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Filling the Holes in Medicare

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Law Sections
Coverage May Be Unjustly Denied in Many Circumstances

By ANN I. WEBER, Esq. and MICHAEL A. FENTON, Esq.

Ann I. Weber

Ann I. Weber

Michael A. Fenton

Michael A. Fenton

Millions of seniors rely upon Medicare and supplemental Medigap policies to pay for hospital and skilled-nursing care, but many find out at the worst possible time that a big bill is due.

In particular, coverage may be unjustly denied when 1) a patient is admitted to a hospital under ‘observation status’ rather than as an inpatient, 2) a skilled-nursing-care facility declares that a patient has plateaued, or 3) a hospital stay exceeds 90 days for the same illness. If you or a loved one run into this type of problem, here is what you need to know.

Observation Status

Medicare Part A covers hospital inpatient stays for 60 days and skilled-nursing-home care for the first 20 days, but only if you are discharged from a hospital after admission as an inpatient for three days. If you are admitted under observation status, you are billed as an outpatient under Medicare Part B. Although Part B may cover most of your expenses in the hospital, patients who are discharged to a nursing home without the requisite three days as an inpatient will not be covered for their nursing-home stay.

Many hospitals have increasingly admitted patients under observation status for longer stays, even though the Medicare policy manual specifies 24 hours as a benchmark. Observation status has been extended to cover multi-day stays at the hospital with tests and procedures. If this happens to you, when you are discharged to a skilled-nursing home, you will be responsible for the cost of such care, frequently running at more than $400 per day.

Here’s what you can do:

• Be sure you have a healthcare proxy granting a trusted person access to your medical records and the authority to make medical decisions if you cannot do so;

• Find out your status;

• If you are classified as admitted under observation status and you believe that is incorrect, try to get your status changed by asking for a review or, if possible, a consultation with your community physician;

• If you are unsuccessful and able to safely return home, ask your hospital or community physician to order home care for you. This care will be covered by Medicare; and

• If you need skilled-nursing-home care, you will be responsible for paying privately, but, provided you have been hospitalized for at least three nights, you should initiate Medicare appeals relative to both the hospital and nursing-home stays. These appeals have been successful for people in this circumstance. Note that there is currently a federal case on appeal regarding notice and review procedures for patients placed on observation status to help prevent abuse.

Plateaued Patients

Medicare has long had a practice of denying coverage to patients in skilled-nursing homes who are not improving and have been deemed ‘plateaued.’ This is in spite of the fact that this ‘improvement standard’ does not appear anywhere in Medicare regulations or policies and is expressly contradicted, in the federal regulations, at 42 CFR 409.32(c), which states that “a patient may need skilled services to prevent further deterioration or to preserve current capabilities.” The improvement-standard policy has resulted in the denial of coverage for numerous patients with chronic conditions such as Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, diabetes, and more.

Now, under the settlement agreement in a Vermont district-court class-action case, Jimmo v. Sebelius, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has agreed to revise all publications and guidelines to explain that coverage will be provided to individuals who need skilled care to prevent or slow further deterioration. Nevertheless, some facilities are still using this criteria to move a patient to custodial nursing-home services, which are not covered at all by Medicare or Medigap policies.

Lifetime Days

For a hospital stay, Medicare will cover only the first 90 days for the same spell of illness under Medicare Part A. For days 1-60, you are billed a deductible, and for days 61-90, you are billed an additional co-pay. For the 91st day and beyond, you will be covered only if you have lifetime reserve days available (you get 60 lifetime reserve days that can be used at any time you go beyond the 90-day threshold).

Medicare is no help to patients who have exhausted their days during a hospital stay. This is why many people invest in a Medigap policy. These policies cover the deductibles and co-insurance payments. Also, under Section 8.B(3) of the NAIC Model Standards for Regulation of Medicare Supplemental Insurance, Medigap policies are required to provide patients with an additional 365 lifetime reserve days for hospital care.

Medigap policies cover only Medicare-approved expenses, and Medicare will deny your claim if lifetime reserved days are available but remain unused. Providers have been known to have faulty data when it comes to knowing the exact number of lifetime reserve days that remain for a particular patient. In this environment, lifetime reserve days are not always utilized properly, resulting in unjustly denied claims.

Conclusion

Should you or a loved one get a large or unexpected summary notice due to issues with any of the matters addressed in this article, a written notice containing the reasons for termination of Medicare coverage should be requested.

An appeal might be necessary. You may want to contact a knowledgeable attorney for assistance in the appeal.

Attorney Ann I. Weber is a partner with the Springfield-based law firm Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin, P.C., and concentrates her practice in the areas of estate-tax planning, estate administration, probate, and elder law. She has a particular interest in creative estate planning for authors, artists, farmers, and landowners. She has recently been named one of the “Top Fifty Women Lawyers in New England” by Super Lawyer magazine and is a frequent author and speaker on issues regarding estate planning; (413) 737-1131; www.ssfpc.com. Attorney Michael A. Fenton is an associate with Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin, P.C. He concentrates his practice in the areas of business law, real-estate development, and estate planning. He has served on the Springfield City Council since 2010; (413) 737-1131; www.ssfpc.com

Coming to Terms

By
Law Sections
EEOC Issues Enforcement Guidance on Pregnancy Discrimination Act

By SUSAN G. FENTIN, Esq.

Employers’ obligations under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act made news in July when the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued new enforcement guidance on the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA). This announcement from the EEOC follows the U.S. Supreme Court’s July 1 decision agreeing to hear Young v. UPS, a case that arises out of an employer’s decisions regarding a pregnant employee who was unable to perform the essential functions of her position.

SUSAN G. FENTIN

Susan G. Fentin

The PDA was enacted to extend the protections of Title VII to encompass pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, considering discrimination based on those circumstances to be a form of sex discrimination in violation of Title VII. The issue in the Young case involves a UPS policy that limits light-duty assignments to individuals with work-related injuries or those who are considered disabled under the ADA. UPS denied a light-duty assignment to Ms. Young because her lifting restrictions were not work-related and she was not considered disabled under the ADA, with the result that she was forced to take unpaid leave from her job.

Her suit against UPS was dismissed on the grounds that a pregnant worker with a temporary lifting restriction isn’t “similar in her ability or inability to work” to the other types of employees for whom UPS willingly provided light duty. UPS successfully argued that its policy is “pregnancy blind” and therefore not discriminatory. The Appeals Court decision dismissing the case was appealed to the Supreme Court, which has accepted the case for its 2014-15 term.

Significantly, the new enforcement guidance specifically covers the issue pending before the court: whether a pregnant employee is entitled to light duty if her employer would grant a light-duty assignment to other workers who are subject to the same work restrictions.

The EEOC Guidance

Although the EEOC’s PDA enforcement guidance does not have the force of law, it’s generally considered persuasive by the federal courts. So the provisions of this new guidance are significant for employers who are considering their obligations to their pregnant workers. Much of the guidance restates an employer’s existing obligations to its pregnant employees:

• The PDA and Title VII protect women who are currently or have been pregnant, could potentially or are trying to become pregnant, and medical conditions that result from pregnancy;

• Employers may not make decisions about pregnant employees based on stereotypes, assumptions, or fears that a pregnant worker could harm herself or her baby by continuing to work;

• Employees who are breastfeeding are also considered protected under Title VII;

• Employers may not discriminate against employees who have had or are contemplating an abortion; and

• Employers are cautioned against making employment decisions based on a woman’s potential caregiving responsibilities.

Potentially Problematic Provisions

However, some of the provisions of the new guidance could be potentially problematic for employers. The guidance states that even a seemingly neutral policy, such as a weight-lifting requirement, could have a disproportionate impact on pregnant women.

Although such cases generally require statistically significant data, the guidance suggests that such evidence might not be required if all or substantially all pregnant women would be negatively affected by the policy. To defend such a claim, an employer must be able to show that the requirement is “necessary to safe and efficient job performance,” and even then, an employer can still be held liable if there is a less discriminatory alternative, but the employer refuses to implement it.

Similarly, a company policy, such as the UPS policy in Young, can be considered a violation of the PDA if it denies light duty or other accommodations to pregnant women while granting those benefits to other employees with similar restrictions. The guidance specifically states that that a pregnant worker with a work restriction who is denied light duty can establish a case of discrimination by identifying any other employee, including employees injured on the job and/or covered by the ADA, who is similar in his or her ability or inability to work and who was accommodated or granted light-duty work. In this section of the guidance, the EEOC specifically rejected the idea that an employer does not have to provide light duty for a pregnant worker if it has a policy that limits light duty to workers injured on the job and/or to employees with disabilities under the ADA.

In addition, the new guidance states that a policy that restricts sick leave might also have a disparate impact on pregnant women, citing examples where a 10-day ceiling on sick leave and a policy denying sick leave during the first year of employment have been found to disparately impact pregnant women. The guidance also underscores the impact of the 2008 amendments to the ADA, noting that, while pregnancy itself is not a disability, pregnancy-related impairments may be disabilities under the new version of that statute.

Of course, this is not news to Massachusetts employers, who have long been required to consider pregnancy-related conditions as disabilities under state law. And the guidance specifically states that an employer’s health-insurance plan must cover “prescription contraceptives on the same basis as prescription drugs, devices, and services that are used to prevent the occurrence of medical conditions other than pregnancy,” although the EEOC concedes that it does not address whether an employer may maintain a religious exemption from this requirement, as dictated in the Supreme Court’s recent Hobby Lobby decision.

The new enforcement guidance is available at www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/pregnancy_guidance.cfm. The EEOC has also published a fact sheet for small employers at www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/publications/pregnancy_factsheet.cfm.

Bottom Line

Employers should exercise caution when making decisions about the ability of pregnant employees to perform the essential functions of their positions. If an employer cannot accommodate any worker with a lifting restriction, regardless of whether or not that employee is female and pregnant, then a claim for failure to accommodate or pregnancy discrimination will not likely be successful.

But employers who limit their light-duty policies to those with work-related injuries should be careful about denying a light-duty position to a pregnant worker with work restrictions. And Massachusetts employers should continue to engage in the interactive process with their pregnant workers to determine whether there are any accommodations that would allow a pregnant worker with a restriction to perform the essential functions of her job.

Attorney Susan G. Fentin is a partner at Springfield-based Skoler, Abbott & Presser. Her practice concentrates on labor and employment counseling, advising large and small employers on their responsibilities and obligations under state and federal employment laws, and representing employers before state and federal agencies and in court. She speaks frequently to employer groups, conducts training on avoiding problems in employment law, and teaches master classes on both the FMLA and ADA; (413) 737-4753; [email protected]

The Era of Urgent Care

By
Business of Aging Sections
This Growing Model Bridges Gap Between Primary, Emergency Care

Rick Crews, left, with partner Jim Brennan

Rick Crews, left, with partner Jim Brennan, says there are many reasons — from affordability to its ability to save individuals time and aggravation — why urgent care has become so popular.

Rick Crews has been heralding the benefits of urgent care since he and Jim Brennan opened their first afc Doctors Express practice five years ago.

“We’re treating many people who traditionally used to go to the ER — but a lot of that was not appropriate,” he said of patients whose illness or injury didn’t rise to the level of an emergency, yet had no access to primary care.

“This is an alternative — a place you can go with really high-quality care that’s much more affordable, and get that care in a more timely fashion. That’s why urgent care is so successful right now.

“Hospitals need to concentrate on doing what they do best — the sicker patients, the more labor-intensive patients,” he continued, adding that patients who crowd the ER with less pressing matters cause a backlog, which elevates waiting times and frustration levels for everyone. Several area hospitals have recently renovated and expanded their emergency departments, but Crews said that’s not always the answer.

“I think we’ve provided relief for the hospital so they don’t have to build a new facility, and we’ve provided an outlet for patients, who can be seen for something in a much quicker fashion.”

If it sounds like hospitals consider afc Doctors Express and other urgent-care facilities a competitive threat, think again. In fact, hospitals are increasingly opening urgent-care clinics of their own to provide a level of care between the doctor’s office and the ER, with hours that often extend well into evenings and weekends, unlike the typical primary-care practice.

In some cases, hospitals are even teaming up with urgent-care practices, as evidenced by the recently announced affiliation between Boston-area afc Doctors Express franchises and Steward Health Care, a network of 11 hospitals and other facilities.

“The way our affiliation is set up is really cool,” Crews told BusinessWest. “When a patient walks in the door, we ask them, ‘do you have a primary-care provider?’ If they say ‘no’, we will refer them to primary-care physicians with the Steward group. And their family-practice physicians will refer their patients to afc Doctors Express after hours and weekends for urgent-care needs.”

Through the affiliation, 45 family-practice, emergency-medicine, and internal-medicine physicians employed by afc Doctors Express will join the Steward Health Care Network, and afc Doctors Express physicians will have access to Steward’s patient portal to evaluate a patient’s clinical history prior to commencing treatment. Clinical notes from an urgent-care visit will be communicated back to a patient’s primary-care physician or specialist for necessary follow-up.

“The hospitals are embracing urgent care; they see it as a great thing,” said Dr. Richard Freniere, co-owner, Urgent Care of Wilbraham, which opened last year. “We really have some good relationships with both Baystate and Mercy, open communications with doctors and emergency rooms in both hospitals.”

The pair know something about hospital ERs, since they’re both employees in the Wing Memorial Hospital Emergeny Department in Palmer, although Freniere devotes the bulk of his time these days to the Wilbraham facility.

“Baystate opened up an urgent care; they see the value of it,” Freniere said, citing just one of the area’s hospital-affiliated practices. “But we’re starting to see other competition coming in — little mom-and-pops, with one doctor, taking a shot at urgent care.”

Growing Model

According to the New York Times, the proliferation of those tiny practices makes it difficult to determine the exact number of urgent-care facilities in operation, but the Urgent Care Assoc. of America pegs the figure at around 9,000 — and growing.

Dr. Ateev Mehotra, associate professor of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School, told the newspaper that greater patient awareness of urgent care is causing a cultural shift.

“We expect to do our banking 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and to shop 24/7,” he said. “So now we want our healthcare to be 24/7.”

The cost of urgent care, with its much lower co-pays than emergency care, also appeals to patients — not to mention commercial insurers. By any measure, Freniere said, Wilbraham Urgent Care has been a success.

“We definitely way exceeded our one-year expectation. We are basically at our max volume right now. For the size of the facility we have, I really don’t want to burden the system any more than we do. If we go much more than this, we’ll have what happened in hospitals, getting too many people, and we won’t be able to provide what we set out to do in the first place.”

And seeing patients quickly is a hallmark of urgent-care clinics, with wait times typically averaging a half-hour or less, compared with several hours at some hospital ERs. So is time flexibility; according to the American Academy of Urgent Care Medicine (AAUCM), only 29% of primary-care doctors offer after-hours coverage, but urgent-care practices are generally open evenings and weekends, with some offering around-the-clock care.

Dr. Richard Freniere

Dr. Richard Freniere says hospitals are embracing urgent care, rather than viewing it as a threat, because it enables them to focus on what they do best.

That’s a relief for patients who would rather not deal with the emergency room to have a minor injury or illness treated. According to the AAUCM, the number of emergency-room visits increased by more than 1 million per year between 1994 and 2004, while the number of hospitals and ERs decreased by 9%.

Today, emergency departments handle 110 visits annually, and many are clearly not emergencies. A 2009 RAND Corp. study reported that up to 27% of ER visits could be easily handled by urgent-care centers or retail clinics, saving up to $4.4 billion per year in health costs.

“We’ve all experienced the five-hour wait at the ER — it’s not good,” Crews said. “We’ve all experienced those long waits and frustration in crowded ERs, so we are providing an alternative.” In fact, across the four practices he and Brennan own and six others for which they are master franchisees, patients’ average door-to-door time last year was 49 minutes.

“That’s a huge differentiator,” Crews said. “Then there’s the cost — in the emergency room, the average deductible is $100 to $200.”

Freniere agreed. “Being ER doctors for the past 20 years, we’ve seen all the people coming in and getting frustrated at times. And many of them really don’t need to be coming into the emergency department and incurring a high cost of care.”

The fact that a successful urgent-care practice can be very profitable isn’t lost on private-equity funds, which have purchased many urgent-care networks over the past few years. Insurance companies have also gotten into the ownership game. “Clearly there’s more competition now,” Freniere said.

Still, the Wilbraham practice has been such a success that the partners are preparing to open a second location in Worcester County. “And I’m not sure that’ll be the last place we do.”

Catching On

Massachusetts is especially fertile ground for urgent care, said Freniere, because the Bay State lagged considerably behind much of the country in adopting the urgent-care model, although that’s clearly changing.

“I think Massachusetts is a little late to the game,” he told BusinessWest. “We’re advanced in high-end care, but we really took the slow approach to urgent care. Everything was done in the hospital; everything was done in the big medical center. It never felt as if we had to cater to the patient. I think that’s a big change.”

That change includes the attitude of hospitals, which increasingly see the value in this relatively recent model. “They’re saying, ‘hey, guys, we want to get you to work with us. You’re complementary to what we’re doing.

“Doctors are coming around too,” Freniere added. “Initially they saw us as competition, but now they see us as supplemental. We’re not out to take anyone’s patients from them. We’re helping to unburden the system, basically.”

Crews has seen that shift as well. “There’s been a lot of change over the past four or five years since Jim and I opened up our first one,” he said. On the national level, afc Doctors Express — which was recently purchased by American Family Care — will boast more than 160 sites by year end, and Crews and Brennan expect to increase their total from 10 to 18 by the end of 2015.

“We continue to grow every year as patient volumes increase,” Crews said. “It’s because we focus on providing an exceptional patient experience, great quality medical care, convenient hours, and low prices — all those things together.”

Since affiliating with Steward, he said the partners have been busy meeting with the system’s hospital presidents and talking strategy. “These hospitals out there are embracing us.”

As for Freniere, he said he has been contacted by a large urgent-care company, but has no plans to sell — in large part because he finds delivering healthcare in this way a gratifying experience.

“The way the model is set up, the way it’s working right now … it’s attracting attention,” he said. “I think it’s the future.”


Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Company Notebook

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Company Notebook Departments

Whittlesey & Hadley Announces Expansion
HARTFORD, Conn. – Whittlesey & Hadley, P.C., one of the area’s largest regional CPA firms, announced its plan to diversify geographically and grow in size, services, and staff, beginning with a merger with Lester Halpern & Co., P.C. of Holyoke, a leading regional CPA firm providing a broad range of accounting, audit, tax, and management-consulting services to closely held business, nonprofit, and governmental sectors of Western Mass. and throughout New England. The merger became effective Aug. 1. Whittlesey & Hadley provides accounting, audit, tax, technology, and business-consulting services to clients primarily throughout the Northeast, with access to a worldwide network of resources through PKF North America. For more than 50 years, the firm has served closely held businesses, including manufacturing, construction and distribution, real estate, financial institutions, healthcare, government, and technology industries, as well as the nonprofit sector, the firm’s largest niche focus. The firm has 100 professional and administrative staff located in downtown Hartford. “We moved to a larger office space in downtown Hartford, providing us with the resources to begin our future growth,” said Drew Andrews, managing partner of Whittlesey & Hadley, P.C. “It is a common vision, philosophy, and dedication to provide a superior client experience that we are seeking when merging with CPA firms. Lester Halpern & Co. brought that to the table. This merger represents our first step in an aggressive plan to grow our services and staff throughout the Northeast, while retaining our valued reputation as having the expertise of a national firm but the responsiveness of a local firm that clients expect and deserve from its professional services partner.” Established in 1959, Lester Halpern & Co.’s 25 employees will continue to serve their client base out of the Holyoke office, while acquiring the Whittlesey & Hadley brand.

United Financial Bancorp Announces Q2 Results
GLASTONBURY, Conn. — United Financial Bancorp Inc., the holding company for United Bank, announced results for the quarter ended June 30. These results include one month of the pre-merger Rockville Financial Inc. net income, and net income of the combined entity beginning on May 1. Rockville was the legal acquirer in the merger of equals with legacy United Financial Bancorp Inc., in a transaction that closed on April 30, and Rockville changed its name to United Financial Bancorp Inc. at that time. The company had a net loss of $5.6 million, or $(0.13) per diluted share, for the quarter ended June 30, 2014, compared to Rockville’s net income of $3.3 million, or $0.12 per diluted share, for the quarter ended June 30, 2013. Operating net income for the second quarter of 2014 was $5.8 million (non-GAAP), or $0.13 per diluted share, adjusted for $21.3 million (pre-tax) of expenses related to the merger, $4.9 million (pre-tax) net impact of the amortization and accretion of the purchase-accounting adjustments (or fair-value adjustments) as a result of the merger, and $589,000 (pre-tax) net gains on sales of securities. Operating net income for the quarter ending March 31 was $2.2 million (non-GAAP), or $0.08 per diluted share, adjusted for $1.8 million (pre-tax) of expenses related to the merger of equals between Rockville Financial Inc. and United Financial Bancorp Inc., as well as income of $268,000 (pre-tax) from net gains on sales of securities. Operating net income for the second quarter of 2013 was $4.0 million (non-GAAP), or $0.15 per diluted share, adjusted for $809,000 (pre-tax) for the impact of a branch lease-termination agreement and $561,000 (pre-tax) for termination expense related to position eliminations, as well as income of $329,000 (pre-tax) from net gains on sales of securities. “During the second quarter, Rockville Financial Inc. and United Financial Bancorp Inc. successfully completed their merger of equals. Organic earning asset growth and operating earnings results for the quarter were strong, despite including only two months as a combined organization,” said William Crawford IV, CEO of United Financial Bancorp Inc. and United Bank. “The team is intensely focused on integrating the two companies and is on target to complete the data conversion in the fourth quarter of 2014.” Earnings in both 2014 and 2013 were affected by non-operating income and expense.

HCC Gateway to College Program Tops in U.S.
HOLYOKE — The HCC Gateway to College program, which takes high-school dropouts and puts them in college classes, leads the nation in both retention and graduation rates. The spring 2014 report from the National Network of Gateway to College lists the program at Holyoke Community College number one in both fall-to-fall persistence rate (87%) and graduation rate (80%) out of all 43 Gateway to College programs for the 2011-12 academic year. The network average was 53% for persistence (otherwise known as retention) and 27% for graduation. The Gateway to College program gives second chances to high-school students who have either dropped out of school or are at risk for dropping out by enrolling them in college classes. Students earn both their high-school diplomas and college credit. HCC’s largest Gateway class ever graduated on June 9, with 26 students from Amherst, Palmer, Holyoke, and Springfield receiving their high-school diplomas. Along the way, the class of 2014 also amassed a total of 387 college credits. Since 2010, 142 students have earned their high-school diplomas through the HCC Gateway to College program.

Easthampton Savings Bank Posts Solid Quarter
EASTHAMPTON — Easthampton Savings Bank staged its quarterly directors meeting on July 16. President and CEO Matthew Sosik reported the completion of another successful quarter for the bank. “This past year represents yet another in a long string of excellent financial performances at Easthampton Savings,” he said. “Total assets were up $41.6 million from a year ago, an increase of 4.3%, while total loans increased 9% or $63.5 million.” Total loans now stand at $747.8 million. The bank’s deposit growth was $38.3 million or 5% from this time last year, with total deposits now at $840.2 million. “These continue to be challenging economic times for our region, and interest rates remain very low as a result,” said Sosik. “In spite of those conditions, the bank continues to outperform the industry.  At the same time, we have continued to invest heavily in the communities that we serve through direct charitable donations and many, many hours of community service by our staff and our directors.”

North Brookfield Savings, FamilyFirst Finish Merger
NORTH BROOKFIELD — North Brookfield Savings Bank announced that the bank’s merger with FamilyFirst Bank is now complete, effective June 1. The deal, first announced in January 2014, recently became official thanks to approval of the corporators of North Brookfield Savings Bank, the shareholders of FamilyFirst Bank, and the banks’ regulators. With the addition of former FamilyFirst Bank branches in Ware, the Three Rivers Village of Palmer, and East Brookfield, North Brookfield Savings Bank now includes seven branches in addition to the Business Center at NBSB and online-banking components. North Brookfield Savings Bank, founded in 1854, is a mutual savings bank with over $200 million in assets. The bank has received the highest Five Star Superior Bank rating from Bauer Financial for 74 consecutive quarters. The combined bank will have in excess of $260 million in assets.

Berkshire Bank Renames Mortgage Division
PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Bank announced the renaming of its mortgage-lending division to Berkshire Bank Home Lending. The line of business includes a home-lending call center, operations, servicing, and a team of mortgage-loan originators. This business line will transition Berkshire’s current mortgage-lending affiliate, Greenpark Mortgage, into the Berkshire Bank Home Lending brand. Along with its new home-lending call center and loan-servicing operations, Berkshire Bank Home Lending includes more than 90 mortgage-loan originators located in offices throughout New England and New York. Included in the business-unit rollout was the launch of a new consumer-lending website, berkshirebankhomelending.com. The new site features areas to get pre-approved for a mortgage, apply for a mortgage, and log in to check on an application’s status. It also includes helpful information on topics including mortgage-application checklists, calculators, glossary of terms, and homeowners’ insurance. “Berkshire Bank Home Lending’s goal is to provide individualized home-mortgage solutions because we know no two customers are alike,” said Kevin Inkley, senior vice president, Retail Lending. “With our network of local loan originators, competitive pricing, home-lending call center, and website, we partner with our customers to keep them informed, ensuring the highest-quality service and long-term satisfaction.”

Tighe & Bond Named a “Best Firm to Work For”
WESTFIELD — Based on the survey results of its 2014 “Best Firms To Work For” competition, ZweigWhite recognized Tighe & Bond as one of the best civil-engineering firms in the U.S. to work for. This annual awards competition is based on business-practice data collected from numerous participating firms across the country, including feedback solicited through an employee survey. ZweigWhite, a provider of management information and expertise to architecture, engineering, planning, and environmental-consulting firms worldwide, sponsors the program that recognizes the top firms leading the way in creating a workplace that inspires, motivates, and rewards employees. The competitive ranking that results is based on comprehensive evaluations of factors such as firm culture and workplace practices, employee benefits, career development and growth opportunities, compensation, performance and recognition, as well as recruiting and retention rates.  All firms that apply for this prestigious ranking and recognition are evaluated against each other, not a set standard. “ZweigWhite has recognized Tighe & Bond several times as one of the best engineering firms to work for in the nation, and it is always a significant honor,” said David Pinsky, president and CEO of Tighe & Bond. “It also exemplifies our ongoing commitment to create a working environment where all of our employees feel valued and where they can see their contribution to the overall mission and success of the firm and our clients. Our ability to recruit, develop, and retain the most talented staff is crucial to providing the high-quality, responsive services that our clients have come to expect and deserve.”

People On the Move

By
Departments People on the Move

Freedom Credit Union announced the promotion of three officers within the credit union and the appointment of a new Mortgage Loan Originator.

Karen Chauvin Katsanos

Karen Chauvin Katsanos

• Karen Chauvin Katsanos has been promoted to Vice President of Human Resources at FCU. She will continue to manage the human resource and training activities for the credit union, which employs a staff of 130. Katsanos joined the credit union in 2012 and has 20 years of HR experience in several industries, including healthcare and manufacturing. She has held a number of senior-management positions throughout her career. Katsanos earned her bachelor’s degree from the UMass Amherst and has earned two master’s degrees — one in psychology from Westfield State College and the other in business administration from Western New England College. She holds an SPHR designation that she earned from the Human Resource Certification Institute. She is a board member for the Human Resource Management Assoc. of Western New England and the Ronald McDonald House of Springfield.
Cheryl Podgorski

Cheryl Podgorski

• Cheryl Podgorski has been promoted to Vice President of Operations. She joined the credit union in 2012 and has more than 26 years of operations experience in both the banking and credit-union industries, holding several senior-management positions throughout her career. In addition to her responsibilities in the credit union’s Operations Department, Podgorski has been managing Freedom’s Loan Servicing Department for the past year. She earned her master’s degree in business administration from Western New England College and holds a Six Sigma Green Belt certification. She is a past certified treasury professional through the Assoc. for Financial Professionals.



Lisa Astley

Lisa Astley

• Lisa Astley has been promoted to Branch Officer of Freedom’s Ludlow Branch. In her new position, she oversees the financial and lending operations of the branch, develops new business opportunities with individuals and businesses, and promotes financial literacy at area schools. Astley has been employed at Freedom for five years and has 12 years of experience in the banking and financial-services industries. Prior to joining Freedom, she was customer-service supervisor at Randall’s Farm in Ludlow for 15 years. Astley is currently working toward a financial services degree with the Center For Financial Training.



Antonio Sanches

Antonio Sanches

• Antonio Sanches has joined Freedom as a Mortgage Loan Originator and is responsible for real-estate origination throughout Hampden and Hampshire counties. As he helps expand Freedom’s mortgage services to its members in Hampden and Hampshire counties, he will offer his expertise in conventional, FHA, MassHousing, Massachusetts Housing Partnership’s One Mortgage, and USDA loans. He has 10 years of experience in the finance industry, including expertise in residential mortgage origination, first-time home-buyer assistance, and secondary market sales. Most recently, he was assistant vice president at Florence Savings Bank. Currently, Sanches is president of the Rotary Club of Ludlow and a corporator at the Randall Ludlow Boys and Girls Club. In June, he was named “Affiliate of the Year” by the Realtor Assoc. of Pioneer Valley.  Sanches is working at the Freedom branch on Center Street in Ludlow.
•••••
Maria Koutroubila

Maria Koutroubila

FieldEddy Insurance announced that Maria Koutroubila has joined the firm as a personal-lines account manager. She brings more than 10 years of insurance-related experience to the position, and is a member of the National Alliance, holding the CISR designation and working toward CISR Elite designation. Koutroubila will be responsible for educating and ensuring that clients have the proper insurance coverage. As part of the personal-lines team, she will work to implement daily operations and ensure that that standard working procedures, key performance indicators, and other account metrics are achieved on a regular basis.
•••••
Berkshire Bank announced that Thaddeus Welch III has been hired as Portfolio Research Analyst and Trader, joining its Wealth Management team. In this position, Welch will be responsible for managing all trading activities and performing fundamental, economic, and sector research to assist in generating overall investment strategies. In addition, Welch will work with clients to customize their portfolios for appropriate risk-reward allocations and to achieve their long-term goals. His areas of specialization are trading,
equity research, and portfolio management. Welch will be working out of Berkshire Wealth Management’s office at 25 Main St. in Lenox. Previously, Welch worked for Spinnaker Trust in Portland, Maine, where he was a member of the investment committee. He received his bachelor’s degree in Economics from Bowdoin College and is a CFA level II candidate.
•••••
The Massachusetts Nonprofit Network (MNN), the statewide organization that unites and strengthens the nonprofit sector through advocacy, public awareness, and capacity building, announced that it has appointed James Ayres, CEO and Executive Director of United Way of Hampshire County, to its board of directors. “We are honored to welcome Jim Ayres, whose passion and considerable experience at the community and state level will help strengthen our state’s vast nonprofit sector,” said Rick Jakious, CEO of the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network. “MNN’s board of directors reflects the rich geographical and organizational diversity of the state’s nonprofit sector and is the voice of a strong, united nonprofit sector in Massachusetts.” Said Ayres, “the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network is an invaluable organization for promoting public policy, support, and public understanding of the not-for-profit sector. A vibrant and well-equipped nonprofit sector, in turn, profoundly impacts quality of life thoughout theCommonwealth. I’m excited to join the MNN board and to work with other statewide leaders to shape the direction of the organization.” Prior to his role at United Way of Hampshire County, Ayres served for 12 years as executive director of the Northampton-based Center for New Americans, an education and resource center for immigrants, refugees, and other limited-English speakers in Western Mass. In these roles, he has worked extensively with local and state governments, community coalitions, workforce boards, and NGOs to develop policy and programming. Ayres holds master’s degrees from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst.

Chamber Corners: Upcoming Events

By
Chamber Corners Departments

AFFILIATED CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE OF GREATER SPRINGFIELD
www.myonlinechamber.com
(413) 787-1555

• Sept. 3: ACCGS Business@Breakfast, 7:15-9 a.m., at the Sheraton Springfield, One Monarch Place, Springfield. “Keeping All the Balls in the Air” with Rob Peck, Zestworks. Tickets are $20 for members ($25 walk-in) and $30 for general admission.
• Sept. 10: ERC5/ACCGS Millfest After 5, 5 p.m. to dusk, at Ludlow Mills, 100 State St., Ludlow. Music, great food, lots of fun, and networking. Tickets are $15 for members, $25 for general admission. Proceeds benefit the ERC5 Scholarship Fund.

AMHERST AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.amherstarea.com
413-253-0700

• August 27: 48th Annual Community Breakfast, 7:30-9 a.m. in the Student Union Ballroom on the UMass Amherst campus. The annual Community Breakfast signals the start of the academic year and is an opportunity to meet newcomers to the community; see old friends, neighbors, and colleagues; and talk about the year ahead. All are welcome at this buffet breakfast and gathering of area business owners, legislators, mayors, Select Board representatives, and members of the academic and business communities. Tickets: $8 in advance or $10 at the door. For more information, call (413) 577-1101 or e-mail [email protected].

CHICOPEE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.chicopeechamber.org
(413) 594-2101
 
• Aug. 21: Member Workshop, 9-11 a.m., hosted by La Quinta Inn & Suites, 100 Congress St. in Springfield. Sponsored by First American Insurance Agency. “You’re Social. Now What? Is It Working?” This workshop will give you a closer look at the popular social-media channels — Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google+. We’ll show you the benefits of using each, how other organizations are marketing with them, and some dos and don’ts of each channel. You’ll also get tips on how to tell if your social media activity is working. Free to members.
• August 21: Mornings with the Mayor, 8-9 a.m., at the American Red Cross Blood Donor Center, 3500 Main St., Springfield. Coffee and light breakfast refreshments will be served, while Mayor Richard Kos provides updates and news about what’s happening in Chicopee. Feel free to submit any questions, concerns, or ideas for discussion by Aug. 18 to chamber President Eileen Drumm at [email protected]. This event is for Greater Chicopee Chamber members only and is free, but registration is required so the host business knows how many will be attending.
• Sept. 10: CEO Luncheon at the Munich Haus Restaurant. Registration at 11:45, lunch at noon. Network and hear from Eric Lapointe, executive vice president of the Springfield Falcons, who recently joined the organization and oversees all revenue-generating functions of the team. His most recent position was with the NHL’s Florida Panthers as director of Premium Seating, where his primary responsibilities included managing the senior-level sales and service team, developing and executing premium selling strategies, and driving revenue. He comes to Springfield with a career that includes managerial and sales responsibilities with the NFL’s Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins and the NBA’s Miami Heat. Lapointe’s extensive sports-business experience includes working under some of the most influential figures in professional sports, including Mike Holmgren, Bill Parcells, and Pat Riley. He is a graduate of UMass Amherst with a bachelor’s degree in sport management, and received a master’s degree in management from Cambridge College. Tickets: $25 for members, $30 general admission.

GREATER EASTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.easthamptonchamber.org
(413) 527-9414

• Aug. 14: Networking by Night Business Card Exchange, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Freedom Credit Union and Wireless Zone of Easthampton, 422 Main St., Easthampton. Sponsorship opportunities available for this event. Door prizes, hors d’ouevres, host beer and wine. Tickets: $5 for members, $15 for future members. RSVP requested at (413) 527-9414.

GREATER HOLYOKE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.holycham.com
(413) 534-3376
 
• Aug. 13: Networking Across the River, 5:30-7:30 p.m., hosted and sponsored by Brunelle’s Marina, 1 Alvord St., South Hadley. Join an evening of networking with the Greater Holyoke and South Hadley/Granby Chambers of Commerce as we cruise along the Connecticut River on the Lady Bea. Tickets are $20 for members. Seats are limited. To sign up, call the chamber office at (413) 534-3376 or register online at www.holyokechamber.com.
• Aug. 20: Chamber Summer Business Breakfast, 7:30-9 a.m., hosted by Yankee Pedlar, 1866 Northampton St., Holyoke. Sponsored by Lyon & Fitzpatrick, LLC Tickets: $20 for members and advance reservations, and $30 for non-members and at the door. Price includes a hot buffet.
• Sept. 10: Legislative Coffee Hour, 7:45-9 a.m., at Slainte Restaurant, 80 Jarvis Ave, Holyoke, featuring guest speakers Mayor Alex Morse, City Council President Kevin Jourdain, and City Treasurer Jon Lumbra. Join us for coffee and conversation, where members of the community have a chance to ask questions regarding issues facing Western Mass. and the Greater Holyoke area. Tickets: $18 members; $25 at the door and for non-members.

GREATER NORTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.explorenorthampton.com
(413) 584-1900

• Sept. 10: Northampton Chamber Monthly Arrive @5, 5-7 p.m. Arrive when you can, stay as long as you can. A casual mix and mingle with your colleagues and friends. Sponsors: Greenfield Savings Bank, Hathaway Farms, and United Personnel. Tickets are $10 for members, $15 for non-members.
• Sept. 11: 2014 Workshop: “Introduction to Google Docs,” 9-11 a.m. at Pioneer Training, 139B Damon Road, Northampton. The class includes an introductory section on Google Drive, the online storage location for Google Docs. Participants will learn how to set up a local Google Drive folder, which automatically synchronizes with Google Drive on the web. Learn to create new documents in the Google Docs format, as well as how to convert Word documents to the Google Docs format. The class will focus on basic formatting and editing techniques in Google Docs, but will also cover best practices for using Google Docs. Learn the difference between viewing and editing, and how to set permission levels for collaborators. Also learn simple tips that will help users avoid accidentally overwriting data or publishing confidential data. Pre-registration are required, and space is limited. Tickets are $20 for members, $25 for non-members. To register for the event, e-mail [email protected].
 
NORTHAMPTON AREA YOUNG PROFESSIONALS & YOUNG PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY OF GREATER SPRINGFIELD
 
• August 14: August Joint Networking Social with NAYP & YPS, 5 p.m. at Slainte restaurant in Holyoke. RSVP on Facebook. Featured nonprofit: Amherst Ballet, which is is dedicated to quality dance education. It strives to inspire a diverse community of dancers toward artistic excellence and a lifelong enthusiasm and appreciation for dance, and seeks to bring enrichment through educational programming, performance, and collaboration.
 
PROFESSIONAL WOMEN’S CHAMBER
www.professionalwomenschamber.com
(413) 755-1310

• Sept. 17: PWC Headline Luncheon, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Yankee Pedlar, 1866 Northampton St., Holyoke. The speaker will be Jane Iredale, president and founder of Jane Iredale Skin Care. Tickets are $25 for members, $35 general admission.

WEST OF THE RIVER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.ourwrc.com
(413) 426-3880

• Aug. 18: Annual Golf Tournament, at the Ranch Golf Course, Southwick. Registration is at 11:30 a.m., with lunch at noon and a shotgun start at 1 p.m. Cost: $125 for golf and dinner. For more information or for tickets, contact the chamber office at (413) 426-3880 or e-mail [email protected].

GREATER WESTFIELD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.westfieldbiz.org
(413) 568-1618
 
• Sept. 3: Wicked Wednesday, 5-7 p.m., at E.B’s Restaurant, 385 Walnut St Ext., Agawam.
• Sept. 8: Open House, 4-7 p.m. The Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce its new office at 16 North Elm St. in Westfield. Please join us for an open house.
• Sept. 17: Networking Lunch, noon to 1:30 p.m. at Kaptain Jimmy’s, 916 Suffield St, Agawam. Network with fellow chamber members over lunch. Each member will get approximately one minute to offer a brief pitch about their company. E-mail [email protected] to register.

Court Dockets

By
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
Pamela Jenkins-Lewis v. Tri-Wire Engineering Solutions Inc. and Jonathan Podmore
Allegation: Negligent operation of a motor vehicle: $2,625
Filed: 7/9/14

HAMPDEN SUPERIOR COURT
Brigid M. Rolfe v. American Student Assistance
Allegation: Failure to provide validation of debt and breach of Fair Debt Collection Practices: $90,000
Filed: 7/1/14

Monson Savings Bank v. KAM Investments, LLC and John Murphy
Allegation: Default on commercial promissory note: $71,099.61
Filed: 7/8/14

HAMPSHIRE SUPERIOR COURT
Joseph Lellman v. BMW of North America, LLC
Allegation: Breach of written and implied warranty: $28,000+
Filed: 6/10/14

Katherine S. Kopeski v. Ryder Funeral Home Inc., et al
Allegation: Breach of contract, negligence, and improper disposal of human remains: $250,000+
Filed: 6/20/14

NORTHAMPTON DISTRICT COURT
Sall Greenhouse v. Target Corp.
Allegation: Negligent maintenance of property causing slip and fall: $3,279.27
File: 5/28/14

PALMER DISTRICT COURT
Javier Rivera v. Commerce Insurance Co.
Allegation: Improper denial of coverage for failure to effectuate prompt, fair, and equitable settlement for plaintiff’s claim: $5,670.44
Filed: 6/3/14

SPRINGFIELD DISTRICT COURT
Aniya Morris, a minor, by her mother and next friend, Brittner Smith v. Toys R Us, Inc.
Allegation: Negligent assembly of bicycle causing injury: $24,999
Filed: 6/23/14

Beacon Sales Acquisition v. A. Jacevicius & Co. Inc. and Allen Jacevicius
Allegation: Non-payment of goods sold and delivered: $19,437.36
Filed: 6/18/14

Blueline Rentals, LLC f/d/b/a Volvo Rents v. Patriots Environmental Corp.
Allegation: Breach of commercial trade credit agreement for the rental of construction equipment: $20,033.37
Filed: 7/23/14

Thurston Foods Inc. v. Early Childhood Centers of Greater Springfield Inc.
Allegation: Non-payment of goods sold and delivered: $20,310.14
Filed: 7/15/14

WESTFIELD DISTRICT COURT
Beth Ingram and Brooke Quinn v. Six Flags Entertainment Corp. and Broadspire Services Inc.
Allegation: Negligent failure to properly monitor rides causing injury: $1,910
Filed: 6/12/14

Coping with a New Reality

By
Law Sections
WNEU, Like All Law Schools, Is Adjusting to Lower Enrollment

Eric Gouvin

Eric Gouvin says WNEU Law, like any business weathering a storm, is focused on both increasing revenues and reducing expenses.

Eric Gouvin says there is ongoing discussion and debate within higher education about why enrollment is down at law schools across the nation.

But there is no debating that this decline is real and quite dramatic — some observers are even speculating that some institutions may not survive it — and that there is little to suggest that things are going to improve significantly any time soon, said Gouvin, dean of the Western New England University School of Law.

“It’s all across the country, a national trend, and while people have different perspectives on what’s happening and why it’s happening, no one can deny that it is happening,” he told BusinessWest. “There are fewer people going to law school — it’s as simple as that.”

Nationally, first-year enrollment for the fall of 2013 fell 11% from the previous year, and 24% over the past three years, according the American Bar Assoc., and, overall, law-school enrollment is at its lowest level (39,675 for 2013-14) since the late ’70s. At WNEU, first-year enrollment in the day (full-time) program has fallen from 133 in 2009 to a projected 95 for this fall, a 28% decline.

But that fall number actually represents an increase from a year ago, when only 85 people entered the program.

“We exceeded our expectations for this fall — we budgeted for fewer than 85,” said Gouvin, crediting “talented admissions people” and apparently attractive pricing and programs (more on those variables later) for the slight surge in the numbers for this fall. But sharp enrollment declines from the days before the Great Recession are real, and most analysts expect them to continue, he went on, adding that WNEU, like most other schools, is adjusting to what some are calling a new reality.

Overall, the law school is doing what businesses do when they face fiscal adversity, said Gouvin, and that is creating ways to both enhance revenues and cut expenses without impacting quality. The school is trimming staff through attrition — several faculty members have retired, and more are expected to do so over the next few years — while also adding new programs, some of them to attract students who aren’t necessarily looking to pursue a career practicing law. Such initiatives include a master of laws and letters (LLM) degree in estate planning and elder law, introduced in 2004, and other programs.

“That’s a supplemental source of income for us,” he said of the LLM offering, adding that the school will roll out a similar program for non-lawyers in 2015.

“This is for accountants, financial planners, and insurance professionals who need to deal with a lot of heavy-duty legal issues around planning for clients, but don’t want to spend three or four years getting a JD, and don’t need to,” he explained. “They just need some working knowledge of those technical provisions that will allow them to work better with counsel, and that’s why we think this will be an attractive offering.”

What’s more, the school is taking steps to make itself more competitive when it comes to attracting those who are willing to go to law school. These include freezing tuition for the next three years and becoming more aggressive and imaginative with scholarships and other forms of aid.

“We need more revenue, obviously, but increasing tuition for the JD (juris doctor) program is a non-starter — there’s a lot of price sensitivity right now,” Gouvin explained. “One of the things applicants focus on is affordability and a cost-benefit analysis. So we have frozen tuition for the next few years and are using that as a tool so students can look at us and say, ‘I know what I’m getting into here — I’m not going to be surprised by a tuition jump in the second or third year.’”

For this issue and its focus on law, BusinessWest talked with Gouvin about the decline in law-school enrollment, — and how WNEU is responding to what has become a considerable challenge for institutions across the country.

Making a Case

Gouvin said that, overall, many people in academia are uncomfortable with the notion of talking about higher education as a business and discussing matters within the framework of the law of supply and demand.

But for administrators at the nation’s law schools, there is no real choice in the matter. The decline in enrollment is that severe, and the outlook for the immediate future calls for little change in the forecast.

As Gouvin mentioned, there is some debate about why this happening, with theories including the recent troubles law-school graduates have had finding work amid an economic recovery that has been less than robust in many parts of the country, as well as an unwillingness among larger numbers of young people to take on the massive amounts of debt that most law-school students incur, given the uneasiness in the job market.

While the talk and speculation continue about why law schools are facing what many are now describing as a crisis, much of the discussion has shifted to what schools are doing in response.

Indeed, steps taken by various institutions have included everything from freezing tuition to offering buyouts to faculty and staff to creating more programs to people who won’t ever practice law, but may well need some of the skill sets lawyers possess. At New England Law School in Boston, the dean took a voluntary 25% pay cut to help balance the books.

At WNEU, said Gouvin, the broad goals are to trim expenses without impacting the overall quality of the program, become a more efficient operation, and make the school as competitive as possible in what has become a more intense battle for top students.

The school already has some competitive edges, said the dean, adding that the task at hand is to take full advantage of them.

One such advantage is price.

“Our tuition is $39,400, and while that sounds like a lot of money, when you compare it to other law schools, it’s a bargain,” he said. “Among private institutions, we’re very low.”

Another edge, says Gouvin, is simple geography. Western New England is the only accredited law school in the Commonwealth west of Greater Boston, he noted, adding that this uniqueness provides opportunities in the form of internships and clerkships in area courts and with judges assigned to courts in this region. Meanwhile, the rural location is attractive to those who don’t want to go to school in a big city and have no intention of working in one.

“We have a monopoly on really great placement with judges and agencies,” he said. “In addition, we have some great clinical programs that provide hands-on experience.

“A lot of the people who come here don’t want to be in a big city,” he went on. “Many of our students are from small and medium-sized cities, and they intend to go back to those communities to practice law.”

Still another advantage for the school is its programming, which Gouvin believes is more experiential in nature than what many competitors are offering.

“Addressing what lawyers do in real life is high on our list,” he told BusinessWest, “and we’re hoping that program offerings, together with an attractive price, make a good case for us.”

While working to increase revenues, the school is also focused on the other side of the equation — expenses, said Gouvin, adding that WNEU has become more efficient out of both desire and necessity.

“No one loves to see a downturn, but they often make you focus on things that maybe you took for granted,” he explained. “You look at things and ask yourself, ‘can we do that differently and better?’ And there have been several instances where we could.”

As examples, he listed merging some operations, such as the library and alumni services, with the university, and other steps that help avoid duplication of efforts.

“We have people in the law who are now what I would call utility players,” he noted. “They don’t say, ‘I do this, and this is all I do’; now it’s ‘I do whatever needs to be done to move the ball ahead.’”

Final Arguments

Gouvin said much of the conjecture regarding the decline in law-school enrollment concerns whether this all temporary, and if so, how temporary.

“That’s the million-dollar question,” he said, adding quickly that no one really knows the answer. Variables include everything from how much more the economy will rebound to when the Baby Boom-age (and older) attorneys will retire en masse (many have put retirement on hold because of the economy), and much more work traditionally handled by attorneys will instead be undertaken by paralegals and others without law degrees — an ongoing trend that has many in the industry concerned about job security.

While watching all these factors play out, law-school administrators have little choice but to adjust to a changing landscape and not merely hope that conditions will improve.

As Gouvin said, they have to make their case — and make it a compelling one.


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

A New Reality?

By
Features
Is This as Good as the Recovery Is Going to Get?

Mike Oleksak

Mike Oleksak says positive things are happening with the economy, but many business owners don’t believe what they’re seeing and hearing.

Andre Mayer says business owners who are still waiting for what would be considered a real economic recovery should probably stop waiting.

That’s because, in his view, this is about as real as it’s going to get.

“At this point, we’re really past the recovery phase; the recession ended five years ago,” said Mayer, senior vice president for communications and research at Associated Industries of Massachusetts. “We never had the recovery we were hoping for and expecting — that big burst of growth where GDP goes up quickly and rejoins the prior trend line. It never happened.”

And it’s very likely that it just won’t happen, at least not any time soon, he said, adding that business owners would be wise to accept this state of the economy and get on with hiring people, expanding their ventures, and moving forward rather than waiting for that aforementioned burst.

And he believes many are doing just that.

“We have been adding quite a few jobs in the first quarter of this year, when the national economy was contracting,” he said, adding that ‘we,’ in this case, refers to the state as a whole, but includes Western Mass. “And that, to me, seems to reflect a change of attitude. In other words, employers, instead of hunkering down and going all out to preserve productivity and not dilute it, because that’s what got them through the recession, are now taking a more sustainable path and sort of coming to the realization that this is the economy we have to live with.”

Bob Nakosteen, professor of Economics at the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst, agreed, and pointed to the latest unemployment figures as evidence of what he considered progress, at least in some respects.

Indeed, while the state’s jobless rate fell to 5.5% in June, the lowest since August 2008, and 3,700 jobs were added, the manufacturing sector lost more than 1,000 jobs, and the construction industry lost more than 900, what Nakosteen called “hidden disappointments.”

And he said they may provide more evidence of something that many are now calling ‘secular stagnation,’ or ‘economic immobilism,’ terms that aren’t new — they go back at least as far as the Great Depression — but are being summoned with greater frequency by many economists to help describe and explain the phenomenon that Mayer touched on: a recovery that certainly doesn’t look or feel like one.

“There are a number of factors in our economy, some of them demographic, some of them technological, some of them stemming from globalization, that imply that we’re simply not going to experience the growth in this economy that we have in the past, especially job growth,” said Nakosteen while explaining secular stagnation, which he said is now being hotly debated in the “economics blogosphere.” “The workforce is getting older and large numbers are retiring, technology is developing quickly — but it’s doing so in a way that seems to be removing jobs rather than adding jobs — and globalization continues to put great pressure on our domestic workforce, especially the blue-collar occupations and manufacturing.

“And the prospects for any of this changing are simply not good,” he went on, adding that some economists believe it may be decades before the current scene improves markedly.

Meanwhile, the tepid state of the recovery is being reflected by ongoing caution on the part of area business owners, said commercial lenders we spoke with, who noted that many, perhaps still waiting for that burst they have seen following other downturns, such as the ones in the mid-’90s and just after 9/11, are hesitant about pulling the trigger on expansions or new hiring.

“I don’t see anybody really jumping in full force to bring people back or undertake plant expansion,” said Michael Oleksak, executive vice president and chief lending officer at Holyoke-based PeoplesBank. “Everyone is still pretty hesitant.”

Luke Kettles, senior vice president and chief lending officer at Hampden Bank, agreed, summoning a phrase that has been given a thorough workout over the past several years.

“People are guardedly optimistic,” he said, adding that, in this case, that means they often lack the confidence to move ahead with expansion plans or new hiring.

“Employers are not adding people unless they really need to,” he explained, adding that most are still looking to improve efficiency and trim fat rather than add to their workforces.

For this issue, BusinessWest takes an in-depth look at the state of the recovery, such as it is, and whether any change in the forecast can be expected any time soon.

Dollar Signs

While secular stagnation, if that’s what the region is experiencing, is a mostly negative term, there are some positives to be gleaned from recent economic statistics and trends, said both Nakosteen and Mayer.

Perhaps the most important of these is that the recovery — and job growth — has finally extended beyond the Greater Boston area, said Nakosteen, adding that both Central and Western Mass. are enjoying better unemployment numbers of late.

The June jobs report provides more evidence of this, he noted, but real signs of improvement started appearing earlier in the spring.

“Over the past few months, unemployment rates have come down dramatically in metropolitan areas in the Berkshires and Springfield, where they were the highest,” he noted. “This is a really good thing. It doesn’t mean they’re low enough to make you feel you’re in a true recovery, but for the first time since the recovery began, it now seems to be extending past Route 495.”

Mayer agreed. “Growth has evened out a good deal,” he told BusinessWest, adding that the Greater Boston area recovered quickly and profoundly after the recession while most of the rest of the state lagged well behind.

“Over the past year, the jobs have been added in the Worcester and Springfield metro areas at the same rate as in the Boston and MetroWest areas,” he noted. “At this point, we’re seeing growth, albeit modest growth, on the labor-market side almost everywhere.”

Luke Kettles

Luke Kettles says some sectors, such as senior housing, are experiencing growth, but by and large, many business owners are hesitant about expanding or new hiring.

Still, the recovery being witnessed in this region — and many other parts of the country, for that matter — is atypical of what is generally seen after prolonged downturns, said Mayer, citing a lack of growth in GDP and describing what much of the country, and this region, have experienced as a “watered-down version of a boom.”

“One reason, maybe the main reason, why this recession was such a bad one is that it seems to have knocked our GDP down a few percentage points long-term — we haven’t just bounced right back to that point where we left off,” he said. “And by now, waiting for that to happen doesn’t seem realistic, although we are on an upward track.”

Nakosteen concurred. “Sometimes after a recession, we’d have 9% or 10% gross-domestic-product growth for a year or two — it was just stunning,” he said. “We haven’t done better than two or three percentage points the past several years, and I just don’t think you’re going to see that big figure ever again.

“That’s a dangerous thing for me to say,” he added quickly, reflecting on the gravity of his own words. “But I’m buying into this secular-stagnation argument, and I don’t know what to tell people except that, however they have to adjust to the idea that there may not be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, they’d probably better at least think that through.”

Referencing the declines in both manufacturing and construction jobs, he said those numbers, if they don’t change, are ample evidence that the recovery lacks “oomph,” and that this is as good as it is likely to get.

“I thought manufacturing, and construction as well, were on very positive trajectories, and that this might continue more or less unabated,” he noted. “Now, there’s been an abatement.”

That said, both Mayer and Nakosteen anticipate further improvement in the economy, especially if business owners and managers can somehow gain the confidence needed to expand operations and add to their workforces — and consumers can buy again — possibly by recognizing the new economic reality for what it is, and making it better than it’s been.

“It’s time for us to not wait for magic, but to think hard about what we can do to continually make our economic climate better,” Nakosteen said.

Lending Credence

But Oleksak and Kettles said there are still a number of factors holding area business owners back when it comes to hiring and borrowing to expand.

And many are still continuing to do what essentially got them through the recession, said Oleksak, referring to everything from better inventory control to improving production efficiencies to controlling or, in many cases, reducing salary.

Uncertainty about health-insurance costs is one of the factors leading to hesitancy, he noted, adding that these expenses have been a drain on hiring for some time because they keep going up and there is little, if anything, to indicate that this trend will not continue.

Meanwhile, interest rates, which are still historically low but moving back up and projected to continue rising, are another impediment to progress.

“We’ve had such low interest rates for so long that’s there’s also concern about over-leveraging yourself in light of the fact that we’re going to see some higher interest rates down the road,” he explained. “And when interest rates start increasing, there’s more concern about the economy, with people asking if we’re going to fall backward again.”

Kettles said that some sectors, such as senior living, medical office facilities, social services, and even self-storage, are doing well, and Hampden Bank is having a solid year in commercial lending, due in part to the many bank mergers in recent years.

Still, he also sees hesitancy among many business owners, especially when it comes to hiring.

“Benefit costs are increasing, and healthcare costs are pretty significant, so people do not hire unless it’s really necessary,” he said. “Profit margins may be improving, nationally as well as locally, but I think it’s through improving efficiencies and doing more with less. People aren’t going out and adding a position unless they really need to, and a lot of times they’ll try to use part-time labor until they really need a full-time position.”

Kettles noted that many of the manufacturers the bank does business with have been willing to make investments in new equipment and technology, but these purchases often translate to fewer jobs, not more of them.

Overall, confidence, or the lack thereof, remains a factor as well, said both Kettles and Oleksak, noting that, while the June jobs report is generally positive, business owners aren’t necessarily buying into such reports.

“There is some improvement going on,” said Oleksak, “and people are being cautiously optimistic, but I’m not sure they’re really believing what they’re seeing.”

As evidence of this, he cited the residential real-estate market. While those at PeoplesBank and other institutions were expecting the refinancing market to slow this year, mainly because most everyone who could refinance already has, they were expecting sales to pick up, but they haven’t.

“If you look at the numbers, we’re about 5% to 10% behind last year,” he said, adding that an overall lack of confidence is the primary reason.

Whether confidence improves in the near future is likely a function of whether the news continues to improve, and whether it can actually convince people to believe what they see, said those we spoke with.

Nakosteen, for one, believes conditions will continue to improve.

“I think the next 12 months are going to be pretty good,” he told BusinessWest. “A lot of things, especially at the national level, but also at the state level, are getting better. Households are just in a much better position than they’ve been in for years to make healthy consumption decisions, and therefore employers will be making more job offers, buying more equipment, and so on. Over the next year, we’re going to see reasonable economic growth.”

Bottom Line

But what does ‘reasonable’ mean?

It probably doesn’t mean the kind of burst that traditionally accompanies the end of a recession, or the kind of oomph that economists expected and business owners are in many respects still waiting and hoping for.

As Mayer explained, that kind of jolt simply isn’t realistic a full five years after the recession was declared over.

This is the economy this region may have to deal with — like it or not.


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

Community Spotlight: Hadley

By
Community Spotlight Features
Hadley Takes Steps to Enhance Commercial Growth

David Nixon says Hadley’s mix of open space, farmland, commerce, and homes has positioned it well for the future.

David Nixon says Hadley’s mix of open space, farmland, commerce, and homes has positioned it well for the future.

The town of Hadley has always strived to achieve a balance between open land, agricultural enterprise, and retail business. But over the past year, special efforts have been made to enhance commercial opportunity along the 13-mile stretch of Route 9 that runs through the town. The effort includes proactive measures, partnerships, and infrastructure improvements.

“We admire and respect people who are trying to establish and maintain a business. It’s a very difficult thing to do and takes a lot of sacrifice,” said Town Administrator David Nixon. He added that building lots are available on Route 9 and the town has been approached by a number of business owners who want to expand, particularly in the shopping-mall area of the roadway.

“There is a lot of new construction taking place,” he told BusinessWest, listing several expamples. “Texas Roadhouse is in the permitting process, a Starbucks store is under construction, and other businesses are being built or are under design. It’s good for the community and good for America, so we are doing whatever we can to support them and give owners the opportunity to flourish.”

A major milestone was reached several months ago when the state granted the town 12 new liquor licenses it applied for last fall. “The restaurant/hospitality trade is very important to our local economy, and last November, the town reached its quota of liquor licenses,” Nixon explained. “We knew there was a market for them, and we wanted to be able to provide opportunity for new restaurants and stores that would address the need for dining and entertainment. As a result of our petition, six new licenses for malt and wine and six for all-alcohol were granted.”

The licenses are for establishments on Route 9. One has already been applied for, and interest has been expressed in the remainder. “We expect more applications for them in the near future,” he said.

Hadley has also been proactive in helping 13 small businesses recover from losses suffered in a fire last October that leveled the strip mall at 206 Russell St. that housed them. “We developed a coalition to help the owners get back on their feet and find new locations to re-establish their businesses. It includes the Chamber of Commerce, United Way of Hampshire County, the town of Hadley, and our legislative delegation, as well as banks and charitable institutions,” Nixon said.

The coalition worked to make sure the owners received insurance money and any benefits available to them, he explained, adding that some of the businesses were quite successful and had been established by immigrants who realized the American dream through hard work and sweat equity put forth by their families.

The coalition also helped the owners create business plans and document their history so they could receive bank loans and apply for grant money. “Some have reopened, and others are still looking for the right location, but our work with them is ongoing,” Nixon said.

For this, the latest installment of its Community Spotlight series, BusinessWest looks at how this town strategically positioned between Northampton and Amherst is certainly the right place at the right time for commercial development.

Setting the Stage

Nixon said the town has also been proactive in taking steps to ensure that existing and potential business owners have the infrastructure they need to thrive. To that end, town officials partnered with the Mass. Department of Transportation to improve travel along Route 9 for vehicular traffic as well as for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Progress is being made, and new walking paths will be installed within the next year that will connect residential neighborhoods to shopping areas. In addition, a plan to widen and recondition the road is in the design stage and is expected to be complete next summer. It includes bicycle lanes, which will be enhanced by an upgrade of the Norwottuck Rail Trail by the Department of Conservation Resources.

Nixon said promoting bicycle use is part of the town’s ongoing strategy to reduce energy consumption, and officials have collaborated with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission to realize that goal. The project includes a study paid for by a Community Innovation Challenge grant received last year, and the final report is expected in the near future.

“We also just received grant money to purchase three bicycle racks,” Nixon said. Two will be installed on municipal property along Route 9, and the third will be stationed at a local business chosen by the Select Board.

Town officials are also working with the state Department of Transportation to install safe pedestrian crossings along Route 9. Nixon said this is critical because the town common, which stretches a mile and a half and is the longest intact town common in New England, is being used for an increasing number of events.

Over the past year, these have included a farmer’s market, a 5K road race, and the town’s annual Asparagus Festival, which was held in early June. The festival kicked off for the first time last year at the Seven Sisters Market Bistro & Long Hollow Bison Farm at 270 Russell St., and this year, it was moved to the town common.

“It was extremely successful,” said Nixon. “People came from as far away as Brooklyn, and a story about it was published in Yankee magazine.”

But parking and walking to the common is problematic. People who attend such events often park in the Hopkins Academy lot or along Route 9, which means they have to cross the busy road on foot. “If they park on the south end of the road, they have to walk across four lanes of traffic,” Nixon explained, adding that the new crossings will be a boon to pedestrian safety.

The problem of aging water lines is also being addressed. “The lines we have are about 75 years old and will be replaced with higher-capacity ones and better materials,” he noted. The town plans to borrow money to finance the project, and officials are working with legislators to procure state funding to help pay for the improvement. Nixon said the preliminary cost for phase 1 is $400,000, and an additional $500,000 will be needed to complete phase 2.

A program to upgrade the town’s fire hydrants is also underway, and water valves are being tested by the Fire Department and Department of Public Works.

“We are also repairing our wastewater lines because we want to be sure there is enough capacity for our wastewater-treatment plan to handle an expansion,” he said. “It’s important to have this infrastructure in place and working properly so business owners know there is abundant water for their needs as well as enough to put out fires.”

Growth Patterns

Agriculture has always been an important part of Hadley’s economy, and the steps taken to bring new business to Route 9 and support firms already there have the potential to spur economic growth, since the town’s agricultural profile includes enterprises such as Carrs Cider, which is sold in package stores and restaurants; Valley Malt, which provides ingredients to make locally produced beer; and V-One Vodka, which can be purchased in Hadley and has plans to expand.

“Many Hadley restaurants support local agriculture, and we have six dairy farms and thousands of acres used to grow vegetables and fruit, such as strawberries, asparagus, corn, potatoes, squash, and pumpkins. So opportunities for new restaurants are linked to an opportunity for growth in both commercial and agricultural areas,” Nixon said.

He told BusinessWest the town is a leader in land preservation and has thousands of acres protected for agriculture and wildlife.

“But we also want to have the right kinds of commerce to provide people with employment as well as services they need, want, and enjoy,” he said in conclusion. “The commercial base helps to keep our taxes affordable, and the mix of open land, commerce, and residences in small villages and neighborhoods has provided Hadley with a very stable and vibrant community that is well-positioned to handle the challenges of the future.”

Hadley at a glance

Year Incorporated: 1661
Population: 5,520 (2010)
Area: 24.7 square miles
County: Hampden
Residential Tax Rate: $10.64
Commercial Tax Rate: $10.64
Median Household Income: $51,851 (2010)
Family Household Income: $61,897 (2010)
Type of government: Open Town Meeting, Board of Selectmen
Largest Employers: Super Stop & Shop, Evaluation Systems Group Pearson, Elaine Center at Hadley, Home Depot, Lowe’s Home Improvement
* Latest information available

People on the Move

By
Departments People on the Move

Royal LLP, a management-side only labor and employment law firm, announced the following:

Channez Rogers, Esq.

Channez Rogers, Esq.

• Channez Rogers, Esq. has joined the firm as an Associate Attorney. Prior to joining Royal LLP, Rogers worked in the general counsel’s Office at Western New England University, handling employment matters. In her role at Royal, Rogers represents companies in myriad employment-law cases in state and federal court and before administrative agencies. She also counsels companies on the multitude of state and federal employment laws impacting them, including employment discrimination and harassment, wage and hour, disability and leave, workplace safety, OSHA, affirmative action, and contract negotiations. Her other preventive work includes drafting employee manuals; preparing non-disclosure, non-solicitation, and non-compete agreements; and conducting management training. Rogers is a summa cum laude graduate of Western New England University and a cum laude graduate of Western New England University School of Law.
Crystal Boateng

Crystal Boateng

• Crystal Boateng has joined the firm as a Law Clerk. Boateng is a cum laude graduate of Mount Holyoke College with a bachelor’s degree in French and political science. She is in her final year of studies in a four-year program for obtaining her juris doctor at the University of Connecticut School of Law and her MBA at the University of Connecticut School of Business.






•••••
Drew McNary

Drew McNary

Meredith-Springfield Associates Inc., a plastics manufacturer specializing in extrusion blow molding and injection stretch blow molding, announced the addition of Drew McNary as Director of Engineering at the Ludlow-based manufacturing facility. McNary has more than 30 years of broad-based industry experience driving the development of highly successful, market-leading consumer products, packaging, and medical devices. In his new role at Meredith-Springfield, he will oversee all technical functions and staff.
•••••
The Berkshire Museum announced the addition of Britney Schline to the staff as Collections Manager. Berkshire Museum, a Smithsonian affiliate, holds encyclopedic collections comprised of more than 30,000 objects, including art, artifacts, decorative arts, ethnography, natural specimens, and living collections. In her new role, Schline will oversee the museum’s permanent collections as well as work closely with the exhibition team led by Maria Mingalone, the museum’s director of interpretation. “Britney’s approach to collections management is in line with our institutional goals to bring collections alive for our visitors. She has a fresh perspective on how collections can leverage the 21st-century museum as a place where people have meaningful experiences with one another around objects,” said Mingalone. “Schline also brings a passion to finding innovative means to connect our visitors to our collections and to one another, whether it is in the galleries, through special programming, on our website, or through social media.” Schline is a recent graduate of the Cooperstown Graduate Program and holds a master’s degree in museum studies. Before completing her graduate degree, she held the position of decorative arts collections assistant at the Berkshire Museum, assisting the museum in cataloguing its ceramic and Asian art collection under an IMLS grant. Most recently, she served in the collections department at the Fenimore Art Museum and the New York State Historical Assoc. Last summer, Schline was an Edward I. Koch fellow at the Historic House Trust of New York City, where she coordinated the Roof Raisers Curatorial Brigade volunteer program. She has also previously interned at Wadsworth Atheneum and the Schoharie County Historical Society.
•••••
David Pickart

David Pickart

David Pickart, Senior Environmental Scientist at Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, has relocated to the firm’s Springfield office. In his role, he will continue to manage projects that address the identification and assessment of natural resources. Pickart will oversee the preparation and processing of permit applications to local, state, and federal environmental regulatory agencies. Additional responsibilities include growing and leading a team of environmental scientists to service existing and new clients located in Western Mass. and Central Conn. Pickart has 28 years of experience working on complex projects throughout the Northeast.
•••••
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) announced that Gov. Deval Patrick recently appointed Lisa Chamberlain, Managing Partner of the Chamberlain Group, based in Great Barrington, as the newest member of the MCLA board of trustees. She succeeds outgoing trustee Steve Crowe, who recently completed his term of service. Founded in 1999, the Chamberlain Group is a Massachusetts-based studio that designs and builds mimetic organs for surgical and interventional training. It is a collective of sculptors, designers, fabricators, engineers, and model makers who work collaboratively with medical-device manufacturers, leading surgeons, and teaching hospitals worldwide. A graduate of Princeton University with graduate work at Yale, Chamberlain later joined the Academy Award-winning, New York City-based design and effects studio R/GA, where she met and collaborated with Eric Chamberlain. Together, they were instrumental in building R/GA’s reputation for work in feature films, graphic design, computer graphics, and digital video. Their combined film credits include effects, opening titles, and feature campaigns for Superman, The World According to Garp, Zelig, Predator, Predator II, The Big Chill, Tootsie, Gandhi, Body Double, Ghostbusters, Judge Dredd, Eraser, and The Matrix.
•••••
New England Environmental Inc. (NEE) announced that Michèle Grenier has joined its Amherst office as a Senior Scientist. Grenier is a professional wetland scientist, certified wetland scientist, and associate wildlife biologist, and is also OSHA 40-hour HAZWOPER certified. She has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology from Cornell University. Grenier has more than 20 years of experience in environmental consulting. Her experience includes state and federal wetland and riverfront delineation, wildlife-habitat evaluations, functions and values assessment, vernal-pool identification, and municipal, state, and federal permitting. She currently serves on the Conservation Commission in the town of Dracut. With offices in Amherst and Middlefield, Conn., NEE is a full-service environmental-consulting firm.
•••••
Karen Curran, Financial Consultant at Thomson Financial Management, has received her CFP (certified financial planner) designation. The CFP mark distinguishes those individuals who have met the rigorous experience and ethical requirements of the CFP board, successfully completed financial-planning coursework, and passed the extensive CFP certification examination. Curran has worked at Thomson Financial since 2008 and is a registered representative, with securities and financial planning offered through LPL Financial, a registered investment advisor, member FINRA/SIPC.
•••••
William Crawford IV, CEO of United Bank and United Financial Bancorp Inc., announced that David Reynolds Jr. recently joined United Northeast Financial Advisors, a division of United Bank, as Assistant Vice President. United Northeast Financial Advisors, located at United Bank and Rockville Bank, provides customized investment solutions to customers. As United’s newest financial advisor, Reynolds will be responsible for covering the bank’s branches in Suffield, Agawam, Feeding Hills, and Windsor Locks. He is based at Rockville Bank’s Suffield branch located at 275 Mountain Road. Reynolds comes to United Bank with more than 20 years of experience in investment and securities-related organizations, including expertise in investment-product and brokerage-industry knowledge and defined contribution, pension, and investment-product sales experience. Most recently, he was regional sales director for American United Life Insurance Co. in Glastonbury from 2007 to 2014, where he was responsible for half of the company’s New England territory, earning recognition for top-10 sales performance. From 2000 to 2007, Reynolds was regional vice president for Wachovia Bank/Evergreen Investments in Hartford, and was vice president and principal of USI Consulting Group in Glastonbury, an employee-benefit consulting firm, for 11 years. His extensive career in financial services also includes his role as vice president of Finance and treasurer for North American Holding Corp., a diversified financial-services firm.
•••••
Kandace Kukas

Kandace Kukas

Kandace Kukas has joined Western New England University School of Law as the Assistant Dean and Director of Bar Admissions Programs. Kukas will design, administer, and oversee the law school’s bar-examination preparation efforts and activities, including teaching classes, counseling bar applicants, and working with students on an individual and group basis. The position was created to assist Western New England School of Law students with the increasingly complex process of applying to and preparing for the bar examination. Working closely with faculty, staff, and commercial bar-preparation companies, Kukas will be responsible for implementing a comprehensive bar-passage program commencing in a student’s first year of law school and continuing throughout the law-school program.
Kukas has worked in test preparation for the Kaplan and Pre-Multistate Bar Review organizations for 18 years, specifically focusing on bar review for nearly 10 years. She has created curricula for bar-preparation courses, taught bar-review programs at several law schools, and tutored and lectured in commercial bar classes. She practiced law for five years before moving into academic-support roles. Kukas received her juris doctor with honors from Suffolk University School of Law, and a bachelor’s degree in social work, also with honors, from Salem State University.
•••••
Janet Casey

Janet Casey

At its annual meeting in June, the Professional Women’s Chamber (PWC), an affiliate of the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield, elected Janet Casey President of its board of directors, serving a two-year term. Casey is the Principal at Marketing Doctor in West Springfield, a marketing and advertising agency. Before establishing Marketing Doctor, she was a senior sales account executive for LIN Media and advertising account executive for Guy Gannett Broadcasting. She is a Massachusetts delegate to Vision 2020, a national coalition united in the commitment to achieve women’s economic and social equality, and is a corporate committee member for the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts. A graduate of the UMass Isenberg School of Management, Casey has served on the PWC board since 2007, most recently as its vice president.

Chamber Corners: Upcoming Events

By
Chamber Corners Departments

CHICOPEE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.chicopeechamber.org
(413) 594-2101
  Aug. 21: Member Workshop, 9-11 a.m., hosted by La Quinta Inn & Suites, 100 Congress St. in Springfield. Sponsored by First American Insurance Agency. “You’re Social. Now What? Is It Working?” You’ve thought about what social networks to use for your business or nonprofit, and you’re ready to take the next step. Where do you go from there? This workshop will give you a closer look at the popular social-media channels — Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google+. We’ll show you the benefits of using each, how other organizations are marketing with them, and some dos and don’ts of each channel. You’ll also get tips on how to tell if your social media activity is working. Free to members.

GREATER EASTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.easthamptonchamber.org
(413) 527-9414

• Aug. 14: Networking by Night Business Card Exchange, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Freedom Credit Union and Wireless Zone of Easthampton, 422 Main St., Easthampton. Sponsorship opportunities available for this event. Door prizes, hors d’ouevres, host beer and wine. Tickets: $5 for members, $15 for future members. RSVP requested at (413) 527-9414.

GREATER HOLYOKE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.holycham.com
(413) 534-3376
 
• Aug. 13: Networking Across the River, 5:30-7:30 p.m., hosted and sponsored by Brunelle’s Marina, 1 Alvord St., South Hadley. Join an evening of networking with the Greater Holyoke and South Hadley/Granby Chambers of Commerce as we cruise along the Connecticut River on the Lady Bea. Tickets are $20 for members. Seats are limited. To sign up, call the chamber office at (413) 534-3376 or register online at www.holyokechamber.com.
 
• Aug. 20: Chamber Summer Business Breakfast, 7:30-9 a.m., hosted by Yankee Pedlar, 1866 Northampton St., Holyoke. Sponsored by Lyon & Fitzpatrick, LLC Tickets: $20 for members and advance reservations, and $30 for non-members and at the door. Price includes a hot buffet.

WEST OF THE RIVER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.ourwrc.com
(413) 426-3880

• Aug. 18: Annual Golf Tournament, at the Ranch Golf Course, Southwick. Registration is at 11:30 a.m., with lunch at noon and a shotgun start at 1 p.m. Cost: $125 for golf and dinner. For more information or for tickets, contact the chamber office at (413) 426-3880 or e-mail [email protected].

GREATER WESTFIELD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.westfieldbiz.org
(413) 568-1618
 
• Sept. 8: Open House, 4-7 p.m. The Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce its new office at 16 North Elm St. in Westfield. Please join us for an open house.

Court Dockets

By
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
Diana Baker v. Davol, LLC and the Creative Pines Motel
Allegation: Negligence in property maintenance causing fall: $3,269.56
Filed: 5/29/14

FRANKLIN SUPERIOR COURT
Amanda Silva v. the Snows, LLC d/b/a Snowzees, and Agnes C. Ting and James C. Ting
Allegation: Negligence in property maintenance and breach of duty of reasonable care regarding the construction of a handicap ramp with a defective gap at the bottom of the ramp causing trip and fall: $23,334.90
Filed: 5/1/14

Susan Lyons Watkins and Lee Mark Watkins v. the Town of Shutesbury
Allegation: Negligent storage of road salt causing contamination of residential well: $100,000+
Filed: 4/24/14

U.S. Electric Services Inc. d/b/a Hampden Zimmerman Electric Supply Co. v. D.A. Sullivan and Sons, et al
Allegation: Non-payment of goods, materials, and equipment: $52,142.51
Filed: 4/23/14

GREENFIELD DISTRICT COURT
GEM Mechanical Services v. Advantage Construction Inc., Two Fathers, LLC, and JimBob Realty, LLC
Allegation: Plaintiff is seeking to enforce a mechanics lien claim arising from the provision of materials, equipment, and services for a construction project: $15,662.74
Filed: 6/17/14

HAMPDEN SUPERIOR COURT
Anthony Trevelli v. Cyalume Technologies Inc., Zivi Nedivi, and Michael E. Bielonko
Allegation: Failure to pay commissions: $29,000
Filed: 6/12/14

Keating-Wilbert Vault Inc. v. Ryder Funeral Home
Allegation: Non-payment of services rendered: $45,302.95
Filed: 6/11/14

People’s United Bank v. Roofer’s Edge Inc. and Jeffrey S. Leader
Allegation: Failure to make payments on a promissory note: $13,235.05
Filed: 6/19/14

Timothy Scott and Frederick L. Scott v. David White, ITP VOIP Inc.
Allegation: Fraudulent use of credit card: $1 million
Filed: 6/12/14

HOLYOKE DISTRICT COURT
Granite State Insurance Co. v. Max Salvage Maintenance Inc.
Allegation: Breach of contract and failure to pay: $13,316.05
Field: 5/27/14

Janet LaFond v. Manomednet, LLC
Allegation: Negligent maintenance of property causing fall: $6,440
Filed: 5/27/14

PALMER DISTRICT COURT
Commerce Insurance a/s/o Judy Joaquin and Melinda Alves v. Fed Ex Ground Package System Inc. and Kenneth Allen Jr.
Allegation: Negligence in the operation of a FedEx truck causing a rear-end collision: $10,608.73
Filed: 5/27/14

Javier Rivera and Igdalia Rivera v. the Commerce Insurance Co.
Allegation: Damages for improper denial of coverage: $5,670.44
Filed: 6/3/14

SPRINGFIELD DISTRICT COURT
J. Roger St. Amand d/b/a Pro Pack Co. v. the Colad Group, LLC
Allegation: Failure to pay sales commission: $2,273.00
Filed: 6/11/14

Martin Topor Oil Inc. d/b/a Central Oil v. W & I Construction Inc.
Allegation: Non-payment of distribution and oil services rendered: $14,644.03
Filed: 6/12/14

Koutroubila Joins FieldEddy Insurance

By
Daily News

EAST LONGMEADOW — FieldEddy Insurance announced that Maria Koutroubila has joined the firm as a personal lines account manager. She brings more than 10 years of insurance-related experience to the position, and is a member of the National Alliance, holding the CISR designation and working toward CISR Elite designation. Koutroubila will be responsible for educating and ensuring that clients have the proper insurance coverage. As part of the personal lines team, she will work to implement daily opoerations and ensure that that standard working procedures, key performance indicators, and other account metrics are achieved on a regular basis.

Berkshire Bank Renames Its Mortgage Lending
 Division

By
Daily News

PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Bank announced the renaming of its mortgage- lending division to Berkshire Bank Home Lending. The line of business includes a home lending call center, operations, servicing, and a team of mortgage loan originators. This business line will transition Berkshire’s current mortgage lending affiliate, Greenpark Mortgage, into the Berkshire Bank Home Lending brand. Along with its new home-lending call center and loan-servicing operations, Berkshire Bank Home Lending includes more than 90 mortgage loan originators located in offices throughout New England and New York. These offices and teams enable Berkshire Bank Home Lending to have a significant market presence while providing portfolio lending with competitive rates and fees to consumers with hands-on service and fast decision-making. Included in the business unit roll-out was the launch of a new consumer lending web site, BerkshireBankHomeLending.com. The new web site features areas to get pre-approved for a mortgage, apply for a mortgage, and login to check on an application’s status. It also includes helpful information on topics including: mortgage application checklists; calculators; glossary of terms; and homeowners insurance. “Berkshire Bank Home Lending’s goal is to provide individualized home mortgage solutions because we know no two customers are alike,” said Kevin Inkley, senior vice president, Retail Lending. “With our network of local loan originators, competitive pricing, home lending call center and web site, we partner with our customers to keep them informed ensuring the highest-quality service and long-term satisfaction.”

MassDevelopment Bonds Help Expand Berkshires Educational Center

By
Daily News

PITTSFIELD — MassDevelopment has issued $9 million in tax-exempt and taxable bonds on behalf of Hillcrest Educational Centers Inc., a Pittsfield-based nonprofit that provides clinical, psychological, and special education services to children, adolescents, and families in Berkshire County and the northeast. The organization is using bond proceeds to build a 5,000-square-foot dormitory building, demolish an existing dormitory building, and build a 10,000-square-foot academic building to accommodate increased enrollment in Hillcrest’s Autism Spectrum Disorders Program. Bond proceeds will also refinance previous debt. MassDevelopment enhanced the financing with a mortgage-insurance guarantee. Berkshire Bank purchased the bonds. “This low-cost financing will help Hillcrest provide more options for students seeking clinical, psychological, and special education services,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO Marty Jones. “Human service agencies are vital to the Commonwealth’s citizens and economy, and we’re pleased to support their capital projects from Boston to the Berkshires.” Founded in 1985, Hillcrest provides educational and residential treatment programs for students with complex psychiatric, behavioral, or developmental disorders. The organization serves up to 150 students a year from Berkshire County and the northeast and is nationally recognized for working with difficult students who have been turned down by group homes and institutions. “Through the years, Hillcrest has collaborated with MassDevelopment to secure financing that has allowed the organization to maintain a sound infrastructure by enhancing and expanding the facilities at its various locations,” said Hillcrest Chief Financial Officer Mark A. Placido. “The projects, past and future, are vital to addressing the programming needs of the students we serve.” MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development agency, works with businesses, nonprofits, financial institutions, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2013, MassDevelopment financed or managed 350 projects generating investment of more than $2.4 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are projected to create more than 7,000 jobs and build or rehabilitate 800 residential units.

People on the Move

By
Departments People on the Move

Hampden Bancorp Inc. announced the following:

Robert Massey

Robert Massey

• Robert Massey has been named Chief Operations Officer. He has more than 38 years of experience in banking, most recently serving as chief financial officer, a position he had held from 2008. He began his banking career with Amherst Savings Bank in 1976. During his career, Massey has held senior positions of responsibility for financial reporting, investments, retail banking, information technology, bank operations, human resources, and auditing. He joined Hampden Bank in 1991 as its treasurer. He is a 1973 graduate of Holyoke Community College and 1975 graduate of UMass Amherst. He has served on the boards of several community organizations and is currently president of Hampden Savings Charitable Foundation, treasurer of Hampden Bank Charitable Foundation, treasurer of Nonotuck Resource Associates Inc., audit committee chairman for the Western Mass. Council of Boy Scouts of America, and a board member for the American Red Cross Pioneer Valley Chapter. Massey has been past president of the Great Trails Council Boy Scouts of America, finance officer of American Legion Post 271, and a former instructor for the Center for Financial Training; and
Tara Corthell

Tara Corthell

• Tara Corthell has been named Chief Financial Officer. She joined Hampden Bank in 2006 as vice president, finance manager. In 2013, she was promoted to senior vice president, director of finance, and she oversees the finance and accounting areas, including internal and external financial reporting, managing the accounting department, budgeting, investments, borrowings, and other finance and accounting functions. She earned a bachelor’s degree in finance and accounting as well as a master’s degree in accounting from Western New England University. Prior to joining to the bank, she held accounting and finance positions at the Hartford Insurance Co. in Connecticut and State Street (formerly Investors Bank and Trust) in Boston. She is an active member in several professional organizations and a student mentor at Brookings Elementary School in Springfield.
•••••
North Brookfield Savings Bank (NBSB) announced several promotions in its branches and corporate offices:
Patty Ostrout

Patty Ostrout

Laurie Wisniewski

Laurie Wisniewski

• Vice President Patty Ostrout has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Retail Banking. With more than 25 years in the financial industry, Ostrout started with NBSB in 2012;
• Operations Manager Laurie Wisniewski has been promoted to Vice President of Operations. She started as a teller at NBSB in 1985 before holding positions in accounting and other aspects of the organization. Her promotion to vice president of Operations means she is coming full circle, as she’ll be working closely again with the branches and in the deposit areas of banking;
Tammy Martin

Tammy Martin

Courtney Fitzmaurice

Courtney Fitzmaurice

• Branch Administrator Tammy Martin has been promoted to Assistant Vice President/Branch Administrator. Martin received her bachelor’s degree from Worcester State College (now Worcester State University) and has more than 10 years of experience in the banking industry. She has been at NBSB for nearly two years; and
• Credit Analyst Courtney Fitzmaurice has been promoted to Assistant Vice President/Commercial Portfolio Manager. A graduate of Worcester State University and the Massachusetts Banker’s Commercial Lending School, Fitzmaurice joined the bank in 2011. As commercial portfolio manager, she will work directly with small businesses through the expanding Business Center at NBSB, which offers a wide range of loan and deposit products for business customers. The Business Center was also recently named a preferred lender for the U.S. Small Business Administration.
•••••
Berkshire Hills Bancorp Inc. announced that William Ryan has been appointed to its board of directors as Chairman. Ryan was formerly chairman of the board and CEO of TD Banknorth. The company also announced that Lawrence Bossidy has retired from Berkshire’s board of directors. Bossidy has served as Berkshire’s lead independent director since 2012, and previously served as chairman since 2002. Ryan is the majority owner of the Maine Red Claws, an NBA Development League basketball team affiliated with the Boston Celtics. He also serves as a trustee of the Libra Foundation and serves on the board of advisors at the University of New England.
•••••
Cheri Mills

Cheri Mills

PeoplesBank announced the appointment of Cheri Mills as Assistant Vice President and Consumer & Business Banking Center manager at the St. James Avenue office in Springfield. She brings more than 27 years of banking experience to her new position. Mills attended Holyoke Community College and Elms College. She serves as the president of the Wilbraham Middle School PTO, registrar and volunteer coordinator for the Falcon Youth Football Assoc., and secretary/treasurer of the Morgan Memorial Scholarship Foundation.
•••••
Baystate Health recently announced three leadership appointments for its regional community hospitals:
• Steven Bradley succeeds Chuck Gijanto as President of Baystate Franklin Medical Center and the Baystate Northern Region. Bradley has served for 14 years as Baystate Health’s vice president for Government and Community Relations and Public Affairs. He led the team that garnered state approval for Baystate Medical Center’s $300 million Hospital of the Future project, and more recently helped facilitate a resolution to a lengthy labor dispute at Baystate Franklin Medical Center. Prior to joining Baystate Health, Bradley served as regional director for what was then known as the Mass. Department of Mental Retardation, where he carried administrative, financial, and regulatory responsibilities and provided leadership to 6,000 direct and contract employees serving thousands of patients and families in the region. Bradley also served as chief of staff to state Sen. Stanley Rosenberg (D-Amherst), and has grown to know Franklin County well in that role and in his subsequent positions. He has served as selectman in the town of Pelham and as board president for the Massachusetts Public Health Assoc., and is past chair of the board of trustees for Springfield Technical Community College and the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield’s legislative affairs committee;
• Dennis Chalke has been named Senior Vice President of Community Hospitals for Baystate Health, an expansion of his current role. Chalke currently serves as Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer for Baystate Health, and will continue in that role in addition to his new position. In his expanded role, he will oversee the presidents of Baystate’s community hospitals and regions. He has more than 26 years of healthcare experience, having joined Baystate in 1988. Chalke holds an MBA from UMass Amherst and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Ithaca College; and
• Dr. M. Shafeeq Ahmed will continue in his role as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Medical Officer for Baystate Mary Lane Hospital, and will also serve as Acting President of Baystate Mary Lane Hospital. Ahmed’s responsibilities include leadership for inpatient and outpatient practice operations, hospital medical-staff oversight, provider recruitment, quality and patient-satisfaction program oversight, leadership development, strategic planning, and financial stewardship. He was recently named one of “100 Hospital and Health System Chief Medical Officers to Know” by Becker’s Hospital Review. Prior to his arrival at BMLH, Ahmed had served as president of the medical staff, chief of Ob/Gyn, and a member of the board of directors at the Naval Hospital at Cherry Point in North Carolina. Ahmed is also a member of the Baystate Medical Practices board of directors, and he has served as vice president of the BMLH medical staff. He completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Boston University, received his doctorate in medicine from Boston University School of Medicine, and completed his ob/gyn residency training through Tufts University at Baystate Medical Center.
Additional leadership appointments for the Baystate Eastern Region will be made at a later date, with Ahmed continuing to serve in a senior leadership role.
•••••
Danielle Drapeau

Danielle Drapeau

Florence Savings Bank announced that Danielle Drapeau has joined the bank as a Mortgage Production Officer. Drapeau brings more than 20 years of banking experience to her new role with FSB. Most recently, she was an underwriter-officer with United Bank, located in West Springfield. Her experience includes underwriting loans that include FHA, VA, Fannie Mae, and USDA Farmers Home. FSB President and CEO John Heaps Jr. said that “Danielle is a welcome addition to our team here at Florence Savings Bank. Her expertise will provide tremendous value to us and to the customers we serve.”
•••••



David Chase, vice president and commercial lender for Hampden Bank, was recently named a 2014 Community Bank Hero by Banker & Tradesman magazine. This honor is given to business professionals who provide outstanding service to their clients, and who have gone above and beyond for the community. Chase was recently honored at an awards gala held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Boston. A lifetime resident of Western Mass., he is actively involved with several organizations, including the West of the River Chamber of Commerce as a board member. Chase is also a board member of the Gray House, where he volunteers his time to the organization’s efforts to revitalize the community.

Chamber Corners: Upcoming Events

By
Chamber Corners Departments

AMHERST AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.amherstarea.com
(413) 253-0700

• July 21: Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce 11th Annual Golf Tournament, 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., at Hickory Ridge Golf Course, Pomeroy Lane, Amherst. Registration and lunch are from 10:30 a.m. to noon, with a shotgun start at noon, and reception and dinner starting at 5 p.m. Cost: $125 per player. Presented by Hampshire Hospitality Group. Co-scholarship sponsor: Cooley Dickinson Health Care. Silver sponsors: Encharter Insurance, J.F. Conlon & Associates, MBA. Lunch sponsor: Davis Financial Group, LLC. Dinner sponsor: Fallon Community Health Plan. Bronze sponsors: Daily Hampshire Gazette, NEPM, Steve Lewis Subaru. Carts sponsor: Taylor Rental. Water sponsor: Atkins Farms Country Market. Towels: Hampshire College.

CHICOPEE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.chicopeechamber.org
(413) 594-2101
 
• July 16: Summer Sizzle, 4:30-7 p.m., hosted by the Chicopee Moose Family Center, 244 Fuller Road in Chicopee. This year’s theme is Old Vegas. Enjoy a great menu by Log Rolling, featuring Golden Nugget chicken, Caesar’s Palace salad, roulette burgers, Sinatra franks, Sahara sweet potato fries, Flamingo french fries, Stardust sides (cheese, peppers, and onions), Desert Inn desserts, iced tea, and lemonade. After you enjoy dinner, stop by one of the many casino games and see if you can win big, or play a few of the popular summer games such as the water balloon toss. Tickets cost $25.
 
• Aug. 21: Member Workshop, 9-11 a.m., hosted by La Quinta Inn & Suites, 100 Congress St. in Springfield. Sponsored by First American Insurance Agency. “You’re Social. Now What? Is It Working?” You’ve thought about what social networks to use for your business or nonprofit, and you’re ready to take the next step. Where do you go from there? This workshop will give you a closer look at the popular social-media channels — Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google+. We’ll show you the benefits of using each, how other organizations are marketing with them, and some dos and don’ts of each channel. You’ll also get tips on how to tell if your social media activity is working. Free to members.
 
GREATER EASTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.easthamptonchamber.org
(413) 527-9414

• July 25: 30th Annual Golf Tournament, at Southampton Country Club, 329 College Highway, Southampton. Scramble format with 9 a.m. shotgun start. Games, contests, and raffles. Team fees include lunch and steak dinner. Major sponsors: Easthampton Savings Bank and Five Star Building Corp. Event sponsors: Innovative Business Systems Inc. and TurningLeaf Design. Opportunities for business exposure include tee sponsors, donations to the golfer’s gift bag, and raffle-prize donations. Team fees: $440; tee sponsorships: $75/$125. This year’s 30th anniversary tournament will honor William Cater Jr., the first golf chairman. Contact the chamber to sign up a team, arrange a sponsorship, or make a raffle or gift prize donation.

• Aug. 14: Networking by Night Business Card Exchange, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Freedom Credit Union and Wireless Zone of Easthampton, 422 Main St., Easthampton. Sponsorship opportunities available for this event. Door prizes, hors d’ouevres, host beer and wine. Tickets: $5 for members, $15 for future members. RSVP requested at (413) 527-9414.

GREATER HOLYOKE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.holycham.com
(413) 534-3376
 
• Aug. 13: Networking Across the River, 5:30-7:30 p.m., hosted and sponsored by Brunelle’s Marina, 1 Alvord St., South Hadley. Join an evening of networking with the Greater Holyoke and South Hadley/Granby Chambers of Commerce as we cruise along the Connecticut River on the Lady Bea. Tickets are $20 for members. Seats are limited. To sign up, call the chamber office at (413) 534-3376 or register online at www.holyokechamber.com.
 
• Aug. 20: Chamber Summer Business Breakfast, 7:30-9 a.m., hosted by Yankee Pedlar, 1866 Northampton St., Holyoke. Sponsored by Lyon & Fitzpatrick, LLC Tickets: $20 for members and advance reservations, and $30 for non-members and at the door. Price includes a hot buffet.

NORTHAMPTON AREA YOUNG PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY
www.thenayp.com
(413) 584-1900
 
• July 24: Metacomet Monadnock Hike, 5:30 p.m. Join us for a 4.6-mile loop hike on Mt. Holyoke in Hadley. We will take a rarely traveled route that includes some of the best views in Massachusetts, along with a plane crash site, old carriage roads, and the famous Summit House. This hike has 1,200 feet of elevation gain and is mostly moderate with some strenuous sections. Be sure to bring sturdy shoes, water, a flashlight, and bug spray. We will meet at 5:30 at the Metacomet Monadnock trailhead on Old Mountain Road in Hadley. Please note that the trailhead is not at the gate for the auto road up Mt. Holyoke; it is located at the other end of Old Mountain Road. You can park on the side of the road next to the trailhead. Look for the NAYP sign.

WEST OF THE RIVER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.ourwrc.com
(413) 426-3880

• Aug. 18: Annual Golf Tournament, at the Ranch Golf Course, Southwick. Registration is at 11:30 a.m., with lunch at noon and a shotgun start at 1 p.m. Cost: $125 for golf and dinner. For more information or for tickets, contact the chamber office at (413) 426-3880 or e-mail [email protected].

GREATER WESTFIELD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.westfieldbiz.org
(413) 568-1618
 
• Sept. 8: Open House, 4-7 p.m. The Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce its new office at 16 North Elm St. in Westfield. Please join us for an open house.

YOUNG PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY OF GREATER SPRINGFIELD
www.springfieldyps.com
 
• July 24: Great Golf Escape 2014, hosted by Wyckoff Country Club, Holyoke. Wyckoff is an 18-hole, par-69, 6,100-yard championship golf course built on the rolling property at the base of Mt. Tom. Gold Sponsors: Country Bank and Insurance Center of New England.

Court Dockets

By
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
Laura Zych v. Complete Restoration Solutions Inc.
Allegation: Negligence and failure to warn of accumulation of liquid on floor causing a slip and fall: $3,608.57
Filed: 6/11/14

FRANKLIN SUPERIOR COURT
Jennifer Atlee and Marko Packard v. Michael G. John d/b/a Excavating, Etc. and Timothy E. Maginnis
Allegation: Negligence in the design and installation of a septic system: $28,000
Filed: 6/10/14

Kevin Davis, as parent of Nicole Davis, and Leah Davis v. Zoar Outdoor Adventure Resort Inc.
Allegation: Failure to properly supervise a whitewater rafting trip and failure to respond to a medical emergency involving the minor plaintiff: $50,000
Filed: 6/6/14

Laura Doull, et al v. Anna C. Foster, N.P. and Robert J. Miller, M.D.
Allegation: Failure to adequately monitor and document dosage of progesterone therapy leading to right heart failure, severe VTE due to thrombophilia ascribed to progesterone: $1,000,000+
Filed: 5/15/14

GREENFIELD DISTRICT COURT
M. Solomon Casket Co. of Rhode Island Inc. v. Fiske Funeral Home Inc., d/b/a Fiske-Murphy & Mack Funeral Home
Allegation: Non-payment of goods sold and delivered: $18,235.99
Filed: 6/9/14

Western Mass Electric Co. v. Somerset Long Term Care, LLC
Allegation: Non-payment of electrical services provided: $24,795.63
Filed: 5/2/14

HAMPDEN SUPERIOR COURT
Bakaert Corp. v. Rene America Co.
Allegation: Non-payment of goods sold and delivered: $27,579.93
Filed: 6/14/14

City of Springfield v. MGB Inc.
Allegation: Breach of contract: $59,750
Filed: 6/9/14

Pedro T. Perez v. Pascacio Reynoso and Springfield Homeowners Assoc. Inc.
Allegation: Misrepresentation in the sale of a business and breach of contract: $130,000
Filed: 5/30/14

Raymond St. Hilaire v. Western MA Environmental, LLC
Allegation: Negligence and breach of warranty in connection with remediation work done at the plaintiff’s residence: $100,000+
Filed: 5/30/14

HOLYOKE DISTRICT COURT
Elena Reyes v. Premier Plus Consulting, LLC and Raymona Dube
Allegation: Defendant accepted payment for services they failed to provide: $5,495
Filed: 5/23/14

Jennifer P. Kalvinek v. Oscar Reyes d/b/a Reyes Auto Sales
Allegation: Fraudulent sale of vehicle, odometer fraud, breach of Truth in Lending Act: $20,000
Filed: 6/9/14

PALMER DISTRICT COURT
Adler Tank Rentals, LLC v. GML Construction Inc.
Allegation: Non-payment of goods sold and delivered: $6,817.51
Filed: 6/17/14

Country Development Corp. v. Maureen Basile d/b/a Maureen’s Sweet Shoppe
Allegation: Breach of lease agreement: $11,957.30
Filed: 6/3/14

SPRINGFIELD DISTRICT COURT
Islam Agayev, a minor, by his parents and next friends, Ravshan Agayev and Dilbar Takhsilova v. Everett Beird, Eric Fleming, 3PD Inc., and Tony Walters Services
Allegation: Negligence causing the minor plaintiff to be struck by a refrigerator falling off of a truck: $60,000
Filed: 5/1/14

M.B. Haynes Corp. v. Alliance Medical Gas Corp.
Allegation: Enforcement of a previous judgment: $14,781.74
Filed: 5/19/14

Western Mass Electric Co. v. Ronald H. Lynde, Roy Bros. Inc., and Safety Insurance Co.
Allegation: Defendant struck and damaged plaintiff’s electrical facilities and failed to make a reasonable offer of settlement: $9,755.34
Filed: 5/15/14

Doing Business as Certificates

By
DBA Certificates Departments

The following Business Certificates and Trade Names were issued or renewed during the month of June 2014.

AGAWAM

Cirillo Realty
986 Main St.
Cirillo Realty

GD Courier Services
101 High St.
Gary Dionne

Moe’s Donuts
185 James St.
Maureen Weiner

Winnersatthewire.com
53 Provin Mountain Dr.
James Lockwood

CHICOPEE

Golden Mirror Hair Salon
218 Exchange St.
Gladys Pedrosa

Honey Land Farms
1296 Montgomery St.
Sattar Ahmed

Kind Discounts
585 Sheridan St.
Thomas Schofield

Storm Ready
1512 Memorial Dr.
Robert Prince

HOLYOKE

Cellular Galaxy
50 Holyoke St.
Swostik Magal

Classic Magic Beauty Salon
594 Dwight St.
Betsie Pagan

Holyoke Laundromat
556 High St.
Alexander Katsman

Indigo Painters
322 Pine St.
Raquel Figueroa

My Assistive Technology Resources & Services
214 Southampton Road
Michael Clark

Quick Stop Food Mart
172 Sargeant St.
Tariq Khan

Trak II Convenience, LLC
330 Main St.
Johnny Kayrouz

Wright’s Masonry
113 Westfield Road
Timothy J. Wright

NORTHAMPTON

Action Based Therapeutic Solutions
25 Bank Row
Adam Barcroft

Baseball Treasures
355 Main St.
George Price

Mobil Food & Tobacco
142 Mohawk Trail
Aneesa Batool

Nails 2 Go
30 Mohawk Trail
Rebecca Vishaway

Red Door Studios
13 Federal St.
Jason Blais

PALMER

A Plus Landscaping
1332 Thorndike St.
Eric Taylor

Evolution Limousine Service
3054 High St.
Kevin Wenzel

Woods Group Realty
1415 Park St.
Debra Woods

SPRINGFIELD

A & B Transport
2055 Allen St.
Freddy Rosario

Abacus Insurance
712 Boston Road
Pedro Berrios

Advanced Cash Services
931 Belmont Ave.
Angel Plaza

Ali Ozan Koseglu
16 Gold St.
Ali O. Koseglu

Anglin Superior Innovations
83 Hazen St.
Shari K. Anglin

Atwater Children’s Boutique
142 Springfield St.
Kathleen McCormick

Avado Clothing Company
1508 Plumtree Road
Anthony Tyrone

Baystate Wesson Women’s
3300 Main St.
Baystate Medical

Big D Jamaican Cuisine
646 Page Blvd.
Donovan Simon

Brodowski Home Improvement
38 Fallston St.
David Brodowski

Citizens Landscaping
88 Better Way
Frank J. Silva

D & G Jamaican Cuisine
5 Preston St.
Danail A. McKenzie

Dean’s Sewer & Drain Cleaning
134 Sunrise Terrace
Dean Veratti

Ebidbooks.com
731 Carew St.
Derek R. Remy

En Cellphone Accessories
279 Milll St.
Porfirio Diaz

Express Grocery
1133 State St.
Emiliano D. Rodriguez

Farone Inc.
1441 Main St.
Maria Alfarone

Fresh International
27 Terrace Lane
Kirk Rigg

General Contracting Services
656 Alden St.
Anny Mendoza

Handy Hammermen
152 Quincy St.
Alban Medina

J & J Market & Deli
1344 Dwight St.
Jose Duverge

J.P. Removal Services
116 Middlesex St.
Justin Patterson

WESTFIELD

Anytime Clock & Watch Repairs
48 Elm St.
Ray Messier

Black Dragon’s Kajunkenbo Karate
81 Main St.
Lynne M. Smith

Riverside Productions, LLC
77 Mill St.
Joseph Albano

S.K.
4 School St.
Sergey Kimenko

Ski’s Landscaping
708 North Road
Mike Szewczynski

T & T Cleaning Service
6 Crestwood Circle
Therese Trottier

WEST SPRINGFIELD

99 Second Hand
242 Memorial Ave.
Lien Chen

A Pittiefull World
49 Baldwin St.
Diminic Alfano

Apple Ridge Yard Services
129 Apple Ridge Road
Wendy Browning

Applied Chemistries Inc.
145 Western Ave.
Brian St. Pierre

Bobcat of Greater Springfield
181 Wayside Ave.
Brian St. Pierre

Car Hunter
54 Oleander St.
Roman Shtefan

Doggy Doody Disposal
165 Ohio Ave.
Theresa Selvoski

Elegant Nails
634 Kings Highway
Lien T. Tran

Global Dynamix Construction
26 Wilbert Dr.
Daniel Tarnovskiy

Over the Moon
206 Norman St.
Pauline R. Delton

Runze Center for Tai Chi
214 Elm St.
Wentao Wei

Spirit Halloween Superstore
219 Memorial Ave.
Barry Susson

US Trucking Express
56 Lathrop St.
Andrei Mineev

Incorporations

By
Departments Incorporations

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

ADAMS

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

BELCHERTOWN

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

BRIMFIELD

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

CHICOPEE

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

EAST LONGMEADOW

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

FLORENCE

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

HOLYOKE

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

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

LENOX

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

LONGMEADOW

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

LUDLOW

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

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

MONSON

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

NORTH ADAMS

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

PITTSFIELD

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

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

SOUTHAMPTON

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

SPRINGFIELD

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

WEST SPRINGFIELD

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

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

WESTFIELD

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

WORTHINGTON

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

Briefcase

By
Briefcase Departments

Legislature Approves UMass Funding Increase
BOSTON — UMass President Robert Caret commended the state House and Senate for approving a major funding increase for the UMass system, funding sufficient for a second consecutive tuition and mandatory-fee freeze for in-state undergraduate students. “UMass is poised at the brink of a new era as a result of what would be an extraordinary, two-year, $100 million state investment in its future and in the futures of the tens of thousands of students who bring their aspirations and abilities to our campuses every year,” Caret said. “We are honored by this expression of support from the Legislature, particularly because the members of the House and Senate, given how in tune they are with their constituents, take this step because they recognize the vital role that UMass plays in every corner of the Commonwealth.” Henry Thomas III, chairman of the UMass board of trustees, called the Legislature’s action “historic,” adding: “over the past two years, the University of Massachusetts has received one of the largest increases of any public university in the nation, and this provides opportunity for our students and a strong foundation for our Commonwealth’s future. In addition to thanking the Legislature and its leaders, I want to commend President Caret for his leadership and vision and note the key role the chancellors play in making this process work. We are here in part because we have demonstrated the significant steps the university has taken in the areas of efficiency, transparency, and accountability — and these steps have been championed by our leadership team at the system and campus levels.” He added, “this historic moment would not be occurring without the support of our governor, as Gov. Patrick has been our university’s staunch ally throughout his tenure in office, vividly understanding education’s transformative power.” The fiscal year 2015 state budget approved by the House and Senate funds UMass at $519 million — a $40 million increase over FY 2014 and enough for the second tuition-and-fee freeze as envisioned under Caret’s 50-50 proposal. The state budget approved by the Legislature now goes to Patrick, who has 10 days to review it. Because the $40 million appropriation increase the university received in FY 2014 carried with it an additional $10 million in state fringe-benefit funding, UMass actually saw a $50 million hike in state funding during the year — a pattern that would be repeated in FY 2015 if funding for UMass remains at $519 million. Advanced by Caret after he assumed the UMass presidency in July 2011, the 50-50 plan called for a two-year, $100 million increase in state funding for UMass, with the goals of strengthening the university overall and equalizing the amount of money students and the state provided for educational programs. UMass said it would freeze tuition and mandatory fees in each of the years it received full funding of the 50-50 program. UMass received the first year of 50-50 funding during 2013-14 and froze tuition and fees for in-state undergraduate students. Student charges vary from campus to campus, but under the rates recently approved by the UMass board of trustees, tuition and mandatory fees for in-state undergraduate students at UMass Amherst in 2014-15 will remain at $13,258. The cost of attending the university’s flagship campus with room and board factored in would be $24,215. “College affordability is an issue that is on people’s minds in every corner of the Commonwealth,” Caret said. “Students and parents want to be sure that there is going to be an affordable, high-quality educational opportunity available for the young man or young woman who has worked hard and has achieved at the K through 12 level. And that is what is so important about the action the House and Senate has taken. The Legislature is saying that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the University of Massachusetts stand ready to be your partners in achievement. That is a critical message, and one that is being heard across the state.”

State Business Confidence Off in June, Up on Year
BOSTON — The Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM) Business Confidence Index recorded a reading of 53.7 in June, making for a second-quarter average of 53.8. “The positive quarterly average reflects the diminution in recent months of major economic-policy conflict in Washington, which has contributed to stronger business confidence,” said Raymond Torto, global chairman of research at CBRE and chair of the AIM Board of Economic Advisors (BEA). “With less ambient uncertainty, employers are becoming more positive about adding personnel, a sign of confidence that is reflected in our survey. The other notable improvement is in responses from small employers, those with 25 or fewer employees, who are now about as optimistic as mid-size firms.” The AIM Index has appeared monthly since July 1991. It is calculated on a 100-point scale, with 50 as neutral; a reading above 50 is positive, while below 50 is negative. The index reached its historic high of 68.5 on two occasions in 1997-98, and its all-time low of 33.3 in February 2009. In June 2013 it stood at 48.9. Nearly all of the sub-indices based on selected questions or categories of respondent were down from May, but all were up from last June. The Massachusetts Index, assessing business conditions within the Commonwealth, was up 3.3 points on the year to 50.9, and the U.S. Index of national business conditions was 7.6 points ahead of last June at 48.2. “Massachusetts has generally outperformed the nation economically since the onset of the recession,” said Alan Clayton-Matthews, professor at the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University, and a BEA member. “Our state is well-positioned to continue to thrive, but is inevitably standing out less as the rest of the country returns to normal performance.” The Current Index, which assesses overall business conditions at the time of the survey, was 4.1 points above last June’s level at 52.8, and the Future Index, measuring expectations for six months out, was up 6.7 points from a year before at 54.6. “The consensus of economic forecasts calls for faster growth through the rest of this year and into 2015, and most respondents to our survey agree,” Clayton-Matthews noted. “Small and large employers are more optimistic about the near future than mid-size companies; manufacturers rate current conditions lower than other employers, but have similar expectations for the second half of the year.” The Company Index, reflecting survey respondents’ assessments of conditions for their own operations, was up 5.3 points on the year to 56.5. The Employment Index was up the same amount at 54.6, and the Sales Index gained even more, 7.6 points to 57.6. All three were off fractionally from May. “The employment results, even with a marginal loss for the month, continue to reflect a moderate upward trend,” said BEA member Elliot Winer, chief economist for Northeast Economic Analysis Group LLC. “Among employers responding to the survey, 41% expected to add personnel in the next six months, while only 10% foresaw staff reductions, a marked improvement from the already positive 38%-23% split for the prior six months.” Confidence fell in the manufacturing sector (down 2.9 to 51.5) but rose among other employers (up 2.8 to 56.8), and lower outside Greater Boston (52.8, down 1.5) than within the metropolitan area (54.1, down 0.2). Small employers (25 or fewer employees) were about as confident as mid-size firms (26 to 100 employees), while employers of more than 100 were more positive. “Responses on employment were, however, remarkably uniform,” Winer noted, “by region, for manufacturers and other employers, and for companies of all sizes.”

Construction Spending Inches Higher in May
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Total construction spending edged higher for the third straight month in May, as solid increases in private non-residential and public construction outweighed a downturn in residential projects, according to an analysis of new Census Bureau data by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials cautioned that the pickup in highway spending is in jeopardy of reversing sharply unless policy makers act urgently to shore up the federal Highway Trust Fund. “The May figures show that construction activity continues to expand, but with lots of variability by month and project type,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “These uneven patterns seem likely to continue for the rest of the year.” Construction put in place totaled $956 billion in May, 0.1% above the upwardly revised April total and 6.6% higher than in May 2013. For the first five months of 2014, total spending rose 8.2% from the January-May 2013 total. Private residential construction spending in May retreated 1.5% from April, when homebuilders may have put in extra hours to make up for adverse winter weather in many regions. The May total was 7.5% above the May 2013 level, representing an 11% increase in single-family spending, a 31% boost for multi-family, and a 2.4% decline in improvements to existing housing. Private non-residential spending rose 1.1% in May and 11% over 12 months. The largest private segment, power construction — comprising work on oil and gas fields and pipelines as well as electricity projects — rebounded 4.3% from a sharp drop in April and was up 30% year-over-year. Among other major private nonresidential segments, commercial construction climbed 6.5% over 12 months, manufacturing construction rose 6.7%, and office work jumped 23%. Public construction spending rose 1.0% for the month and 1.2% year over year.

Cost of Unemployment Insurance to Fall
BOSTON — Massachusetts employers will save money on unemployment insurance under legislation signed by Gov. Deval Patrick Thursday as part of a compromise to raise the state’s minimum wage. The new law freezes the rates for the insurance this year at 2013 levels, and lowers them slightly in 2015, 2016, and 2017. Currently, Massachusetts has the fourth-highest unemployment-insurance cost, with companies spending $714 per employee, on average. Under the new law, the minimum wage in Massachusetts will increase to $11 per hour by 2017, from $8.

Greenfield Launches Technology Master Plan
GREENFIELD — The town of Greenfield announced recently that implementation of the town’s technology master plan is underway. The master plan, an initiative started by Mayor William Martin in the fall of 2010, is another step in the mayor’s continuing “Stabilize and Expand Greenfield” Campaign, an effort to create a sustainable and resilient community that also prepares for opportunities created by external forces in the form of jobs, grants, loans, and recreational, cultural, and societal enhancements, as well as upgrades related to infrastructure, buildings, and quality of life. The plan includes upgrading the town’s information-technology assets and building a town-wide ‘last-mile’ broadband infrastructure to serve every business and resident that chooses to subscribe. “This is the culmination of three years of independent research and planning,” Martin said. “We have read and reread the information, discussed with internal and external experts, and now seek to follow a pathway outlined by this research and discussion that will produce a new, technology-rich future for the town of Greenfield. It will allow us, as local providers, to serve our citizens and businesses in a proactive, efficient, and user-friendly manner. We will have the ability to provide Internet access to many of our citizens who cannot currently access the Internet today or are prevented from a rapid and broad connection.” Beginning in 2010, Martin and Economic Development Director Robert Pyers began an effort to focus on the town’s lack of telecommunications and information-technology infrastructure. They believed that an investment in technology would help spur economic development, enhance public-health and public-safety communications, increase quality educational opportunities, and encourage government efficiency and local democracy. Research had also shown that investing in technology would help the town retain technology-based businesses and spur a knowledge-based economy while helping residents take advantage of the global educational, economic, and entertainment resources available through the Internet. “Over the course of the past three years, we have engaged three consulting firms to plan our approach,” said Martin. “The three Massachusetts-based consulting firms include Kelley Management Group Inc. of Wilbraham, JFK Systems of Somerset, and the Skyline Group from Uxbridge. Each has completed their studies and presented their strategic recommendations, which we are now deploying.” Kelley Management Group produced a Municipal Telecommunications Business Plan, which recommends that Greenfield move forward as a municipal telecommunications services provider with full town ownership and control. KMG’s business plan suggests the town will provide the best telecommunications services to every municipal entity, business, and residence at the lowest possible cost. Martin has accepted this plan and is moving forward with the creation of a town-owned Greenfield Technology Division, which will operate a break-even business with reserves for investment into future capital expenditures. JFK Systems developed a comprehensive municipal information-technology strategic plan, which defines and coordinates how the town focuses its IT resources and provides a consistent process necessary to link the various IT departments’ plans and initiatives with the needs of the citizens of Greenfield. The Skyline Group produced a municipal LAN/WAN site-assessment report and recommendations for the town’s municipally owned and town-occupied buildings. This report gives an assessment, inventory, and analysis of current network infrastructure, along with the risks associated with the current deployment. It also provides recommendations to achieve network enrichments in preparation for the town’s new municipal telecommunications network and services. Implementation of the technology master plan is a three-step process that is currently underway. The process begins with upgrading and/or selecting new municipal IT business applications that support the town’s business processes and incorporate industry standards and best-practice functionality and technologies. The next step in the process involves a redefinition of the technical requirements of the newly selected municipal IT business applications — requirements such as CPU speed, memory, data-networking speed, storage, data management, security, data sharing, etc. — and then building an optimal IT infrastructure, including computers, printers, servers, local area networking, etc., required to support it. The final step is the town’s most ambitious and will have the greatest impact on the community: Greenfield will build a low-cost, high-speed ‘last-mile’ broadband infrastructure to support the town’s new IT infrastructure, and to meet the voice, data, and Internet needs of every business and resident.

2015 Healthcare Costs Projected to Grow 6.8%
Growth in healthcare spending is expected to tick upward next year, in part because consumers are now seeking care they put off during the economic downturn, according to a report released this week. Authored by PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Health Research Institute, the report forecasts medical cost growth of 6.8%, compared to 6.5% for this year. The projected increase is slight compared to double-digit increases seen before the downturn, but the rate of growth had been slowing in the past five years, so the upward shift is worth noting, said Ceci Connolly, managing director of the institute.

Number of Jobless Seeking Aid Falls
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits declined late last month, the latest evidence that an economic slowdown earlier this year hasn’t caused employers to cut jobs. Weekly applications fell 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 312,000, the U.S. Labor Department said. The four-week average rose 2,000 to 314,000, but the average has fallen 9% since Jan. 1.

Home Sales Post Largest Gain Nationally Since 2011
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sales of previously owned homes posted the best gain in nearly three years in May, the National Assoc. of Realtors reported, rising 4.9% to a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.89 million. That gain was the fastest since August 2011; still, sales are 5% below the pace of May 2013. And the pace of home sales is well below the 5.1 million homes sold in 2013 and off the pace of 5.5 million annual sales that would reflect a healthy economy. Sales were dampened by last year’s rise in mortgage rates, tight supplies, and tougher lending standards.

Wheeling for Healing Bike Ride to Raise Funds for Cancer Services

By
Daily News

GREENFIELD — Registration is now open for Baystate Franklin Medical Center’s seventh annual Wheeling for Healing bike ride benefit on Sunday, Aug. 24, starting and ending at the White Eagle Polish Picnic Ground, 249 Plain Road, in Greenfield. Proceeds will raise funds for BFMC’s cancer programs and services.

The $40 registration fee ($20 for children 12 and under) includes the ride, exhibits, a barbeque lunch, and live music by the Renegades following the ride. Individuals who don’t wish to ride but would like to join the fun can attend the barbeque only ($25). Health New England is the presenting sponsor for the event.

Last year, proceeds from Wheeling for Healing were used to purchase new infusion chairs for patients undergoing chemotherapy at Baystate Franklin. “Patients often spend a whole day with us — sometimes several days in a row — and many are coping with significant discomfort. Making sure that they have comfortable seating is critical,” said Naomi Bolognani, manager of BFMC’s Oncology Department. “Our patients know, first-hand, what would help increase their comfort while in our unit, so we invited them to share their opinions on the chairs’ features, including the color of the upholstery.”

Bolognani further explained that the department was able to offer financial assistance to patients, covering some expenses — such as wigs and some medications — that were not covered by the patients’ health insurance. The department also used Wheeling for Healing funds to purchase a new waiting-room TV with a special CARE channel, so patients can enjoy calming views of scenes from nature, accompanied by soft, soothing music.

Chairing this year’s Wheeling for Healing steering committee for the second year is Susan Eckstrom, who joined the committee in 2012. “I am honored to be serving as the chair of a very devoted and hard-working steering committee. We all need a team helping us cope with a diagnosis of cancer,” she said.

Added Kelli Barry, philanthropy officer at Baystate Franklin and a member of the Wheeling for Healing committee, “we are encouraging participants to collect pledges to help raise additional funds for cancer programs and services at Baystate Franklin. Virtually no one today is untouched by cancer. We all know family members, friends, or colleagues who have battled this disease, and this is a chance to raise funds to honor or remember someone special to you. Better yet, consider putting a team together to raise more donations for someone who is special to all of you.”

Participants can go online, design their own web pages, complete with photographs, and send out e-mails to solicit additional pledges. Anyone who raises $100 or more in pledges will receive a commemorative sports (wicking) T-shirt. “It can be fun and very rewarding, knowing that every pledge you receive supports Baystate Franklin’s Oncology Department,” Eckstrom said.

The event features four different courses for participants — a family-friendly, three-mile flat ride; a 10-mile route featuring the Greenfield bike trail; a moderate, 25-mile ride through Bernardston, Gill, and the Turners Falls and Greenfield bike trails; and a challenging, 50-mile route that goes up into the hills of Warwick and Wendell. This event is not a race, and participants are encouraged to sign up for a course that matches their level of ability.

For more information or to register for or sponsor Wheeling for Healing, visit baystatehealth.org/wheelingforhealing, or call the Baystate Health Foundation at (413) 794-4288.

Market Mentors Relocates, Doubles Space

By
Daily News

WEST SPRINGFIELD — Market Mentors, LLC, a full-service marketing, advertising, and public-relations firm, announced the grand opening of its new office located at 30 Capital Dr. in West Springfield.

The grand opening of the new Market Mentors office comes on the heels of the company’s 10th-anniversary celebration last summer. Clients of the firm represent a broad range of industries, including banking, financial planning, healthcare, higher education, insurance, law, political, nonprofit, retail, as well as manufacturing and industrial — many of which contributed to the design of the new office space, said company President Michelle Abdow.

She added that environmentally friendly business practices are becoming more than just an initiative, and the ‘green’ movement has created an entirely new set of industry standards that were included in the construction. “Working with our clients to build our new space was a natural extension of our professional relationship,” Abdow said. “For example, our new offices feature high-efficiency and energy-saving lighting from Hampden Zimmerman and appliances including high-speed, energy-efficient XLERATOR hand dryers from Excel Dryer.”

David Reynolds Joins United Northeast Financial Advisors

By
Daily News

GLASTONBURY, Conn. — William Crawford IV, CEO of United Bank and United Financial Bancorp Inc., announced that David Reynolds Jr. recently joined United Northeast Financial Advisors, a division of United Bank.

United Northeast Financial Advisors, located at United Bank and Rockville Bank, provides customized investment solutions to customers. As United’s newest financial advisor, Reynolds will be responsible for covering the bank’s branches in Suffield, Agawam, Feeding Hills, and Windsor Locks. He is based at Rockville Bank’s Suffield branch located at 275 Mountain Road. He has been hired as assistant vice president in addition to being a financial advisor.

Reynolds comes to United Bank with more than 20 years of experience in investment and securities-related organizations, including expertise in investment-product and brokerage-industry knowledge and defined contribution, pension, and investment-product sales experience. Most recently, he was regional sales director for American United Life Insurance Co. in Glastonbury from 2007 to 2014, where he was responsible for half of the company’s New England territory, earning recognition for top-10 sales performance.

From 2000 to 2007, Reynolds was regional vice president for Wachovia Bank/Evergreen Investments in Hartford and vice president and principal of USI Consulting Group in Glastonbury, an employee-benefit consulting firm, for 11 years. His extensive career in financial services also includes his role as vice president of Finance and treasurer for North American Holding Corp., a diversified financial-services firm.

“Having someone of David’s caliber and industry knowledge join United Northeast Financial Advisors provided us another great opportunity to add the best talent to our already strong, full-service team at United,” said Crawford. “United Bank and our customers in Connecticut and Massachusetts will significantly benefit from David’s two decades of experience in providing sound financial guidance and the kind of exceptional service our team of bankers and financial advisors have the reputation for delivering.”

Hampden Bank Names Robert Massey COO, Tara Corthell CFO

By
Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — The board of directors of Hampden Bancorp Inc. unanimously elected Robert Massey chief operations officer and Tara Corthell chief financial officer and treasurer of the company and the bank, effective July 1. Massey and Corthell have served in numerous leadership roles with the company and the bank.

Massey has more than 38 years of experience in banking, most recently serving as chief financial officer, a position he had held from 2008. He began his banking career with Amherst Savings Bank in 1976. During his career, Massey has held senior positions of responsibility for financial reporting, investments, retail banking, information technology, bank operations, human resources, and auditing. He joined Hampden Bank in 1991 as its treasurer.

He is a 1973 graduate of Holyoke Community College and 1975 graduate of UMass Amherst. He has served on the boards of several community organizations and is currently president of Hampden Savings Charitable Foundation, treasurer of Hampden Bank Charitable Foundation, treasurer of Nonotuck Resource Associates Inc., audit committee chairman for the Western Mass. Council of Boy Scouts of America, and a board member for the American Red Cross Pioneer Valley Chapter. Massey has been past president of the Great Trails Council Boy Scouts of America, finance officer of American Legion Post 271, and a former instructor for the Center for Financial Training.

Corthell joined Hampden Bank in 2006 as vice president, finance manager. In 2013, she was promoted to senior vice president, director of finance, and she oversees the finance and accounting areas, including internal and external financial reporting, managing the accounting department, budgeting, investments, borrowings, and other finance and accounting functions.

She has earned a bachelor’s degree in finance and accounting as well as a master’s degree in accounting from Western New England University. Prior to joining to the bank, she had held previous accounting and finance positions at the Hartford Insurance Co. in Connecticut and State Street (formerly Investors Bank and Trust) in Boston. She is an active member in several professional organizations and a student mentor at Brookings Elementary School in Springfield.

“I would like to congratulate Bob and Tara and thank them both for their contributions over the past year after the company reorganized to become a leaner, more efficient organization,” said Glenn Welch, president and CEO of Hampden Bank. “Their leadership has been invaluable to our organization.”

Berkshire Hills Appoints Ryan Board Chairman; Bossidy Retires

By
Daily News

PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Hills Bancorp Inc. announced that William Ryan has been appointed to its board of directors as chairman. Ryan was formerly chairman of the board and CEO of TD Banknorth. The company also announced that Lawrence Bossidy has retired from Berkshire’s board of directors. Bossidy has served as Berkshire’s lead independent director since 2012, and previously served as chairman since 2002.

Berkshire’s CEO, Michael Daly, stated, “I am very pleased that Bill Ryan has joined us in the position of independent chairman, which was previously held by Larry Bossidy. We have prospered under Larry’s leadership and are grateful for his long and distinguished service to the company. With Bill, we are joined by another outstanding business leader to serve in this position. Under his leadership, the Banknorth team built a strong, well-regarded, and high-performance New England banking franchise. Bill and I share a vision of the attractive prospects for a strong regional bank in our footprint, and I look forward to working with him to achieve this vision.”

Ryan served as chairman of the board and CEO of TD Banknorth Inc. from 1989 to March 2007. Banknorth was named one of the “Best Managed Companies in America” by Forbes magazine in 2004. Ryan is a director of Unum Group (a leading employee-benefit and disability-insurance company) and has served as chair of Unum’s board since October 2011. He is also a director of Wellpoint Inc. (a leading health-benefits company). Ryan is the majority owner of the Maine Red Claws, an NBA Development League basketball team affiliated with the Boston Celtics. He also serves as a trustee of the Libra Foundation and serves on the board of advisors at the University of New England.

40 Under Forty 2014 Gala

By
Events Features
The Class of 2014 Has Its Day in the Sun

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DSC_0674The population of 40 Under Forty winners in Western Mass. officially reached 320 on June 19, as BusinessWest’s Class of 2014 received their plaques — and the applause of more than 600 people — at ceremonies at the Log Cabin Banquet & Meeting House in Holyoke. Perfect weather greeted guests on the penultimate day of spring, and they enjoyed one of the best networking events of the year. The gala featured fine food, music — each winner was introduced to a song of their choosing — and a chance to meet this program’s eighth class of rising stars, as well as many previous winners. On the pages that follow, we offer a fun look back at a memorable evening. Meanwhile, we’ll remind you that the nomination process for the Class of 2015 begins in roughly six months. So it’s time to start thinking about who could be the next members of this prestigious club. This year’s gala was sponsored by Baystate Medical Center, Fathers & Sons, Hampden Bank, Health New England, the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst, Moriarty & Primack, P.C., Paragus Strategic IT, St. Germain Investment Management, and the Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield.

Program Sponsors:

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For reprints contact: Denise Smith Photography / www.denisesmithphotography.com / [email protected]

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From left, Jennifer Stratton, assistant professor of Education at Springfield College; Seth Stratton, class of 2014, attorney with Fitzgerald Attorneys at Law; Kathleen Schneider, senior director of Budget and Award Management for Save the Children; Michael Schneider, class of 2014, associate attorney at Doherty, Wallace, Pillsbury & Murphy, P.C.; Kevin Maltby, class of 2014, attorney at Bacon Wilson, P.C.; and his wife, Eliza Maltby.

DSC_0586Mike Matty, president of St. Germain Investment Management, one of this year’s 40 Under Forty sponsors, congratulates Patricia Faginski, vice president and financial advisor for the company and member of the class of 2014.






Below, from left, Melinda Moreno, adjunct professor at Bay Path College, networks with Tamara Blake, class of 2014, director of Psychology at Bay Path College and president and founder of Angels Take Flight; Lee Hagon, class of 2014, vocal music director at Minnechaug Regional High School; York Mayo, CEO of Community Volunteers; Angela Lussier, class of 2014, CEO of Anglea Lussier Enterprises; and Nick Rattner, editor at the Ugly Duckling Presse.

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Jeremy Casey, class of 2013, assistant vice president and Commercial Services officer at Westfield Bank, networks with Garett DiStefano, class of 2014, director of residential dining at UMass Amherst.
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From left, Terra Missildine, co-owner and operations manager at Beloved Earth Environmentally Friendly Custodial Services; Kyle Sullivan, class of 2014, business insurance broker at the John M. Glover Agency; Ashley Clark, assistant store manager, officer at TD Bank; Alfonso Santaniello, class of 2014, president and CEO of the Creative Strategy Agency; Juli Thibault, Manager of Talent Acquistion at Baystate Health; and Jesse Tolan, digital media coordinator at the Creative Strategy Agency.

DSC_0621Jill Monson, left, class of 2010, chief inspiration officer at Inspired Marketing, networks with Rich Griffin, project manager for the City of Springfield, and his wife, Nicole Griffin, class of 2014, president and CEO of Griffin Staffing Network.






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Representing Health New England, one of the program’s sponsors, are, from left, Robert Azeez, Medicaid behavioral health manager; Taylor Moore, credit and collections analyst; Kerri Kane, process improvement facilitator; and Yvonne Diaz, account executive for existing business.

DSC_0614Anthony Surrette, class of 2014, principal at Corbin & Tapases, P.C., stops for a picture with his proud mother, Theresa Surrette.

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From left, Sandy Cassanelli, class of 2014, CEO of Greenough Packaging, and her husband, Craig Cassanelli, president of Greenough Packaging, stop for a picture with Michael Schneider, class of 2014, associate attorney at Doherty, Wallace, Pillsbury & Murphy, P.C., and his wife, Kathleen Schneider, senior director of budget and award management for Save the Children.

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Representing Hampden Bank, an event sponsor, are, from left, Amy Scribner, vice president and director of marketing; Kristy Batchelor, branch manager at the Tower Square location; and Peg Daoust, branch manager at the Boston Road location.

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Representing the UMass Isenberg School of Management, an event sponsor, are Kyle Bate, left, academic advisor and director of regional program development, and Katherine Piedra, director of the full-time MBA program.



















DSC_0637Steve Oparowski, art director at Darby O’Brien Advertising, represents event sponsor Paragus Strategic IT near the main hallway, handing out martini glasses to the guests.



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From left, Mark Wisnewski, Greenfield town councilor, and his wife, Francia Wisnewski, class of 2014, regional program manager at Raising a Reader Massachusetts, network with Denise Hurst, class of 2014, quality improvement manager and human rights coordinator at the Department of Mental Health, and her husband, Justin Hurst, also a member of the class of 2014, owner of Hurst & Crane Investments, and a Springfield city councilor.

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Rich Griffin, left, project manager for the city of Springfield, stops for a photo with Jose Delgado, class of 2014, mayoral aide for the city of Springfield, and Danielle Emery, a second-grade teacher at Kensington Elementary School.

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Representing Monson Savings Bank are, from left, Jaimye Hebert, class of 2011, vice president of Commercial Lending; Melanie Garcia, teller; Robert Chateauneuf, class of 2014, assistant vice president of Commercial Lending; his wife, Shauna Chateauneuf, case manager at MassMutual Financial Group; and Sara Rodrigues, teller.

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From left, Seth Stratton, class of 2014, attorney at Fitzgerald Attorneys at Law; Jennifer Stratton, assistant professor of Education at Springfield College; and Seth’s mother, Mary Stratton, talk with Patrick Leary, class of 2007, shareholder and vice president of Moriarty and Primack, P.C., an event sponsor.

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Jason Randall, class of 2014, director of Human Resources for Peter Pan Bus Lines, networks with Pam Thornton, center, business development manager for United Personnel, and Cindy Landry, human resources generalist at Health New England.

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From left, Waleska Lugo-DeJesus, class of 2012, director of Multicultural Affairs at Westfield State University, networks with Ed Nunéz, senior business development officer at Freedom Credit Union and treasurer of the Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield, an event sponsor; Michelle Crosby, branch manager at PeoplesBank; Jason Tsitso, class of 2012, project manager at R&R Windows; and Sarah Tsitso, class of 2007, executive director of the Springfield Boys & Girls Club.

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Representing Fathers & Sons, an event sponsor, are, from left, Tony Quiterio, manager; Shera Smith, sales; Steve Langieri, sales manager; Bill Visneau, product specialist; Damon Cartelli, class of 2010, general manager; and Stephen Parent, sales director.

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Representing event sponsor Baystate Medical Center are, from left, Sean Gouvin, class of 2014, director of Facilities Planning and Engineering; Ryan Thomas, performance improvement coordinator; and Kevin Kirrane, process improvement coordinator.

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Ryan McCollum, left, owner of RMC Strategies, shares a moment with Erin Brunelle, class of 2013, realtor at Century 21 Hometown Associates, and Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse, class of 2014.

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Jim Barrett, managing partner of Meyers Brother Kalicka, P.C., one of five judges chosen to review this year’s 40 Under Forty nominations, receives a gift basket on stage. Each of the judges was given a basket in gratitude for their hard work.















SelfieGOBAlfonso Santaniello, class of 2014, president and CEO of the Creative Strategy Agency, surprises George O’Brien, BusinessWest editor, with a quick selfie as he accepts his award on stage at the Log Cabin.

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MassMutual Unveils Renovation Project at Enfield Campus

By
Commercial Real Estate Sections

ENFIELD — MassMutual unveiled more than $38 million in renovations to its Bright Meadow campus, the primary location for the company’s retirement-services and workplace-insurance businesses, on June 17. The investment enhances the company’s overall infrastructure and positions MassMutual for future growth. It follows the company’s 2013 acquisition of the Hartford’s Retirement Plans division.

The renovations encompass approximately 15,000 square feet on the 66-acre, three-building site, and include infrastructure and technology improvements, a state-of-the-art data center, and enhancements to common areas. Several federal, state, and local officials and employees gathered to help MassMutual officially cut the ribbon on the revamped facility, as the 163-year-old company reasserted its commitment to driving economic growth in the state and the surrounding Enfield community.

“The significant improvements we have made to our Enfield campus reflect our efforts to position our integrated retirement business for continued success, as well as our broader commitment to invest in our facilities and our communities,” said Roger Crandall, chairman, president, and CEO of MassMutual. “We now have a world-class facility to accommodate the excellent growth potential of this business, and we look forward to delivering an outstanding service experience for our customers here for many years to come.”

The improvements in and around the building include:

• A state-of-the-art data center, the largest portion of the overall renovation project. The $23 million center will also deliver standby emergency power generation to most of the Enfield campus, thus enabling the facility to remain open in the event of a widespread power outage;

• The two-story lobby, which has been redesigned to prominently feature MassMutual branding, including the story of the company’s history and technology to create personalized greetings for special guests;

• A third-floor presentation room, created to welcome clients and visitors and demonstrate the company’s retirement-solution capabilities;

• A new innovative learning lab aimed at enhancing employee learning; and

• A redesigned visitors’ parking lot.

“Through the new construction and enhancements to our Enfield campus, we have created a dynamic and inviting work environment that fosters efficiency and productivity, and enables us to better provide our clients with the products and services they expect,” said Elaine Sarsynski, executive vice president of MassMutual’s Retirement Services division. “Our significant infrastructure investment also reaffirms MassMutual’s commitment to the state of Connecticut and to Enfield, a community we’ve been proud to be a part of for more than a decade.”

In addition to the new enhancements at its Enfield facility, MassMutual is also making infrastructure and workplace improvements to its Springfield campus. Between the two locations, the company is investing more than $85 million. MassMutual currently employs about 2,400 people in its Retirement Services division; more than 1,600 work at the Enfield campus. The company also currently has 200 employees with Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers LLC, a MassMutual subsidiary, in Hartford.

ENFIELD_exterior_JUNE2014
At left, MassMutual’s Bright Meadow facility, which recently underwent $38 million in renovations. Below, cutting the ceremonial ribbon are, from left, Enfield Mayor Scott Kaupin; Roger Crandall, chairman, president, and CEO of MassMutual; Elaine Sarsynski, executive vice president, MassMutual Retirement; Connecticut state Rep. Joe Courtney; and Connecticut state Sen. John Kissel. Below, left, Crandall addresses those gathered for the event. At bottom, the third-floor presentation room.

GuyPodiumRibbonBM3rdFloor01

Doing Business as Certificates

By
DBA Certificates Departments

The following Business Certificates and Trade Names were issued or renewed during the month of June 2014.
 
AGAWAM

Castro Express Transport
1 Belden Court
Elizar Castro

Friends 4 Life, LLC
650 Suffield St.
Muhammad Imtiaz

Power Jet Vac
1 Belden Court
Santiago Figueroa

Rose Resident Cleaning
139 Poplar St.
John Rose

Stone Meadow Farm
747 North West St.
Laura Fallon

AMHERST

Elisha Beaman House
12 Clifton Ave.
Tina Lalonde

Encharter Insurance, LLC
25 University Dr.
William Dowd

The Chopping Block
40 Main St.
Brooke Shippa

CHICOPEE

Athas Distribution
62 Willwood Dr.
Kenneth Athas

Magic Hands Therapeutic Massage
525 Grattan St.
Donna Duval

Results Certain
36 Arlmont St.
David Hebert

Sergneri Painting
87 Lariviere Dr.
Paul Sergneri

The Front Street Shop
159 Front St.
Felicita Martinez

HOLYOKE

Angela Lussier Enterprises
4 Williams St.
Angela Lussier

Ashley’s Fashions
347 High St.
Victor Davila

Dwight Market
910 Dwight St.
Oliver Quiroz

Gil’s Auto Repair
606 Main St.
Gilberto Rivas

Hernandez Furniture & Travel
433 Main St.
Carmelo Hernandez

Kimpir’s Baked Potato
50 Holyoke St.
Hakan K. Munsaloglu

PENRG
50 Holyoke St.
Vivian Berganotto

Reliable Computer
867 Main St.
Daniel Deschaine

Sexton Roofing & Siding
700 Main St.
Everett J. Sexton

Subway, LLC
50 Holyoke St.
Ngoc M. Thi

NORTHAMPTON

Afribantou Village Art
60 Avis Circle
Roger Noumbissi

Crafted Birth
73 Barrett St.
Mollie Hartford-Chamberland

Mama Iguana’s Restaurant
274 Main St.
Claudio Guerra

Spoleto, Inc.
12 Crafts Ave.
Maria Koziol-Guerra

Top Pal
96 Pleasant St.
Mod Z. Magaoza

Your Garden Home
184 Main St.
John Semler

PALMER

Copacabana Restaurant
2052 Main St.
Sergio Fretas

Protection Inc.
4089 High St.
John Prenosil

Rick’s Parkside Drive-In
1189 Park St.
Frederick Giuliani

Subway
1049 Thorndike St.
Rohit Teji

SPRINGFIELD

King Nails
461 State St.
Nguyet Nguyen

KM Document Preparation
15 Wilcox St.
Keila Morales

Life Laboratories
299 Carew St.
Kevin A. Jourdain

Los Gigantes
1655 Main St.
Freddy E. Rivera

Lux Permanent Cosmetics
888 Sumner Ave.
Rebeca Ruiz

Malave’s Auto Body
503 St. James Ave.
David Ruiz

Mercy Care Forest Park
475 Sumner Ave.
Kevin A. Jourdain

Mercy Medical Center
271 Carew St.
Kevin A. Jourdain

Millers Detailing Services
476 Berkshire Ave.
Brandon J. Miller

Mundo Cellular Inc.
856 Main St.
Alfredo Garib

National Automatic Sales
219 Memorial Dr.
Charles Nanck

Nice & Neat Interior
337 South Branch Pkwy.
Curt M. Marcellin

North Atlantic Trucking
100 Progress Ave.
James P. Craven

Northeastern Investigative Services
1242 Main St.
James M. Wojnar

Odessey Dream Club
1123 St. James Ave.
Gerald Carpas

Over the Rainbow Daycare
24 Harmon Ave.
Patricia Eileen

Peak Performance Chiropractic
1 Stafford St.
Michael M. Levesque

Pearl Coaching Services
1655 Main St.
Janell Caldwell

Precious Gems
297 Commonwealth Ave.
Angelica Zdorovets

Precision Taxes
1145 Main St.
Cynthia Ahenkang

Pro Auto Electric
97 Laconia St.
Fred Pafumi

Que Huong Restaurant
281 Belmont Ave.
Trish Nguyen

Quick Stop Food Mart
889 Carew St.
Sagheer Nawaz

Raven’s Loft
115 Sumner Ave.
Stephanie A. Erbe

Rescatando La Juventud
47 Laurel St.
Hector I. Claudio

Rey’s Used Appliances
680 Sumner Ave.
Reynaldo Placencia

Rizzo Holdings, LLC
718 State St.
Ivan Rizzo

Santana Tax Service
882 State St.
Luis R. Santana

Southend Smoke Shop
469 Main St.
Naffes Niaza

The Cutting Edge
473 Boston Road
Jeanne B. Sady

Touch of Class Balloons
350 Eastern Ave.
Carmen Mason

Workwise Occupational
233 Carew St.
Kevin A. Jourdain

WESTFIELD

CCI Division of RPM Wood Finishes Group Inc.
221 Union St.
Wesley Harris

JR Cleaning Service
18 Dubois St.
Jesus Felix

JTB
88 Carroll Dr.
John Burke

Lecrenski Brothers Inc.
14 Delmont Ave.
Dana Lecrenski

Odd Job Doctor
8 Yale St.
Robyn Banks

The Scrub Peddler
10 Fawn Lane
Ellen T. Majka

WEST SPRINGFIELD

Christine Parizo Communications
118 Wilder Terrace
Christine Parizo

Excella Home Health
123 Park Ave.
David Brown

Hex Bear Design Studio
169 Chilson Road
Joshua Florence

Jasjay Beautiful Style
520 Main St.
Jas Rai

Pintea
41 Craig Dr.
Marion Tombre

Shree Ram Inc.
1573 Riverdale St.
Dilip R. Rana

The Communications Group
380 Union St.
Matthew Villamaino

Total Fitness Equipment
1267 Riverdale St.
Gina Valles

People on the Move

By
Departments People on the Move

Kristina Drzal Houghton

Kristina Drzal Houghton

At its recent annual meeting, the Springfield Boys & Girls Club board of directors elected Kristina Drzal Houghton as its new Chairman. Houghton has been an active member of the Springfield Boys & Girls Club’s board of directors since 2003, serving on the club’s finance, Festival of Trees, and resource-development committees. Houghton is a partner and director of taxation services for the Holyoke-based public accounting firm Meyers Brothers Kalicka, P.C. She has extensive experience in tax-exempt organizations and unrelated business-income tax issues, as well as tax compliance and planning for closely held businesses. Her clients include those in the service, retail, transportation, medical, construction, manufacturing, education, insurance, and not-for-profit industries. Houghton received her bachelor’s degree in business administration from American International College and her master’s in taxation from Bentley College, and she has more than 30 years of experience in the area of taxation. She was a former tax manager with Coopers & Lybrand. Her professional affiliations include the AICPA and the MSCPA. She is the immediate past president of the board of the Springfield Symphony, served as the former treasurer of Spirit of Springfield, and was a troop leader for more than 12 years for the Girl Scouts of Central and Western Mass. Houghton is licensed as a certified public accountant in Massachusetts and Connecticut.
• • • • •
The Columbus Blue Jackets have named Jared Bednar Head Coach of the Springfield Falcons, the club’s American Hockey League affiliate. Bednar has served as an assistant coach of the Falcons since 2012, helping the club capture consecutive division titles since his arrival. “Jared has been instrumental in the development of several of our prospects in Springfield while serving as an assistant coach, and was a big part of the team’s recent success,” said Blue Jackets Assistant General Manager Chris MacFarland. “He’s very well-respected throughout the hockey community, and we’re confident he will excel in his new role within our organization.” Bednar served as the head coach of the AHL’s Peoria Rivermen from 2010 to 2012, amassing a record of 81-63-12 over the course of two seasons. He joined the Rivermen after serving as an assistant coach with the AHL’s Abbotsford Heat during that club’s inaugural 2009-10 season.
• • • • •
Susan Seaver

Susan Seaver

Florence Savings Bank, a mutually owned savings bank serving the Pioneer Valley through nine branch locations, announced that Susan Seaver has joined the bank as Vice President and Mortgage Originator, responsible for mortgage originations in Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin counties. Seaver comes to FSB with a strong résumé of service in the banking industry. Most recently, she was vice president and mortgage officer with People’s United Bank. Her experience includes training and supporting a staff of in-house originators, and she has been a multi-year recipient of the top producer award for success in closing residential loans. Her professional activities include serving as a member of the Realtor Assoc. of Pioneer Valley, the Professional Women’s Chamber of Western Mass., and the National Mortgage Licensing System and Registry. In the community, she has volunteered with a number of organizations, including the Michael J. Dias Foundation, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and Western Mass. Eldercare. In announcing the appointment, FSB President and CEO John Heaps Jr., said that “we are very pleased to have Susan join our team here at Florence Savings Bank. She comes to us with extensive banking experience. I am confident our customers will be well-served by her contributions.”
• • • • •
Loomis Communities announced that Gabrielle Thomes has been appointed Director of Social Services at the nursing center at Loomis Lakeside at Reeds Landing. In this role, she will plan and implement social services and help individuals and their families find the correct level they need for care and recovery or, when necessary, hospice. Thomes is a licensed social worker who previously worked at Wingate in East Longmeadow.
• • • • •
Joseph Malmborg

Joseph Malmborg

FSB Financial Group, the investment division of Florence Savings Bank, announced that Joseph Malmborg of Springfield has joined its team as a Financial Services Representative. In this capacity, he will work with individuals and business owners to develop strategic, long-term financial plans to help customers achieve their financial goals and objectives. Malmborg comes to FSB Financial Group with a résumé of 25 years of banking and investment-management experience. Most recently, he was an investment advisor with United Bank, where he managed and developed a $30 million investment portfolio. He is additionally a former investment advisor at Banknorth, registered investment advisor with MassMutual, and business development manager at Fleet Financial. Malmborg began his career as a branch sales manager at SIS Bank. The Westfield State College graduate is a licensed investment advisor representative with Commonwealth Financial Network, holding the Series 7 (General Securities) and Series 65 (Uniform Investment Adviser Law) licenses. He is also licensed to sell both life and health insurance. Malmborg is a past director of the East Longmeadow Chamber of Commerce. His other community activities include teaching Junior Achievement and being involved with Cursillo of Western Mass. “We are pleased to welcome Joe to our investment team. He will work closely with Jean Kelley and Nicole Domnarski to ensure that every FSB Financial Services client receives the highest degree of service and best possible investment advice in the Pioneer Valley,” said John Heaps Jr., president and CEO of Florence Savings Bank. “Joe’s extensive background and strong community involvement will make him an invaluable part of our team.”

Chamber Corners: Upcoming Events

By
Chamber Corners Departments

ACCGS
www.myonlinechamber.com
(413) 787-1555

• July 9: ERC5 Member Appreciation Night with the Western Mass. Pioneers, 5:30-7:30 p.m., at Lusitano Stadium, 400 Winsor St., Ludlow. Enjoy an exhibition game, food, contests, surprises, and more. Reservations are complimentary for ERC5 members, $5 for general admission. Reservations may be made online at www.myonlinechamber.com or by contacting Cecile Larose at [email protected]. The ERC5 is an affiliate of the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield
• July 14: ACCGS Annual Golf Tournament at the Ranch Golf Club in Southwick. Schedule: 10:30-11:30 a.m., registration/practice; 11 a.m.-noon, course-side lunch; 12:30 p.m., shotgun start. Cost: $600 for a foursome, $150 for an individual golfer, $30 for reception only. Reservations may be made online at www.myonlinechamber.com or by contacting Cecile Larose at [email protected].

AMHERST AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.amherstarea.com
413-253-0700

• July 21: Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce 11th Annual Golf Tournament, 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., at Hickory Ridge Golf Course, Pomeroy Lane, Amherst. Registration and lunch are from 10:30 a.m. to noon, with a shotgun start at noon, and reception and dinner starting at 5 p.m. Cost: $125 per player. Presented by Hampshire Hospitality Group. Co-scholarship sponsor: Cooley Dickinson Health Care. Silver sponsors: Encharter Insurance, J.F. Conlon & Associates, MBA. Lunch sponsor: Davis Financial Group, LLC. Dinner sponsor: Fallon Community Health Plan. Bronze sponsors: Daily Hampshire Gazette, NEPM, Steve Lewis Subaru. Carts sponsor: Taylor Rental. Water sponsor: Atkins Farms Country Market. Towels: Hampshire College.

GREATER EASTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.easthamptonchamber.org
(413) 527-9414

• July 10: Netwrking By Night Business Card Exchange, 5-7p.m. Hosted by the Oxbow Water Ski Show Team, 100 Old Springfield Road, Northampton. The program will feature a gala waterski show and networking under the tent on the shores of the Oxbow. Door prizes, hors d’ouevres, and host beer and wine. Sponsored by Mantis Graphics and William F. Steplar Financial Services. Tickets: $5 for members, $15 for future members. RSVP requested.
• July 25: 30th Annual Golf Tournament, at Southampton Country Club, 329 College Highway, Southampton. Scramble format with 9 a.m. shotgun start. Games, contests, and raffles. Team fees include lunch and steak dinner. Major sponsors: Easthampton Savings Bank and Five Star Building Corp. Event sponsors: Innovative Business Systems Inc. and TurningLeaf Design. Opportunities for business exposure include tee sponsors, donations to the golfer’s gift bag, and raffle-prize donations. Team fees: $440; tee sponsorships: $75/$125. This year’s 30th anniversary tournament will honor William Cater Jr., the first golf chairman. Contact the chamber to sign up a team, arrange a sponsorship, or make a raffle or gift prize donation.

GREATER WESTFIELD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.westfieldbiz.org
(413) 568-1618

• July 10: The Chamber’s 37th Annual Pancake Breakfast, 7-11 a.m., at South Middle School, 30 West Silver St., Westfield. Sponsored by: City of Westfield, Walmart, Appalachian Press, Noble VNA, and Peppermill Catering. Highlights: Vendor tables, bounce house, face painting, music, and more. Cost: adults, $6; seniors, $5; children under 12, $3. For more information, call Pam at the chamber office at (413) 568-1618.

WEST OF THE RIVER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.ourwrc.com
(413) 426-3880

• August 18: Annual Golf Tournament, at the Ranch Golf Course, Southwick. Registration is at 11:30 a.m., with lunch at noon and a shotgun start at 1 p.m. Cost: $125 for golf and dinner. For more information or for tickets, contact the chamber office at (413) 426-3880 or e-mail [email protected].

Court Dockets

By
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
Severa Toledo v. Springfield Center Assoc., L.P., d/b/a Wendy’s Restaurant
Allegation: Negligent maintenance of property causing slip and fall: $4,086.30
Filed: 5/13/14

HAMPDEN SUPERIOR COURT
Anthony B. Choquette v. Merrimack Mutual Fire Insurance Co.
Allegation: Misrepresentation and breach of insurance contract: $60,000
Filed: 5/29/14

Lansal Inc. v. Mama Mae’s, LLC
Allegation: Breach of contract and failure to pay: $92,498.01
Filed: 5/16/14

Ronald and Linda Weston v. John Oakes and Farm Family Casualty Insurance
Allegation: Negligent misrepresentation by fraudulently concealing a reduction in coverage to the blind plaintiff: $182,000
Filed: 5/29/14

HAMPSHIRE SUPERIOR COURT
Mary Aubrey and Nancy Kent v. Breakaway Retail Enterprises Inc. d/b/a Manny’s
Allegation: Negligent installation of a dishwasher causing mold and rot damage: $60,000+
Filed: 4/15/14

Susan Amuso v. Interskate 91 Skating and Fun Center, Pyramid Mall of Hadley Inc.
Allegation: Negligent maintenance of property causing injury: $38,106
Filed: 4/18/14

Transborder Marketing Inc. v. Transborder Marketing S.P. Zoo
Allegation: Non-payment of loan: $250,000
Filed: 4/28/14

NORTHAMPTON DISTRICT COURT
Dennis K. Burke Inc. v. Thomas L. Engwer, III d/b/a Tom Engwer Trucking
Allegation: Non-payment of goods sold and delivered: $8,711.39
Filed: 4/21/14

Easthampton Savings Bank v. Etinde Painting and Dieudonne B. Etinde
Allegation: Non-payment of revolving line of credit: $11,588.52
Filed: 4/16/14

LexisNexis v. Kairos Capital, LLC
Allegation: Non-payment of subscription agreement: $5,888.87
Filed: 4/24/14

PALMER DISTRICT COURT
Helena Chemical Co. v. St. Clair Landscaping Inc.
Allegation: Non-payment of goods sold and delivered: $19,029.65
Filed: 5/13/14

SPRINGFIELD DISTRICT COURT
Comcast Spotlight Inc. v. Evolution Fitness, d/b/a Edward J. Mazzuchelli
Allegation: Non-payment of advertising services rendered: $7,279.06
Filed: 5/7/14

Doner House, LLC v. Caceras Ferez Gomez Realty, LLC
Allegation: Breach of commercial lease: $20,496.79
Filed: 5/7/14

Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. v. D. Porter Masonry Corp.
Allegation: Non-payment of workers’ compensation policy: $13,206.39
Filed: 4/22/14

Packaging Corp. of America v. Rosa’s Candies Inc.
Allegation: Breach of contract and monies owed: $3,686.12
Filed: 4/30/14

Cost of Unemployment Insurance to Fall

By
Daily News

BOSTON — Massachusetts employers will save money on unemployment insurance under legislation signed by Gov. Deval Patrick Thursday as part of a compromise to raise the state’s minimum wage. The new law freezes the rates for the insurance this year at 2013 levels, and lowers them slightly in 2015, 2016, and 2017. Currently, Massachusetts has the fourth-highest unemployment-insurance cost, with companies spending $714 per employee, on average. Under the new law, the minimum wage in Massachusetts will increase to $11 per hour by 2017, from $8.

Local Independent Agent Selected to Offer Popular Insurance Program

By
Daily News

CHICOPEE — For the first time, AARP members in Massachusetts can save on auto and home insurance through the AARP Massachusetts Auto and Home Insurance Program from Plymouth Rock Assurance and Bunker Hill Insurance. First American Insurance Agency of Chicopee has been selected as an ‘authorized-to-offer’ agent in Massachusetts. First American was chosen after satisfying a number of eligibility requirements, which include being in general good standing as an agency, having experience with both auto and home insurance, and completing a training program designed to address the needs of the 50+ population. The requirements help ensure the best possible experience for AARP members. “AARP members in Massachusetts can now enjoy a program that includes a combination of savings and coverages uniquely tailored to their needs,” said Chris Olie, president of Plymouth Rock. “This program offers innovative product features and a commitment to truly understanding and supporting our customers. We are thrilled to provide these benefits through our friendly and knowledgeable independent agents like first American Insurance Agency.” Plymouth Rock and Bunker Hill are offering the AARP-branded auto- and home-insurance program through select, authorized independent agents. Through the program, AARP members in Massachusetts will be eligible for special savings. Other hallmarks of the program include savings up to 19% on auto and up to 26% on home insurance when buying auto insurance from Plymouth Rock and home insurance from Bunker Hill, guaranteed lifetime coverage, and immediate enrollment into Plymouth Rock’s Rewards Plus program, which includes cell phone and laptop replacement coverage, as well as pet-injury coverage.

MassMutual Unveils Renovation Project at Enfield Campus

By
Daily News

ENFIELD — MassMutual unveiled more than $38 million in renovations to its Bright Meadow campus, the primary location for the company’s retirement-services and workplace-insurance businesses, on June 17. The investment enhances the company’s overall infrastructure and positions MassMutual for future growth. It follows the company’s 2013 acquisition of the Hartford’s retirement-plan business. The renovations encompass approximately 15,000 square feet on the 66-acre, three-building site, and include infrastructure and technology improvements, a state-of-the-art data center, and enhancements to common areas. Several federal, state, and local officials and employees gathered to help MassMutual officially cut the ribbon on the revamped facility, as the 163-year-old company reasserted its commitment to driving economic growth in the state and the surrounding Enfield community. “The significant improvements we have made to our Enfield campus reflect our efforts to position our integrated retirement business for continued success, as well as our broader commitment to invest in our facilities and our communities,” said Roger Crandall, chairman, president, and CEO of MassMutual. “We now have a world-class facility to accommodate the excellent growth potential of this business, and we look forward to delivering an outstanding service experience for our customers here for many years to come.” Among the improvements in and around the building are:
• A state-of-the-art data center, the largest portion of the overall renovation project. The $23 million center will also deliver standby emergency power generation to most of the Enfield campus, thus enabling the facility to remain open in the event of a widespread power outage;
• A redesign of two-story lobby to prominently feature MassMutual branding, including the story of the company’s history and technology to create personalized greetings for special guests;
• A third-floor presentation room, created to welcome clients and visitors and demonstrate the company’s retirement-solution capabilities;
• A new innovative learning lab aimed at enhancing employee learning; and
• A redesigned visitors’ parking lot.
“Through the new construction and enhancements to our Enfield campus, we have created a dynamic and inviting work environment that fosters efficiency and productivity, and enables us to better provide our clients with the products and services they expect,” said Elaine Sarsynski, executive vice president of MassMutual’s Retirement Services division. “Our significant infrastructure investment also reaffirms MassMutual’s commitment to the state of Connecticut and to Enfield, a community we’ve been proud to be a part of for more than a decade.” In addition to the new enhancements at its Enfield facility, MassMutual is also making infrastructure and workplace improvements to its Springfield campus. Between the two locations, the company is investing more than $85 million. MassMutual currently employs about 2,400 people in its Retirement Services division; more than 1,600 work at the Enfield campus. The company also currently has 200 employees with Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers LLC, a MassMutual subsidiary, in Hartford.

Opinion

By
Opinion
Healthcare Stakeholders Support Reform

By LYNN NICHOLAS

An impressive collection of healthcare stakeholders have joined with the Mass. Hospital Assoc. (MHA) in calling for the state to support two extremely important reform efforts in the FY 2015 budget.

First, policymakers should address desperately needed behavioral-health reform measures. Five of Massachusetts’ largest care-provider organizations are jointly calling on the Legislature to support vital behavioral-health reform measures in next year’s budget. In addition to MHA, the Mass. Assoc. of Behavioral Health Systems, the Mass. Medical Society, the Mass. College of Emergency Physicians, and the Mass. Psychiatric Society are urging the adoption of both budgetary action and vital administrative steps needed to bolster timely access to behavioral-health services.

The Commonwealth’s behavioral-health system is broken, and immediate supports are needed to reinforce critical mental-health and substance-abuse services while we all work toward comprehensive, systemic reform. The multi-step plan advanced by our collective organizations calls for important investments in community-based placement services, outpatient and community-based diversionary services, and inpatient hospital-level services. It also urges the Legislature to adopt operational reforms that advance patient access to appropriate services on a timely basis and reduce emergency-department delays.

The persistent call for comprehensive reform of the Commonwealth’s behavioral-health system is gaining traction throughout the state. While thorough and systemic reform may take some time, it’s essential that policymakers move forward on some immediate interim steps that will preserve access and advance true parity for behavioral-health coverage and services. We hope this growing call from healthcare, public advocacy, and civic leaders will result in meaningful improvements for all patients in the very near future.

Second, new federal healthcare funding should be dedicated to its intended purpose — to support both low-income health-coverage programs and those who provide the care.

Hospitals, home-care providers, physicians, community health centers, advocates for patients, and organizations devoted to fighting major diseases are all calling on the state to ensure that the use of federal healthcare funding coming to Massachusetts through the Affordable Care Act is set aside to support the funding of Medicaid and other low-income healthcare programs in a transparent manner. Gov. Deval Patrick’s budget created the Health Insurance Expansion Fund to house the enhanced federal Medicaid revenues the state receives and dedicate the funding to support the financing of health-insurance coverage for low-income Massachusetts residents.

This approach is supported by the MHA, Health Care For All, Health Law Advocates, the Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts, the Mass. League of Community Health Centers, the Mass. Assoc. of Behavioral Health Systems, the Mass. Law Reform Institute, the American Heart Assoc. and American Stroke Assoc., the Mass. Medical Society, the Mass. Health Council, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, and the Conference of Boston Teaching Hospitals.

This coalition has urged the Legislature to carry the governor’s recommendation forward while adding language that increases transparency — so that the amount of revenues in the fund, as well as expected additions and expenditures, are reported regularly — and explicitly authorizes one of the uses for the funding to be to support those who provide care to Medicaid patients.

This federal money was intended to shore up and support the important healthcare programs that have been developed under the state’s reform effort. By connecting the funding directly to these programs, the Legislature can create true transparency and accountability and help preserve the many collective successes we have achieved since the passage of the first health-reform efforts back in 2006.


Lynn Nicholas is president and CEO of the Mass. Hospital Assoc.

2014 Mid-year Tax Planning

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Accounting and Tax Planning Sections
Take Steps Now to Reduce Your Tax Burden Later

By JAMES BARRETT
TaxPlanningARTThe first half of 2014 has produced little in the way of major tax legislation, but tax-planning opportunities still exist.

This mid-year tax-planning article focuses on plans that may take a little more time to implement rather than on strategies that must be executed in the limited time remaining at year-end.


Tax Planning for Individuals

Managing Your Income

Income-tax planning typically involves some combination of three strategies:

• Earn income taxed at favorable tax rates, such as long-term capital gains or qualified dividends;
• Avoid income bubbles, which can cause you to be subjected to a higher marginal tax rate in the ‘bubble year’ than your normal, or average, marginal tax rate; and
• Delay the payment of tax by deferring the receipt of income to a later year or accelerating the payment of deductible expenditures into the current year.

James Barrett

James Barrett

Managing your income to minimize your tax has become more challenging with the advent of complex tax provisions such as the alternative minimum tax (AMT) and the 3.8% surtax on net investment income. The former causes you to lose any tax benefit from otherwise tax-deductible expenditures, such as state income taxes and real-estate taxes on your home. The latter subjects your investment income to a premium tax rate if your adjusted gross income (AGI) exceeds a stated threshold.

When you are estimating your income for 2014, you may want to consider several target figures:

Paying Your Income Taxes

If you do not pay enough tax throughout the year, penalties may apply. But with proper planning, the penalties are avoidable.

If it appears that you will be subject to an underpayment penalty, you may be able to reduce or eliminate the penalty by initiating or increasing your quarterly estimated tax payments. If you’re employed, instructing your employer to withhold more from your pay can even eliminate penalties that accrued earlier in the year. A quirk in the penalty rules treats withheld taxes — even withholding that occurs late in the year — as if they had been taken evenly throughout the year.

While most people want to avoid unnecessary penalties, it is seldom a good idea to pay more than the law requires or to pay your taxes earlier than necessary. Why let the government hold your money only to return it to you next year as a tax refund — with no interest?

Your goal should be to pay just enough to avoid an underpayment penalty but not so much as to create a large refund. If it looks as if you have been paying too much tax, cut back on your withholding or lower your remaining quarterly estimated tax payments.

Funding Your Retirement Plans

Contributing to a tax-qualified retirement plan can reduce your current tax obligations and help you save for your retirement in a tax-efficient manner. Contributions and the earnings on them provide tax deferral on earnings until you receive distributions.

In the case of Roth IRAs, the tax deferral may be permanent. So the sooner you make the contribution, the sooner your tax-deferred earnings begin. If you already have a plan in place, consider making a contribution now rather than waiting until the last minute.

The following limits apply for the 2014 tax year:

• Participants in a 401(k) plan can defer up to $17,500 ($23,000 for ages 50 or older);
• The IRA contribution limit is $5,500 ($6,500 for ages 50 and older);
• Simple IRA participants can defer up to $12,000 ($14,500 for age 50 and older);
• Self-employed individuals can contribute 20% of their self-employment income up to $52,000.

IRAs and Roth Accounts

Anyone with earned income, including alimony, is generally eligible to contribute to an IRA. That means that a child who has a job can set up an IRA and begin saving for retirement.

Claiming a deduction for your contribution to a traditional IRA is another matter. It depends on your income and whether you (or your spouse if you are married) are covered by an employer-sponsored retirement plan. Contributions to a Roth IRA are never deductible.

• If neither you nor your spouse is covered by an employer’s plan, you may choose to deduct your contribution to your traditional IRA.
• At higher income levels — modified adjusted gross income above $70,000 for singles and $116,000 for joint filers — no deduction is allowed if you (and your spouse if you are married) are covered by an employer’s plan.
• If you are married and only one of you is covered by an employer’s plan, the spouse who is not covered may claim the deduction, unless your joint modified adjusted gross income exceeds $191,000.

Many people find the long-term benefits of contributing to a Roth IRA or a Roth 401(k) outweigh the short-term financial benefits of tax-deductible contributions. While Roth contributions are not tax-deductible, none of the income earned in the Roth account will ever be subject to income tax unless there are early distributions.

In addition, the Roth account is not subject to the lifetime required minimum distribution rules that apply when you reach age 70½.

Eligibility to contribute to a Roth IRA depends on the amount of your income. No contribution is allowed if your modified adjusted gross income for 2014 exceeds $129,000 for singles or $191,000 for joint filers.

You can make a direct rollover from your traditional IRA or other qualified retirement plan into a Roth IRA. However, you must pay tax on the rollover amount. There is no income limit associated with Roth rollovers.

‘Magic-age’ Years

Is 2014 a magic-age year for you? There are two ages that affect retirement plans, and both involve a ‘half birthday.’ Once you reach age 59½, the extra 10% penalty no longer applies to distributions from your qualified retirement plans, including IRAs.

But if you reach age 70½ during 2014, you must begin to receive minimum distributions from your traditional IRAs. Although the first annual distribution need not be taken until April 15, 2015, you may want to take the first distribution during 2014, to avoid the need for two distributions in 2015.

Changes to the 60-day Rollover Rule

This year (2014) will be the last year that you can obtain multiple short-term tax-free loans from your IRAs. A withdrawal from your IRA is treated as a tax-free transaction if you redeposit the amount into the same or another IRA no later than 60 days after the date you made the withdrawal. Note that the IRS may waive the 60-day requirement under some circumstances, for example, such as an error by your financial institution.

You are allowed only one tax-free rollover per year. The one-year waiting period begins on the date you receive the IRA distribution, not on the date you roll it back into another IRA.

For years, the IRS had said that the one-year waiting period applied separately to each of your IRAs. After the Tax Court interpreted the rule differently in its Bobrow decision (TC Memo 2014-21), the IRS decided to treat all of your IRAs as one IRA for the purposes of the one-year waiting period. However, the IRS says it will not apply this more restrictive interpretation to any rollover that involves a distribution from an IRA before Jan. 1, 2015.

Rollovers between Roth IRAs are subject to the same 60-day rule and one-year waiting period that apply to rollovers between traditional IRAs. After 2014, all of your Roth IRAs will be treated as one Roth IRA for purposes of the one-year waiting period between rollovers.

Rollovers from employer retirement plans to IRAs do not count for purposes of the one-year waiting period. Similarly, conversions of regular IRAs to Roth IRAs are not considered. The one-year waiting period also does not apply to trustee-to-trustee transfers between traditional IRAs or between Roth IRAs.

Making Your Home Energy-efficient

While most of the residential energy tax credits expired at the end of 2013, one remains in effect — the credit for qualified expenditures made for residential energy-efficient property placed in service before Jan. 1, 2017. The IRS defines qualified expenditures for residential energy-efficient property to include:

• Qualified solar electric property expenditures for use in a qualifying dwelling unit;
• Qualified solar water-heating property expenditures for property that heats water for use in a qualifying dwelling unit, if at least half of the energy used by the property for such purpose is derived from the sun;
• Certain qualified fuel-cell property expenditures;
• Qualified small wind-energy property expenditures for property that uses a wind turbine to generate electricity for use in connection with a qualifying dwelling unit; and
• Certain qualified geothermal heat-pump property used to heat a dwelling unit or as a thermal energy sink to cool the dwelling unit, which meets the requirements of the Energy Star program.

The residential alternative energy credit is equal to 30% of the cost of eligible solar water heaters, solar-electricity equipment, fuel-cell plants, small wind-energy property, and geothermal heat-pump property.

You may rely on a manufacturer’s certification that property is eligible for the credit, so long as the IRS has not withdrawn the manufacturer’s right to make the certification.

Complying with the ACA

Starting in 2014, lower-income individuals may be eligible for a tax credit to help pay for health-insurance coverage purchased through an affordable insurance exchange established by the Affordable Care Act. The credit is refundable, so those with little or no income-tax liability can still benefit. The credit also can be paid in advance to the insurance company to help cover the cost of premiums.

Starting in 2014, the individual shared-responsibility provision calls for each person to have minimum essential coverage for each month, qualify for an exemption, or make a payment when filing his or her federal income-tax return. The open-enrollment period to purchase health insurance coverage for 2014 through the Affordable Insurance Exchange ran from Oct. 1, 2013 through March 31, 2014.

Keeping Good Records

Every April, most people resolve that they are going to keep better tax records … next year. While it is obvious that, if you do not keep good records, you are likely to overlook legitimate tax deductions, the result could be even harsher.

In the Durden decision (TC Memo 2012-140), the Tax Court disallowed a couple’s charitable-contribution deduction to their church even though they could prove the payments with canceled checks. The tax law requires a contemporaneous written acknowledgment from the charity for gifts of $250 or more.

In this case, the couple obtained the required letter after their tax return was being examined by the IRS. The court denied the deduction because the letter was not issued prior to the due date of the tax return as required by the tax law.

Business Activities

Whether you own your business or work for someone else, a number of tax-saving opportunities could be available to you if you stay alert and keep good records.

Changing Jobs

Costs you incur in seeking new employment may be deductible if you itemize. And if you have to relocate, the cost of moving yourself and your family may be deductible — even if you don’t itemize.

As with most provisions of the tax law, a review of the technical rules is necessary to determine whether you qualify. Be sure to contact your tax adviser.

Hiring Your Children

If you own a business and have children, consider putting them to work during summer vacation or after school. You will be able to deduct their wages, as long as you make their pay commensurate with what you would pay non-family employees for the same services.

For 2014, each child can earn as much as $6,200 and pay zero income tax. A child who earns $11,700 and contributes $5,500 to a traditional IRA will also pay zero income tax.

Honing Your Job Skills

Parents of college-age students are generally aware of education tax credits like the American Opportunity Credit. If you undertake training to maintain or enhance your job skills or if you pursue an additional degree, you may qualify for the Lifetime Learning Credit or be able to deduct the cost of your education or training as an itemized deduction.

Talk with your tax adviser. Not only are you never too old to learn, but you’re also never too old to claim a tax benefit.

Working from Home

If you operate a business from your home and use a distinct room or area solely for business activities, you may qualify for a home-office deduction. The IRS has simplified the record-keeping requirements but not the qualification requirements. In rare cases, employees who are required by their employer to work from home may also qualify for this deduction.

Caring for Dependents

Working couples with young children and those caring for aged relatives often incur costs associated with hiring outside caregivers so that they can work or go to school. Some of these costs may qualify for the dependent-care tax credit. Qualifying costs may include day camp and similar activities during the summer months.

Establishing a Retirement Plan

If you own a business, you may be able to avail yourself of a defined-benefit type of retirement plan. These plans often allow higher retirement contributions than other types of plans. The higher retirement benefit must be weighed against the additional cost of providing comparable retirement benefits for your employees.

To qualify for a tax deduction in 2014, your retirement plan generally must be in place before the end of the year. Exceptions are IRA and SEP (simplified employee pension) plans, which can be set up through April 15, 2015.

Small employers — generally those with 100 or fewer employees — that set up a qualified retirement plan may be eligible for a tax credit of up to $500 per year for three years. The credit is limited to 50% of the qualified startup costs.

Writing Off Capital Expenditures

Generous business-tax write-off rules, like bonus depreciation, expired at the end of 2013. And the expensing election limit under Section 179 has been reduced to $25,000 for 2014, but only if the total amount of qualified asset purchases does not exceed $200,000.

Depreciating Vehicles

For passenger automobiles first placed in service during 2014, the deduction limitations for the first three tax years are $3,160, $5,100, and $3,050, respectively, and $1,875 for each succeeding year. For trucks and vans first placed in service in 2014, the depreciation limitations for the first three years are $3,460, $5,500, and $3,350, respectively, and $1,975 for each succeeding year.

In past years, bonus depreciation made the first-year limitation much higher. However, since bonus depreciation expired on Dec. 31, 2013, the new limits will apply for 2014 unless Congress acts to reinstate bonus depreciation retroactively to Jan. 1, 2014.

Repairing Older Assets

For tax years beginning in 2014, new rules are in effect for determining when expenditures can be deducted as a repair expense and when they must be treated as the cost of a new asset subject to depreciation. All businesses should review their repair/capitalization policies to assure that they are in compliance with the new rules.

Monitoring Passive Activities

Complex rules govern the tax treatment of business activities in which the owner does not materially participate. If these so-called passive activities produce a loss, that loss may not be currently deductible. If the passive activity is profitable, the income could be subject to the 3.8% surtax on net investment income.

If you are the owner of a business, it’s a good idea to keep detailed records of the hours you spend working in the business. This record keeping is especially important if you have another full-time job or if the potentially passive activity is not your primary business endeavor.

Estate Planning

For 2014, the unified credit for estate and gift taxes has been raised so that the tax applies only to estates greater than $5.34 million. And the estate-tax exclusion is portable, so if you and your spouse have combined estates that do not exceed $10.68 million, you can avoid the estate tax without the necessity of including language in your will creating a bypass trust.

The annual gift-tax exclusion for 2014 remains at $14,000 per person. Therefore, if you are married, you can gift up to $28,000 per donee, or recipient, this year without any federal gift-tax ramifications by using the gift-splitting rules. Gifting is a good way to reduce your taxable estate and may be an important element of your estate plan.

You may have executed your current will and estate plan without consideration of the increased unified credit amount and the portability feature of the new estate-tax law. If so, a review is in order to make sure your assets will be handled in the most tax-efficient manner.

Offshore Account Disclosures

If, during 2013, you had a financial interest in, or signature authority over, at least one financial account located outside the U.S., and the aggregate value of all your foreign financial accounts exceeded $10,000 at any time during the calendar year, you must file electronically with the Treasury Department a Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) Form 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR).

The new Form 114 replaces TD F 90-22.1 and is due to the Treasury Department by June 30, 2014. The form must be filed electronically and is available only online through the BSA E-Filing System website (bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov/main.html).

In Conclusion

Tax planning is an ongoing process. Your tax picture can change — sometimes dramatically — during the course of a year, and you need to react accordingly. Implementing thoughtful mid-year strategies now may help you lessen the taxes you face in April 2015.

One final thought: saving taxes is generally a good strategy. But making a bad business, investment, or personal decision just to save some tax dollars is never a good strategy.

James Barrett is managing partner of Meyers Brothers Kalicka in Holyoke; (413) 536-8510; [email protected]

Be Prepared for Expiring Tax Provisions

By
Accounting and Tax Planning Sections
Many of These Changes Will Impact Individuals and Businesses

By MARK J. COREY, CPA

Several well-known tax breaks have expired in 2014, and absent Congressional action to renew them, they will not be available for taxpayers in 2014.

There has been discussion by the Senate and the House to renew some or all of the expired provisions, but no laws have been passed. While indications are that at least some of these provisions may eventually be extended, if the expiration of these commonly used tax provisions has a significant impact on you or your business, you may want to prepare by adjusting withholdings and estimated tax payments just in case.


Expired Provisions Affecting Individuals

Mortgage-insurance Premium Deductions

Homeowners were allowed to deduct qualified mortgage-insurance premiums by treating them as home-mortgage interest.

Mortgage Debt Relief

Generally, cancelled or forgiven debt is considered taxable income. However, up to $2 million of cancelled principal-residence mortgage debt could be excluded from taxable income if the debt was discharged on or after Jan. 1, 2007, and before Jan. 1, 2014, as a result of foreclosure, short sale, or mortgage restructuring.


State and Local General Sales-tax Deduction

Taxpayers had the option to deduct sales tax instead of state income tax in years before 2014. This provision was especially beneficial for individuals who lived in states with no income tax.


Educator Out-of-pocket Expenses Deduction

For many years, elementary and secondary school teachers enjoyed an above-the-line deduction of up to $250 for out-of-pocket expenses for school and classroom-related expenses.

Tuition and Fees Deduction

Taxpayers were able to deduct above-the-line qualified higher education expenses. Taxpayers will no longer get this deduction for 2014, but the Lifetime Learning Credit and American Opportunity Credit will still be available for college students.

Non-business Energy Credit

This credit for the installation of qualified energy-efficiency improvements, such as insulation, windows, doors, and roofs, as well as certain water heaters and qualified heating and air-conditioning systems, expired Dec. 31, 2013.

Expired Provisions Affecting Businesses

Expanded IRC Section 179 Expensing

For tax years beginning in 2010 and through 2014, taxpayers were allowed to expense up to $500,000 for eligible property additions that they would have otherwise capitalized and depreciated over their useful lives, provided the eligible additions did not exceed $2 million. The Section 179 deduction dropped to $25,000 for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2014.

Bonus Depreciation

A bonus depreciation deduction was allowed for qualifying fixed assets acquired and placed in service from 2007 through 2013. The rate was generally 50%; however, for qualifying assets placed in service from Sept. 9, 2010 through Dec. 31, 2011, the rate was 100%. For 2014 and future years, there is no current bonus depreciation allowed except on long-production property and certain non-commercial aircraft, for which the expiration was extended by one year to Dec. 31, 2014.


Retail and Restaurant Improvements

Certain qualified business assets were allowed a shorter life for depreciation purposes. Qualified leasehold improvements and restaurant improvements, placed in service from Oct. 23, 2004 through Dec. 31, 2013, were depreciated over 15 years. Qualified retail-store improvements, placed in service from Jan. 1, 2009 through Dec. 31, 2013,were also depreciated using a 15-year life. For these types of additions placed in service in 2014, the depreciable life generally reverts back to 39 years but depends upon the individual type of expenditure.

R & D Tax Credit

Taxpayers were allowed a tax credit equal to 20% of the excess of qualified research expenses for the current year over the prior year, basic research payments made to qualified organizations, and specific energy-research-consortium expenditures paid or incurred through Dec. 31, 2013.


Conclusion

There are many well-known and popular tax breaks that expired prior to 2014. On April 28, 2014, the Senate introduced the EXPIRE (Expiring Provisions Improvement, Reform, and Efficiency) Act of 2014 to extend more than 50 expired tax breaks and benefits. That same day, the bill was approved by the Senate Finance Committee but has advanced no further due to disagreements on procedural issues. The House has taken a different approach, and the House Ways and Means Committee has passed 12 separate tax bills, including seven for business-tax extenders and five related to charitable deductions.

One of the business-extender bills, a simplified research-credit bill which would make the extension permanent, was passed by the House, and it is expected that the remaining 11 bills will be considered prior to the August recess. Given the different approaches by the House and Senate, reaching agreement may be a challenge. n


Mark J. Corey is a senior tax manager in the Springfield office of Wolf & Co., P.C. Wolf is a leading regional certified public accounting firm with offices in Springfield, Boston, and Albany, N.Y., which provides accounting, tax, and consulting services to individual and business clients.

Company Notebook

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Company Notebook Departments

ECS Acquires Assets of Pangean-CMD
AGAWAM — Environmental Compliance Services Inc. (ECS) announced the completion of the acquisition of the corporate assets and human talent of Pangean-CMD Associates Inc. (PCMD) of Woodstock, Ga. This acquisition, the largest in ECS’s 32-year history, will drive its evolution by expanding the market areas the company serves into Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Colorado, and Utah. In addition, it will also expand the existing company capabilities in the Carolinas, Florida, and Ohio. “This acquisition now means that ECS has a national presence that combines senior think-tank engineering with self-performed field services throughout the petroleum, building-sciences, and due-diligence market sectors,” said Mark Hellstein, ECS founder and CEO. “With the addition of the passionate team from Pangean-CMD, we are better-positioned to service the upstream petroleum market.” Kevin Sheehan, ECS COO, added that “this acquisition will also provide professional growth and opportunity to employees as well as an effective tool to recruit new, talented staff.” ECS is now one of the only firms in the petroleum market that offers environmental services, compliance services, remediation, and cost recovery with in-house staff on a national basis. This strategic acquisition enables ECS to simplify the compliance and remediation process for petroleum customers while reducing their costs, essentially becoming a one-stop shop for clients. The expanded staff will also allow for boots-on-the-ground support for ECS’s existing web-based compliance-management programs. “The success of Pangean-CMD has evolved solely from our passion, our commitment to our customers, and our reputation for good, solid work,” said Darren Moore, president of Pangean-CMD. “Combining our assets will allow us to build relationships, share knowledge, and draw on the collective expertise of our co-workers to do what we have always done best: provide the best customer service and work environment possible.” Established in 1982 and headquartered in Agawam, ECS has grown to more than 20 office locations nationwide.

Lioness Magazine Aims to Raise $10K in 60 Days
SPRINGFIELD — Lioness magazine is looking to raise $10,000 in seed funding on indiegogo.com, a popular crowd-funding website. “Mainstream entrepreneur magazines are geared toward men, from their style to their content. Their publishers admit that more than 60% of their readers are males. Even though female entrepreneurship is rapidly on the rise and even though in 2013 female-owned companies generated more than $1.3 trillion, there was still no mainstream magazine for these women, until now,” explained Lioness founder Natasha Clark. Lioness launched in August 2011 and since then has been read by more than 3,000 people worldwide. Seventy-nine percent of the readers are women between the ages of 25 and 45. With the launch of the new lionessmagazine.com, the news site is able to provide daily content in addition their regular monthly magazine. “Western Mass. is a great place to live and do business, and my hope is to grow Lioness and keep it headquartered right here,” Clark said. From June 2 to Aug. 1, she is shooting to raise $10,000 in seed money to keep the magazine afloat through 2014. She has primarily been funding the company herself. Working as a program manager at the nonprofit Springfield School Volunteers, Clark — one of BusinessWest’s 40 Under Forty honorees in 2010 — works on the all-female staff to bring volunteers into the school district as mentors, academic tutors, and participants in the popular Read Aloud program. When the campaign closes, Clark will transition to running the startup full-time. She thought crowd funding would be an ideal way to raise funds and educate the public about Lioness’ mission at the same time. “I love that platforms such as Indiegogo and Kickstarter give entrepreneurs like me a fighting chance to raise some capital to get our startups to the next level,” she said. “I just want to do something really awesome for women entrepreneurs around the globe, and I want to be able to do it in my hometown.” To learn more about Lioness and its Indiegogo campaign, visit igg.me/at/lionessmagazine.

Kathleen Doe Launches Creative Design Venture
NORTHAMPTON — Kathleen Doe has announced the launch of Kathleen Doe Creative Design, putting more than a decade of industry experience to work in founding her own business. The Northampton-based venture specializes in print and package design, marketing communication, and brand development, providing a complete range of creative services from concept to execution. Previously, Doe was the senior graphic designer and studio director at Stevens 470 in Westfield. She graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a B.S. in the school’s renowned Electronic Media, Arts and Communication program. She is a member of the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce, the Northampton Area Young Professionals, and is on the Board of Directors of the Irish Cultural Center at Elms College.

Leadership Pioneer Valley Graduates Class of 2014
NORTHAMPTON — The 2014 class of Leadership Pioneer Valley (LPV) graduated on June 5 in ceremonies at the Smith College Conference Center. Prior to getting their certificates, the 35 participants in the 10-month program presented their accomplishments from working in six teams on issues facing the region. Each project was submitted by a local nonprofit or past LPV team. Three of the projects were continuations from prior years, and the nonprofit partners included Peace Jam of New England, STCC’s Latino Success Project, and the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. Project topics included increasing access to higher education, attracting and retaining young professionals, publicizing regional history, engaging young people in leadership, and connecting local colleges and universities to the regional food bank. Each team offered expertise and energy to make a difference on community challenges from throughout the region. Each team project afforded experiential-learning opportunities and the chance to further community trusteeship while making a real impact in the region. Teams also had to collaborate with their partners to reach their own goals and meet the expectations of the nonprofit partners. Each participant participated in day-long monthly sessions from October until May, featuring seminar-style leadership-development sessions and hands-on field experiences in communities throughout the Pioneer Valley. Through the program, they refined their leadership skills, gained connections, and developed a greater commitment to community trusteeship and cultural competency. The culturally diverse class of 35 men and women represent nonprofit, private, educational, and public organizations throughout Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin counties. The 2014 graduates are: Sherill Acevedo, Baystate Medical Practices; Jasmine Amegan, Westfield State University; Kerri Bohonowicz, Community Health Center of Franklin County; Amy Britt, Tapestry Health; Ronda Carter, Health New England; Christina Casiello, MassMutual; Jenny Catuogno, Gaudreau Insurance; Tammy-Lynn Chace, Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce; Eliza Crescintini, Children’s Study Home; Geoffrey Croteau, MassMutual Charter Oak Insurance & Financial Services; Nasheika Durham, YMCA of Greater Springfield; Andrew Fletcher, Holyoke Community College; Kelsey Flynn, MassMutual; Valerie Francis, Health New England; Meghan Godorov, Mount Holyoke College; Cynthia Gonzalez, Greenfield Cooperative Bank; Richard Griffin, City of Springfield’s Economic Development Department; Rachel Jones, Springfield Technical Community College; Kevin Jourdain, Sisters of Providence Health System; Diane LeBeau, Westfield State University; Yamilette Madho, Big Y Foods Inc.; Matthew Kullberg, WGBY; Rosemarie Marks-Paige, Health New England; Josiah Neiderbach, Pioneer Valley Planning Commission; Lizzy Ortiz, City of Springfield’s Office of Housing; Beena Pandit, MassMutual; Lee Pouliot, City of Chicopee; Jennifer Sanchez, Springfield Technical Community College; Isabel Serrazina, Springfield Housing Authority; Nicole Skelly, United Bank; Kyle Sullivan, John M. Glover Insurance; Colin Tansey, Specialty Bolt & Screw; Todd Weir, First Churches of Northampton; Christopher Whelan, Florence Savings Bank; and Jonencia Wood, Baystate Health.

ESB Teams Up with Pioneer Valley Habitat for Easthampton Build
EASTHAMPTON — Matthew Sosik, president and CEO of Easthampton Savings Bank, announced that the bank has become a keystone sponsor for the first Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity home in Easthampton. The bank contributed $10,000 to the East Street Habitat home. The money will go toward the costs of planning, construction, volunteer recruitment, and training. A 15-volunteer committee is already in place to plan the building of the East Street Home. “This particular build is significant because we are building two homes at once, and it is our first Women Build Initiative, which is a project designed to proactively welcome women leadership and women volunteers,” said Peter Jessop, interim executive director of the Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity. “Three of our steering committee members are from Easthampton Savings Bank, so ESB is providing more than just financial support — they are also providing leadership and volunteer capacity. This is the true spirit of the Habitat model, and we hope ESB’s commitment will inspire others to get involved.” Added Sosik, “the Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity is about building communities. Being a sponsor gives us the unique opportunity to become involved in a family’s journey towards home ownership in our community. Plus, the Women Build Initiative is a great way to empower women to get involved in the construction of a home and help a family who wouldn’t be able to build a home otherwise.” Easthampton Savings Bank has supported Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity since 2004 with contributions totaling over $31,000, while ESB employees sit on the organization’s board of directors, finance committee, and the Women Build steering committee.

Wellness Center Becomes Accredited Program for Diabetes Education
SPRINGFIELD — The Western New England University and Big Y Foods Inc. Consultation and Wellness Center was recently named an accredited diabetes-education program by the American Assoc. of Diabetes Educators (AADE). This accomplishment represents yet another step in the implementation of the ‘pharmacist as educator’ philosophy that is central to the vision of the university’s College of Pharmacy. Diabetes education is a collaborative process through which people with or at risk for diabetes gain the knowledge and skills needed to modify behavior and successfully self-manage the disease and its related conditions. These are provided by diabetes educators. “Trends show that diabetes education is moving out of the hospital and into the community, so AADE’s accreditation program was created, in part, to encourage diabetes education where the patient is seeking care,” said Leslie Kolb, program director for the AADE’s Diabetes Education Accreditation Program. “The Western New England University and Big Y Foods Inc. Consultation and Wellness Center is exactly the type of program we envisioned when we set up our accreditation program in 2009.” Kam Capoccia, associate professor and director of the Consultation and Wellness Center at 300 Cooley St. in Springfield, noted that it is one of 13 AADE-accredited programs in the Commonwealth. “This is a pharmacist-run diabetes center, and we are proud and honored to serve the community.” Added Nicole D’Amour Schneider, senior manager of Pharmacy Operations for Big Y, “the Western New England University and Big Y Foods Inc. Consultation and Wellness Center has been providing our community with excellent, patient-centered care and disease-state-management education for nearly four years. Our congratulations go out to our partners at the Western New England University College of Pharmacy for achieving this impressive accomplishment.”

Q Restaurant Opens on State Street in Springfield
SPRINGFIELD — Mayor Dominic Sarno joined other public officials and neighborhood business leaders on June 2 for a ribbon cutting to mark the grand opening of the Q Restaurant, the latest example of renewed reinvestment and revitalization along the State Street corridor. Advertised as serving “real southern barbecue,” the restaurant opened for lunch on May 19 and started serving lunch and dinner on May 26. The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday through Saturday. “This is another example of the city’s continuing ability to attract new investment that revitalizes neighborhoods,” said Sarno. “Not too long ago, this building was seized by the city. Now, it is back on the tax rolls, it is looking better than ever, and I’m hoping it will be an asset to the neighborhood for years to come.” Located at 890 State St., the property was purchased from the city in 2013 by Craig and Chris Spagnoli, a father-and-son team that had previously worked with the city on revitalizing foreclosed properties in the Forest Park neighborhood. The Spagnolis have invested more than $500,000 in starting the restaurant and are also planning to rehabilitate the upper floors into 15 units of rental housing. “My son Chris’s wife, Sarah, is from the South, and since we’ve been working in Springfield, we’ve always talked about how we thought a good southern barbecue restaurant would go over well,” said Craig Spagnoli. “We’re hoping Q will be a popular place for the neighborhood, for the colleges nearby, and for commuters wanting to pick up takeout on their way home.” The restaurant is located in Mason Square on the edge of the campus of American International College and a few blocks from Springfield College. It is across the street from the former Indian Motorcycle factory, and the restaurant boasts several Indian models as a tribute to the neighborhood’s manufacturing legacy.