Page 35 - BusinessWest March 3, 2021

MOHAWK COMMUNICATIONS
77 Meadow St., Holyoke, MA 01040 (413) 729-2000; www.callmohawk.com
PROVIDER
CONTACT
Ray Sullivan
COMPUTER NETWORK/IT SERVICES
LISTED ALPHABETICALLY
SERVICE AREA
NATIONAL COMPUTER WAREHOUSE SERVICES, LLC
21 Wilbraham St., Building 34, Palmer, MA 01069 (800) 892-2354; www.nationalcws.com
NETWORK ADVANTAGE ASSOCIATES
2098 Roaring Brook Road, Conway, MA 01341 (413) 223-9007; www.net-vantage.com
NORTHEAST IT SYSTEMS INC.
170 Lockhouse Road, Westfield, MA 01085 (413) 736-6348; www.northeastit.net
PHYX DEVICE REPAIR & SALES
95 Mill St., Springfield, MA 01108 (413) 234-4313; www.phyx.me
SPECTRUM BUSINESS
516 Montgomery St., Chicopee, MA 01013 (413) 557-6270; www.business.spectrum.com
SUITE 3
180 Pleasant St., Suite 3, Easthampton, MA 01027 (413) 584-4274; www.for-ibs.com
WHALLEY COMPUTER ASSOCIATES INC.
1 Whalley Way, Southwick, MA 01077 (413) 569-4200; www.wca.com
Digital Divide
Continued from page 32
whose children were learning remotely say they have to use public wi-fi because they lack a reliable internet connection at home.
Sullivan noted that some compa- nies, like Comcast, and municipal utili- ties in cities like Holyoke and Westfield have made connectivity available to school children during the pandemic, which has been important.
“But going forward, it needs to
be universal, and everyone needs to be able to have access,” he said. “It’s so important for education and for economic-development opportunities in every city and town. If we had that, combined with our quality of life and the cost of living we have here in West- ern Mass., we could be a place where people choose to live and work from home.”
Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island (national services also available)
Pioneer Valley
New England
Western Mass., Connecticut
New England
Northeast
New England
Specializes in data destruction (on and off site); data-center and server relocations; end-of-life and green IT recycling; server-room cleaning services
Integrates advanced strategic technologies in small businesses, professional practices, schools, and nonprofits; business continuity/ disaster recovery; on- and off-site backup and recovery; information-technology management; systems and network administration; virtualization solutions; custom VoIP solutions; server upgrades and migrations; Enterprise wireless; Google/Oracle solutions
Managed IT; remote and on-site support; network design and consulting; installation/project management; proactive maintenance; monitoring; backup and disaster recovery; security and compliance; incident response/planning; vCIO services, including technology and security review/planning, budget forecasting, etc.; Office 365/cloud computing; virtualization; VPN; remote access; videoconferencing; enterprise wireless; VoIP phones; hardware/software sales
General computer services including system backup, device backup, media transfers, data recovery, logic board repair, and consignment services
Fiber-optic and broadband Internet for business; data-transport multi-site services; full-service network security; data backup and recovery; e-mail and web hosting
Proactive and reactive IT services and support; turn-key project installations; staff augmentation; virtualization; cloud; network infrastructure and security; data recovery for small businesses and mid-market companies; mobility solutions; storage solutions; backup and disaster recovery
Corporate hardware/software sales, configuration, installation; network services; Cisco Unified Computing Systems; Cisco Unified Collaboration; Meraki Wireless; network health assessments; network WAN and LAN installation; wireless services; videoconferencing; remote monitoring; security; virtualization; project management; managed print; 24/7 service capabilities
Shawn Simon
Roy Cohen
Joel Mollison Brian Sullivan
Frank Tate
Robert DeMaria
Dave DelVecchio
Paul Whalley
Opening Eyes
Proponents of improved internet access in Massachusetts say COVID-19 certainly made the digital divide more evident, but it certainly didn’t cause it. “I think it exacerbated that prob- lem,” Tantillo said. “The digital divide has now become a chasm. And if we don’t solve it, generations will be left behind. I think people are more aware of that, so people are more invested in solving it.”
That awareness is critical, she said, in generating the kind of momentum that will move decision makers.
“It’s the plumbing of the 21st cen- tury, and the pandemic showed this,” Lesser said. “Vital services like edu- cation and, increasingly, healthcare, with the rise of telehealth, are critical services delivered to people through
the internet. We’ve operated through
a prism of treating this like DirecTV or cable television, like entertainment, an extra in your house. And that’s just not the case anymore.”
For many Americans, Tantillo added, connectivity is something to be taken for granted, but more people are realizing that’s just not the case.
“If I’m sitting there with my lap- top, I’m not thinking about the 50,000 residents in Springfield without con- nectivity — I’m thinking about my own needs. But this is being exposed on a broader level.”
She understands — and has expressed — the negative impact of not being connected, but prefers to couch the issue in a more hopeful, visionary way.
“We know what the ramifications are if we don’t fix the problem of the
digital divide,” Tantillo said. “But here’s the amazing thing: we don’t know all the opportunities and how we can transform communities when we
fix this and provide digital equity for everyone.”
Salomon-Fernández certainly hopes that happens.
“I think the pandemic has laid bare a lot of the fissures, the inaccessibility and inequity in our democracy, and also the ability of different folks in dif- ferent regions to reach the same lev- els of economic prosperity,” she said. “While many people may not have been concerned about them pre-pan- demic, it’s obvious now that the cracks are wide open. Hopefully it’s an oppor- tunity for us.” u
Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]
New England, New York, New Jersey
SERVICES
Local and long-distance phone service; voice mail; VolP; business telephone systems; high-speed Internet; T1; data storage and services; web monitoring; wiring; surveillance-camera installation; telecom-related sales; 24-hour service and support
NETLOGIX INC.
48 Court St., Westfield, MA 01085 (413) 568-2777; www.netlgx.com
Marco Liquori
New England
Managed IT; IT security; VoIP; IT consulting/projects; cloud IT solutions; Office 365; business continuity; VCIO (virtual CIO)
NORMANDEAU TECHNOLOGIES INC.
900 Riverdale St., Suite 285, West Springfield, MA 01089 (413) 584-3131; www.ntilink.com
Brett Normandeau
Northeast
Hosted, IP, and digital telephone systems; voice, data, fiber optic, video network cable installation; wireless networking; overhead paging; surveillance; local and long-distance telephone/Internet service; sales, installation, and 24-hour service
PARAGUS STRATEGIC IT
112 Russell St., Hadley, MA 01035 (413) 587-2666; www.paragusit.com
Delcie Bean
Western and Central Mass., Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut
EMR implementation specialists; outsourced IT consulting; training; data recovery and forensics; remote backup; 24/7 server monitoring; telecom consulting; computer sales and support
PIONEER TRAINING INC.
1164 North Pleasant St., Amherst, MA 01002 (413) 387-1040; www.ptraining.com
Don Lesser
Pioneer Valley
Public and private Zoom-based computer classes for MS Office, Google Apps, etc.; programming in MS Access, SQL, MySQL/PHP, and VBA; databases for websites
SQUAD 16
16A Pasco Dr., East Windsor, CT 06088 (860) 758-7250; www.squad16.com
Tom Najemy
New England and beyond
ACT! by Sage consulting; sales, installation, networking, technical support, and training (public and private) for ACT! contact- management software
VERTITECHIT
4 Open Square Way, Suite 310, Holyoke, MA 01040 (413) 268-1600; www.vertitechit.com
Greg Pellerin
Northeast
Healthcare IT experts; business IT consultants; private-equity IT partners
TECHNOLOGY
MARCH 3, 2021 35
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