Merrill Gagne knew his $10,000 matching investment in a Franklin County gift card promotion last year — making each $25 card worth $50 at participating stores, restaurants, and other businesses — was going to be popular when one woman wanted to buy 200 of them.
“She basically wanted to use it to pay for her wedding venue,” he laughed. “That’s smart — I get it. So we had to put a limit on it.”
The more obvious sign the promotion was a hit was the fact that the 400 cards sold out in three hours. Earlier this month, the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce Gagne issued a second round of gift cards doubled by another $10,000 donation from Gagne, and they sold out as well — this time, in just 17 minutes.
The idea — like other such programs in the Valley, like the doubled gift card Scott Keiter has funded with the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce for a few years now — is to use philanthropy to boost local businesses. And for Gagne, president of Gagne Wealth Management Group in Greenfield, who has given back like few business owners have over the years (much more on that later), it just made sense.
“It’s just the idea of trying to infuse some cash into the businesses so that people are buying gift cards and then spending it locally,” he said. “You’re really benefiting local businesses because people are coming back and spending their card, and the money goes back into the community.”
Jessye Deane, executive director of the Franklin County Chamber, has worked with plenty of nonprofits and sees the good that can come from giving — and the joy of celebrating that support in a public way.
“But with Merrill, it’s less about celebration and more about the impact. That’s always what stands out,” she said, adding that this is the only countywide gift card match in the Pioneer Valley, encompassing 26 towns.
“Instead of a generic gift card or an Amazon gift card, this is a card that guarantees the money secures local spending in a way that’s really unique. People can choose where to spend it, but also find new favorite businesses to fall in love with, and really increase their foot traffic.”
Hannah Rechtschaffen says Merrill Gagne’s philanthropy not only benefits the GBA, but inspires others to do the same.
Hannah Rechtschaffen, director of the Greenfield Business Assoc., is celebrating Gagne’s community support as well, touting a challenge grant created last year whereby he donated $10,000, which the GBA then had to match through its own fundraising, followed by another $15,000, which it again had to match, for a total of $50,000 toward the association’s work to promote the economic and civic vitality of the Greenfield business community.
“People want to feel a part of something,” Rechtschaffen said. “You need that leader. You need someone to say, ‘I will take a gamble on you, on your organization, on what you’re telling me you’re going to accomplish.’ Without that person, it is harder to go after other large gifts. But when I can go to someone and say, ‘look, Merrill Gagne is willing to vote confidently in our favor. Will you join him in that?’ — it puts me in a different position as a fundraiser. So it is a gift in itself for him to take that kind of chance.”
The success of that $25,000 challenge gift has already helped catalyze a broader wave of support for the GBA’s vision. In February, it inspired a successful fundraising event at JaDuke Center for the Performing Arts (co-sponsored by Gagne), where business owners, community members, and local leaders came together to dance, sing, and raise more than $31,000 to support the next phase of the association’s organizational growth.
“I just think Merrill is a real standout when it comes to the way he sees his business fitting into the greater ecosystem,” Rechtschaffen said, adding that Franklin County may not have as much investment capability or as many angel investors as larger counties, but they exist, and may just need motivating.
“Merrill is part of this conversation of who could be involved more, and how do we get them involved? How do we get them thinking about themselves as philanthropists, as impact investors, and really being a part of things? In that way, he’s driving a lot here — it’s not just simple sponsorship.”
National Reach, Local Impact
Jessye Deane says Merrill Gagne’s gift card match not only excites local consumers, but keeps money circulating at local businesses.
When BusinessWest sat down recently with Gagne in his Main Street office in downtown Greenfield, he said giving back has long been part of his business model, especially with a concept he calls philanthropic marketing.
“That is, putting as much good out into the world as possible without expecting any return, just assuming that it’ll eventually all be paid forward, as they say,” he explained. “And living in this community, I grew my whole business over the last two decades under the premise, and the promise, that we were going to give back and do good things.
“We’re licensed in 42 states,” he went on. “So it allows us to not only draw from Boston, but we have clients all over the country, as far as Alaska. We can literally jump on a Zoom or a Teams meeting at any time. It’s fantastic. But all of those dollars that those clients are paying come back to Franklin County.
“That allows us to grow from an economy of scale perspective — I mean, we’re just shy of a billion dollars in assets under management. And that gives us the ability to have all that revenue come back here and support the local community in as many ways as we can.”
Gagne’s community efforts include fully sponsoring the Learn to Skate program with the Franklin County Hockey Assoc., backing Greenfield Minor League Baseball, spearheading holiday food drives, generating support for the Greenfield Public Library, and serving as a leader and donor for the YMCA, the United Arc, Rachel’s Table, and the Children’s Advocacy Center.
He has also established match incentives for the Children’s Advocacy Center, Community Action Pioneer Valley, and, as noted, the GBA and the chamber.
Meanwhile, he has developed a relationship with JaDuke since it opened its Greenfield location in 2025.
“I worked with [executive director] Kim Williams right away in order to foster a program where we would pay for any kid that doesn’t have access to the money to be able to pay for dance classes, and then pay for their dresses and their dance recitals, so they can go perform on the main stage,” Gagne said. “So it’s not their parents choosing whether they’re going to spend the money on it or not, because we’re going to cover that cost for them.”
And on Monday, Sept. 28, the Gagne Wealth Impact Invitational will debut — a first-of-its-kind golf tournament at the Crumpin Fox Golf Club in Bernardston. All tournament expenses, including lunch, dinner, and an open bar, have been underwritten by Gagne Wealth Management, and 100% of all entry and raffle fees are awarded to the top three nonprofit organizations selected by participating players.
“We always started with children and local families,” Gagne said. “Like, 10 years ago, with the Franklin County Hockey Association, we decided we were going to pay for all of the ice time for the Learn to Skate program — because if a family has to choose between spending 500 bucks on ice time or not, they’ll choose not. But if it was free, it would provide access, and those kids then go on to feed the hockey program — which has literally quadrupled in size in the last five years.
“People don’t always put their money where their mouth is. They always have an opinion, but they’re not willing to listen, step up, and be the difference in the world. So that’s what we’re trying to do, and it’s really easy to start out with children and families,” he went on.
“I’ve been told, ‘my kid just loves hockey now. He’s changed. He doesn’t want to be on video games anymore; he just loves being out there on the ice. And I never would have had the money to be able to do that. It’s really changed our family.’ I’ve heard that story dozens of times.”
Future Focused
Gagne didn’t wait for his degree from the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst to start working; he paid his way through college by interning as a financial advisor.
“I grew up very poor in downtown Springfield, so I knew that the only way [to attend college] would either be to take on debt, or to work. And I always knew, early on, that I’d be good at managing money.”
Now, about 20 years into his business, he has evolved from an early focus on estate planning to a wide-ranging, higher-end, boutique wealth management firm, one that serves both individuals and businesses. “We do full-level estate planning, financial planning, and then income and wealth management all together.”
The average client, he added, is past what’s known as the accumulation phase and into the distribution phase — in other words, figuring out what to do with their money.
“That’s the fun part. And then also, how do I leave it to my kids? How do I leave it to charity?” he said. “Most of my clients don’t even know what a qualified charitable donation is — at age 70½, you can take IRA money pre-tax and give it to charity at $100,000 a year and never pay taxes on it. I see people all the time who take all the money out, then cut a check out of their checkbook. It’s after-tax money, they do the donation, and they never get to deduct it.”
“With Merrill, it’s less about celebration and more about the impact. That’s always what stands out.”
Besides this educational aspect, Gagne enjoys the fact that no day is the same — because all clients are different. “I have a CFA, a CFP, a full suite of advisors in my office who all work for me only, and only my clients. And we customize every single person’s portfolio to their risk tolerance, where they’re at, their goals, what they care about. There’s not a single client in my books that’s the same. I mean, the concepts are the same, but the stories are different.
“My job is being with people,” he went on. “And when I’m in front of people, we talk about finance for, like, three minutes, and the other 97% of the meeting is therapy. We’re talking about how you’re feeling, what’s going on, divorces, children, grandchildren, babies, all that stuff. It’s almost like going to like a family reunion every time I see a new client. We catch up on life. It’s such a rewarding thing, being able to be there for people when they need you the most.”
As for business clients, Gagne is gratified to help them strategically grow, figure out what their markets are, and work effectively in that space as well. Rechtschaffen sees him as a local success story, one who wants to pay that success forward.
“Merrill has been in this community for a very long time. And he’s choosing to be here,” she said. “He could take his business anywhere. And I hear a lot of business owners say that: ‘I could do this anywhere.’ But people are choosing to be here.”
And some of them are choosing to do good outside their office walls.
“I think,” Gagne said, “if more people just gave because they want to be here and they want to be community-driven, it would be better for everybody.”
