Page 54 - BusinessWest Macrh 6, 2023

THE FACES OF HOLYOKE BUSINESS >>
Hadley Printing
For 125 Years, This Holyoke Staple Has Been on a Roll
Hadley Printing has been a family-owned business for 125 years. Currently in its third generation under the direction of
brothers Chris and Greg Desrosiers, the com- mercial printer offers digital printing, offset printing, and mail services to a wide variety of customers in New England.
The business originated in South Hadley, but in 1976, it moved to its current location on Canal Street in Holyoke. When asked about operating a business in the 33,000-square-foot building alongside one of the city’s historic canals, Vice President Greg Desrosiers had a lot to say.
“We’re in an old mill building ... it used to be a silk company years and years ago; that’s when it was originated, so we’re kind of in
an old silk mill,” he said. “The building itself serves us well — these mill buildings were made really well back in the day; so long as you take care of them, they serve you back really well. Obviously, it has tons of windows with natural light. In a manufacturing setting, that’s really, really welcomed and beneficial.”
Desrosiers noted that many manufacturing settings don’t have any windows to allow natu-
ral light to come in, so having the abundant natural light of one of the Holyoke mill build- ings is much preferred to the usual dreary setting of four solid walls. The water view of the canal is not only another added bonus for day-to-day working pleasure, but it actually helps with the printing itself — Desrosiers
can say with certainty that at least 50% of the company’s power is hydroelectric, but noted the actual percentage is probably much higher than that.
Hadley Printing, with 30 employees work- ing across two shifts, has found another advantage to being located in Holyoke aside from operating out of the former silk mill. The company services customers in Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, the Boston area, and Albany, in addition to local customers, making Holyoke a sweet spot.
“It’s really the crossroads of New England, with 91 and the Mass Pike intersecting right through Holyoke,” he explained. “It’s the cen- ter of our customer base. We’re in the middle of who we service.” BW
—Elizabeth Sears
Owners and brothers Greg (left) and Chris Desrosiers
International Volleyball Hall of Fame
For a Half-century, It Has Lifted Up Its Sport and Its City
Honor. Preserve. Promote.
Those three simple words reflect a robust, multi-pronged effort to celebrate
the sport of volleyball and secure its future, and George Mulry detailed just a few of those prongs. Or spikes, if you will.
“On the honor side, we certainly recognize the inductees and those worthy of enshrine- ment in the Hall of Fame,” said Mulry, the Hall’s executive director. “But with some of our awards, we’re recognizing local individuals and organizations that are doing great things, not just for the sport of volleyball, but to help move the Volleyball Hall of Fame forward, which in turn helps move the city of Holyoke forward.
“The preserve side is really where we’re focusing a lot of our time now,” he added. “We have our Archival Preservation and Communi- ty Access Project, where we’re going through our entire archive, cataloguing it, and trying to digitize it and make it available as a resource library for the area. That will help bring some scholars in, which will give us an opportu-
nity to improve the exhibits that we have and improve some online exhibits as well.
“And on the promote side, we’re not only trying to promote the growth of volleyball, but we want to promote volleyball itself within our region,” Mulry said, listing events like a sum- mer volleyball festival, the collegiate Morgan Classic tournament at Springfield College, and no-cost youth clinics. “We’re just promoting the sport as a whole, while at the same time promoting the Hall of Fame as that vehicle for telling the story.”
From the Hall’s inception in 1971 to the opening of its current facility on Dwight
Street in 1984 through today, with conversa- tions taking place about what a future Hall of Fame might look like, Mulry said Holyoke has always been top of mind.
“For over 50 years, the city has really embraced being the birthplace of volleyball and used that as an economic driver for tour- ism and economic spinoff,” he explained. “There are a lot of really exciting things going on. But it’s the support that we’ve received from the city of Holyoke that really makes the whole thing go.” BW
—Joseph Bednar
Executive Director George Mulry
54 MARCH 6, 2023
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