Page 45 - BusinessWest November 11, 2024

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE>>
Greenfield Savings Bank
announced the promotion of Cassandra “Cassie” Morrey to senior vice president and senior Residential Lending officer.
She will succeed Lori Grover as head of the Residential Lending department, following Grover’s retirement in January 2025 after
a long and successful tenure with Greenfield Sav- ings Bank. Morrey began her banking career in 2002 as a loan processor at the Bank of Western Mas- sachusetts (now M&T Bank) and has been a valued member of Greenfield Savings Bank since 2010. With more than two decades of experience in the banking industry, she brings extensive expertise and leadership to her new role. In addition to her pro- fessional accomplishments, Morrey is deeply com- mitted to community service. She currently serves on the boards of three nonprofit organizations: the Children’s Advocacy Center, Highland Ambulance EMS, and the Southampton Youth Athletic Assoc. basketball committee.
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Pittsfield Cooperative Bank announced the hiring of Gina Vallone to its retail banking team as a vice president and branch manager of its Dalton Avenue location. She has sig- nificant experience in branch management, financial advis- ing, personal insurance sales
and management, relationship management, and customer service. Vallone joins the bank after work- ing for the previous 15 years at Lee Bank in its Retail and Community Banking departments. For the last five years, she has managed Lee Bank’s Pittsfield and Lenox branches. Prior to banking, she worked
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in personal insurance line sales and customer rela- tions with Minkler Insurance Agency. She earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. She currently serves on the board of directors of the Elizabeth Freeman Center.
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Greenfield Cooperative Bank
announced the promotion of Harlin Glovacki to branch manager of the Shelburne Falls branch. Glovacki has been a valuable member of the Green- field Co-op team for several years. In his new position, he will oversee all aspects of branch
operations. “We are thrilled to promote Harlin to branch manager,” said Lisa Kmetz, executive vice president, Retail & Security officer. “He has con- sistently exceeded expectations and has a proven track record of success. His dedication to providing exceptional customer service will be invaluable as he takes on this new role.”
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Country Nissan announced that Heather Petricev-
ich has been honored as the Service Advisor of
the Year for the Chris Collins Top Dog Award, rec- ognized nationwide within the Asian League. She recently returned from Los Angeles, where she received this prestigious accolade, celebrating her exceptional customer service, expertise, and dedi- cation to excellence in the automotive industry.
“I am truly humbled and honored to receive this award,” Petricevich said. “This achievement is a reflection of the incredible support from my team and the wonderful relationships I have built with our customers. I’m passionate about providing the best service possible, and I’m grateful to work in such a supportive environment at Country Nissan.”
“At the public holiday parties, you can have a hairdressing salon with a table of lawyers and a mechanic shop down the street, all intermingling and having a great time. It’s an economic way for businesses to take people out to a big Christmas party.”
added. “The group holiday parties were non-existent post-COVID. If a hairdressing salon was having a party, they probably had it at their shop. And we saw a lot of catering business post-COVID; we survived off those catering parties. So we still do it.”
Yee said he’s happy to see things returning to normalcy.
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bankESB recently promoted Katie Woods to assistant branch manager of its 770 Main St., Agawam office. Woods joined bankESB earlier this year as a float teller supervisor. Previ- ously, she was assistant branch manager at PeoplesBank and, before that, store operations
manager at CVS Health. In her new role, Woods will assist the branch manager in reaching branch goals while striving to deliver excellent customer service and helping employees and customers unlock their potential.
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Last year, Holyoke Chicopee Springfield (HCS)
Head Start announced the formation of the Janis Santos Scholarship. This recognition was created
by Janis Santos, former CEO of HCS Head Start,
to help address the shortage of early-childhood teachers. Last year, the first Janis Santos Scholarship was awarded to Mayra Felix, who applied with the dream of using it toward completing her bachelor’s degree. The second annual scholarship was recently awarded to Notavious Andino-Galarza-Perez,
who attended HCS Head Start 15 years ago and is currently studying at Columbia University. Santos, along with Nicole Blais, HCS Head Start’s current CEO, presented Andino-Galarza-Perez with this honor at the organization’s annual Professional Development Day. Andino-Galarza-Perez said that becoming a teacher would mean he would finally be able to repay the debt of gratitude owed to those who inspired him all those years ago, and hopefully inspire the next generation to always strive to be better than the last.
“We have restaurants throughout Western Mass. and Northern Connecticut, and overall, we’re up a small percentage, about 4%. I’m hearing mixed sig- nals from different restaurateurs; some are up, some are down. For us, we like to say we have pockets or different regions that are stronger than others.”
For example, the Connecticut eateries have been fairly strong. “The quick service has been a little bit weaker overall. Our casual dining has been strong. Elevated dining is a little flat.”
That said, “times are challenging now for restau- rants,” Yee said. “Food inflation and wage inflation and insurance costs have escalated. So it’s important to be on top of it. We think we’re in a good place.”
With a busy holiday season ahead to bring the cheer — and the business. BW
CASSANDRA MORREY
KATIE WOODS
HARLIN GLOVACKI
GINA VALLONE
>>
Holidays
night and the restaurant’s empty. Some of the restau- rateurs that I talk to in Springfield say, ‘we used to have 9 o’clock reservations; we don’t anymore. You know, 8:30 is our last reservation these days.’ So either people are going to bed earlier, or who knows what it is, but the trend has shifted to an earlier din- ing slot.”
Back to Normal
As for the restaurant business is general, Yee said the gradual fade of the pandemic saw a rush of people tired of staying indoors.
“They wanted to go celebrate, and finally, they could do that. And now things have kind of leveled off for a more normal holiday.”
Corduff agreed. “COVID has still been around, unfortunately. But I think people are just getting on with their lives. If you’re sick, you stay in bed. Don’t go out. If you have the flu, you do the same exact thing.
“But I do think people are going out, having a good time; people aren’t as fearful as they were, and it’s showing in the numbers of people going out,” he
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