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is initially responsible for working on national key accounts as well as supporting the company’s Mid- West sales region. He reports to Karen Young, cus- tomer service manager. Makuch brings more than
10 years of customer-service experience to OMG. He joined OMG Roofing from Baystate Health, where he was a customer service representative for six years. Earlier, he was a customer service representative at FM Facility Maintenance in Hartford, Conn. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Westfield State University.
•••••
Kimberley Lee, vice president of Resource Develop-
ment and Branding for the Mental Health Assoc. Inc. (MHA), has accepted Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi’s invitation to join his newly created Commu-
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nity. Family medicine physicians are trained to treat all members of a family, from children to adults and seniors, diagnosing and treating a wide range of ail- ments and providing preventive care. Four new resi- dents will be welcomed annually into the three-year training program (12 in total). They will learn from the physicians at Baystate Franklin Medical Center and specialists from Franklin County and other Bay- state Health facilities. The first class of four residents will arrive in June 2022. Freedom’s $15,000 donation is among $245,700 that has been donated in support of the hospital’s $4.2 million investment in creating a state-of-the-art clinical/teaching facility at 48 Sander- son St. Two education grants from the federal govern- ment will support the program as well, including a $750,000 Health Resources & Services Administration grant and an Area Health Education Center grant for $100,000.
Cannibis
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opment in a city like Northampton and only drive up the cost of those licenses and make it harder for entrepreneurs.
“In an industry like cannabis, which is trying to focus on equity and economic empowerment, par- ticularly for populations that were disproportionately impacted by the criminalization of cannabis and the war on drugs,” he went on, “putting up barriers like that defeats the purpose and works against the goals of this new industry.”
Narkewicz also noted that each new business may be 20 or 25 new local jobs as well.
In Holyoke, cannabis means hundreds of new jobs in a short period of time. And the variety of jobs is appealing to us,” Hayden added, noting that some- one with strong customer-service skills could become an effective patient advocate, while someone with an agricultural background could work in cultivation, and someone with a knack for science could work in extraction and infusion.
The appealing thing, he noted, is that companies are looking for workers with broad skills who just need, and want, to be trained in the intricacies of this field and their specific roles.
“There’s opportunity to get in on the ground floor and also opportunity to grow in these occupations,” Hayden said. “It’s not like we’ve got 100 people in Holyoke who are cultivators, or 50 people who have strong customer-service experience in retail dispen- saries. No one has 10 years of experience in this area. So in Massachusetts, for the job seeker, it’s all about what they bring to the occupation.”
nity Advisory Board to provide long-range planning and support for the Western Massachusetts Regional Women’s Correctional Center in Chicopee. The regional correctional facility houses both pre-trial and sentenced women primarily from Hampden, Hampshire, Worcester, and Berkshire counties and offers a range of integrated clinical services and spe- cialized programs that address rehabilitation. Cocchi outlined the board’s mission as one of developing long-range planning for the facility and building rela- tionships and resources to assist women as they re- enter the community. Lee, who joined MHA in 2018 as its first vice president of Resource Development, is well-known for her work in the nonprofit sector. She previously served in communications and develop- ment roles for several other locally based nonprofit organizations, including CHD, Square One, the Bas- ketball Hall of Fame, and the Community United Way.
Uvitron International Launches
New, Enhanced Website
WEST SPRINGFIELD — Uvitron International Inc.,
a designer and manufacturer of high-performance UV light curing systems and accessories, recently launched a new website — uvitron.com — offering streamlined navigation and improved quoting capa- bilities, among other features. Uvitron was estab- lished as a developer and manufacturer of switch- mode power supplies for light curing systems, devel- oping the first electronic arc lamp power supply. The company has since evolved into a total solutions pro- vider of light curing systems and accessories. In addi- tion to enhanced navigation and quoting capabilities, the new site also features more comprehensive prod- uct information, applications by industry, and infor- mation about services and capabilities, such as appli- cation analysis, sample testing, and demo units.
Kathleen Proper, chief Human Resources officer at Canna Provisions in Holyoke, said as much at a panel discussion that preceded a recent Cannabis Career Fair at HCC, titled “Cultivating an Industry.”
“Our biggest thing is providing outstanding cus- tomer service,” she noted. “So if you’ve got experience doing customer service, whether you’ve worked retail, worked in a restaurant, waited tables, tended bar, all of those skills work out really well. Even though can- nabis retail is a different animal than other retail ... we tend to do really well with people who have waited tables or tended bar.”
Word on the Street
Yee isn’t worried about the ninth dispensary that will open in Northampton, or the 10th or 11th. Like Narkewicz, he believes the legal cannabis indus- try is thriving, with the saturation point well in the distance.
“I always say our biggest competitor is the black market. Many consumers are still shopping on the black market because the pricing is far better,” he said, noting that an eighth-ounce of cannabis may cost $50 in a store and $30 on the street, with no tax.
“A lot of folks who are stuck in their ways, they know the brands they like on that market, they know the cultivators they want to work with ... the black market is still very, very strong,” he went on. “As we see more interesting products hit the shelves here at a commercial dispensary and prices begin to drop — and we are seeing a little more of that — we’ll see folks moving over from the black market to the com- mercial market. So there’s still a massive untapped
•••••
Square One recently elected a new slate of officers
to its board of directors. The election was held at
the agency’s annual meeting on Oct. 15. Taking on the role of chairperson is Andrea Hickson-Martin
of Bay Path University. The vice chair seat will be filled by attorney Corrine Ryan of Community Legal Aid. Moving into the treasurer position is Kate Kane of Northwestern Mutual, assisted by Julie Quink
of Burkhart Pizzanelli, P.C. Colleen Stocks, assis- tant superintendent of the Western Massachusetts Regional Women’s Correctional Center, will serve as the board’s clerk. New to the full board of direc- tors are Lavar Click-Bruce of the city of Springfield Mayor’s Office and Leonard Underwood of Upscale Socks and Upscale Photography.
BHN’s Kamp for Kids Receives $5,000 Grant from Westfield Bank
WESTFIELD — Behavioral Health Network Inc. (BHN) announced it has received a grant of $5,000 from Westfield Bank’s Future Fund Program to ben- efit Kamp for Kids, the organization’s summer day camp for children and young adults with and without disabilities. Westfield Bank, a longtime supporter of BHN’s Kamp for Kids, established the Future Fund
in 2002 as a response to overwhelming community needs and the shrinking sources of corporate philan- thropy. It prioritizes funding to 501(c)(3) educational, recreational, cultural, and social-service programs that serve Westfield Bank’s market area. Grants made to Kamp for Kids provide camperships to youth with or without disabilities to ensure that all children, regardless of family income, are able to attend camp.
customer base out there.”
Cutting agreed that, as the legal cannabis industry
matures and deepens, the sheer volume of product will lower prices, and that — as well as the aesthetic and educational experience that many cannabis shops tout — will draw more people in.
“Additionally, all the product on our shelves has been tested; you know what’s in the product. On the black market, you don’t have test results and don’t know what metals or pesticides or mold or yeast are in their product. They don’t have to test — they just roll and sell their product from whatever location they’re growing in.
“Here, it’s a safe, friendly environment,” Cutting went on. “You’re not looking over your shoulder buy- ing something off the black market. And I think that market will eventually snuff itself out. Not entirely, but I think, over time, you’ll see it. The question some will ask is, ‘hey, do I want to be safe, or roll with this and take the risk of an untested product?’ I think most people will want to be on the safe side.”
As for public safety, Narkewicz said concerns from cannabis opponents — regarding surging crime and diversion problems — simply haven’t come to pass. And looking back, he’s proud to have been the first customer in the city’s newest growth industry.
“Obviously, in the early going, we had a little traffic crunch and parking crunch, but I don’t know many mayors worried about too many people wanting
to visit their city,” he told BusinessWest. “It’s a good problem to have.” u
Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]
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