SSO Hires Symphony Youth Sinfonia Conductor Matt Bertuzzi

By
Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield Symphony Orchestra (SSO) announced that Matt Bertuzzi has been hired as the conductor of the SSO’s Springfield Youth Sinfonia, a youth orchestra that develops ensemble skills and performs in Springfield Symphony Hall.

Bertuzzi, who also serves as music director at the Springfield Honors Academy, previously served as assistant conductor of the Pioneer Valley Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in Greenfield. He has been hailed as a “lively and animated teacher” by OperaPulse.

Growing up, Bertuzzi was part of the Springfield Symphony Youth Orchestra. Bertuzzi has served as musical director of the UMass Chamber Orchestra and as assistant conductor of the UMass University Orchestra, the Five College Opera Projects, and Opera Workshop. In his final concert at UMass, Bertuzzi produced and conducted the University’s first fully staged opera to be performed with full orchestra, Donizetti’s Rita, for which he was a semifinalist for the American Prize in Opera Conducting, the only collegiate conductor to achieve such an honor.

Bertuzzi has extensive experience conducting internationally, which includes serving as assistant conductor of the Professional Advantage and the Italian Operatic Experience, opera festivals in the Marche region of Italy. He was also a guest conductor with the Orquestra Criança Cidadã, Recife, Brazil’s premier youth orchestra academy, and has also conducted at the International Institute for Conductors Advanced Conducting Academy in Bacau, Romania.

He is a former trustee of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra and developed and implemented the symphony’s innovative Real-Time Concert Notes program, which allows audience members, using a smartphone app, to receive live program notes about the music they are hearing while it’s being played in concert.

“It’s a tremendous honor to have the chance to lead the Springfield Youth Sinfonia after getting my own start with the Springfield Symphony Youth Orchestra as a student so many years ago,” Bertuzzi said. “I’m excited to work with such great youth musicians from our area.”

According to Paul Lambert, interim executive director of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, “the SSO is fortunate to have such a talented individual in Matt Bertuzzi to lead our Youth Sinfonia. He has proven in his career to be an innovator and an excellent teacher. He will bring great energy and ability to our youth orchestra, and the SSO board and leadership look forward to supporting him and our young musicians.”

The Springfield Youth Sinfonia, along with the Springfield Youth Orchestra, are merit-based orchestras sponsored by the Springfield Symphony Orchestra for talented young musicians (up to age 19) living in the Pioneer Valley and beyond.

The SYS rehearses weekly at Holyoke Community College and performs at Springfield Symphony Hall. Weekly rehearsals have begun, and auditions are being accepted for all symphony instruments. Those interested in auditioning should contact Rocio Mora at [email protected].

Adam Moreau Joins Marketing Doctor Management Team

By
Daily News

NORTHAMPTON — Marketing Doctor Inc. recently welcomed Adam Moreau to its management team. He brings more than 19 years of advertising experience to Marketing Doctor.

A longtime senior account executive for Effectv (formerly Comcast Spotlight), Moreau was integral in creating strong, custom campaigns and messaging that delivered impressive results for his clients. He constantly leveraged his expertise in media sales and omni-channel advertising solutions to find the next opportunity for his clients, both during and after campaigns.

He is a fixture in the local media-sales field, working at the forefront of local advertising in the Springfield market. With clients across New England, his accounts spanned size and industry, including automotive, legal, retail, healthcare, business services, and more. He also executed political advertising campaigns for local and federal candidates.

“We’re beyond thrilled to have Adam on our team,” Marketing Doctor founder and President Janet Casey said. “He fits perfectly with our core values that have led to such success. We feel he is one of the most respected advertising professionals in the business and a good egg. Having ranked on the Inc. 5000 list of the Fastest Growing Private Companies in America for the fourth year in a row, we needed an industry leader to be a cornerstone of our management team.”

Moreau holds an MBA from Western New England University.

“I am proud to be joining the management team at Marketing Doctor,” he said. “I look forward to bringing my many years of experience in media and the advertising-sales industry to the company and joining them on their road of success. Janet and the teams have an amazing group that I am very excited to be a part of.”

Sports Betting Is Legalized in Massachusetts, but the Benefits Are Uncertain

By
Cover Story

At the Goal Line

With 35 other states having done so already, Massachusetts lawmakers were eager to pass a bill this summer legalizing sports betting, and Gov. Charlie Baker followed suit, signing it into law. Now comes the hard work by the Gaming Commission to establish a framework and scores of regulations — and the continuing research into a recreational activity that brings a still-uncertain level of economic benefit, alongside some well-established social risks.

The MGM Sports Lounge

The MGM Sports Lounge was designed to enhance the sports viewing — and eventually gambling — experience.

Rachel Volberg has been researching the effects of gambling for almost four decades, and since 2013, she’s been doing it at the behest of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC), which selected her team a decade ago to research the potential impacts of casinos.

“We’ve kept a pretty careful eye on things, but only a few U.S. states have any funding in their legislation to conduct research, so we know surprisingly little about the social and economic impacts of betting in the United States as a whole,” she told BusinessWest, and that’s even more true when it comes to legalized sports betting, which Massachusetts recently became the 36th state to legalize.

A research professor in the UMass Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences, for the past decade Volberg has been the principal investigator with Social and Economic Impacts of Gambling in Massachusetts (SEIGMA), whose latest report — the first of its kind in the nation — deals with the potential impact of legal sports gambling in the Bay State. And if the picture is still uncertain, it’s coming into focus.

“I think the biggest surprise for us was how little research had actually been done, particularly on the economic impacts — what does the industry look like once you legalize it, once it’s operational? What kinds of jobs, what kinds of revenues, and how are those jobs translating into economic benefits? There were literally only two or three economic studies we were able to identify, so there’s clearly a lot of work to be done in that area.”

What is emerging may not thrill proponents of sports gambling who support legalization on economic grounds. The study contends that direct economic impacts will depend on shifting spending from the illegal to legal market, and the impacts will not be entirely new since the majority of these already occur due to the illegal market. In addition, sports betting will primarily redistribute money already in the economy rather than attracting new money from outside Massachusetts.

“Sports betting is, by far, the number-one question I get asked on a daily basis, and it has been for years now. The entire team is looking forward to welcoming the first bet. When the time comes, we’ll be ready.”

“When you compare the tax revenue we anticipate being generated in Massachusetts by sports betting, the optimistic scenario is $60 million a year,” Volberg said, “which is not very large compared to the lottery, which in 2019 generated $1.1 billion in tax revenue, or casinos, which in 2019 generated about $168 million.”

That’s not nothing, of course, and state lawmakers overwhelmingly supported the bill to bring sports gambling out into the open, as did Gov. Charlie Baker, who signed the bill into law shortly after. It was the culmination of momentum that had been building since sports betting was legalized by a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2018. Area legislators pointed out that, with every state in the Northeast having followed suit, Massachusetts was losing money to its neighbors.

“Legalizing sports wagering in Massachusetts will allow us to finally compete with neighboring states and will bring in new revenue and immense economic benefits,” state Sen. John Velis said in August.

The bill allows for 15 online licenses for companies like DraftKings and FanDuel, in addition to five retail licenses for the three casinos and two racetracks in Massachusetts. The bill also creates a commission to study additional licenses for smaller businesses, such as bars and restaurants.

The bill includes out-of-state collegiate betting but does not allow bets on Massachusetts college teams unless they are in the playoffs. The bill also includes a 20% tax on mobile bets and a 15% tax on retail bets, which would be paid by the operating company.

Rachel Volberg

Rachel Volberg

“At this point, the most optimistic scenario for sports betting tax revenues in Massachusetts is about $60 million, and that’s assuming the legal operators are able to capture the great majority of the legal market. It also assumes it will attract people who haven’t bet on sports before there was a legitimate, legal provider.”

“Sports betting is, by far, the number-one question I get asked on a daily basis, and it has been for years now,” said Chris Kelley, president and chief operating officer of MGM Springfield, which built two sports viewing lounges last year partly in anticipation of legal sports betting (more on those later). “The entire team is looking forward to welcoming the first bet. When the time comes, we’ll be ready.”

 

Devil’s in the Details

With the legislation now law, the MGC will work out the details that will make legal sports betting a reality. It has already come up with a list of about 225 regulations that will need to be drafted.

“A great deal of work has already been done by our team in anticipation of sports wagering becoming legal in Massachusetts,” Gaming Commission Executive Director Karen Wells said last month. “This includes identifying over 200 potential regulations, adopting a framework to utilize industry-recognized technical standards, establishing an infrastructure to investigate and license applicants, initiating the hiring of a chief of Sports Wagering, and scheduling public meetings. Now that we have a law that defines our responsibilities as regulator, we will work with our stakeholders to swiftly stand up this new industry with a focus on integrity, player safety, and consumer protection.”

They’ll take a hard look at SEIGMA’s report in crafting that framework and its many elements, Gaming Commission Chair Cathy Judd-Stein said, noting that “this report will aid the MGC as we begin to regulate a sports-wagering industry in the Commonwealth with an uncompromising focus on integrity and player safety.”

Volberg added that “we were trying to give a very broad overview of what is known at this point about the social and economic impact of sports betting, and it’s the first nationwide effort to do that. It also summarizes what we know about sports betting in Massachusetts.”

She told BusinessWest that the ‘handle’ — a term that refers to all money bet, including rewagered winnings, creating a high level of churn — is not the same as the total revenue taken in by operators.

“It’s easy to lose sight of the fact that sports betting is run on very narrow margins, so the actual revenues the operator is able to generate are a very small number of what the handle numbers are,” she explained. “At this point, the most optimistic scenario for sports betting tax revenues in Massachusetts is about $60 million, and that’s assuming the legal operators are able to capture the great majority of the legal market. It also assumes it will attract people who haven’t bet on sports before there was a legitimate, legal provider.”

Because so little information about the impacts of sports betting is available, Volberg’s team mined data from their own surveys and studies that are part of the research ordered by the Massachusetts Legislature when lawmakers passed the Expanded Gaming Act in 2011. Meanwhile, a representative survey of 8,000 adults was completed in Massachusetts earlier this year and provides a snapshot of changes in gambling behavior, attitude, and problem-gambling prevalence since 2013-14.

“The National Council on Problem Gambling has seen a significant increase in sports-betting participation since 2018,” she told BusinessWest, noting that it has also reported an increase in people saying they had experiences with one or more impacts or harms.

“That suggests that an increase in sports betting has the potential to come with increased harm, which is not a surprise, but in Massachusetts, because the Gaming Commission already has familiarity with implementing measures to try to minimize and mitigate harm — because they already have that experience with casinos — we’re hopeful those harms can in fact be minimized,” Volberg added.

Cathy Judd-Stein

Cathy Judd-Stein

“This report will aid the MGC as we begin to regulate a sports-wagering industry in the Commonwealth with an uncompromising focus on integrity and player safety.”

Alisha Khoury-Boucher, a clinical supervisor at MiraVista Behavioral Health Center, agreed to an extent. “Gambling has been a concern for a long time, but we already have a casino close by, so we don’t see a major change with the people we serve from legalizing sports gambling; if they wanted to do those things, they were already doing those things. It’s the behavior more than the access.”

Still, she added, “in my opinion, where we may see more of a problem is with young people, college-age people, who may still be home with mom and dad and have more disposable income. We might see an increase there, but that’s to be determined.”

“Any time a new entertainment is starting up, it’s always going to be advertised toward young people,” Khoury-Boucher said, citing vaping as one example. “They weren’t looking for middle-aged people who’d been smoking for 25 years; they were looking at mid- to late adolescents. It’s kind of the same thing with sports gambling. If you’re a sports fan, you’re seeing advertising that looks like the old beer commercials — everyone’s happy, it’s exciting, it’s flashy. They’re targeting young people, and that’s potentially a problem.”

Indeed, SEIGMA’s study notes that sports betting occurs in all demographic groups but appeals most to young, well-educated men. It adds that problem gambling is higher among sports bettors primarily because they tend to be involved with a large number of other gambling activities, so legalizing sports betting in Massachusetts has the potential to increase rates of gambling harm and problem gambling.

To mitigate those concerns, SEIGMA is advising the Gaming Commission to require operators to provide player data to the MGC on a regular basis and to cooperate with researchers; to prohibit live, in-game sports betting, which is disproportionately utilized by problem gamblers; and to restrict advertising and celebrity endorsements, which tend to promote sports betting in young people, precipitate relapse in recovered gamblers, and counteract the effectiveness of messages advocating limited, lower-risk involvement.

Volberg noted that only four states have funded any kind of research about sports betting, while 12 have provided funding for problem-gambling services. This contrasts with Massachusetts, where 9% of the tax revenue raised from sports betting will go into the Public Health Trust Fund that supports research and services to mitigate gambling-related harms.

“We are in a unique position in Massachusetts to be able to monitor the impacts of sports betting as it becomes legal and make adjustments to its provision so as to maximize the benefits and minimize the harms.”

 

Sit Back and Watch

Those benefits, as noted, are uncertain, but operators are excited about the prospects.

For maximum economic impact, SEIGMA’s report recommends issuing licenses for online operators, and a variety of them, since most sports betting is done online. That lines up with the Gaming Commission’s plans.

“While it is likely that sports-book operators, including land-based and online operators, will benefit from sports-betting legalization in Massachusetts,” the study notes, “it is difficult to predict whether sports bettors will add legal sports betting to their repertoire or simply substitute betting on sports for spending on other types of gambling.”

Still, as the leader of the only casino in Western Mass., Kelley sees potential benefits not just for his facility, but for the region itself.

“Massachusetts residents are already driving across the border to Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and New York to place bets. Keeping the millions of tax dollars generated annually by sports wagering in the Commonwealth is a big deal,” he told BusinessWest. In addition, “sports betting at MGM Springfield will bring more foot traffic and visitors to downtown Springfield. We are thrilled at the prospect of not only having more people come and enjoy our property, but to experience all of the amazing businesses nearby.”

To enhance the viewing and gambling experience, the MGM Sports Lounge opened in August 2021, featuring more than 70 lounge seats and a 45-foot state-of-the-art HD viewing wall, inviting fans to watch multiple sporting events at once. A new VIP Sports Lounge also opened last August within TAP Sports Bar, offering a more intimate experience, including a state-of-the-art HD viewing wall.

“As a New England sports fan, I can tell you the MGM Springfield Sports Lounge is the best spot to watch the Patriots, the Red Sox, the Celtics, the Bruins, you name it,” Kelley said. “It’s also just a great place to gather with your friends for a fun night out. As soon as we get the green light, we are ready to incorporate the BetMGM platform into our property.”

Yes, the green light — it’s what many in the gaming industry in Massachusetts have been anticipating for a long time, hoping the benefits of legal sports betting exceed early projections — and outweigh the potential harms.

 

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

 

In a Tight Market, Employers Find Talent by Listening to What Workers Want

By
team members at Big Y’s St. James Avenue location in Springfield
Employment Special Coverage

What’s in a Job?

team members at Big Y’s St. James Avenue location in Springfield

From left, Nadia Doyle, Leslie Soto, Anialys Gomes, and Michelle Martin, team members at Big Y’s St. James Avenue location in Springfield.

Michael Galat says Big Y has a story to tell, and its employees do, too. And sharing those stories goes a long way toward building and retaining workers in a job market slanted toward job seekers to an unprecedented degree.

“It has been a challenge. Everyone is fighting for top talent,” said Galat, Big Y’s vice president of Employee Services. “We’ve adapted by leveraging our existing workforce to share stories of why they work for Big Y. We’ve got a lot of long-tenured, dedicated people working here, and they’re our best recruiters. We focus on their testimonies, telling their stories about why they want to work at Big Y.”

The supermarket chain has bolstered its workforce efforts in other ways, to be sure, from streamlining the application process to college internships that expose students to career opportunities to hosting a recent series of on-the-spot hiring events. “That’s been a home run for us. Recruitment is an ongoing effort,” Galat said.

But the stories are important, he added, noting that it’s important to build a culture where people want to work when they have other options.

“We’ve updated our career page and social platforms with people’s testimonials — why they like working for Big Y, what makes us different, the flexibility we provide. All those things go a long way to retain people and attract new talent.”

Amy Roberts, executive vice president and chief Human Resources officer at PeoplesBank, says both the company and its employees have a story to tell, and creating the right cultural fit is key to building a stable workforce.

“We’re trying to be up front with individuals about our core values and who we are and that we’re looking for people who are interested in being a part of that,” she explained. “So the process is focused around asking the candidate to tell us stories, tell us things about themselves. We believe that’s really critical.”

After all, it’s not just about bringing in talent, but creating a team for the long run.

Amy Roberts

Amy Roberts

“I think it’s important not to oversell yourself and make the position or company something they’re not; if you do, ultimately a person is not going to stick around.”

“I think it’s important not to oversell yourself and make the position or company something they’re not; if you do, ultimately a person is not going to stick around,” Roberts said. “We try to be up front about who we are as an organization, what’s important to us, how we view success here, and hope that’s best match for the individual. We spend time in the process talking about that.”

For this issue’s focus on employment, BusinessWest spoke to five area employers — Big Y, PeoplesBank, the Center for Human Development (CHD), Bulkley Richardson, and Health New England (HNE) — to get a feel for how challenging the much-talked-about workforce crunch has been for their organizations, and how they’ve shifted their hiring and retention strategies to deal with it.

Carol Fitzgerald, vice president of Human Resources at CHD, admitted that 2021 was difficult, but “I feel like 2022 has gotten better, though there are still some challenges. In 2021, we were losing a lot of folks; it was not only hard to get folks, but our folks were making the choice to leave the field.

“As a large, human-service, behavioral-health organization, we are essential workers, and we work face to face with folks anywhere from birth to elders,” she explained. “And I think a lot of people were deciding during the pandemic not to do this work anymore. So we lost ground in 2021, but we’re gaining ground again. I feel optimistic; it feels less frenetic than it did last year, and it feels like things are improving. We’ve gained about 100 employees over 2021.”

Many of the current challenges are geographic, especially in rural settings, where CHD has dozens of locations. “It’s a lot of geography to cover, and there are fewer people in more rural places, so we’re having a harder time finding folks to do the work.”

Betsey Quick, executive director at Bulkley Richardson, had one of the most positive stories to tell about her law firm’s workforce situation, but, like at CHD, 2021 saw some turmoil.

“That was an unduly interesting time for us, as COVID made people retire faster,” she told BusinessWest. “People who had worked here 10, 20, even 40 and 50 years re-evaluated their work-life balance and said, ‘I don’t need to work until I’m 70. I want to spend money and travel; life is short.’ So we had a slew of retirements we wouldn’t have had, and that punched up our needs quite a bit.”

Carol Fitzgerald

Carol Fitzgerald

“I think a lot of people were deciding during the pandemic not to do this work anymore. So we lost ground in 2021, but we’re gaining ground again. I feel optimistic; it feels less frenetic than it did last year, and it feels like things are improving.”

When the firm started ramping up hiring last year, “all the news in every sector was stating how employees were being poached and salaries were way up; it was an employees’ market. I was fully prepared to have a difficult time because we needed attorneys, we needed staff, we needed management,” she went on. “And for maybe the first three months, I saw the tightness in the market. We weren’t getting responses. We considered going out to recruiters, which we never had to do here. But after about three months, résumés started flooding in.”

 

Passion for Purpose

Sarah Morgan, director of Human Resources and Organizational Development at Health New England, noted that the Great Resignation has affected all employers, but it has also been an opportunity to recruit talented people who are looking for new opportunities or are rejoining the workforce. And many are looking for greater purpose in their jobs.

“This is a competitive recruiting environment we face today; however, Health New England employees know they are helping our members to live more healthful lives and improving the health and well-being of the communities we serve,” she said. “Ultimately, people connect to our role as a hometown not-for-profit health plan and are excited about the possibility of joining that cause.”

At the same time, the pandemic showed all companies how much employees — both current and prospective — value flexibility, and Health New England was no exception.

“Even before the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, we recognized that our employees have different needs, such as around childcare, eldercare, transportation, and the like,” Morgan said. “We respect the individual needs of our staff members and offer flexibility when possible, including the opportunity to work primarily remotely when the business needs allow.”

Betsy Quick

Betsy Quick

“You don’t have to work 6 in the morning to 12 at night and drive people into the ground. People want something different.”

Galat agreed. “We’re highly focused on retention, so we provide flexible work schedules and work-life balance, which is very important in this day and age. People have busy lives; we understand and that try to provide that flexibility for childcare, eldercare, school activities, sports … those things are important, and having that ability to balance their personal life with work is more important than ever.”

At CHD, Fitzgerald added, “we definitely know flexibility is really something people are looking for. While we’ve always tried to be flexible, our jobs are face to face with people for the most part, so we need to be in certain settings. However, during the pandemic, we went to telehealth, and we are trying to maintain a small bit of flexibility for telehealth. Going forward, especially in remote settings, that might work best for us. For example, a clinic in Orange is posting for a position that can be primarily remote. Up there, our managers are willing to talk about any and every way to get somebody to come into work, whether that’s remote or a flex schedule where they can; they’re trying to be creative on an individual basis.”

She added that competition has changed over the past couple years as well. “A lot of service industries are paying a lot more, really crazy rates. So we had to get creative. We offer a lot of hiring incentives and bonuses to come in, and when our employees refer folks. We’re trying to be creative from a compensation standpoint as well.”

Galat says Big Y hosts employee roundtables and focus groups and conducts surveys to get feedback on how the work environment can improve and what employees are looking for, and that information is used as a retention tool. The company also implemented a wage increase in July that impacted 75% of the hourly workforce.

All these efforts are critical because, despite some success stories with hiring, the Great Resignation and a generation of young workers who feel they know their value and want to assert it have created a smaller pool of talent to draw from.

“The highly technical or skilled positions have gotten even harder to recruit for,” Roberts said, “because there’s probably a handful of people who have a certain skill you’re looking for, and they’re either going somewhere else or already have a job and are perfectly happy where they are. Trying to figure out recruiting for those positions has been tricky.

“We’ve engaged recruiting partners and firms to broaden our scope,” she went on. “We’ve had people express interest in 100% remote, and we don’t operate that way, but at the same time, managers who said for years, ‘I want them here on site’ are now open to a more flexible work arrangement, seeing how difficult it is to get people to fill positions.”

Meanwhile, Roberts said, “I think our benefit programs are some of the best around, and we’re always looking at that and asking what else we can be doing. How do we help our people learn and build a career with us? How can we bring in more educational opportunities and help them build their career paths and help them see they have a future here? That goes a long way toward retention, but also from a recruiting standpoint, people want to know they have growth potential with your company. Identifying that process definitely has been key for us.”

 

Culture Counts

As Bulkley Richardson has sought to grow, Quick said, it was clear that “we have a really strong older workforce and a really strong middle, and we didn’t have such a strong younger workforce. So part of our succession plan is to keep that younger personnel coming up behind the bigs so they garner all that knowledge.”

One strategy to bring in young lawyers has been a summer associate program that was revived a few years back. After on-campus interviews and an in-depth review process, three to five candidates are selected every summer, and at the end of the summer, if the fit is right, offers are extended. Of eight offers so far, seven are coming back, and the other one took a clerkship and plans to be back at Bulkley when it’s over.

“We feel like this is a desirable place to work,” Quick said. “There’s been a lot of effort from our executive committee to punch up our vibe so it’s about the humans that work for us, not just about billable hours like a lot of big law firms in big cities. You’ve got to have that component, but you don’t have to work 6 in the morning to 12 at night and drive people into the ground. People want something different.

“COVID has taught us that Bulkley Richardson has always had a super strong family vibe,” she added. “We appreciate your personal time, what happens to you in your life. We really feel that’s paying off. We’re good lawyers and good people, and I feel like this is a positive hiring time for us.”

Galat agreed that culture is key.

“We have employees ranging from 16 to 85. Our people make the difference. We look for individuals that enjoy working with people. This is a people business. We want individuals that want to learn and grow and want to develop others, want to provide exceptional customer service and support our inclusive and belonging culture. Through our employee resource groups, employees share ideas and have a voice in business initiatives and each other.”

At Health New England, Morgan said, “we have been more focused than ever on recruiting people with diverse identities and experiences. More than ever, people want to work for companies that value them for who they are and empower them to bring their full, true selves to their work. We see strength in that and want employees from all backgrounds so we can better serve customers from all backgrounds.”

To that end, Health New England aims to deepen its relationships within the community through participation in local cultural events, job fairs, leadership programs, sponsorships, and more, she noted.

Getting back to the idea of the right cultural fit, Fitzgerald said CHD isn’t looking to hire just anyone, even in a tighter-than-usual market.

“We want the soft skills, the people skills. the relationship skills. That’s important not only for the work we do, but for being able to work with folks who appreciate each other and appreciate differences and have great communication skills and can manage different conversations. These are the kinds of things we’re looking for aside from just technical skills. It’s got to be the right fit.”

After all, she added, the company can train employees on certain tasks, but soft skills and a cultural connection are more organic.

“To have the right mindset about work and fit into that culture, I think those are things that are really important to our people. They care about who they’re working with, who they’re working for, and that translates to how we treat clients and quality of care. It really matters.”

 

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

The Wrong Way to Handle an Aging Workforce

By Contributor
Law Special Coverage

Recent Case Shows the Danger Lurking with ‘Stray Remarks’

 

A recent Massachusetts Appeals Court decision, reversing a lower-court decision to dismiss an age-discrimination complaint, may have repercussions for businesses of all kinds facing a transition in their workforce. The issue — and the ruling — go deeper than just the perceived discrimination itself, however, delving into questions about how much exposure an employer attracts by simply discussing matters of age in the workplace.

By Erica Flores, Esq. and John Gannon, Esq.

 

Erica Flores

Erica Flores

John Gannon

John Gannon

It is common knowledge that older workers are a major part of this country’s workforce. According to U.S. Census Bureau statistics, more than 35% of all essential workers are over age 50, and nearly 15% are over age 60. As the Baby Boomer generation approaches retirement age, employers often wonder whether they can talk to their employees about their retirement plans. Is this allowed, or does it run afoul of age-discrimination laws?

The short answer is that general discussions about retirement plans are fair game. However, the conversation should always be about succession planning and/or transitioning of job duties. And, of course, suggestions about needing “younger” workers must be avoided.

A recent decision from the Massachusetts Appeals Court demonstrates the risks associated with subtle remarks about an aging workforce population coupled with an organizational need to make room for “junior-level talent.”

In Adams v. Schneider Electric USA, the Appeals Court reversed a lower-court decision that dismissed an age-discrimination lawsuit of a 54-year-old employee. The plaintiff in that case was an employee who worked for his employer for many years as an electrical engineer. In January 2017, the employer laid off the employee as part of a larger reduction in force (RIF) related to cost-cutting strategies. The RIF laid off a total of eight employees, all of whom were over age 50. In fact, the employer conducted a series of RIFs over a period of just 10 months that, when combined together, cut 24 employees, all but two of whom were over age 50.

“General discussions about retirement plans are fair game. However, the conversation should always be about succession planning and/or transitioning of job duties. And, of course, suggestions about needing “younger” workers must be avoided.”

The employee sued, claiming his employer terminated him on the basis of his age in violation of Massachusetts law. The lower court dismissed the case before trial, but a divided Appeals Court reversed that decision, concluding that the employee had pointed to enough evidence of age discrimination to require a jury to decide the case.

 

Evidence of Age Discrimination

The majority opinion, joined by three of the five judges who decided the case, found that the Trial Court should not have dismissed the case for multiple reasons. First, the court concluded that there was evidence of a high-level plan to replace aging employees with “early-career” talent and recent college graduates, “from which a jury could find that the RIF itself was tainted even if the person who selected the employees for the RIF [did so] neutrally.” Among this evidence was an October 2015 email from a vice president in the IT department telling an HR professional that the employer needed “age diversity” and “young talent.”

Notably, the comments relied on by the court — including the references to “creating space” for “junior-level talent” and a potential early-retirement program — did not reflect age bias on the part of the person who actually made the decision to include the employee in the RIF. The decision maker had completely neutral, business-based reasons for laying off the plaintiff. In fact, there was evidence in the record that suggested the decision maker and the plaintiff were long-term friends.

Even so, the court felt that there was also evidence demonstrating that, although the decision maker himself did not harbor discriminatory motives, he did have meetings with higher-level managers who were the supposed “architects” of employer’s plan to clear out older employees. Finally, the court pointed to the all-to-obvious fact that all of the employees selected for the January 2017 RIF were over age 50. This fact alone suggested the decision maker “understood the company strategy to discriminate.”

 

Takeaways

Interestingly, the Adams decision was the subject of a strong dissenting opinion joined by two members of the five-judge Appeals Court panel. Among other things, the dissent argued that the majority had departed from the long-standing legal rule that “stray remarks” are insufficient to prove discriminatory bias by holding that the rule can never apply to a manager who has the power to make employment decisions. The dissent also took issue with its apparent intolerance for modern succession planning in industries dominated by aging employees.

For now, though, the majority opinion remains the law, and it will certainly be relied upon by attorneys trying to avoid dismissal in employment cases. What does this mean for employers? For one, it means that management-level employees who have the authority to hire, discipline, promote, terminate, or make other employment decisions must be even more careful about remarks they make in the workplace. Comments that may have previously been brushed aside by courts as nothing more than “stray remarks” may now be considered evidence of a high-level corporate strategy to discriminate against employees in all manner of employment decisions, not just RIFs.

Also, employers who are thinking about succession planning need to be extra careful about the rhetoric they use to describe their concerns, needs, wants, and strategies, especially if their plans involve eliminating jobs. Partnering with employment counsel at an early stage can help reduce legal risk and shield sensitive conversations from being used in any ensuing litigation.

 

Erica Flores and John Gannon are partners with the Springfield-based law firm of Skoler, Abbott & Presser, specializing in employment law and regularly counseling employers on compliance with state and federal laws, including the Age Discrimination in Employment Act; (413) 737-4753; [email protected]; [email protected]

The Dowd Agencies Expands Organically and Through M&A

By
Current and future leaders at the Dowd Agencies
Insurance Special Coverage

Putting a Premium on Measured Growth

Current and future leaders at the Dowd Agencies

Current and future leaders at the Dowd Agencies, from left: Evan Dowd, account executive; John Dowd Jr., president and CEO; Dave Griffin Jr., senior vice president; and Jack Dowd, vice president of Personal Lines.

There’s a framed picture of downtown Holyoke on one wall of the conference room at the Dowd Agencies — downtown Holyoke circa 1870.

The view is looking west along Dwight Street by the first-level canal. City Hall, prominent in the upper-left corner, looks … exactly as it does today. The other side of Dwight Street, not so much — most of the buildings seen in the image have been gone for decades. For perspective, a horse-drawn carriage is moving east down the hill.

John Dowd Jr. said the picture was owned by a long-time client who offered it to him after Dowd repeatedly raved about it. He accepted the offer and gave the picture a prominent home — across the conference room from another framed photo, this one of the insurance company’s founder, James J. Dowd, who went into business just a few decades after that picture of downtown was taken.

Together, the pictures provide some needed perspective — about time, Holyoke, the company, change, what hasn’t changed — and how they all come together. And the juxtaposition of all this will come into even sharper focus in 2023, when the agency, which Dowd claims is the oldest family-owned insurance agency doing business in the Bay State, celebrates its 125th birthday.

“We want to continue to grow, but want to make sure we’re not growing too quickly; we don’t want to get over our skis, as we like to say.”

There hasn’t been much hard planning about how to mark that milestone, he said, adding that he and others will pick up the pace in the coming months and put together some events and programs, as they did for the company’s centennial in 1998.

“We have a few things we’re planning that are in the works,” he said. “We’re trying to do some things that involve the community; overall, it’s an opportunity for us to say ‘thank you’ to the community for supporting us for 125 years and through five generations. That’s an important ‘thank you,’ and we’re thinking long and hard about what we’re going to do.”

In the meantime, the company is taking steps to ensure that it can continue its long history as an independent agency, said Dowd, noting, for example, the latest in a series of recent acquisitions that provide needed size and flexibility at a time of continued consolidation in the insurance industry.

Just last month, the firm acquired the Ideal Insurance Agency in Ludlow, which, like many smaller, family-owned agencies in the area, became available for one of many reasons, ranging from COVID-19 to lack of a clear succession plan to the inability to effectively compete in a market increasingly dominated by larger firms.

photo of downtown Holyoke, circa 1870

This photo of downtown Holyoke, circa 1870, has earned a spot on the wall in the conference room at the Dowd Agencies.

This was the third such acquisition over the past two years, coming after Dowd bought the J. Raymond Lussier agency in West Springfield and the Wilcox agency in Westfield and Feeding Hills. This expansion has given the agency much greater size, and in insurance, as in banking and most all other sectors, size matters, and it bring benefits.

“The advantages come with volume with carriers,” Dowd explained, noting that the firm is roughly 30% larger than it was a few years ago, and almost double the size it was a decade ago. “The more volume you have, the better compensation you negotiate, as well as profit sharing, services, and other perks. We’ve been able to achieve some of that volume leverage through aggregation with other agencies and through M&A.”

Moving forward, the agency will continue to look for opportunities for growth organically, and also through additional acquisitions, said Dowd, adding that it approaches this assignment with an eye toward smart growth and not taking on too much too quickly.

“We want to continue to grow, but want to make sure we’re not growing too quickly; we don’t want to get over our skis, as we like to say,” he noted, borrowing a phrase used often in business to connote getting ahead of oneself with a specific strategic initiative. “A healthy company grows organically and also through M&A. With the M&A, it has to be measured growth, but organic growth is essential — that’s boots on the ground, bringing in new clients, retaining your current clients; that’s good, healthy growth, augmented by acquisition, which comes with debt, which obviously has to measured and balanced.”

Meanwhile, there are other matters to consider, said Dowd, including succession planning for this agency, something that is obviously taken seriously at a company that has been around this long, covets its independence, and wants things to stay that way.

For this issue and its focus on insurance, BusinessWest talked with Dowd about … well, everything conveyed by those two photos in the conference room.

 

Cover Story

Dowd told BusinessWest that the phone calls come maybe once a week, or five or six times a month on average.

They’re from representatives of private-equity firms who want to know if Dowd Insurance might be for sale, and, if so, under what circumstances. He tells them ‘no,’ and in a polite way — at least the first time they inquire.

“I’ll usually have one conversation with them and let them know that we’re not interested in selling and are happy to stay the way we are. And then when they call the next month with the same question, my patience starts to wane, and I start to wonder about how obligated I am to answer every email and every phone call, especially when I’ve already talked to them and told them my plan.”

“They are relentless,” said Dowd of those on the other end of the phone. “I’ll usually have one conversation with them and let them know that we’re not interested in selling and are happy to stay the way we are. And then when they call the next month with the same question, my patience starts to wane, and I start to wonder about how obligated I am to answer every email and every phone call, especially when I’ve already talked to them and told them my plan.”

These days, there are even more people calling and asking about the agency, he noted, and that’s because of those acquisitions over the past few years and the scale they generate.

It’s a somewhat minor annoyance, and at the same time a reminder of the agency’s track record for success, he said, adding, again, that he is polite, but only to a point.

Dowd has other matters to occupy his time, he noted, adding that, overall, the firm is still trying to make its way all the way back to where it was before the start of the pandemic, especially with “behind-the-scenes” work, as he called it, when it comes to quality, efficiency, and serving clients.

“We have a quality team that evaluates what we do and how we do it,” he explained. “They would get suggestions every month from anyone on the staff — ‘here’s an area that I think we can look at and get better at’ — and the quality team would research and come to us with suggestions for developing a plan. That’s an example of an area where we lost some momentum.”

Some momentum was also lost when it came to connecting with potential new customers, he went on, adding that this put far greater emphasis on growth through acquisition, which is exactly what the company did.

“From a revenue standpoint, we were flatlining — if we held onto everything,” he explained. “And we didn’t hang onto everything because businesses were closing. It was a scary time because there was so much uncertainty. But then came the M&A opportunity, and we looked at it and said, ‘this is not a great time to be taking on some debt, but we think this is prudent.”

John Dowd Jr., seen here next to a photo of the company’s founder, Joseph Dowd

John Dowd Jr., seen here next to a photo of the company’s founder, James J. Dowd, says the Dowd Agencies targets controlled, ‘smart’ growth, both organically and through acquisition.

Elaborating, he said the agencies that came into consideration were good fits, culturally and otherwise, and under normal circumstances, they would be consider logical acquisitions. The circumstances weren’t normal, but the times dictated some aggressive action.

“Sometimes you’ve got to stick your chin out there and, when opportunity knocks, take advantage of the opportunity,” he said, adding that this is just what the firm has done.

In doing so, it has put itself in and new different position — an independent agency of considerable size — and it is determined to sell both of those qualities.

“We’re a good-sized agency, certainly in Western Mass., and the only one of our size that is still independently owned — not owned by one of the big guys,” he said. “We like that distinction, and we use it to our advantage. We’re totally local — not only do we live and participate in our community here, we’re also locally owned, and profits go right back here in to Western Mass., and not Chicago or anywhere else.”

But with that independent status comes the challenge to compete with those often much larger concerns, Dowd explained, adding that this challenge, as in banking and other sectors, is very real and becoming more stern with each passing year.

“We’re at a point now where getting to the next level requires a higher level of sophistication in just about every area,” he said. “Obviously, technology is huge because it creates the efficiencies we need. Meanwhile, the labor market is extremely difficult and challenging right now.

“The investment in technology and the way we staff ourselves, the levels of management … all of these important areas have to be looked at and adjusted accordingly,” he went on. “You can’t keep doing things the way you were when you were half the size. You have to be forward-thinking in this business; you have to be looking ahead and be prepared for what may come, and you know the unexpected will happen. You have to be nimble enough to be able to adjust.”

 

Prudent Policy

As he looks forward, Dowd sees the agency doing what it has been doing all along and especially over the past decade or so — seeking to grow organically, but also looking for opportunities to grow through acquisition and expand geographically.

The agency currently has nine locations, all in Western Mass., but it is exploring options well beyond this area code, he noted.

“We’ve looked at Northern Connecticut, we’ve looked at acquisitions in Vermont and New Hampshire, and we’ve also looked at Eastern Mass., toward Worcester, working our way in that direction,” he said, adding that, while the agency serves clients in those areas and others, including Boston and New Jersey, it does not have a physical presence in those locations, but could attain some if the conditions are right.

“In our business, it’s about where your network of contacts takes you and what your appetite for challenge is,” he told BusinessWest. “Do you want to do what it takes to be regional and available and able to support services? You just have to be realistic that you can do what you say you can do.

“We’re careful and selective with regard to companies where there’s some distance,” he went on. “But we’re looking at some relationships in New York right now where we could possibly have an ofice and be able to operate similarly, but on a smaller scale, to what we’re doing here.”

Overall, there are a number of ways to get to the proverbial next level in terms of size and revenues, he went on, adding that, while remaining independent is the preferred route, the agency will consider all its options. “We’re evaluating what steps we need to take in order to continue to grow and build the company.”

Returning to those phone calls he gets from the private-equity firms, Dowd noted, again, that he doesn’t take many of those calls anymore.

“I feel bad about that, but not too bad,” he explained. “I get a lot of messages — they call and they say they’re from such and such firm, and he’s calling again; I talked to him a year or two ago and told him I’ll call if anything changes.”

Nothing has really changed, at least on that front, he went on, adding that there has certainly been change with regard to the company’s size, reach, and position among area agencies.

Over the course of 124 years, many things have changed, but the most important ingredient hasn’t — this is still an independent, family-owned agency.

And as it prepares to mark another important milestone, that’s a quality worth celebrating.

 

George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]

South Hadley Utility’s Fiber Business Is a Fast-developing Story

By
SHELD General Manager Sean Fitzgerald
Special Coverage Technology

A New Gig

SHELD General Manager Sean Fitzgerald

SHELD General Manager Sean Fitzgerald

‘Ahead of schedule and under budget.’

Those are the words that any business owner or board of directors would love to hear regarding a specific project or undertaking. They are not heard often, to be sure, and they are being heard even less frequently, if at all, in these days of soaring inflation, supply-chain issues, and a workforce crisis.

But that phrase can certainly be applied to the ongoing work of the South Hadley Electric Light Department (SHELD) to provide commercial and residential customers in that community with fiber internet service, a project that had the additional challenge of being launched only months before the pandemic arrived in Western Mass.

“In the last financial report we gave to the board, we were under budget and ahead of the construction schedule,” said Sean Fitzgerald, SHELD’s general manager, noting that roughly 75% of the town now has fiber service, with the rest to be built out by July 2024.

The fiber program, which had been known as Fibersonic, has been rebranded as Fiberspring to avoid any potential problems with another internet provider using ‘sonic’ in its name, said Fitzgerald (more on this new name later). It now boasts more than 1,600 customers, including residents, businesses, municipal entities, public schools, and the majority of town departments, and to say the initiative has been successful and is turning some heads would be an understatement.

Indeed, the early success in South Hadley has led to new agreements to provide internet service to nearby towns Leverett and Shutesbury, and inquiries from, and preliminary talks with, other communities, said Fitzgerald, adding that SHELD’s board of directors must now decide just how entrepreneurial it wants to be with this product.

Indeed, the Fibersonic program, similar in many ways to a fiber initiative launched by Westfield Gas & Electric — which Fitzgerald was part of — was initiated with the simple goal of providing better, more reliable service to South Hadley residents and businesses. But its pattern of success, the new contracts with Leverett and Shutesbury, and the potential to add more small towns and even larger communities (there have been talks with Easthampton) have the potential to turn this into a dynamic new profit center for SHELD.

“Customers are streaming more; they’re going into Best Buy, they’re buying a TV that is all streaming,. And with the internet of things, with everything from doorbells to vacuum cleaners connected to the internet, people are increasingly concerned about bandwidth and performance.”

“Originally, the vision from the board was not to expand; it was to improve quality of life for residents of South Hadley — that was the initial plan,” Fitzgerald said. “But in doing that, other towns became aware of us being an option; we did it very well, and we did it to what I would call the gold-standard level, so these expansion opportunities have fallen into our lap.”

SHELD has scheduled a strategic planning event for October, at which discussions will be had about where the utility can go from here with its fiber endeavor and whether further expansion should be pursued.

“That’s a discussion point that the board and I will have to have — how aggressive should we be as a municipal light plant in going after expansion of fiber?” he said, noting that, with scale, the utility can ultimately reduce the cost of the service it provides. “And these are questions we don’t have full answers to yet.”

For this issue and its focus on technology, BusinessWest talked with Fitzgerald about what is now officially known as Fiberspring (the recently detailed trucks with the brand can be seen on the roads), and what the next chapters in this intriguing story might be.

 

A New Gig

‘Big Gig.’ ‘Fiber Galaxy.’ ‘Gazoo.’

Yes, Gazoo, the extraterrestrial character from the old Flintstones cartoon show.

These are just some of the dozens of names Fitzgerald and his team at SHELD considered as they went about rebranding Fibersonic in conjunction with Darby O’Brien Advertising, the South Hadley-based firm that has developed a strong reputation for helping businesses and nonprofits with such endeavors.

As they talked about the process, Fitzgerald and O’Brien said potential new names would be tossed around, with their merits and shortcomings weighed, before most all of them would have to be discarded because they had been completely, or partially, trademarked by someone else. Such is the growth of this sector of the economy, where the word ‘fiber’ has been attached to just about every conceivable noun.

one of utility’s trucks with the new brand, Fiberspring

General Manager Sean Fitzgerald shows off one of utility’s trucks with the new brand, Fiberspring.

Oddly, and both O’Brien and Fitzgerald thought it was odd, and that’s why they made very sure that Fiberspring was not trademarked. That’s the colorful brand name — literally and figuratively — now, or soon to be, seen on trucks, business cards, letterhead, and everything else.

By whatever name it goes, South Hadley’s new telecom business has become an intriguing success story, one that begins with SHELD’s hiring of Fitzgerald in 2017 with the intent of launching a business division to bring fiber to the home. As noted, Fitzgerald had been working for Westfield G&E and had developed the business component for that municipal utility’s Whip City Fiber project.

What eventually emerged in South Hadley was a $17.4 million initiative, said Fitzgerald, with roughly $15 million going toward fiber construction, with the other $2.4 million in funding needed for advanced meter infrastructure, or AMI. It was financed mostly through a $12 million bond secured through the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Co. at a favorable 2.7% rate.

As he assembled a team to take this new business division, named Fibersonic, off the drawing board and make it reality, Fitzgerald borrowed from the successful Whip City model in many respects.

These include everything from ordering materials well in advance — a strategy that has brought dividends in these times of supply-chain issues and soaring prices — to the concept of ‘fiberhoods’ — bringing fiber to a community neighborhood by neighborhood.

As he gestured to a map of the town on a large screen in the SHELD conference room, Fitzgerald noted that there are many fiberhoods in South Hadley now, with those currently without fiber to be completed by 2024.

As neighborhoods become fiberhoods, the ‘take rate,’ as it’s called, a statistic that tracks how many households are signing up for the service, is roughly 43%, a good number that grows higher as more residents add the gig-speed service and word of mouth spreads about its speed and reliability.

And as more and more household devices and appliances are driven by the internet — everything from lighting to security to thermostats — demand for fast, reliable service grows.

“Customers are streaming more; they’re going into Best Buy, they’re buying a TV that is all streaming,” he noted. “And with the internet of things, with everything from doorbells to vacuum cleaners connected to the internet, people are increasingly concerned about bandwidth and performance.”

As for ordering materials ahead of schedule, that has been one of the keys, along with a solid team, effective buildout strategy, and staying under budget and ahead of schedule, Fitzgerald said.

“We proactively ordered our equipment and materials in advance, before we knew COVID was coming,” he explained. “I learned that in Westfield, and it was a great strategy.”

As South Hadley adds more fiberhoods, it’s becoming apparent that SHELD’s fiber-service initiative could expand well beyond the borders of that town.

Indeed, just as Whip City Fiber has moved beyond Westfield and into the surrounding hilltowns, Fiberspring is now expanding into other communities.

Shutesbury, northeast of South Hadley, was the first town to enter into a contract with the company, and Leverett, which borders Shutesbury, followed soon after. Those two communities, which both had existing networks in place, will bring another 3,000 customers into the fold.

After that … Fitzgerald said there is potential to expand the footprint in several directions.

“We could go pretty much anywhere in this region,” he told BusinessWest. “The key is the truck rolls — if you have to roll a truck to a customer, you need to be able to reach that customer in a reasonable period of time. If a town in New Hampshire or Maine wanted to hire us, we could do it, but we would probably have to put a satellite building there or a small hub or hire technicians that live in that area.

“Just as Westfield is now serving a number of hilltowns, we can now do the same,” he went on, adding that Fiberspring is now competing with Westfield and other providers. “These towns chose us because of our team and our ability to serve them.”

Moving forward, Fitzgerald said there will be several factors that will determine if, when, and to what degree Fiberspring expands.

“First and foremost, we don’t want to negatively impact the service that we provide to South Hadley — those customers are priority one,” he explained. “Second, we want to make sure we have enough resources to adequately perform any of those contracts. And third, does it make sense for our customers? The whole reason we’re doing this is to reduce the cost to the South Hadley customers and at the same time provide a good service to Shutesbury. But ultimately, we need to show cost savings for South Hadley customers, who are our owner, which we will do with these contracts.”

 

Speed Thrills

Summing up where the telecom business now known as Fiberspring is, and where it could be a few years or a decade down the road, Fitzgerald said everything is happening faster than he or the SHELD board anticipated.

That statement goes for everything from the buildout in South Hadley — again, it’s ahead of schedule — to the expansion of the business into neighboring communities.

That’s a good problem to have — if it’s even a problem — and a business story that bears watching in the months and years to come.

In other words, this new gig — as in gig — has vast potential to be a huge player in this market.

 

George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]

Massachusetts Residents Cite Costs as Primary Healthcare Concern

By Contributor
Insurance

Price Pressure

The cost of healthcare, not the COVID-19 pandemic, is now the top healthcare concern facing residents of the Commonwealth. Massachusetts residents reported that only inflation and the cost of housing were greater challenges than the cost of healthcare, according to a new survey commissioned by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.

The survey, conducted by Beacon Research, also found that the cost of care resulted in skipped or delayed healthcare for nearly half of Massachusetts residents.

“As we emerge from the COVID pandemic, we conducted this poll to better understand what Massachusetts residents believe are the key priorities in healthcare.”

“After two years of intense focus on COVID, cost is again the primary healthcare issue facing Massachusetts residents,” said Chris Anderson, founder and president of Beacon Research. “Consumers strongly believe that this is an urgent issue that health plans, the government, and hospitals should be working to address.”

Key findings from the survey included:

• Massachusetts residents are three times more concerned about cost of care over quality, access, or the COVID-19 pandemic;

• Healthcare costs are challenging family finances for nearly two-thirds of Massachusetts residents, trailing only the daily pressure of gasoline and food price increases;

• Eighty percent of Massachusetts residents think it is highly or extremely important to take action on healthcare costs;

• When asked who they think should be doing more to control healthcare costs, residents cited health plans (87%), government (85%), and hospitals (81%);

• Massachusetts residents are putting off needed healthcare (42%) and prescriptions (26%) because of cost; and

• Younger and affluent residents are the most likely to think care is unaffordable.

“As we emerge from the COVID pandemic, we conducted this poll to better understand what Massachusetts residents believe are the key priorities in healthcare,” said Jay McQuaide, senior vice president and chief Communications officer at Blue Cross. “There is a clear call to action in these survey results for those of us in healthcare to do more and to act with greater urgency to address the unsustainable rise in healthcare costs.”

Blue Cross reported that it is working with others in healthcare to responsibly moderate the growth in healthcare spending. Among the steps the company is taking are collaborating with physicians and hospitals to achieve contracts that reflect the community’s serious concerns related to healthcare costs; advancing next-generation, value-based payments; better supporting members managing chronic conditions; and managing pharmacy spending — the company’s most-used benefit — to ensure members are getting high-quality, clinically appropriate prescription drugs.

 

STCC to Celebrate Innovation, Resilience at Awards Gala on Oct. 6

By
Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) will celebrate innovative champions at a gala held at the Marriott Springfield Downtown on Thursday, Oct. 6 from 5 to 8 p.m.

The STCC Resilience Awards and Gala recognizes the college’s 55th year. The theme, “55 Years of Gratitude and Grit,” reflects the resilience of students and STCC alumni.

The STCC Foundation, which supports the mission of the college, is seeking sponsors and invites the public to join the event. The cost is $100 per guest or $55 for student tickets. Proceeds will go toward supporting STCC students. Visit stcc.io/55 to RSVP.

In keeping with the theme, STCC will honor community leaders who have demonstrated resilience and innovative excellence through their work and service within Western Mass. STCC, the only technical community college in Massachusetts, features a wide variety of programs in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), as well as manufacturing, healthcare, business, social services and the liberal arts.

“We will honor entrepreneurs, business and civic leaders, and STCC alumni who have used their time, treasure, and talent to improve and transform lives, neighborhoods, and communities,” said Shai Butler, vice president of Advancement & External Affairs.

Jennifer Brown, president of the STCC Foundation, is inviting alumni and friends of the college to attend the gala. “We want to celebrate those in our community who have made a meaningful difference — those who have had an impact on the Western Mass. workforce,” she said. “Join us to be a part of this amazing and unique celebration of STCC and area leaders.”

The gala co-hosts are Butler and John Cook, STCC president. Co-chairs are Brown, who is senior manager of Professional Sales for Masis Professional Group, and Frank Quigley ’77, president of F.D. Quigley & Associates.

Gala Distinguished honorees include Helen Caulton-Harris, Health and Human Services commissioner for the City of Springfield (Community Innovation Champion); Nadim Kashouh, owner of Nadim’s Mediterranean Grill (Industry Innovation Champion); state Rep. Angelo Puppolo (Government & Public Affairs Champion); and Louis Weir ’00, assistant superintendent of Special Ops and chief of Security at the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department (Alumni Champion).

For more information, including how to RSVP and be a sponsor, visit stcc.io/55.

Country Bank, Worcester Red Sox Announce 2022 WooStars

By
Daily News

WARE — Country Bank and the Worcester Red Sox recently announced the 2022 WooStars, a program that supports nonprofit leaders throughout the region.

Country Bank recently recognized nine local WooStars and the nonprofits they are affiliated with at Polar Park. They include Katie Roy, Big Brothers Big Sisters; Nicole Broushet, Glo Mom; Pamela Daly, Girls Inc.; Jessika Zequeira, Shine Initiative; Johanna Annunziata, Give Gratitude; Moses Dixon, the Central Massachusetts Agency on Aging; John Rodriguez, Worcester Latino Dollars for Scholars; Geoff Naunheim, United Way of Franklin and Hampshire County; and Denise Blodgett, Jubilee Cupboard. Each nonprofit was presented with a $5,000 check from Paul Scully, president and CEO of Country Bank.

“One of the most important goals of our partnership with the Worcester Red Sox is to continue to find ways for us to collectively give back to our communities in an impactful and meaningful way,” said Shelley Regin, the bank’s senior vice president of Marketing and Public Relations. “Country Bank is deeply rooted in supporting its communities and a value that we have lived by for 172 years. We are delighted the Worcester Red Sox is equally committed to supporting its communities. This campaign rewards those truly making a difference out there.”

Charles Steinberg, president of the Worcester Red Sox and the WooSox Foundation, added that “we are delighted to have Country Bank as our partner in these community endeavors. From our WooStars to our inaugural Police vs. Fire Baseball Classic to our wonderful MVT program to support our teachers, Country Bank and the WooSox share a passion for using our organizations to make Worcester and Central Massachusetts even better places in which to live. We thank our friends at Country Bank, and we salute once again our 2022 WooStars.”

Catch the Buzz About Quiet Quitting on Oct. 14

By
Daily News

PITTSFIELD — The workplace trend called quiet quitting, which is creating a buzz on social media and news headlines, takes center stage at Dulye Leadership Experience (DLE) open-forum program Culture Chat on Friday, Oct. 14.

“Let’s Talk About Quiet Quitting” is a one-hour, moderated conversation with professionals from diverse organizations, roles, and industries. This no-fee program begins at noon and is open to the public. Advance registration is required. To reserve a virtual seat, click here.

Since 2008, DLE has invested in the professional development of thousands of rising leaders in the Berkshires and worldwide. Through the sustained sponsorship of Dulye & Co., a workplace culture and engagement consultancy based in Pittsfield, fee-free programming is produced year-round to develop critical skills and connections for career success.

Holyoke Mall to Host Third Get Hired Job Fair on Oct. 11

By
Daily News

HOLYOKE — Holyoke Mall invites area businesses to connect with eager job seekers during its third Get Hired Job Fair, sponsored by HCS Head Start Inc. and Pathlight, on Tuesday, Oct. 11 from 3 top 6 p.m. on the lower level near JCPenney.

As the largest shopping destination in Western Mass., Holyoke Mall serves as a hub for the community, making it an ideal backdrop for employers to fill their open positions before the holiday season. Employers are invited to take advantage of this convenient opportunity to network with candidates at all skill levels and perform on-the-spot interviews and hiring.

The event is free to job seekers. Participating employers include Girls Inc. of the Valley, Holyoke Medical Center, WestMass ElderCare, the Positive Regard Network, YMCA of Greater Springfield, and more.

Interested employers should contact James Geraghty, Advertising manager, at (617) 840-2998 or [email protected]. For full details and information regarding the Get Hired Job Fair, visit holyokemall.com.

Pandemic’s Over, but Challenges Remain

By
Opinion

Editorial

 

President Joe Biden famously, and matter-of-factly, announced recently that the pandemic is “over.”

Whether that’s true or not remains to be seen, but what isn’t in question is the fact that, while the pandemic may indeed be a matter for the past tense, businesses large and small continue to face a mountain of challenges, many of them stemming directly or indirectly from the pandemic.

This much was made clear in a recently released MassINC survey that revealed, among other things, that just over half the businesses polled, 53%, are reporting revenues lower than before the pandemic.

Meanwhile, inflation is at a 40-year high, supply-chain issues persist, a labor shortage continues, the Great Resignation is far from over, and now there is apparently a new workforce issue to contend with — so-called ‘quiet quitting,’ whereby employees don’t officially leave their jobs; they just do the bare minimum.

We’re not sure if quiet quitting is a byproduct of the pandemic or not — it’s a relatively new phenomenon, and there is not much data on it — but just about everything else is, from inflation to the supply-chain issues to the persistent problems companies are having with staffing up.

So while it’s good to hear that the pandemic is over — at least in a technical sense; we’re now told that COVID is in the same category as the flu — the ‘normal’ that everyone in the Western Mass. business community was seeking ever since we first heard of COVID seems like it is still a long way off.

Especially with growing talk about a recession, when it will come, how severe it will be — and whether or not we are already in one, which many economists already believe we are, as well as headlines about soaring energy costs and escalation of fighting in Ukraine.

Maybe the biggest issue, though, is the Federal Reserve’s ongoing fight against inflation. The Fed recently raised interest rates again, this time by three-quarters of a point for the third straight time, an aggressive tactic that might — that’s might — bring inflation back down to its 2% goal, but at a potentially high cost when it comes to the economy and the plight of businesses large and small.

Indeed, the tactics used to fight inflation may well tip the economy into a recession and, in the meantime, make it harder for businesses to attain the capital they need to expand, prompting more job cuts; many businesses have already gone from hiring to laying people off. Fed policy makers are projecting that the jobless rate will reach 4.4% by the end of 2023, up from its current level of 3.7%.

Overall, the cure may be worse than the disease, as the nation witnessed 40 years ago, when, to tame inflation, the Fed pushed the country into a protracted recession.

President Biden also said recently that he believes that a “soft landing” is possible for the economy. Perhaps, but many economists are predicting a much harder fall.

That’s not what area business owners want to hear after two and a half long years of battling the pandemic and its many side effects.

Technically speaking, the pandemic is over, but the challenges remain. We said back in March 2020 that the local business community was resilient and up to the challenge. We still believe that, but this resilience is certainly being tested, and the quest for normal — whatever that is — goes on.

Is Your Company Letting Its Hair Down?

By
Opinion

Opinion

By Mark Adams

 

When it comes to dress codes and attire, companies for years have developed policy standards rooted in conveying a clean, conservative, and/or professional look. In so doing, employees had to conform to a singular vision or appearance. Whether defined expressly or otherwise, hairstyles have been a part of such stereotypes and visions, which has consequently left many minority applicants and/or employees on the sidelines when it came to being hired or promoted into certain positions despite being otherwise qualified to perform those roles.

Enter the CROWN Act legislation. CROWN is short for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair and is designed to break down some of the stereotypical barriers that certain minority groups were facing when being considered for employment.

To date, 17 states have adopted CROWN Act legislation, with Massachusetts being the latest to sign such measures into law. Other states include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington. Federally, Congress has contemplated a CROWN Act measure; this measure has been referred to the Senate for further consideration.

What is its significance? For states that have adopted these measures, it makes it unlawful to discriminate based on “natural or protective hairstyles.” Examples of these hairstyles include hair that is tightly coiled or curled, or worn in locks, cornrows, twists, braids, bantu knots, or afros.

For employers that are operating in a state that has enacted CROWN Act legislation, what should you do?

First, review your company policies to see if there is any express language prohibiting such hairstyles in the workplace. Policies that I have seen in handbooks that I have reviewed where the topic of hairstyles has been addressed have included such policies as dress code, hygiene, personal appearance, and professionalism.

If you are a multi-state employer that operates in states where CROWN Act legislation both has and has not been adopted, be careful with your handbook policy and structure. If your handbook is distributed across all your locations, it may be easier administratively to adjust your policy across the board to ensure compliance. (While, conceivably, another path could be to carve out your dress code or other policies and treat them as state-specific addenda or supplements that coincide with the different state requirements, such a practice may prove to be more cumbersome to sustain over time.)

Then there is the subject of managerial and supervisory actions and practices. For instance, have managers and supervisors chosen not to hire an applicant in the past over concerns about hairstyles? Passed over an employee for a promotion? Is it a topic of conversation addressed in interviews? Has the topic been broached in performance reviews or in disciplinary writeups? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then further discussion with management is advised to change practices (whether attributable to express or unconscious bias) moving forward.

As CROWN Act legislation continues to get adopted nationwide, companies may need to change their ways and let their hair down. Choosing otherwise could lead to discriminatory consequences and litigation down the road.

 

Mark Adams is director of Compliance at the Employers Assoc. of the NorthEast. This article first appeared on the EANE blog; eane.org

Picture This

By
Pictured, from left: Veronica Garcia of Partners for Community, Duffy, Velis, Fiesta Café owner Juan Montano, and Jordan Hart, executive director of the Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce
Picture This

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

 

 

 

Supporting Latino-owned Businesses

State Sen. John Velis and state Rep. Pat Duffy recently presented $150,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to Partners for Community Inc. for a grant program that will support Latino-owned businesses in the city of Holyoke. Velis and Duffy filed and secured $100,000 and $50,000, respectively, in the recent ARPA legislation. The presentation was held at Fiesta Café, the first recipient of grant funding from Partners for Community.

Pictured, from left: Veronica Garcia of Partners for Community, Duffy, Velis, Fiesta Café owner Juan Montano, and Jordan Hart, executive director of the Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce

Pictured, from left: Veronica Garcia of Partners for Community, Duffy, Velis, Fiesta Café owner Juan Montano, and Jordan Hart, executive director of the Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce

 

 

 

Another Branch on the Giving Tree

bankESB recently made a $5,000 donation to Behavioral Health Network Inc. toward the Katherine B. Wilson Staff Excellence Fund to support the career and professional development of the organization’s workforce. The donation was made as part of the bank’s charitable giving program, the Giving Tree.

Sue deVillier, vice president and Agawam branch officer at bankESB

Pictured, from left: Sue deVillier, vice president and Agawam branch officer at bankESB; Steve Winn, BHN president and CEO; and Melissa Soto, vice president of Commercial Lending for bankESB.

 

 

 

Joining Forces

Allied Flooring, Paint and Design, located at 350 Main St. in Agawam, announced it has acquired neighboring Budget Cabinet Sales. Budget Cabinet, located at 300 Main St., will keep its name and be managed by Jill Stefanik (pictured at center), who has been promoted from her position as a sales and design associate at Allied. The previous owners of Budget Cabinet Sales, the Lloyd family, will remain part of the business, along with the other store employees. While Jorge Morgado (left) and Mario Tedeschi (right) now own both Allied and Budget Cabinet, they will operate them as separate entities.

 

Jorge Morgado (left) and Mario Tedeschi (right)

Jorge Morgado (left), Jill Stefanik (pictured at center) and Mario Tedeschi (right)

 

 

 

Opening Bell

 

Representatives of Easthampton Public Schools, the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), and Caolo & Bieniek Architects were among those on hand to cut the ribbon on Maple Elementary School, a new, modern school serving pre-kindergarten through grade 8.

Pictured, from left: Jack McCarthy, MSBA executive director; Bertram Gardner IV, project architect at Caolo & Bieniek; Allison LeClair, Easthampton superintendent; and James MacDonald, MSBA CEO.

Pictured, from left: Jack McCarthy, MSBA executive director; Bertram Gardner IV, project architect at Caolo & Bieniek; Allison LeClair, Easthampton superintendent; and James MacDonald, MSBA CEO.

 

 

 

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

Stephen R. Etkin v. Cristina P. Carrier, Christina P. Carrier PC, Dennis Desmarais, Law Office of Dennis F. Desmarais, and Ford Quinn & Desmarais, LLC

Allegation: Professional negligence and malpractice, breach of contract, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, intentional misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty, vicarious liability: $364,800

Filed: 9/1/22

 

 

Brendan Hughes, personal representative of the estate of Olivia Hughes v. Patricia Bailey-Sarnelli, MD; Kathleen Barker, MD; Audrey Psaltis, CNM; Josephine Lamb, RN of Baystate Medical Center

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

Filed: 9/7/22

 

Direct Energy Business LLC v. Bard College at Simon’s Rock and KeyBank

Allegation: Breach of contract, unjust enrichment, money owed for goods sold and delivered: $131,400.70

Filed: 9/8/22

 

28 Appleton MA LLC v. Massachusetts Cannabis Networking Club Inc.

Allegation: Defendant maintained possession after service of notice to quit for nonpayment of rent: $46,670.51

Filed: 9/8/22

 

HAMPSHIRE DISTRICT COURT

David Banta–Garcia v. 42 North Capital LLC

Allegation: Unjust enrichment, unfair and deceptive acts and practices: $1,000+

Filed: 6/29/22

 

Computer Works v. Convergent Commercial Inc.

Allegation: Gross negligence, slander, defamation: $5,000

Filed: 7/21/22

 

Agenda

By
Agenda

‘Code Red: Strategies for Preventing Workplace Violence’

Oct. 12: The Employers Assoc. of the NorthEast (EANE) will host a half-day training opportunity at Delaney House in Holyoke for employers who recognize the need to develop a proactive plan that will protect their employees in the unfortunate instance of a violent occurrence in the workplace. EANE has partnered with PASS (Protective Advanced Safety Servies) of Agawam to facilitate the three-hour training class designed to help employers assess their current safety programs, identify the common behavior patterns of potentially violent individuals, and ultimately learn how to respond during an active shooting situation in a manner that reduces casualties. The trainers from PASS, John Nettis and Steven Grasso, have risen through the ranks of the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department and the Agawam Police Department and are skilled in active-shooter response and emergency preparedness. They strive to elevate workplace safety by offering role-playing scenarios, strategies, and suggestions to employers, and creating custom-tailored, effective emergency action plans. Attendees will become acquainted with the process of conducting a physical workspace analysis, how to survey a facility and look for vulnerabilities; understand the components of an incident response plan, how to create a response to an incident at a business (evacuation plans, reunification, and communication); recognize the importance of de-escalating a situation early; and increase awareness of mental health’s role in workplace violence. Limited seats are available, and pre-registration is required. While these trainings are open to the public for $125 per person, individuals from EANE member organizations may register at a reduced rate. Registration details are available at www.eane.org/code-red-strategies-for-preventing-workplace-violence or by calling (877) 662-6444.

 

Free Fall Community Shred Day

Oct. 15: Freedom Credit Union is again offering the opportunity for Western Mass. residents to securely purge unwanted paperwork. In cooperation with PROSHRED Springfield, Freedom is offering a free Community Shred Day at two branches. Shredding will take place from 9 to 10 a.m. at 226 King St., Northampton, and from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. at 74 Main St., Greenfield. The public is invited to bring old bills, bank statements, tax returns, and other sensitive documents for quick, secure on-site shredding. Credit union members and non-members alike may bring up to five file boxes or paper bags per vehicle to the events. There is no charge for this service.

 

Asnuntuck 50th Anniversary Event

Oct. 18: Asnuntuck Community College’s 50th-anniversary celebration will take flight from 5 to 8 p.m. at Broad Brook Brewery at 915 South St. in Suffield. The Fifty and Flights event ticket of $50 will provide guests with a tasting flight of beer, bar bites, and live music, and include donations to the scholarship fund. Sam Chevalier and Acoustic Thunder will perform live music for the event. The evening will also include a drawing featuring gift baskets, specialty items, and gift cards. Proceeds from the event will benefit student scholarships and mini-grants for the college. Sponsorship and donation opportunities are available. Individuals and businesses are being asked to consider donating a prize for the drawing or making a financial commitment with a sponsorship, which includes tickets to the event and providing textbook vouchers or a scholarship to an Asnuntuck student. To learn more about the event and giving opportunities, contact Keith Madore, executive director of the Asnuntuck Foundation, at (860) 253-3041 or [email protected].

 

Healthcare Heroes

Oct. 27: BusinessWest and the Healthcare News will honor eight individuals and groups as Healthcare Heroes for 2022 at a celebration dinner at the Log Cabin Banquet and Meeting House in Holyoke. The Healthcare Heroes class of 2022, profiled in the Sept. 19 issue of BusinessWest, and the categories they represent are: Helen Caulton-Harris, director of Health and Human Services, city of Springfield (Lifetime Achievement); Mark Paglia, chief operating officer, MiraVista Behavioral Health Center (Administrator); Dr. Philip Glynn, director of Medical Oncology, Mercy Medical Center (Provider); Dr. Paul Pirraglia, division chief, General Medicine and Community Health, Baystate Health (Collaboration); ServiceNet’s Enrichment Center & Strive Clinic and its partners at Springfield College and UMass Amherst (Collaboration); the Addiction Consult Service at Holyoke Medical Center (Community Health); Dr. Sundeep Shukla, chief, Department of Emergency Medicine, Baystate Noble Hospital (Emerging Leader); and the Elaine Marieb Center for Nursing and Engineering Innovation (Innovation). The Healthcare Heroes program is being sponsored by presenting sponsors Elms College and Baystate Health/Health New England, and partner sponsors Trinity Health Of New England/Mercy Medical Center, American International College, and MiraVista Behavioral Health Center. Tickets cost $85 each, and tables of 10 or 12 are available. Visit businesswest.com/healthcare-heroes/healthcare-heroes-tickets to reserve a spot.

Chamber Corners

By
Chamber Corners

GREATER CHICOPEE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

(413) 594-2101; chicopeechamber.org

 

Oct. 29: Chicopee Thriller 5K Road Race & Walk. 10 a.m. registration, 11 a.m. start. Start and finish at Grise Funeral Home, 280 Springfield St., Chicopee. Wear your spookiest costume. Awards for best costume and fastest runners at the afterparty at Rumbleseat Bar and Grille. Half of all proceeds go to benefit Lorraine’s Soup Kitchen and Pantry. Presented by N. Riley Construction. Cost: $35, which includes lunch, beverage ticket, and T-shirt. Registration coming soon at chicopeechamber.org. Sponsorships available now.

 

GREATER HOLYOKE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

(413) 534-3376; holyokechamber.com

 

Oct. 12: Meet the Candidates, 5-8 p.m., hosted by Holyoke Country Club, 2 Country Club Road, Holyoke. Mingle and hear from Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia, the City Council, and officials who will be on the ballot for the November election. This is an informal opportunity to get your voice heard and make an informative vote this election season. Register at business.holyokechamber.com/events or by calling (413) 534-3376.

 

GREATER NORTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

(413) 584-1900; northamptonchamber.com

 

Oct. 2: Arrive@5 networking event, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Union Station, 125A Pleasant St., Northampton. Sponsored by NETA, NeJame, Kling Law Offices, and William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty. For more information, visit northamptonchamber.com.

 

GREATER WESTFIELD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

(413) 568-1618; westfieldbiz.org

 

Sept. 29: Morning Brew, 8-9 a.m., hosted by Shaker Farms Country Club, Westfield. Introduce your business to the group and take advantage of this networking opportunity. Cost: free. For more information, visit westfieldbiz.org.

 

Oct. 5: Mayor’s Coffee Hour, 8-9 a.m., hosted by Boys and Girls Club of Greater Westfield, 28 West Silver St., Westfield. Join Mayor Michael McCabe and hear about what’s going on in Westfield and ask questions. Cost: free. For more information, visit westfieldbiz.org.

 

Oct. 12: After 5 Connections, 5-7 p.m., hosted by East Mountain Country Club, 1458 East Mountain Road, Westfield. Join us for our Octoberfest-themed After 5 networking event. Cost: free to chamber members, $5 for non-members. For more information, visit westfieldbiz.org.

 

SPRINGFIELD REGIONAL CHAMBER

(413) 787-1555; www.springfieldregionalchamber.

 

Oct. 12: Rise & Shine Breakfast, 7:30-9 a.m., hosted by MGM Springfield. As they celebrate a decade of commitment to the chamber and investing in Greater Springfield, executives from MGM Springfield will speak at the first Springfield Regional Chamber Rise & Shine Business Breakfast of 2022-23.The breakfast begins with networking at 7:30 a.m. Arlen Carballo, MGM Springfield’s executive director of Finance, and Beth Ward, director of Community Affairs, will address the transformative economic impact the casino continues to have on the region following the pandemic, the recent passage of sports betting that will lead to the opening of the new MGM Sports Lounge, upcoming entertainment, and more. Cost: $30 for members ($35 at the door), $40 general admission ($45 at the door).

 

WEST OF THE RIVER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

(413) 426-3880; www.ourwrc.com

 

Oct. 19: Food Fest West, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Storrowton Tavern/Carriage House, West Springfield. Local restaurants will show off their cuisine at this popular event. Vote for your favorite restaurant. A raffle, silent auction, and entertainment will round out this event. Proceeds raised by Food Fest West will go toward the WRC Educational Fund, which provides grants to businesses for on-the-job training and continuing-education needs. To purchase tickets and sponsorships, visit www.westoftheriverchamber.com.

People on the Move

By
People on the Move
Nathaniel Munson

Nathaniel Munson

Lisa Phakos

Lisa Phakos

David Viamari

David Viamari

Cara Cusson

Cara Cusson

bankESB recently promoted three team members — Nathaniel Munson to vice president, commercial credit officer; Lisa Phakos to compliance officer; and David Viamari to assistant vice president, assistant controller — and welcomed Cara Cusson to the Marketing Department as its Marketing Communications manager. Munson joined bankESB in 2018 as portfolio manager and was promoted to assistant vice president, portfolio manager in 2020. He is responsible for managing credit analysts and portfolio managers in underwriting new loans. Prior to bankESB, he was with Westfield Bank for six years, most recently as senior credit analyst. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Western New England University and a certificate from the New England School for Financial Studies. Munson is an active member of Mountain View Baptist Church in Holyoke, currently serving as a trustee and Sunday school director. Phakos joined bankESB in 2001 as assistant branch manager. She moved to the Audit Department as staff auditor in 2006 and was promoted to compliance specialist in 2018. She is responsible for implementing and managing the COSO internal-control frameworks across the Hometown Financial Group family of banks, which includes bankESB, bankHometown, and Abington Bank. She is also responsible for compliance reviews of all marketing and advertising materials, manages the Compliance Department monitoring program, and completes regular compliance monitoring and audits. Phakos attended the ABA Foundational Compliance School and the Mass Bankers Compliance Academy and serves on the board of governors of the Western Mass. Compliance Assoc. She is also a board member and secretary for the Nonotuck Valley Hockey Assoc. Viamari joined bankESB in 2020 as accounting officer. Prior to bankESB, he was employed by Wolf & Co., P.C. for 10 years, most recently as senior auditor. He oversees general finance and accounts payable for bankESB and financial and regulatory reporting for the Hometown Financial Group family of banks. Viamari holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from UMass Amherst and is a member of the Boston chapter of the Financial Managers Society and a finance committee member for the Lathrop Home. Cusson will be responsible for strategic marketing communication plans and programs, managing and directing the company’s sales material and promotional inventory program, managing communications-related projects and priorities, and managing the promotion of sponsorships and donations company-wide for bankESB and across the member banks of its parent company, Hometown Financial Group. Prior to joining bankESB, Cusson was the director of Planning and Special Projects in the University Relations Department at UMass Amherst and before that was the production manager in the Communications Office at Deerfield Academy. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from UMass Amherst and a master’s degree in corporate and organizational communication from Northeastern University. She is a volunteer for Safe Passage.

•••••

Brenda Burdick

Brenda Burdick

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) announced that Brenda Burdick, director of Strategic Communications at General Dynamics Mission Systems, has been elected to the role of chair of the board of trustees for the college. Gov. Charlie Baker appointed Burdick to the board in 2018, and she was reappointed for a second five-year appointment this summer. Prior to her election, Burdick had served as chair of the student affairs committee and academic affairs committee as well as vice chair of the board. She succeeds Mohan Boodram as chair of the board. Burdick started her career at General Dynamics in Pittsfield in 1995 before becoming the Marketing and Public Relations manager in 2002, and later adopting the role of senior manager of Marketing and Public Relations in 2014. Before joining General Dynamics, Burdick was director of Sales and Marketing for Swift River Inn in Cummington and was both a Sales manager and a Public Relations assistant for Canyon Ranch in Lenox. She also served as a member of the Berkshire United Way board of directors from 2008 to 2017, which included one two-year team as chairperson and two two-year terms as vice chairperson. Burdick holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a double major in business communications and marketing from Bryant University. She currently serves on 1Berkshire’s executive committee as the vice chair and has been with the organization since 2009.

•••••

Linda Bushey

Linda Bushey

Tiffany Poirier

Tiffany Poirier

Shaina Snape

Shaina Snape

Nicholas Andrus

Nicholas Andrus

Florence Bank recently presented its 2022 Community Support Award to Linda Bushey, a mortgage specialist in the main office in Florence. The Community Support Award was established by the bank in 1997 as a means of formally recognizing employees who are active in the community and give their personal and professional time to local nonprofit organizations. Each year, the award recipient can select an organization of his or her choice, and the bank will donate $500 to that organization. Bushey chose to support two organizations, so $250 will be granted to the Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden Agricultural Society and Three County Fair, which promote agricultural education and scientific agriculture, and $250 will be granted to the Greater Northampton St. Patrick’s Committee Inc. Bushey was hired at Florence Bank in 1994 as a teller and held a variety of positions before becoming a senior mortgage processor. She is now a mortgage specialist with 32 years of banking experience. She received the Florence Bank President’s Award for outstanding service in 2001 and is a 2017 recipient of the inaugural Leonard Von Flatern Jr. Volunteer Award presented by the Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden Agricultural Society. Bushey serves on the Three County Fair board of directors and is a longtime fair volunteer. She is treasurer of the Greater Northampton St. Patrick’s Committee and also volunteers in many events for the committee. She also volunteers at the Hampshire County Sherriff’s picnic and has volunteered during the Northampton Family Fourth event at Look Memorial Park. Florence Bank also recently presented its 2022 President’s Award to three staff members for outstanding service. Established in 1995, the President’s Award recognizes outstanding performance, customer service, and overall contribution to Florence Bank. Honorees are nominated by their colleagues at the bank. This year’s award winners are Tiffany Poirier, commercial loan-support assistant manager in the Commercial Department; Shaina Snape, a customer-service specialist in the Customer Service Center; and Nicholas Andrus, a customer-service representative. All three employees work in the bank’s main branch in Florence. Poirier was hired at the bank in March 2017. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Westfield State University and has 15 years of banking experience. Snape began working at Florence Bank in 2018 and has 12 years of banking experience. Andrus was also hired in 2018 and has eight years of experience in banking.

•••••

Dean Gomes

Dean Gomes

Dean Gomes recently joined Bulkley Richardson as senior manager of Information Technology. His career has been dedicated to IT management, and he spent the last 13 years as director of Enterprise Technology at the law firm of Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider, LLP with offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Hartford, Conn. Gomes earned a bachelor’s degree in management information systems from Pace University in New York City. Bulkley Richardson also recently welcomed four attorneys to the firm. Matthew Dziok earned a juris doctor degree from Western New England University School of Law, where he graduated second in his class. He also earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from UMass Boston. Briana Dawkins is a graduate of Western New England University School of Law and earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Curry College, summa cum laude. She was an intern at the U.S. Department of Labor and the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities. Shriti Shah graduated from the University of Connecticut School of Law. She received a master’s degree in Management Studies in 2007 and a bachelor’s degree in commerce in 2004 from the University of Mumbai. Jacob Kosakowski is a graduate of Suffolk University School of Law and earned a bachelor’s degree from UMass Amherst, summa cum laude. He served as an intern for Chief Justice Paul Dawley and the Child Abuse Unit of the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office.

•••••

Duffy Judge

Duffy Judge

The board of directors of the Northern Berkshire United Way (NBUW) announced the appointment of Duffy Judge as its new executive director. Judge has filled the role of interim executive director since March, following the vacancy created by Christa Collier when she departed for a position with the Massachusetts Children’s Alliance. Judge has taken the lead on a number of important community initiatives and is committed to following the mission, vision, and values of the agency. He has made a strong commitment to the agency’s board of directors and staff, allowing NBUW to continue serving the Northern Berkshire community. Judge came to NBUW from Berkshire United Way in Pittsfield, where he served as Development manager since July 2017.

Company Notebook

By
Company Notebook

Cisco’s Café to Open This Fall in the Mill District

AMHERST — Francisco Perez, owner of Amherst House of Pizza (AHOP) at Riverside Park, is opening a second restaurant in the Mill District in North Amherst this fall. Cisco’s Café will feature Latino and American breakfast and lunch. “We will have several types of breakfast burritos and sandwiches. Vegan and vegetarian options will be offered along with several meat and fish choices at breakfast and lunch,” said Perez, a native of El Salvador and 10-year owner of AHOP. The Mill District in North Amherst was created to invigorate community connections in the internet age, providing experiential retail, food, and fun for all ages. North Square is becoming a gourmet food corridor with Provisions (wine, beer, and fine foods) moving across the square and joining Futura Coffee Roasters and the Carefree Cakery, which are coming soon. Riverside Park recently welcomed Big Basket Market, an international grocery store. Seven thousand square feet of retail space remains available for lease in the Mill District. Other existing tenants include Balanced Birch Pilates, the Closet, GrazeCraze, the Mill District General Store and Local Art Gallery, the Lift Salon, Cowls Building Supply, and the Riverside Park Shops, including Amherst House of Pizza, Shine Laundry, and Big Guy Liquors.

 

U.S. News Ranks Bay Path Fourth for Social Mobility

LONGMEADOW — Bay Path University has been ranked fourth in the 2022-23 Social Mobility category by U.S. News & World Report. Now in its 38th year, the rankings evaluate more than 1,450 colleges and universities on up to 17 measures of academic quality. U.S. News publishes the Best Colleges rankings each year to provide prospective students and their families with helpful data and information on factors such as graduation rates, social mobility, and graduate indebtedness. The social-mobility rankings are calculated by assessing the six-year graduation rates of students who received federal Pell Grants compared with the graduation rate of other students. Those grant recipients generally come from households with annual incomes under $50,000. Bay Path has long been committed to fostering an environment that is supportive and inclusive, reflecting the diversity of its students. For the 2022 incoming fall class of traditional students, 50% were the first in their family to attend college, and 47% were diverse. The university offers numerous scholarship opportunities, as well as academic assistance and other supports, such as the ALLI program, which helps young women transition from high school to their first year as a university student, and an extensive peer-tutoring support system.

 

MCLA Earns Multiple Spots on U.S. News College Rankings

NORTH ADAMS — Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts’ (MCLA) continued commitment to an excellent, affordable education is reflected in the 2022-23 U.S. News & World Report rankings. The college now ranks seventh on the list of Top Public Liberal Arts Colleges for the second year in a row, 33rd as a Top Performer on Social Mobility among national liberal-arts colleges, and first among all Massachusetts liberal-arts schools. MCLA also continues to appear on the list of Top National Liberal Arts Colleges. MCLA has appeared on U.S. News’ list of Top Public Colleges for 10 of the past 12 years. The college has also been acknowledged in the list of National Liberal Arts Colleges for Social Mobility since the organization adopted this ranking in 2019. This list measures how well institutions graduate students who receive federal Pell Grants, typically awarded to students whose families make less than $50,000, though most Pell Grant money goes to families with income below $20,000. Slightly more than 42% of MCLA undergraduate students receive Pell Grants, and 51.4% are the first in their families to go to college. Overall, 93.1% of students receive some kind of financial aid. U.S. News ranks colleges based on indicators that reflect a school’s student body, its faculty, and its financial resources, along with outcome measures that signal how well the institution achieves its mission of educating students.

 

bankESB Named Among State’s Most Charitable Companies

EASTHAMPTON — The Boston Business Journal has named bankESB an honoree in its annual 2022 Corporate Citizenship Awards, a recognition of the region’s top corporate charitable contributors. The journal annually publishes this list to showcase companies that promote and prioritize giving back to their communities. Through its sponsorship and charitable giving program, the Giving Tree, bankESB and the Easthampton Savings Bank Charitable Foundation support nonprofit organizations and causes throughout Hampden and Hampshire counties. In 2021, the Giving Tree donated nearly $352,000 and over the past decade has donated more than $3.1 million. This year, 95 companies qualified for the distinction by reporting at least $100,000 in cash contributions to Massachusetts-based charities last year. The honorees this year include companies from such industry sectors as financial and professional services, healthcare, technology, retail, and professional sports.

 

PeoplesBank Named to List of Top Corporate Charitable Contributors

HOLYOKE — A record $1.3 million in contributions in 2021 marks a new level of charitable support for PeoplesBank, earning recognition from the Boston Business Journal and its Corporate Citizenship Awards for the 15th year in a row. With a focus on food insecurity, housing, and literacy, PeoplesBank announced record donations reaching $1,315,000 in 2021, with a total of close to $11 million donated since 2011. This marks a new level of contributions, making PeoplesBank the leading community bank for charitable donations in Western and Central Mass. The bank has doubled its donations in the last five years. Headquartered in Holyoke, PeoplesBank increased its donations across its whole market of Massachusetts and Connecticut to assist the customers and communities it serves. Meanwhile, PeoplesBank’s associates donate 10,000 volunteer hours per year, and 74 of them have served on 54 nonprofit boards.

 

Elms College Wins $1.5 Million Grant from National Science Foundation

CHICOPEE — Elms College announced that it has been awarded a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Through the six-year grant, “Growing STEM Student Success Through Scholarship and Community Building with Experiential Learning and Data Science,” Elms College will provide need-based scholarships to at least 40 high-achieving first-year and community-college transfer students who want to pursue careers in science, technology, and mathematics. The scholarship amount will be up to $10,000 per year. Scholarships will be available to community-college transfer students in the spring 2023 semester and to first-year Elms students beginning in the fall 2023 semester. In addition to scholarship funding, all STEM scholars will be provided community-engaged experiential learning activities and opportunities to build data-science skills in each year of their studies, culminating in an internship or research experience. For more information on the S-STEM scholarships at Elms and eligibility requirements, visit www.elms.edu/academics/nsmt/elmsstem.

 

Country Bank Supports Ride to Remember

WARE — Country Bank, a full-service financial institution serving Central and Western Mass., recently supported the Ride to Remember, a 50-mile bicycle ride in tribute to fallen police officers and firefighters, with a $10,000 donation. This year’s ride, “The Tour of Western Massachusetts,” celebrated its 10th anniversary, honoring those who have died in the line of duty. “Country Bank’s support of this meaningful event is a great way for us to show our gratitude and support for all the frontline workers,” said Paul Scully, president and CEO of Country Bank. “We deeply appreciate the work they do throughout our communities, and we know that it truly makes a difference to the people and businesses they serve.”

 

Gaming Commission Releases Gross Gaming Revenue for August

SPRINGFIELD — The Massachusetts Gaming Commission reported that the month of August at MGM Springfield, Plainridge Park Casino, and Encore Boston Harbor generated approximately $92 million in gross gaming revenue (GGR). MGM Springfield generated $4,474,746.40 from table games and $17,518,085.09 from slots for a total of $21,992,831.49, generating $5,498,207.87 in taxes. MGM Springfield and Encore Boston Harbor, category-1 resort casinos, are taxed on 25% of GGR; those monies are allocated to several specific state funds as determined by the gaming statute. Plainridge Park, a category-2 slots facility, is taxed on 49% of GGR. Of that total taxed amount, 82% is paid to local aid and 18% is allotted to the Race Horse Development Fund. To date, the Commonwealth has collected approximately $1.181 billion in total taxes and assessments from MGM, Plainridge Park, and Encore since the respective openings of each gaming facility.

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

Nakaru Trans Inc., 238 Cooper St., Agawam, MA, 01001. Alexander Gribanov, same. Transportation services.

AMHERST

PGD Foodie Group Inc., 200 West Pomeroy Lane, Amherst, MA 01002. George Ducharme, same. Restaurant.

CHICOPEE

M & V Cleaning Services Corp., 55 Gilmore St., Chicopee, MA, 01013. Wilton Da Silva, same. Janitorial cleaning services.

Nesterchuk Home Improvement Inc., 280 College St., Chicopee, MA, 01013. Nikolay Nesterchuk, same. Home Improvement.

EAST LONGMEADOW

Apollo Medical Inc., 127 Country Club Dr., East Longmeadow, MA, 01028. David Laporte, same. Medical device sales.

EASTHAMPTON

Strategic Consulting Solutions Inc., 147 West St., Easthampton, MA, 01027. Loren Davine, same. Consulting services.

GREENFIELD

M2B Home Delivery Inc., 139 Silvio O. Conte Dr., Greenfield, MA, 01301. Adam J. Provost, same. Retail sales.

HOLYOKE

Restaurante La Isla Corp., 161 High St., Holyoke, MA, 01040. Yanercy Diaz De La Cruz, same. Restaurant.

LUDLOW

Iglesia El Candelero De Dios, 182 Howard St. Apt 1R, Ludlow, MA, 01056. Gerson Crespo, 83 Windsor St. Ludlow, MA 01056. Religious organization designed for the purpose to train leaders, teach bible, preach the gospel and serve the needs of the community.

MONTAGUE

Project Nadiya Inc., 70 Main St., Montague, MA, 01351. Nadezhda Tkachenko, same. Build, refurbish and manage housing in the Ukraine and surrounding countries for the purpose of providing shelter for displaced persons impacted by war and unrest.

PITTSFIELD

Easnott Inc., 987 North St., Pittsfield, MA, 01201. Desiree Eason, same. 24-Hour community care services.

Marvelous, Elegant, Lifestyle (M.E.L.) Inc., 82 Wendell Ave. Suite 100, Pittsfield, MA, 01201. Matsuko Leathers, same. Elegant lifestyle.

SS Productions, 82 Wendell Ave., Suite 100, Pittsfield, MA, 01201. Sarah Seymour, same. Media production and art services.

SOUTH DEERFIELD

Soulive Music Group Inc., 2B Duncan Dr., South Deerfield, MA, 01373. Alan Evans, same. Music performances and recording services.

SOUTHAMPTON

Hypnosage Inc., 4 Manhan Road, Southampton, MA, 01073. Saskia Coté, 510 Blisswood Village Drive Ludlow, MA 01056. Alternative therapy and retail products.

SPRINGFIELD

All Empire Inc., 172 Lebanon, Springfield, MA, 01109. Robert Elliotte Flowers, same. Home improvement services.

Pacc Transition Inc., 819 Worcester St., Ste. 1, Springfield, MA, 01151. Adnan Dahdul, same. Holdings company.

Shida Inc., 590 Boston Rd., Springfield, MA, 01119. Awel Mehemed-Aman Adem, 51 Washington Road, Springfield, MA 01108. Convenience store.

Youth Educational Services Inc., 174 Marion Street Unit 2, Springfield, MA, 01109. Sonya Barber, P.O. Box 90933 Springfield, MA 01139. Tutoring for youth and young adults. Assisting high school students in applying to colleges or technical schools.

WESTFIELD

Bee-Shine Spa Inc., 38 Salvatore Dr., Westfield, MA, 01085. Magali Vinces, same. Nail salon and spa.

O.J.M. Pik Reno Corp., 3 Lozier Ave., Apt 1, Westfield, MA, 01085. Oleh Pikulskiy, same. Construction services.

Boos E-Bikes Inc., 9 Old Orchard Road, Wilbraham, MA, 01095. Mirian Santos Costa, same. Retail sales of motorcycles and scooters.

Doing Business as Certificates

By
DBA Certificates

The following business certificates and/or trade names were issued or renewed during the months of August and September 2022. (Filings are limited due to closures or reduced staffing hours at municipal offices due to COVID-19 restrictions).

AGAWAM

Agawam Mobile Home Park
80 Springfield St.
Eduardo Arroyo

Bitcoin Depot
1672 Main St.
Lux Vending LLC

Bitcoin Depot
18 Springfield St.
Lux Vending LLC

Caribbean Eats
151 Suffield St.
Michael Price

C.H.H. Engraving Inc.
430 Main St.
John Barber

Clinical Psychology Associates
46 Suffield St.
Richard Schwartz

Double Vision Fabrication
37 St. Jacques Ave.
Joshua Shea

Eye Care & Eye Wear Center
170 Main St.
Madonna Santos

Fargus Overhead Garage Doors
45 Mallard Circle
William Fargas

Hampden County Chiropractic
339 Springfield St.
Tami Nelson

The Indian Restaurant
1422 Main St.
Rajesh Rayonia

J. Marie Electrology LLC
159 Main St., Unit 1
Jaqueline Ingram

Nuevos Senderon Adonai Casa de Restauedion
325 Walnut St.
Carlos Resto

Pure Fuel LLC
470 Shoemaker Lane
Francis Disanti

Uncle Roots
51 Elbert Road
Bruce Linder

Wicked Wash
650 Suffield St.
Lauea Jennison

BELCHERTOWN

Grace Farnham Photography
181 North St.
Grace Farnham

Mendyk Lawn and Landscape
25 Brandywine Dr.
Michael Peter Mendyk III

Oolalash
121 North Main St., D9
Princess Torres

Premier Health Group
35 Turkey Hill Road
Michelle Dubuc

CHICOPEE

Ginger Roots Skin Bar
1 Springfield St., Suite 1
Jill Decoteau

Kaeble Oil Inc
32 Champion Dr.
Michael Kaeble

EASTHAMPTON

Barclay Support Services
9 Holyoke St.
Thomas Malsbury

Cernak Fuel
100 Northampton St.
Hop Energy, LLC

Stitch Trek
12 David Richardson Circle
Brooke Regnier

EAST LONGMEADOW

East Car Sales
389 Elm St.
Wilfredo Gonzalez

GRANBY

CLC Dental Consulting
236 Batchelor St.
Charlotte Chartier Cote

Foundation for Justice and Charity Inc.
133 Aldrich St.
Katheryn Buckley-Brawner, William Brawner

Lamoureux Landscaping
52 West State St.
Shawn Lamoureux

HADLEY

22 Newton
22 Newton Lane
Shannon Burke

Bay Road Diary
241 Bay Road
Amy Searle

F45 Training
207 Russell St.
Daniel Deane

Hadley Tax & Financial
229 Russell St.
Robert Lowney

Infinite Self Massage & Energetics
108 Russell St.
Gwendolyn Lee

Manny’s Appliances
41 Russell St.
Breakaway Retail Enterprises

The Moon Crystal
367 Russell St., H01
Carole Moody-Reed

Neill Hardwood Flooring
56 North Maple St.
Kai Neill

Old Colony Business Law
245 Russell St., #14
Benjamin Palkowski

Saint Landscaping LLC
116 Rocky Hill Road
Philip St. Laurence

HOLYOKE

Holly’s Nails
2257B Northampton St.
Loan Tran

The Honey Do List
7 Mount Tom Ave.
Marc Grenier

JGL Truck Sales & Transport
27 Jackson St.
Evelyn Gonzalez

Masonry by Rich Cooper
189 Beech St.
Richard Cooper

Nimako K. Agyapong, Attorney at Law
4 Open Square Way
Nimako Agyapong

S.E.R. Distribution Inc.
64 Hitchcock St.
Sarah Rohan

NORTHAMPTON

Coco Bodakian
30 Village Hill Road, #202
Luna Greenwood

Finding Earth Works
29 Columbus Ave.
Alexandra Risley Schroeder

The Long Game
22 Sveau St.
Jim Lobley

Starr’s Pizzeria
59 Main St.
Damian Fernandez

Tenzinr
106 Sandy Hill Road
Tenzin Rigdhen

SOUTH HADLEY

Integrity Building & Design
37 Lawn St.
Craig Weise

Vida Skincare and Wellness LLC
607 Newton St.
Vida Skincare and Wellness LLC

SOUTHWICK

T&L Leisure Boats LLC
96 Point Grove Road
Christine Granfield

WEST SPRINGFIELD

Bart Truck Equipment LLC
358 River St.
Theresa Diclementi

Centerwell Home Health
95 Elm St.
Joseph Rushell

Elegant Nails
634 Kings Highway
Lien Thi Tran

Enovis Surgi-Care
150 Doty Circle
Susan Payne

Imperial Barber Shop
715 Main St.
Eric Ruiz

Kay Bee Marketing Resources
104 Brookline Ave.
Karen Blinderman

Mahameli
597 Amostown Road
Mahameli

Oliveira Drywall LLC
1207 Morgan Road
Oliveira Werley

Performance Rehabilitation of Western New England LLC
124 Myron St.
Henry Nove

Ray’s Liquidation
1434 Memorial Ave.
Ramon Sanchez

Spice of Asia
3 Central St.
Minalben Vyas

Bankruptcies

By
Bankruptcies

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

Bishop, Sara E.
163 Pleasant St. #2
North Adams, MA 01247
Chapter: 7
Date: 08/27/2022

Boosted Lounge, LLC
Senecal, Ryan R.
82 Beaver St.
North Adams, MA 01247
Chapter: 7
Date: 08/24/2022

Breton, Gregory P.
80 Better Way
Springfield, MA 01119
Chapter: 7
Date: 08/24/2022

Currier, Kristin Jane
155 Federal St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Chapter: 7
Date: 08/23/2022

Daigle, Troy L.
Lynch-Daigle, Angela
a/k/a Lynch, Angela L.
999 Hampden St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Date: 08/29/2022

Gibeault, Keith A.
Gibeault, Michelle D.
14 Old Village Road
Sturbridge, MA 01566
Chapter: 13
Date: 08/26/2022

Gouin, Sharon A.
PO Box 505
Warren, MA 01083
Chapter: 7
Date: 08/26/2022

Greenfield Garden Cinemas
Garden Building LLC
Gohl, George D.
Gobeille, William
157 Montague City Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Chapter: 7
Date: 08/19/2022

Jones, Claire E.
90 Chagnon Road
Gilbertville, MA 01031
Chapter: 7
Date: 08/17/2022

Korniotes, Nicholas Jason
139 Maybrook
Springfield, MA 01129
Chapter: 13
Date: 08/24/2022

Landry, Linda M.
35 Arliss St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Chapter: 13
Date: 08/23/2022

Mailloux, Cheryl Ann
116 Bostwick Lane
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 13
Date: 08/24/2022

Marvin, Michael J.
P.O. Box 588
Warren, MA 01083
Chapter: 7
Date: 08/23/2022

Menger, Petra
69 Sanderson St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Chapter: 7
Date: 08/19/2022

Nieves, Shelly
56 Miller St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Chapter: 7
Date: 08/24/2022

Piesyk, John E.
2065 Pleasant St.
Three Rivers, MA 01080
Chapter: 13
Date: 08/17/2022

Russell, Peter M.
27 Lyman St., D302
Springfield, MA 01103
Chapter: 13
Date: 08/19/2022

Troiano, Thomas J.
10 Albermarle Road
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Chapter: 7
Date: 08/27/2022

Qigong Infused Yoga
Luv-A-Pup Pet Sitting
Smith, Lynne Nicole
64 Comins Road
Hadley, MA 01035
Chapter: 7
Date: 08/19/2022

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

244 Main St.
Ashfield, MA 01330
Amount: $800,000
Buyer: Kapoor & Brothers LLC
Seller: Summit Distributing LLC
Date: 08/22/22

261 Main St.
Ashfield, MA 01330
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Megan Perry
Seller: Stephen B. Drewitz
Date: 08/25/22

BERNARDSTON

43 Oaks Road
Bernardston, MA 01337
Amount: $272,000
Buyer: Tyler Noyes
Seller: Jean M. Dobias
Date: 08/29/22

CHARLEMONT

215 West Hawley Road
Charlemont, MA 01339
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Alice A. Fulton
Seller: Rouleau, Shirley A., (Estate)
Date: 08/25/22

DEERFIELD

16 Captain Lathrop Dr.
Deerfield, MA 01373
Amount: $365,000
Buyer: Joseph Weymouth
Seller: Jennifer J. Marrapese
Date: 09/01/22

242 Conway Road
Deerfield, MA 01373
Amount: $820,000
Buyer: Faisal & Zee LLC
Seller: Summit Distributing LLC
Date: 08/22/22

477 Greenfield Road
Deerfield, MA 01342
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Blueocean Holdings LLC
Seller: Kurt Richardson
Date: 08/31/22

275 River Road
Deerfield, MA 01373
Amount: $258,000
Buyer: Walter J. Wisniowski
Seller: Herzig Ruth B., (Estate)
Date: 08/26/22

ERVING

35 River Road
Erving, MA 01344
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Kristian J. Murphy
Seller: Jessie Sutherland
Date: 09/02/22

83 State Road
Erving, MA 01344
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Jillian Soucie
Seller: John J. Drumgool
Date: 08/26/22

GREENFIELD

54 Adams Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $311,000
Buyer: Matthew D. Squires
Seller: Shana A. Korenewsky
Date: 08/29/22

15 Albert Ave.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Melanie E. Abercrombie
Seller: David C. Lafond
Date: 08/25/22

583 Barton Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $184,000
Buyer: Inherited Property Solutions LLC
Seller: Michael J. Clapp
Date: 08/26/22

344 Davis St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $251,000
Buyer: Megan Delisle-Hale
Seller: Patrick Crowningshield
Date: 08/22/22

14-16 Garfield St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $305,000
Buyer: Peter A. Curran
Seller: Philip E. Pittelli
Date: 09/02/22

29 Grinnell St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $472,900
Buyer: Christopher B. Marstall
Seller: Grinnell Properties LLC
Date: 09/01/22

14 Laurel St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Amy S. Bush
Seller: Aleah M. Diemand
Date: 09/02/22

109 Mohawk Trail
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $880,000
Buyer: OM Mohawk Trail LLC
Seller: Summit Distributing LLC
Date: 08/22/22

69 Oakland St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $375,000
Buyer: Christine M. Sayers
Seller: Nancy Y. Conant TR
Date: 08/22/22

94 Oakland St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Sharon E. Cates
Seller: S. P. Didonato TR 2017
Date: 08/26/22

20 Place Ter.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $242,000
Buyer: Dale E. Buxton
Seller: Hooker, Michael, (Estate)
Date: 09/02/22

19 Prentice Ave.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $272,000
Buyer: Laura E. Fattore
Seller: Michelle F. Augustinowicz
Date: 08/30/22

68 Silver St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $226,500
Buyer: Wesley Otto
Seller: Michael B. Wing
Date: 09/02/22

6 Silvio O. Conte Dr.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $910,000
Buyer: Greenfield Properties
Seller: DLR RT
Date: 09/01/22

47 Summer St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Trevor Tefft
Seller: Frank J. Maleno
Date: 08/31/22

253 Wells St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Amanda Lynch
Seller: Rose M. Szulborski
Date: 08/29/22

HAWLEY

53 Labelle Road
Hawley, MA 01339
Amount: $495,000
Buyer: A. Nicole Polier
Seller: Sarah Ohmann
Date: 09/02/22

MONROE

137 River Road
Monroe, MA 01350
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Richard Fries
Seller: Jack Santos
Date: 08/25/22

 

MONTAGUE

92 2nd St.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: William J. Doyle
Seller: James F. David
Date: 08/23/22

7 Chestnut St.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: John D. McNamara
Seller: Edwin A. Gillespie
Date: 09/01/22

15 Park St.
Montague, MA 01349
Amount: $152,500
Buyer: William R. Crosby
Seller: Paul W. Waldron
Date: 08/31/22

15 Park St.
Montague, MA 01349
Amount: $152,500
Buyer: William R. Crosby
Seller: Paul W. Waldron
Date: 09/02/22

62 Randall Wood Dr.
Montague, MA 01351
Amount: $339,000
Buyer: Martin Halpern
Seller: Sharri R. Conklin-Toal
Date: 08/29/22

34 School St.
Montague, MA 01351
Amount: $516,000
Buyer: Sean D. Alexander
Seller: John W. Farley
Date: 08/24/22

NORTHFIELD

622 Pine Meadow Road
Northfield, MA 01360
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Patrick Crowningshield
Seller: Olga Vdovichenko
Date: 09/01/22

ORANGE

308 East Main St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $178,725
Buyer: Wilmington Savings
Seller: William R. Butcher
Date: 08/22/22

18 Eagleville Road
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $187,000
Buyer: Brian T. Lindsey
Seller: Joy Howard
Date: 08/26/22

191-193 Hayden St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Dean F. Farnum
Seller: Steven W. Meuse
Date: 08/30/22

41 Russ St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Michelle Vega
Seller: Jeffrey C. Hamberg
Date: 08/24/22

SHELBURNE

56 Maple St.
Shelburne, MA 01370
Amount: $432,000
Buyer: Karen K. Perkins
Seller: Field INT
Date: 09/01/22

SHUTESBURY

273-275 Wendell Road
Shutesbury, MA 01072
Amount: $370,000
Buyer: Tyler N. Richards
Seller: Yecheng Yang
Date: 09/02/22

SUNDERLAND

34 Amherst Road
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: Delta Sand & Gravel Inc.
Seller: Debra J. Sullivan
Date: 09/01/22

184 North Silver Lane
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $360,000
Buyer: Todd M. Currier
Seller: Marion E. Black
Date: 08/30/22

208 Nort Silver Lane
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Katharine Jones
Seller: Griss, Carol Z., (Estate)
Date: 08/30/22

97 Old Amherst Road
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $497,000
Buyer: Elliot M. Krasnopoler
Seller: Donna L. Rowe
Date: 08/31/22

49 South Silver Lane
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Qianbin Wang
Seller: Plata O. Plomo Inc.
Date: 08/25/22

HAMPDEN COUNTY

AGAWAM

109 Cherry St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: John Guevin
Seller: Lisa M. Howe
Date: 08/24/22

603 Cooper St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Vladimir Duducal
Seller: Henry Calabrese
Date: 08/23/22

94 Cottonwood Lane
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $400,000
Buyer: Steven J. Carmody
Seller: Sammy Hannoush
Date: 08/29/22

71 Depalma St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $435,000
Buyer: Omar Aljarrah
Seller: Ralph F. McEwan
Date: 09/02/22

46 Faymore Dr.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $335,000
Buyer: Kevin Hanson-Strobel
Seller: Gary A. Labreck
Date: 08/30/22

53 James St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $289,000
Buyer: Christopher W. Rutola
Seller: Spire Property Solutions Inc.
Date: 09/02/22

53 James St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $289,000
Buyer: Christopher W. Rutola
Seller: Spire Property Solutions Inc.
Date: 09/02/22

24 Keller Circle
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $389,900
Buyer: Paul Masse
Seller: Darlene Staples
Date: 08/26/22

288-320 Main St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $900,000
Buyer: 350 Main St LLC
Seller: Budget Cabinet Sales Inc.
Date: 09/02/22

1777 Main St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Ivan Cruz
Seller: Tara J. Cooley
Date: 09/01/22

111 Nicole Ter.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $520,000
Buyer: Lisa Mayo
Seller: Hillside Development Corp.
Date: 08/22/22

15-17 Ottawa St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Anatoliy Tverdokhlebov
Seller: Christopher Desautels
Date: 09/01/22

43 Randall St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $164,900
Buyer: Jeffery S. Kopyscinski
Seller: William P. Souder
Date: 08/25/22

121 Reed St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $278,000
Buyer: Faisal Mukhtar
Seller: Thomas J. Howard
Date: 08/22/22

206 Southwick St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $277,500
Buyer: William Ayala
Seller: Zaide Soufane
Date: 08/30/22

15 Sycamore Ter.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Wayne Mulligan
Seller: Chester S. Wojcik
Date: 09/02/22

BRIMFIELD

17 2nd St.
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Maya H. Baca
Seller: Robert Nelson
Date: 08/31/22

8 Dean Pond Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Brandon Latour
Seller: James P. Tiraboschi
Date: 08/31/22

87 Sutcliffe Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Valerie A. Lent
Seller: Quattrocelli, Darrell, (Estate)
Date: 08/29/22

CHESTER

278 Route 20
Chester, MA 01011
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Renee A. Healy
Seller: Michael Murray
Date: 09/02/22

CHICOPEE

41 Ames Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $500,000
Buyer: Daviau & Robert Properties LLC
Seller: JTT Realty LLC
Date: 09/01/22

69 Ames Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Jessica Cordeiro
Seller: Aileen Laureano
Date: 08/26/22

70 Arlmont St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Adolfina Ventura
Seller: David Deslauriers
Date: 08/26/22

2-8 Beaudoin Court
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $1,050,000
Buyer: Prime Living Properties LLC
Seller: Couture Partners LLC
Date: 08/31/22

20 Bonneta Circle
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $279,000
Buyer: Joe Alvarez
Seller: David A. Pronovost
Date: 08/30/22

33 Cortland St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Anna Bidyuk
Seller: David N. Sevostyanov
Date: 08/24/22

4 Daniel Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $176,000
Buyer: Wilmington Savings
Seller: Robert Gougeon
Date: 08/22/22

11 Ellerton St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $331,000
Buyer: Celestia Martinez
Seller: Martin Cloutier
Date: 08/22/22

22 Franklin St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $475,000
Buyer: Round 2 LLC
Seller: Blue Chip Buildings LLC
Date: 08/30/22

415 Front St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $305,000
Buyer: Mauricio Reynosa-Lopez
Seller: Hang Z. Huang
Date: 09/01/22

106 Garland St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $236,410
Buyer: Wilmington Savings
Seller: Robert C. Homan
Date: 08/30/22

124 Gelinas Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $305,000
Buyer: Lori Cognac
Seller: Joshua E. Fradette
Date: 08/25/22

229-235 Grove St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $1,050,000
Buyer: Prime Living Properties LLC
Seller: Couture Partners LLC
Date: 08/31/22

116 Hampden St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $249,000
Buyer: David A. Orellana
Seller: Peter Anipko
Date: 09/02/22

320 Hampden St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Leonel R. Santiago
Seller: Kevin M. Martin
Date: 08/26/22

16 Harvard St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: ZT Properties LLC
Seller: Jeremy J. Houlihan
Date: 08/25/22

25 Highland Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $218,000
Buyer: Amanda Calamiong
Seller: Rachel C. Bellenoit
Date: 08/31/22

136 Irene St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $395,000
Buyer: Tikori K. Mahdi
Seller: Janet L. Parent
Date: 09/02/22

24 Jean Circle
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $531,000
Buyer: Richard A. Nadeau
Seller: N. Riley Development Inc.
Date: 09/02/22

4 Laurel St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Amanda L. Dupuis
Seller: Michelle Wozniak
Date: 08/30/22

127 Lawndale St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $305,000
Buyer: Pedro A. Jimenez
Seller: J. Fitz LLC
Date: 08/25/22

26 Mead Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Wilfredo Pabon-Gonzalez
Seller: Lacarese, Arthur L., (Estate)
Date: 08/30/22

1643 Memorial Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Rjalaa Holdings LLC
Seller: Gallagher Properties LLC
Date: 08/30/22

190 Montgomery St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $440,000
Buyer: Prime Living Properties LLC
Seller: Deslauriers, David, (Estate)
Date: 08/26/22

32 Morris St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Lauren M. Driscoll
Seller: Christopher J. Seymour
Date: 08/31/22

53 Nash St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Corinn T. Fiata
Seller: Kimberly A. Myers
Date: 08/26/22

222 Nonotuck Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Michael Cote
Seller: Corridan, D. B., (Estate)
Date: 09/02/22

145 Old Lyman Road
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $328,500
Buyer: Sean D. Sears
Seller: Richard F. Beaudry
Date: 09/01/22

27 Otis St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $375,000
Buyer: Joshua M. Johnson
Seller: George P. Fernandes
Date: 08/26/22

150 Ruskin St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Leshay Hicks
Seller: Season Bryant
Date: 09/01/22

36 Spence St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Ruben Santos-Burgos
Seller: Jennifer M. Najuch
Date: 08/29/22

88 Sunflower Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Laura M. Diaz
Seller: Robert A. Goodenough
Date: 09/02/22

19 Surrey Lane
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $399,000
Buyer: Gloria Chen
Seller: Joseph McDaneld
Date: 08/23/22

195 Szetela Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $401,000
Buyer: Nitesh A. Patel
Seller: Wladyslawa Szmyd
Date: 08/25/22

EAST LONGMEADOW

63 Birchland Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $291,500
Buyer: Dominic J. Amato
Seller: Nexus Apartments LLC
Date: 08/26/22

12 Cross Meadow Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $565,000
Buyer: Rika Woyan
Seller: Wallace A. Hurd
Date: 08/25/22

64 John St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $289,900
Buyer: Brian A. Rojas-Perez
Seller: William Tobin
Date: 08/29/22

108 Lasalle St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Brent Baskin
Seller: John F. Taffe
Date: 08/30/22

251 North Main St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $315,000
Buyer: Gregory M. Hayes
Seller: Thomas F. Connors
Date: 09/01/22

71 Old Farm Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $726,900
Buyer: Todd Lohrman
Seller: Elizabeth C. Rappaport
Date: 08/31/22

10 Peachtree Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $147,750
Buyer: C&M Builders LLC
Seller: Charles J. Gergley
Date: 08/25/22

9 Redin Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $267,000
Buyer: HB1 Alternative Holdings LLC
Seller: Joanne M. Jenkins
Date: 08/22/22

221 Westwood Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Alexandria McMahon
Seller: Joseph Torcia
Date: 08/23/22

HAMPDEN

28 Commercial Dr.
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $660,000
Buyer: SB Equities LLC
Seller: 28 Commercial Drive LLC
Date: 08/23/22

43 Echo Valley Dr.
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Conley M. Jones
Seller: Jane F. Graves
Date: 08/25/22

100 Main St.
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $349,000
Buyer: Melanie D. Newhouse
Seller: William H. Bond
Date: 08/30/22

70 Rock A. Dundee Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $715,000
Buyer: Olivia C. Clement
Seller: McGovern Thomas FT
Date: 08/29/22

34 Springhouse Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $370,000
Buyer: Vincent Laduke
Seller: Richard D. Ring
Date: 08/25/22

24 Wilbraham Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Geoffrey Fontaine
Seller: Dillon T. Moriarty
Date: 08/26/22

50 Woodland Dr.
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $303,000
Buyer: Nicholas Ottoson
Seller: Daniel Berg
Date: 08/26/22

HOLLAND

33 Berkshire St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $600,000
Buyer: 33 Berkshire Street LLC
Seller: Steven Hunter
Date: 08/23/22

23 Bray Park Dr.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Dylan Donze
Seller: Caitlin Simard
Date: 08/22/22

30 Dale St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Ester T. Pineault
Seller: Jeffrey P. Czelusniak
Date: 08/23/22

25 Lee Ave.
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $435,000
Buyer: Lakehouse 25 LLC
Seller: Gloria A. Hughes
Date: 08/31/22

261-265 Maple St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $695,000
Buyer: 57 Suffolk Street LLC
Seller: O’Connell Properties Inc.
Date: 08/24/22

265-1/2 Maple St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $695,000
Buyer: 57 Suffolk Street LLC
Seller: O’Connell Properties Inc.
Date: 08/24/22

267-273 Maple St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $695,000
Buyer: 57 Suffolk Street LLC
Seller: O’Connell Properties Inc.
Date: 08/24/22

9 McMahon Dr.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Donald W. Tucker
Seller: Roger J. Reidy
Date: 08/24/22

25 Mountain Road
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $490,000
Buyer: Russell S. Powell
Seller: Joseph Knapik
Date: 08/22/22

377 Mountain Road
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $365,000
Buyer: Andre Godbout
Seller: Gary Godbout
Date: 08/22/22

499 Northampton St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Jillian G. Barnard
Seller: Mark E. Stearns
Date: 08/22/22

6 Park Road
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $213,200
Buyer: Bruce Sacerdote
Seller: Joshua M. Johnson
Date: 08/30/22

5 Primrose Lane
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $405,000
Buyer: Elizabeth A. Sharrow
Seller: Honor M. Buell
Date: 08/24/22

78 South Bay State Road
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Jacqueline Lozada
Seller: Chirgwin, Edwin J., (Estate)
Date: 08/26/22

57 Suffolk St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $695,000
Buyer: 57 Suffolk Street LLC
Seller: O’Connell Properties Inc.
Date: 08/24/22

70 Suffolk St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $695,000
Buyer: 57 Suffolk Street LLC
Seller: O’Connell Properties Inc.
Date: 08/24/22

HOLYOKE

47 Allen Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $385,000
Buyer: Anthony M. Pellegrino
Seller: Michael Britt
Date: 08/26/22

25-27 Brown Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $340,000
Buyer: Mayerlyn M. Hidalgo
Seller: Gallagher Cap Group LLC
Date: 08/31/22

133-135 Brown Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: Ildo C. Goncalves
Seller: A To Z Property Management LLC
Date: 08/29/22

123 Green Willow Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $475,000
Buyer: Laura Bernard
Seller: Mary J. Schubert
Date: 08/26/22

120 Hawthorne St.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $375,000
Buyer: Joshua Kent
Seller: Filomena Holmes
Date: 08/26/22

20 Hicks Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $358,000
Buyer: Joseph J. Polcetti
Seller: Mary L. Martin
Date: 08/31/22

60-66 Jackson St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $232,500
Buyer: 60 Jackson St. Warehouse
Seller: Kamikaze Inc.
Date: 08/30/22

60-66 Jackson St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $1,500,000
Buyer: Jackson St. Productions
Seller: 60 Jackson St. Warehouse
Date: 08/30/22

191 Kenmore Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $420,000
Buyer: Christopher Seaton
Seller: Brian K. Seaton
Date: 08/22/22

75 Linden St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $365,000
Buyer: Nicole M. Maisonet-Lopez
Seller: Extremely Clean 2 LLC
Date: 09/01/22

201 Madison Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $530,000
Buyer: Ysaaca Axelrod
Seller: Carissa M. Dagenais
Date: 09/02/22

48 Maplewood St.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Jillian D. Pugliese
Seller: Dana Hammett
Date: 08/23/22

37 Mountain Road
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Erika R. Rubner
Seller: Timblin Judy
Date: 09/01/22

49-51 North Bridge St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Blue Arch Inc.
Seller: Karol Makusiewicz
Date: 09/01/22

1450 Northampton St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $500,000
Buyer: Heidi Terault
Seller: Gordon P. Alexander
Date: 09/01/22

89 South St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $400,000
Buyer: Ellen Boynton LLC
Seller: Gramntad LLC
Date: 09/01/22

19 Steven Dr.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Sean Breen
Seller: French, Steven W., (Estate)
Date: 08/29/22

130-132 Waldo St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $253,000
Buyer: Brandon E. Lopez
Seller: Katherine A. Hill
Date: 09/02/22

1144 Williams St.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $600,000
Buyer: Waseem Mudasar
Seller: Laura A. Skole
Date: 08/26/22

213 Wolf Swamp Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $355,000
Buyer: Jaime S. Asselin
Seller: Jessica Lewis
Date: 08/26/22

30 Woods Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $249,900
Buyer: Bones K. Leopard
Seller: Charles T. Sullivan
Date: 09/01/22

LONGMEADOW

107 Belleclaire Ave.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $375,000
Buyer: Stacey E. Hermans
Seller: Rachel J. Kuhn
Date: 08/31/22

43 Crest Ave.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $455,000
Buyer: Paul Szulak
Seller: Anthony M. Rosati
Date: 09/02/22

34 Eastland Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $420,000
Buyer: Jonathan Alger
Seller: Ana Muriel
Date: 08/30/22

133 Elmwood Ave.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $348,000
Buyer: Michael Ferreira
Seller: Paul S. Szulak
Date: 09/02/22

226 Maple Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $380,000
Buyer: Robert S. Murphy
Seller: Danielle L. Dagostino
Date: 08/30/22

50 Massachusetts Ave.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Angel A. Cotto
Seller: Brian T. Burkhardt
Date: 08/30/22

184 Nevins Ave.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Elizabeth J. Lacy-Limoges
Seller: Sa Holding 2 LLC
Date: 08/30/22

19 Robin Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $510,000
Buyer: Jalen E. Fabregas
Seller: Quercus Properties LLC
Date: 08/29/22

LUDLOW

Balsam Hill Road Lot 62
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $149,900
Buyer: Nathan D. Quiterio
Seller: Whitetail Wreks LLC
Date: 08/24/22

17 Birch St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Scott Lozyniak
Seller: Virginia Pires
Date: 08/31/22

4 Goddu St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Thomas A. Jenco
Seller: Brian Getty
Date: 08/23/22

61 Greenwich St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Joseph Curtis
Seller: Jhon R. Wielblad
Date: 08/31/22

267 Howard St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Cynthia A. Rusakovich
Seller: Eric G. Fernandez
Date: 08/31/22

103 Laroche St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Fabio V. Tavares
Seller: Robert J. Robitaille
Date: 08/25/22

44 Miller St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $295,000
Buyer: Joshua Mitchell
Seller: Millerwood Properties Inc.
Date: 09/01/22

160 Pine St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $217,000
Buyer: Megliola Realty LLC
Seller: Philip J. Hirnyk
Date: 08/30/22

Turning Leaf Road Lot 85
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $144,900
Buyer: Stephen Ricardi
Seller: Whitetail Wreks LLC
Date: 08/26/22

141 Whitney St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $135,450
Buyer: Kennedy Acquisitions LLC
Seller: Deutsche Bank
Date: 08/26/22

2 Williams St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Jason A. Ezell
Seller: Maria H. Mazzei
Date: 08/30/22

532 Winsor St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $365,000
Buyer: Joel E. Fournier
Seller: Margarida M. Goncalves
Date: 09/01/22

MONSON

2 Butler Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $410,000
Buyer: Alexandro Garcia
Seller: Paul A. Winkler
Date: 08/30/22

22 Country Club Dr.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Laurie Palatino
Seller: Angela M. Allain
Date: 08/23/22

72 Margaret St.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $437,000
Buyer: Jeffrey D. Pearson
Seller: William J. Boyle
Date: 08/30/22

194 Moulton Hill Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $425,000
Buyer: Amber Wilder
Seller: Joan M. Lowbridge
Date: 08/22/22

40 Thayer Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $410,000
Buyer: Evan Hebert
Seller: Robert J. Maggi
Date: 08/22/22

40 Stafford Hollow Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Myrna Stacey
Seller: Amanda D. Fontaine
Date: 08/30/22

218 Wilbraham Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $206,800
Buyer: William L. Skinner
Seller: Filomena M. Skinner
Date: 09/01/22

MONTGOMERY

114 Carrington Road
Montgomery, MA 01050
Amount: $340,000
Buyer: Tyler J. Heeter
Seller: Donald L. Masciadrelli
Date: 08/31/22

PALMER

148 Flynt St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Sophia Panova
Seller: Charles E. Labonte
Date: 08/26/22

16 Knox St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Fantasia M. Colon
Seller: Thaddeus A. Razdow
Date: 08/26/22

219 Old Warren Road
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Leah Stanfield
Seller: Daniel J. O’Donnell
Date: 08/25/22

96 Peterson Road
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $385,000
Buyer: Christopher R. Tetreault
Seller: Richard E. Bourgeoise
Date: 08/30/22

1178 South Main St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $208,000
Buyer: Benjamin A. Jean
Seller: Jesus Torres
Date: 08/31/22

77-81 Springfield St.
Palmer, MA 01080
Amount: $194,226
Buyer: Wilmington Savings
Seller: Merrimack Institute LLC
Date: 08/25/22

178 Ware St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $308,000
Buyer: Mellisa A. Treadwell
Seller: Valarie J. Sippin
Date: 08/30/22

1599 Ware St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Ethan Freniere
Seller: Amber A. Wilder
Date: 08/22/22

74 Water St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Brian F. Dickson
Seller: Melanie E. Smith
Date: 08/31/22

RUSSELL

420 Blandford Stage Road
Russell, MA 01071
Amount: $286,000
Buyer: Jasmine Ortega
Seller: Kyle A. Maslak
Date: 08/26/22

SPRINGFIELD

29 Algonquin Place
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Ariel B. Carrillo
Seller: Olga Fuentes
Date: 08/31/22

123 Andrew St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Monique Munnings-Bah
Seller: David Givans
Date: 09/01/22

34-36 Arbutus St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Michael A. Restrepo
Seller: Margarita Espada
Date: 08/23/22

115-117 Ardmore St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: DLS T
Seller: Dominic Maggi
Date: 08/26/22

117 Ardmore St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: DLS T
Seller: Dominic Maggi
Date: 08/26/22

47 Aspen Road
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Christine Askew-Palmer
Seller: Sharyn K. Artioli
Date: 08/30/22

91 Aspen Road
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Liz A. Vazquez-Alicea
Seller: Joshua Bernard
Date: 08/26/22

142 Avery St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Leticia Diaz-Rolon
Seller: Miguel Santiago
Date: 08/26/22

43 Barrison St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Tristen Higgins
Seller: Joseph A. Goulet
Date: 08/22/22

136 Barrington Dr.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $590,000
Buyer: Dhara S. Patel
Seller: Anthony T. Torres
Date: 08/29/22

705 Bay St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $730,000
Buyer: Phantom Holdings LLC
Seller: Hedge Hog Industries Corp.
Date: 09/01/22

52 Berkshire St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $365,000
Buyer: Ivan Buitrago
Seller: Prime Living Properties LLC
Date: 08/25/22

131 Berkshire Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $151,000
Buyer: 73 Warren St LLC
Seller: Kratman Valerie, (Estate)
Date: 08/31/22

947-949 Berkshire Ave.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $281,000
Buyer: Tikiko Gomez
Seller: Cherille Cameron
Date: 09/01/22

24 Bethel St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Ana M. Melendez
Seller: Tina M. White
Date: 08/24/22

114-116 Breckwood Circle
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $282,000
Buyer: Karl Marx Delphonse
Seller: Wesley R. Crouch
Date: 08/26/22

316 Breckwood Blvd.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Sandra Woodfine-Gooden
Seller: Kevin A. Sarrette
Date: 08/29/22

6 Bronson Ter.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $365,000
Buyer: Nadine Guthrie
Seller: Nicole Rasbury
Date: 08/24/22

39 Bronson Ter.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Jill Ross
Seller: Raffaello M. Dagostino
Date: 08/23/22

12 Burns Ave.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $264,000
Buyer: Liset M. Rivera
Seller: Rachel Elliott
Date: 09/02/22

14 Burton St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $159,000
Buyer: Global Homes Properties LLC
Seller: James C. Powers
Date: 09/01/22

386-388 Carew St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $328,000
Buyer: Raymond J. Perkins
Seller: Kimberly Paine
Date: 08/31/22

235 Chestnut St.
Springfield, MA 01103
Amount: $750,000
Buyer: Razzak Building LLC
Seller: Altranais Home Care LLC
Date: 09/01/22

235 Chestnut St.
Springfield, MA 01103
Amount: $750,000
Buyer: Razzak Building LLC
Seller: Altranais Home Care LLC
Date: 08/31/22

16 Churchill St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $375,000
Buyer: Asha T. Barboza
Seller: Treaandrea M. Russworm
Date: 08/22/22

70 Coleman St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $730,000
Buyer: Phantom Holdings LLC
Seller: Hedge Hog Industries Corp.
Date: 09/01/22

131 College St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Aclesia L. Scotland
Seller: Cheryl W. Moore
Date: 08/26/22

105 Connecticut Ave.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Segundo A. Paredes
Seller: Razorback Capital LLC
Date: 08/29/22

622 Cottage St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $700,000
Buyer: Chase Realty Holdings Inc.
Seller: Lily Enterprises Inc.
Date: 08/31/22

53 Crestmont St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Christopher M. Reardon
Seller: Mindy L. Morelli
Date: 08/31/22

40 Cuff Ave.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: William Melendez
Seller: Ramon Melendez
Date: 09/01/22

36 Daniel St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $730,000
Buyer: Phantom Holdings LLC
Seller: Hedge Hog Industries Corp.
Date: 09/01/22

33 Dawes St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Jorge Alvarez-Torres
Seller: Martha Monroe
Date: 08/26/22

63 Denwall Dr.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $239,000
Buyer: Shannon Tallent
Seller: Angel A. Cotto
Date: 08/30/22

269 Denver St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Binaben A. Patil
Seller: Juan I. Rios-Colon
Date: 08/26/22

36 Dickinson St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Sopheap B. Lim
Seller: Alfred C. Leblanc
Date: 08/29/22

602-604 Dickinson St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Ervin Hernandez-Ramos
Seller: Maria I. Rosario-Torres
Date: 08/31/22

33 Eckington St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Posiadlosc LLC
Seller: Om Khadka
Date: 09/01/22

73 Eloise St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Rosanne Linders
Seller: Crafsic, Stephen, (Estate)
Date: 08/25/22

57-59 Enfield St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Derek Fu
Seller: Tl Bretta Realty LLC
Date: 08/31/22

53 Euclid Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Lady S. Bedoya
Seller: Toan M. Nguyen
Date: 08/26/22

65 Firglade Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Yassine Zian
Seller: Jacqueline Parrish
Date: 08/30/22

55 Fisk Ave.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $19,500,000
Buyer: RREF 3 55 Fisk LLC
Seller: 55 Fisk Avenue LLC
Date: 08/30/22

102 Florence St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $167,944
Buyer: HB3 Alternative Holdings LLC
Seller: Dorothy Williams
Date: 08/30/22

59-61 Forest Park Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $338,000
Buyer: Devora E. Quinn
Seller: Nres LLC
Date: 08/22/22

137 Forest Park Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $188,000
Buyer: Candace Smith
Seller: Harris, Philip G., (Estate)
Date: 08/30/22

44 Frontenac St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Sterling Sprague
Seller: Stephen M. Mucha
Date: 08/23/22

28-30 Glenham St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Nathaly Pujols
Seller: Charlie S. Melo-Perez
Date: 08/22/22

33 Glenmore St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Zaida Y. Valdez
Seller: Richard Williams
Date: 09/02/22

69 Goodrich St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Hipolito Torres
Seller: Carmen Rivera
Date: 08/24/22

74 Huron St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Annie M. Guzman
Seller: Property Advantage Inc.
Date: 08/23/22

325 Island Pond Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $233,000
Buyer: Justin Nunes
Seller: Katie E. Kalinko
Date: 08/25/22

93 Jeanne Marie St.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $273,000
Buyer: Wayne Eich
Seller: Karen L. Madden
Date: 08/26/22

8-10 Johnson St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Carlos O. Morales
Seller: Lan Oak Realty LLC
Date: 08/25/22

119 Kimberly Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $196,000
Buyer: William Raleigh
Seller: Lisa N. Lobik
Date: 08/26/22

63 King St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Javier Burgos-Hernandez
Seller: Keitlen J. Rodriguez
Date: 08/31/22

29 Leete St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $355,000
Buyer: Michael M. Guerrero
Seller: Samara A. Vazquez-Rosado
Date: 08/30/22

251 Longhill St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $375,000
Buyer: Siervo Jimenez
Seller: Manuel A. Silva
Date: 09/02/22

643 Main St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $570,000
Buyer: Zahoor U. Haq
Seller: SDS LLC
Date: 08/25/22

520-526 Main St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $700,000
Buyer: Zl Investment LLC
Seller: Mei Management LLC
Date: 08/31/22

88 Malibu Dr.
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $315,000
Buyer: Sonia C. Portela
Seller: Brenda L. Albrecht
Date: 09/02/22

127 Malibu Dr.
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Samantha Calvao
Seller: Tascon Homes LLC
Date: 09/02/22

15 Marchioness Road
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Thomas McNamara
Seller: Xanh T. Le
Date: 09/02/22

82-84 Maryland St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $295,000
Buyer: Paul Georges
Seller: 82-84 Maryland Street RT
Date: 09/01/22

31 Middle St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Julia S. Colon
Seller: Ana R. Rivas
Date: 08/25/22

16 Montmorenci St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $730,000
Buyer: Phantom Holdings LLC
Seller: Hedge Hog Industries Corp.
Date: 09/01/22

31 Montmorenci St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $287,000
Buyer: Leandro Lopez
Seller: Triton Investment Group LLC
Date: 09/02/22

27-29 Mystic St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $232,000
Buyer: Aracelis Feliciano
Seller: Carey S. Noonan
Date: 08/23/22

66 Nagle St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $403,000
Buyer: Chantale Noel
Seller: MS Homes LLC
Date: 09/02/22

45-47 Narragansett St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: Devonny Cruz
Seller: RBT Enterprise LLC
Date: 08/30/22

228 Nottingham St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $295,000
Buyer: Dennis Bean
Seller: Sullivan, Helen M., (Estate)
Date: 08/26/22

67 Oak St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $730,000
Buyer: Phantom Holdings LLC
Seller: Hedge Hog Industries Corp.
Date: 09/01/22

2017 Parker St.
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Celany Z. Valdez
Seller: Calvin D. Waters
Date: 09/02/22

202 Pasco Road
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $226,000
Buyer: Monica Shields
Seller: Edward Perez
Date: 08/31/22

111 Pineview Dr.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $278,999
Buyer: Joan M. Velez-Vega
Seller: Andrey Stefoglo
Date: 08/30/22

1559 Plumtree Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Nateisha Gordon-Thompsom
Seller: Victoria Alessi
Date: 08/31/22

21 Porter St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Ramon Castillo-Torres
Seller: Reinaldo Rosado
Date: 08/30/22

164 Prouty St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Maria A. Pumarejo
Seller: Theresa E. Talbot
Date: 08/29/22

112 Quaker Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: KMAK LLC
Seller: US Bank
Date: 08/26/22

9-11 Richelieu St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Roberto Rivera-Negron
Seller: New Canaan Properties LLC
Date: 08/30/22

14 Richelieu St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $227,552
Buyer: Paulo A. Villegas
Seller: Raffaele Russo
Date: 09/02/22

86 Rochelle St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Bernice Cruz-Martinez
Seller: Danielle Y. Witherspoon
Date: 09/02/22

30 Rosedale Ave.
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Jose A. Molina
Seller: Jack A. Ohlemacher
Date: 08/25/22

108 San Miguel St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Jorge Garcia
Seller: Deborah L. Cowles
Date: 08/30/22

258 Shawmut St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $282,000
Buyer: Jaime Ramos
Seller: JoeJoe Properties LLC
Date: 08/22/22

40 Squirrel Road
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $302,500
Buyer: Mary L. Disantis
Seller: John M. Claffey
Date: 08/26/22

112 Stockman St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Victor M. Bernal
Seller: James W. Fiore
Date: 09/02/22

126 Stockman St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Cherry Tree Realty LLC
Seller: Maureen A. Nickerson
Date: 08/26/22

41 Suffolk St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $425,000
Buyer: Suhyun Lee
Seller: Victor T. George
Date: 08/26/22

905-909 Sumner Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $699,000
Buyer: Sumner Avenue Estate LLC
Seller: Patalano Property Management LLC
Date: 08/30/22

82-84 Sycamore St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Madeline G. Laboy
Seller: Mark A. Glenn
Date: 08/31/22

82 Timber Lane
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: KMAK LLC
Seller: Philip Gordon
Date: 08/29/22

11-15 Taft St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Samantha Figueroa
Seller: Christian Reyes
Date: 08/22/22

69 Teakwood Road
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $307,000
Buyer: Ariel L. Dudek
Seller: Kaitlyn Sullivan
Date: 08/22/22

16 Valentine St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Jayne Astacio-Melendez
Seller: Susan E. Lauser
Date: 08/25/22

21 Vann St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Targaryen RT
Seller: Edward F. Finneran
Date: 08/22/22

25 Verge St.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Edwin O. Garcia
Seller: Amy A. Kauri
Date: 09/01/22

84 Wachusett St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Jonathan Ely
Seller: Mariovy Gonzalez
Date: 08/22/22

303-305 Water St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Targaryen RT
Seller: Joseph M. Welcz
Date: 08/26/22

88 Wayne St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Deborah Olson
Seller: William R. Fiske
Date: 08/31/22

38 Webber St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $192,500
Buyer: Geovanni Montesino
Seller: Brad Millen
Date: 08/30/22

90 West Colonial Road
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: Sonetta C. Covington
Seller: Caulton Family 2020 RET
Date: 09/02/22

123 Wilber St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Chelsea Hall
Seller: Na D. Guthrie
Date: 08/24/22

91-93 Wilbraham Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $296,000
Buyer: Jamilette S. Franco
Seller: Glorious Taylor
Date: 08/30/22

33 Wilbraham Road
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $1,200,000
Buyer: Holyoke Chicopee Springfield
Seller: Eastern Avenue Investments Inc.
Date: 09/01/22

421 Wilbraham Road
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Christian E. Granillos
Seller: Methe, Robert A., (Estate)
Date: 08/31/22

250 Winton St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $305,000
Buyer: James D. Taylor
Seller: Margorie Perez
Date: 08/30/22

30-32 Woodside Ter.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $305,000
Buyer: Edwin Mendez
Seller: Joseph A. Cressotti
Date: 08/26/22

109 Yale St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Winifred D. Scalise
Seller: Charles Thompson
Date: 09/02/22

SOUTHWICK

10 Coyote Glen
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $700,000
Buyer: David V. Reale
Seller: Stacey Grimaldi
Date: 08/26/22

120 Berkshire Ave.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $545,000
Buyer: Mark A. Colbert
Seller: Steven R. Ferrari
Date: 08/31/22

75 South Loomis St.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $315,000
Buyer: Martha T. Kane
Seller: Wade R. Modestow
Date: 08/31/22

50 Vining Hill Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $360,000
Buyer: Jeffrey C. Hamberg
Seller: Paul V. Poole
Date: 08/24/22

TOLLAND

23 Lakeside Dr.
Tolland, MA 01034
Amount: $565,000
Buyer: David W. Laks
Seller: Kathleen Marshall
Date: 09/02/22

37 Stones Throw Dr.
Tolland, MA 01034
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Daniel L. Champagne
Seller: George A. Champagne
Date: 08/30/22

632 West Granville Road
Tolland, MA 01034
Amount: $278,000
Buyer: Kirk Crochiere
Seller: Day, Bobbie Jo, (Estate)
Date: 08/26/22

WESTFIELD

5 Big Wood Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $530,000
Buyer: Christina Cavanaugh
Seller: Gregory Tartaglino
Date: 08/29/22

79 Cardinal Lane
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $460,000
Buyer: Anthony R. Depalma
Seller: Thomas Scott-Smith
Date: 08/24/22

19 Chestnut St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $261,000
Buyer: Penelope T. Evans
Seller: David J. Martin
Date: 08/26/22

9 Deborah Lane
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $500,000
Buyer: Crista M. Cannata
Seller: Molta, Madeline A., (Estate)
Date: 08/26/22

63 Elizabeth Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $386,000
Buyer: Edwin Antonetty
Seller: John S. Soares
Date: 09/02/22

16 Fremont St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Corey J. Williams
Seller: Done Right Homes LLC
Date: 08/29/22

28 Green Pine Lane
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Aaron Whitworth
Seller: Rafal P. Janusz
Date: 08/31/22

28 Harvest Moon Lane
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $611,000
Buyer: Robert P. Benoit
Seller: Felix Otero
Date: 09/01/22

23 Lindbergh Blvd.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Juan I. Rios-Colon
Seller: Michael G. Zimmerman
Date: 08/26/22

279 Little River Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Sergey Bazukin
Seller: W. S. Olsen RT
Date: 08/31/22

175 Loomis Ridge
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Viktor Krylov
Seller: Joseph M. Byrnes
Date: 08/31/22

14 Lowell Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Gregory Machia
Seller: Plata O. Plomo Inc.
Date: 08/23/22

22 Lozier Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Alexander Kubacki
Seller: 22 Lozier Ave. LLC
Date: 08/26/22

89 Mechanic St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: TGC Investments LLC
Seller: Brandon M. Sanchez
Date: 08/30/22

9 Miller St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $142,000
Buyer: Timothy Reynolds
Seller: Deutsche Bank
Date: 08/25/22

247 Munger Hill Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $525,000
Buyer: Michael J. Davis
Seller: Beverly J. Fein
Date: 08/25/22

75 Otis St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $264,000
Buyer: Nicholas Fay
Seller: Carmen Monroe
Date: 08/31/22

64 Overlook Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $405,000
Buyer: John M. Camerota
Seller: Shawn M. Schellenger
Date: 09/02/22

77 Pequot Point Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Paul Della-Torre
Seller: Jean M. Pensabene
Date: 09/02/22

145 Prospect St. Ext.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $385,000
Buyer: Denise Taylor
Seller: Dylan Willey
Date: 08/26/22

43 Putnam Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $265,900
Buyer: Matthew Reynolds
Seller: Jason M. Lanney
Date: 08/29/22

Rachael Ter., Lot 110Q
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Bent Tree Development LLC
Seller: Marla Pignatare
Date: 08/23/22

162 Russell Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $227,500
Buyer: Alan R. Schadel
Seller: Matthew J. Romano
Date: 09/02/22

236 Shaker Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $422,750
Buyer: Arshad Mehmood
Seller: Bruno D. Antico
Date: 08/26/22

317 Southwick Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Paul Degrandpre
Seller: Kathleen Degrandpre
Date: 08/30/22

16 Susan Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $327,500
Buyer: Rocco T. Fernandez
Seller: John R. Harrington
Date: 08/26/22

WILBRAHAM

3123 Boston Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $226,000
Buyer: Kayla A. McCarthy
Seller: Hector R. Torres
Date: 08/24/22

43 Brainard Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $375,000
Buyer: Shawn M. Tavares
Seller: Joan M. Siciliano
Date: 09/01/22

66 Brainard Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $380,000
Buyer: Michael G. Zimmerman
Seller: Michael Merigian
Date: 08/26/22

32 Brooklawn Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $335,000
Buyer: Joseph M. Pafumi
Seller: Holly A. Dorsey
Date: 08/25/22

5 Captain Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $480,000
Buyer: Margorie Perez-Nieves
Seller: Suzette Cotton
Date: 08/30/22

6 Cliffside Dr.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $425,000
Buyer: Raymond C. Comeau
Seller: Dean T. Boudreau
Date: 08/30/22

9 Elm Circle
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $457,500
Buyer: Alessandra Corbett
Seller: Joseph M. Assad
Date: 08/25/22

5 Horseshoe Lane
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $399,000
Buyer: Sean Sinnott
Seller: Michelle A. Richard
Date: 09/01/22

15 Meadowview Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $372,000
Buyer: Russell E. Picotte
Seller: Gregory J. Rogers
Date: 08/31/22

644 Stony Hill Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $465,000
Buyer: Jennifer Wanjiru-Munge
Seller: Catherine C. Deloria
Date: 08/24/22

717-719 Stony Hill Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $374,900
Buyer: RRM Homes LLC
Seller: Brendan J. Kennedy
Date: 08/22/22

1223 Stony Hill Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $345,000
Buyer: Richard Holden
Seller: Sylvia A. Kapitzke
Date: 08/31/22

8 Vista Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $405,000
Buyer: Corey A. Rapa
Seller: Jerry L. Wawrzyk
Date: 08/31/22

17 Wandering Meadows
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $675,000
Buyer: Kelcie Walters-Knowles
Seller: Louis J. Scungio
Date: 09/02/22

 

WEST SPRINGFIELD

147 Albert St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $335,000
Buyer: Mohammed Q. Mohmmed
Seller: Brian A. Pomeroy
Date: 08/31/22

187 Almon Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Dale E. Cote-Sullivan
Seller: Sandra A. Goodrow
Date: 08/26/22

1218 Amostown Road
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Dennis Feldman
Seller: Connolly, Emily C., (Estate)
Date: 08/26/22

37 Angeline St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Meghan E. Bonta
Seller: Jose E. Correa
Date: 08/31/22

14 Austin Lane
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Luxury Real Estate LLC
Seller: Mark M. Salamon
Date: 08/23/22

112 Garden St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Bhim Rai
Seller: Bijoy Rai
Date: 08/30/22

141 Harwich Road
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $271,000
Buyer: Michael J. Keane
Seller: Frenier, Patricia A., (Estate)
Date: 08/23/22

425 Kings Hwy.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $192,500
Buyer: Cameron A. Hardy
Seller: Melissa A. Brown
Date: 08/31/22

518 Kings Hwy.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $152,500
Buyer: Selpan Holdings LLC
Seller: Black Card Acquisitions LLC
Date: 09/02/22

518 Kings Hwy.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Black Card Acquisitions LLC
Seller: Linda J. Murphy
Date: 09/02/22

43-45 Lathrop St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $315,000
Buyer: Johnny S. Auden-Crooke
Seller: Jose F. Berrios
Date: 08/25/22

255 Prospect Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Jesiel Diaz
Seller: Rush, Tod L., (Estate)
Date: 08/30/22

81 Queen Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Jose Correa
Seller: FNMA
Date: 09/01/22

1048 Riverdale St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $1,780,000
Buyer: S41 Holdings LLC
Seller: Oaktree Investments 2 LLC
Date: 08/30/22

1102 Riverdale St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $3,675,000
Buyer: Marcus Rose FT
Seller: Doty River LLC
Date: 08/31/22

1654 Riverdale St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $425,000
Buyer: Atif Khan
Seller: John E. Sjoberg
Date: 09/01/22

166 South Blvd.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: DDM Property Group LLC
Seller: Briarwood Eight LLC
Date: 09/02/22

75 Sprague St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Cornerstone Homebuying LLC
Seller: Sherry A. Dearden
Date: 08/23/22

23 Van Horn St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Monique M. Vega
Seller: Cathy A. Meader
Date: 09/01/22

1568 Westfield St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: G&C RE Investments LLC
Seller: Kenneth B. Kimball
Date: 09/01/22

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY

AMHERST

39 Country Corners Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Lucas Glenn
Seller: Wilmington Savings
Date: 08/25/22

317 South Pleasant St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $380,250
Buyer: Aneeka Henderson
Seller: Amherst College
Date: 08/23/22

53 Stanley St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $430,000
Buyer: Humayun Sherwani
Seller: John P. Burand
Date: 09/01/22

6 Teaberry Lane
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $785,000
Buyer: John F. Wehmiller
Seller: Kendall D. Doble
Date: 08/30/22

316 West Pomeroy Lane
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $515,000
Buyer: Ethan Pope
Seller: SG RT
Date: 08/26/22

18 Wildflower Dr.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $719,900
Buyer: Grace D. Nejman
Seller: Linda Calmes Jones LT
Date: 08/30/22

BELCHERTOWN

154 Aldrich St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $518,000
Buyer: Jeffrey L. Martins
Seller: Expedio Group LLC
Date: 08/31/22

84 Allen Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: Thomas M. Upton
Seller: Elizabeth Salerno-Valdez
Date: 08/22/22

250 Amherst Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Matthew J. Looney
Seller: Amherst Road Realty LLC
Date: 08/23/22

648 Federal St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $362,000
Buyer: Miguel Ramirez
Seller: Derek S. Hoy
Date: 08/30/22

181 Jabish St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $575,000
Buyer: Raymond G. Laroche
Seller: James E. Towne
Date: 08/26/22

185 Jabish St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $575,000
Buyer: Raymond G. Laroche
Seller: James E. Towne
Date: 08/26/22

189 Michael Sears Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $295,000
Buyer: Aura Suarez-Oviedo
Seller: Etabav RT
Date: 08/26/22

62 Mountain View Dr.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Christopher Seymour
Seller: Kyle Savage
Date: 09/02/22

105 North Main St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $400,000
Buyer: Crystal Spring Enterprises LLC
Seller: Marguerite E. Harris
Date: 08/25/22

8 Rimrock Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $404,000
Buyer: Samantha J. Herbert
Seller: Karen M. Corey
Date: 08/26/22

160 Shea Ave.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $390,000
Buyer: Susan Statham
Seller: Kathleen E. McCollum
Date: 09/02/22

42 Sheffield Dr.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $485,000
Buyer: Joseph Worthley
Seller: Jintao Ma
Date: 08/29/22

35 Summit St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $380,000
Buyer: Deborah Pinnetti
Seller: Lili Bourgeois
Date: 08/22/22

62 Turkey Hill Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $675,000
Buyer: 62 Turkey Hill Road LLC
Seller: Nick Mariettos
Date: 08/29/22

CHESTERFIELD

15 Bissell Road
Chesterfield, MA 01096
Amount: $527,500
Buyer: Joseph Johnson
Seller: Matthew Biron
Date: 08/26/22

EASTHAMPTON

49 Cherry St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $425,000
Buyer: Jodie A. Alaimo
Seller: Richard R. Labombard
Date: 08/24/22

237 East St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $366,000
Buyer: Matthew J. Ormsbee
Seller: Mark E. Stotz
Date: 08/26/22

29 East Green St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $366,000
Buyer: Beata T. Kubacka
Seller: Derek W. Hogan
Date: 08/30/22

252 Main St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $375,600
Buyer: Codey Kolasinski
Seller: Richard T. Lebeau
Date: 08/31/22

113 Maple St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $231,000
Buyer: 113 Maple Street LLC
Seller: Robinson, Jacqueline F., (Estate)
Date: 08/24/22

7 Plain St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $315,000
Buyer: Saskia Gibbs-Cooper
Seller: Lorraine I. Carson
Date: 09/01/22

9 Summer St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Amy L. Saletnik
Seller: Fiverobin LLC
Date: 08/29/22

11 Summer St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Amy L. Saletnik
Seller: Fiverobin LLC
Date: 08/29/22

9 West Green St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $358,000
Buyer: Megan Shaugnessy-Mogill
Seller: Erin E. Neil-Kolasinski
Date: 08/31/22

16 West Lake St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Erica Williams
Seller: Alycar Investments LLC
Date: 08/23/22

134 West St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $600,000
Buyer: Mindy Cotherman
Seller: David L. Pogue
Date: 08/25/22

 

GOSHEN

44 Aberdeen Road
Goshen, MA 01032
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Robins Rest LLC
Seller: Tina C. Lalonde
Date: 08/25/22

GRANBY

121 Amherst St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $340,000
Buyer: Mel Cheal
Seller: Serenity Farm NT
Date: 09/02/22

258 Amherst St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $455,000
Buyer: Christina W. Bowers
Seller: Jaroslaw Laskarzewski
Date: 08/30/22

185 Batchelor St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Michael Centracchio
Seller: Jillian G. Barnard
Date: 08/22/22

E State St. Lot 1
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Victor E. Mikalunas
Seller: Nancy T. Cebula
Date: 08/25/22

279 East State St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $410,000
Buyer: Jeffrey R. Lamore
Seller: John B. Stewart
Date: 08/26/22

104 South St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Sean M. Houlihan
Seller: Mary E. Stone
Date: 08/22/22

21 West St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Stephen Brunetti
Seller: Debra Graham LT
Date: 08/22/22

HADLEY

6 Adare Place
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: W. Marek Inc.
Seller: Adare Place Properties LLC
Date: 08/25/22

51 Bay Road
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $269,900
Buyer: Jordan Renkowic
Seller: Miguel Aquino
Date: 08/25/22

4 Colony Road
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $183,000
Buyer: Bercume Construction LLC
Seller: Feng Qiu
Date: 08/29/22

HATFIELD

8 Elm St.
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $556,000
Buyer: Katrina Sachs-Peacock
Seller: Russell Powell
Date: 08/22/22

164 North Hatfield Road
Hatfield, MA 01066
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Suske LLC
Seller: Wozniak, Bernard, (Estate)
Date: 09/02/22

166 North Hatfield Road
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $212,500
Buyer: Suske LLC
Seller: Wozniak, Bernard, (Estate)
Date: 09/02/22

HUNTINGTON

22 East Main St.
Huntington, MA 01050
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Abdulmannan K. Butt
Seller: John E. Foley
Date: 08/24/22

NORTHAMPTON

18 Blandford Hill Road
Huntington, MA 01050
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Andrew Seeberg
Seller: Denise G. Keay
Date: 08/22/22

497 Burts Pit Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $455,000
Buyer: Maximillian J. Hunter
Seller: David F. Lively
Date: 09/01/22

53 Center St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $525,000
Buyer: Nertenco LLC
Seller: Jack T. Laforte
Date: 08/26/22

120 Chestnut St.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $581,000
Buyer: Ari Issler
Seller: Michael Stephens
Date: 08/25/22

135 Crescent St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $867,500
Buyer: Denise G. Orenstein
Seller: Crescent St Creamery LLC
Date: 09/02/22

27 Dunphy Dr.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $652,000
Buyer: Liisa M. McConnell
Seller: Lori A. Schwartz
Date: 08/26/22

860 Florence Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $645,000
Buyer: Marianne R. Yoshioka
Seller: Andrea H. Sawyers
Date: 08/24/22

51 Henry St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $550,000
Buyer: Mark K. Stoffer
Seller: Giles S. Hopkins
Date: 08/26/22

50 North Main St.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $307,500
Buyer: Lillie Zuck
Seller: Karen Mansfield-Joseph
Date: 08/29/22

374 South St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $599,000
Buyer: Dimitri Steblovsky
Seller: Loom Properties LLC
Date: 08/25/22

126 Vernon St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $930,000
Buyer: Nicholas Fleisher
Seller: Ellen Z. Kaufman RET
Date: 08/25/22

242 West Farms Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $147,253
Buyer: Suzanne D. Vargas
Seller: Germaine E. Dastous
Date: 08/29/22

PELHAM

8 Amherst Road
Pelham, MA 01002
Amount: $117,700
Buyer: Tiffani A. Ely
Seller: Pioneer Valley Habitat
Date: 08/26/22

49 Arnold Road
Pelham, MA 01002
Amount: $800,000
Buyer: Deborah N. Mauger
Seller: Lawrence B. Friedman
Date: 08/29/22

SOUTH HADLEY

246 Brainerd St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $515,000
Buyer: Jennifer L. Hodges
Seller: Andreas Zinner
Date: 09/02/22

76 Charon Ter.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Maritza Briones
Seller: Patricia A. Bourassa
Date: 08/29/22

9 Lexington Ave.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: KMAK LLC
Seller: Scott Family Properties LLC
Date: 08/31/22

5 Oak Ave.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $460,000
Buyer: Kenneth Watts
Seller: Laporte IRT
Date: 08/31/22

29 Roosevelt Ave.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Daniel J. Hackworth
Seller: Claudette J. Deshaies
Date: 08/26/22

52 Washington Ave.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Dane Sandquist
Seller: John R. Pastorello
Date: 08/26/22

SOUTHAMPTON

9 Duggan Lane
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $361,000
Buyer: Michael Klatsky
Seller: John C. Owen
Date: 08/25/22

108 Gilbert Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $410,000
Buyer: Pamela S. Mushinski
Seller: Jennifer Day
Date: 09/02/22

4 Glendale Woods Dr.
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $525,000
Buyer: Erik W. Halsey
Seller: Nancy L. Sharp
Date: 08/22/22

34 Gunn Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Brandon T. Leblanc
Seller: S. P. & Amy Jo Leblanc RET
Date: 08/29/22

69 High St.
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $460,000
Buyer: Heather A. Dragon
Seller: Ctna Construction LLC
Date: 08/25/22

1 Kevin Dr.
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $665,000
Buyer: Katherine E. Maginnis
Seller: E. A. Robbins RET
Date: 09/02/22

12 Kingsberry Lane
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Aaron O. Patrick
Seller: Samantha E. Hathaway
Date: 08/31/22

117 Strong Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $499,000
Buyer: Jennifer M. Day
Seller: Kevin C. Netto Construction Inc.
Date: 09/02/22

118 Strong Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Jamin C. Weeks
Seller: Zachary T. Laporte
Date: 08/31/22

WARE

28 Dunham Ave.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: John Hyland
Seller: Joan M. Dorman
Date: 08/31/22

27 Horseshoe Circle
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $410,000
Buyer: Reinaldo Rosado
Seller: Joseph Croteau
Date: 08/30/22

392 Monson Turnpike Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Marley Clark
Seller: William T. Bonnayer
Date: 09/01/22

179 Osborne Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $308,000
Buyer: Joseph W. Daniels
Seller: Parker, Tim, (Estate)
Date: 08/26/22

9 Union St.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $312,000
Buyer: Samuel Ramos
Seller: Patrick Saletnik
Date: 08/24/22

135 Walker Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $410,000
Buyer: Jinsheng Xian
Seller: Anderson Builders & Son LLC
Date: 08/31/22

70 West Main St.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Angel Rodriguez
Seller: Richard Clark
Date: 08/26/22

WESTHAMPTON

185 Main Road
Westhampton, MA 01027
Amount: $810,000
Buyer: Christopher E. Overtree
Seller: Marguerite A. Robbins
Date: 09/01/22

282 North Road
Westhampton, MA 01027
Amount: $851,000
Buyer: Joanne M. Meyer
Seller: Alvah V. Hinckley
Date: 08/29/22

Northwest Road
Westhampton, MA 01027
Amount: $370,000
Buyer: Robert L. Fuller
Seller: Robin Lariviere
Date: 09/02/22

WILLIAMSBURG

18 Kingsley Ave.
Williamsburg, MA 01060
Amount: $312,325
Buyer: Meagan Maguire
Seller: Tracy A. Magdalen
Date: 08/25/22

Building Permits

By
Building Permits

The following building permits were issued during the months of August and September 2022. (Filings are limited due to closures or reduced staffing hours at municipal offices due to COVID-19 restrictions).

CHICOPEE

First Baptist Society
50 Broadway
$28,435 — Roofing

People’s Savings Bank
610 Memorial Dr.
$9,475 — Demolish drive-through canopies and shelter behind main bank building, including slab and foundations

Drew Petrolati
18 Chicopee St., Unit 269
$3,536 — Remove and replace two windows

St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church
27 Streiber Dr.
$23,000 — Cut out and modify trusses; cut out wet/damaged drywall and insulation; install new drywall, insulation, paint, and carpeting; install new bathroom vanity

Sergey Tishenko
1400 Memorial Dr.
$80,000 — Modify interior walls and roof repair

EASTHAMPTON

102 Northampton St. LLC
102 Northampton St.
N/A — Two signs

Massachusetts Audubon Society
127 Coombs Road
N/A — Window replacement at two locations

John Moriarty
67-75 Main St.
N/A — Install replacement windows

The Philipp Manufacturing Co.
17 Ward Ave.
N/A — Roofing

HADLEY

CBD Realty Corp.
191 Russell St.
N/A — Remove window, install door, and patch siding

Daren Dion
7 Birch Meadow Dr.
N/A — Install new wood insert in existing fireplace

E&A/I&G Campus Plaza LP
545 Russell St.
N/A — T-Mobile to replace six antennas and add three new antennas

Konover Properties Senior Living
30 Greenleaves Dr.
N/A — Renovate/repair nine apartment units

Francine Ness
137 West St.
N/A — Remove hardwood floors, subfloors, plaster wall coverings

LEE

Pollard Realty LLC
184 Main St.
$23,000 — Renovate kitchen, install bathroom, install vinyl replacement windows

LENOX

Electric Power Research Inc.
115 East New Lenox Road
$200,000 — New steel frame for new overhead door, siding

GSA IV LLC
90 Pittsfield Road
$40,000 — AT&T to replace three antennas and ancillary equipment on existing antenna array and ground work on existing telecommunications tower

David Levin
260 Pittsfield Road
$22,000 — Remove tub and surround, insulate, install acrylic tub base with wall surround

North Sandy Brook LLC
29 Church St.
$9,700 — Roofing

Smegal Holdings
36 Pittsfield Road
$35,000 — Selective demolition to Building 3

Smegal Holdings
36 Pittsfield Road
$30,000 — Siding and roofing

Town of Lenox
High Street
$10,000 — Install dugouts

NORTHAMPTON

16-18 Main Street Realty Trust
16 Main St.
$12,000 — Illuminated wall sign for Pokemoto

518 Pleasant Street LLC
518 Pleasant St.
$500,000 — Fit out

Anydot Realty Management LLC
70 Maple St.
N/A — Install roof-mounted solar system

Day Avenue Properties
34 Day Ave.
N/A — Insulation and weatherization

DP Holdings LLC
1 King St.
$1,452,000 — J.P. Morgan tenant fit-out

Hampshire Regional YMCA
286 Prospect St.
$49,500m — Roofing

KBT Properties LLC
175 Jackson St.
$1,700 — Add onto current deck

Nonotuck Community School Inc.
221 Riverside Dr.
$99,409 — Install roof-mounted solar system

Northampton Montessori Society
51 Bates St.
$1,000 — Install walls in bathroom

Smith College
44 Green St.
$20,000 — Create space for kiln

Sunwood Green LLC
95 Barrett St.
$28,378 — Install fire sprinkler system

Thornes Marketplace LLC
150 Main St.
$2,725 — Non-illuminated wall sign

PITTSFIELD

American Towers LLC
101 Dan Fox Dr.
$75,000 — Swap nine panels, add three panels, remove six coax lines, swap three radios, swap one surge arrestor, and add one fiber and one DC

Berkshire Medical Center Inc.
725 North St.
$523,600 — Roofing and insulation

City of Pittsfield
233 West Housatonic St.
$2,500 — Roofing

General Electric Co.
65 New York Ave.
$59,947 — Roofing

Pittsfield Cemetery Corp.
203 Wahconah St.
$264,786 — Arch reconstruction and anchorage

Pittsfield Pipers Inc.
73 Fourth St.
$15,000 — Demolish barn

Smegal Holdings LLC
50 South Merriam St.
$8,000 — Roofing

Western Mass Labor Action Trust
298 Columbus Ave.
$60,000 — Enclose current open soffit, add new gable vents

SOUTH HADLEY

Mount Holyoke College
50 College St.
$120,000 — Renovate Apt. 104 in Buckland Hall, including new kitchen and laundry closet and renovation of two existing bathrooms

Mount Holyoke College
50 College St.
$50,000 — Renovate kitchen and trash room in Mary Wooley Hall, remove existing wall and upgrade electrical, replace cabinets

SPRINGFIELD

Baystate Medical Center Inc.
759 Chestnut St.
$567,000 — Fourth-floor Daly/HOF connector and office renovation

Baystate Medical Center Inc.
759 Chestnut St.
$202,000 — Third-floor lobby/vestibule renovations in Daly lobby

Baystate Medical Center Inc.
759 Chestnut St.
$89,000 — Alter second-floor space for surgical offices and CT or storage

CNI Corp.
513 Main St.
$20,000 — Repair rear exterior egress system

Brian Edwards
136 William St.
$194,500 — Remove and replace exterior handicap ramp, remodel four bathrooms, alter interior space into new offices

 

 

Raymond Fontaine, Industry Avenue Holdings LLC
66 Industry Ave.
$40,625 — Alter interior office space, remove four workstations to build two new offices

Multicultural Community Services of the Pioneer Valley Inc.
1000 Wilbraham Road
$40,500 — Alter interior office space on first and second levels

Retail Business Services LLC
1534 Boston Road
$4,600 — Roofing

Route 20-21 Associates Inc.
1400 Boston Road
$285,000 — Alter interior tenant space at Master Lee’s Taekwando

Square One Announces Cookies & Milk Fundraising Event

By
Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Chocolate chip? Oatmeal raisin? Sugar? Peanut butter? Snickerdoodle? What’s your favorite cookie?

On Thursday, Oct. 6 at 4 p.m., some of the region’s most talented bakers will come together at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to support Square One in its first-ever “Cookies & Milk” fundraising event. Guests will be treated to a variety of cookie samples from participating vendors and will then have an opportunity to vote for their favorites. In addition to the sweet treats, guests will enjoy hors d’oeuvres and cookie-themed cocktails.

The event, which will also include raffles and a silent auction, has title support from PeoplesBank and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Tickets cost $65 and can be purchased at www.startatsquareone.org. All proceeds from the event, also supported by Meridian Industrial Group and Baystate Health, will directly benefit the children and families who participate in Square One’s programs and services.

Participating cookie vendors include Hot Oven Cookies, Pete’s Sweets, Granny’s Baking Table, Auntie’s Best Creations, Aramark at Bay Path University, Rice Fruit Farm, and the Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts.

Square One currently provides early-learning services to more than 500 infants, toddlers, and school-age children each day, and family-support services to 1,500 families each year, as they work to overcome the challenges in their lives.

To purchase tickets or to learn more about Square One, visit www.startatsquareone.org, or email Kristine Allard at [email protected].

Worthington Assembly Inc. Receives Manufacturing Leadership Award

By
Daily News

DEERFIELD — On Friday, Sept. 30, state Sen. Jo Comerford and state Rep. Natalie Blais will celebrate Worthington Assembly Inc. (WAi) in Deerfield for its outstanding leadership in the manufacturing industry.

Comerford and Blais nominated WAi for the Massachusetts Legislative Manufacturing Caucus’ annual Manufacturing Award. Originally founded in 1976, WAi is an electronics contract manufacturing company specializing in producing printed circuit-board assemblies and small final box build assemblies. WAi services and produces assemblies for clean technologies, additive manufacturing, semiconductor manufacturing, high-speed communication, the medical field, and advanced robotic manufacturers.

“For sure, we have a different kind of manufacturing company, one without supervisors and a traditional ladder structure,” WAi co-owner Neil Scanlon said. “We operate a lattice-structure organization where team members are truly empowered to make decisions. We are trying to humanize manufacturing; our goal is to have team members arrive each day excited and ready to serve each other and our customers. The strategy appears to be working as we continue to grow our team and our customer base.”

The Massachusetts Legislative Manufacturing Caucus held the 7th annual Manufacturing Awards at Polar Park in Worcester on Sept. 16. Comerford and Blais will also visit WAi and congratulate WAi co-owners Scanlon and Rafal Dybacki and their team on Sept. 30 at 10 a.m. at WAi’s facility at 14 Industrial Dr. East in South Deerfield.

“Since 1976, Worthington Assembly Inc. has served as a leader in electronics assembly,” Comerford said. “I’m proud to represent this long-standing regional business in the Senate and to join with Representative Natalie Blais to nominate it for the Legislature’s annual Manufacturing Award for outstanding leadership in the manufacturing industry.”

Added Blais, “our region has a proud manufacturing history, and I am honored to join Senator Jo Comerford in celebrating Worthington Assembly Inc.’s contributions to the local economy.”

Springfield Prep Welcomes Two New Board Members

By
Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Springfield Prep Charter School recently announced the election of the two newest additions to its board of trustees, Ron Molina-Brantley and Amneris Narvaez.

“With two Springfield Prep scholars of my own, I feel proud and excited to join the Springfield Prep family in another capacity,” Molina-Brantley said. When my children go to school each day, nothing is more reassuring than knowing they are being challenged, believed in, and included in all spaces. I look forward to taking part in the excellent work going on here at Springfield Prep and serving a school that has had such a positive impact on me and my family.”

Narvaez noted that “what sets Springfield Prep apart is its dedication to the academic achievement of all students, which is something I care deeply about. I am very excited to be joining the board and to closely support the school’s work.”

Narvaez is senior director of Central & Western Mass. Programs at Generation Teach. In her current role, she develops new generations of diverse teachers and leaders, while providing summer enrichment opportunities to local students. Prior to this, she was the Engagement Organizing manager for Stand for Children and also served for seven years as a special-education teacher for Springfield Public Schools.

Molina-Brantley serves as vice president and relationship manager for Berkshire Bank. Previously, he served as chief operating officer at Valley Venture Mentors, as well as a senior program manager & energy manager for the city of Springfield. He is also an adjunct professor for Uptima Entrepreneurial Cooperative. In his work, he fosters organizational and departmental growth driven by his several years of experience as a business and financial professional. He is also a member of the board at the MassLGBTQ Chamber of Commerce, Wellspring Cooperative (as treasurer), and Massachusetts Special Olympics.

“This is an exciting and important moment in Springfield Prep’s history,” said Bill Spirer, founder and executive director. “As we transition out of a pandemic-influenced landscape into our first year fully grown to grades K-8, our board of trustees plays a critical role in setting the strategic direction of our school in accordance with our mission. Ron and Amneris bring extensive experience in the entrepreneurship and education sectors, and both have a deep connection to public-education work in Springfield. It is an honor to welcome them to the board.”

HBS Dealer Magazine Honors OMG’s Geralyn McCarthy

By
Daily News

AGAWAM — Geralyn ‘Geri’ McCarthy, OMG’s director of Operations, has been named by HBS Dealer magazine in its annual Top Women in Hardware & Building Supply for Business Excellence. She was selected from among a record number of nominations of high-performing leaders who are making an impact on the industry.

The Top Women in Hardware & Building Supply program honors women making outstanding contributions to their companies and their communities. The goal of the program is to recognize achievement and offer educational resources to everyone in the industry. Individuals are nominated by their peers and selected by a panel of judges based on their contributions and attributes that go above and beyond the call of duty. The Business Excellence Award is presented to leaders who have demonstrated achievement, growth, and success in the hardware and home-improvement industry, embraced education and community service, and inspired others to follow a similar path.

“It is a great honor to be recognized and included in this group of outstanding industry leaders,” McCarthy said. “Collectively, the women named have all had a significant impact both in our industry and in our communities. I’m very proud to be part of the class of 2022.”

McCarthy has been with OMG for 10 years in operational roles, driving employee development and continuous improvement to achieve company goals. In addition, she chairs the company’s wellness committee, which is focused on improving the nutritional, financial, emotional, and physical well-being of OMG employees and their families.

She and the other award recipients will be honored at the third annual Top Women in Hardware & Building Supply awards ceremony at the Fairmont Hotel in Chicago on November 8-9.

The Role of SD-WAN in Securing the Expanding Network Perimeter

By Contributor
Thought Leadership

The Role of SD-WAN in Securing the Expanding Network Perimeter

Software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) is one of the most rapidly adopted technologies of the past decade. According to a study published by Dell’Oro Group, the worldwide sales of SD-WAN technologies are forecasted to grow at double-digit rates over each of the next five years to surpass $3.2 billion in 2024. This growth is certainly a testament to some of the more well-known benefits of SD-WAN technology, such as centralized network policy management, network flexibility and application-aware routing. More recently, SD-WAN has emerged as a key component for building more flexible, integrated security frameworks.
With SD-WAN, branch offices become part of an enterprise’s larger network topology, with their own Internet egress. Corporate devices can access the Internet via multiple endpoints, adding a layer of complexity to network security. However, if properly configured and equipped, SD-WAN can

BusinessTalk with Gabrielle Gould, executive director of the Amherst Business Improvement District

By
Business Talk Podcast Special Coverage

We are excited to announce that BusinessWest has launched a new podcast series, BusinessTalk. Each episode will feature in-depth interviews and discussions with local industry leaders, providing thoughtful perspectives on the Western Massachuetts economy and the many business ventures that keep it running during these challenging times.

Go HERE to view all episodes

Episode 130: September 26, 2022

George talks with Gabrielle Gould, executive director of the Amherst Business Improvement District

Downtown Amherst was among the regions hardest hit by the pandemic. With more than 30,000 students, faculty, staff, and more gone from the equation, it became, in many respects, a ghost town. But it’s staging a strong comeback as the students and everyone else return and many new businesses open their doors. Gabrielle Gould, executive director of the Amherst Business Improvement District, talks about these developments with BusinessWest Editor George O’Brien on the next installment of the BusinessTalk podcast. It’s must listening, so join us for BusinessTalk, a podcast presented by BusinessWest  and sponsored by PeoplesBank.

Sponsored by:

Also Available On

Scott Dikkers, Founder of the Onion, to Present MCLA’s 2022 Hardman Lecture

By
Daily News

NORTH ADAMS — Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) will welcome Scott Dikkers, author, comedy writer, and founder of humor newspaper and now website the Onion, on Thursday, Sept. 29, when he will present MCLA’s Hardman Lecture, “Fake News in the Age of Misinformation: The History of the Onion and How the Philosophies and Practices Have Adapted Over Time,” at 7 p.m. in the MCLA Church Street Center’s Eleanor Furst Roberts Auditorium.

This lecture event is free and open to the public. This series presents in-depth discussions with some of the leading journalists of our time and is made possible through the generosity of the Hardman Family Endowment.

With the Onion, Dikkers created a small college humor publication and grew it into one of today’s most recognized comedy platforms at theonion.com. He’ll share his experiences about how being committed to a unique vision — and standing firm in the face of seemingly impossible challenges and threats — can translate into genuine differentiation and robust brand equity for any organization.

As co-founder and longest-serving editor-in-chief of the Onion, Dikkers has written multiple comedy books. His work has won him a Peabody award, the Thurber Prize for American Humor, and dozens of Webby Awards. In addition, he earned the number-43 spot on Time magazine’s list of the Top 50 “Cyber Elite,” alongside such iconic figures as Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and George Lucas.

In his latest book, Outrageous Marketing: The Story of The Onion and How to Build a Powerful Brand with No Marketing Budget, and his many speaking engagements, Dikkers details how he staffed the company with quirky individuals who often had unstable family environments similar to his and shared his dark sense of humor.

In the Hardman Lecture, Dikkers will reflect on the freedom and support he gave his writing team that enabled the Onion to break through the noise in a media-saturated landscape, overcome doubters and legal obstacles, and prove time and again that being outrageous leads to the best possible version of a brand. He will also dive into some of the most basic principles that can help transcend an organization’s marketing limitations, get the best work out of the employees, and attract devoted, lifelong customers.

A student and faculty question-and-answer session will be held at 4:15 p.m. in the Freel Library on Sept. 29 prior to the evening lecture.

Upcoming fall lecturers at MCLA will include New York Times bestselling author and the chair of Princeton’s Department of African Studies, Eddie Glaude Jr., who will present the 2022 Michael S. and Kitty Dukakis Public Policy Lecture, “Race & Democracy: America is Always Changing, but America Never Changes” on Thursday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. at the Church Street Center’s Eleanor Furst Roberts Auditorium.

UPS Stores Accepting Donations for Junior Achievement of Western Massachusetts

By
Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Junior Achievement of Western Massachusetts (JAWM) will be the recipient of donations made through the UPS Store’s “Start Small, Grow Big” initiative. Customers who shop at one of the UPS Store’s more than 5,100 locations will have the opportunity to donate to their local Junior Achievement chapter at checkout now through the end of the year. At UPS Stores here in Western Mass. and Vermont, donations will go directly to benefit JAWM’s efforts in the community.

“We are so happy the UPS Store chose Junior Achievement to be the recipient of these donations,” said Jennifer Connolly, JAWM president. “All our chapters across the country will benefit immensely from these funds as we work to help children and teens be more successful in life. Thank you to the UPS Store for partnering with us.”

JAWM is dedicated to providing economic-education and financial-literacy programs to the youth of Western Mass. and Vermont, opening their minds to their potential and preparing them for life after graduation. The organizaion’s age‐appropriate, academically challenging programs are offered to local schools and community groups free of charge because of the financial support they receive from hundreds of local businesses, individuals, and foundations, in addition to special events.

UMassFive Financial and Investment Services to Host Retire Confidently 2.0 Webinar

By
Daily News

HADLEY — As a cooperative member-owned financial institution, UMassFive College Federal Credit Union believes in supporting its local communities with products and services that help increase financial wellness, and encourages each of its members to make informed financial decisions.

On Wednesday, Sept. 28, UMassFive’s CFS financial advisors, Aimee Marden and Cooper Cerulo, invite all members of the community to attend their informational Retire Confidently 2.0 forum online at 6 p.m. This interactive forum offers attendees an opportunity to engage directly with the two financial advisors, as well as with guest panelist Kevin Flynn, vice president of Lincoln Financial Group. Participants will be able to have their questions answered live about saving for retirement in today’s financial environment, with perspectives offered by the entire panel.

Anyone interested can sign up via Zoom by clicking here.

Square One, Baystate Health, Rocky’s Ace Hardware Team Up for Child Safety

By
Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Baystate Health and Rocky’s Ace Hardware are joining forces with Square One to help keep the community’s children safe and healthy. Specifically, they are coming together to respond to the need for electrical-outlet safety, based on the fact that each year, across the nation, more than 2,400 children suffer from severe shock and burns from exposed electrical outlets.

The partnership was prompted by UMass Chan Medical School – ­Baystate student Kendall Burdick, who had the idea to support Square One’s families by providing electrical-outlet safety plugs to all Square One households. From there, the team at Rocky’s Ace Hardware stepped in to donate thousands of outlet plugs to support the safety initiative.

Square One currently provides early-learning services to more than 500 infants, toddlers, and school-age children each day, and family support services to 1,500 families each year, as they work to overcome the significant challenges in their lives.

OneHolyoke CDC to Lead Final Citywide Cleanup Day on Sept. 24; Cookout to Follow

By
Daily News

HOLYOKE — OneHolyoke CDC will lead the city’s final citywide trash cleanup day of the year on Saturday, Sept. 24 from 10 a.m. to noon. Volunteers and Holyoke residents are encouraged to participate in the Citywide Clean Up and Cookout event, which, as the name suggests, will be followed by a cookout for participants.

Volunteers are asked to meet at 43 North Canal St., the Flats Community Building, at 10 a.m. Cleanup supplies will be provided by OneHolyoke CDC. Following the cleanup, volunteers will return to the Community Building for a cookout, hosted by OneHolyoke, with hot dogs, burgers, and refreshments.

The trash cleanup day is for the entire city of Holyoke. Residents and homeowners throughout the city are encouraged to clean up their yards, alleys, and lots on Sept. 24.

OneHolyoke CDC has taken a leadership position in cleaning Holyoke streets for the past four years by organizing weekly cleanups from spring to the end of summer. The organization encourages volunteers who participate in cleaning the streets of Holyoke to use the hashtag #KeepItClean2K22 on social media as a way of keeping the community connected throughout the initiative.

UMass Amherst Holds Groundbreaking Ceremony for New Computer Sciences Building

By
Daily News

AMHERST — UMass Amherst and state officials broke ground on Thursday for the new, $125 million Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences building, designed to respond to enormous growth in the college’s enrollment over the past five years and provide talent to fuel business growth and research collaborations that benefit the entire Commonwealth.

The new facility is substantially funded by a $75 million state capital commitment from the Baker-Polito administration. The building will expand facilities by creating approximately 90,000 gross square feet in new space devoted to the college’s community-building, research, and teaching missions.

Speakers at the groundbreaking included UMass Amherst Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy, UMass President Marty Meehan, board of trustees Chair Robert Manning, trustees Steve Karam and Mary Burns, Provost Tricia Serio, Manning CICS Dean Laura Haas, and Distinguished Professor Prashant Shenoy.

Monson Savings Bank Promotes Sara Rodrigues

By
Daily News

MONSON — Monson Savings Bank recently announced the promotion of Sara Rodrigues to assistant vice president, Commercial Loan Operations officer.

“Sara is a strong member of the Monson Savings team. Her work with the Commercial Lending team and customers is stellar,” bank President and CEO Dan Moriarty said. “Time and time again, Sara displays her dedication to ensuring our customers have a smooth lending experience. We are grateful for her work and look forward to her continued career growth.”

In her new role, Rodrigues is responsible for managing the Commercial Loan administrative team and Commercial Loan Servicing team at Monson Savings Bank, as well as planning, organizing, and directing all Commercial Loan operations.

She has been with Monson Savings for 10 years, previously serving in the role of Commercial Loan Operations officer. She has 22 years of experience in the banking industry, 21 within the commercial-lending sector. Prior to working with Monson Savings, she worked with TD Bank, N.A. as a Commercial Loan document supervisor.

Rodrigues believes in giving back to the communities she works and resides in. Prior to the pandemic, she participated in Link to Libraries’ Monson Schools Read a Loud program. As a Link to Libraries volunteer, she read to students and helped the organization serve its mission to distribute new books to the school and home libraries of children in need. She is looking forward to the Read a Loud program starting back up again. In addition to her volunteer work, she serves on the Monson Savings Bank community reinvestment committee.

“I am proud to work for a bank that has a strong commitment to not only their customers, but also to the local communities that their customers live in,” Rodrigues said. “Monson Savings Bank also takes great care of their team members and encourages our growth. I look forward to continuing to develop my skills with Monson Savings Bank and help our commercial-loan customers along their financing journey.”

Yankee Mattress Factory to Raise Funds for American Cancer Society

By
Daily News

AGAWAM — Yankee Mattress Factory, a manufacturer of handcrafted mattresses locally in its Agawam factory, with showrooms in Agawam, Springfield, Northampton, and Greenfield, is raising money to benefit the American Cancer Society now through Oct. 31.

In the past three years, the wives of two employee-owners were diagnosed with breast cancer. Both women are now in remission, and in their honor, Yankee Mattress Factory has set a goal to raise $10,000 for cancer research and support for patients going through treatment in the Western Mass. region.

“Watching these two families deal with this scary diagnosis was difficult for all our employee-owners,” said Adam Miller, president of Yankee Mattress Factory. “We are so grateful both women are in recovery and wanted to do something as a member of this community to help others on the same journey. We hope our customers will join us in our mission to raise as much as possible to donate to this great organization.”

Through Oct. 31, Yankee Mattress Factory will donate $25 for every Silver Collection mattress and $50 for every Gold or Black Collection mattress purchased at its four stores. The company is also accepting donations from customers; anyone who donates $20 or more will be entered into a raffle to win one of 10 Malpaca queen pillows valued at $240 each.

A team from Yankee Mattress Factory will also participate in the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk on Sunday, Oct. 16 in Hartford, Conn. Stores will be closed that day to allow all employee-owners and their families to participate. To learn more about the event or join the Yankee Mattress Factory team, visit yankeemattressfactory.com/acs.

Endowed Professorship Established in Honor of Outgoing UMass Amherst Chancellor

By
Daily News

AMHERST — Massachusetts businessman and philanthropist Robert Epstein has made a commitment of $1.5 million to establish the Robert L. Epstein Endowed Professorship in UMass Amherst’s Isenberg School of Management. The gift honors Epstein’s friendship with UMass Amherst Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy and the chancellor’s decade of service to the university.

The Epstein Endowed Professorship will help attract or retain an outstanding faculty member, with a preference for faculty in hospitality and tourism management, who will strengthen the academic excellence of the Isenberg School of Management and advance industry knowledge through research, scholarship, and inspired teaching. The fund will cover costs such as salary supplementation, education and travel expenses, graduate assistantships, research expenses, and support services for the faculty member’s program.

Epstein, who earned a degree in marketing from the Isenberg School of Management in 1967, has been an ambassador for the university and an ardent supporter of Isenberg faculty and students. He has served as a member of the UMass Amherst Foundation board since 2010 and was appointed to the UMass board of trustees in 2015. In addition, he co-chaired UMass Rising, the largest fundraising campaign in UMass Amherst history; served as a guest lecturer at Isenberg; established the Robert L. Epstein Endowed Scholarship; and supported Isenberg’s Business Innovation Hub, among other university priorities.

For years, Epstein has been a leader in the beverage and alcohol industry. As co-owner and president of the Horizon Beverage Group and former chairman of Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America, he has worked with producers, unions, legislators, and more than 15,000 retail and restaurant customers. With his gift, he aims to enhance the reputation of UMass Amherst and Isenberg within the hospitality industry and provide the university with the resources it needs to retain world-class faculty to mold the next generation of industry leaders.

“I have been inspired by the innovation and growth UMass and Isenberg have seen under Chancellor Subbaswamy’s leadership,” Epstein said. “The university is attracting students of the highest caliber who are eager to make a difference in their chosen fields, and faculty scholarship has had a considerable impact both in the Commonwealth and on the national stage. It is an honor to contribute to this upward trajectory with a gift that will further bolster academic excellence in the Isenberg School of Management.”

The university hopes to appoint a faculty member to the Epstein Endowed Chair by July 1, 2025, when the fund will have been invested with the endowment for a full year.

“Faculty are the cornerstone of UMass Amherst’s ambitions to produce revolutionary scholarship and graduates who bring insight and ingenuity to a host of sectors around the world,” Subbaswamy said. “I deeply appreciate my friendship with Bob. He has provided me important guidance along the way, and I am inspired by his dedication to his work, including his role on the foundation board and the board of trustees. His generosity will provide untold benefits for our students and industry partners in the years to come.”