Palmer’s Development Is All Part of the Plan

By Contributor
Ryan McNutt
Community Spotlight

Community Spotlight

By Mark Morris

Ryan McNutt

Ryan McNutt says the ‘hill’ off Palmer’s Mass Pike exit is a challenging site.

You might say Ryan McNutt is a man with a plan. The Palmer town manager keeps a copy of the town’s master plan on his desk for anyone who wants to know the projects and priorities for the community in the years ahead.

McNutt sees a real benefit in a formal plan because it reduces what can be an overwhelming world of choices.

“When you have a document that we’ve all agreed on, it allows us to work toward the different benchmarks that are laid out for us,” he said. “Having a plan just makes it easier to get things done.”

And there are a lot of initiatives that developers, the town, and the state are trying to get done in Palmer — everything from a hotel and water park on the site once proposed for a casino to a stop on the planned, and highly anticipated, east-west rail line; from new cannabis businesses and a brewery to some infrastructure projects, and much more.

Overall, it’s an intriguing tome for this town roughly halfway between Springfield and Worcester, one that could change the landscape in all kinds of ways.

One key benchmark involves developing the land near Exit 63 on the Massachusetts Turnpike, commonly known as the Palmer exit.

With several empty land parcels near the exit ramp, McNutt and others see this as a significant economic opportunity. He was prepared to have the town purchase one of the parcels, clean up the lot, and advertise it for development with the hope it would be a catalyst for others.

“When you have a document that we’ve all agreed on, it allows us to work toward the different benchmarks that are laid out for us. Having a plan just makes it easier to get things done.”

While planning that move, a developer bought the parcel from the current owner and signed on to build the Liberty Plaza, scheduled to open late next year. Committed retail stores include a Chipotle restaurant, Starbucks, Jersey Mike’s Subs, and two other retail spaces not yet finalized.

“This is a great success for the town because it turns an empty lot into the kind of plaza you would expect to see close to a turnpike exit,” McNutt said. “Best of all, we achieved the result we wanted without having to buy anything.”

But this project pales in comparison to another proposed project, one that involves development of an area known as the ‘hill.’ Located directly at the end of the turnpike exit, the parcel represents nearly 200 acres of land. It was this area that was the proposed site for a casino complex.

According to Quabog Hills Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Andrew Surprise, Kalahari Resorts is in discussion with the town about a potential 400- to 500-room hotel with an indoor water park. Kalahari Resorts currently has hotel complexes in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Texas. Themed around African adventure, the hotels emphasize family vacations by featuring large indoor water parks, and business gatherings by offering large conference centers.

Andrew Surprise

Andrew Surprise says the Quaboag Hills Chamber has rebounded following a loss of members and direction during the pandemic.

“If Kalahari eventually locates here, it would be a huge economic benefit to Palmer and the entire region,” Surprise said.

At the town level, McNutt said Palmer is working with the company to address bringing public utilities and access roads to the hill parcel.

“It’s a challenging site,” he noted. “While nothing is a sure thing, I’m glad to see this company feels optimistic enough to keep exploring the opportunity.”

Meanwhile, those in — or looking to enter — the cannabis industry are also finding opportunities in Palmer.

Indeed, while there are no cannabis retailers currently operating in town, that will soon change. Kali Cannabis has begun building a retail operation on Shearer Street, close to the turnpike exit. Cannabis retailer Silver Therapeutics has also broken ground on its facility, and two additional companies, Green Gold Group and Green Adventure, are planning retail operations in Palmer. The latter companies are still completing the permitting process with the Cannabis Control Commission.

In short order, the town could see four cannabis establishments open their doors.

“We will have to see what the market does to determine the right number of cannabis retailers,” McNutt said. “We’re going to let capitalism solve that one.”

As for the chamber, in the middle of the pandemic, it faced a shrinking membership base and a loss of direction. During that time, Surprise became the executive director, with a mandate to turn things around. After nearly three years, he is happy to report the chamber is back.

“We’ve added dozens of new members in the last two years, with more businesses signing on every day,” he said, adding that, in the past year, the chamber has brought $364,000 in economic-development money to its members.

 

Tracking Progress

Another engine of economic development involves a train stop in Palmer as part of the east-west rail project currently under consideration. In the budget that Gov. Maura Healey will present to the legislature for approval, she has identified funding for train stops in Pittsfield and Palmer.

“While the budget hasn’t yet passed, it’s a promising sign because it shows the Commonwealth believes in the rail project and supports Palmer,” McNutt said.

If approved, a rail stop in Palmer offers residents the possibility of direct access to Boston without driving. But Surprise looks at that potential from a different angle. “I’m more focused on bringing people from Boston and Eastern Mass. here, so they can visit the region, spend money in this area, and help our economy.”

It’s an economy that’s growing and becoming increasingly diverse, with many new additions, including cannabis-based businesses as well as the town’s first brewery, created by Rachel Rosenbloom and her husband, Michael Bedrosian, who saw opportunity in Palmer and are seizing it.

“We knew town officials were looking to revitalize downtown, and we thought it would be a good idea to add something to the community that would encourage people to go downtown,” Rosenbloom said.

While the couple have been home brewers for 10 years, Rosenbloom is a professional brewer, working at Fort Hill Brewery in Easthampton for the past five years. Palmer is known as the Town of Seven Railroads because the rail industry was an important part of the town’s early industrial development. That knowledge inspired the couple to name their business Seven Railroads Brewery.

“We didn’t want to go with an obvious name like Palmer Brewing Company,” Rosenbloom said. “We wanted to choose a name that really meant something to the community and to the area.”

Once they receive the proper construction permits for their Park Street location, the couple will start installing their brewing equipment. They have secured a license to brew and are still waiting for approval of their license to pour, which will determine how soon they can open the taproom and start serving the public.

“We’re going to concentrate on being a brewery, and while we won’t be serving food, we will invite local food trucks and let patrons know they can bring in food,” Rosenbloom said.

Palmer at a glance

Year Incorporated: 1775
Population: 12,448
Area: 32 square miles
County: Hampden
Tax Rate, residential and commercial: Palmer, $21.40; Three Rivers, $21.82; Bondsville, $22.54; Thorndike, $22.25
Median Household Income: $41,443
Median Family Income: $49,358
Type of government: Town Manager; Town Council
Largest Employers: Baystate Wing Hospital; Sanderson MacLeod Inc., Camp Ramah of New England; Big Y World Class Market
*Latest information available

She is hopeful the taproom can open this spring or early summer, and she’s not the only one looking forward to it.

“Everyone we talk to is super excited and can’t wait for us to open,” she said. “The response we’ve gotten from the community has been so positive, with several local businesses reaching out to help and to discuss working with us in the future.”

Last spring, Surprise resumed publishing the chamber’s recreation guide and business directory after not producing it during the pandemic years. Published in time to distribute at the Brimfield Antique and Flea Market (which brings more than 250,000 people to the region every year), the guide’s return proved a big success.

“We distributed half our print run at the flea market as well as to more than 60 locations in the region, with many asking for more copies,” Surprise said. “People really liked the pocket-guide format, and, of course, it’s available online, too.”

With the 2023 edition, Surprise is looking to create different trails for antique shops, breweries and wineries, boutique shops, and more. He hopes the increased activity will increase the tourism dollars spent in the region. “Right now, our efforts are all about planting seeds and seeing what grows.”

Meanwhile, Palmer continues to seek a new use for the 100-year-old Converse Middle School. McNutt said the town looked into the costs to modernize it for municipal use, but the price tag was too high. Now he’s looking to see if housing developers, specifically those building for residents age 55 and over, can propose an effective use for the site.

As part of its master plan, Palmer is also working on replacing two main bridges in town, on Church Street and Main Street. After minor repairs, the Main Street bridge has been deemed safe for now, while the Church Street bridge was closed. A truss bridge is in use until a new Church Street bridge gets built.

“It’s a complicated construction project, but we are still on schedule with our benchmarks,” McNutt said. “It is still a goal that I will drive my car across the new bridge this year.”

A boat ramp for Forest Lake is one project that is now complete. As a small, quiet spot, McNutt explained that the lake is a popular place for parents to teach children how to fish.

In the past, boat owners would launch from a sandy area along the lake and park their vehicles on the adjacent road. That would often lead to two safety issues of launching during muddy times and then parking vehicles on a fairly busy road. The Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game and Department of Conservation corrected those issues with a dedicated boat launch and an adjoining parking lot.

“From a safety, convenience, and aesthetic point of view, the boat launch was a great project all around that will benefit people for years to come,” McNutt said.

 

Bottom Line

In order to keep town projects on the path to completion, Palmer has a master-plan implementation committee consisting of citizens and town officials to make sure the actions that occur are aligned with the goals the town has identified.

“As we succeed and complete these projects, it serves as a catalyst and allows us to get even more done for the town,” McNutt said.

After all, it’s part of the plan.

Senate Legislation Authorizing Chapter 90 Funding Should Benefit Rural Towns

By Contributor
Construction

Claiming Mileage

 

On March 30, the Massachusetts State Senate passed a bill that includes $350 million in bond authorizations for transportation needs across the state, including $200 million for the state’s Chapter 90 program, which provides municipalities with a reliable funding source for transportation-related improvements, including road and bridge repairs.

“This legislation will maintain and improve our state’s infrastructure, ensure that residents have safe and reliable transportation options, and support sustainable, regionally equitable economic development in communities across the Commonwealth,” Senate President Karen Spilka said.

The legislation also authorizes $150 million in programs that will assist municipalities with various transportation-related projects. This includes $25 million each for the municipal small-bridge program, the Complete Streets program, a bus-transit infrastructure program, grants to increase access to mass transit and commuter rail stations, grants for municipalities and regional transit authorities to purchase electric vehicles and the infrastructure needed to support them, and new funding dedicated to additional transportation support based on road mileage, which is particularly helpful for rural communities.

“Rural towns do not have large municipal budgets like some Commonwealth cities; yet, with much smaller municipal budgets, they have been expected to maintain many hundreds more miles of roads than their urban counterparts.”

“By dedicating a $25 million fund to rural communities for road and culvert work, the Senate has once again demonstrated a commitment to regional equity,” state Sen. Jo Comerford said. “Rural towns do not have large municipal budgets like some Commonwealth cities; yet, with much smaller municipal budgets, they have been expected to maintain many hundreds more miles of roads than their urban counterparts. They have culverts in need of repair and a significant number of gravel and dirt roads. This rural program recognizes and begins to address these pressing, inequitable realities for rural communities, and I’m deeply grateful.”

In arguing for the bill’s passing, Comerford made a passionate appeal for relief for communities in her district, which includes parts of Hampshire, Franklin, and Worcester counties.

“I know Boston didn’t have a lot of snow this winter. That was not the case in my district. Just over two weeks ago, a number of towns in my district received over 24 inches of snow, some getting as much as 38 inches just in one storm,” she said. “The Hatfield DPW director wrote that, ‘due to the late storms, we have a lot of roads that have fallen apart and a lot of tree damage. With the costs of asphalt rising and the Chapter 90 funding staying the same, we will never catch up.’ The Greenfield DPW director told us, ‘due to many freezes and thaw cycles, our roads have shown accelerated deterioration, and our pavement-management program is really in shambles.’

She said the base amount being provided to communities has been static for many years, while costs are constantly rising. “Weather events are getting more extreme, putting more stress on roads and bridges and cleanup, and rural municipalities have many dirt and gravel roads, making up more than 30% of a municipality’s road network, in some instances, in my district. And this, of course, is exacerbated by climate change, the erosion and the disrepair of these roads.”

She noted that the existing Chapter 90 formula used to distribute funds — established more than 50 years ago — takes into account road mileage, but also population and employment. “But this doesn’t work for the places that don’t have the people, but do have the miles and miles of roads. Adjusting the base Chapter 90 formula to put more emphasis on road mileage is something that I respectfully urge us to consider.”

State Sen. Paul Mark, who represents all of Berkshire County among some communities in Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin counties, agreed that the mileage-based calculation will greatly benefit smaller towns.

“In a district of 57 cities and towns, 54 of which have populations of fewer than 10,000 people, and in some cases communities as small as 120 residents, we live first-hand every day how difficult it can be to undertake road repairs, invest in new equipment, or have our voice heard in Boston,” he said.

Legislators outside Western Mass. also praised the bill’s passage.

“Our transportation system is the backbone of our Commonwealth, connecting us to our jobs, families, and communities,” said state Sen. Brendan Crighton, chair of the Senate Committee on Transportation. “This investment is not just an investment in infrastructure, but an investment in the future of our Commonwealth, enabling our cities and towns to make the necessary improvements to promote efficient and safe travel for all.”

State Sen. Edward Kennedy, chair of the Senate Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures, and State Assets, added that “I’m pleased to see this crucial investment in the Commonwealth’s roads and bridges move toward fruition. The cities and towns of Massachusetts depend on this necessary funding to maintain their transportation infrastructure.”

A different version of the bill having previously been passed in the House of Representatives, the two chambers will now reconcile differences before sending the bill to Gov. Maura Healey’s desk.

What Employers Need to Know About Workers’ Compensation

By Contributor
Insurance

Avoiding a World of Hurt

By Encharter Insurance

 

If you are an employer in Massachusetts with one or more employees, workers’ compensation is a mandatory business-insurance coverage. An employer may be an individual, a partnership, a corporation, or any other form of ownership that has employees. Failure to carry workers’ compensation coverage can result in an immediate stop work order and fines for every day that no coverage was available.

Besides being the law, here’s why you need it: workers’ compensation is essentially a no-fault system designed to protect both employers and employees should a workplace injury or illness occur. Your workers’ comp insurance policy would cover payment for medical care related to the employee’s injury, and would pay wage-replacement benefits, also called indemnity payments. In exchange for these benefits, workers’ comp, rather than the courtroom, becomes the employee’s exclusive remedy.

Individual states have jurisdiction over their own systems, so specific regulations and benefits vary by state. In Massachusetts, the Department of Industrial Accidents (DIA) manages the workers’ compensation system, adjudicating any disputes or appeals that arise. Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Workers Compensation Rating and Inspection Bureau sets rates.

 

How Is Coverage Obtained?

Most employers secure their workers’ compensation from an insurance agent. Large employers sometimes self-insure but must pass several regulatory gating issues to qualify for self-insurance.

If two or more insurance companies decline to insure your organization, you may have to seek coverage in the Massachusetts residual market, also known as an assigned risk pool.

Workers’ compensation insurance can be canceled by the insurance company, but only for the reasons of non-payment of premium, fraud or material misrepresentation, or a substantial increase in the hazard being insured. Your insurance company would need to notify you of cancellation with 10 days written notice.

 

How Are Rates Set?

The cost of the insurance is based on anticipated loss experience and is comprised of two basic components.

Under manual premium, the cost for your workers’ compensation policy is determined by your payroll and the classification of the work your employees do. The riskier the work, the higher the rate for the class code. There are thousands of class codes set by the Workers Compensation Rating & Inspection Bureau (WCRIB) in Massachusetts.

Under modified premium, once you have purchased workers’ compensation for two years, if the sum of the premiums for two years is $11,000 or more, your policy will be subject to experience rating. Manual premium is multiplied by an experience rating factor (or ‘e-mod’) reflecting your specific organization’s loss history. Much like the experience rating system used by many states to develop auto insurance rates, a bad year will impact an employer for years to come, as three prior years’ experience are used to develop a workers’ compensation e-mod.

 

What Benefits Does Workers’ Comp Provide to an Injured Worker?

Workers’ compensation coverage provides unlimited medical expenses, lost wages (also referred to as wage replacement or indemnity), rehabilitation expenses, and dependent and funeral expenses up to a state’s limits

The amount and duration of wage replacement and medical benefits varies based on each state’s law. Generally, the injured worker faces no out-of-pocket medical costs.

 

What Are Your Responsibilities as an Employer?

• Obtain workers’ compensation insurance coverage. Failure to carry coverage can result in stop-work orders and daily fines for the uncovered duration.

• Show proof of that coverage by posting notice in a public and visible place that all employees use.

• Provide a safe workplace, as required by OSHA.

• If an employee is injured, send them for medical care. In Massachusetts, you have the option to choose the physician for the first appointment.

• Report a medical-only injury (one with no anticipated lost time) to your insurer.

• Report a workplace injury with five or more days of absence, or a death, to the Massachusetts Division of Insurance.

 

What Are Some Best Practices to
Minimize Costs?

You can lower your workers’ comp costs by working to the lowest possible e-mod. There are two variables that you should work to control: the frequency of injuries, or how many work-related incidents occur; and the severity of workplace injuries, or the duration of time away from work. Here are best practices to help control both and to help you attain the lowest possible experience e-mod:

• Maintain a safe and healthy workplace. The least costly injuries are the ones that never happen. Control frequency by setting the expectation for an injury-free workplace, training employees to work safely, requiring personal protective equipment, and conducting periodic walk-through audits. Your insurance company can often provide safety resources.

• Have a plan for point-of-injury response. A quick, caring, non-judgmental response to a work injury will help to set the trajectory for a positive outcome for all. Ensure that employees and managers know what to do if an injury occurs. Escort the injured worker to medical treatment.

• Partner with a nearby occupational doctor or medical clinic. Massachusetts allows employers to choose the first medical contact. Choose a top-quality physician or a clinic experienced in workplace injuries. Your insurance company may have a good network.

• Report injuries to your insurer in a timely manner. Early reporting is extremely important — numerous studies have demonstrated that the sooner injuries are reported, the better the outcome. Aim for same-day reporting.

• Prepare for return to work. It’s important to get employees back to work and on the team as soon as possible to help prevent disability syndrome. Plan for a transitional or modified job duties to help the employ re-acclimate and work-harden to their regular job.

Report: No Medical Cannabis Markets Fully Meet Patients’ Needs

By Contributor
Cannabis

Improvement Needed

 

In its annual “State of the States” report, Americans for Safe Access (ASA) gave 13 state medical cannabis programs failing grades.

In the report, the ASA gave failing grades to Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Idaho and Nebraska, the last two states without medical cannabis access, both got a zero.

No state earned an A, but Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, and Rhode Island got the highest grade on the ASA report card, a B+.

Massachusetts earned a C+. According to the report, “medical cannabis sales in Massachusetts have reached almost $1 billion since the medical cannabis program was approved in 2018. Despite this promising sales number, Massachusetts did not make any noticeable improvements to the medical cannabis program in the past year.

“In 2023, ASA recommends that legislators in the state expand protections provided under the law for patients. As it stands, employment protections only exist through case law and should be formalized by the state Legislature. The Legislature should also seek to protect patients rights within housing, education, and family court as well.”

The ASA did commend Massachusetts for not requiring a fee with patient registrations and encourages policymakers to extend patient registrations to cover multi-year periods in order to cut down on administrative paperwork for patients.

According to patient feedback gathered for the Massachusetts report, “patients surveyed expressed concern regarding inflated pricing, a concentration on potential harm rather than potential benefits, and that the adult use/recreational market is undermining the medical market. They also reported a lack of pediatric access.”

While states continue to slowly adapt their laws to meet the needs of patients, the ASA noted, “we have noticed a big shift in states prioritizing adult use. Recreational adult-use programs and medical cannabis programs are not the same and should not be treated as such. A state may have both recreational, adult-use laws and medical cannabis laws, but those programs must remain separate in order to serve the distinct needs of the population. Cannabis patients rely on medical cannabis products for their health and well-being and should be treated as patients by the state — not as recreational consumers.”

This includes protections that may not exist in the recreational market, the report explained, such as excise and sales tax breaks on medical cannabis products, continued access to medical cannabis for minor patients, civil-rights protections for employment, housing, parental rights, and even alternative accessibility methods.

“Medical cannabis programs are essential to patient health and well-being and should be maintained and improved upon regardless of the legality of recreational adult use in the state,” the ASA argued. “While adult-use models can expand access to a larger population of people and may even increase the number of legal cannabis retailers, these systems and associated businesses are often not held to the same standards as authorized medical cannabis businesses.

“For example, laboratory testing of adult-use products may not have to undergo screening for the full array of heavy metals and contaminants that medical products require. It is also uncommon that states ask adult-use retailers to maintain staff competent about medical cannabis products or their applications to ensure patients have a trained advisor to consult with when they purchase medicine. It is critical to patient health that states maintain focus on addressing medical cannabis program challenges and patient needs before, during, and after developing adult-use programs.”

The ASA also gave grades to the medical cannabis programs of U.S. territories, such as the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (D+), Guam (C-), Puerto Rico (D), and the Virgin Islands (D+).

According to a report by Ganjapreneur, “even in states with full medical cannabis programs, each state differs greatly in how patients can access their medicine, where they can access it, or even what types of products they can access.” Because medical cannabis remains prohibited federally, it added, “most state programs leave out millions of potential patients due to issues with affordability, patient rights, and civil protections, or product-safety standardization.”

The ASA gave no state a grade higher than a B+ because none of them “include the entire range of protections and rights that should be afforded to patients under the law, with some lagging far behind others.”

The ASA believes there are more than 6 million medical cannabis users in the U.S., which is about 1 million more than in its report from 2021.

UMass Research Grows to Record-high $813 Million

By
Daily News

BOSTON — The University of Massachusetts research enterprise grew to $813 million in fiscal year 2022, an 8% increase over the previous year, according to the five-campus system’s latest annual research report.

Annual R&D at the Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and Medical School campuses of UMass has grown by 23% over the past five years, boosted by large increases in federal research funding. The greatest concentration of UMass research spending is in the STEM fields, with 93%, or $754 million, in those disciplines. This includes $463 million focused on the life sciences, a critical economic sector for Massachusetts.

“The world class research being conducted at each of our nationally ranked universities is driving innovation in every region of Massachusetts and enhancing the education of our 74,000 students,” UMass President Marty Meehan said. “The discoveries made in UMass laboratories have been critical to society’s ability to confront major challenges, from COVID-19 to climate change, and will continue to be essential in our fast-changing world.”

UMass has the third-largest research portfolio among universities in Massachusetts and the fourth-largest in New England, after Harvard, MIT, and Yale.

Recent UMass research highlights include the following:

• UMass Amherst received a $15 million, five-year grant to fund the New England University Transportation Center (NEUTC), where researchers are focusing on developing “smart” roadways to improve safety and reduce congestion, developing safe approaches to automated vehicles, and embedding equity and community engagement in transportation planning.

• UMass Boston has launched a pilot project to enhance digital connections to minority communities with funding from a two-year, $2.97 million grant from the Department of Commerce.

• UMass Dartmouth has received $16.7 million, including $3.6 million this year, from the Office of Naval Research to support innovation related to marine technologies and the blue economy.

• UMass Lowell Associate Prof. Neil Shortland won a three-year, $429,000 Young Investigator Project grant from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research to study the impact of misinformation on people and how it can influence some toward extreme behavior.

• UMass Chan Medical School Professor Jennifer Tjia and her research team were recently awarded a $4.1 million, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health to study caregiver engagement in serious illness and the impact of structural barriers, including racism.

Autism Care Partners Opens Three Centers, Including One in Amherst

By
Daily News

AMHERST — Autism Care Partners (ACP) continues to expand services to families throughout Massachusetts, opening a new center in Amherst, one of three centers opening during Autism Acceptance Month, followed by Avon, Conn. and Framingham.

“I am extremely excited to be able to expand the opportunity for greatly needed therapeutic services for children and families diagnosed with autism in the Western Mass. community,” said Nikki Snizek, Amherst’s Managing BCBA. “With the opening of the Amherst center, families will have access to high- quality, interdisciplinary services including Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA), speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, feeding therapy, and diagnostic evaluations. I look forward to working with and supporting clients and families by offering compassionate care in an enriching environment that provides children with opportunities for growth and development.”

As one of the largest autism and related service providers in Massachusetts, ACP is focused on ensuring “no wrong door” to individuals on the spectrum and their families by providing and coordinating ABA, diagnostic, and related services across diverse care settings. With nine treatment hubs currently across the state, ACP is continuing Massachusetts expansion in 2023, while also deepening its growing bench of diagnosticians, social workers, speech therapists, and occupational therapists. Additionally, ACP continues to invest in its best-in-class clinical model, enhanced through The Visual Immersion System, an evidence-based and pioneering Boston Children’s-developed language acquisition intervention.

On April 12, Amherst’s Town Manager and CEO Paul Bockelman officiated the grand opening of the facility on University Drive with a ribbon cutting ceremony. In addition to local officials, ACP welcomed families, academic and medical partners, health-plan colleagues, and community members to its new center to learn about ACP and its comprehensive suite of interdisciplinary services.

TRE Olive Wins Again at New York International Olive Oil Competition

By
Daily News

EAST LONGMEADOW — TRE Olive, based in East Longmeadow, is a Silver Award winner at this year’s New York International Olive Oil Competition. The NYIOOC, staged each spring, is considered the authoritative guide to the year’s best extra-virgin olive oils.

TRE Olive won the Silver Award for its TRE Olive Select. In 2022, the company won gold for its TRE Select, and in 2021 won a gold and silver for both its TRE Select and Campo Dieci brands.

“We are honored to be among the producer of the world’s best olive oils,” said Joe Maruca, co-owner of TRE Olive. “Our team has worked extremely hard over the last few years to improve not only our equipment and processes, but to also participate in industry courses and seminars. Our hunger to continue learning has made a huge difference and has paid off with awards year after year.”

Annual Student Art Exhibition Returns to Holyoke Community College

By
Daily News

HOLYOKE — After a three-year COVID hiatus, the annual Holyoke Community College (HCC) Student Art Exhibition has returned to campus.

The 2023 HCC Student Art Exhibition opened Tuesday, April 11 and runs through Thursday, May 4 in the Taber Art Gallery inside the HCC Library, in the Media Arts Center on the third floor of the Campus Center, and along the third floor hallway of the Fine & Performing Arts Building.

The HCC student art shows in 2020, 2021, and 2022 took place virtually, with online galleries set up in place of in-person installations.

This year also marks the return of the Student Art Exhibition Gala Reception on Thursday, April 13 from 7 to 9 p.m., with the announcement of Visual Art awards at 8 p.m.

“2019 was the last time we did this, so we’re really excited to be back on campus and to have a community event,” said Felice Caivano, chair of the Visual Art Department. “Students are saying they’re going to bring their families. We’ll give out awards. It’s a real celebration for us.”

Thirty-five HCC students majoring in visual art, graphics, and graphic design were nominated by their teachers for a variety of awards.

On display for the exhibition are works in a wide range of mediums by students of the HCC Visual Art Department faculty: Lahri Bond, Felice Caivano, John Calhoun, Kelly Clare, Tara Conant, William Devine, Benj Gleeksman, Chris Lizon, and Margie Rothermich.

“It feels great to have student art back in here,” Taber Art Gallery director Amy Johnquest said. “I’m really happy and excited, and it’s looking extraordinarily beautiful.”

The Taber Art Gallery, located off the lobby of the HCC Library on the second floor of the HCC Donahue Building, is free and open to the public Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. during regular school sessions.

Eastfield Mall Redevelopment Will Change the Landscape

By
Brian Kaplan, vice president
Cover Story

What’s in Store?

Brian Kaplan, vice president

Brian Kaplan, vice president of Development for Onyx Partners

 

When Dennis Smith Jr. says the old 99 Restaurant location in the Eastfield Mall is the ideal space for the Empowerment Center operated by the Massachusetts Military Support Foundation, a facility that provides veterans with everything from food to clothing to referrals for legal help, he means ideal.

Indeed, the site, which became available after the restaurant ultimately failed to regain its footing after the pandemic, boasts plenty of space, a lobby area for greeting vets and presenting them with information, freezers and refrigerators for storage of food, ample parking, location on a major thoroughfare (Boston Road), a stop on a bus route … there’s even warehouse space that’s been made available to the foundation at the Ocean State Job Lot across the street.

As ideal as all this was, Smith, who became the center’s director last July, knew it was only temporary. The mall, opened in 1968 and the first facility of its kind in Greater Springfield, has been targeted for redevelopment for close to a decade now and will officially close its doors in July. The question concerning demolition of the landmark (yes, it can be called that) was always when, not if, said Smith.

So, almost from the day he started at the center, he has been exploring where the facility can go next, and he’s looking for a spot that can check as many boxes as the current site as possible, knowing it is unlikely he will find something quite so ideal.

“Nothing has been finalized as to our exact plan. It could consist of primarily retail, but also other uses such as residential, storage, medical office, restaurants — we’re still looking at a few of those options.”

“I’m looking at a number of sites right now,” he said, noting that he recently toured a former Walgreens location on St. James Avenue in Springfield. “It’s going to be very hard to match what we have here, but we’ll try.”

Where the center and the 40-odd other businesses at the mall eventually land — and most are expected to land somewhere — and when are just a few of the many subplots to a broad and intriguing story that could change the landscape on Boston Road and elsewhere in a number of ways.

Others obviously include the reimagining of the mall itself. This has been an ongoing story, but one that will become real when demolition begins later this year, said Brian Kaplan, vice president of Development with Needham-based Onyx Partners, which is remaking the site into what he expects will be a mixed-use facility featuring retail, restaurants, and other, still-to-be determined businesses and residential uses.

“Nothing has been finalized as to our exact plan,” he told BusinessWest. “It could consist of primarily retail, but also other uses such as residential, storage, medical office, restaurants — we’re still looking at a few of those options.”

Dennis Smith Jr.

Dennis Smith Jr. has been looking for a new home for the Empowerment Center operated by the Massachusetts Military Support Foundation almost since the day he arrived, knowing Eastfield Mall’s days were numbered.

Another aspect to the story is the potential impact of the relocation of the tenants on specific retail areas and communities. Indeed, the retail sector has been struggling in general, and especially since COVID. Officials with the Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council (EDC), which is coordinating the relocation process for tenants, said the evictions might provide a boost for specific properties and business districts.

The region hasn’t seen many mass relocations like this one, with the most recent one coming when MGM Springfield purchased 95 State St. in Springfield for its own use, displacing a few dozen law firms that found space in several different office buildings within a mile or so of the Hampden County Courthouse.

This process will be different, and for some tenants, it may prove to be challenging, said Xiomara DeLobato, chief of staff of the EDC, adding that many have had very favorable lease rates at the mall and may experience a form of sticker shock as they explore other options.

The EDC is working with Springfield-based Homes Logic Real Estate to create customized solutions for each tenant, she noted. “Our intent is to make sure that we’re providing one-on-one support for each step in the process as they look for vacancies or potential locations to set them up for success.”

For this issue, BusinessWest looks at the many aspects of the Eastfield Mall redevelopment story and what they might mean for the region and its real-estate sector.

 

End of an Era

There is a quiet, eerie feeling at the mall these days.

The massive parking lot off Boston Road is all but empty. Inside, most of the smaller businesses are still open, but there is little foot traffic as the end nears. This sits in stark contrast to the mall’s better days, and there were many of them, when several anchors, including Sears and JCPenney, were thriving; a multiplex theater was operating; and the mall was still a destination.

“Our intent is to make sure that we’re providing one-on-one support for each step in the process as they look for vacancies or potential locations to set them up for success.”

It hasn’t been that for some time, as the anchors and then the theaters closed, mirroring what was happening at malls across the country as consumers increasingly did their buying online and major retailers, like Sears, all but vanished from the landscape.

Today, the mall is experiencing a slow, painful death that comes amid great expectation about what can and ultimately will happen at this site, and a wide range of emotions concerning existing tenants — who will be free of rent and utility charges for these last few months — and what will happen with them.

Let’s start with what’s next for the mall. Kaplan said Onyx often builds new, but it has worked on projects similar to the Eastfield Mall redevelopment initiative in other regions of Massachusetts, Southern New Hampshire, and several other states.

He said the Eastfield Mall project was presented to the company last fall, and after extensive due diligence, the decision was made to move forward and acquire the property, with work ratcheting up in recent months on everything from meetings with tenants to filings with the city.

He believes demolition will begin sometime later this year, after local approvals are secured, with a 12- to 18-month construction process to follow.

Redevelopment will take place in stages, he noted, adding that phase one will, in all likelihood, be retail, restaurants, and services, with a mix of national brands and local ventures, similar in some respects to what exists now, but in a far more modern, 21st-century facility.

Eastfield Mall, which will be redeveloped

The clock is winding down on Eastfield Mall, which will be redeveloped into a modern mixed-use facility.

What will follow will be a function of demand and feasibility, Kaplan noted, adding that the canvas will likely be filled in over several years. Residential development is likely to follow, with more businesses to provide services to those living nearby.

The project could include some of the current tenants at Eastfield, he said, adding that it is possible that some will choose to find a temporary home and ultimately return. The others, which include a broad mix of national retailers and local businesses, will settle elsewhere.

Onyx is collaborating with the EDC and working with other stakeholders, including local and state agencies, to come up with a plan for each tenant, he said, adding that each case is different, obviously, and will require a personalized solution.

Rick Sullivan, president and CEO of the EDC, said the agency’s mission is broad, and includes work to bring new businesses to the region and also retain existing businesses and jobs. Finding new homes for displaced Eastfield Mall tenants is a somewhat unique assignment, but it fits the EDC’s job description, if you will.

“It fits in with a focus that we have moving forward, which is on small businesses in terms of having them grow and flourish in the region,” he explained. “This is an opportunity where there are about 40 businesses that have been in operation for some time, and in some cases, they’re original tenants.”

The national tenants, and they include Old Navy, LensCrafters, Kay Jewelers, T-Mobile, and a host of others, have the resources and staffs to handle relocation efforts, if they choose to move those outlets, said Sullivan, adding that the EDC’s primary focus is the local tenants, ranging from the Mall Barber to Donovan’s Irish Pub to Mykonos, a Greek restaurant that has been at the mall since the very beginning.

Many will choose to try to stay in Springfield, he went on, adding that others are willing to look outside the city and the Boston Road area, which presents opportunities for retail areas that were impacted by the pandemic and the general shifting tide of retail — and there are many of them.

Some would prefer to stay in a mall-like setting, he went on, while others might opt to find their own space. Most are looking to lease space, but some are considering the purchase of real estate, which could bring its own benefits.

“Some are willing to look at downtown Springfield or downtown Holyoke,” Sullivan said. “They may not necessarily need to be in a mall setting or Boston Road — although some of them need to be there because that’s where their client base is.”

 

Up from the Ashes

The demise of the mall certainly has the attention of property owners and real-estate brokers in the region, especially those that specialize in retail spaces.

Evan Plotkin, president of NAI Plotkin, has several retail properties in the portfolio, as well as 1350 Main St., the office tower in downtown Springfield that has a significant amount of ground-floor retail space, much if it vacant since the departure of Santander Bank several years ago.

As he walked BusinessWest through that space, Plotkin said it would be an ideal landing spot for some of the Eastfield businesses.

“There are a lot of people who still work downtown or come here for events or to do business,” he said, noting that 1350 Main will soon be welcoming some new office tenants that could generate additional foot traffic. “Some of those mall businesses could do well here.”

Tower Square is another potential landing spot, and Demetrious Panteleakis, a principal with the Macmillan Group, the leasing agent for the office and retail complex, said he has talked with some of the mall tenants about making a move downtown and all that is involved with that decision.

“There’s a potential positive economic spin that goes beyond just the mall investment.”

“We’re very different as it pertains to such things as parking,” he explained, listing just one of the issues being discussed. “Although we have plenty of parking, it’s not typical retail parking; we’re tower parking.”

Overall, he said Tower Square ownership is focused on finding new tenants that can provide needed products and services to tenants of that tower and perhaps those surrounding it. The planned new Big Y market, a scaled-down version of its supermarkets that will go into space once occupied by CVS, is a good example, as are existing tenants, ranging from White Lion Brewing Co. to Dunkin’ Donuts to SkinCatering, a salon and spa. And some of the mall tenants might fit that description.

“We have a spa and hairdresser, a bar, our food court … businesses that support people who work here and don’t want to leave the building,” Panteleakis said, adding that additional hospitality-related businesses that don’t compete directly with existing businesses might be good fits.

As for Smith and his search for a new home for the Empowerment Center, he said there is some “intense work” going on as he tries to find a space that is affordable and checks at least most of the boxes that the old 99 Restaurant does.

“I have a number of great locations that I’d like to go to,” he told BusinessWest. “It comes down to what can be negotiated with the local property owners — that will determine where we go; we’ll just take it step by step.”

Summing up what’s happening on Boston Road, Sullivan said that, while the demise of the mall is regrettable in some ways, there are several bright spots to this ongoing story.

For starters, there is a national developer, Onyx, that has committed to redeveloping the site into something that speaks to the present and future, and not the past, when it comes to retail. Meanwhile, the relocation of the many existing tenants could provide a spark for some communities and their downtowns.

“There’s a potential positive economic spin that goes beyond just the mall investment, and that’s why the EDC is involved,” he told BusinessWest. “There’s potential to grow and amplify that investment in the region.”

Time will tell just how much that investment will be amplified, but the parties involved in this developing story say there are many intriguing chapters still to come.

Landscapers Look Ahead to Opportunities but Also Some Challenges

By Contributor
Sean Corrigan
Construction Special Coverage

Yard Markers

By Mark Morris

Sean Corrigan

Sean Corrigan says landscapers have to deal with the challenge of longer lead times for delivery of many supplies.

Mark Lacombe likes good head start.

And like others in the landscaping industry, he’s grateful for one of the mildest winters in many years — from one perspective, at least.

“A mild winter helps us because there’s no frost in the ground, which allows us to start working on sites now rather than waiting for the frost to thaw and the mud season that would typically follow the thaw,” said Lacombe, general manager of Commercial Grounds Maintenance for Mountain View Landscapes in Chicopee.

However, the downside of a mild winter affects snowplowing, the other business many landscapers run in winter months. Lacombe said a normal winter allows the company to start the year off with revenue, even though he can’t count on it every year.

“During a normal winter, we’ll do about a million dollars in snow removal,” he said. “This winter was only about 65% to 70% of our normal business. That’s where a mild winter really hurts.”

Still, area landscapers say they are staying busy as spring takes hold in New England, and 2023 holds promise as well as some continuing challenges.

Brian Campedelli, owner of Pioneer Landscapes in Easthampton, said his crews are already busy finishing several jobs that carried over from last year due to the unprecedented growth his company experienced in 2022. This year is off to a strong start, too.

“During a normal winter, we’ll do about a million dollars in snow removal. This winter was only about 65% to 70% of our normal business. That’s where a mild winter really hurts.”

“We had a good turnout at the home show,” Campedelli said of last month’s annual event put on by the Home Builders & Remodelers Assoc. of Western Mass. “Many people we spoke with are interested in new projects.”

Greg Omasta also begins the year with several carryover projects. The owner of Omasta Landscaping in Hadley believes he will have a busy year, but he’s also concerned that increases in basic necessities like food and fuel may cause some homeowners to delay their yard improvements.

“We’re still getting calls every day, so I guess I’m optimistic and pessimistic all at the same time,” Omasta said.

Greg Omasta (right, with son Chris Omasta)

Greg Omasta (right, with son Chris Omasta) says inflation in basic necessities may cause some families to delay yard improvements this year.

At the height of the pandemic, the residential side of landscaping exploded as homeowners who would have normally scheduled out-of-town vacations had to stay put. Many decided to convert their yards to outdoor entertainment areas. From elaborate projects like swimming pools and outdoor kitchens to simple landscape upgrades and firepits, every contractor had more business than they could handle.

However, while COVID-19 boosted the staycation phenomenon, it also created unusually high demand for all the products used in hardscaping and landscaping at a time when supply chains around the world faced sporadic delays due to the pandemic.

Landscapers now report that many of the supply-chain issues have subsided, but there are still delays for some products, and everything costs more.

“As we order for this season, plant prices are up, and the freight charges to ship them to us are really high,” Lacombe said, noting that this is a particular challenge when bidding for commercial landscaping projects that won’t start for 12 to 18 months. “We have to estimate the costs for a job that will happen a year from now, while our material prices are only guaranteed for 30 days.”

“Since COVID, municipalities are paying more attention to outdoor spaces and upgrading them, particularly with more climbing structures.”

Omasta pointed to one pleasant surprise, as grass-seed prices have seen a slight decrease. “Also, fertilizer prices have stabilized. I don’t expect them to come down, but at least they are more stable than they’ve been.”

 

Places to Play

Public parks and playgrounds are an area of commercial business both Omasta and Mountain View have seen as growth opportunities.

Sean Corrigan, vice president of Landscape Construction for Mountain View, said his company has a full schedule of reconstruction work on parks, playgrounds, and athletic fields, with most of the work happening in Connecticut and the Boston area.

“Since COVID, municipalities are paying more attention to outdoor spaces and upgrading them, particularly with more climbing structures,” he said. “They are interesting structures, and many have unique designs. The kids love them.”

Playground equipment and drainage piping are among the products that still have long lead times for delivery, Corrigan noted. “It’s getting better, but we still have to factor in extra time for these items.”

Finding enough workers is another challenge that still exists, but the situation has started to improve. Campedelli said this year has been easier to hire laborers as better-quality applicants are looking for work.

“Some of the more specialized jobs, like hardscape installers, are still hard to fill,” he said. “We recently hired a new general manager and a new office manager, who are both fantastic.”

Dave Graziano

Dave Graziano says the industry is being challenged to cultivate the next generation of workers.

While Omasta hires extra workers for spring and fall cleanups, he depends on a core group of employees who have worked with the company for years. “We provide them with benefits, holiday and vacation pay, as well as other perks to keep them with us.”

Lacombe said more people are looking for work this year than in the past, but finding workers with experience remains difficult.

“We’re hiring on attitude more than anything else,” he said. “I can teach someone what they need to know, but they need to be willing to come to work every day and put in the effort.”

Dave Graziano, project manager in the Landscape division of Graziano Gardens in East Longmeadow, sees a larger industry problem finding the next generation of landscape workers who want to put in the effort to be successful.

“Anything you can do outside to enhance the entertaining possibilities in your yard is generally what remains popular with people.”

“It’s not for everyone, but it can be rewarding work,” he said. “You see the fruits of your labor from the design of a project through completion, and you make the customer happy. It’s very satisfying.”

Graziano proudly noted that he and his brothers, Mark and Chris, work closely with all their customers. “One of the reasons people call us is because they know they will get a Graziano, and our customers like that.”

Along with landscaping services, Graziano Gardens also runs a retail location, he added. “In addition to people who hire us for landscaping projects, our clients are also do-it-yourselfers who are looking for good ideas and advice.”

As the world continues to move past COVID and more people leave home for vacation, landscapers say there are still plenty of homeowners who want to improve their yards.

“It seems that people are traveling by car more than plane, yet they are still spending money on their yards,” Omasta said.

“It’s not for everyone, but it can be rewarding work. You see the fruits of your labor from the design of a project through completion, and you make the customer happy. It’s very satisfying.”

Campedelli added that he’s hearing from plenty of homeowners who still want stone patios, new lawns, firepits, and other projects. “Anything you can do outside to enhance the entertaining possibilities in your yard is generally what remains popular with people.”

 

Long-term Value

In addition to the entertainment factor, Omasta noted one compelling reason to invest in a landscape project is the value it can add to a home when it goes up for sale.

According to Better Home and Gardens, attractive landscape projects can add 5% to 12% to a home’s resale value, while a professional hardscape project can add 15% to 20% to the resale value.

For many consumers, thoughts about landscape improvements don’t occur until the weather reaches 70 degrees and stays there. Campedelli’s advice for homeowners planning large backyard projects? Book soon if you want to get your job done this year.

“For special projects, we are scheduled into June and maybe a little later,” he said. “We can bring on new yard-maintenance clients without waiting, but big projects are booking further out.”

While traveling for vacations is on the rise, many people are still staying close to home and investing in their backyards. During the winter months, Campedelli attended seminars from hardscape block manufacturers who said they are in full production this year with lots of new product selections.

“They said the availability is much better this year, and we’ll have no problem getting what we need,” he said. “I hope they are right.”

A Number of Factors Have Converged to Send Insurance Premiums Higher

By
Insurance Special Coverage

Perfect Storm

Inflation ebbs and flows in unpredictable ways. The insurance world is certainly finding that out — and so are customers seeing their auto-insurance bills.

“Auto insurance hasn’t kept up with inflation over the past three to four years, and it’s finally catching up to it,” said Michael Long, CEO of Axia Insurance Services in Springfield, partly explaining why the average premium nationwide rose more than $240 in the past year, according to Bankrate.

There are plenty of other parts to the equation, of course, including the ongoing supply shortages that are generating inflation on everything that goes into cars, from materials to computer chips to labor.

In fact, used-car values in 2022 were 37% higher than they were previously, Long said, meaning insurance carriers that had been paying, say, $20,000 for a totaled car were now paying $30,000. Eventually, that was going to be passed to customers.

Bill Grinnell, managing partner of Webber & Grinnell Insurance, agreed. “A few things are driving automobile prices; one is supply-chain issues and a lack of supply of replacement vehicles and parts, and the increased costs of all that.”

As a result, he went on, “your collision claim that might have cost a couple thousand dollars pre-pandemic is now $3,800. It’s significantly more, and the insurance has kind of trailed that inflation. First the cost of the replacement vehicles and parts go up, and that’s reflected in the financial statement of the insurance company, and they need to react and bring rates up. It’s not a leading edge, but a trailing edge, but there’s an inflationary factor there.”

And it’s not just auto insurance. On the home-insurance side, the cost of building materials has risen sharply over the past few years, and supply shortages and lag times still beset the construction industry. Meanwhile, contractors dealing with those issues and also a workforce crunch aren’t able to take on as many jobs as they’d like.

Bill Grinnell

Bill Grinnell

“The cost to build a home three years ago might have been $175 per square foot, and now it’s $275 per square foot. If you’re insuring a home that was worth 300,000, now it’s $400,000.”

“The combination of those two factors have driven up the cost of repairs, and that’s reflected in increased claim payments. So insurance companies need to adjust their rates to afford these claim payments.”

The other huge factor is the dramatic rise in home values over the past two years, another supply-and-demand metric. “You’re required to insure your house to an educated, calculated measurement of its true replacement value,” Grinnell said. “And the cost to build a home three years ago might have been $175 per square foot, and now it’s $275 per square foot. If you’re insuring a home that was worth 300,000, now it’s $400,000.”

Whatever the reason — and, obviously, there are many — insurance customers are experiencing more pain than usual in their monthly premiums. While there are ways to reduce the hit, the key economic factors influencing those increases will continue to linger, at least in the short term.

 

Up, Up, and Away

Plymouth Rock Assurance recently created an infographic that showed customers why home and auto rates are rising.

On the home side, it listed a worker shortage (the construction industry is down 200,000 trade workers); supply-chain shortages and delays with everything from asphalt shingles and piping to copper wire and drywall; lumber and other material costs up more than 50%; and increased operating expenses for energy, transportation, storage, and more.

On the auto side, higher costs are related to chip shortages; a technician shortage driving labor costs up about 6%; a shortage of parts in repair shops causing delays, higher demand, and higher repair prices; and a still-low vehicle inventory on many lots, inflating the sticker price of cars — and their replacement value.

Michael Long

Michael Long

“Not all insurance companies are created equally. Whether it’s the way they handle claims, the way they handle billing, the way they handle cancellations after a loss or two losses, all those things need to be discussed with an agent because not all contracts are the same.”

“It’s a challenging time for all of us,” Long said. “When we talk to clients, last year’s rates were up about 15% on the auto side, and we’re expecting another 8.4% this year.”

Some of the cost factors are unexpected — for example, glass replacement. “With glass claims, it used to be a couple hundred to replace a windshield. I’ve seen them as high as $2,400 because of all the information you get from the sensors in the windshield.”

Then there’s driver behavior. Long noted that accidents were up 7% in 2022, and insurance companies have never seen the volume of lawsuits they’re dealing with.

Grinnell agreed. “The results are worse for insurance companies. The severity of accidents is up, and that’s driving up the cost of the insurance, too.”

There are only so many ways for customers to reduce insurance costs, and some of them are common-sense.

“First, don’t have a claim. Drive carefully,” he said. “Claims really impact your premium quickly, so drive safely and don’t have motor-vehicle violations; don’t get a speeding ticket.”

Paying bills on time helps as well, he said. “There are so many hidden factors that none of us understand, even at the agency level, that go into ratemaking these days, but late payments and being consistently behind and getting cancellation notices is a sure way of having your premiums go up. So pay your bill on time and even enroll in automatic bill payment.”

While it’s important to have adequate coverage, Grinnell said people with older cars they might not be driving for much longer may opt out of collision coverage. He did just that with a 12-year-old car he owns but doesn’t drive that much, and it saves him about $450 per year.

Long said he talks to clients all the time about raising their deductibles. “If you currently have a $500 deductible, maybe look at a $1,000 deductible. If its $1,000, maybe $2,500. We’re regularly quoting $2,500 deductibles,” he noted. Meanwhile, “if a tree comes down, and it’s a $500 loss, absorb it, and pay it in full.”

Carriers also offer any number of discounts, from safe-driver and good-student benefits to discounts related to involvement in organizations ranging from the Pan Mass Challenge to the Massachusetts Golf Assoc. “There’s a Red Cross discount; if you contribute $25 to the Red Cross, you get 5% off your insurance. So you’re helping the community and saving money on insurance. Everyone wins with that deal.”

 

Weather or Not

The home-insurance market has been buffeted by a series of costly weather events, from hurricanes in Louisiana and Texas to tornadoes in the Midwest to fires in California. Insured losses from natural disasters routinely top $100 billion per year these days, and Long said $20 billion of that in 2022 was in auto claims alone.

As noted earlier, the cost of lumber and other building materials (up 33.9% in 2022) and labor (up 27%) are already causing insurance companies to play catch-up, and weather and climate events are just another challenge to deal with.

“It’s been a funny year for homeowners,” Grinnell said. “Property rates were certainly affected across the country due to some of these climate changes and weather patterns, the big windstorm losses.”

He noted one “big freeze” day last year that wound up affecting the region’s home-insurance carriers. “It was one of the biggest lost days on record. Pipes burst, and those are expensive claims. Generally, that’s not helping our region at all.”

Long advises people to be careful when switching carriers due to rising rates because the new carrier might not have made the same inflationary adjustments, and the customer will just have to face that all over again — while possibly losing benefits like accident forgiveness.

“Not all insurance companies are created equally. Whether it’s the way they handle claims, the way they handle billing, the way they handle cancellations after a loss or two losses, all those things need to be discussed with an agent because not all contracts are the same.”

On the other hand, Long said customers should absolutely stay in touch with their agent. “How often do you review insurance with them? Every year is not realistic, but every two to three years, you should be getting a call from your agent: ‘hey, let’s talk about what’s going on, and any new coverages out there.’”

After all, people still need to have enough coverage in case the worst does happen. And with home values what they are now, a total loss could be extra catastrophic if the coverage is not in line with that.

“The biggest investment people have is their dwelling. So, young people may have the time to make up for a disaster, to build equity in their house if they lose it,” Long said. For older homeowners, inadequate coverage for a loss could be a real problem.

The bottom line? Insurance costs money, and even more so this year, as customers should expect premiums to rise another 8% to 10% for both home and auto, Long said.

But when disaster strikes — even a small disaster, like a burst pipe or a sideswiped car — it beats not being covered.

With Expansion on the Horizon, Enlite Continues to Thrive

By
Enlite co-owner Matt Yee
Cannabis Special Coverage

Growth Pattern

Enlite co-owner Matt Yee

Enlite co-owner Matt Yee

From the start of cannabis legalization in Massachusetts, Northampton was one of the most receptive communities, streamlining the municipal regulatory process and initially setting no caps on licenses. Meanwhile, Springfield posed a more onerous process and set strict limits.

Enlite has experienced both, having opened its first dispensary in Northampton in late 2021 and is getting ready to open a second shop in Indian Orchard this year, Springfield’s fourth dispensary in all.

Matt Yee, one of Enlite’s owners, sees value for business owners in both models.

“Springfield was a longer process getting through special-use permit hearings. Northampton, in comparison, was very, very open and friendly to cannabis businesses, which created the amount of licenses we see here,” he explained. “So in some ways, [Springfield] has been difficult, but that difficulty also creates a bit of a barrier for competition to come in; there’s only a handful of active licenses in Springfield.”

The fact that Enlite is expanding at all is an accomplishment in an increasingly competitive marketplace, one that has exploded with new businesses to the point where the industry is starting to weather its first closures, including the Source in Northampton and Pleasantrees in Easthampton.

And Yee and his fellow owners — who include Matt Cutting, Peter Picknelly, and Nick Yee — aren’t done, with plans to apply for a third license, the maximum allowed by the state’s Cannabis Control Commission (CCC).

“Most customers are shopping with their phone prior to coming in with us, seeing what our menu looks like, seeing what our price points look like, and if they can’t find the specific product that they’re looking for, then they’re going to go somewhere else.”

“We’re still hunting for that third location,” Matt said. “That makes for a more profitable and healthy business model. It’s hard to exist with just one unit. And we chose Springfield because the location fills a niche of demand.”

Specifically, Indian Orchard borders two towns, Wilbraham and Ludlow, with moratoriums on dispensaries, he explained. “We’re very close to both of those. So we saw that location in Indian Orchard as a prime spot.”

Northampton shop’s location right off I-91

Enlite’s owners say the Northampton shop’s location right off I-91, rather than in the congested downtown, has been a plus.

When Enlite opened in Northampton a year and a half ago, Yee and his team saw potential, not only in the state’s legalization of cannabis, but Northampton’s embrace of it. It was the city’s eighth adult-use dispensary, a number which quickly bloomed to 11 and now sits at 10.

“So competition has definitely gone up. But competition is good, especially in this industry. Just like in my former industry, restaurants, competition benefits the customer at the end of the day.”

Considering the experience of the Yee family and Picknelly in that other challenging industry, and Cutting’s business background, the Enlite leadership team felt it had a good chance of success in cannabis, and so far they’ve been proven right. That’s not to say there haven’t been obstacles to overcome, but so far, Enlite is not only staying the course, but setting their sights … well, higher.

 

Rolling Along

Soon after Enlite opened, Yee told BusinessWest that the sheer number of cannabis businesses in Massachusetts — which now tops 265 retailers, in addition to cultivation, manufacturing, and wholesaling businesses — actually makes it easier for the best-equipped players to succeed, because of the cross-pollination. It’s why Enlite has adopted the model of many area dispensaries of partnering with boutique makers of cannabis products.

“We work with about 65 wholesalers right now,” he explained during BusinessWest’s recent visit. “We try to give priority to those who are producing local here in the Pioneer Valley, and also give priority to minority-owned, woman-owned, and veteran-owned companies, and participants in the social-equity program or the economic-empowerment program of the CCC. Anybody who checks those boxes and has a quality product, we definitely give priority to.”

A wide variety of products is key, he added. “We have about 450 to 500 items on the menu at any given time, which is a burden to control inventory-wise, but we have systems in place and experience with that well enough to handle all those SKUs and provide a wide selection to our customers.

“Most customers are shopping with their phone prior to coming in with us, seeing what our menu looks like, seeing what our price points look like, and if they can’t find the specific product that they’re looking for, then they’re going to go somewhere else,” Yee went on. “Our mentality is, if they can find the item here and maybe try some new items too, then they’ll become a repeat customer with us.”

“To kind of wade through the chaff and find the quality product at the right price point that the customer will enjoy can be a little overwhelming.”

He said many customers settle into buying favorite brands, but still appreciate variety.

“Five years ago, there weren’t very many brands, and quality wasn’t the highest, but now, with the level of competition we’re seeing in the wholesale market, there are brands that are definitely excelling. We have a couple of brands in-house that are excellent performers, and people come back for more.”

With competition forcing retail cannabis prices down to five-year lows in Massachusetts, Yee said his time in the restaurant world, where stiff competition also challenges profit margins, has taught him the value of customer service, as well as product knowledge and customer engagement — all factors that make the experience easier and more enjoyable, especially newcomers to the cannabis world. “That’s something we really pride ourselves on and strive for.”

The other differentiating factor is location — not just the strategic second location in Indian Orchard, where competition in the immediate environs is low, but in Northampton, where the flagship store sits right off the Coolidge Bridge rotary.

“Everybody’s kind of congested in the downtown area, which makes it far more difficult because somebody could just walk next door and find a cheaper price and buy there,” he said. “Here, with our location, situated right by the bridge and off the highway, we provide a convenience for people. It’s easy in, easy out, with plenty of parking that’s tough to find downtown. Our consumers want convenience, so that’s the other aspect we try to excel at.”

 

Highs and Lows

That said, Yee was quick to stress that captivating an audience and generating repeat customers is a constant focus, not something Enlite takes for granted.

“I think the other challenging aspect is the amount of wholesale product that’s becoming available on the market,” he explained. “Something I buy this month may be far less expensive two months from now, which would mean another retailer might pick it up for that price point and sell it for that price. So we’re seeing constant fluctuations in the price points of the wholesale product.

“That, along with the sheer amount of wholesalers that are knocking on our door and calling our phone, is pretty overwhelming,” he went on. “To kind of wade through the chaff and find the quality product at the right price point that the customer will enjoy can be a little overwhelming.”

Some cannabis-industry observers have commented on the experience of other states that followed a similar pattern to what’s happening in Massachusetts — exploding competition sends prices plummeting, and many operators focus on competing on price above all else, including quality and customer experience.

“We’ve always been conscious about that. We’re not trying to race to the bottom,” Yee said. “There are some operators here in Northampton who are dropping their prices, and all the other operators are forced to match those prices, which is difficult. But maintaining a healthy economy here in the Western Mass. market is something that we think about a lot. We’re not trying to drive the prices down too low and hurt everybody’s margin. There are definitely some players in town who are playing that game.”

Enlite will be the second minority-owned dispensary in Springfield, after Six Brick’s, which opened in September 2022. Enlite’s Northampton site was also the state’s first Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) applicant to open its doors, and Yee said the process of getting into the industry is still laden with minefields, especially for smaller entities.

“It’s definitely difficult. The requirements to get through the licensing procedure and then the buildout, inspections, and final licenses … it’s strenuous, and a lot of that knowledge is unknown to those smaller operators,” he explained. “So a lot of money can be burned just going through that painful process and experiencing that learning curve. And for those smaller operators who don’t have the capital of the big, multi-state operators or well-capitalized groups, that can be very difficult and sometimes detrimental to the business.”

As Enlite grows and expands, Yee said he’s still learning new things all the time, whether it’s a new product — from fast-acting edibles to new beverage lines — or a new market opportunity. “There’s something new coming out every month, it seems, and the customers are being introduced to those products with us.”

 

Business in Bloom

Yee has said Enlite’s biggest competitor is the black market, but analysts have pointed out that the leveling out of prices in the legal cannabis market may mitigate the illicit market’s advantage somewhat — while bringing on a whole new set of headaches in an industry where profits are already very tight due to onerous taxes.

He hopes, as consumers find more options in their price range, that stores that focus on quality, education, and customer experience will maintain an edge. And he said dealing with those customers, and hearing their stories, is his favorite part of the job.

“On a daily basis, we have first-time consumers come in, curious about cannabis and wanting to learn more. I have so many stories of first-time consumers coming back in and saying, ‘wow, that really helped me. That got me to go to bed more regularly. I got more sleep. I’m less stressed out. I have more fun with my kids — thousands of stories like that.

“Every day, somebody comes in, and we have a great conversation, and we can introduce them to a new product that they didn’t know existed, and we’ll see them back here a couple of days later. And there are still a lot of people who are just wading into this industry and finding these products.”

And finding them at a shop that continues to navigate an ever-changing, always-challenging landscape for business owners, with not just survival in mind, but continued growth.

Creative Development Sought for Springfield Landmarks

By
Clocktower Building
Commercial Real Estate Special Coverage

Turning Back the Clock

Clocktower Building

The Clocktower Building, above, was home to Masonic Temple more than a century ago (right).

At other times in Springfield’s history, the properties at 113 State St. and 1155 Main St. were prominent players in the vibrancy, culture, and overall tenor of the City of Homes.

The former — long known, for obvious reasons, as the Clocktower Building — was home to the Masonic Temple when it opened in 1893, before a new, much larger facility was built further east on State Street. The latter, the Colonial Block, which opened in 1903, was one of the city’s first real mixed-use facilities, noted Tim Sheehan, Springfield’s chief Development officer, featuring a blend of office and retail space on the lower floors and residential units on the upper floors.

Until fairly recently, meaning before the pandemic, the two properties had still been somewhat vibrant, featuring a wide array of tenants, including nonprofits, small businesses, a bank (at 113 State St.), and a number of various-sized law firms taking advantage of the buildings’ proximity to the Hampden County Courthouse just down State Street. These days, though, they are almost entirely vacant and stand in stark contrast to the progress seen around them, most notably across Main Street at MGM Springfield and across State Street at the MassMutual Center.

City officials have been looking to change that picture, obviously, and are moving forward with a plan to return these buildings, and also 11-21 Stockbridge St., a smaller, better-occupied office property in that same area, to their former status and make them part of the city’s resurgence. After acquiring them as a package in 2021 for $2.75 million, the Springfield Redevelopment Authority (SRA) has invited the development community to step up and submit proposals for the properties, separately or perhaps collectively.

Responses to this request for qualifications (RFQ) are due later this month — the deadline was originally late March — and Sheehan and SRA Executive Director Amanda Pham are expecting some imaginative proposals because that’s what will be needed to turn back the clock and make them key players again.

“This will require a responsive, creative developer, someone who has a vision for preservation of these buildings,” Pham said. “They have great potential.”

Sheehan and Pham are expecting proposals that will likely blend office and/or retail with a residential component, noting that what emerges for one, two, or all three properties will likely require a public-private partnership, similar to what was needed to finally move the needle and create a new use — a mix of residential and retail — for the former Court Square Hotel, just a block or so from the three properties in the RFQ.

Finding a preferred developer is a two-step process, said Pham, adding that, after responses to the request for qualifications are received and reviewed, three finalists will move on to a request for proposals.

If all goes well, a preferred developer is expected to be named by June, they said, adding that it may not be long after that when people start talking about these landmarks using mostly the present and future tenses, and not the past.

 

Building Momentum

As she gave BusinessWest a tour of 1155 Main St., Pham referenced some reminders of, well … what it once was, starting with the large directory on a wall in the lobby listing tenants and their suite numbers.

Tim Sheehan and Amanda Pham stand outside the historic structure.

Tim Sheehan and Amanda Pham stand outside the historic structure.

The board still includes the names of dozens of tenants that are no longer there — from the law firm Pellegrini Seeley, Ryan and Blakesley, which once took much of the space on the third floor before moving to the Basketball Hall of Fame complex, to Revitalize Community Development Corp., which occupied a large suite on the second floor. In fact, the 82,000-square-foot property is currently only about 12% occupied.

Later, she pointed to a large bookcase full of law books left behind by one of the departing law firms.

“We have a lot of law books,” she said, adding that, apparently, many of the departing firms located in various-sized offices on the maze-like floors had no use for the books in this age of the internet and simply left them behind.

Thus, these law volumes become part of the dialogue concerning what this property used to be, said Pham, who took the helm at the SRA in 2021, adding that, increasingly, the focus is on what they can be moving forward.

The SRA has taken the matter from the discussion phase to what could be called the discovery phase with the request for qualifications. It includes a link to a six-minute video that features comments from Pham, Sheehan, Mayor Domenic Sarno, MGM President and CEO Chris Kelley, Peter Picknelly, chairman of Peter Pan Bus Lines and a key player in the Court Square project, and others, all inviting developers to take advantage of this “Main Street and Convention District development opportunity.”

“This will require a responsive, creative developer, someone who has a vision for preservation of these buildings. They have great potential.”

Together, they talk about the progress made downtown and the progress still to come, with projects like the $74 million parking garage and event space that will replace the facility torn down last fall. They also discuss how much of this progress was the result of public-private partnerships.

“This development behind me never would have happened if not for the cooperation of City Hall and the state of Massachusetts,” said Picknelly as he stood in front of the Court Square property.

The Colonial Block

The Colonial Block was one of the first mixed-use buildings in Springfield, with retail and residential space. It may see a similar blend in the future.

A number of developers, both with local ties and from outside the region, have expressed interest in the properties, said both Sheehan and Pham, noting that the city acquired the properties to move beyond the ongoing speculative nature of previous ownership and take redevelopment to a higher plane.

“We wanted the buildings situated so their redevelopment would ultimately fit the city’s overall planning as it relates to the Main Street Convention Center District Plan,” said Sheehan, adding that this plan, in general terms, calls for building on existing momentum and creating a true destination in the downtown, a place where people can live, work, and (especially with MGM and the MassMutual Center right next door) play.

A developers’ tour conducted several weeks ago attracted several parties, many in person, but some virtually, said Pham, adding that Springfield has managed, through its recent spate of progress, to put itself on the map with regard to regional and national developers looking to expand their portfolios.

There were site tours of the properties and the surrounding area as well, she went on, adding that firms brought full teams with them, including architects, engineers, and planners, to gauge future uses for the landmarks.

Given the current glut of office space, Sheehan said, especially the class B and class C variety that these properties have featured, future redevelopment will likely not focus on that use entirely, although it could be part of the equation.

“There is an overabundance of class B and C space in the office sector, so we’re really encouraging people to look at adaptive reuse to … something else,” he noted. “Developers may want to reduce the amount of office, but not completely eliminate it, either.”

A much larger part of the equation will likely be market-rate housing and activation of the ground floors with retail and hospitality-related businesses that will give downtown visitors more things to do and more opportunities to stay, he went on.

Colonial Block

Above, the directory inside the Colonial Block is quite dated, as most of those tenants have moved out. At right, one of the unique spaces in the building.

“Our planning ultimately calls for extensive ground-floor activation,” he explained. “You have two very strong anchors, in MGM and the MassMutual Center, adjacent to these properties, and we really think there is the ability to activate the ground floors so that it encourages people who want to come to the MassMutual Center or MGM to want to linger and stay in the area.”

As for housing, Sheehan said a recent study identified the need for 1,500 units of additional housing of this type in and around downtown.

And while conversion of such properties to housing is often difficult and expensive, developers need only look a few hundred yards to the south for inspiration, to the massive Stockbridge Court apartment complex, created more than 40 years ago and perhaps the city’s best market-rate-housing success story.

“Stockbridge Court is certainly an example of what can be done,” he said, adding quickly that any residential projects in these properties will likely require a public-private partnership to not only renovate the buildings in question but improve the overall area and its connection to Main Street.

“We’ll need to enhance the infrastructure to make it a much more walkable environment — and a pleasant walkable environment — if we’re going to attract that scale of residential development in this area.”

 

Right Time and Place

Overall, there are some building blocks coming together that could make development of these properties a more attractive and more viable opportunity, said both Sheehan and Pham, noting that leasing activity will start soon at Court Square, and construction is set to commence on the new parking garage. Meanwhile, a new entrance is planned at the southwest corner of the MassMutual Center.

Meanwhile, the two leaders are looking at adaptive reuse of these properties as just part of a larger effort in the city’s downtown.

“We’re looking at these as the first step in the redevelopment of the area,” said Sheehan, noting that that there are several other vacant or underutilized spaces, including the neighboring 1260 Main St., several surface parking lots, and other properties.

As he referenced a photo of the Clocktower Building, from the days before its stone exterior was mostly stripped away — it remains in some places as a reminder of what was — Sheehan waxed nostalgic on its place in city history.

“For a long time, this building has certainly played a major role in downtown Springfield in terms of being a major corner and a huge presence,” he told BusinessWest, adding that the hope is that this property, as well as the Colonial Block — and other properties in that area — can attain that status again.

Time will tell, of course, when and how soon that happens, but this is certainly a developing story — in every sense of that phrase.

Editorial

By
Opinion

Some Big Shoes to Fill

 

Javier Reyes, the incoming chancellor of UMass Amherst, was introduced to the local media — and took a few questions — at a session on the campus earlier this month.

On subjects ranging from the Blarney Blowout to his management style; from why he pursued this particular job to his thoughts on the relative worth of college rankings today, he said … well, mostly what you would expect.

That was especially true when he was asked by BusinessWest what it would be like to follow in the very large footsteps of Kumble Subbaswamy, who has served as chancellor for the past 11 years and is credited with taking the university to a higher plane when it comes to everything from prestige (and those rankings; the school is now 26th among American public universities, according to U.S. News & World Report) to research dollars.

So much so that UMass President Marty Meehan opined at the same media session that the UMass chancellor’s job is now far more attractive than it was years ago, one able to draw the top candidates.

That includes Reyes, who has most recently served as interim chancellor at the University of Illinois Chicago. He told those assembled that, when it comes to following Subbaswamy, he understands there is perhaps more pressure than if this was a turnaround assignment, as many schools are providing these days, but he welcomes that pressure.

“You’re not coming in to repair something, but to build on the shoulders of giants — and that is a very attractive opportunity,” he said of his decision to come to UMass Amherst and work to keep the school on its current pace and angle of ascent. “You’re not trying to catch up; you’re really trying to move and set the direction and be a forward leader … It comes with more pressure, but it’s more exciting.”

‘Exciting’ would be just one of the words we could use to describe this assignment. ‘Daunting’ also comes to mind. That’s because, while it isn’t easy to put a major university on a higher trajectory, it is certainly more difficult to maintain such a course.

To do that requires real leadership and both a desire to continually set the bar higher and the will to clear that higher bar.

We hope that Reyes, the university’s first Hispanic chancellor, can meet this stern challenge because, as we’ve said on many, many occasions, UMass Amherst is an extremely important economic engine for this region and a source of innovation and entrepreneurial energy. Meanwhile, its graduates — at least those that we can keep in this market — are a key ingredient in the success formula of businesses all across the 413, and across the state as well.

Using every measuring stick but the football team (a sore subject to be sure), UMass took critical steps forward during Subbaswamy’s tenure in terms of new building and expansion of the campus; enrollment; research dollars; diversity, equity, and inclusion; rankings for the university and specific schools, such as the Isenberg School of Business; and the institution’s ability to attract top talent, meaning students, faculty, and staff.

Swamy, as most everyone called him, has taken the university to a place it hadn’t been before. It will be Reyes’ assignment to not merely maintain the status quo, but take it further still.

He sounds like he’s up for a challenge, and that’s good, because this will be one.

Implement a Total Rewards Strategy

By Contributor
Opinion

Opinion

By Pam Thornton

 

The way that we work has changed over the past several years, and as a result of that shift, our mindset around rewards and recognition for employees also needs to change. We are facing a major rebalancing resulting from the severe economic and social shifts that have emerged.

Gartner reports that one of the top five priorities for 2023 is prioritizing the ‘employee experience, with almost 50% of HR leaders making this a major focus. A well-thought-out ‘total rewards’ strategy can have a big impact on attracting and retaining talent and overall employee experience.

Being a human-resources professional is a harder job than it ever has been before. Developing and using skills to influence how organizations shape their employee experience and human-capital strategies is a critical leadership role and one that cannot be done in the HR department alone. The answer is a holistic approach to total rewards that truly engages employees and includes every member of the organization.

There are five critical components in a total rewards strategy to consider when creating better employee engagement: compensation, benefits, recognition, well-being, and development.

It’s important to evaluate the compensation system you have in place. Do you have a system that is linked to organizational goals and individual competencies? Is your incentive and rewards system doing what it is designed to do? Do the benefits you offer resonate with your employees? Are they using them? An evaluation of the effectiveness of the overall strategy is critical, and the only way to really get the answers to these questions is to ask your employees and include them in the assessment and development of a truly effective total rewards program.

Well-being is all-encompassing and means something different to every individual, which makes this one of the hardest things for us to wrap our arms around. Flexible work practices, mental-health resources, financial-wellness solutions, and expanded caregiver-support options are just some of the building blocks that should be explored when creating your strategy. Offer solutions that give employees what they need and balance the business priorities of the organization. Thinking creatively to achieve the right mix is the ultimate goal.

The final and probably the most important component of a total rewards strategy is development. Developing your own skills and the skills of your workforce should be an ongoing journey that everyone participates in.

If we don’t put our life mask on first, we may not be able to help others. “Average leaders raise the bar on themselves; good leaders raise the bar for others; great leaders inspire others to raise their own bar,” author and leadership expert Orrin Woodward said. Leaders, please be students and use what you’ve learned to inspire, model, and teach.

We have an opportunity to re-engineer the traditional employment experience. Not all organizations are created equal, and we don’t have an endless fountain of resources, but we all collectively need to put the effort in to assess and adjust our total rewards strategy to leverage what we’ve got.

 

Pam Thornton is director of Strategic HR Services at the Employers Assoc. of the Northeast. This article first appeared on the EANE blog; eane.org

Building Permits

By
Building Permits

The following building permits were issued during the month of March 2023.

CHICOPEE

Curry Realty LLC
765 Memorial Dr.
$412,230 — Exterior renovations to showroom and service building, including removal and replacement of existing metal siding and aluminum composite panels and updates to interior finishes

Hare Krishna Springfield Hotel LLC
36 Johnny Cake Hollow
$48,234 — Repair drywall and closets in 45 rooms, paint

Lot 2A Chicopee LLC
729 Fuller Road
$75,000 — Roofing, exterior painting, install fiber cement siding on small section of wall over porch roof, minor framing for new signage

McKinley Chicopee LLC
38 Asinof Ave.
$405,820 — Roofing

Pioneer Valley Refrigerated
149 Plainfield St.
$69,969 — Roofing

HADLEY

333 Russell Street LLC
333 Russell St.
N/A — Frame wood walls in front of block exterior walls

Pyramid Mall of Hadley Newco LLC
367 Russell St.
N/A — Rework sales-floor display features, miscellaneous painting

LEE

AJT Realty Trust
335 Forest St.
$50,000 — AT&T to swap existing antennas and remote radio units with new ones

Community Health Programs Inc.
11 Quarry Hill Road
$11,122 — Revise existing sprinkler-system coverage to accommodate new tenant layout

Lee Outlets LLC
17 Premium Outlet Blvd.
$196,400 — Roofing

Onyx Specialty Papers Inc.
40 Willow St.
$45,995 — Roofing

PITTSFIELD

Berkshire Hospitality Group LLC
1 West St.
$35,000 — Dish to place three antennas, six remote radio units, three junction boxes, and six cables

Berkshire Hospitality Group LLC
1 West St.
$1,000 — Take down drywall, hang new drywall

Jean Yves Dejax
236 First St.
$12,664 — Roofing

Pitex LP
635 Merrill Road
$85,000 — Build playground equipment in existing space

Pittsfield Management Systems Inc.
1000 North St.
$129,890 — Replace 82 windows

Scarafoni Associates Nominee Trust
100 North St.
$30,000 — Replace four HVAC units

Tower 21C LLC
123 North St.
$25,000 — New tenant fit-out at basement level, including new service vestibule, bathroom, and two wash sinks

SPRINGFIELD

125 Paridon Street LLC
125 Paridon St.
$35,000 — AT&T to remove and replace 12 antennas

Baystate Medical Center Inc.
759 Chestnut St.
$98,144 — Repair existing employee entrance vestibule

City of Springfield
70 Tapley St.
$6,800 — Replace stairs and railing to front loading dock at DPW building

FPS Inc.
1259 East Columbus Ave.
N/A — Repair Burger King restaurant damaged by car impact; remove and replace damaged brick, storefront glazing, and header beam

New North Citizens Council Inc.
2455 Main St.
$59,500 — Frame, insulate, and install drywall to one wall at New North Citizens Council

Yasmin Siddiqui
17 Locust St.
$15,000 — Roofing

Picture This

By
We the Women
Picture This

Email ‘Picture This’ photos with a caption and contact information to [email protected]

 

We the Women

On March 8, International Women’s Day, Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) put a spotlight on the work of the many women leaders within the campus and community. As part of its “We the Women” series, the event featured a panel discussion with female leaders who shared their journey to success.

We the Women

Panelists included, from left, Cindy Breunig, SAFE project director at STCC; Jennifer Wallace-Johnson, assistant professor of Social Work at STCC; Annamarie Golden, director of Community Relations at Baystate Health; and Cindy Gaynor-Harper, real-estate entrepreneur and STCC alumna.

 

Booking a Visit

Dr. Michael Krupa, CEO emeritus of MiraVista Behavioral Health Center and a licensed psychologist of more than three decades, recently read to preschool children at Square One’s Tommie Johnson Child & Family Center in honor of International Read to Me Day, which is celebrated each March 19. Krupa read the Margaret Wise Brown classic Goodnight Moon. Research shows that such early interaction supports brain development around language and thinking as children hear words connected to a story and pictures in a book.

MiraVista Behavioral Health Center

Dr. Michael Krupa, CEO emeritus of MiraVista Behavioral Health Center and a licensed psychologist of more than three decades, recently read to preschool children at Square One’s Tommie Johnson Child & Family Center in honor of International Read to Me Day, which is celebrated each March 19. Krupa read the Margaret Wise Brown classic Goodnight Moon

 

 

Raising Spirits

Monson Savings Bank recently donated $2,500 to Girls Inc. of the Valley in support of its fundraising event, Spirit of Girls, which aims to raise money to provide students living in Holyoke, Springfield, Chicopee, and surrounding areas with essential summer programming at no cost to their families.

Raising Spirits

Pictured, from left: Jessica Colson, Girls Inc. of the Valley director of Development & Communications; Dan Moriarty, Monson Savings Bank president and CEO; and Ruth Roy, Girls Inc. of the Valley campaign director.

 

 

Welcome to UMass

Javier Reyes (right), the next chancellor of UMass Amherst, sat down for a press conference on April 3 with his wife, Maritza Reyes (left) and UMass President Marty Meehan. In February, the UMass board of trustees named Reyes the successor to current UMass Amherst Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy, who will step down this spring after 11 years leading the university. Reyes currently serves as interim chancellor at the University of Illinois Chicago, and has also held administrative posts at West Virginia University and the University of Arkansas.

Javier Reyes (right), the next chancellor of UMass Amherst

Javier Reyes (right), the next chancellor of UMass Amherst

 

 

 

Legal Lunch Room

On March 30, Bacon Wilson, P.C. hosted students and faculty from Bay Path University in its first-ever Legal Lunch Room, to give an inside look at the opportunities that can come from working in a law firm. The women of Bacon Wilson who graduated from Bay Path shared how their individual journeys led each of them down a different path to the firm.

The women of Bacon Wilson who graduated from Bay Path shared how their individual journeys led each of them down a different path to the firm.

The women of Bacon Wilson who graduated from Bay Path shared how their individual journeys led each of them down a different path to the firm.

 

Ready to Protect and Serve

The 65th recruit officer candidate class of the Western Massachusetts Police Academy was saluted in a graduation ceremony held at American International College (AIC) on March 17. They marched to the music of a bagpipe into the Griswold Theater, where they were welcomed by family, friends, and fellow members of law enforcement. Among the newly minted officers was AIC Police Officer Curtis McGuire, AIC’s first-ever graduate of the academy. (Photo by Zachary Cunningham)

The 65th recruit officer candidate class of the Western Massachusetts Police Academy was saluted in a graduation ceremony held at American International College (AIC) on March 17.

The 65th recruit officer candidate class of the Western Massachusetts Police Academy was saluted in a graduation ceremony held at American International College (AIC) on March 17.

 

Court Dockets

By
Court Dockets

The following is a compilation of recent lawsuits involving area businesses and organizations. These are strictly allegations that have yet to be proven in a court of law. Readers are advised to contact the parties listed, or the court, for more information concerning the individual claims.

 

 

HAMPDEN SUPERIOR COURT

 

Adnan Yildirim v. Wentworth Estates Condominium Trust

Allegation: Negligence, breach of contract: $58,952

Filed: 3/10/23

 

Jassen LaPlant, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated v. the Yankee Candle Co. Inc.

Allegation: Non-payment of wages, non-payment of overtime wages: $750,000

Filed: 3/13/23

 

Yelena Litvinov, personal representative of the estate of Eugene Litvinov v. Leonard Shaker, MD; Carla Sterling, MD; Tina Chin, PA; Patricia Orme Shea, NP; Laura Progulske, LPN; and Pioneer Valley Urology

Allegation: Medical malpractice, wrongful death: $50,000+

Filed: 3/13/23

 

Brenda Serrano v. Walmart Inc.

Allegation: Negligence; slip and fall causing personal injury: $100,000

Filed: 3/16/23

 

Troy Laundry Building LLC v. Roger Sitterly and Son Inc.

Allegation: Breach of contract, breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing: $107,983.42

Filed: 3/17/23

 

Ewa Costa v. LUSO Federal Credit Union

Allegation: Negligence; slip and fall causing personal injury: $233,978.19

Filed: 3/23/23

Agenda

By
Agenda

Free Shred Days

April 15, May 13: bankESB invites customers and members of the community to two free shred days at local offices. The events will be held from 9 to 11 a.m. on the following dates and locations: April 15, bankESB, 241 Northampton St., Easthampton; and May 13, Home Depot parking lot, 350 Russell St., Hadley. No appointment is necessary. Local residents can reduce their risk of identity theft by bringing old mail, receipts, statements or bills, canceled checks, pay stubs, medical records, or any other unwanted paper documents containing personal or confidential information and shredding them safely and securely for free. Valley Green Shredding, a professional document-destruction company, will be on site and can accept up to two boxes of documents per person.

 

En-ROADS Presentation

April 20: Westfield State University and its partners will host a free presentation of En-ROADS at 6:30 p.m. on campus in Wilson Hall, Room 130. The program is designed for the general public, secondary teachers, and students of all ages. En-ROADS is an evidence-based global climate simulator that allows users to explore the impact of specific policies — such as electrifying transport, pricing carbon, and improving agricultural practices — on hundreds of factors, including energy prices, temperature, air quality, and sea-level rise. Developed by Climate Interactive, the MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative, and Ventana Systems, En-ROADS helps people make connections between things they care about and the possibilities available to help ensure a resilient future. Users can quickly see the long-term effects of the global climate policies and actions they imagine. Anyone interested in learning which climate solutions are most impactful, teachers wondering how to enhance students’ learning about climate issues, and others will benefit from the En-ROADS presentation, which will explore the benefits, challenges, and equity implications of a wide range of climate policies, while stakeholders work together to build a scenario for a better climate future. The presentation will include information on using En-ROADS in classrooms and other community settings, and will help attendees understand actions they can take to address climate change. Light refreshments will be provided.

 

Harmonia V Concert

April 20: The Westfield Athenaeum and MOSSO (Musicians of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra) will present the third of a three-concert chamber music series, with Harmonia V performing at 7 p.m. This is the second year of MOSSO’s partnership with the Westfield Athenaeum. Guy McLain, executive director of the Westfield Athenaeum, will offer a pre-performance talk at 6 p.m., which is free to ticket holders. The Connecticut-based Harmonia V, an innovative woodwind quintet, performs standard literature, seldom-heard treasures, and dynamic contemporary music. Members of the quintet include Springfield Symphony Orchestra and MOSSO horn player Robert Hoyle; Jennifer Berman, flute; Janet Rosen, oboe; Jim Forgey, clarinet; and Jackie Sifford Joyner, bassoon. The Harmonia V program, “April in Paris,” includes music by Fauré, Ravel, and Debussy. For information on Harmonia V, visit www.harmoniav.com. Tickets for the concert cost $25 and must be purchased in advance at the Westfield Athenaeum during business hours, or online at www.westath.org.

 

Technology Recycling Drive

April 21: For individuals and companies looking to get rid of their old computer equipment and do some good, Paragus IT will host a technology recycling drive to promote sustainability and benefit Dakin Humane Society. Paragus will take old, unwanted computers, laptops, printers, and other equipment and prepare them for reuse or make sure they’re properly disposed of. In exchange, Paragus will collect $5 per piece of equipment, all of which will benefit Dakin Humane Society. Between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., those looking to recycle equipment have two choices of drop-off sites: Paragus IT at 122 Russell St. in Hadley or Dakin Humane Society at 171 Union St. in Springfield. Paragus has also partnered with the Lexington Group, which has offered its vehicles and services for pick-up from local businesses. A minimum of five pieces of equipment and a minimum $50 donation are required for pick-up. Interested businesses can contact Jackie Deiana at [email protected] or (413) 343-1104 to reserve a spot.

 

5K Dash and Dine

April 22: UMass Dining Services will host its 12th annual UMass 5K Dash and Dine on campus. The goal of the event is to promote health and wellness at the university while raising funds for the Amherst Survival Center. In total, UMass Dining has been able to raise more than $57,000 for the Amherst Survival Center. The 5K features a USA Track and Field (USATF) certified course to runners, walkers, and wheelchair participants. When race participants are finished, all are welcome to have lunch at an award-winning Dining Commons on campus. The race fee is $10 for all UMass and Five College students, $20 for UMass Amherst faculty and staff, and $25 for the general public. Children 8 years and under may participate for free at the annual fun run at 10 a.m. The fee includes registration, T-shirt, and the complimentary meal at the Hampshire or Berkshire Dining Commons. Online registration ends on Wednesday, April 19, but walk-up registration is available on race day. The schedule includes check-in at the Southwest Horseshoe at 9 a.m., the fun run at 10 a.m., the start of the race at 11 a.m., an award ceremony at 11:30 a.m., and lunch at noon. To register for the event or make a donation, visit runumass.com.

 

Difference Makers Gala

April 27: The 15th annual Difference Makers Gala will be held at the Log Cabin in Holyoke. Since 2009, BusinessWest has been recognizing the work of individuals, groups, businesses, and institutions through this recognition program. The 2023 Difference Makers was announced, and their stories told, in the Feb. 20 issue of BusinessWest and at businesswest.com. Tickets cost $85 each, and tables of 10-12 are available. To purchase tickets, visit businesswest.com/difference-makers. Partner sponsors for this year’s program include Burkhart Pizzanelli P.C., the Royal Law Firm, TommyCar Auto Group, and Westfield Bank.

 

Pioneer Valley Conference for Women

May 4: The Pioneer Valley Conference for Women will host its first in-person event at the Marriott in downtown Springfield. The theme of the conference is “Let Go.” Leading the speaker lineup are Paulette Piñero, social entrepreneur, writer, and leadership coach, and Yvonne Williams, author of Tested Faith and It’s All About the Shoes. Each will provide a keynote address to an expected audience of more than 300 attendees. The conference highlights topics that were chosen by the women of Western Mass., based on current trends and interests. Alison Maloni, owner of Alison May Public Relations, news anchor for a national network, and bestselling author of Breaking in the News: Build Buzz for Your Brand, will emcee the conference. Local comedian Jess Miller will entertain attendees during a VIP Comedy Kick-off the evening before the conference; tickets cost $35. The cost to attend the Pioneer Valley Conference is $52, which includes breakfast, lunch, a swag bag, and an afternoon celebration with a female DJ and complementary wine and hors d’oeuvres following the full-day conference. The lunch sponsor is M&T Bank. The panel sponsor is Westfield Bank. The network sponsors are Smith Executive Education and USI Insurance. The small-business sponsors are Lovelace Design and Rooted Flowers. Keeping with the goal of accessibility, the conference will also be available virtually for those who are more comfortable watching through a screen. Sessions will be taped for future viewing. For more information on keynote speakers, sponsors, exhibitors, and panelists, visit sheslocal.org/pioneer-valley-conference-for-women.

 

Sundae Funday 5K and Family Fun Fest

May 6: Marianna Litovich, founder and executive director of All Our Kids Inc., announced the organization’s third annual Sundae Funday 5K and Family Fun Fest will take place on from 9 a.m. to noon at Stanley Park in Westfield. The event will kick off with a 5K run/walk and simultaneous family festival that is open to the public. Families can enjoy games, crafts, prizes, food, community information, and lots of entertainment. “This event helps All Our Kids raise awareness, celebrate foster and adoptive families, bring our community together, and have fun,” Litovich said. Anyone interested in registering to run or walk the 5K or sponsor this nonprofit fundraiser can visit fosteringaok.org/aok5k.

 

Hooplandia

June 23-25: Registration for Hooplandia, a 3×3 basketball tournament and festival, is now open at www.hooplandia.com and includes levels of play for all ages and divisions. The tournament, presented by the Eastern States Exposition (ESE) and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, will take place on the grounds of ESE in West Springfield June 23-25, with special games at the Hall of Fame in Springfield. The event is expected to attract thousands of fans and players as hundreds of games take place across more than 70 courts. Divisions of play have been created to provide an all-inclusive environment for players of all ages and playing abilities. With brackets that include veterans, first responders, youth, wheelchair athletes, college elites, and many more, there’s a spot on the court for everyone. Players are invited to build teams of four, create their own unique team name and uniforms, and register at www.hooplandia.com. Team fees range from $75 to $190, with children under 8 and participants in the Special Olympics category being free of charge. Hooplandia has teamed up with Boys and Girls Clubs throughout the region as its designated philanthropic partner, providing $10 from every team registration to support the mission and programs of the clubs. Partnership opportunities for Hooplandia are available at a variety of levels to help underwrite all areas of play, including Boys & Girls Club youth, active military, veterans divisions, and more. Anyone interested should email [email protected]. Hooplandia welcomes participation from youth team referees, scorekeepers, Fan Village contest facilitators, and volunteers for myriad duties to help make this inaugural year a success. Those interested in participating in this groundbreaking event can fill out the volunteer form at www.hooplandia.com.

 

MOSSO Concert

July 23: MOSSO (Musicians of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra) will make its Sevenars Concerts debut in Worthington at 4 p.m. MOSSO and Friends, which opened the Westfield Athenaeum series, features violinist Beth Welty, horn player Sarah Sutherland, and pianist Elizabeth Skavish. They will perform Frédéric Duvernoy’s Trio No. 1 for Violin, Horn, and Piano; Trygve Madsen’s Trio, Op. 110 for Violin, Horn, and Piano; and Johannes Brahms’ Trio in E-flat Major for Violin, Horn, and Piano. Sevenars performances are held at the Academy, South Ireland Street and Route 112, South Worthington. There is no charge for admission to the performance, and no tickets are needed, although donations at the door are welcome ($20 or more per person is suggested to help defray expenses). For program details and information on Sevenars, visit www.sevenars.org.

People on the Move

By
People on the Move
Roy Sasenaraine

Roy Sasenaraine

Baystate Health and Lifepoint Behavioral Health, a business unit of Lifepoint Health, announced that Roy Sasenaraine has been named CEO of the new joint-venture behavioral-health hospital currently under construction in Holyoke. The 150-bed hospital, to be called Valley Springs Behavioral Health Hospital, is slated to open to patients in August. Most recently, Sasenaraine served as vice president of Operations for the central region of Spire Orthopedic Partners, where he led new construction, patient-access initiatives, and acquisition and integration work for Spire’s nine locations in Connecticut. Prior to his role at Spire, Sasenaraine served as vice president of Operations for Hartford Healthcare System’s East Region behavioral-health network. In this role, he oversaw 18 locations, including six school-based programs, two emergency departments, one inpatient psychiatric hospital, eight ambulatory locations, and one inpatient juvenile program. His leadership led to the implementation of a new care model for adolescent, pediatric, and adult patients in inpatient care along with the implementation of a new electronic medical record across all sites of care. Sasenaraine earned a bachelor’s degree in healthcare administration and a master’s degree in business administration, with a focus in healthcare administration, from Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn. He is a member of the board of directors for Health Assistance Intervention Education Network and previously served on boards for Advance Behavioral Health and Blue Ocean Healthcare LLC.

•••••

Audrey Chechile

Audrey Chechile

Audrey Chechile has joined the bankESB Marketing department as its Marketing Communications manager. In this role, she will be responsible for managing internal and external communications content to drive brand awareness, engagement, and business development; managing the company’s marketing and sales-material development, inventory, and distribution; and managing bank-sponsored events and donations across the member banks of its parent company, Hometown Financial Group. She will be integral in supporting the Marketing department in providing the highest level of service and responsiveness to customers, communities, and business partners. Prior to joining bankESB, Chechile was the Marketing manager at an automotive dealership group in Northampton, and before that was Marketing manager at Canna Provisions in Lee. She has more than 10 years of marketing experience in complex, regulated environments with emphasis in design, public relations, project management, event planning, and more. She holds a bachelor’s degree in public relations from SUNY Fredonia.

•••••

Amherst College named Angie Tissi-Gassoway its new chief Student Affairs officer (CSAO) and dean of students. She will be responsible for all functions of the Office of Student Affairs, including residential engagement and well-being, housing and operations, identity and cultural resources, counseling and mental health, student activities and leadership, health and community safety services, accessibility, case management, community standards, new student programs and orientation, and immigration and visa services. Tissi-Gassoway has served as the interim CSAO since February, before which they served as the interim chief Equity and Inclusion officer for 14 months. They joined Amherst in July 2012 as an area coordinator in Residential Life and, since then, has held various roles in the offices of both Student Affairs and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), including director of the Queer Resource Center, assistant dean of students and director of Identity and Cultural Resources; and associate dean of students for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. During that time, Tissi-Gassoway co-led new-student orientation and co-developed the social-justice leadership LEAP program, founded and served as the inaugural director of the Queer Resource Center, and helped to establish a structure and expansion of the college’s cultural and identity resource centers, including the creation of the inaugural affinity-based graduation ceremonies. To reinforce the college’s commitment to inclusion and community, Tissi-Gassoway spearheaded the “I Belong” campaign, the Day of Dialogue on Race and Racism, the Amherst Reflects series, and the Cultural Heritage Committee. In the past year, they co-created and launched the Civil Rights and Title IX Office in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and worked with the provost’s office to recruit and retain a diverse faculty. They also currently chair the recently formed Campus Safety Advisory Committee. Prior to their tenure at Amherst College, they served in Mount Holyoke College’s Health Education office. Before that, Tissi-Gassoway worked at Oregon State University, where she first found her passion for community building, equity, and student engagement. She earned a master’s degree in education in social-justice education from UMass Amherst and a master’s degree in public health and bachelor’s degree from Oregon State University.

•••••

Noemí Custodia-Lora

Noemí Custodia-Lora

Tony Hawkins

Tony Hawkins

Arlene Rodríguez

Arlene Rodríguez

George Timmons

George Timmons

The search committee evaluating candidates to succeed Holyoke Community College (HCC) President Christina Royal has whittled a field of 50 down to four. All four finalists have many years of experience in higher education and now hold top-level administration positions at community colleges in the Northeast, and all four are persons of color — two Latinas and two African-American men. They include Noemí Custodia-Lora, vice president of the Lawrence campus and Community Relations at Northern Essex Community College in Massachusetts; Tony Hawkins, provost and vice president of Academic Affairs, Continuing Education, and Workforce Development at Frederick Community College in Maryland; Arlene Rodríguez, provost and vice president of Academic and Student Affairs at Middlesex Community College in Massachusetts; and George Timmons, provost and senior vice president of Academic and Student Affairs at Columbia-Greene Community College in New York. Custodia-Lora, a former Biology professor, holds a PhD in physiology and endocrinology from Boston University and a bachelor’s degree in biology from the Universidad de Puerto Rico. Timmons holds a PhD in higher education administration from Bowling Green State University, a master’s degree in higher education from Old Dominion University, and a bachelor’s degree in financial management from Norfolk State University. Hawkins, a former professor of Speech, Communication, and Theater, holds a PhD in higher education, leadership, and technology from New York University, a certificate of advanced study in administration, planning, and social policy from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, a master’s degree in speech communication from the University of Georgia, and a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from Towson State University. Rodríguez, a former English professor, holds a PhD in English from UMass Amherst, a master’s degree in English from Lehigh University, and a bachelor’s degree in English from Fordham University. The HCC board of trustees is expected to vote to approve a new president at its next meeting on Tuesday, April 25.

•••••

Megan Wehbe

Megan Wehbe

Kevin Jack

Kevin Jack

Market Mentors, the region’s largest marketing, advertising, and public-relations agency, announced the promotions of two of its employees. Megan Wehbe was promoted from account executive to senior account executive/strategic planner, and Kevin Jack was promoted from digital marketing specialist to senior digital specialist. Wehbe, a graduate of Grand Valley State University in Michigan, has more than a decade of experience in new-business development and account management, including long-range planning, strategizing, and executing client projects and campaigns. With previous experience working on accounts for USAA and Audi, she now lends her expertise to a wide variety of clients at Market Mentors. A graduate of Temple University in Pennsylvania and holding Google Ads and Analytics certifications, Jack plans, executes, optimizes, and reports on digital marketing campaigns for clients across a gamut of industries, including healthcare, banking and finance, retail, manufacturing, and more.

•••••

Western Mass.-based author J.D. O’Brien’s debut crime novel, Zig Zag, was recently released in hardcover by Schaffner Press, an independent publisher in Tucson, Ariz., with a paperback edition coming later this year. In Zig Zag, a botched marijuana-dispensary heist in the San Fernando Valley sends burned-out bail bondsman Harry Robatore deep into the Mojave Desert trailing two lovers on the run. What follows is a stoned journey across the dive bars, neon-lit motels, and lost highways of the American West, building to an explosive showdown at a ghost-town tourist trap. Since its release in February, Zig Zag has been named a Southwest Book of the Year by the Pima County Library and was a pick of the week by popular publishing-industry resource Shelf Awareness. Before returning to the Pioneer Valley, the author lived in Los Angeles for a number of years, including a stint in Van Nuys, the gritty neighborhood where much of Zig Zag is set. The book was also informed by several road trips through the Mojave Desert. O’Brien currently works as a copywriter at Darby O’Brien Advertising in South Hadley. He is working on a sequel to Zig Zag.

•••••

John Jones Jr.

John Jones Jr.

Keith Allen

Keith Allen

The Springfield Thunderbirds announced the promotion of John Jones Jr. to Manager of Ticket Sales & Strategy. Jones joined the Thunderbirds as an account executive in ticket sales during the 2018-19 season. A former Division I letter winner in football at Florida State University, he will oversee the Thunderbirds’ award-winning Ticket Sales department in the areas of season tickets, group tickets, and individual ticket sales. He has annually been among the top ticket-sales representatives leaguewide over his four seasons with the organization. Additionally, the Thunderbirds welcomed Keith Allen as coordinator of Community Relations. Allen joined the Thunderbirds as an intern in Game Operations and Community Relations during the 2021-22 season following the completion of his degree from Southern New Hampshire University. He will assist the Thunderbirds and the T-Birds Foundation in charitable ventures throughout the Pioneer Valley, including appearances by team mascot Boomer and Thunderbirds players.

•••••

Richard Segool, a pediatrician practicing at Pioneer Valley Pediatrics and co-founder of Health New England, is retiring from the Health New England board and from his practice, mostly. He will still see patients one day a week but is largely pulling away from his practice of 47 years. To honor his contribution to the local healthcare ecosystem, Health New England has made a $100,000 grant to the Baystate Division of Midwifery and Community Health’s Community Connections Program, to help with maternal and infant care. The focus could not be more personal for Segool, as he and his wife, Hélène, experienced the loss of a twin daughter at birth. In 1986, Baystate Medical Center, two other hospitals, and a group of physicians formed an innovative, co-owned health plan with a mission to improve the health and lives of the people in the communities they served. As one of the first to join the plan and a member of the charter corporation, Segool has helped guide Health New England as it evolved into the only local not-for-profit, hospital-owned health plan in the region. He has served on its board of directors since then.

Company Notebook

By
Company Notebook

Business Editor George O’Brien to Retire

After nearly 30 years as editor of the region’s premier business publication, BusinessWest editor George O’Brien will retire from that position later this spring. A search for a successor is ongoing. O’Brien, who started his career in journalism at the Westfield Evening News in 1980, said that he will always covet his years at BusinessWest and the relationships forged during his time here. “I’ve always told people that behind every business there are people, and these people have stories,” he noted. “I’ve always loved telling those stories.” O’Brien joined BusinessWest in 1995 after serving a lengthy stint as editor of the Westfield Evening News. He has been at the forefront of expansion at BusinessWest that has come in many forms — from making the formerly monthly publication twice monthly, to the introduction of several events, including Difference Makers and 40 Under Forty, to the introduction of the healthcare publication Healthcare News. He said he has enjoyed all aspects of his work at BusinessWest, but especially emceeing events and meeting business owners, telling their stories, and keeping readers informed. A frequent public speaker who has addressed chambers of commerce, Rotary Clubs, and other groups about the publication and the business scene in the 413, O’Brien said he told them that the region’s best assets are its resiliency and strong entrepreneurial spirit.“I’ve always been impressed with the entrepreneurial energy in Western Mass.,” he said. “There have always been people willing to take risks, innovate, and convert ideas into businesses.”O’Brien said he intends to find opportunities to write a little and stay active in Western Mass., working with area nonprofits such as Link to Libraries, which he has served as a board member and reader in the classroom, most recently at Springfield’s DeBerry Elementary School, for more than a decade. “The best thing about being in Western Mass. is that around every corner, and on every street, there’s a business I’ve profiled,” he noted. “This hasn’t been a job, really, it’s been a privilege.”

 

Square One Announces Plans for Expanded Access to Services

SPRINGFIELD — On March 24, Square One leaders were joined by state and local officials to formally announce plans to expand access to high-quality early learning and care for the region’s children and families. The announcement was held at 947 Main St., Springfield, the site where Square One once stood prior to the 2011 tornado. There, Square One plans to build a new facility, which will include four preschool classrooms, a full-service family-support center, and administrative offices. Early support for the estimated $10 million project is coming from both the city of Springfield and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno has committed nearly $1 million in funding, while state Sen. Adam Gomez and state Rep. Carlos Gonzalez sponsored and secured a $2 million earmark in the state budget to support Square One’s expansion of services. The 26,000-square-foot facility is being developed by well-known developers Fran Cataldo, Juan Prieto, Paul Picknelly, and Charles Irving, who formed a partnership in 2016 for the purpose of developing the property that was once occupied by Square One. Known as Davenport Square 1, the partners represent a legacy of investment, development, and redevelopment in Springfield and Western Mass., including retail, housing, office, and hospitality projects. Together, they are committed to projects that support the revitalization of downtown Springfield.

 

Veritas Prep Charter School Approved as Early College Program

SPRINGFIELD — Following a rigorous, nine-month application process, Springfield’s Veritas Preparatory Charter School, in partnership with Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) and Worcester State University (WSU), has been approved for designation as a Massachusetts Early College program by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, starting this fall. The unique local program allows Veritas Prep High School students to take college courses through STCC and WSU and earn 30 to 60 credits, even working towards obtaining an associate degree upon high-school graduation, for free. This designation will add more than 100 students to early-college enrollment this fall and 334 students by 2026, with pathways concentrated in health sciences and healthcare, education, business and finance, computer science, engineering, and liberal arts. Starting last fall, Veritas High School opened with 100 students in grade 9, working with STCC and WSU to begin implementing early-college activities for the inaugural ninth-grade class. Veritas Prep’s freshmen were offered two college courses this semester with professors from STCC and WSU, each course earning them credit toward high-school graduation and transferable college credits. With the average cost of college in Massachusetts around $20,000 per year, the intensive early-college program can save students $40,000 to $75,000 or more. The general studies associate degree that students can earn from STCC while still in high school means they can start as juniors at other Massachusetts public colleges or universities.

 

Eversource Recognized Among 100 Most Sustainable Companies

BOSTON — For the fourth consecutive year, Eversource Energy has been recognized by Barron’s on its list of America’s 100 Most Sustainable Companies, appearing as the top utility in the annual ranking for the second time in the last three years. Eversource’s rank also improved significantly to 17th overall on this year’s list from 40th last year, reflecting the strides the company has made in executing its strategic commitment to sustainability throughout its operations. The Barron’s list of 100 Most Sustainable Companies is based on more than 230 environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) metrics. To create the ranking, the top 1,000 publicly traded companies by market value were evaluated by how they performed for five key constituencies — customers, communities, employees, the planet, and shareholders — looking at ESG performance indicators such as workplace diversity, data security, and greenhouse-gas emissions. To qualify for the list, a company must be rated above the bottom quarter in each of the five stakeholder categories.

 

Westfield State Nets $1 Million for Nursing, Health Science Programs

WESTFIELD — U.S. Rep. Richard Neal recently joined Westfield State University President Linda Thompson to announce a $1 million earmark to enhance the university’s training capacity for nursing and health science students. The allocation was made possible through congressionally directed spending from the Department of Education. Neal included funding for this project in the FY 2023 spending bill that was signed into law on Dec. 29, 2022. Westfield State’s plans for this funding are threefold: to double the university’s simulation space that is utilized to develop students’ skills and confidence in applying healthcare practices, provide a new Easy Street simulation space that will allow healthcare students to apply concepts of home-based and community care in their learning, and provide new spaces for the practice of healthcare innovation.

 

Bay Path University Launches MS in Nursing Degree

LONGMEADOW — In response to the growing demand for nurse practioners, educators, and administrators, Bay Path University has announced its fully online, new master of science in nursing (MSN) program, which will begin accepting nursing candidates for the fall 2023 semester. The fully asynchronous MS in nursing is ideal for working adults, allowing students to learn on their time and on their schedule, and enrolled nursing candidates can earn their degree within two years. The online master of science in nursing is also a pathway to Bay Path’s online doctor of nurse practice – family nurse practitioner program, which is a terminal nursing credential preparing nurses with the critical skills needed to translate evidence-based care into practice, improve systems of care, and measure outcomes for patients and communities. Nurses who wish to pursue a terminal nursing credential and who have graduated from Bay Path’s MS in nursing program may also be able to apply courses to the doctoral program.

 

Aer Lingus Resumes Service from Bradley to Dublin

WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. — The Connecticut Airport Authority announced that Aer Lingus has resumed non-stop service from Bradley International Airport to Dublin, Ireland. The first flight departed Bradley International Airport on March 26. The resumed service operates daily through the end of October via Aer Lingus’ Airbus A321neo LR aircraft and offers connectivity to 28 key U.K. and European airports, including London, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Vienna, Madrid, Barcelona, Rome and Prague, and more. The service is expected to operate annually on a seasonal basis until year-round demand is realized from the return of business travel. Aer Lingus, the Irish flag carrier, first started operating out of Bradley International Airport in 2016. After nearly four successful years and thousands of passengers served, the non-stop service was interrupted in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Elms, HCC Sign Transfer Agreement

CHICOPEE — Elms College and Holyoke Community College (HCC) signed an articulation transfer agreement that will make it easier for HCC students to complete their bachelor’s degree at Elms College in either biology or biotechnology. HCC students who earn an associate degree in biology or biotechnology with a minimum GPA of 2.0 will be able to transfer at least 60 credits and enroll into Elms College’s bachelor-degree programs in either biology or biotechnology. The agreement is effective immediately so that HCC biology and biotechnology students who graduate this spring and meet the requirements of the agreement can matriculate into Elms this fall as third-year students. For information about the program, email [email protected] or [email protected].

 

Beauty Batlles Lounge Announces New Location

CHICOPEE — Beauty Batlles Lounge announced it will be relocating to a larger, more expansive space at 46 Cabot St. in downtown Chicopee. The advanced beauty and wellness spa will offer a larger scale of wellness services, including cryotherapy, to its clientele, as well as new job opportunities within the community. The new lounge will consist of new equipment allowing Beauty Batlles to offer cryo facial, cryo body sculpt, cryo skin, and cryo hair rejuvenation. Cryotherapy, also known as cold therapy, exposes the body to cold temperatures to heal and treat various medical ailments. Beauty Batlles Lounge uses cutting-edge technology and medical-grade products to customize treatment to clients’ specific needs and deliver self-confidence to individuals who have been struggling with insecurities.

 

Data Center Planned for Thorndike Mill

PALMER — Thorndike Energy Group announced a partnership with Worldwide Environmental Services in the development of a state-of-the-art data center at Thorndike Mill in Palmer. The repurposed mill currently houses multiple DC hydroelectric generation units and offers a unique application of clean, renewable power that inherently has a significant amount of storage in the upstream water reservoir. This power source will serve as the initial energy component for a campus-wide microgrid that will allow for the addition of wind, solar, and hydrogen-fueled energy sources along with connection to the local grid.

Incorporations

By
Incorporations

The following business incorporations were recorded in Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties and are the latest available. They are listed by community.

AGAWAM

EML Transportation Inc., 81 Regency Park Dr., Agawam, MA 01001. Emil Ibadov, same. Transportation services.

BELCHERTOWN

Owen W. Sedlacek Memorial Foundation Inc., 35 Meadow Pond Road, Belchertown, MA 01007. Carissa P. Sedlacek, same. A nonprofit organization established for the purpose of mentoring young people during their transition from secondary school into higher education environments.

EASTHAMPTON

The Manny Rodriguez Scholarship Fund Inc., 226 Pleasant St., Suite 241, Easthampton, MA 01027. Elizabeth Rodriguez, 49 Parsons St., Easthampton, MA 01027. Scholarship program whose mission is to provide an opportunity for bipoc, trans/gnc/nb identity, or disability low-income members of the Western Mass. community to join our ceramics family.

LONGMEADOW

Inclusion Space Inc., 89 Bliss Road, Longmeadow, MA 01106. Nechama Katan, same. Nonprofit organization established to teach skills to individuals with disabilities, document and share success stories, and teaching methodologies. Provide grants for lessons and focus on trades and other skills leading to future employment.

PALMER

Sinigur Heating and Cooling Inc., 3 Pioneer Dr., Palmer, MA 01069. Eduard Sinigur, same. Heating and cooling services.

PITTSFIELD

Agn Rainier Inc., 82 Wendell Avenue, Ste. 100, Pittsfield, MA 01201. Kevin Sypniewski, 1685 Los Carneros Ave., Napa, CA 94556. Insurance brokerage.

SPRINGFIELD

Beyond Emergence Inc., 415 State St., Springfield, MA 01105. Amanda Gauthier, same. A nonprofit organization established to fundraise for student and family needs that we are unable to support with current school funding, such as support with rent, medical bills, or other student needs.

La Espada Afilada De Jehova Inc., 84 Tyler St., Springfield, MA 01109. Osvaldo Almodovar, 148 Leary Dr., Holyoke, MA 01040. A spiritual organization designed to help the community without housing, orphans, widows, alcoholics, and drug addicts. We instill the words of faith, hope and love without condemning nor judging.

VBS Foundation, Inc., 100 Congress Street, Springfield, MA 01104. Matthew Drury, same. Funding and operation of a nonprofit summer collegiate baseball team in the NECBL league.

WEST SPRINGFIELD

CJL Painting and Cleaning Inc., 74 Russel St Unit 2, West Springfield, MA 01089. Cristiano J Lopes, same. Commercial and residential painting and cleaning services.

Nano Inks USA Inc., 150 Front St., Suite 2, West Springfield, MA 01089. Paul Giusto, 11 Sawgrass Lane, Southwick, MA 01077. Manufacturing and sales of inks, coatings, adhesive.

WESTFIELD

Gold Vine Moving and Storage Inc., 43 Broad St., Westfield, MA 01085. Jason Lee Levine, same. In-state eviction moving and storage.

JP Garages Inc., 247 Elm St., Westfield, MA 01085. Jorge Luis Perez Sr, 12 Lewis St., Westfield, MA 01085.Holding company.

Refinedmen Inc., 120 Franklin St., Westfield, MA 01085. Roger Oprecht, same. Re-sell products on Amazon and Walmart.

Doing Business as Certificates

By
DBA Certificates

The following business certificates and/or trade names were issued or renewed during the month of March 2023.

BELCHERTOWN

AVS
424 Springfield Road
Matthew Fillmore

Cold Spring Self Storage
159 Bay Road
Trista Fedor

Equine K9 Chiropractic
22 South Main St.
Bethany Boehle

Lanzi, Elisa M.
47 Two Ponds Road
Elisa Lanzi

LM Dreams Publishing and Designs
5 Eastview Dr.
Lynn Yovina

Marie Foley, LMHC
36 Dana Hill Road
Marie-Claire Foley

Roger McGinnis Trucking
7 Brandywine Dr.
Roger McGinnis, Grete McGinnis

The Vintage Barn
365 Bardwell St.
Lisa Allen

DEERFIELD

Elevate Salon Studio Inc.
15 Sunrise Ave.
Marcia Hawkins

Kapoor Mobil Mart Inc.
242 Conway Road
Sawkat Wally

HOLYOKE

Appleton Market
435 Appleton St.
Victor Ramos

CC Home Improvement
525 South St., Apt. 2R
Carlos Colon

De la Sole Sneakers
98 Lower Westfield Road, Suite 101
Carlos Colondres

F&M Motor Sales
414A South St.
Michael Gruszka

Garage
50 Holyoke St., Unit E272
GRG USA LLC

ILA Film Lab and Store
287 High St., Suite 212
Jonathan Davila

Lea & Lea LLC
207½ Sargeant St.
Hamze Al Jammal

Lux Properties
1155 Hampden St.
Alexa Vargas, Zaiell Vargas

McKenney Hearth & Home
100 Northampton St.
David McKenney, Nora Wine

Messier Funeral Home
1944 Northampton St.
Michael Martel

PARPE
55 Laura Lane
Patti Cutler

Red Leaf Investigations
34 Joanne Dr.
James Albert

Round 1 Bowling Amusement
50 Holyoke St., #J210
Shintaro Kaji, Toshiro Sasayama, Hirotoshi Takahashi

SPJ
1002 Hampden St.
Allan Nolan

The Spot Shop
50 Holyoke St.
Michael Guzman

Sunglass Hut
50 Holyoke St., #C324
Sarag Andersen

Xfinity
50 Holyoke St.
Tom Donnelly

LONGMEADOW

Aislinn Paige Art
47 Braclay St.
Aislynn Calabrese

AK Paint
123 Arlington Road
Andrew Kessler

BOC Construction
85 Mill Road
Barry O’Connor

Counting the Cost Bookkeeping
38 Chiswick St.
Nicole Blasa Loud

Destination Health
175 Dwight Road
Jeri Beales

JBC Go LLC
18 South Park Ave.
Jennifer Baggette Cosgrove

Maggi Marriage Ceremonies
58 Robin Road
Robert Salvatore Maggi

PITTSFIELD

BalloonBliss
1749 East St.
Amanda Brooks

The Berkshire Eagle
75 South Church St.
Fredric Rutberg

Big Y Express #83
202 West St.
Big Y Foods Inc.

Coggins of the Berkshires
746 East St.
Occopa LLC

Eversource Energy
333 West St.
NSTAR Electric Co.

Four One Three Salon Inc.
54 Wendell Ave., Unit B
Alicia Powers

Frontline Financial Partners
700 South St.
Dylan Bencivenga

Harvest Power Solar
82 Wendell Ave., Suite 100
Harvest Power LLC

JNE Home Improvement
74 Broad St.
John Ireland

Johnson Ford
694 East St.
The Johnson Dealerships Inc.

KLE Project Services
82 Wendell Ave.
KLE Inc.

Lenox Hair Styles
136 Elm St.
275 Highland Ave.

New Village Transport
61 Stoddard Ave.
Jonathan Villanuera

Old Soul Sounds
77 Seymour St.
Craig Spencer Hopkins

Tina Brazie Creative Family Crafts
59 Bartlett Ave.
Tina Brazie

TriMountain Insurance
82 Wendell Ave., Suite 100
TriMountain Corp.

SOUTH HADLEY

Kovacs & Co.
97 Pearl St.
Gabriel Kovacs

Notre Dame Monuments
65 Lyman St.
David Montovani

Renegade Souls
57 School St.
Renegade Souls

Summit Mechanical
48 Summit St.
Robert Forest

SPRINGFIELD

Mutual Enterprises Inc.
255 Berkshire Ave.
Christopher Cantalini

NailsCon Amor
874 State St.
Analiz Rivera

New York Sound & Motion Productions Inc.
1350 Main St.
Edward Brown III

Our Family & Friends LLC
932 Worthington St.
Arlene Hassan

Pafumi Auto Care Center
389 Main St.
BWK Inc.

Parker Pizzeria
1190 Parker St.
Feber 1907 Inc.

Primo’s Auto Center
125 Main St.
Armando Tereso

Raw Beauty Brand LLC
34 Hobson St.
Crystal Valdez

Shamrock Market
1116 St. James Ave.
Samia Azeem

Sharp Lines Remodeling & Painting
55 State St.
Jeffrey Horsman

Shyguns
129 Florence St.
Jailyne

Stylez Barber Studio
186 State St.
Rosa Lee Rivera

Supreme Mart
1295 Worcester St.
OA Supreme LLC

Tacos Shapines
668 Liberty St.
Blanca Sanchez

Tiara’s Child Care
83 Ingersoll Grove
Tiara Mitchell

Tienda Guatemala
78 Mooreland St.
Elvia Morales Lopez

Tribe 46ers
5 Rogers Ave.
Wilson Maloni

Trucks R Us Group LLC
53 Stephanie Circle
Jean Joseph

Valet Park of America
185 Spring St.
Theodore Chagnon

We Belong
20 Fort St.
Tyreed Olivo

Wilson Enterprise
18 Montcalm St.
Kenneth Wilson

XMD Xtreme Mobile Detail
129 Darling St.
Joel Carrero

Yuyi’s Family Child Care
43 Horace St.
Yuliana Abreu German

Zaza Green
311 Page Blvd.
311 Page Blvd Holding Group LLC

WESTFIELD

Daniel Harvester, Attorney at Law
4 Fritz Ave.
Daniel Harvester

Everything Remodeling
76 Southwick Road
Jose Rivera

Gietek Landscaping
3 Atwater St.
Nicholas Gietek

JB Home Inspections
330 Buck Pond Road
John Borges

Kimberly Hatch Photography
77 Mill St., Suite 011
Kimberly Hatch

Marissa’s Golf Movement
396 East Mountain Road
Marissa Crow

Preferred Domestics
9 Myrtle Ave.
Lamont Carroll

Responsible Driving of Westfield LLC
132 Elm St.
Responsible Driving of Westfield LLC

Westfield Mass Handyman
402 Papermill Road
Michael Clegg

Bankruptcies

By
Bankruptcies

The following bankruptcy petitions were recently filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Readers should confirm all information with the court.

34 Sumner Realty LLC
785 Williams St.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Chapter: 11
Date: 03/02/2023

Belliveau, Mark A.
96 Cubles Dr.
Brimfield, MA 01010
Chapter: 7
Date: 03/07/2023

Braman, Robert B.
144 North Blandford Road
Blandford, MA 01008
Chapter: 7
Date: 02/28/2023

Brown, Richard W.
101 Dunham Road
Warren, MA 01083
Chapter: 13
Date: 03/09/2023

Daniel, Lonell
162 Jasper St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Chapter: 13
Date: 03/14/2023

Dufresne, Raymond E.
36D St. Kolbe Dr.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Date: 03/15/2023

Durand, Jay P.
73 Union Road
Wales, MA 01081
Chapter: 13
Date: 03/13/2023

Famiglietti, Bernard
a/k/a FamigliettiBernardo
a/k/a FamigliettiBenny
48 East Drumlin Road
Springfield, MA 01108
Chapter: 7
Date: 03/06/2023

Hibberd, Milagros
a/k/a Ruiz, Milagros
1185 Westfield St., Apt. 18
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 7
Date: 02/28/2023

Houck, Robert B.
PO Box 425
Warren, MA 01083
Chapter: 7
Date: 03/15/2023

Johanna Hall Consulting
Hall, Johanna Elizabeth
244 Montague Road
Shutesbury, MA 01072
Chapter: 7
Date: 03/08/2023

Krafchuk, Thomas J.
78 Pease Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 7
Date: 03/03/2023

Lafond, Henri D.
129 Edgewood Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 13
Date: 03/13/2023

Monteiro, Anthony J.
6 Silver St.
Monson, MA 01057
Chapter: 7
Date: 03/08/2023

Moore, Christopher L.
14 Donovan St.
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Chapter: 13
Date: 03/08/2023

Moore, Michael D.
11 Broad St.
Gilbertville, MA 01031
Chapter: 13
Date: 03/01/2023

Mountain, Christa
491 Main St., Apt. 6
Athol, MA 01331
Chapter: 7
Date: 03/01/2023

Palatino, Laurie A.
268 Palmer Road, Unit #10
Monson, MA 01057
Chapter: 7
Date: 03/15/2023

Prats, Mayra P.
70 Nassau Dr.
Springfield, MA 01129
Chapter: 7
Date: 03/13/2023

Provencal, Richard Albert
Provencal, Nancy
194 South Longyard Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Chapter: 7
Date: 03/10/2023

Ramos, Frank R.
19 State St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Date: 03/08/202

Robare, Jeannette M.
17 Frink St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Date: 03/13/2023

Vadivel, Chandra Prakash
115 Northampton St., Apt. 3B
Boston, MA 02118
Chapter: 7
Date: 03/13/2023

White, Darnelle
58 Albemarle St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Chapter: 7
Date: 03/10/2023

Real Estate Transactions

By
Real Estate

The following real estate transactions (latest available) were compiled by Banker & Tradesman and are published as they were received. Only transactions exceeding $115,000 are listed. Buyer and seller fields contain only the first name listed on the deed.

FRANKLIN COUNTY

ASHFIELD

127 Ludwig Branch Road
Ashfield, MA 01330
Amount: $155,500
Buyer: A-O-K RT
Seller: Steven R. Rossi
Date: 03/17/23

BERNARDSTON

27-A Eden Trail
Bernardston, MA 01337
Amount: $284,000
Buyer: Shawn E. Stockwell
Seller: Mtglq Investors LP
Date: 03/16/23

Mount Hermon Station Road
Bernardston, MA 01337
Amount: $154,500
Buyer: Michael Budrewicz
Seller: Arthur Cohen 1995 RET
Date: 03/15/23

BUCKLAND

100 Bray Road
Buckland, MA 01338
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Michael T. O’Brien
Seller: Jason Cusimano
Date: 03/13/23

55 State St.
Buckland, MA 01338
Amount: $345,500
Buyer: BB&H Holdings LLC
Seller: Jessfx LLC
Date: 03/15/23

CONWAY

106 Upper Baptist Hill Road
Conway, MA 01341
Amount: $382,500
Buyer: Daniel Wright
Seller: Edward A. Zajac
Date: 03/09/23

DEERFIELD

4 Greenfield Road
Deerfield, MA 01373
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Greenfield Road LLC
Seller: Angel Properties LLC
Date: 03/15/23

190 Lower Road
Deerfield, MA 01342
Amount: $329,900
Buyer: John R. Detweiler
Seller: James D. Marciano
Date: 03/08/23

71 Mathews Road
Deerfield, MA 01373
Amount: $1,000,000
Buyer: Douglas R. Kremm
Seller: Joseph J. Morsman
Date: 03/10/23

GILL

9 Mount Hermon Station Road
Gill, MA 01360
Amount: $154,500
Buyer: Michael Budrewicz
Seller: Arthur Cohen 1995 RET
Date: 03/15/23

GREENFIELD

42 Kenwood St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Edward Zajac
Seller: Christal L. Cutler
Date: 03/09/23

35 Lincoln St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $353,500
Buyer: Michael Lentz
Seller: Madeleine A. Cohen
Date: 03/07/23

39 Plantation Circle
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: James M. Burke
Seller: Leboeuf Jr., Paul D., (Estate)
Date: 03/09/23

7 Prospect Ave.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $670,000
Buyer: Colin J. Hoyt
Seller: Monahan Int.
Date: 03/07/23

249 Shelburne Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Bridger Felton
Seller: Carpenter, Willard H., (Estate)
Date: 03/08/23

LEVERETT

118 Long Plain Road
Leverett, MA 01054
Amount: $264,000
Buyer: Jason Goodhind
Seller: Lloyd, Susan Brierley, (Estate)
Date: 03/16/23

LEYDEN

234 West Leyden Road
Leyden, MA 01337
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Pedro J. Borgos
Seller: Joan A. Smith
Date: 03/07/23

MONTAGUE

15 X St.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Aaron G. Milewski
Seller: Eugene M. Milewski
Date: 03/15/23

ORANGE

437 East Main St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $360,000
Buyer: Casa Amigos Restaurant
Seller: Yiantsidis NT
Date: 03/07/23

190 North Main St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $168,000
Buyer: Andre Depaula
Seller: Reinol E. Suarez
Date: 03/14/23

320 South Main St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Michael D. Squire
Seller: AGT Homes LLC
Date: 03/17/23

SHELBURNE

80 Wilson Graves Road
Shelburne, MA 01370
Amount: $246,700
Buyer: Jonathan C. Graves
Seller: James W. Graves
Date: 03/07/23

SHUTESBURY

70 Cooleyville Road
Shutesbury, MA 01072
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Ross Kiely
Seller: Rehorka, Frank G., (Estate)
Date: 03/10/23

WHATELY

73 State Road
Whately, MA 01093
Amount: $862,700
Buyer: DKS Management LLC
Seller: Andrew F. Gianino
Date: 03/08/23

HAMPDEN COUNTY

AGAWAM

31 Alfred Circle
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $256,000
Buyer: Bryon D. Turcotte
Seller: MAA Property LLC
Date: 03/13/23

85 Broz Ter.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Craig Sedelow
Seller: Dominik A. Dasilva
Date: 03/16/23

116 Edward St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Tifany M. Inacio
Seller: Aaron F. Starke
Date: 03/16/23

31 Fruwirth Ave.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $261,000
Buyer: Paul Jarrett
Seller: David C. Fazio
Date: 03/13/23

61 Hemlock Ridge
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $139,000
Buyer: Michael J. Pellerin
Seller: Daniel P. Kozikowski
Date: 03/07/23

92 James St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $400,000
Buyer: Ryan Henrichon
Seller: Malia Homebuyers LLC
Date: 03/07/23

84 Line St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $162,500
Buyer: Plata O. Plomo Inc.
Seller: Laverdure, Scott D., (Estate)
Date: 03/16/23

15 Marla Place
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $412,000
Buyer: Charles J. Lavimodiere
Seller: Richard W. Heer
Date: 03/06/23

34 Mooreland St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Chenevert Properties LLC
Seller: Plata O. Plomo Inc.
Date: 03/15/23

71 Norman Ter.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: Andri Zhyhaniuk
Seller: Beane, Helen T., (Estate)
Date: 03/16/23

4 Spring St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $318,000
Buyer: Samantha Paradis
Seller: Tonya L. Bigus
Date: 03/06/23

633-635 Springfield St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Erika Matos
Seller: Janet F. Maynard
Date: 03/17/23

662 Springfield St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Haskell Holdings LLC
Seller: West Co. Investments LLC
Date: 03/10/23

75 Valentine St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Gino Serra
Seller: Joseph T. Janick RET
Date: 03/07/23

BRIMFIELD

140 Paige Hill Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $510,000
Buyer: Chad B. Hayes
Seller: Samuel Edvalson
Date: 03/10/23

381 Sturbridge Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Gavin Racicot
Seller: Joyce E. Stocks
Date: 03/16/23

CHICOPEE

3 Allen St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $401,000
Buyer: Kamaraj Pandurangan
Seller: DGL Properties LLC
Date: 03/09/23

21 Alvord Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $315,000
Buyer: Erick C. Weber
Seller: 21 Alvord Ave LLC
Date: 03/17/23

49 Anson St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $335,000
Buyer: Cristina G. Gonzalez
Seller: Walter J. Rose
Date: 03/10/23

30 Bardon St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $358,500
Buyer: Yashira Rodriguez
Seller: Melendez FT
Date: 03/14/23

175 Beauregard Ter.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $203,000
Buyer: Anderson Builders & Son LLC
Seller: Residential Rental LLC
Date: 03/16/23

496 Broadway St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $348,000
Buyer: Samuel Mubiru
Seller: Equity Trust Co.
Date: 03/10/23

11 Call St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Chicopee St. Realty LLC
Seller: Fairview Fence Inc.
Date: 03/08/23

604 Chicopee St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Chicopee St. Realty LLC
Seller: Fairview Fence Inc.
Date: 03/08/23

268 East Main St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $399,000
Buyer: Tatyana Gingeruha
Seller: Welch FT
Date: 03/06/23

60 Falmouth Road
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $262,500
Buyer: Diane J. Pirnie
Seller: Diane S. Denby
Date: 03/10/23

24 Hartford St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $261,500
Buyer: Matthew Ogrodowicz
Seller: Rehab Home Buyers LLC
Date: 03/16/23

367 Irene St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: T. & Bettye Thomas IRT
Seller: Steven Huard
Date: 03/10/23

17 Lachine St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $311,500
Buyer: Colleen Wolfe
Seller: Czelusniak, Jeannine R., (Estate)
Date: 03/10/23

77 Lapa Farm Road
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $340,000
Buyer: Marek Strojvus
Seller: Jared Lavallee
Date: 03/14/23

684 Montgomery St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Rachel M. Pinney
Seller: Hollie A. Smith
Date: 03/10/23

4 Mount Vernon Road
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Michael R. Moore
Seller: Kristina M. Vieira
Date: 03/15/23

85 Murphy Lane
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $342,000
Buyer: Dylan J. Brochu
Seller: Gregory S. Gwozdz
Date: 03/16/23

108 Oakridge St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Dawn M. Gibson
Seller: Kyle G. Beaudreault
Date: 03/15/23

114 Quartus St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $322,000
Buyer: Ian G. MacDonald
Seller: Ross E. Domingos
Date: 03/06/23

9 Randall St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Erik Taylor
Seller: Patricia J. Bousquet
Date: 03/14/23

116 School St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $604,000
Buyer: LSH Investment LLC
Seller: Harty, Richard S., (Estate)
Date: 03/10/23

250 School St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Ahmed Aljashaam
Seller: Jones, Dean, (Estate)
Date: 03/17/23

106 Tolpa Circle
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $410,000
Buyer: Kay L. Loudon
Seller: Pablo Colon
Date: 03/10/23

151 Trilby Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Emilio P. Gaudette
Seller: Christine L. Lopes
Date: 03/16/23

EAST LONGMEADOW

3 Fairway Lane
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $645,000
Buyer: Issra Jamal
Seller: Suparna Sarkar
Date: 03/14/23

126 Meadowbrook Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $482,000
Buyer: Ingo Koomoa-Lange
Seller: Ralph C. Zepke
Date: 03/07/23

190 Pleasant St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $217,500
Buyer: 190 Pleasant St. LLC
Seller: Piper Lowe Real Estate Group LLC
Date: 03/16/23

341 Shaker Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $850,000
Buyer: Soflo Tower Realty LLC
Seller: KRM Real Estate LLC
Date: 03/16/23

HAMPDEN

35 Fernwood Dr.
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: David Soto
Seller: Judith A. Perusse
Date: 03/13/23

13 Martin Farms Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Susan Lucia
Seller: Piper Lowe Real Estate Group LLC
Date: 03/15/23

47 Woodland Dr.
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $236,678
Buyer: Newrez LLC
Seller: Timothy Cairney
Date: 03/08/23

HOLYOKE

72 Belvidere Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $249,000
Buyer: Maya J. Grindrod
Seller: Peltier FT
Date: 03/14/23

55 Dupuis Road
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $183,300
Buyer: Pah Properties LLC
Seller: Edward Mims
Date: 03/17/23

201 High St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $134,900
Buyer: Valley Opportunity Council
Seller: New England Farm Workers Council
Date: 03/10/23

51 Homestead Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $239,900
Buyer: Bobbie S. Small
Seller: Raul Bermudez
Date: 03/17/23

71 Lynch Dr.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $242,000
Buyer: Victor P. Lorenzi
Seller: Sandra J. Mimoso
Date: 03/08/23

470 Maple St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $480,000
Buyer: Phantom Holdings LLC
Seller: Standard Properties Inc.
Date: 03/16/23

30 Mowry Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Justin Mandeville
Seller: Elsie M. Bouchard
Date: 03/09/23

74-76 Newton St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: 117 All Gas No Breakz LLC
Seller: Asj Properties LLC
Date: 03/10/23

78 Nonotuck St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $322,500
Buyer: Alexppark LLC
Seller: New Line Realty LLC
Date: 03/17/23

131 Ontario Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $365,000
Buyer: Anna Robinson
Seller: Kenneth L. Atchison
Date: 03/17/23

LUDLOW

276 Colonial Dr.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $380,000
Buyer: Aydin Oflu
Seller: Mee H. Lam
Date: 03/07/23

56 Colton Place
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $565,160
Buyer: Dwain E. Reeder
Seller: Richard D. Plaut
Date: 03/17/23

78 Leetewood Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $420,000
Buyer: Kathleen M. O’Connell
Seller: SRV Properties LLC
Date: 03/15/23

6 Marias Way
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $500,000
Buyer: Altan Ibas
Seller: Alicinio Martins
Date: 03/10/23

Swan Ave.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $142,500
Buyer: Dias Properties LLC
Seller: Lopata, Casimir S., (Estate)
Date: 03/08/23

75 Wolf Swamp Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $515,000
Buyer: Robert Fisher
Seller: Daniel W. Counts
Date: 03/17/23

143 Yarmouth St.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $519,900
Buyer: Marisa Alwon
Seller: Andrew Jablow
Date: 03/13/23

MONSON

1 Green St.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $300,500
Buyer: Lord Boucher LLC
Seller: First Church Of Monson
Date: 03/16/23

13 Silva St.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $305,000
Buyer: Rebecca Belcher
Seller: Nicholas Markopoulos
Date: 03/09/23

83 Thayer Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $410,000
Buyer: Benjamin M. Murphy
Seller: Andrew L. Strong
Date: 03/09/23

PALMER

7 Jim Ash Road
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $155,167
Buyer: Shaw Development Inc.
Seller: Jeffrey B. Wilson
Date: 03/06/23

2275 Palmer Road
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $305,000
Buyer: Linda Brennan
Seller: Diane M. Rosa
Date: 03/15/23

1038 Pine St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: GJL RNL NT
Seller: Richard T. Tenczar
Date: 03/17/23

3018 Pleasant St.
Palmer, MA 01009
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Joseph M. Violette
Seller: Elizabeth M. Wall
Date: 03/10/23

45 Ruggles St.
Palmer, MA 01080
Amount: $292,000
Buyer: Olivia M. Comeau
Seller: Heather R. Sedelow
Date: 03/16/23

SPRINGFIELD

Alden St.
Springfield, MA 01101
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Springfield College
Seller: Stutts, Lavinia E., (Estate)
Date: 03/17/23

550 Alden St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $148,000
Buyer: Family & Developments LLC
Seller: Robert C. Maurice
Date: 03/10/23

588-590 Armory St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: A-O-K RT
Seller: Joanna Olivieri
Date: 03/09/23

877-879 Armory St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $314,000
Buyer: Benedicto M. Rodriguez
Seller: Mint Realty Group LLC
Date: 03/17/23

72 Audubon St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $243,000
Buyer: Evan O. Dias
Seller: Joseph M. Santaniello
Date: 03/13/23

41 Biltmore St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Edward L. Labonte
Seller: Violet A. Moses
Date: 03/07/23

795 Bradley Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $221,000
Buyer: Juliette A. Cardona
Seller: Lucas R. Manzi
Date: 03/16/23

803 Bradley Road
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Joshua J. Mcnally
Seller: Diaz, Efain D., (Estate)
Date: 03/07/23

34 Brandon Ave.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $189,900
Buyer: A. Reyes Homes LLC
Seller: Wicked Deals LLC
Date: 03/09/23

32 Brentwood St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $375,000
Buyer: James McCarthy
Seller: Trang H. Lam
Date: 03/16/23

109 Bretton Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Jose M. Lopez
Seller: Andrew J. Campbell
Date: 03/17/23

89 Cliftwood St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $372,304
Buyer: Spring Forth Properties LLC
Seller: Cliftwood Realty LLC
Date: 03/16/23

82 Davenport St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $400,000
Buyer: Jacob Root
Seller: Officium LLC
Date: 03/17/23

114 Draper St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: 3n Property LLC
Seller: Edward L. Labonte
Date: 03/07/23

33 Eckington St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $278,000
Buyer: Hamlet Hernandez
Seller: Posiadlosc LLC
Date: 03/10/23

116 Edgemere Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: M. & F. Vazquez Home Improvement
Seller: Harned, Michael M., (Estate)
Date: 03/10/23

25 Fairhaven Dr.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $219,900
Buyer: Yamil A. Grau-Hani
Seller: James W. Fiore RET
Date: 03/09/23

57 Florence St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Keishla M. Gonzalez
Seller: Darryl C. Foye
Date: 03/17/23

102 Florida St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $257,500
Buyer: Dorice V. Meyitang
Seller: John S. Marrero
Date: 03/06/23

382 Forest Hills Road
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $420,000
Buyer: Jamil Y. Asad-Ubinas
Seller: Thorpe Ft
Date: 03/17/23

191 Gilbert Ave.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $152,000
Buyer: Genevieve Construction Development Group
Seller: Genevieve Construction Development Group I
Date: 03/16/23

153 Gillette Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Pah Properties LLC
Seller: Czelusniak, Gary, (Estate)
Date: 03/17/23

61 Greene St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $138,000
Buyer: Chamber Investment Group LLC
Seller: Ezra C. Walker
Date: 03/06/23

57-59 Groveland St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Emma P. Parra
Seller: Rodriguez, Jose A., (Estate)
Date: 03/13/23

54 Hood St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $173,000
Buyer: Wilson & Family Re LLC
Seller: Elinor L. Kolbier
Date: 03/10/23

194 Island Pond Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $181,000
Buyer: Creton Spencer
Seller: Rachael A. Rhodes
Date: 03/10/23

74 Jasper St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Amanda De Leon
Seller: Maria Vanegas
Date: 03/10/23

30-32 Joseph St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $315,000
Buyer: Grisela C. Romero
Seller: Linda J. Clain
Date: 03/06/23

18-20 Kendall St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $239,900
Buyer: Natacha J. Clerger
Seller: Elzbieta Kosinski
Date: 03/13/23

115 Kimberly Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Logan Kelley
Seller: Dorota Glosowitz
Date: 03/10/23

33 Kittrell St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Sarah K. Swanberry
Seller: Justin K. Barroso
Date: 03/10/23

198 Lamont St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Chaching Co.
Seller: Phyllis H. Prendergast
Date: 03/13/23

41-43 Lansing Place
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Shannoya Beezer
Seller: Vince LLC
Date: 03/15/23

14 Leroy Place
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Joelia N. Lopez
Seller: Maven Investments Co. LLC
Date: 03/13/23

334-336 Liberty St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $294,900
Buyer: Santos A. Gomez
Seller: JV Properties Inc.
Date: 03/07/23

72 Malden St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Brandon Paz
Seller: Springfield Portfolio Holdings
Date: 03/10/23

132 Marion St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Johemy Vilchez
Seller: Elvis D. Rodriquez
Date: 03/06/23

163-165 Maynard St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Juan Mercado
Seller: Springfield Holdings Of NJ LLC
Date: 03/07/23

6 Michigan St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $182,000
Buyer: Chris Austin
Seller: Nancy W. Crowell
Date: 03/10/23

100-102 Middlesex St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $148,000
Buyer: VMC Investments LLC
Seller: Junior R. McKenzie
Date: 03/17/23

175 Mill St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $627,000
Buyer: Conrad Blake
Seller: Paul Murphy
Date: 03/08/23

94 Milton St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Alexander J. MacDonald
Seller: Edwin O. Garcia
Date: 03/10/23

90 Narragansett St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Fergie M. Perez
Seller: Milly G. Caraballo
Date: 03/10/23

28-30 Nelson Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: 2830 Nelson LLC
Seller: Brvsa Associates LLC
Date: 03/09/23

94 Northway Dr.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Sylvia Abad
Seller: Henry Chhim
Date: 03/15/23

254 Nottingham St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $278,000
Buyer: Aida Rivera
Seller: Maria Felix
Date: 03/17/23

602 Parker St.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Nicholas T. Wilkes
Seller: Lisa L. Wolfe
Date: 03/07/23

40 Pembroke St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $241,000
Buyer: Emma Glowania
Seller: NRES LLC
Date: 03/13/23

25 Plum St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Veronica E. Ortiz
Seller: Jessca L. Scott
Date: 03/09/23

52 Portulaca Dr.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $295,000
Buyer: Samantha M. Krupczak
Seller: Stephanie L. Godek
Date: 03/13/23

127-129 Ranney St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $218,781
Buyer: Spring Forth Properties LLC
Seller: Cliftwood Realty LLC
Date: 03/16/23

27 Rockland St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $295,000
Buyer: Clifford Holensworth
Seller: My Hometown Mass. West TR
Date: 03/10/23

56 Rosedale Ave.
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Hildah R. Kangethe
Seller: Jonathan M. Westbrooks
Date: 03/14/23

147 Rosemary Dr.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $272,000
Buyer: Wilfred B. Rosario
Seller: 613 LLC
Date: 03/07/23

266 Rosewell St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $226,000
Buyer: Nashalie L. Delgado
Seller: Antonio Rivera
Date: 03/15/23

24-26 Sachem St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $243,100
Buyer: Spring Forth Prop LLC
Seller: Jeffrey D. Marget
Date: 03/16/23

80 Saint James Blvd.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $700,000
Buyer: 80 Saint James Blvd. LLC
Seller: Speedway LLC
Date: 03/15/23

159 Stapleton Road
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Jason R. Burchell
Seller: Andy Ocasio
Date: 03/08/23

663 Sumner Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $218,883
Buyer: Spring Forth Properties LLC
Seller: Cliftwood Realty LLC
Date: 03/16/23

51-59 Taylor St.
Springfield, MA 01103
Amount: $950,000
Buyer: Snapland 59 LLC
Seller: City Church
Date: 03/10/23

66 Warrenton St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Jemisa Douglas
Seller: City Of Homes Real Estate Ventures LLC
Date: 03/17/23

83-85 Wilmont St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $255,333
Buyer: Spring Forth Properties LLC
Seller: Cliftwood Realty LLC
Date: 03/16/23

46-48 Windsor St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $223,983
Buyer: Spring Forth Properties LLC
Seller: Cliftwood Realty LLC
Date: 03/16/23

50-52 Windsor St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $217,616
Buyer: Spring Forth Properties LLC
Seller: Cliftwood Realty LLC
Date: 03/16/23

878 Worthington St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $1,000,000
Buyer: Residences At The Vault
Seller: 878 Worthington St. LLC
Date: 03/07/23

SOUTHWICK

11 Pineywood Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: RM Blerman LLC
Seller: Gary R. Allen
Date: 03/16/23

TOLLAND

231 Thicket Road
Tolland, MA 01034
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Peter Scrivener
Seller: Jacobs, George, (Estate)
Date: 03/09/23

WALES

16 Main St.
Wales, MA 01081
Amount: $492,500
Buyer: Phet Singvongsa
Seller: Howe, Janice M., (Estate)
Date: 03/13/23

18 Main St.
Wales, MA 01081
Amount: $492,500
Buyer: Phet Singvongsa
Seller: Howe, Janice M., (Estate)
Date: 03/13/23

WEST SPRINGFIELD

10 Birch St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $400,000
Buyer: Alison P. Perreault
Seller: Sergey Savonin
Date: 03/10/23

341 Memorial Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $700,000
Buyer: 341 Memorial Ave LLC
Seller: Speedway LLC
Date: 03/09/23

45 Oakland St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $161,000
Buyer: Robert D. Spano
Seller: William C. O’Neill
Date: 03/10/23

374 Prospect Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $236,000
Buyer: Morgan R. Vickers
Seller: William M. Swain
Date: 03/10/23

44 Riverdale St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $316,000
Buyer: Hashim Adwan
Seller: Tara Rai
Date: 03/15/23

36 Southworth St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $249,900
Buyer: Emily L. Beebe
Seller: Dylan Brochu
Date: 03/16/23

WESTFIELD

33 Adams St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Michael D. Jones
Seller: David W. Ostrander TR
Date: 03/17/23

17 Charles St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $282,500
Buyer: Brianna M. Decker
Seller: Jonathan P. Camp
Date: 03/13/23

97 Devon Ter.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $589,900
Buyer: Paul P. Levesque
Seller: David D. Healey
Date: 03/17/23

5 Forest Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Jilliane Smith
Seller: Madhu Siwa
Date: 03/15/23

308 Hillside Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $202,500
Buyer: Jose Quinones
Seller: Keybank
Date: 03/09/23

131 Main St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Eric Gove
Seller: Tyler R. Grono
Date: 03/10/23

8 Morgan Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $335,000
Buyer: Daniel P. Hill
Seller: Kyle E. Beroth
Date: 03/16/23

3 Old Farm Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Birdie Properties LLC
Seller: HUD
Date: 03/13/23

231 Paper Mill Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $326,000
Buyer: Angela Buri
Seller: Denardo Lt
Date: 03/17/23

20 Tiffany Circle
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $650,000
Buyer: Umesh Khadka
Seller: Saba Shahid
Date: 03/07/23

1080 Western Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $317,000
Buyer: Eladio Lopez
Seller: David N. Franklin
Date: 03/13/23

WILBRAHAM

4 Woodsley Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $426,000
Buyer: Hannah Liggett
Seller: Suzanne R. Zeckhausen
Date: 03/15/23

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY

AMHERST

171 State St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $485,000
Buyer: Mark Bucciarelli
Seller: Steven F. Linberg
Date: 03/06/23

214 West St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $500,000
Buyer: Kate C. Woodmansee
Seller: Margaret M. Stratton
Date: 03/10/23

BELCHERTOWN

43 Main St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $575,000
Buyer: Bear Runner Properties LLC
Seller: Alden Pond Properties LLC
Date: 03/09/23

North Liberty St., Lot 5
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Evergreen Design Build
Seller: Thomas R. Roberts
Date: 03/17/23

North Liberty St., Lot 6
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Evergreen Design Build
Seller: Thomas R. Roberts
Date: 03/17/23

CHESTERFIELD

1 Curtis Road
Chesterfield, MA 01096
Amount: $142,500
Buyer: Timothy M. Berniche
Seller: John K. Childs
Date: 03/16/23

78 Smith Road
Chesterfield, MA 01012
Amount: $139,000
Buyer: David A. Pruzynski
Seller: Deborah A. Clapp
Date: 03/07/23

CUMMINGTON

442 West Cummington Road
Cummington, MA 01026
Amount: $380,000
Buyer: Erik O. Cubi
Seller: Meyers, Gerald D., (Estate)
Date: 03/15/23

EASTHAMPTON

65 Briggs St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $380,000
Buyer: Bryan C. Pascoe
Seller: Kozera Jr., Joseph E., (Estate)
Date: 03/17/23

39 Clapp St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $905,000
Buyer: Ann C. Kenworthy
Seller: Richard P. Bangham
Date: 03/16/23

9 Elliot St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $402,000
Buyer: Jared S. Hirsch
Seller: N. E. Morales-Diaz
Date: 03/16/23

33 Pomeroy St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $311,000
Buyer: Timothy C. Relihan
Seller: Ricky L. Benoit
Date: 03/16/23

16 West Lake St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Jennifer Maybar
Seller: Erica Williams
Date: 03/09/23

GRANBY

276 Amherst St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $299,995
Buyer: Choquette Capital Investments LLC
Seller: JJJ & Jay Inc.
Date: 03/10/23

49 Barton St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: Terrence F. Szczygiel
Seller: Bruce L. Tetrault
Date: 03/09/23

61 Pleasant St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Five Corners LLC
Seller: Patricia A. Kasulinous
Date: 03/07/23

HADLEY

15 Cold Spring Lane
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $475,000
Buyer: Debra Longo
Seller: Choquette Capital Investments LLC
Date: 03/07/23

5 Colony Road
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $165,700
Buyer: Bercume Construction LLC
Seller: Valley Construction Co. Inc.
Date: 03/16/23

56 Comins Road
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $399,900
Buyer: Cassidy Fyden TR
Seller: Fydenkevez, E. A., (Estate)
Date: 03/17/23

NORTHAMPTON

4 Overlook Dr.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $359,900
Buyer: Billie Tedesco
Seller: Paula C. Czarniecki
Date: 03/16/23

SOUTH HADLEY

25-29 Canal St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $875,000
Buyer: Tkjm LLC
Seller: Wayne A. Patnode
Date: 03/16/23

83 College St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Richard Reed
Seller: Trustees of Mount Holyoke College
Date: 03/13/23

61 Hadley St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $268,000
Buyer: Lucien A. Dalton
Seller: Ethan L. Bagg
Date: 03/16/23

9 Lexington Ave.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $287,000
Buyer: Anna J. Rayno-Quirk
Seller: Gallagher Capital Group LLC
Date: 03/16/23

36 Lorraine Ave.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: Noah A. Nunes
Seller: Kevin A. Quesnel
Date: 03/09/23

58 Lyman Ter.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Katherine L. Sveinson
Seller: Carrie A. Laudone
Date: 03/10/23

6 Maple St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $875,000
Buyer: Tkjm LLC
Seller: Wayne A. Patnode
Date: 03/16/23

38 Ridge Road
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Jeffrey Doucette
Seller: Bogart, Elaine V., (Estate)
Date: 03/08/23

SOUTHAMPTON

129 Brickyard Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $935,000
Buyer: RET Of Brian J. Ingledue
Seller: Lewinski, Alexander, (Estate)
Date: 03/10/23

124 White Loaf Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $127,388
Buyer: Deena L. Vandeberghe
Seller: Terrie M. Jarosz
Date: 03/06/23

WARE

130 Gilbertville Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Carl Crevier
Seller: Brian Kellaher
Date: 03/13/23

50 Glendale Circle
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Jared Romero
Seller: Castillo, Josefa, (Estate)
Date: 03/17/23

53 Maple St.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Bartholomew Chenevert
Seller: Bousquet, Joyce A., (Estate)
Date: 03/10/23

95 Maple St.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $347,000
Buyer: Rafaat A. Geres
Seller: T. & Son Property LLC
Date: 03/17/23

95-97 North St.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Citadel Projects LLC
Seller: Wicked Deals LLC
Date: 03/15/23

214 Old Belchertown Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $517,000
Buyer: Michael Wilson
Seller: Adam Cornelius
Date: 03/17/23

WESTHAMPTON

342 Main Road
Westhampton, MA 01027
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Raul A. Bermudez
Seller: Erica Trudell
Date: 03/17/23

WORTHINGTON

245 Williamsburg Road
Worthington, MA 01098
Amount: $299,750
Buyer: Alysha M. Wozniak
Seller: Caitlin N. Donzell
Date: 03/06/23

Analysis: House Tax Plan Recognizes Need to Compete

By
Daily News

Amid some very concerning trends on outmigration — 110,000 people have left this state since early 2020 — Massachusetts House leaders have unveiled a tax-relief plan they believe will improve the state’s overall competitiveness.

The plan, which echoes much of what Gov. Maura Healey proposed in her own tax plan, would, among other things:

• Raise the estate-tax threshold by $1 million to $2 million and tax only the value of an estate that exceeds $2 million, and not the entire estate, as the law currently requires;

• Cut the rate on short-term capital gains from $12% to 5% in two years. During the first year, short-term capital gains would be taxed at 8%;

• Change how state corporate taxes are calculated to what is known as the ‘single sales factor,’ to line up with how most states tax companies now;

• Expand tax credits for seniors and renters; and

• Combine two existing tax credits — childcare and dependent care — to create one $600 credit per dependent, while eliminating the current cap.

The Senate has yet to release its tax plan, and there will be considerable debate before one plan — if there is one — eventually emerges.

But the House plan is cause for optimism in the Bay State. It shows that the chamber’s leaders get it when it comes to outmigration and the many ways in which this ongoing exodus is impacting the state and its business community.

It’s time to stem the tide, and this proposal is a step in that direction.

 

UMass Amherst Awarded $15 Million to Lead Regional University Transportation Center

By
Daily News

AMHERST — UMass Amherst will lead the New England Region 1 consortium — one of 10 regional university transportation centers (UTCs) — for the U.S. Department of Transportation under a five-year, $15 million grant. The goal of the centers is to advance state-of-the-art transportation research, technology, and safety.

The colleges and universities comprising New England’s Region 1 consortium led by UMass Amherst include the University of Connecticut, MIT, the University of Maine, the University of New Hampshire, the University of Rhode Island, and Norwich University, as well as Bunker Hill and Holyoke community colleges.

The UTC program has been congressionally mandated since 1987, and each consortium includes two- and four-year colleges and universities that form a unique center of transportation excellence on a specific research topic. There are five national centers, 20 Tier 1 centers, and 10 regional centers in the U.S.

“I am thrilled that the University of Massachusetts Amherst will now lead the New England Region’s University Transportation Center,” U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern said. “Billions of dollars are being invested through the bipartisan infrastructure bill, and now UMass will be at the forefront of ensuring that this money is spent wisely, justly, and efficiently.”

President Biden’s infrastructure package included $90 million in funding per year for the competitively selected UTC program grants. The DOT received 230 grant applications, which represents the largest number of applications ever submitted in the 35-year history of the UTC program.

“The University of Massachusetts Amherst has been quite active within the UTC program since its inception, and we are excited about the society impact of the research and education developed within this new UTC,” said Michael Knodler Jr., director of the UMass Transportation Center and associate dean for Research & Graduate Affairs and professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the UMass College of Engineering. “Despite traffic-safety advances, roadway fatalities in 2021 were the highest in over a decade, and up more than 10% from 2020. The traffic fatality rate per mile is significantly higher for Black and Hispanic Americans when compared to White Americans, and those of low socioeconomic status are more likely to be involved in fatal crashes.”

Shannon Roberts will serve as the associate director of the New England UTC. She is an assistant professor of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering and co-director of the Arbella Insurance Human Performance Laboratory.

“The time to make a generational impact in equitable transportation safety is now,” Roberts said.

River Valley Counseling Center Welcomes New Board Members

By
Daily News

HOLYOKE — River Valley Counseling Center (RVCC) recently welcomed Daniel Coyne and Barbara Fontaine to its board of directors.

“We are excited to welcome Daniel and Barbara to the RVCC board,” said Rosemarie Ansel, RVCC executive director. “Their collective knowledge and expertise will add additional diverse perspectives to help best direct and guide our agency to continue meeting the needs of our clients.”

Coyne is a certified addictions registered nurse with more than 10 years of experience in behavioral-health treatment. He served as director of Nursing at Swift River addiction campuses, and more recently as the director of Utilization Review on the quality team of Vertava Health. He holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from UMass, a bachelor of arts degree from Middlebury College, and a master of fine arts degree from the University of Florida.

Fontaine is a certified alcohol/drug-abuse counselor with more than 15 years of counseling experience. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English and creative writing from San Francisco State University and completed the Alcohol and Chemical Dependency Treatment Services Program at Boston University in 2007. She started her career in substance-abuse treatment at Gosnold on Cape Cod and also worked at Habit OpCo in South Yarmouth. She has worked at Swift River in Cummington since 2016.

HCS Head Start Begins Recruitment Season with Kickoff Event

By
Daily News

HOLYOKE — Every year, Holyoke Chicopee Springfield (HCS) Head Start Inc. kicks off the preschool enrollment season with a door-to-door recruitment campaign. In order to reach those most in need of services, Head Start staff implement strategies designed to actively inform all families with eligible children about the availability of program services and encourage and assist them in applying for admission to the program.

Teachers and support staff canvas the neighborhoods and knock on doors to inform families about the free preschool program for children birth to age 5. Over the next few months, HCS will be out at various community events enrolling children for the upcoming school year.

The door-to-door recruitment campaign kickoff event will be held Thursday, April 13 at 11 a.m. at HCS Head Start, 662 High St., Holyoke.

American International College Launches Criminal Justice Graduate Program

By
Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Law-enforcement professionals looking to further their education can now get a master of science degree in criminal justice through American International College (AIC). The fully online program is designed to appeal to criminal-justice professionals looking to enhance their skills and credentials, as well as provide the next step for students completing their undergraduate degrees at AIC. The program is now accepting students for the summer 2023 semester, which starts Monday, May 22.

Susanne Swanker, dean of AIC’s School of Business, Arts, and Sciences, expressed enthusiasm about the program, stating, “AIC is excited to build on its rich and successful undergraduate program in criminal justice by offering a master of science in criminal justice. This program will prepare individuals to advance in their careers in the criminal-justice field, including law enforcement, the courts, and corrections, highlighting the expertise that shapes accomplished criminal-justice leaders.”

The MS in criminal justice provides specialized knowledge of public policy, organizational management, and administrative processes, along with advanced graduate leadership and research training. In addition to foundational theories of criminology and criminal justice, students will explore policy design and implementation alongside emerging trends in the field. The program will provide the skills, knowledge, and practical experience needed to protect and serve the public through a wide range of careers, enabling students to develop as ethical and skilled decision makers in the various branches of criminal justice.

“Here at AIC, our master of science in criminal justice program provides a cutting-edge curriculum designed to equip both new and seasoned professionals with the skills and knowledge they need to tackle the unique challenges of the 21st-century criminal-justice system,” Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice Regina Sanderson said. “In addition, our students have the option to specialize in their areas of interest through a range of concentration choices.”

The program offers students specializations including social justice and public policy, victim studies, executive leadership, homeland security, and intelligence studies. These specializations allow students to focus on an area of interest unique to their career goals. They can also serve as stand-alone certificates for those interested in enhancing their educational goals and learning activities that overlap across disciplines but remain connected by a single shared subject.

Graduates can apply their skills to many types of law-enforcement positions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects an 8% growth for protective-service occupations between 2020 and 2030. With a master’s degree, graduates can access the most desirable and highest-paying positions in the law-enforcement field.

W.E.B. Du Bois Sculpture Project Awarded $15,000 by Adams Community Bank

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Daily News

GREAT BARRINGTON — The W.E.B. Du Bois Sculpture Project of Great Barrington received a donation of $15,000 from Adams Community Bank. The funds will be used to finance a monument to W.E.B. Du Bois, a native son of Great Barrington, and to renovate the plaza in front of Mason Public Library, where the statue will be sited.

“The Adams Community Bank will be opening a branch in Great Barrington this summer, and we believe this is an excellent way to support our new friends,” bank President Charles O’Brien said.

Julie Michaels, co-chair of the W.E.B. Du Bois Sculpture Project, added that “the Adams Community Bank donation joins a $10,000 grant from Berkshire Bank and a $10,000 donation from the Whitehead Foundation to bring our totals to $175,000.”

The group will introduce the three finalists for the sculpture commission on Wednesday, April 19 at an evening reception at the Mason Library.

Donations to the Du Bois Sculpture Project can be made online at www.webduboissculpture.org or mailed to W.E.B. Du Bois Sculpture Project, P.O. Box 155, Great Barrington, MA 01230.

HCC Culinary Arts Program Hosting Open House, Tasting Event on April 20

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HOLYOKE — The Holyoke Community College (HCC) Culinary Arts program will be hosting an open house and tasting event on Thursday, April 20 from 4:30 to 7 p.m. at the HCC MGM Culinary Arts Institute, 164 Race St., Holyoke.

Visitors will be able tour the state-of-the-art kitchens, meet HCC Culinary Arts faculty and staff; learn about the college’s culinary arts certificate, associate-degree programs, and non-credit job-training and personal-enrichment classes, and play Food Bash Bingo for a chance to win prizes. In addition, staff from the HCC Admissions office will be on hand to discuss enrollment options.

“Our talented students will be in the kitchens cooking and baking, and the delicious dishes they whip up will all be available for sampling,” said chef Sofia Bilgrami, co-chair of the HCC Culinary Arts program. “I would encourage anyone interested in baking, pastry arts, or cooking in general to come to this event and discover what makes the Culinary Arts program at HCC so special.”

In 2021, HCC placed 50th among the Best Culinary Schools in America, a list that also includes such esteemed schools as the Culinary Institute of America. HCC’s culinary program ranked third in New England after Johnson & Wales in Providence, R.I. and Southern Maine Community College in Portland. The HCC MGM Culinary Arts Institute is equipped with four modern kitchens, a bakery, hotel lab, and a student-run dining room.

For more information about HCC’s Culinary Arts program, visit hcc.edu/culinary.

OneHolyoke CDC to Host Career Fair for Students, Parents on April 25

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Daily News

HOLYOKE — OneHolyoke CDC will host the “I Can Be Anyone I Want to Be” career fair for students and parents on Tuesday, April 25 at Marcella R. Kelly Elementary School, 216 West St., Holyoke. The student fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the parent fair will be held from 4 to 6 p.m.

The event is designed for students to envision future careers for themselves, and also for parents who are looking for potential employment. Several Holyoke community organizations and businesses will be participating.

Industries and jobs that will be available to explore during the fair include outreach and admissions counselor, family and community engagement staff, community development specialist, outreach worker, speech-language pathologist, recruiter, home improvement and construction, Eureka! program director at Girls Inc. of the Valley, HCC adult education intake specialist, HR generalist; scout outreach; associate probation officer, talent-acquisition coordinator, police sergeant/school resource worker, police officer, and state trooper.

A free grab-and-go dinner will be provided for families at the end of the career fair. Email [email protected] with any questions.

Citizens Gives $397,000 in Financial-empowerment Grants to Massachusetts Nonprofits

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Daily News

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Fifteen nonprofit organizations in Massachusetts will receive a total of $397,000 from Citizens through the bank’s Citizens Helping Citizens Manage Money program. The initiative helps strengthen communities by supporting programs, through direct funding as well as volunteerism, that give people the resources they need to be financially healthy and inspire them to pursue their goals.

“Citizens is committed to ensuring that all individuals have access to economic opportunity, and we know that having strong financial knowledge is essential to unlocking that opportunity and reducing the wealth gap,” said Lisa Murray, the bank’s Massachusetts president. “In Massachusetts, Citizens is proud to support our local partners in providing residents with the confidence and tools to own their financial success and build brighter futures.”

The announcement comes during Financial Literacy Month, a nationally recognized campaign that raises awareness of the need for more financial-literacy education. Through Citizens Helping Citizens Manage Money, the bank will provide $2 million in contributions to 150 nonprofits across the communities it serves.

This years’ recipients in Massachusetts include two in Western Mass.: Junior Achievement of Western Massachusetts and Way Finders Inc. Other recipients include ACT Lawrence Inc., Camp Harbor View Foundation Inc., Centro de Apoyo Familiar, Council for Economic Education, Economic Empowerment Trust Fund, Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción Inc., Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance, Merrimack Valley Housing Partnership Inc., Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, the Children’s Museum, Neighborhood of Affordable Housing Inc., Urban Edge Housing Corporation, and Dress for Success Boston Inc.

Berkshire Bank Recognized Among America’s Most Trustworthy Companies

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Daily News

BOSTON — Berkshire Bank announced it was recently recognized in Newsweek magazine’s list of America’s Most Trustworthy Companies 2023.

The list, which includes 700 companies across 23 industries, recognizes companies for their dedication to building trust with all stakeholders. Results were based on a holistic approach to evaluating trust that considered customer trust, employee trust, and investor trust.

“Trust is the foundation of all banking relationships,” Berkshire Bank CEO Nitin Mhatre said. “This award reflects the passionate commitment of all Berkshire bankers working hard every day to earn the trust of our customers by treating them fairly and with respect, safeguarding and growing their hard-earned assets, being there for them in good times and bad, and prioritizing transparency and integrity at every stakeholder touchpoint. We are proud to be ranked as one of the most trustworthy companies and banks in the country for the second consecutive year.”

David Batker to Discuss Ecological Economics, Policy Change at MCLA

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NORTH ADAMS — David Batker, president of Batker Consulting and founder of Earth Economics, will give a talk titled “Using Ecological Economics to Drive Policy Change” on Wednesday, April 19 at 5:30 p.m. at the MCLA Feigenbaum Center for Science and Innovation, Room 121. This event is free and open to the public as part of MCLA’s Green Living Seminar Series.

Batker is a renowned ecological economist, policy leader, pragmatic project proponent, and acclaimed speaker with 35 years of experience. He has worked to advance policy at U.S. federal agencies and worked in more than 40 countries, 45 U.S. states, and many U.S. cities and countries.

Batker’s history of keynote addresses covers a wide range of institutions, including the International Society for Ecological Economics, the Soil Science Society of America, and the Assoc. of State Floodplain Managers. He has worked to implement hundreds of projects providing jobs and local economic development, ranging from mining and forestry to shipping and disaster resilience. He is a fellow at the University of Vermont the author of dozens of publications, book chapters, and a book.

Every semester, the Green Living Seminar Series centers around a different topic that is timely and relevant to current sustainability issues. The 2023 series is a presentation of the MCLA Environmental Studies Department. Podcasts will be posted online following each presentation at www.mcla.edu/greenliving.

HCC’s Christina Royal to Keynote Massachusetts Undergraduate Research Conference

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AMHERST — Organizers for the 2023 Massachusetts Undergraduate Research Conference (MassURC) announced that Christina Royal, president of Holyoke Community College (HCC), will be the keynote speaker at the conference. The keynote is titled “Hacking Ourselves: Learning, Unlearning, and Relearning” and will examine the concept of unlearning, discuss its relevance to learning through a research-based lens, and challenge students to think differently about their approach to life and educational journey.

The 2023 conference will take place on Friday, April 28, and will be entirely virtual. Royal’s keynote will be presented virtually from 10:15 to 11:15 a.m. on the conference day, with options for the public to view it through the MassURC website. Click here for more information and to register for the conference.

Royal has been president of HCC since 2017, and during her time there, HCC was named one of the top women-led businesses in Massachusetts in 2021 and 2022 by Boston Globe Magazine and the Women’s Edge, a nonprofit that supports top female business leaders. Royal, who is retiring from her post this spring, is also the first female, queer person of color to hold the position of president at HCC.

The MassURC is a one-day conference at which undergraduate students from the 28 public colleges and universities within the Commonwealth present research, share knowledge, and learn from fellow students. The conference serves to broaden attendees’ understanding of research, showcasing investigations in more than 60 subject areas, including biochemistry, history, architecture, marketing, fine art, and sociology.

“We are thrilled President Royal is this year’s keynote speaker. Her deep understanding of student success is inspiring to educators, and we look forward to her inspiring student researchers as well,” said Mari Castañeda, dean of Commonwealth Honors College at UMass Amherst, which organizes and administers the conference on behalf of the state of Massachusetts.

Business Confidence Weakens in March

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BOSTON — Business confidence fell precariously close to pessimistic territory during March as Massachusetts employers managed challenges ranging from inflation to rising interest rates to banking disruptions.

The Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM) Business Confidence Index lost 2.0 points to 51.5 last month, its lowest level since October. The confidence level was 5.7 points lower than a year ago and just marginally higher than the 50.0 mark that separates optimistic from pessimistic.

Employer sentiment continues to be driven by mixed economic signals. While the outlook for U.S. real economic growth has improved over the past three months on some stronger-than-expected early-2023 data, including strong demand for labor, most economists still expect growth to decelerate as the Federal Reserve continues to raise interest rates to moderate inflation.

“At the global level, we see recession averted, thanks to solid growth in mainland China and the emerging markets of Asia Pacific,” said Sara Johnson, chair of the AIM Board of Economic Advisors (BEA). “The U.S. economy had a strong start to 2023, but tightening financial conditions could undermine growth over the remainder of the year. Labor-market conditions remain tight, keeping inflation above central bank targets in the U.S. and Western Europe.”

The new Western Massachusetts Business Confidence Index, developed in collaboration with the Springfield Regional Chamber of Commerce, debuted at 50.0. The Central Massachusetts Business Confidence Index, conducted with the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, fell 1.9 points to 52.1, while the North Shore Confidence Index, conducted with the North Shore Chamber of Commerce, was also unchanged at 54.9.

The constituent indicators that make up the Index were all lower in March. The confidence employers have in their own companies fell 0.1 points to 55.6, ending the month 4.6 points below March 2022.

The Massachusetts Index assessing business conditions within the Commonwealth lost 4.1 points to 49.3, down 6.3 from a year earlier. The U.S. Index measuring conditions throughout the country declined 6.1 points points to 41.0 for its sixth consecutive month in pessimistic territory.

The Current Index, which assesses overall business conditions at the time of the survey, fell 1.6 points to 52.9. The Future Index, measuring projections for the economy six months from now, lost 2.5 points to end the month at the neutral mark of 50.0.

The Manufacturing Index slid 0.6 points to 49.5. Confidence among non-manufacturing companies was down 2.8 points to 53.3. The Employment Index edged down 0.3 points to 54.8 as companies continued to scour a tight labor market for qualified workers. Large companies (53.0) were slightly more optimistic than small companies (52.4) or medium-sized companies (50.4).

Suzanne Dwyer, president of the Massachusetts Capital Resource Company and a BEA member, said rapid action by regulators in the U.S. and Europe to limit the damage from the failures of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Signature Bank, and Credit Suisse appears to have stabilized the financial markets.

“The action by the Federal Reserve to insure all deposits at Silicon Valley Bank was particularly important here in Massachusetts, where significant numbers of technology and bioscience companies did business with SVB,” Dwyer said.

AIM President and CEO John Regan, also a BEA member, said supplier diversity is an important element to ensuring continued economic growth in Massachusetts. AIM Business Connect, the association’s initiative to link minority-owned businesses with companies seeking to diversify their supply spends, has already brokered a dozen business relationships.

“I was warned early on that it is hard work, and that has proven to be prophetic. But that doesn’t mean you don’t do the work,” Regan said. “We tried to emphasize that they don’t have to be extremely large contracts. They could be simple, [like] catering, developing marketing material, landscaping or janitorial, things that are the day-to-day needs of a business.”

Revitalize CDC Seeks Volunteers to Rebuild 12 Homes in Memorial Square

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Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Revitalize CDC’s #GreenNFit Neighborhood Rebuild is back after a three-year hiatus due to COVID-19. This year, a total of 12 homes in Springfield’s Memorial Square neighborhood — owned by low-income families with children, aging adults, military veterans, and people with special needs — will be worked on by 1,000 volunteers and more than 100 supporters. In addition, vacant lots will be cleaned up and Calhoun Park improved.

Volunteers return each year from Maine to Virginia and work alongside the residents of Springfield. Families who benefited from past #GreenNFit events volunteer to help their neighbors on the next block.

Revitalize CDC focuses on making meaningful improvements on homes to help reduce energy use, save money, and create a safe, healthy, and sustainable living environment for residents and the community. Improvements include installing or retrofitting HVAC systems to allow for a transition from fossil fuel to renewable energy, such as solar conversions; new roofs; energy-efficient windows, doors, and appliances; water-saving plumbing fixtures; electrical upgrades; mold remediation, lead abatement, and pest control; interior and exterior painting; and modifying homes for aging or disabled homeowners, such as building exterior access ramps.

Revitalize CDC is still seeking donations, sponsors, and volunteers. Visit www.revitalizecdc.com for more information, the current list of supports, and to register.

STCC to Offer Free Course to Prepare to Become Teacher Assistant

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Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) will offer a free nine-week course to prepare for the job of para-educator in the Springfield Public Schools.

The para-educator, also known as a teacher assistant, works with teachers and other school staff to provide instructional assistance and classroom support and implement effective classroom strategies to meet the needs of all students.

The in-person course runs April 24 to June 22 from 5:45 to 8:45 p.m. The registration deadline is April 21. Click here to register via instant enrollment. To enroll in person, visit Building 27, second floor, at STCC, or call (413) 755-4225. For more information, email [email protected].

“We are excited to offer this program through the Educators’ Academy free of charge to help people get started on the path to a degree from STCC and a career as an educator,” said Gladys Franco, assistant vice president for Workforce Development at STCC. “Sign up now, as space is limited.”

Participants will receive bilingual instruction in digital and computer literacy, job-readiness skills for educators, and test preparation to obtain the American College Testing WorkKeys Proficiency Certificate.

Para-educators who successfully complete the course through the Educators’ Academy program may earn credits transferable toward an associate degree at STCC. Para-educators are encouraged to continue their education to develop their professional skills toward employment as a classroom teacher through STCC’s early childhood, elementary, and secondary transfer programs.