Page 74 - BusinessWest August 22, 2022

tion from her role. In its 10th year, Christina’s House operates two homes in Springfield. It continues its mission to educate, embrace, and encourage fami- lies in the program to develop the life skills needed to become self-sufficient as they transition from homelessness to stable environments. Through the program, women and their children participate in programs that include financial counseling, job-skills development, parenting, conflict resolution, and building healthy eating and exercise habits.
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Holyoke Community College (HCC) Anthropology
Professor Vanessa Martínez is the recipient of the 2022 Antonia Pantoja Award from the Latino Schol- arship Fund of Western Massachusetts. The award, named after the noted Puerto Rican organizer and education activist, was presented on June 23 at the Latino Scholarship Fund’s 32nd annual meeting at the Log Cabin. The organization presents the award annually to an individual who has made a profound and significant contribution to education, demon- strating a dedication to the academic achievement of Latinx students. Martínez is co-director of HCC’s Honors Program and co-founder of the Women of Color Health Equity Collective, a Springfield-based nonprofit. In addition, her HCC classes frequently engage with community groups and Holyoke schools through service-learning projects. She has been teaching at HCC since 2006. In January, she also received the 2022 Thomas Ehrlich Civically Engaged Faculty Award from Campus Compact, a national coalition of colleges and universities committed to the public purposes of higher education. Martínez was born in San Sebastian, Puerto Rico, and holds a bachelor’s degree from Columbus State University, a master’s degree from Georgia State University, and a PhD from the University of Massachusetts. In 2011, she received the Latino Teaching Excellence Award from then-Gov. Deval Patrick, and was selected in 2015 as a Leadership Fellow by the American Anthro- pological Assoc.
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The Greater Chicopee Cham- ber of Commerce announced Melissa Breor as its new executive director. Breor spent four years at the Northamp- ton Chamber of Commerce. Inspired by her work there leading the launch of Hamp- shire County tourism plat- forms, she co-founded Western
Mass Beer Week in 2016 to celebrate the economic impact of the region’s burgeoning local craft-beer industry. After her time at the chamber, she worked as the assistant director of Marketing and later inter- im director at the UMass Amherst Fine Arts Center, finding new ways to connect, grow, and measure audience development. Most recently, she worked for Gateway City Arts in Holyoke as Press & Outreach coordinator, as well as in customer service at various businesses in the region.
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Freedom Credit Union recent- ly announced the promotion of Andrew Sullivan from com- mercial loan officer to assistant vice president, member busi- ness lending. Sullivan has been with Freedom since 2019 and is based in the main office in Springfield. He will continue his role providing financing for
new and existing business members along with man- aging the existing commercial-loan portfolio. Sul- livan earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting/busi- ness management and an MBA from Elms College.
He is also the founder of Andrew Sullivan’s Swing for a Cure to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
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Fierst Bloomberg Ohm LLP recently made several
personnel announcements.
• Michael Simolo joined the firm as a partner. A graduate of Hobert College and Cornell Law School, he has 20 years of experience in corporate matters, tax, estate planning and administration, probate liti- gation, and related areas. He is admitted to practice in Massachusetts, the U.S. District Court of Massa- chusetts, and New York.
• Daniel Fierst has become a partner of the firm. A graduate of the University of Colorado and UMass Dartmouth School of Law, he began his career as in- house counsel for Wargaming.net in Austin, Texas. Since joining the firm in 2016, he has focused on assisting film, television, and video-game clients with their transactional, licensing, and intellectual-prop- erty matters. He is admitted to practice in Massachu- setts and Florida.
• Frederick Fierst and David Bloomberg were recently named 2022 Massachusetts and New Eng- land Super Lawyers. Fierst was honored in the entertainment and sports category for the 15th con- secutive year, and Bloomberg in the category of real estate. Super Lawyers is a rating service of lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Selections are limited to the top 5% of lawyers in each state.
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Tricia Serio has been named provost and senior vice chan- cellor for Academic Affairs at UMass Amherst. She started her new position on July 18. Serio previously served as dean of the College of Natural Sciences (CNS) and associ- ate chancellor for Strategic
Academic Planning. Serio joined UMass as dean of CNS in 2017 after serving as professor and head of the department of Molecular And Cellular Biology at the University of Arizona. Her professional honors include the 2016 Mid-career Award for Excellence in Research from the American Society for Cell Biology, the Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences for 2003- 07, and the National Cancer Institute’s Howard Temin Award for 2001-06. In 2022, she was selected to be a fellow in the American Assoc. for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the pre-eminent scientific insti- tution in the U.S. Serio earned a bachelor’s degree
in molecular biology from Lehigh University and a master of philosophy degree and Ph.D. in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University. She was a postdoctoral fellow in molecular genetics and cell biology at the University of Chicago.
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The Assoc. for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE)
awarded the 2022 Ellen Stewart Career Achievement Award in Professional Theatre to Tina Packer, found- ing artistic director of Shakespeare & Company in Lenox. The award is named for American theater director and producer Ellen Stewart (1919-2011) and is awarded annually to an individual primarily based in professional theater, honoring a career of distin- guished service to the field. “Tina Packer’s Shake- speare & Company develops and performs classical and contemporary works, houses one of the largest theater-in-education programs in the Northeast,
and offers year-round actor-training opportunities,” ATHE Executive Director Aimee Zygmonski said. “She has developed transformative training meth- odologies and, for four decades, been an advocate of collective storytelling, both nationally and in her local community.”
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James Hagan, president
and CEO of Westfield Bank, announced that Matthew Valliere has been appointed branch manager and retail banking officer at the bank’s 26 Arnold St. branch in Westfield. Valliere will be responsible for overseeing customer service; retail and business product
sales, including mortgage originations; as well as business development and community outreach. Other responsibilities include managing general operations and employee development within the branch. Valliere graduated from Springfield Technical Community College in 2007 with an associate degree. In 2014, he completed the Connecticut School of Finance and Management. He spent time as a retire- ment services representative and assistant branch manager with other financial institutions before join- ing Westfield Bank in 2020 as an assistant branch manager at the 47 Palomba Dr. location in Enfield.
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St. Louis Blues President of Hockey Operations and
General Manager Doug Armstrong announced that the team has hired Kevin Maxwell as general man- ager of the club’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds, as well as a pro scout. Maxwell joins the Blues organization following 14 seasons in the scouting department with the New York Rangers. Since 2011, Maxwell had served as the Rangers’ director of Professional Scouting. New York reached the Stanley Cup playoffs in 10 of Maxwell’s 14 seasons in the organization, including a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals last season. Maxwell was a third-round selection by the Minnesota North Stars in the 1979 NHL draft following an All-American season at the University of North Dakota. After an eight-year professional playing career, he jumped into the scouting ranks, spending three seasons
with the Philadelphia Flyers scouting department from 1988 to 1991. Following a brief stint as the head coach for the Western Hockey League’s Brandon Wheat Kings in 1991-92, Maxwell spent the last 30 years in NHL scouting roles with the Hartford Whal- ers (1992-96), New York Islanders (1996-2006), Dal- las Stars (2006-08), and Rangers (2008-2022). He has served as the director of Professional Scouting for the Whalers, Islanders, and Rangers over his tenure as an executive.
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Chris Nadeau recently joined O’Connor & Drew, P.C. as a tax manager. He brings with him more than 15 years of experience in public and pri- vate accounting and is regu- larly retained to provide busi- ness valuation, advisory, and taxation services to closely held businesses, professional
service firms, and medical practices. He also has extensive experience in succession planning, cor- porate and partnership taxation, and individual taxation. Nadeau previously spent seven years at a regional accounting firm as a manager-director and holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from Westfield State University. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accoun- tants, the Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants, the National Assoc. of Certified Valu- ation Analysts, and the Institute of Management Accountants.
People
Continued on page 75
MATTHEW VALLIERE
TRICIA SERIO
MELISSA BREOR
CHRIS NADEAU
ANDREW SULLIVAN
74 AUGUST 22, 2022
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