of Business, Information Technology, Professional Studies, and Social Sciences at Greenfield Community College (GCC). “After a thorough search, we were excited to offer the position of dean to Brian,” said Catherine Seaver, chief Academic Affairs officer. Kapitulik has 18 years of professional experience in the Massachusetts public higher-education system and, in particular, during the last decade, in community college. Before his current role, he was chair of the Department of Social Sciences and professor of Sociology at GCC. He has also taught at UMass Amherst and Quinsigamond Community College. During this time, he evaluated and developed curriculum, assessed and reviewed programs, created new courses, and hired and mentored new faculty, all while teaching students, publishing papers, organizing professional-development workshops in his field, and serving the college in a number of leadership capacities ranging from search committees to faculty mentor for online pedagogy.

•••••

The Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts’ newly launched arts initiative, ValleyCreates, announced the appointment of five community advisors to support the initiative’s core mission to address underserved communities’ access to arts and culture funding and resources. Gina Beavers, Arts and Culture editor for the Valley Advocate, will serve as a liaison to arts and culture organizations in Hampshire and Hampden counties. Vanessa Pabón-Hernandez, director of Community Engagement and Education for WGBY, will serve as the initiative’s liaison to arts organizations in Hampden County. Matthew Glassman, co-artistic director ensemble of Double Edge Theater in Ashfield, will serve as a liaison to rural arts and culture organizations with a focus on Franklin County. Rosemary Tracy Woods, executive director and chief curator of the nonprofit Art for the Soul Gallery in Springfield, will serve as the ValleyCreates events curator. Finally, Kent Alexander will serve as the initiative’s diversity, equity, and inclusion facilitator. He brings with him years of experience conducting anti-racism and social-justice-focused workshops for various local organizations. Each community advisor will contribute up to eight hours per month for one year and will receive a stipend. ValleyCreates is supported by the Barr Foundation, through the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts’ participation in the Creative Commonwealth Initiative.

•••••

Jeanne Hardy, associate professor of Chemistry, whose research focuses on a key protein linked to neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, is being recognized with the inaugural Mahoney Life Sciences Prize at UMass Amherst. A panel of expert judges from the life-sciences sector observed that the “biomedical implications are significant” and “this could turn out to be one of ‘the’ pivotal studies in the effort to combat Alzheimer’s.” Hardy will receive the prize and present her research with life-sciences experts and UMass officials and scientists at a breakfast ceremony on Tuesday, June 19 at the UMass Club in Boston. Established by UMass Amherst alumni Richard, Robert, and William Mahoney, the $10,000 prize is intended to recognize scientists from the university’s College of Natural Sciences whose work significantly advances connections between research and industry. The prize will be awarded annually to one faculty member who is the principal author of a peer-reviewed paper about original research. Eligible papers can be on any topic in the life sciences that focuses on new research with translatable applications to industry and society. Hardy’s research paper, “Multiple Proteolytic Events in Caspase-6 Self-activation Impacts Conformations of Discrete Structural Regions,” was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in September 2017.

•••••

Baystate Franklin Medical Center announced that two interim leaders have accepted permanent positions at the community hospital. Ron Bryant has been named president, Baystate Franklin Medical Center/Northern Region, in addition to his continued role as president, Baystate Noble Hospital. Deb Provost has been named chief nursing officer and chief administrative officer, Baystate Franklin Medical Center/Northern Region, in addition to her continued role as chief regulatory officer, Baystate Health. Both have been serving in these roles in an interim capacity. Since Bryant’s interim appointment in January, he has held many open forums focusing on employee engagement and the need for a strong collaborative culture, advancing system integration and re-emphasizing the health system’s mission from a patient and employee perspective. Provost has been serving in the interim role of vice president of Patient Care Services and chief nursing officer at Baystate Franklin since November. Since her appointment, she has worked collaboratively with Baystate Franklin Medical Center’s leaders and team members to help ensure safe, high-quality care to the residents of Franklin County. Provost has been with Baystate Health for 41 years and has served as vice president, Surgery and Anesthesia and as interim chief nursing officer at Baystate Medical Center.

Chamber Corners Departments

1BERKSHIRE

www.1berkshire.com

(413) 499-1600

• May 16: Chamber Nite & BYP Networking Social, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Dalton Union, 395 Main St., Dalton. Join us for our joint May Chamber Nite and BYP Social at Union Block in downtown Dalton with participating businesses: Hot Harry’s, Berkshire Dream Home, Therapeutic Massage & Wellness, Academy Mortgage Corp., Horace Mann Insurance, McMahon & Vigeant, P.C., Wheeler & Taylor Insurance, Dalton Restaurant, New England Dynamark Security, and 2 Flights Up Dance & Game Studio. Cost: free. Register online at www.1berkshire.com.

GREATER CHICOPEE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.chicopeechamber.org

(413) 594-2101

• May 16: Salute Breakfast, 7:15-9 a.m., at Munich Haus, 13 Center St., Chicopee. Chief greeter: Chicopee Mayor Richard Kos. Keynote Speaker: Kim Kenney-Rockwal, Elms MBA. Sponsored by United Personnel, Westfield Bank, Holyoke Medical Center, Polish National Credit Union, Gaudreau Group, Sunshine Village, Spherion Staffing Services, and PeoplesBank. Cost: $23 for members, $28 for non-members. Sign up online at chicopeechamber.org/events.

• May 18: Chicopee Chamber of Commerce Annual Golf Tournament, 10 a.m. shotgun start, hosted by Chicopee Country Club, 1290 Burnett Road, Chicopee. Presented by Polish National Credit Union. Sponsored by Gaudreau Group, First American Insurance Agency Inc., Westfield Bank, Holyoke Medical Center, Poly-Plating Inc., N. Riley Construction, Hampton Inn, Residence Inn of Chicopee, Tru by Hilton, and Health New England. Cost: $125 per golfer, $500 per team of four, and/or $20 golfer package that includes 25 raffle tickets and one mulligan. Sign up online at chicopeechamber.org/events.

• May 31: Sunshine Soiree, a multi-chamber networking event, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Sunshine Village, 75 Litwin Lane, Chicopee. The event will feature complimentary hors d’oeuvres, wine, and beer. Register in advance for this free event online at springfieldyps.com.

GREATER EASTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.easthamptonchamber.org

(413) 527-9414

• May 24: Chamber on the Vine, 5:30-8:30 p.m., a wine-tasting event hosted by Glendale Ridge Vineyard, 155 Glendale Road, Southampton. Taste wine, enjoy local food, and listen to the music of Trailer Trash. Cost: $20 to enjoy the music, $30 to taste the wine. Pre-registration is a must. For more information, visit www.easthamptonchamber.org or call (413) 527-9414.

• June 14: Networking by Night, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Fort Hill Brewery, 30 Fort Hill Road, Easthampton. Sponsored by Oxbow Ski Show Team and Tandem Bagel. Food and door prizes will be available. Pre-registration is suggested. Cost: $10 for members, $15 for non-members. For more information, visit www.easthamptonchamber.org or call the chamber office at (413) 527-9414.

• June 27: Speaker Breakfast 2018, 7:30-9 a.m., hosted and sponsored by Williston Northampton School, 19 Payson Ave., Easthampton. Keynote speaker Kate Harrington, Human Resource manager for Smith College, will speak on “Hiring the Right Fit.” She will help attendees understand how to develop a diverse applicant pool, know what questions to ask, and recognize what questions to avoid. She will also point out what to look for in a great employee and how to watch for bias. Cost: $25 for members, $30 for non-members. Pre-registration is suggested. For more information, visit www.easthamptonchamber.org or call the chamber office at (413) 527-9414.

GREATER HOLYOKE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.holyokechamber.com

(413) 534-3376

• May 16: Chamber After Hours, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Holyoke Hummus, 285 High St., Holyoke. Meet up with your business associates for a little networking while hosts John and Dawn whip up some munchies. Cost: $10 for members, $15 for non-members. Feel free to bring a door prize. Sign up online at holyokechamber.com.

• May 23: Leadership Holyoke Information Session, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Holyoke Community College, Frost Building, Room 309, 303 Homestead Ave., Holyoke. Join the Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce and Holyoke Community College for a free information session for Leadership Holyoke 2018-19. The program is designed for emerging leaders within in the community to sharpen their skills, meet local leaders, and more.

GREATER NORTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.explorenorthampton.com

(413) 584-1900

• May 17: Workshop: “Microsoft Excel Tips, Tricks & Shortcuts,” 9-11 a.m., hosted by Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce, 99 Pleasant St., Northampton. Presented by Pioneer Training. This workshop will present our favorite tips, tricks, and shortcuts we have collected and developed over 20 years of teaching and using Microsoft Excel. Participants are encouraged to bring laptops and follow along with the instructor, but this is not required. Cost: $35 for members, $45 for non-members. Pre-registration required at goo.gl/forms/pX8YUuC25YdMsLjD2.

• June 6: June Arrive @ 5, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Glendale Ridge Vineyard, 155 Glendale Road, Southampton. Sponsored by Northeast Solar, MassDevelopment, and Kuhn Riddle Architects. A networking event. Cost: $10 for members.

• June 21: Workshop: “Microsoft Word: Advanced Tips, Tricks & Shortcuts,” 9-11 a.m., hosted by Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce, 99 Pleasant St., Northampton. Presented by Pioneer Training. This workshop will go beyond the basics and explore some of Word’s more advanced features. Cost: $35 for members, $45 for non-members. Space is limited, and pre-registration is required at goo.gl/forms/pX8YUuC25YdMsLjD2.

SOUTH HADLEY & GRANBY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.shgchamber.com

(413) 532-6451

• May 21: After 5 at the Ledges Golf Course, 5-6:30 p.m., hosted by the Ledges, 18 Mulligan Dr., South Hadley. An evening of networking with other community business leaders while overlooking the Connecticut River Valley and Mount Tom across the way. Sponsored by the Ledges Golf Course. Cost: $10 for members, $15 for non-members. Pre-register by May 15 by contacting Sara Lawrence at (413) 532-6451 or [email protected].

• June 1: Annual Legislative Breakfast, 7:30-9 a.m., hosted by the Orchards Golf Club, 18 Silverwood Terrace, South Hadley. Meet with our town and state legislators, who will talk about the hot issues upcoming for the rest of the year. More details to come. By reservation only at [email protected].

SPRINGFIELD REGIONAL CHAMBER

www.springfieldregionalchamber.com

(413) 787-1555

• May 15: C-Suite Conversations & Cocktails, 5-7 p.m., hosted by CityStage, One Columbus Center, Springfield. Exclusive members-only event. Cost: $25 for members ($30 at the door). Reservations may be made at www.springfieldregionalchamber.com, [email protected], or (413) 755-1310.

• May 31: Sunshine Soirée with the Springfield Regional Chamber, the Greater Chicopee Chamber, and YPS, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Sunshine Village, 75 Litwin Lane, Chicopee. Reservations may be made at www.springfieldregionalchamber.com, [email protected], or (413) 755-1310.

WEST OF THE RIVER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.ourwrc.com

(413) 426-3880

• May 17: Networking Lunch, noon, hosted by Springfield Country Club, 1375 Elm St., West Springfield. Must be a member or guest of a member to attend. Enjoy a sit-down lunch while networking with fellow chamber members. Each attendee will get a chance to offer a brief intro and company overview. The only cost to attend is the cost of your lunch if you are a member. Non-member fee: $10. Attendees will order off the menu and pay separately that day. We cannot invoice you for these events. Register at www.westoftheriverchamber.com.

May 22: Job Fair 2018, 3-6 p.m., hosted by Storrowton Tavern/Carriage House, 1305 Memorial Ave., West Springfield. West Springfield and Agawam businesses, along with other employment opportunities, will be showcased. This event is free and open to the public. To be a participating vendor, register online at www.westoftheriverchamber.com.

YOUNG PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY OF GREATER SPRINGFIELD

springfieldyps.com

• May 18: Adult Field Day, 2-5 p.m., Irish Cultural Center, West Springfield, hosted by the Irish Cultural Center, 429 Morgan Road, West Springfield. Adult Field Day is a throwback to elementary school, created with adults in mind. Friends and co-workers will relive their glory days while playing classic games, as well as a few new surprises. For more information, visit springfieldyps.com.

Court Dockets Departments

The following is a compilation of recent lawsuits involving area businesses and organizations. These are strictly allegations that have yet to be proven in a court of law. Readers are advised to contact the parties listed, or the court, for more information concerning the individual claims.

CHICOPEE DISTRICT COURT

Ronald J. Grandbois v. Bailey J. Jones and Alert Ambulance Service Inc.

Allegation: Negligence; vehicle owned by Alert Ambulance Service collided with plaintiff’s vehicle, causing injury: $8,694.57

Filed: 4/20/18

HAMPDEN DISTRICT COURT

American Builders & Construction Supply Co. Inc. d/b/a ABC Supply Co. Inc. v. David Kimball a/k/a David L. Kimball d/b/a Coastal Custom Remodeling

Allegation: Money owed for goods sold and delivered: $13,396.48

Filed: 4/6/18

Brandon Prior, a minor, by his father and next friend, Dennis Prior, v. Shawn McEwen, a minor, by his father and next friend, Brandon McEwen, and New England Fitness & Wellness, LLC

Allegation: Negligence; plaintiff struck by yoga ball at Healthtrax facility during hockey camp, causing injury: $4,120.95

Filed: 4/12/18

HAMPDEN SUPERIOR COURT

Carol Burns v. Medcare Emergency Health

Allegation: Negligence causing injury: $2 million

Filed: 3/23/18

US LBM Holdings, LLC d/b/a East Haven Builders Supply v. Whitman Restoration Inc. and Claude Whitman

Allegation: Breach of contract; money owed for construction materials sold and delivered: $22,914.23

Filed: 3/29/18

Gregory Heffernan v. Automatic Equipment Manufacturing Co. d/b/a Blue Ox, Diamond RV Centre Inc., and Keller Marine Service Inc.

Allegation: Product liability; plaintiff injured while unhooking trailer hitch from RV: $1 million

Filed: 3/30/18

Herman P. Cumby v. 110 Island Pond Road, LLC d/b/a Nathan Bill’s EFP Bar and Restaurant, et al

Allegation: Negligence causing injury: $1.1 million

Filed: 4/6/18

Jackie Ligon v. Nathan Bill’s Bar & Restaurant and John Robert Sullivan

Allegation: Negligence causing injury: $101,000

Filed: 4/6/18

Jozelle Ligon v. Nathan Bill’s Bar & Restaurant and John Robert Sullivan

Allegation: Negligence causing injury: $101,650

Filed: 4/6/18

Michael Cintron v. Nathan Bill’s Bar & Restaurant and John Robert Sullivan

Allegation: Negligence causing injury: $101,000

Filed: 4/6/18

Ryan P. McConnell p/p/a Paul R. McConnell v. Town of Wilbraham and Hampden-Wilbraham County Regional School District

Allegation: Negligence; loose concrete capstone on brick support at Mile Tree Elementary School fell and struck plaintiff, causing injury: $150,000

Filed: 4/6/18

Paula Click v. Walmart

Allegation: Negligence; slip and fall causing injury: $32,945

Filed: 4/6/18

HAMPSHIRE DISTRICT COURT

W.B. Mason Co. Inc. v. Veracruz Foods Inc. d/b/a La Veracruzana

Allegation: Money owed for goods sold and delivered: $11,552.13

Filed: 4/16/18

HAMPSHIRE SUPERIOR COURT

DAS Property Group, LLC v. The Antiquarian, LLC

Allegation: Breach of lease: $73,965

Filed: 4/10/18

Country Bank for Savings v. Big Y Foods Inc.

Allegation: Breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, breach of contract: $25,000+

Filed: 4/19/18

WESTFIELD DISTRICT COURT

John Nadolski v. Michael J. Bisgrove d/b/a Bisgrove Construction

Allegation: Defendant damaged equipment rented from plaintiff and failed to pay for damage: $7,967

Filed: 3/14/18

40 Under 40 Class of 2018

Project Manager, Associate, Tighe & Bond Inc.; Age 36; Education: BS, MS, UMass Amherst

Tiffany Labrie

Tiffany Labrie

Labrie manages planning-, design-, and construction-phase services for water and wastewater conveyance and treatment projects at Tighe & Bond, a 107-year-old engineering and environmental-services consulting firm. She has a bachelor’s degree in civil/environmental engineering and a master’s degree in environmental engineering, both from UMass Amherst. She is the clerk of the Southampton Planning Board and serves on the Civil/Environmental Engineering Department Advisory Council at UMass Amherst. Labrie lives in Southampton with her husband, Jason, her daughters, Natalie and Robyn, and her rescue dogs, Amelia and Coco.

What are you passionate about? I have many passions. I guess that’s why I am always saying I need more hours in the day. I am passionate about my work and providing high-integrity, practical solutions to my clients’ challenges. I am passionate about my alma mater, and its thriving Civil Engineering program that now enrolls more than twice as many students as when I was there, and is now more students’ first-choice school rather than their backup.

I am passionate about being a good mom and trying my best to balance quality time with my daughters, with teaching them what a mom can do in her professional career. I love watching my girls find their passions — dancing and doing gymnastics, riding their bikes, and playing in the mud.

I am passionate about serving the community. I am passionate about paying it forward. I love the Distinguished Young Women of Greater Easthampton program, which provides scholarship money and teaches life skills to high-school junior girls. I love Help Our Kids Inc., which provides everything from duffel bags and books to gymnastics classes to Springfield-area children in foster care. Help Our Kids also puts on an annual event called Fitting for the Future, which provides Springfield-area foster teens with formal and business wear for those important events in high school, such as graduation and prom.

Finally, I love dogs, and I wish I could adopt all the dogs needing homes. Someday, I hope to train to be a therapy team with one or more of my dogs.


Photography by Leah Martin Photography

Features

The Trickle-down Effect

Rebeca Merigian, here with her son, Andrew Takorian

Rebeca Merigian, here with her son, Andrew Takorian, expects Park Cleaners’ contract with MGM to perhaps double the company’s current volume of business.

Rebeca Merigian says the slip was found, and promptly given to her, many years ago by a long-time customer, a description she quickly categorized as an obvious understatement.

Indeed, the date at the top is 1940, and thus this item, now displayed under glass, is a time capsule as much as it is a pick-up slip for a two-piece suit.

Start with the phone number at the top; there are just five digits because that’s all that were needed back then (ask your mother; actually, make that your grandmother). The name of the company was Park Cleaners & Dyers Inc. (the ‘& Dyers’ was dropped a long time ago because those services were discontinued). The address is Kensington Avenue in Springfield (the company moved to Allen Street in 1955). Even the slogan is different; back then it was ‘Dry cleaning as it should be done.’ Now, it’s ‘Family-owned and operated since 1935. We appreciate your business.’

Yes, much has changed since Edward Takorian, an Armenian who somehow escaped the genocide of 1915 and came to this country soon thereafter, went into business for himself.

There have been many ups and downs, said Merigian, Takorian’s great-granddaughter, who started working in the business on Saturdays when she was 9 and bought it from her mother three years ago. She noted that the company was started at the height of the Great Depression and has endured many other downturns over the next eight decades, and also the early death of her father. Not so long ago, there were more than 20 people working here; now there are four, including Merigian’s son and nephew.

But that number will be rising soon, thanks to what would have to be one of the biggest developments since that suit was picked up a year before the U.S. entered World War II — a contract with MGM Springfield, the $960 million resort casino that will open in about four months.

Park Cleaners has been awarded a contract to clean the uniforms for all 3,000 employees at the casino, and for the dry-cleaning of hotel guests and the MGM Springfield management team as well. Merigian couldn’t put a dollar figure on the contract, but she could certainly put it into perspective.

“I’m hoping that this will double our business,” she told BusinessWest, adding that the contract could give her the means to perhaps double the current workforce and pay the kind of benefits that are currently beyond the company’s reach. “My goal from this is to be able to provide health insurance for my employees who have been with through a lot of the challenges; I want to give back to them and provide more benefits and incentives so we can grow.”

Several other area businesses now have contracts with MGM or are in the process of finalizing one. Most will not be as life-changing as the one received by Park Cleaners, but they are all significant in some way.

Nick Noblit

Nick Noblit says the contract with MGM gives Yankee Mattress a new top line for its deep list of clients.

Take Agawam-based Yankee Mattress, for example. The company was originally asked to supply mattresses for all the rooms in MGM’s Springfield hotel, an order that Nick Noblit, the company’s general manager, admitted was too big to handle at this time. But the company will make California kings for the larger, high-roller suites, an assignment that will give the company additional business and some hopefully effective marketing material.

Meanwhile, Holyoke-based Kittredge Equipment Co. has secured one of the bigger contracts — this one to provide kitchen appliances and supplies to the many businesses that will do business at the casino.

There have been other contracts signed, and there will be many more agreements inked in the weeks to come as the countdown to the grand opening continues, said Courtney Wenleder, vice president and chief financial officer for MGM Springfield. She told BusinessWest that, as part of its host-community agreement, the company is required to apportion a percentage of its receivables to local companies.

But the company is striving to do more than just meet that obligation, she said, adding that MGM is looking to take the company’s philosophy regarding diversity and apply it to its vendor list. And this translates into extending opportunities to women (Kittredge is also woman-owned), minorities, and small businesses in general.

“MGM has a commitment to diversity and partnering with local vendors,” she explained. “It’s all about building the community together; there’s a symbiotic relationship — if the community does well, we do well, and vice versa.”

For this issue, BusinessWest looks at how the trickle-down effect from MGM Springfield, which began with local contractors taking part in the construction of the complex, is gathering momentum in the form of contracts to supply everything from knives and forks to marketing services. And while doing that, we’ll also shine a spotlight on some intriguing local businesses that have, by and large, flown under the radar.

The Rest of the Story

Wenleder told BusinessWest that many factors go into MGM’s decisions about which vendors to do business with and what might give a certain enterprise an edge over whatever competition emerges.

They range from quality of service and customer satisfaction, obviously, to whether, as noted, the business is minority- or women-owned. But there are some intangibles, and sometimes a little luck, that comes into play.

To get that point across, she relayed the story about how MGM Springfield now rents several apartments downtown, and they’re used, among other things, to house company executives visiting Springfield for extended stays.

Kittredge Equipment Co. owner Wendy Webber, left, with sales representative Amanda Desautels

Kittredge Equipment Co. owner Wendy Webber, left, with sales representative Amanda Desautels. The company will supply MGM Springfield with everything from appliances to glassware.

MGM CEO William Hornbuckle is one of these executives, and on one of his stays, he slept so soundly and comfortably that he took note of the label on his mattress (Yankee), later commented to those at MGM Springfield’s headquarters about his experience, and essentially initiated steps that would eventually lead to the company getting a contract.

“Bill commented about what a great night’s sleep he had on that mattress, and that pretty much secured their position,” Wenleder recalled with a laugh, adding that it wasn’t all that simple, but that bit of serendipity certainly got the ball rolling.

And the mattress contract serves as a good example of how MGM is trying to do business locally when it can and when it’s appropriate, said MGM Springfield General Manager Alex Dixon.

He noted, as Wenleder did, that there are times when MGM will simply add the Springfield casino to some existing contracts it has in place to provide certain products and services to the company’s existing properties.

Playing cards and dice would be good examples of this, he said, adding that MGM already has manufacturers providing those products. And, for the most part, there is no local company that makes such items.

But even with those products, there may be some opportunities for local businesses, he went on, noting, for example, that most playing cards are destroyed soon after they’re used, and MGM Springfield will use a local company to handle that work.

“We want to recognize what’s available in the local market and then tailor our supply chain to match what is happening in the local community,” he said while describing the company’s broad mindset when it comes to vendors.

Overall, MGM has a process in place when it comes to vendors, said Dixon, adding that the company actively solicits information from companies interested in doing business with it. The owners and managers of such ventures are invited to attend outreach events (they’re posted on the MGM Springfield website, for example), and through such events, companies become part of a database the company refers to when it needs specific products or services.

“Whenever there’s a business need, we want to find out if there are vendors, preferably local, who can help us to fulfill those needs — that’s step one,” he explained. “But informally, being members of the community, you really develop relationships.

“It’s no longer ‘hey there’s this great local brewer,’” he went on, while explaining how these relationships are created. “Now it’s ‘that’s Ray Berry from White Lion; maybe there’s an opportunity there.’”

In other words, familiarity breeds opportunity, and examples abound of how companies ranging from local caterers and computer hardware providers have come onto MGM Springfield’s radar screen — and are now doing business with the company.

The contract with Yankee Mattress is a good example of this phenomenon at work, said Dixon, confirming that the company was first presented with a proposal to furnish every room in its hotel now taking shape on Main Street.

But Noblet said such a large order would have necessitated additional hiring and other steps the company wasn’t ready to take.

But the contract to supply mattresses for the larger suites is a welcome addition and positive development for the Agawam-based company, which has been gaining traction in recent years as word-of-mouth referrals about its products proliferate.

This is another family business, started by Nick’s father, Joe, who is still active in the venture. The elder Noblit worked for a major mattress manufacturer for several years before deciding he could make a better product, and at a lower price, himself. And he did.

Yankee was launched in 1999, and it has grown and evolved other the years, said Noblit, adding that it started with a storefront and adjacent assembly area in Agawam, and now has four stores in the region.

Those outlets carry a host of lines with those huge tags that are supposedly illegal to rip off, including the top-of-line Black Collection, with models including the York, Fairhaven, Merrimac, and Nantucket.

There is a strong residential component to the customer base, obviously, said Noblit, but also many commercial clients as well, including several area B&Bs, hotels, and inns, as well as some healthcare providers, a few private schools, and a host of area fire departments.

“We custom-build those to be stronger than average — because there are some big firefighters out there and it’s important for them to have something durable,” he explained, adding that word of mouth has been the best marketing tool when it comes to adding new lines to the customer list on the company’s website.

If one were to peruse that list, the name now at the very top is MGM Resorts International, an indication of how important this contract is, not size-wise, but from a marketing and branding standpoint.

“Most hotels have a contract with a major manufacturer, and across the board, they do business with this manufacturer, and they make all of their beds,” he explained. “So for MGM to consider someone outside these big manufacturers that are nationwide, that’s significant.”

Buying Power

But if MGM Springfield found Yankee Mattress thanks to Bill Horbuckle’s good night’s sleep, most of the other vendors have had to find the casino giant.

And ‘find’ means going through a process of introducing one’s company to MGM Springfield through one of a number of vendor meet-and-greets, for lack of a better term, that the company has staged, including one at last fall’s Western Mass. Business and Innovation Expo, staged by BusinessWest.

Courtney Wenleder

Courtney Wenleder says there’s a symbiotic relationship between MGM and local vendors; when they do well, the casino operator does well, and vice versa.

Through these outreach sessions, MGM is making it much easier for companies to find it, said Wenleder, adding that MGM Springfield has a three-person purchasing team (a manager and two assistants), and one of their primary responsibilities is to go out into the community and find local vendors.

“Even though we’ve been doing a lot of communication with people when it comes to local purchasing requirements, some people aren’t hearing that message,” she explained. “We have people on the ground physically reaching out to these vendors.”

Merigian said she started attending such outreach sessions not long after MGM was granted the Western Mass. license in 2014, recognizing the casino as a rare business opportunity.

“I had my sights on it from the beginning,” she told BusinessWest. You never know how it’s going to work out with companies renting their own uniforms or owning them, but either way, I knew I would like to be part of it.”

So much so that she took steps to become a certified woman-owned business, understanding from those very first meetings that MGM had a strong interest in doing business with businesses led by women and minorities.

There would be more meetings to come over the next few years, she went on, adding that these sessions were beneficial on many levels.

“It really gets you tuned into your business,” she said, using that phrase to indicate everything from capabilities to long-term goals to what it will take to reach them. “It was an educational experience on many levels.”

The volume of work is large — most all of the 3,000 employees will wear some kind of uniform, and this contract covers all that and more — and thus MGM will likely be the largest customer in Park’s long history, said Merigian, although Park did have a contract with MassMutual for a quarter-century and still has one with the Defense Department (Westover Air Reserve Base).

“We don’t have specific numbers, but know it will be high volume,” she said of the business to start coming her way in a matter of weeks as employees are added to the payroll in waves. “But we’re ready for it, and we can feel the excitement.”

Indeed, after her father’s death, the company had to withdraw from the MassMutual contract, and it downsized considerably, said Merigian, adding quickly, however, that “we’re ready to go; we’re ready to get back to work.”

At Kittredge, meanwhile, the MGM contract is another important step forward for that company, said Amanda Desautels, an outside sales representative now working with MGM to outfit the restaurants that will be doing business at the casino.

“This is a significant contract for us,” she said, noting that Kittredge will be supplying MGM with everything from appliances to bar equipment; glassware to silverware, and adding it to a client list that includes UMass Amherst, the Max restaurant group, and Mount Holyoke College, among many others.

The company, rapidly approaching its centennial (it was launched in 1921), started as a supplier of typewriters and cash registers and has evolved into a $50 million equipment and supply giant that now employs more than 70 people locally.

At its warehouse and retail facility in the Agawam Regional Industrial Park, one can find everything from industrial refrigerators, freezers, and stoves to dishes and glassware to individual carving knives. Desautels joked that the company provides everything that goes on the table, around it (furniture), and even under it. “If you have a wobbly table, we have table levelers.”

It also has certification as a woman-owned business (Wendy Webber succeeds her late husband, Neil, as owner and operator), a designation that has opened many doors for the company and no doubt played a role in securing the contract with MGM.

“Being a woman-owned business has created many opportunities for Kittredge, and MGM is obviously one of those,” said Desautels, noting that the addition of MGM to the client roster is significant in many respects. “It’s exciting to be doing business with a company like MGM that shares the same values we do, such as diversity and the importance of their employees.”

Pressing Engagement

As she posed for a few photos for BusinessWest, Merigian gathered her son, Andrew Takorian, and insisted that he be part of the picture.

Figuratively speaking, he has been for some time now, working at this establishment — like his mother, grandfather, and great-grandfather before him — while still in grade school.

He represents the fifth generation to carry a business card that says ‘Park Cleaners’ — or Park Cleaners & Dyers, as the case may be. The company has gone through a lot of change and evolution after the past eight and half decades, and many important developments.

Perhaps none were as big as the contract inked with MGM Springfield, which comes at a critical time and represents a huge opportunity for growth and security.

It’s just one example of the trickle-down effect that is now underway, and already changing the local business landscape in profound ways.

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

Opinion

Editorial

And then … things got even more interesting. And that’s saying something.

There was already considerable anticipation, speculation, curiosity, and intrigue involving the $950 million casino taking shape in Springfield’s South End, but in recent days, it seems everyone simply doubled down on all of the above.

For starters, MGM Resorts International announced that the casino would open ahead of schedule — August 24th to be exact — giving this region a date with destiny and a ramp-up period that’s only been accelerated. Meanwhile, Wynn Resorts chief executive Mike Maddox told CNBC late last week that the corporation isn’t planning to sell the $2.5 billion casino currently under construction in Everett. That move is a clear effort to tamp down the speculation that a sale is imminent, and that MGM Resorts might be interested in buying the property, thus putting a huge question mark on the Springfield Casino.

With that announcement as background material, a Boston Globe columnist — no, not the one accused of embellishing material he wrote about the Boston Marathon bombings — turned up in Springfield last week and started asking elected officials and men and women on the street for their thoughts on the prospect of a name other than ‘MGM’ going up on the casino rising in the South End.

One of those asked that question, a business owner in the South End, reportedly said “we can’t hold them (MGM) back if they want to buy something else … but I’ve got one of those big brooms and we’re going to chase MGM with that broom if there’s something goofy going on.”

Like we said, things have gotten even more interesting. And there’s a good chance that this pattern will only continue until August 24 and beyond.

For now, maybe a deep breath — or two — is in order.

Let’s start with what we know. The MGM name will be on the South End casino when it opens; that’s not going to change. All systems are go on that score, and the city is moving quickly to make sure the downtown is ready for the estimated 12,000 visitors a day and looks the part of a community on the rise.

If you visit downtown, you’ll notice that the streets are being paved, sidewalks are being redone, police substations are being readied, flowers are being planted — and those are just some of the steps being taken.

As for the MGM Springfield, it is moving ahead aggressively with putting a workforce in place — it must feel good about that daunting process if it moved up the opening to August — and with finalizing contracts with area vendors (see story, page 6). And, of course, the construction work continues, outside and especially inside.

A process that began more than five years ago and has been talked about for more than a decade is in the home stretch, the final furlong, as they say, and the excitement is palpable.

As for the speculation about the Wynn property and whether the MGM flag will fly there instead of in the South End … it’s just that, speculation. But in keeping with this region’s somewhat pessimistic outlook and inferiority complex (yes, it’s real) some are already resigned to the worst happening.

Maybe it will, but why would Wynn seemingly give up on a project, and a market, it fought so hard to get into? Yes, the company’s reputation has taken a big hit with the controversy surrounding ousted chairman Steve Wynn and it will take another one if an investigation concludes that executives looked the other way when it came to Wynn’s indiscretions, and selling that license may be a way to cut the company’s losses. But the Boston market is extremely lucrative, and many are now saying that it is likely that Wynn will fight hard to stay in it.

One thing we’ve learned in this market from our limited experience with the gaming industry is that the picture can change quickly and that the landscape can be altered in ways we couldn’t have imagined.

We’ve seen that happen already in the South End. Could we see it again?

There already was plenty of intrigue. Now, it’s like everyone just doubled down.

Construction Sections

Framing the Issue

Local union carpenters gather for a forum on women in construction at Mount Holyoke College.

Construction has long been a male-dominated industry, but the playing field doesn’t have to be so uneven, several carpenters with Local 336 told BusinessWest. They all took different paths to the field, but all say women with an interest in working with their hands shouldn’t shy away from a career society has too often said they’re not suited for. Progress in diversifying the workforce has been incremental, but several regional developments offer reason for optimism.

Lily Thompson laughs when she hears that women can’t handle themselves on a construction site.

“That’s a societal thing as much as anything,” said Thompson, a journey-level carpenter with Local 336 of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters. “If a mother can pick a sleeping child out of bed 2,500 times, there’s no reason she can’t pick up metal studs and shlep stuff around; 90% of this business is moving and fastening.”

Yet, the stereotypical messages persist. “You wouldn’t believe how many times kids are told, ‘that’s a boy thing,’ or ‘that’s a girlie thing,’” she went on, recalling the day her young daughter was helping her install a barn door, and a passerby took note of them and commented, ‘a lady with a saw — how unusual.’

“It doesn’t get any more basic than that,” she said of how gender roles get reinforced in traditionally male professions. “But society has changed a lot lately, and Western Mass. is prime territory for people doing non-traditional things.”

Julie Boucher, another journey-level carpenter, didn’t get those messages at an early age, or, if she did, she ignored them.

“I wanted to be a carpenter since I was a little girl, probably since I was 4 or 5, playing with Lincoln Logs and Legos,” she told BusinessWest. Her route to that career was a circuitous one.

“I went to vocational school and learned the trade, but when I got out, it was difficult to find a job,” she said. “Being a woman, a lot of companies took one look and said I wasn’t needed or wanted, so I got a little discouraged.”

After serving in the Navy for a time before getting a medical discharge and then studying business administration at Holyoke Community College, she again became interested in carpentry, and after a professor handed her a pamphlet for the carpenter’s union, she applied.

“The job can be difficult mentally and physically, and sometimes I think the mental struggle is harder than the physical struggle,” she said. “But if building and working with your hands is something you love to do, you should follow your dreams.”

Katurah Holiness

Katurah Holiness, here pictured at the MGM Springfield site, says she appreciates the different avenues of training available in her union.

Lisa Clauson, director of Strategic Partnerships for the union’s Carpenter’s Labor Management Program, loves testimonials like that one.

“We’ve been working aggressively over the past two years to expand our union’s diversity and ensure we reflect the communities we work in and our members live in,” she said, noting that this effort includes bringing in more men of color, but in particular has focused on recruiting women of all backgrounds.

Tradeswomen, Clauson noted, represent fewer than 3% of the construction industry nationally, and closer to 2% in Springfield. “We, and many other building trades, all have very successful tradeswomen, so it is not an issue of women not being physically capable, but it is an issue of women being recruited and encouraged to do this work — and an issue of contractors being willing to employ them. The construction trades are one of the last industries to diversify opportunities for women.”

Indeed, while female representation in the construction trades rose steadily between the 1980s and 2007, the number then leveled off and has decreased ever since. One factor was certainly the Great Recession, which hit construction hard and chased many professionals out of the field — women at a higher rate.

They should come back, Thompson said, with opportunities on the rise.

“I’ve been doing this almost 16 years,” she said. “The pay and benefits are great, and I work with a great group of people. It’s something I like to do, versus sitting at a desk. I tried making sandwiches and was a receptionist in a hair salon, but that wasn’t where I wanted to be.”

Test of Time

Thompson graduated from Franklin County Technical School in 2001, and decided to focus on carpentry after trying out some trades — auto-body and electrical work, to name two — that she found less appealing.

“I like building things, and seeing things that are long-lasting. You get to look at it and have pride in your work for years to come,” she said, noting that her skills translate well to her personal life, too; she and her husband, a mechanic, bought a run-down property 12 years ago and worked to turn it into a home.

A home is something Katurah Holiness didn’t have when she entered the world of carpentry. An Air Force veteran, she was driving for Uber and sleeping on a series of friends’ couches, and when she got tired of hopping around, she went to stay at Soldier On in Leeds, where she lived for much of 2016 and 2017.

She had never had much interest in carpentry, but one day she gave a union carpenter a ride, and chatting with him piqued her interest. She applied with the union and quickly became an apprentice and got hired on the MGM Springfield job.

“With the carpenter’s union, there are so many avenues you can go as far as interest,” she said. “You can take a welding course, learn about framing and sheetrock … the avenues don’t end. There are a number of things you can get into, specialties and certifications you can train for.”

Her car broke down shortly before she started as a carpenter, and Holiness initially was able to get to work through getting rides with other members and sometimes from other women who lived at Soldier On. Steady work at the union apprentice rate enabled her to save, pay off some of her debts, and eventually move to an apartment.

Besides those pluses, she enjoys the work, and feels at home working alongside almost all men.

“I came from a male-dominated background in the military, so it’s not new to me in the least,” she said. “I can vouch for the men I’ve worked with; they’re for the most part good guys, and they’re willing to train you and educate you if you’re willing to learn.”

That’s not to say some stereotypes of the field aren’t occasionally true, Thompson said, including ribald or condescending teasing.

“I just put in my imaginary earplugs. Its ‘hey, you’ve got your sexy jeans on today,’ or ‘where did you get your boots from, the kids’ section?’ You take it with a grain of salt — smile, wave, give some s–t back when it comes down to it. As for the physical part, well, if you’re active in life and don’t want to go to the gym every day, come give this a whirl.”

The union has been trying to motivate more of that whirl-giving among women in several ways, Clauson said. One is recruiting aggressively from members’ networks, community organizations, career centers and job-training programs, vocational schools, and other sources.

“We’re spreading the word about the opportunities for this work and letting women know that, when this work is done union, they can earn living wages, be fully trained in the craft for free, and get great benefits. Our recruitment work has involved intensive outreach in the vocational schools throughout Western Mass. as well.”

Meanwhile, to retain women in the trade, the union has created a ‘Sisters in the Brotherhood’ chapter for its women to come together regularly to network and support each other.

“We have mentorship programs and are working to educate our members on the value of diversity and the need for harassment-free worksites. We are also working with our contractors on these issues,” she explained.

Finally, the union has been persuading developers to require diversity in their contractors.

“This last step is key to ensuring women get hired and get work,” she said. “Contractors are slow to change their hiring practices, but if owners of construction work require them to bring in a diverse workforce, they will do so. This often gives women — and people of color — a foot in the door to demonstrate their work ethic and skills, and many are then kept for other jobs that don’t have requirements.”

Success stories in this realm have included MGM, with women accounting for at least 6.9% of all work hours, people of color 15.3%, and veterans 8% — minimums that are consistently being exceeded. “MGM is a remarkably different worksite than most,” Clauson said. “Our women constantly talk about how different it is to be seeing other tradeswomen all around them.”

Lily Thompson

Lily Thompson takes a break from work renovating Blanchard Hall at Mount Holyoke College.

Meanwhile, the UMass Amherst Building Authority has also set work-hour goals of 6.9% for women and 15.3% for people of color. Three years ago, she added, these goals existed but were ignored, but a compliance officer started enforcing them in 2015, and now the all jobs are exceeding these numbers.

Mount Holyoke College recently completed its first project (a renovation of Blanchard Hall) with work-hour requirements of 7% for women and 16% for people of color. And Smith College recently announced it will require the same percentages on its $100 million Neilson Library project.

Finally, the city of Springfield is reworking the Springfield Responsible Employer Ordinance, which requires city construction contractors to employ 35% Springfield residents, 20% people of color, 6.9% women, and 5% veterans.

“It has largely been unenforced, and they are now creating a new enforcement plan and have recently hired a compliance officer to oversee it,” Clauson said.

Small Steps

Boucher said every additional woman on a job site makes the environment healthier for all women. That’s partly why she coordinates the training center of the union’s apprenticeship mentoring program and helped launched its Sisters in the Brotherhood chapter.

“I naturally wanted to help other people; that’s in my blood,” she said. “I started a mentorship program at my local because I know how important it is to have that support. I wanted to be there for the apprentices coming in and help guide them in any way I can. Not all apprentices want mentoring, but the ones that do, I try to provide a support system for them. We have a great team of mentors to help out.”

The progress achieved in diversifying the construction workforce regionally is exciting, Clauson said, but much more needs to be done.

“Women historically have done many physically demanding and dirty jobs, but traditionally they are doing work of this type in low-wage and low-skilled industries,” she said, citing jobs in cleaning, food service, and personal care. “Construction careers, in contrast, are higher-paid, skilled, and, when unionized, have good wages, free training, and strong benefits. Women need to be able to access these opportunities.”

And be treated equally on the job site, Boucher said.

“There are companies that allow me to do my job, and then companies that don’t allow me to do my job, in the sense that I’ll get put on menial tasks, easy tasks, because my foreman or journeyman I’m working with don’t think I’m capable of doing it. I wish I was challenged a little more. Let me do the framing; let me handle drywall. But that’s not always the case.”

It helps that the union supports workforce training, she added. For example, Boucher earned a construction management degree at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, and the local paid for one-third of the tuition; most of the classes were held at Springfield Technical Community College through an exchange between the two institutions.

Thompson said women are ultimately responsible for taking such opportunities to better their careers. “Women today want to be 50-50, want to feel like they’re equal partners,” she noted. “Whether just out of college or age 50, as long as you’re physically able, there are lots of positions in construction. I didn’t see myself doing this full-time, but it works. I’m much happier than I’d be in an office.”

Holiness agreed. “A lot of people think it’s only for males because they’re stronger, but that’s not true,” she said. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way. There’s nothing you can’t do.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Court Dockets Departments

The following is a compilation of recent lawsuits involving area businesses and organizations. These are strictly allegations that have yet to be proven in a court of law. Readers are advised to contact the parties listed, or the court, for more information concerning the individual claims.

CHICOPEE DISTRICT COURT

Nain Oliver v. Petco Animal Supplies Inc.

Allegation: Negligence; slip and fall causing injury: $4,366.40

Filed: 3/21/18

Nichole Gura v. North East Specialty Corp. d/b/a Nescor

Allegation: Unauthorized credit-card charge; unfair or deceptive business act or practice: $6,000

Filed: 3/29/18

HAMPDEN DISTRICT COURT

JR Kakley & Sons Inc. v. Affordable Baths Inc. and Craig S. O’Connor

Allegation: Unpaid balance due from goods sold and delivered: $6,590.31

Filed: 3/13/18

Laura L. Sikes v. Metro Motors of Chicopee Inc. d/b/a Metro Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram

Allegation: Breach of used-car lemon law, breach of implied warranty of merchantability, revocation of acceptance, unfair and deceptive practices in trade or commerce: $25,000

Filed: 3/14/18

Bria Wilson v. BZGJJ Inc. and Irving Oil Corp.

Allegation: Negligence; slip and fall causing injury: $25,000

Filed: 3/27/18

EP Floors Corp. v. Merritt Construction Services, LLC

Allegation: Breach of contract: $9,939.50

Filed: 3/27/18

Emily Montalvo v. All Wheels Detailing & Auto Sales Inc.

Allegation: Breach of service contract, breach of lemon law warranty: $4,395

Filed: 4/4/18

HAMPDEN SUPERIOR COURT

Kurt Wolmart v. In-Land Contracting Inc., Joaquim Borges, Baltazar Contractors Inc., and Paulo Baltazar

Allegation: Employment discrimination: $200,000

Filed: 3/12/18

Rediker Software Inc. v. Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School District

Allegation: Breach of contract: $85,000+

Filed: 3/14/18

Mary Ann Mannix as personal representative of the estate of Joan Watson v. Guidewire Inc.

Allegation: Negligence, wrongful death: $1,030,000

Filed: 3/16/18

Daniel Stebbins and Susan Stebbins v. Joseph E. Flack III, M.D.; Abdallah K. Alameddine, M.D.; Mara Slawsky, M.D.; Sonali Arora, M.D.; Gregory Valania, D.O.; and John or Jane Does, 1-5

Allegation: Medical malpractice: $341,585

Filed: 3/19/18

Mary K. Pijar and John F. Pijar v. Colebrook Realty Services Inc., Baystate Medical Center Inc., John Doe; and XYZ Inc.

Allegation: Negligence; slip and fall causing injury: $85,000+

Filed: 3/20/18

Willwork Inc. v. the Exhibit Source Inc.

Allegation: Money owed for goods sold and delivered: $30,783.23

Filed: 3/22/18

Joya Bruce-Pettway, personal representative of the estate of Dominique Williams v. Cheryl Ruta, RN; and Chandravathi Loke, M.D.

Allegation: Medical malpractice; wrongful death: $25,000+

Filed: 3/22/18

Rick Lajeunesse and David Richter v. the Home Depot U.S.A. Inc.

Allegation: Violation of overtime law: $150,000+

Filed: 3/23/18

HAMPSHIRE SUPERIOR COURT

Pellegrini Development, LLC v. Paul Truehart d/b/a Truehart Paving & Construction

Allegation: Failure to complete agreed-upon work, causing plaintiff to incur expenses completing it at higher cost: $125,000

Filed: 3/27/18

Sherry McGinn v. Greenfield Housing Authority

Allegation: Negligence; slip and fall causing injury: $14,167.16

Filed: 4/2/18

HOLYOKE DISTRICT COURT

Yanitza Bruno-Jimenez v. Lia Auto Group Inc. d/b/a Lia Honda

Allegation: Negligence; plaintiff’s vehicle rear-ended by Lia employee causing injury: $20,768.84

Filed: 3/30/18

Departments Real Estate

The following real estate transactions (latest available) were compiled by Banker & Tradesman and are published as they were received. Only transactions exceeding $115,000 are listed. Buyer and seller fields contain only the first name listed on the deed.

FRANKLIN COUNTY

DEERFIELD

138 Lower Road
Deerfield, MA 01342
Amount: $253,200
Buyer: Hampshire College
Seller: Ariella Nasuti
Date: 04/05/18

92 Plain Road West
Deerfield, MA 01342
Amount: $508,000
Buyer: Lisa A. Allenby
Seller: Kelly Killeen
Date: 03/29/18

1 Porter St.
Deerfield, MA 01373
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Steele 2005 RET
Seller: Margaret B. Konieczny IRT
Date: 03/30/18

GILL

10 Main Road
Gill, MA 01354
Amount: $162,000
Buyer: Daniel S. Siano
Seller: PDV Inc.
Date: 03/28/18

GREENFIELD

280 Country Club Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $191,300
Buyer: Oliver L. Beane
Seller: Sarah E. Blackmore
Date: 04/03/18

129 Green River Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $232,500
Buyer: Stacy A. Metzger
Seller: Till IRT
Date: 03/30/18

32 Lunt Dr.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Piterson M. Allen
Seller: Susan A. Maher
Date: 04/05/18

68-70 Pierce St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $228,000
Buyer: Tom Friedman Enterprises
Seller: Janine L. Risser
Date: 04/04/18

40 Plantation Circle
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $192,500
Buyer: Steven Chevalier
Seller: Wilmington Savings
Date: 03/28/18

81 Wildwood Ave.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $153,000
Buyer: Casey Graves
Seller: Peter A. White
Date: 03/26/18

LEVERETT

335 Long Plain Road
Leverett, MA 01054
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Lorraine Re
Seller: James M. Douglas TR
Date: 04/04/18

MONTAGUE

36 Crocker Ave.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $142,044
Buyer: USA VA
Seller: Erin E. Slocik-McLaughlin
Date: 03/29/18

196 Millers Falls Road
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: 196 Millers Falls Road LLC
Seller: Cheryl S. Termo
Date: 04/04/18

42 Montague St.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Sara J. Sabelawski
Seller: Mauria Sirum
Date: 04/02/18

ORANGE

47 Dewey Conrad Ave.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Bobby W. Hart
Seller: Stan Smith
Date: 04/06/18

300 East Main St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $146,000
Buyer: Samuel Hancock
Seller: Patrick E. O’Neil
Date: 03/30/18

154 Quabbin Blvd.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: JGC RT
Seller: Sage Real Estate Holdings
Date: 03/30/18

27 Sandrah Dr.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Nicole Sadowski
Seller: Jason P. Vautour
Date: 03/27/18

West Moore Ave.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $161,000
Buyer: George A. Hunt
Seller: Orange Economic Development
Date: 04/05/18

ROWE

Tunnel Road
Rowe, MA 01367
Amount: $439,000
Buyer: Franklin Land Trust Inc.
Seller: Rowe Land Trust
Date: 03/29/18

SHELBURNE

1449 Mohawk Trail
Shelburne, MA 01370
Amount: $124,244
Buyer: PNC Bank
Seller: Gloria C. Foster
Date: 04/06/18

SHUTESBURY

29 Great Pines Dr.
Shutesbury, MA 01072
Amount: $151,200
Buyer: Karen M. Lynch
Seller: Charles K. Langlais
Date: 03/30/18

SUNDERLAND

Bridge St.
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $1,055,000
Buyer: Karen Tozloski
Seller: Tozloski, Freddie L., (Estate)
Date: 03/30/18

17 Bridge St.
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: John H. Sackrey
Seller: Barre E. Tozloski
Date: 03/30/18

23 Bridge St.
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: John H. Sackrey
Seller: Barre E. Tozloski
Date: 03/30/18

258 Plumtree Road
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $144,200
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Joseph J. Paulovics
Date: 04/03/18

242 Russell St.
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Tsering Phuntsok
Seller: Steele 2005 RET
Date: 03/30/18

41 South Main St.
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: James F. Houle
Seller: Houle IRT
Date: 04/05/18

WHATELY

Grey Oak Lane #16
Whately, MA 01093
Amount: $222,000
Buyer: Hampshire 401K TR
Seller: Jawk Inc.
Date: 04/05/18

61 Long Plain Road
Whately, MA 01373
Amount: $499,500
Buyer: Kathy S. Vanpatten
Seller: Roy J. Giangregorio
Date: 03/27/18

HAMPDEN COUNTY

AGAWAM

73 Bessbrook St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $221,000
Buyer: Mary Arendt
Seller: Armando Arroyo
Date: 03/27/18

8 Burlington Dr.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $420,000
Buyer: Lilia Mereshko
Seller: David A. Deluca
Date: 04/04/18

20 Colonial Ave.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Marc Gendreau
Seller: Elizabeth M. Lynch
Date: 03/26/18

48 Federal St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: John A. Walker
Seller: Raymond W. Babbin
Date: 04/03/18

13 Harding St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $167,000
Buyer: Craig M. Heroux
Seller: Joanne M. Braica
Date: 04/05/18

41 Harvey Johnson Dr.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $222,000
Buyer: Adam M. Sullivan
Seller: Angela J. Giberson
Date: 03/30/18

89 Harvey Johnson Dr.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $1,088,875
Buyer: Seweryn W. Grabowski
Seller: Deutsche Bank
Date: 03/30/18

35 High Meadow Road
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Chad M. Roderick
Seller: Peter J. Briancesco
Date: 03/27/18

265 Main St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $1,880,000
Buyer: PCT Realty Ventures LLC
Seller: Southworth Co.
Date: 03/26/18

41-43 Mark Dr.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $360,000
Buyer: Nguyet A. Huynh
Seller: Robert E. Houle
Date: 04/03/18

84 Norris St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Fred U. Sisson
Seller: Chad M. Roderick
Date: 03/27/18

166 Thalia Dr.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $238,000
Buyer: Robert H. Claremont
Seller: Denise R. Lynch
Date: 03/30/18

33 Vadnais St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Valerie A. Mulka
Seller: Robert M. Burke
Date: 03/28/18

BRIMFIELD

265 Dunhamtown Palmer Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Christian H. McCoy
Seller: Charles L. Hood
Date: 03/28/18

18 Lyman Barnes Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Alan M. Pelletier
Seller: Michelle Amadei
Date: 03/28/18

CHICOPEE

105 5th Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Connor M. Knightly
Seller: Thomas D. Knightly
Date: 04/06/18

103 9th Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $174,150
Buyer: Daniel T. Hill
Seller: Charles J. Mayo
Date: 04/05/18

19 Alvord Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $465,000
Buyer: RT Property Management
Seller: Mamba Capital LLC
Date: 03/30/18

69 Arthur St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Branden Velez
Seller: Ray Otano
Date: 03/27/18

64 Belmont St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: George N. Robare
Seller: Deanna M. Chelte
Date: 04/03/18

156 Chapel St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $169,000
Buyer: Jennifer A. Stefanik
Seller: Omer O. Deroy
Date: 04/06/18

121 Davenport St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $174,000
Buyer: Rebecca C. Dahlinger
Seller: Ashoke D. Ghosh
Date: 04/06/18

63 Dorrance St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $136,500
Buyer: Matthew R. Bienia
Seller: Jason R. Page
Date: 03/30/18

49 Fernhill St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $223,600
Buyer: Yao Amedzro
Seller: Theodore S. Iwanski
Date: 04/04/18

374 Front St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Northeast Conference Corp.
Seller: William F. Davitt Post 625
Date: 04/06/18

35 Grace St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $269,000
Buyer: Denise Ramos
Seller: CRA Holdings Inc.
Date: 03/30/18

340 Grattan St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $120,100
Buyer: Wells Fargo Bank
Seller: Joe Francis
Date: 03/30/18

60 Ingham St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Bing Pan
Seller: Debra A. Jamrok
Date: 03/29/18

10 Ludlow Road
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Rodney S. Nieves
Seller: S&C Homebuyers LLC
Date: 03/28/18

22 Madison St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $198,900
Buyer: Sulaiman Al-Dulaimi
Seller: Jeffrey H. Erricolo
Date: 03/30/18

64 May St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $153,000
Buyer: Walter S. Rief
Seller: Kathy E. Sketchley
Date: 03/29/18

458 Meadow St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Aleksey G. Kamyshin
Seller: Katie M. Bleau
Date: 03/28/18

210 Moore St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Sharon M. Amos
Seller: Gerald W. Stadnicki
Date: 03/30/18

36 Olivine St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $119,900
Buyer: Jessica Robienczak
Seller: Mark A. Sadowski
Date: 03/28/18

188 Springfield St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $465,000
Buyer: Manal Abdulhameed
Seller: Bank New York Mellon
Date: 03/30/18

104 Streiber Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Harold E. McCray
Date: 04/03/18

75 Thaddeus St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $129,000
Buyer: Timothy J. Raney
Seller: Marsha L. Burek
Date: 03/26/18

17 Upton St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $138,000
Buyer: Gary J. Majewicz
Seller: Ronald J. Majewicz
Date: 04/04/18

70 Willwood St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $143,000
Buyer: V. S. Holembiyevskyy
Seller: Cecile S. Early
Date: 03/30/18

78 Willwood St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $173,000
Buyer: Doreen Demers
Seller: Anatoliy Sosnin
Date: 03/30/18

EAST LONGMEADOW

Alta Crest St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Christopher J. Haczynski
Seller: Jeremy J. Sullivan
Date: 03/26/18

111 Braeburn Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Christopher J. Haczynski
Seller: Jeremy J. Sullivan
Date: 03/26/18

40 Heritage Circle
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $450,000
Buyer: Joshua J. Lamoureux
Seller: Timothy P. Alben
Date: 03/30/18

Jeffrey Lane
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Southern NE Real Estate Development
Seller: Chad P. Herrick
Date: 03/29/18

79 Old Farm Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $375,000
Buyer: Reza Shafi
Seller: Harvey M. Grant
Date: 04/06/18

154 Orchard Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $475,000
Buyer: Sung Y. Chun
Seller: Jay Babineau
Date: 04/02/18

506 Parker St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Michael G. Robare
Seller: Jonathan Haraty
Date: 04/03/18

228 Pleasant St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $152,900
Buyer: Carine T. Bryan
Seller: No Place Like Home Properties
Date: 03/29/18

9 Ramonas Way
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $414,000
Buyer: Nicholas A. Pioggia
Seller: Michael E. Malone
Date: 03/28/18

40 Rogers Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $291,000
Buyer: Angela Pafumi
Seller: Robert Hanson
Date: 04/06/18

82 Rural Lane
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Michael P. Grieshaber
Seller: Valentina Pioggia
Date: 03/28/18

190 Somers Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Southern NE Real Estate Development
Seller: Chad P. Herrick
Date: 03/29/18

521 Somers Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $412,500
Buyer: Reginald Miller
Seller: Moltenbrey Builders LLC
Date: 04/06/18

115 Westwood Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $159,053
Buyer: FHLM
Seller: Ronald Zimmerman
Date: 04/02/18

34 Windsor Lane
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $450,000
Buyer: Sarah I. Kosinski
Seller: Jeffrey J. Drake
Date: 03/26/18

HAMPDEN

43 Pondview Dr.
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $385,000
Buyer: Thomas P. Bianco
Seller: Elaine L. McGrath
Date: 03/26/18

HOLLAND

17 Overlook Road
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $136,500
Buyer: Adam Silva
Seller: Michael D. Sherman
Date: 03/28/18

HOLYOKE

133 Colony Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $785,000
Buyer: Donald E. Griffith
Seller: Ruby Realty LLC
Date: 04/06/18

28 Columbus Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Jonathan E. Ouimette
Seller: Allison A. Boyden
Date: 03/30/18

190 Essex St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $115,399
Buyer: Sunlight Properties LLC
Seller: Sunlight Mgmt. & Receivership
Date: 04/05/18

810 Frank Smith Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $324,900
Buyer: Sandeep R. Muddasani
Seller: Kevin D. Hebert
Date: 04/03/18

4 George Frost Dr.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $289,000
Buyer: Rosa Feldman
Seller: Robert R. Gagnon
Date: 03/30/18

447 Longmeadow St.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Athena P. Pappas
Seller: Hooton, Jean A., (Estate)
Date: 04/04/18

827 Maple Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Mary Beth Santaniello
Seller: Mark Payson
Date: 04/02/18

1190 Northampton St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $869,000
Buyer: Gary P. Kingston
Seller: Robert P. Milos
Date: 03/30/18

19 Norwood Ter.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $240,580
Buyer: Matthew J. Lucey
Seller: Coakley Corp.
Date: 03/30/18

9 Saint James Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $179,000
Buyer: Carmen A. Texidor
Seller: Kristin Lohr
Date: 03/30/18

120 Shady Side Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $530,000
Buyer: Donald J. Sonn
Seller: William T. McCarry
Date: 04/06/18

188 Southampton Road
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $395,000
Buyer: Douglas S. Riel
Seller: Donald R. Andrejczyk
Date: 03/30/18

8 Wyckoff Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Nina M. Tissi-Gassoway
Seller: George R. Gaudette
Date: 03/30/18

LONGMEADOW

179 Birch Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $263,000
Buyer: Donald Dubuc
Seller: Haskins, Richard E., (Estate)
Date: 03/30/18

42 Crest Ave.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Eziekiel W. Russell
Date: 03/28/18

22 Fairhill Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $449,900
Buyer: Eric Lederman
Seller: Eileen B. Maglathlin
Date: 03/30/18

55 Fernleaf Ave.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Cancks Properties LLC
Seller: Lachenauer LLC
Date: 03/30/18

87 Oakwood Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $227,000
Buyer: Wells Fargo Bank
Seller: Jerilynne McDermott
Date: 03/30/18

25 Western Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $271,000
Buyer: Louise Lamountain
Seller: Baschwitz, Hazel W., (Estate)
Date: 03/26/18

LUDLOW

117 Americo St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: Kathleen Sheehan
Seller: Duc M. Hau
Date: 03/30/18

51 Bristol St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Janet M. Costa
Seller: Sandra A. Silva
Date: 04/05/18

80 Bruni Ave.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Nicole E. Whiting
Seller: John P. Whiting
Date: 03/30/18

175 Laurel Lane
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $285,500
Buyer: Anselmo C. Amaral
Seller: John F. Albano
Date: 03/29/18

96 McKinley Ave.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $218,000
Buyer: Husni Y. Hermez
Seller: Barbara J. Land
Date: 04/04/18

32 Reynolds St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Sara N. Scudder
Seller: US Bank
Date: 03/27/18

240 West St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Redline Shifterz LLC
Seller: Craig S. Gridley
Date: 04/03/18

MONSON

31 Fenton Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Alan G. Stickles LT
Seller: Holly J. Woods
Date: 04/06/18

89 Main St.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $247,500
Buyer: Gaston Mengel
Seller: Mark F. Brothers
Date: 03/26/18

6 Pineview Dr.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $208,000
Buyer: Timothy Derouin
Seller: David J. Salzarulo
Date: 03/30/18

MONTGOMERY

42 New State Road
Montgomery, MA 01085
Amount: $183,500
Buyer: Joseph E. Cabana
Seller: Brandon R. Laliberte
Date: 04/04/18

PALMER

213 Breckenridge St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Kelley A. Meehan
Seller: Maciej Janusz
Date: 03/29/18

1 Ford St.
Palmer, MA 01080
Amount: $138,000
Buyer: Erica Stewart
Seller: Catherine M. Duncan
Date: 03/28/18

2338 Main St.
Palmer, MA 01080
Amount: $137,000
Buyer: Roberta A. Richardson
Seller: S&C Homebuyers LLC
Date: 04/06/18

3105-3107 Main St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $136,055
Buyer: Wells Fargo Bank
Seller: Timothy Roberge
Date: 04/02/18

SOUTHWICK

17 Congamond Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Hart Enterprises LLC
Seller: FNMA
Date: 03/28/18

78 Hillside Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $490,000
Buyer: Steven R. Treglia
Seller: Donald R. Dubuc
Date: 03/30/18

5 Sodom Mountain Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Ryan T. Smith
Seller: John E. Balesky
Date: 03/29/18
SPRINGFIELD

185 Ambrose St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $209,000
Buyer: Joanuel Claudio
Seller: Melro Associates Inc.
Date: 03/30/18

36 Andrew St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Noelia I. Rojas
Seller: Derrick J. Hatwood
Date: 04/03/18

11 Angelo St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: Endy A. Sanchez
Seller: Commonwealth RT
Date: 04/05/18

44-48 Armory St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Opus Durum LLC
Seller: Christopher Petropoulos
Date: 03/30/18

223 Arthur St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $132,500
Buyer: Lisa M. Moriarty
Seller: Angela M. Cartier
Date: 03/30/18

38-40 Banner St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Shawn D. Davis-Smith
Seller: Wieslaw Cieslak
Date: 04/04/18

1303 Bay St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: Valley Castle Holdings
Seller: J&M Property & Development LLC
Date: 04/02/18

377 Belmont Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Christine T. Phan
Seller: Michael L. Lemay
Date: 03/27/18

1070 Berkshire Ave.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $139,900
Buyer: Felix M. Morales-Ramos
Seller: Nadia Leonidovna-Ruby
Date: 03/30/18

3 Bonnyview St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $121,000
Buyer: Evelyn Rojas
Seller: Carl G. Stiles
Date: 04/06/18

170 Brittany Road
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $148,500
Buyer: Samuel Farnsworth
Seller: FNMA
Date: 03/26/18

1763 Carew St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Mariette Cruz
Seller: Scott Fearn
Date: 03/30/18

97 Catharine St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $127,000
Buyer: Lismel Luciano
Seller: Josefina Ventura
Date: 04/04/18

36-38 Chester St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Rifle Street Partners TR
Seller: Luz N. Medina
Date: 03/30/18

28 Clarendon St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: Valley Castle Holdings
Seller: J&M Property & Development LLC
Date: 04/02/18

53 Clement St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $172,500
Buyer: Elvin Andino
Seller: Amy L. Delgado
Date: 03/27/18

23 Derryfield Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $146,750
Buyer: Rebecca Arce
Seller: Adam M. Tarquini
Date: 03/29/18

102 Devens St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $121,000
Buyer: Michael Manicki
Seller: Mark Manicki
Date: 03/27/18

92-94 Draper St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Eimy I. Santiago
Seller: Dion Woods
Date: 04/06/18

102 Druid Hill Road
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Lisa Treat
Seller: David A. Preston
Date: 03/30/18

9 Duggan Circle
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Linda A. Lassonde
Seller: Casey L. Mastay
Date: 04/02/18

16 Eddy St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $154,900
Buyer: Francisco Ramirez
Seller: Fernando Blanco
Date: 04/03/18

402-404 Fernbank Road
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Robert A. Arnett
Seller: Maurice L. Campbell
Date: 03/30/18

13 Granger St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Scott Simpson
Seller: Mya Realty LLC
Date: 04/05/18

94 Granby St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $217,900
Buyer: Devon Gibson
Seller: Richard R. Cyr
Date: 03/29/18

862 Grayson Dr.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Gloria A. Brown-Owens
Seller: Benjamin D. Mastay
Date: 03/30/18

122 Hastings St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $152,500
Buyer: Xavier J. Palou-Rivera
Seller: William W. Babcock
Date: 03/30/18

20 Hood St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $118,000
Buyer: Juan Rivera
Seller: Evelyn Perez
Date: 03/28/18

73 Howes St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Zachary N. Lomas
Seller: Ruben A. Reyes
Date: 03/30/18

209 Island Pond Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Aura M. Endo
Seller: Gabrielle Morgan
Date: 03/30/18

82 Jasper St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: William H. Russell
Seller: Ramona Messier
Date: 04/03/18

257 Jasper St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $128,000
Buyer: Ruth V. Adon-Sanchez
Seller: Shawna Gutowski
Date: 03/30/18

118-120 Kensington Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Seajay Group LLC
Seller: Bank Of New York Mellon
Date: 04/04/18

170-172 Laconia St.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $196,500
Buyer: Timothy Powis
Seller: Lotrecia A. Marchand
Date: 04/02/18

24 Lester St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Gregory Anderson
Seller: Angela Bourget
Date: 04/06/18

1500 Main St.
Springfield, MA 01103
Amount: $10,500,000
Buyer: Mittas Hospitality LLC
Seller: Massachusetts Mutual Life
Date: 04/05/18

234 Mallowhill Road
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Guidewire Inc.
Seller: Sapphire Property Development LLC
Date: 03/29/18

29 Maybrook Road
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $129,000
Buyer: Resilient Investments LLC
Seller: Carlitos L. Rosa
Date: 03/30/18

19 Merrick Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $176,000
Buyer: Luis Pacheco-Nazario
Seller: Jonathan Hernandez
Date: 03/30/18

188 Naismith St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $329,999
Buyer: Chiang H. Swei
Seller: Bretta Construction LLC
Date: 03/28/18

113-115 Noel St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $159,500
Buyer: Abigail Olivo-Rodriguez
Seller: Homer Foucher
Date: 04/04/18

35 Osborne Ter.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $152,000
Buyer: Maria A. Perez
Seller: Mister Mister LLC
Date: 03/26/18

85 Overlook Dr.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $189,000
Buyer: Georgia A. Walters
Seller: Thomas, Mary A., (Estate)
Date: 03/27/18

1069 Parker St.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $148,000
Buyer: Kyrill H. Dancik
Seller: Moltenbrey Builders LLC
Date: 03/30/18

1917 Parker St.
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $186,500
Buyer: Sarilia N. Rivera
Seller: Kirstyn N. Rodriguez
Date: 03/30/18

199 Parkerview St.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $142,000
Buyer: George Santos
Seller: William H. Russell
Date: 04/04/18

152 Pendleton Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Angelina E. Malave
Seller: Extremely Clean LLC
Date: 03/26/18

580 Plainfield St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Robert Olberg
Seller: Kerim D. Senkal
Date: 03/30/18

75 Roanoke Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $126,400
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Patricia J. Ackerley
Date: 03/28/18

79 Quincy St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: Valley Castle Holdings
Seller: J&M Property & Development LLC
Date: 04/02/18

142 Shefford St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $172,200
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Lisa R. Parrow
Date: 04/05/18

17 Shirley Road
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: Todd Regnier
Seller: Brian S. Kingsley
Date: 04/06/18

1514 State St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Changemakers Charismatic
Seller: Hubert Mattis
Date: 04/06/18

4 Stratford Ter.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Shelena Bernard
Seller: Wells Fargo Bank
Date: 03/28/18

23 Sullivan St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $143,350
Buyer: Victor L. Colon-Hernandez
Seller: James W. Fiore
Date: 04/06/18

83 Sunapee St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $179,000
Buyer: Eddie Rivera
Seller: Hedge Hog Industries Corp.
Date: 04/05/18

581 Tinkham Road
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $155,850
Buyer: James W. Fiore
Seller: Nationstar Mortgage LLC
Date: 03/26/18

79 Vadnais St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Toby A. Ferris
Seller: Heriberto Osorio
Date: 03/30/18

16 Victoria Marie Lane
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $305,000
Buyer: Juan C. Lugo-Morales
Seller: Viet Nguyen
Date: 03/26/18

54 Virginia St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $132,000
Buyer: Yolanda Pupo
Seller: Elizabeth H. Spence
Date: 03/30/18

343-345 Water St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $118,000
Buyer: FV 1 Inc.
Seller: Kellie Lynch
Date: 04/06/18

130 West Allen Ridge Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $184,000
Buyer: Thomas Adams
Seller: Stephen F. Dickinson
Date: 03/29/18

44-46 Washington St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $263,666
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Charles Conway
Date: 03/26/18

586-588 White St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Catherine M. Chavez
Seller: Onyx Investments LLC
Date: 03/30/18

107 Winding Lane
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $203,000
Buyer: Victor Tang
Seller: Arlene F. O’Connor
Date: 03/27/18

6 Worthington St.
Springfield, MA 01103
Amount: $222,500
Buyer: Friends Of STCC Inc.
Seller: City Of Springfield
Date: 04/04/18

863 Worthington St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: Valley Castle Holdings
Seller: J&M Property & Development LLC
Date: 04/02/18

19 Yale St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: Valley Castle Holdings
Seller: J&M Property & Development LLC
Date: 04/02/18

WALES

10 Lake Shore Dr.
Wales, MA 01081
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: Ruben Semidey
Seller: Susan M. Parsons
Date: 03/29/18

25 Stafford Road
Wales, MA 01081
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Natalie S. Thomas
Seller: Jason C. Thomas
Date: 03/28/18

WEST SPRINGFIELD

157 Bonair Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Ahmad Jawid
Seller: FNMA
Date: 03/26/18

34 High Meadow Dr.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Michael Oppel
Seller: Hann Realty LLC
Date: 04/05/18

33 Hummingbird Lane
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $319,800
Buyer: Kevin Maloney
Seller: Jeff D. Buddenhagen
Date: 03/29/18

27 Miami St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Adam K. Gryszko
Seller: Margaret Green
Date: 04/04/18

11 Mulcahy Dr.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $448,000
Buyer: Albert Agomaa
Seller: Francis Wheeler Construction
Date: 03/30/18

36 Southworth St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $172,000
Buyer: Michael A. Krupa
Seller: Patriot Living LLC
Date: 03/30/18

33 Van Horn St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $214,000
Buyer: Anju Sapkota
Seller: Jessie M. Yanovsky
Date: 03/30/18

56 Warren St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $157,000
Buyer: Anthony Poloski
Seller: Robert G. Tassinari
Date: 03/27/18

93 West Calvin St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $224,000
Buyer: Stephen M. Buynicki
Seller: Cardinal Homes Inc.
Date: 03/30/18

443 Westfield St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $1,325,000
Buyer: Chalet Realty Partners
Seller: Albert E. Paone
Date: 03/30/18

WESTFIELD

26 Cedar Lane
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $233,500
Buyer: Anatoliy Sosnin
Seller: Michellene Cyr
Date: 03/30/18

1925 East Mountain Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Luke J. Beaupre
Seller: Lynn A. Wheatley-Beaupre
Date: 03/27/18

389 Falley Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Peggy A. Pettengill
Seller: Nathan Lemay
Date: 03/30/18

5 Forest Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Madhu Darjee
Seller: USA HUD
Date: 04/02/18

170 Joseph Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $164,800
Buyer: Sergiu Mocanu
Seller: Margarete J. Deso
Date: 03/29/18

27 Juniper Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $263,800
Buyer: Autumn Neylon
Seller: Thomas J. Grzelak
Date: 03/29/18

131 Loomis Ridge
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $450,000
Buyer: Nathan T. Lemay
Seller: Brendan L. Tallon
Date: 03/30/18

100 Main St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Morizio Brothers Mgmt.
Seller: Richard K. Adams
Date: 04/05/18

4 Oak St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $189,900
Buyer: Amanda R. Kinnunen
Seller: Charles F. Henrickson
Date: 03/29/18

18 Ridgecrest Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: George Clemons
Seller: Jeffrey J. Chagnon
Date: 04/06/18

10 Rosedell Dr., Ext.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $124,600
Buyer: Della Ripa Real Estate
Seller: Douglas E. Welch
Date: 04/05/18

23 Russellville Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $288,000
Buyer: Thomas E. Hoffman
Seller: Sergey Gut
Date: 03/30/18

100 Servistar Industrial Way
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $440,000
Buyer: Servistar Realty LLC
Seller: Roland Boissonnault
Date: 03/29/18

107 Sunset Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $167,500
Buyer: Zachary Cortis
Seller: FNMA
Date: 03/28/18

WILBRAHAM

85 3 Rivers Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Eric Franco
Seller: New England Developers
Date: 03/29/18

23 Bartlett Court
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $228,000
Buyer: Benjamin D. Mastay
Seller: Michael K. Maroney
Date: 03/30/18

18-20 Cottage Ave.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $900,000
Buyer: Stockhouse 122 Realty LLC
Seller: Old Red Barn LLC
Date: 04/04/18

16 Dudley St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: Lyndsay M. Vickers
Seller: Daniel K. Ulich
Date: 04/05/18

4 Duffield St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $295,000
Buyer: Mark D. Rowe
Seller: Michael E. Dyer
Date: 04/06/18

95 Silver St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $349,900
Buyer: Thomas Alimberti
Seller: Lorie V. Roy
Date: 03/30/18

358 Springfield St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: An T. Dinh
Seller: Amanda A. Bennett
Date: 04/05/18

17 Stirling Dr.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $264,000
Buyer: Melissa M. Santos
Seller: Katherine Zahirovic
Date: 03/30/18

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY

AMHERST

38 Gray St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $1,500,000
Buyer: Harmsway LLC
Seller: Gerald G. Guidera
Date: 04/04/18

180 Lincoln Ave.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $173,578
Buyer: Stephen Braun
Seller: Stephen Braun
Date: 03/30/18

111 Logtown Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Maly Mao
Seller: John B. Gulbrandsen
Date: 03/30/18

20 Mount Holyoke Dr.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $387,000
Buyer: Bruce J. Stedman
Seller: Thomas R. Neuburger
Date: 03/27/18

378 Old Montague Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $127,588
Buyer: Reverse Mortgage Solution
Seller: Stebbins, Martha, (Estate)
Date: 04/04/18

33 Sheerman Lane
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $345,000
Buyer: Edith S. Howe
Seller: Andrew C. Fisk
Date: 03/30/18

1730 South East St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $475,000
Buyer: Jason R. Edwards
Seller: Robert W. McAllister
Date: 03/30/18

459 South Pleasant St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $510,000
Buyer: Thomas R. Neuburger
Seller: Stephen C. Mallett
Date: 03/27/18

BELCHERTOWN

40 Front St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: 40 Front Street LLC
Seller: Fabbo Properties Inc.
Date: 03/29/18

215 Granby Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $340,500
Buyer: Loredana Pietrini
Seller: William J. Kennedy
Date: 03/28/18

230-238 State St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Robert M. Mileski
Seller: Henrichon, Robert J., (Estate)
Date: 04/06/18

554 State St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: George W. Herrick
Seller: Donald C. Eskett
Date: 04/06/18

CHESTERFIELD

6 Antin Road
Chesterfield, MA 01012
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Moguma LLC
Seller: James A. Ryan
Date: 03/30/18

Old Chesterfield Road #1
Chesterfield, MA 01012
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Joseph A. Audette
Seller: Sugar Hill RT
Date: 04/05/18

EASTHAMPTON

18 Gaugh St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $153,010
Buyer: Lake Rentals LLC
Seller: Onota Rental LLC
Date: 04/05/18

40 Holyoke St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Old Jarvis LLC
Seller: Lisa L. Fusco
Date: 04/02/18

30 Pleasant St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Bruce Harrison
Seller: Peter W. Kelley
Date: 03/29/18

11 Strong St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Joshua C. Allgaier
Seller: Peter K. Sacuta
Date: 03/30/18

79 Strong St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $252,000
Buyer: Camilla R. Sise
Seller: Zadkiel RT
Date: 03/30/18

GRANBY

65 Ferry Hill Road
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $559,000
Buyer: Jaime A. Lavallee
Seller: Cheryl T. Boisselle
Date: 04/06/18

4 Jackielyn Circle
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $189,900
Buyer: Bethany Adams
Seller: Yellowbrick Property LLC
Date: 04/04/18

Taylor St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Ryan J. Voiland
Seller: Kestrel Land TR
Date: 04/03/18

HADLEY

East St.
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Allards Farms Inc.
Seller: Niedbala, Julianna, (Estate)
Date: 04/06/18

102 Rocky Hill Road
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $277,500
Buyer: Corinne E. Shaw
Seller: Timothy Edgcumbe-Ford
Date: 03/30/18

HATFIELD

40 Dwight St.
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Julie E. Aquadro
Seller: US Bank
Date: 04/06/18

10 Elm Court
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Katherine J. Weaver
Seller: Robert R. Keller
Date: 03/28/18

61 Plain Road
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $465,000
Buyer: Lisa A. Keller
Seller: Alan E. Wolejko
Date: 03/28/18

44 West St.
Hatfield, MA 01088
Amount: $178,000
Buyer: Ursula M. Donaldson
Seller: Doris A. Wheeler
Date: 04/05/18

HUNTINGTON

Russell Road
Huntington, MA 01050
Amount: $249,000
Buyer: Ramanjanappa Ravikumar
Seller: Huntington Russell Road TR
Date: 04/06/18

MIDDLEFIELD

Huntington Road
Middlefield, MA 01243
Amount: $249,000
Buyer: Ramanjanappa Ravikumar
Seller: Huntington Russell Rd TR
Date: 04/06/18

NORTHAMPTON

137 Barrett St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $286,500
Buyer: Mark Esposito
Seller: Michelle M. Fitzgerald
Date: 04/06/18

122 Cardinal Way
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $460,000
Buyer: Andrew J. Durocher
Seller: Phuc V. Dinh
Date: 03/29/18

23 Dryads Green
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $1,107,000
Buyer: Dryads Green TR
Seller: Peter Whittredge
Date: 03/27/18

21 Liberty St.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $326,000
Buyer: Ira Curtis
Seller: Alicia M. Spence
Date: 03/28/18

PELHAM

62 Buffam Road
Pelham, MA 01002
Amount: $596,500
Buyer: Tammy L. Haut-Donahue
Seller: Philippe Galaski 2008 TR
Date: 03/30/18

SOUTH HADLEY

7 Cypress Dr.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: James R. Houlihan
Seller: Mary B. Aiken
Date: 03/28/18

84 Hadley St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $220,500
Buyer: Corey R. Whelihan
Seller: US Bank
Date: 03/30/18
20 New Ludlow Road
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Yelizaveta Khomyak
Seller: Avet RT
Date: 03/30/18

27 Saybrook Circle
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $233,500
Buyer: Randall Benoit
Seller: FNMA
Date: 03/28/18

SOUTHAMPTON

373 College Hwy
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $470,000
Buyer: Mathieu J. Tebo
Seller: Alfred M. Roy
Date: 04/06/18

Fomer Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Jeffrey K. Florek
Seller: Denise D. Wayne
Date: 04/02/18

100 Gunn Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $605,000
Buyer: Todd J. Barron
Seller: Douglas S. Riel
Date: 03/30/18

WARE

4 Bel Air Dr.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $272,900
Buyer: John P. Petracone
Seller: Kathleen M. Sheehan
Date: 03/30/18

15 Chestnut St.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $172,491
Buyer: April A. Camuso
Seller: Georgeann Koziol
Date: 04/03/18

3 Mattson Blvd.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: Eric Allard
Seller: Darlene B. Marks
Date: 04/05/18

75 Old Belchertown Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $222,000
Buyer: Wendell R. Pipkin
Seller: Douglas G. Nugent
Date: 03/27/18

23 Walnut St.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $139,900
Buyer: Betsy A. Pascale
Seller: Wilmington Savings
Date: 03/28/18

WILLIAMSBURG

176 Main St.
Williamsburg, MA 01096
Amount: $208,000
Buyer: Jeffrey Ross
Seller: Allan L. Kidston
Date: 03/30/18

DBA Certificates Departments

The following business certificates and trade names were issued or renewed during the months of April 2018.

AMHERST

Barbara L. Hawley, Attorney at Law
24 Dickinson St.
Barbara Hawley

DeJong Consulting
81 Pine Grove
Christene DeJong

Elisha Beaman House
12 Clifton Ave.
Tina Lalonde

Katherine Pfister, LICSW
48 North Pleasant St.
Katherine Pfister

La Boa Brava
92 Henry St.
Hannah Staiger

Peelle Leisure Enterprises
161 High St.
Paul Peelle, Diana Peelle

Southern Belle Pastry
34 Pomeroy Lane
Latasha Beckett

Yiddish Book Center
1021 West St.
Susan Bronson

BELCHERTOWN

KLP Builders
55 Greenwich Hill
Kirk Pisani

Old Fashion Cleaning & Handyman Services
38A Warren Wright St.
Aneta Rybicki

CHICOPEE

Chicopee High School Lacrosse
22 Sachem St.
Tammy Niedermeier, Tina Niedermeier

CSM Entertainment
77 Grattan St.
Christopher Kelleher

Felt to the Core
91 8th Ave.
Christine Laverdiere

STAR Mini Mart, LLC
51 Springfield St.
Eric Collazo

Touch of G. LaRose
208 Exchange St.
Gilmarys Marrero

DEERFIELD

Giving Circle Thrift Shop
55B Main St.
Susan Pratt-Tripp Memorial Foundation Inc.

EASTHAMPTON

Boucher-O’Brien Funeral Home
7 Pleasant St.
Thomas O’Brien III

Buri’s Generation HI & GC
31 Exeter St.
Belisario Buri

Payne and Picard Remodeling
122 Pleasant St.
Peter Payne Jr.

Zenful Cleaning
21 High St.
Yushan Zheng

EAST LONGMEADOW

Caitlin Lavin
280 North Main St., Suite 4
Caitlin Lavin

Dreamscape Design Landscaping
20 Somerset St.
Marco Basile

John DeSousa General Contractor
18 Dell St.
John DeSousa

Meadows Health Center
40 Crane Ave.
Muhammad Gul

HADLEY

Infinity Ed
245 Russell St.
Varna Nailc

Out of This World Cleaning
116 Rocky Hill Road
Lindsey St. Laurence

T-Mobile
367 Russell St.
Executive Cellular Phones Inc.

HOLYOKE

Bennion Kombucha
92 Race St.
Michael Bennion

Defining Moments Productions
42 Ogden St.
Joseph Hodgins

El Dugout de Gammy
134 High St.
Jesus Hernandez

Graphic Stop
50 Holyoke St.
Christopher Lombardi

Hillside Auto Sales
911 Main St.
Michael Krassler

Hothouse Farms
5B Appleton St.
Audrey Park, Lucas Wiggins

Hothouse Holyoke
5B Appleton St.
Audrey Park, Lucas Wiggins

KTG Construction
1180 Northampton St.
Kurt Garvery

T & Y Enteprises Inc.
1530 Northampton St.
Tamer Mahdy

Torres Flooring
83 Martin St.
Jose Torres

Voltscooter
56 Nonotuck St.
Kenneth Harstine

LONGMEADOW

JML Construction Services
152 Burbank Road
JML Construction Services

Matchmaking.world
73 Oakwood Dr.
Matchmaking.world

SafelyRetire.com
102 Woolworth St.
SafelyRetire.com

LUDLOW

A.K. Paint
9 Cady St., Apt. 7
Andrew Kessler

Bio Links of New England
438 Ventura St.
Leslie Lindsey

Bob Costa Electric
181 Wedgewood Dr.
Robert Costa

Jerry’s Roofing
572 Fuller St.
Gerald Brown

Precision Home Improvement
476 Fuller St.
Jon Schneider

RC Computers
51 Simonds St.
Richard Calento, Joanne Calento

NORTHAMPTON

Applied Mortgage
211 North St.
HarborOne Mortgage, LLC

Dapper Kitty
29 Butler Place
Melissa Goldsmith, Anthony Fonseca

Fitzwilly’s/Toasted Owl
21-23 Main St.
Fred Gohr

Gelb Gemological Consulting
4 Madison Ave.
Thomas Gelb

Gothic and Main
29 Butler Place
Anthony Fonseca, Melissa Goldsmith

Greg’s Auto Repair
442 Elm St.
Jeffrey Tenczar

Hasper and Associates
24 North Maple St., #1
Patricia Hasper

Kidstuff
90 Maple St.
Tami Schirch

MLMC
29 Butler Place
Melissa Goldsmith, Anthony Fonseca

Pear Tree Press Music Publishers
703 Fairway Village
Ronald Perera

Sally Staub Design
74 Audubon Road
Sally Piland Staub

Student Power Networks
37 Kensington Ave.
William Wimsatt

PALMER

Cardinal Custom Carpentry and Woodworking
21 Wilbraham St.
Angelina Dubovik

Cross Roads Institute Driving Safety
2045 Calkins Road
Brian Griffith, Julie Griffith

Dillon Childs, Electrician
3115 Main St.
Dillon Childs

SPRINGFIELD

Big Y Express #166
471 Cooley St.
Big Y Foods Inc.

Brown Mini Market
178 Oakland St.
Christopher Brown

Check 2 Cash
338 Belmont Ave.
Phuoc Thien Ho

Chinese Qi Gong Tui Na
1655 Boston Road
Zujin Chen

Chiro Pro Billers & Management
34 King St.
Maria Davila

Garcia Detailing
199 Fernbank Road
Richard Garcia

Goddess Goods
258 Main St.
Kalisha Davis

Goldy’s Affordable Landscaping
34 Langdon St.
Rodolfo Sanchez

The Green Team
198 East Allen Ridge Road
James Bazinet

Hegartees
11 Balfour Dr.
Joseph Hegarty

International Auto Sales
715 Liberty St.
Tina DePergola

Jetmar Trucking
80 Harkness Ave.
Jose Torres

Kenia Hair Center
219 Berkshire Ave.
Kenia Torres

Lavigne Cleaning Machine
67 Hall St.
Michael Lavigne

Lozada’s Auto Sales
86 Boston Road
Daniel Lozada

The Markets at Eastfield
1685 Boston Road
William Bullock

Northeast Lawn and Shrub
25 Manchester Terrace
Donald LeBlanc

PJB Home Improvement
67 Lang St.
Paul Babiec

Pac One
46 Tinkham Road
Justin Cotton Jr.

Rhino Linings of Springfield
50 Verge St.
Michael Dancy

Roussel and Sons Masonry
59 Jamaica St.
Joshua Roussel

Timminy Press
61 Adams St.
William Dusty

Top Notch 2
538 Page Blvd.
Shawn Jones

Touch of Class Boutique
1655 Boston Road
Owen Bewry

Uno Chicago Grill
1722 Boston Road
Uno Restaurants, LLC

WESTFIELD

Crack Attack Sealcoating
419 West Road
Justin Boisseau

Elegant Home Improvement
3 Scarfo Dr.
Viachaslau Khivuk

Heritage Auto Transport
1 Roderick Dr.
Nathan Charette

Ken’s Appraisal Service
3 Crawford Dr.
Kenneth McCoubrey

PMJ Builders
57½ Montgomery St.
Peter Pienkowski Sr.

Westfield’s Fallen Heroes
1 First Ave.
Westfield’s Fallen Heroes

WEST SPRINGFIELD

Cassie Roche, MS, LMHC
425 Union St.
Cassie Roche

Classic Burgers Inc.
1261 Westfield St.
Barry Parker

Expo Liquors
1122 Memorial Ave.
West Side Spirits

The Help to Retire Group
181 Park Ave.
HTR Group N.E., LLC

King Pizza
1440 Memorial Ave.
Enes Inc.

Lincare Inc.
51 Park Ave.
Susan Yanush

Majestic Theater
131 Elm St.
Todd Cadis

Pleasant Valley Real Estate
865 Memorial Ave.
Nicholas Katsoulis

Potterville Pottery
1702 Riverdale St.
Laura Frasco

Precision Components Group
190 Doty Circle
Peter Elias

Sorrento’s Pizza of West Springfield
660 King’s Highway
Pasquale Albano

Spartan Auto Care Center
865 Memorial Ave.
Nicholas Katsoulis

Spartan Auto Sales
78 Lowell St.
Nicholas Katsoulis

WILBRAHAM

Better Days Counseling
8 Federal Lane
Jessica Senecal-Bennett

DES Woodworking
103 Manchonis Road
Dustin Smith

Elevation by Lattitude
859 Stony Hill Road
CCW Catering, LLC

Excel Training Institute Inc.
4 Stony Hill Road
Rebecca Paquette