Page 60 - BusinessWest April 27, 2026

Amanda Shafii
Owner, CopyCat; President,
Downtown Northampton Assoc.: Age 35
Amanda Shafii wasn’t thinking about entrepreneurship when she earned a
psychology and neuroscience degree at UMass Amherst, but when a busi-
ness ownership opportunity emerged, she found she had a passion for it.
“My parents had started a printing business in 1985 and created a
commercial company called TigerPress,” she said, and when they were
selling off their former CopyCat shops, Shafii decided to take over the one in
Greenfield.
“I’d moved back to the area, and they needed a manager. So I started
managing that store in 2015 with the intention of selling it. But I fell in love with
being a business owner, so I moved the business to Northampton.”
“I really enjoyed the sense of community and saw how shopping small and
supporting small businesses is important to keep a diverse downtown. Instead
of having all big box stores, we have a lot of unique shops. I also really love the
fact that, as a business owner, the sky’s the limit — you can do whatever you
want.”
The first thing she changed was the company’s outdated logo, and she also
created a new website and focused on modern services like digital design,
which hadn’t been offered before.
“The next major pivot was during
COVID when we started being a B2B
instead of a B2C, focusing on our
business customers,” Shafii said. “I
realized how much I loved helping
entrepreneurs, not just with the
printing part, but with the strategy
part.
“That’s where my neuroscience
degree becomes helpful,” she
added. “When you work
with CopyCat, we are your
strategic partner for smart
design and print marketing.
It’s an opportunity to watch
a customer make smart
investments in their business
and see the results.”
These days, Shaffi also serves
as president of the Downtown
Northampton Assoc., which
seeks economic and cultural
vibrancy through programming,
festivals, beautification efforts,
and business collaboration.
She was already volunteering
on a host of local boards — “I
have a problem saying no to
things,” she noted — and leading
the association was a natural next
step.
“The goal is always foot traffic
and bringing unique art downtown.
It’s a cycle: if things are happening, it
gets busier. My specialty is marketing
and getting the word out on social
media and trying to have a very
strong digital presence that gets a
lot of views and engagement. So my
goal for downtown would be to see
business owners succeeding and see
amazing, unique artists gravitating
toward this area because of what
Northampton stands for.”
—Joseph Bednar
A38 2026
Business W est