Page 40 - BusinessWest Macrh 6, 2023

HOLYOKE HISTORY TIMELINE >>
Continued from page 36 >>
2005
Parsons Paper, the city’s first paper manufacturer, closes after 150 years.
2006
Luchini’s Restaurant, a Hampden Street landmark, closes after 103 years.
2008
The Valley Blue Sox NECBL baseball team begins its inaugural season at Mackenzie Stadium.
2012
Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center opens.
2013
The Holyoke Public Library reopens after two years of renovations and construction of
a $14.5 million expansion.
2018
Holyoke Gas & Electric and energy- utility company Engie unveil Massachusetts’ largest utility-scale energy-storage system, used for storing solar energy for use at non-peak hours.
2018
Holyoke Community College opens the HCC MGM Culinary Arts Institute.
2020
Hampden Paper, a paper converter and the last Holyoke mill still in use by its founding business, closes after 140 years.
2021
Joshua Garcia is sworn in as the city’s first Hispanic mayor.
Pride and Promise
In Holyoke, the Past, Present, and Future Come Together
BY GEORGE O’BRIEN
[email protected]
Jim Sullivan says he’s not really sure where it comes from. Like most people from Holyoke, he’s just taken it for granted.
He was referring to the immense pride people take in being from this city and, in a great many cases, still living in it.
“There’s been a lot of change over the years, but what hasn’t changed is the spirit of the people,” said Sullivan, president of the O’Connell Companies, which was started in Holyoke and is almost as old as the city itself (it will mark its own sesquicentennial in six years). “There is a very proud heritage in the city of Holyoke, and it still exists today. Even with the youth today — and I like to spend some time with them
at the Boys & Girls Club, where I’m a trustee — you get a sense of pride with the folks that you talk to.”
This pride is something that’s almost palpable as you talk with people from this city, and it was referenced by just about everyone we talked with for this special section — in one way or another.
“There’s a saying ... as Holyokers, we can talk bad about Holyoke, but you can’t talk bad about Holyoke,” said Gary Rome, owner of Gary Rome Auto
Jim Sullivan says Holyokers, like himself, share a deep sense of pride in their community.
Staff Photo
“There’s been a lot of change over the years, but what hasn’t changed is the spirit of the people. There is a very proud heritage in the city of Holyoke, and it still exists today”
“There’s a lot of entrepreneurial spirit really coming alive in the city,” said Lynn Gray, general manager of the Holyoke Mall, which opened 44 years ago, changing the landscape in the community in many ways. “And that’s exciting because it benefits the city; it benefits everyone in and around the mall, having that entrepreneurial spirit. Moving forward, it’s a great path to be on.”
Meg Sanders, one of those entrepre- neurs — she opened Canna Provisions on Dwight Street, part of a wave of can- nabis-related businesses in Holyoke — agreed. She said she sees a great deal of vibrancy and entrepreneurial energy
Did you know?
1895: On Dec. 1, Harry Houdini performs one of his first handcuff escapes at a police station, allowing the Holyoke Police Department to handcuff and place him in a separate room, then escaping within minutes. This is sometimes erroneously referred to as his first such escape or his first coverage in the press of such a feat; however, later chronological research reveals this was his sixth such stunt, and that he had often wrote such press releases himself.
40 MARCH 6, 2023
<< HOLYOKE’S 150TH >>
BusinessWest
Group, another Holyoke native, and someone with a huge presence in the city. “People here are very committed and passionate about their city.”
Beyond this omnipresent pride, Rome, Sullivan, and other business leaders we spoke with see many other qualities in Holyoke — history, tradi- tion, diversity, economic progress, col- laboration, energetic new leadership,
new businesses, new business sectors (including cannabis and green energy), and something they’ve always seen: opportunities.
As in opportunities for entrepre- neurs, for individuals looking for work or a career, for professionals looking for an affordable place to live, and for people aspiring to work for themselves instead of for someone else.
Pride
Continued on page 42
>>