Page 4 - BusinessWest August 22, 2022
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4 AUGUST 22, 2022 FEATURE BusinessWest
    Mike Yates, left,
and Ray Berry agree that expansion into Amherst is a common- sense move for the company.
Pivot Move
WBy George O’Brien
hen asked how he would eventually become business partners with Marcus Camby, the former UMass and NBA star, Ray Berry, founder of White Lion Brewery, leaned back in his chair as if to indicate it was a bit of a long story.
It starts with Travis Best, another former NBA player who made his first headlines while playing for Springfield’s Central High School. It was Best who put together several annual Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinement weekend events, including a post-induction gathering. Following the opening of White Lion’s downtown Spring- field operation just over a year ago, Best was looking to include the
White Lion and New Partner Marcus Camby Post Up in Downtown Amherst
company in the festivities — and did.
Indeed, Best and Berry would collaborate with the city on a
block party on Bridge Street during enshrinement weekend — the same weekend, it turned out, that UMass Amherst would be hon- oring Camby, Julius Erving, and John Calipari with statues in their honor on campus. Best and Berry decided to reach out to Camby to see if he wanted to co-host the event in Springfield, which he did.
“Marcus was all in — he was already in town, and he was excited to be part of what we were doing,” Berry recalled. “We shut down Bridge Street, rolled up the garage doors, and had some entertain- ment; it was our first grand event at our brick-and-mortar spot. At one point, I think we had 700 people between the brewery and the block-party environment. It was a beautiful evening downtown.”
Fast-forwarding a little, Camby became more than a little






















































































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