Page 44 - BusinessWest Macrh 6, 2023

HOLYOKE HISTORY TIMELINE >> Pride
Matt Bannister credits Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia and his administration for creating a business-friendly environment and fueling a surge in entrepreneurship.
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also boasts a solar array and, in his office, pictures of Rome’s father, who started selling cars in Holyoke more than 60 years ago.
It’s like that the O’Connell Compa- nies’ gleaming new headquarters build- ing on Kelly Way, which includes pho- tos of the company’s founder, Daniel J. O’Connell, and his descendants, as well as construction projects undertaken decades ago — specifically the Memo- rial Bridge reconstruction project and the Rowes Wharf initiative in Boston, that won Build America awards from Associated General Contractors of America.
And it’s like that PeoplesBank’s banking center at 1866 Northampton St., site of the former Yankee Pedlar, a popular restaurant and gathering spot for generations of city residents.
Yes, the past, present, and future come together seamlessly in this city, where change is as constant as tradition.
This change can been seen every- where — on High Street, where many new businesses have opened in recent years (see related story on page XX); at the mall, where many of the traditional retail stores have been replaced with entertainment-related businesses, such as a trampoline center and a bowl-
ing alley; in the countless mills, many of them now occupied by cannabis- related ventures; on Race Street, where Gateway City Arts and other arts- and hospitality-related businesses are now operating; at the historic Cubit Build- ing, now home to apartments and the HCC MGM Culinary Arts Institute, and elsewhere.
What hasn’t changed is the great pride that people take in their city,
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Did you know?
1890: Dr. George Gabler, a physician and YMCA training instructor, introduces his friend James Naismith to a group
of men at the Holyoke YMCA, playing a prototype of basketball using a ball and peach basket. Naismith would later go on to define rules for the game, placing baskets at opposite ends of the gym at Springfield College, creating modern- day basketball, the following year. In the 1940s, a series of columns in the Holyoke Transcript-Telegram would appear in the sports section, alleging
it was Gabler who deserved credit for the game’s invention. However, Gabler insisted emphatically it was Naismith who devised the game in its modern form, telling the journalist responsible, “I don’t want you to use this story until after I have passed on. I don’t want to hurt my good friend [James] Naismith.”
Gary Rome, one of BusinessWest’s Difference Makers for 2023, is one of many Holyoke business leaders actively involved in the community.
“For us, Holyoke was a perfect canvas to do good.”
out, you’re never sure which ones are going to take and which ones aren’t, but you’re creating opportunities for things to happen.”
No Place Like Home
Those we spoke with said they consider it important not to just do business in Holyoke, but to be actively involved in the community and espe- cially with efforts involving the next generations of Holyoke leaders.
Rome said his family has been doing business in Holyoke for almost
a century. His grandfather started
with a drugstore, he believes, and then opened a haberdashery. As Rome tells the story, money was so tight that his grandfather’s store and the neighboring shoe store would share a telephone.
“They had a hole in the wall, and they would pass the telephone back and forth through the wall,” he said, adding that things have certainly changed, for both his family and the city. What hasn’t changed is the family’s commitment to the city.
Indeed, Rome, was recently named one of BusinessWest’s Difference Mak- ers for 2023, not only for his success in business — he was recently named TIME magazine’s Dealer of the Year — but for his work within the community, and especially Holyoke. He is a mem- ber of the foundation board at Holyoke Community College, and has donated
and the spirit of entrepreneurship that built the community and is fueling its resurgence today. In fact, what busi- ness leaders see when they look at the city today is continued progress and revitalization.
Bannister, like others we spoke with, credited Joshua Garcia, the city’s first Hispanic mayor, and Aaron Vega,
Staff Photo
former state representative and now director of Planning and Economic Development in Holyoke, for creating a business-friendly environment in the city and generating real momentum on several fronts.
“They’re tilling a lot of soil in order to make things happen,” Bannister said. “When you throw a lot of seeds
Pride
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