Page 15 - BusinessWest January 6, 2025

2025 Snapshots
Jeff Sullivan, President and CEO, New Valley Bank & Trust
Banking has always been about people and communi- cation, and in today’s world, that has never been more apparent. One of our most important roles as bankers is to communicate with our customers about suspicious account activity, whether that includes potential cyber
crime or low-tech frauds such as stolen checks. We at New Valley Bank recommend a few simple good hab- its for business owners:
• Check balances and activity frequently to ensure that all transactions on your accounts are proper. Tools such as Positive Pay add an additional layer of security.
• Online banking should allow you to set limits for each employee’s role, whether view-only or the ability to send the funds out.
• Having a separation of duties for payments of any type — checks, ACH, or wires — is an essential finan- cial control.
Diana Szynal, President, Springfield Regional Chamber
The Springfield Regional Chamber is a business sup- port organization that serves its 400 members through legislative advocacy, informa- tive communications, and impactful programming. We are charging into 2025 with a full slate of events designed to inform, connect,
and inspire our members. From Rise & Shine break- fasts to the Mayor’s Forum to the Fire & Ice reception, each event offers our members the chance to learn and network.
The Springfield Regional Chamber will also con- tinue to advocate on behalf of the business commu- nity, and our member-driven agenda aims to ensure that policies that come out of Beacon Hill maintain a favorable business environment and contribute to the economic vitality of our region. Our legislative events such as Government Reception, Outlook, and Beacon Hill Summit give our members the opportunity to par- ticipate in this advocacy.
Aelan Tierney, President, Kuhn Riddle Architects
As we head into 2025, con- versations in our office are focused on energy codes, construction costs, and hous- ing. Massachusetts is recog- nized as a leader in energy efficiency in large part due to our aggressive energy codes.
But the state’s new spe- cialized opt-in energy code,
while well-intentioned, is challenging, especially for our multi-family projects. The primary pathway for these types of projects to meet this code is to design and build to the Passive House standard. This stan- dard focuses on super-insulated, airtight construction with minimal heating and cooling loads, energy-recov- ery ventilation, and renewable-energy sources such as solar panels.
In addition to the increased cost of building high- performance, energy-efficient buildings, there are con- cerns that construction costs in general may further increase in 2025 due to potential tariffs on foreign building materials and reduced labor forces with the possibility of fewer immigrant workers.
While it is an exciting time to be designing and developing high-performance, energy-efficient, resil- ient buildings, there is the counterweight of how to do it affordably. It’s a challenge we look forward to solving on sev-
eral projects in
2025.
2025 Snapshots
Continued on page 17
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