Page 25 - BusinessWest December 26, 2022

Wonderlyn Murphy, seen here with recently hired Vice President of Operations Charles Young, is setting some ambitious goals for City Enterprise.
with a degree in architectural design technology. At first, it was a part-time pursuit, something
she did after working the overnight shift (mid- night to 8 a.m.) as a correctional officer with the Hampden County Sheriff’s Office at the Western Massachusetts Correctional Alcohol Center on Howard Street, since torn down to make way
for MGM Springfield. That work was a learning experience on many levels, she said, and one that has helped in her current roles as employer and entrepreneur.
“It was a very interesting experience, to say
Enterprise’s current home on Berkshire Avenue. Later, she designed and built a two-home devel- opment on Parkerview Street in Springfield and handled a few renovations and additions as well. It was difficult to manage both sides of her
work life, but she managed.
“I would get out of work at 8, and I would go
straight to my job sites and my projects, because
“Time is always of the essence in real estate, because you want to hit the market at the right time.”
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DECEMBER 26, 2022 25
the least,” she told BusinessWest. “I got to know the population and came to understand what it really meant to be a corrections officer; there’s much more to it than slamming cell doors, even though there were no cell doors there. The population came from varied backgrounds, and to navigate all of that took a certain amount of finesse.”
While working in corrections on Howard Street, she designed, built, and sold a few houses, including her first such endeavor, a home on Eastland Street, just a stone’s throw from City
I was the only one doing it at the time,” she recalled. “So I had to line up my subcontractors; I had to be on site and make sure everyone was there. I had to schedule everything ... and time is Staff Photo always of the essence in real estate, because you want to hit the market at the right time.”
This was the start of City Enterprise, she said, adding that, as she continued to operate her venture out of her basement and create the first of what would be several business plans for its future, Murphy applied for status under what is known as 8A under the Small Business Adminis- tration, a program created to help firms owned and controlled by socially and economically dis- advantaged individuals.
Applying for such status is a difficult and lengthy proposition, she said, adding that it eventually took her three years to gain that des- ignation. At first, she was turned down, in large