Business & Innovation Expo to Feature ‘Ask an Expert Roundtable’

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Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — The Business & Innovation Expo of Western Mass., the seventh annual business-to-business show produced by BusinessWest and the Healthcare News, will introduce a new feature this year, called the “Ask an Expert Roundtable.” Ten business professionals in the community will share their expertise with a table of guests for 45 minutes. During that time, they will give a rundown of their professional experience, take questions, and participate in an open, relaxed dialogue with attendees.

Confirmed participants include Pam Thornton of Name Net Worth (who will focus on LinkedIn and social-media marketing); Amy Royal of Royal, P.C. (focus on employment law); Jenny MacKay of the Gaudreau Group (focus on healthcare reform); Sheila Magalhaes of Heartsong (focus on modern mindfulness); Angela Lussier of Speaker Sisterhood (focus on finding one’s voice and being more assertive); Ira Bryck of the Family Business Center of Pioneer Valley (focus on family-business work balance); Tracey Gaylord of Granite State Development Corp. (focus on funding one’s next big idea, big or small); and the Center for EcoTechnology (focus on how to make a company green). Other participants will be announced soon.

The Expo, set for Thursday, Nov. 2 at the MassMutual Center, will also feature more than 150 exhibitor booths, educational seminars, breakfast and lunch programs, and a day-capping Expo Social. Current sponsors include Comcast Business (presenting sponsor), Johnson & Hill Staffing Services and Wild Apple Design Group (executive sponsors), Inspired Marketing (show partner), MGM Springfield (corporate sponsor), Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst (education sponsor), Xfinity (social sponsor), Elms College (information booth sponsor), Smith & Wesson (Workforce Support Center sponsor), Savage Arms (JoinedForces parking sponsor), and the Better Business Bureau (contributing sponsor). Additional sponsorship opportunities are available. Exhibitor spaces are also available; booth prices start at $800. For more information on sponsorships or booth purchase, call (413) 781-8600, ext. 100.

Elms College Appoints New Staff at Center for Student Success

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Daily News

CHICOPEE — Elms College has appointed a new director of diversity and inclusion, as well as a new director of tutoring services, rounding out the staff in the college’s new Center for Student Success. The new staff members join five other student-success professionals working to ensure student retention, engagement, and achievement.

The new director of diversity and inclusion is Alaina DiGiorgio. She will work with students, faculty, and staff to foster a more welcoming and inclusive community at Elms College. She has presented at numerous conferences on topics related to the intersection of race and athletics, and worked at the University of Tennessee. She was also a member of the Multicultural Mentorship program and ad hoc diversity committee at the University of Tennessee. Prior to that, she founded Women Empowering (WE) to strengthen community and support for female athletes at Western Illinois University, which is where she also earned her bachelor’s degree in kinesiology and her master’s degree in sport management.

The new director of tutoring services is Regina Tillona, an experienced educator who has worked to promote achievement for all learners. She most recently served as Title I director at Massachusetts Virtual Academy in Greenfield, where she created opportunities for students to explore the world as knowledgeable, creative, and thoughtful individuals. Prior to that, she worked as district coordinator at Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School District and director of tutoring at New Leadership Charter School in Springfield. Tillona received her bachelor’s degree in education and history from Westfield State University, and her master of education degree from Western New England University.

The Center for Student Success combines the resources students need to succeed in one location, on the second floor of the Alumnae Library. The center is headed up by Joyce Hampton, dean for student success and strategic initiatives. Other staff include Tynisha Henderson, director of atudent accommodations and support services), who ensures equal access and full participation for students with diagnosed disabilities; Brian Kapinos, director of advising, who assists students with exploring or changing majors, accessing academic resources on campus, and addressing classroom difficulties or concerns; Phyllis Williams-Thompson, director of career development, who offers events, programs, workshops, and career guidance for students and alumni; and Marco Garcia, director of international programs, who promotes diversity and global awareness, coordinates immigration advising and study-abroad opportunities, and offers support for international students.

“At Elms College, we educate the whole person. We’re here to support our students intellectually, socially, and emotionally,” Hampton said. “All the offices in the Center for Student Success work together to ensure each student’s college experience is the most successful it can be.”

Local TV Journalist Returns to Host Connecting Point

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Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — WGBY’s local current-affairs show, Connecting Point, has a new host — who also happens to be a past one.

Beginning with forthcoming Season 8, Carrie Saldo, an award-winning journalist with nearly a decade of public-media experience, will return to public television to present timely stories from Western New England on the PBS station’s flagship news and current-affairs program.

Saldo served as WGBY’s Connecting Point host from 2010 to 2013, presenting most of the show’s eight-minute segments and co-producing the half-hour program at large. During her tenure, Saldo conducted hundreds of in-studio interviews, traveled to Haiti following the 2010 earthquake, and hiked parts of the Appalachian Trail in a special in-the-field series.

Saldo’s return to the local PBS station comes on the heels of Jim Madigan’s retirement. Madigan headed up WGBY’s public-affairs efforts for nearly 30 years.

WGBY Deputy General Manager Lynn Page said Saldo was an obvious choice for the job.

“Carrie Saldo is the perfect addition to our team,” Page says. “She worked closely with Jim Madigan in the past and knows the region and its leadership very well. Carrie cares deeply for western New England. She understands the people, traditions, and cultures. She will continue Jim’s legacy as well as the mission of WGBY to connect the people of our region.”

WGBY General Manager Anthony Hayes added that Saldo will advance the station’s commitment to reliable local news and current-affairs coverage.

“Public media is a trusted source for information,” he said. “It’s extremely important that our current-affairs team lives up to the PBS reputation and provides Western New England with the content it expects from us. I have full confidence that Carrie Saldo will produce and deliver that quality local content to viewers.”

For Saldo’s part, the return to local public media is a welcome one. “I am honored to dive in and uncover the stories that need to be told in this region,” she said. “Excellent journalism is the result of carefully listening. I’m here. Share your thoughts, ideas, comments, and concerns. Let’s shed light on the issues that matter most to you and work toward strengthening this area that we call home.”

UPS Foundation Grant Helps Junior Achievement

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Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Junior Achievement (JA) of Western Massachusetts received a $7,200 grant from the UPS Foundation to implement JA “Be Entrepreneurial” classes.

The curriculum introduces high-school students to the essential elements of a practical business plan and challenges them to start an entrepreneurial venture while still in high school. Students learn about advertising, competitive advantages, financing, marketing, and product development, all of which are key to being an informed entrepreneur.

The program includes seven 45-minute sessions taught by a community or corporate volunteer. Volunteers bring in their own experiences and life lessons to the classroom to enhance the JA program.

Schools and organizations participating in “Be Entrepreneurial” include Putnam Vocational Technical Academy, the JA BEE Summer Program, the Center for Human Development, St. Mary’s High School, and East Longmeadow High School.

“JA of Western Massachusetts is thrilled to receive this generous support from the UPS Foundation,” said Jennifer Connolly, president of JA of Western Massachusetts. “It will allow close to 200 students the opportunity to explore entrepreneurship.”

Springfield Regional Chamber Event to Focus on Negotiation Skills

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Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Joshua Weiss, co-founder of the Global Negotiation Initiative at Harvard University and program director of Bay Path University’s master of science program in Leadership and Negotiation will keynote at the Springfield Regional Chamber’s October Business@Breakfast on Wednesday, Oct. 4 from 7:15 to 9 a.m. at Crestview Country Club, 281 Shoemaker Lane, Agawam, with a focus on “The Negotiator in You.” The breakfast is sponsored by United Personnel Services.

Everyone negotiates every day — at work, with loved ones, and in other personal interactions. Whether buying a TV, deciding on a vacation spot, getting one’s children to do their homework, or asking for a raise, Weiss says negotiating skills are continually put to the test. This breakfast will show attendees how to negotiate with confidence and calm for successful results.

In addition to his work at both Harvard and Bay Path, Weiss is the founder of Negotiation Works Inc., consulting for a number of Fortune 500 companies, the United Nations, and the U.S. government. He delivers negotiation and mediation training and courses, and is tasked with negotiation and mediation at the organizational, corporate, government, and international levels.

Business@Breakfast is a monthly series that pays tribute to individuals, businesses, and organizations for major contributions to civic and economic growth and for actions which reflect honor on the region. At the breakfast, the chamber will also recognize Anthony Hayes as the new general manager for WGBY and Tim Kennedy as the new president of MassLive Media.

Tickets are $25 for Springfield Regional Chamber members in advance ($30 at the door) and $35 for general admission in advance ($40 at the door). Reservations are suggested and can be made online at www.springfieldregionalchamber.com or by e-mailing Jessica Hill at [email protected]. Sponsorship opportunities are also available. Contact Hill at (413) 755-1310 for more information.

Retailers Ready to Shine at Business & Innovation Expo on Nov. 2

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Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — The Business & Innovation Expo of Western Mass., the seventh annual business-to-business show produced by BusinessWest and the Healthcare News, will bring back some popular features on Thursday, Nov. 2, including the retail marketplace in the atrium of the MassMutual Center in Springfield. Retail vendors will include LuLaRoe, Springfield Macarons, Springfield Thunderbirds, SKM Jewelers, Sassy Mama’s Delectable Cupcakes, Lipsense, Rodan & Fields, Fork Art, the Shops at Marketplace, and more.

In addition, attendees will enjoy numerous booth demonstrations, giveaways, and specials. For example, Kitchens by Curio will offer virtual-reality demonstrations of their kitchen and bath remodels, Dani Fine Photography will offer a headshot session plus digital images for only $49, and Digrigoli Salon will return to the Expo with free haircuts and manicures, just to name a few.

The Expo will also feature more than 150 exhibitor booths, educational seminars, breakfast and lunch programs, and a day-capping Expo Social. Current sponsors include Comcast Business (presenting sponsor), Johnson & Hill Staffing Services and Wild Apple Design Group (executive sponsors), Inspired Marketing (show partner), MGM Springfield (corporate sponsor), Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst (education sponsor), Xfinity (social sponsor), Elms College (information booth sponsor), Smith & Wesson (Workforce Support Center sponsor), Savage Arms (JoinedForces parking sponsor), and the Better Business Bureau (contributing sponsor). Additional sponsorship opportunities are available. Exhibitor spaces are also available; booth prices start at $800. For more information on sponsorships or booth purchase, call (413) 781-8600, ext. 100.

Springfield BID Extends Cruise Nights to Benefit Shriners, Square One

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Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Every Monday evening throughout the summer, dozens of classic cars cruised into Court Square in downtown Springfield, where hundreds of car enthusiasts gathered to admire cars and enjoy music, food, and drinks, thanks to the Springfield Business Improvement District (BID).

Each week, participants were encouraged to make a donation in support of the work that both Square One and Shriners Hospitals for Children – Springfield are doing to support children and families in the region. Donations have grown to more than $1,000.

“In order to have a healthy, thriving business community, we need healthy, thriving families,” says Chris Russell, executive director of the Springfield BID. “Both Square One and Shriners Hospital are working to do just that. We are pleased to be supporting the important missions of these two organizations.”

Added Kristine Allard, chief development and communications officer at Square One, “gifts like this serve as a great reminder of the kind of community we live and work in. We are so grateful to the BID and to everyone who participated for their generous support of our work.”

This summer’s events have been so successful that the BID has decided to add Sept. 11 and Sept. 18 to the calendar. For more information on the extended events, visit springfielddowntown.com/events/cruise-night.

Karen Motyka, director of Development at Shriners Hospitals for Children – Springfield, noted that “we are grateful to the Springfield Business Improvement District for recognizing the commitment of Shriners Hospitals for Children and Square One in improving the health and well-being of children in our community and beyond. Thank you for hosting Cruising for Kids and for bringing the community together in support of our organizations.”

Cruise Night at Court Square is presented by the Body Shop, located on Stafford Street. Additional sponsors include Bud Light, Harpoon, Farmington Savings Bank, Good Diggin Landscaping, and Garvey Communications.

Christopher Matteson Joins EANE as Grant Developer

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Daily News

AGAWAM — The Employers Assoc. of the NorthEast (EANE) announced that Christopher Matteson has joined the EANE team as grant developer. He will work with EANE members to train and develop their workforces using funding secured from targeted grant sources. He brings more than 10 years of experience — primarily in the areas of manufacturing, healthcare, and social services — to his role at EANE.

Matteson will spearhead the October initiative to generate awareness for Massachusetts-based companies in workforce-training opportunities, and will outline strategies and trends for significant funding resources. Two lunch programs will be held: one in EANE’s Auburn office on Tuesday, Oct. 3, and the other in Agawam on Friday, Oct. 6. Both programs run from noon to 1:30 p.m., and businesses and organizations can register at no charge by contacting Matteson at [email protected].

EANE has facilitated numerous grants — close to $2 million in total, with several grants ranging from $200,000 to $250,000 — for members to increase job retention, growth, and wages; to foster more productive and competitive companies; and to increase commitments to private investment in training.

Matteson spent more than eight years with the 500-member advocacy group the Rhode Island Manufacturers Assoc. and its nonprofit arm, the Rhode Island Manufacturing Institute, most recently as vice president and chief operating officer. In that position, he maintained member services, developed strong relationships with manufacturers, and created training programs in partnership with universities, community colleges, and local training providers. He developed several manufacturing apprenticeship programs which led to dozens of new hires for manufacturers, and spearheaded a program for Rhode Island called “Dream It, DO IT,” which is a national initiative charged with increasing the positive awareness of manufacturing as a career choice.

Matteson also spent several years in social-service positions and mental-health community-action programs dealing with sex offenders, fire setters, and substance abusers, where he implemented behavior-modification and managed-treatment programs.

Matteson has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and sociology from Rhode Island College and will complete his project management professional (PMP) certification in October at Bryant University. He has served on the advisory boards of Davies Career and Technical School, North Kingston High School, and East Providence Career and Technical School. He is a member of the National Assoc. of Workforce Development Professionals. He also serves on the board of directors for St. Mary’s Home for Children, a nonprofit agency offering comprehensive treatment programs for boys and girls traumatized by abuse or experiencing the challenges of psychiatric disorders.

Berkshire Community College Launches New Job-search Website

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Daily News

PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Community College (BCC) announced that its Career Development Center has launched new career-management software with College Central Network (CCN) at www.collegecentral.com/berkshirecc.

BCC students past, present, and future now have access to the latest resources and job opportunities at the regional and national level. Additionally, this tool will enhance communication among various departments within the college that routinely collaborate with employers in the community.

The new website offers exclusive job postings targeting the BCC student and alumni population as well as access to hundreds of career articles, podcasts, and career-advice resources. Students and any community members can upload or build a résumé on the site as well as register for career-related events around the area and receive alerts for their ideal job.

BCC recently sent out registration notifications to local employers, inviting them to create an account. Once confirmed, they may begin uploading job opportunities that they would like to post.

BCC’s job-search site is meant to assist local employers and the community in making it easier to post and find jobs. It also helps ensure a smooth transition for BCC students to find local employment with support from the software and the college’s Career Development Center team.

Ralph Thresher Joins Webber & Grinnell as Loss-control Consultant

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Daily News

NORTHAMPTON — Ralph Thresher has joined Webber & Grinnell Insurance as a loss-control consultant. He has more than 30 years of experience as a loss-control specialist.

Through his expertise, Thresher has helped companies reduce their losses through policy and regulation implementation. In his most recent position with L.E. Mahoney/Wheeler & Taylor Inc., he worked with clients’ management teams to create a safer work environment through the evaluation of their existing safety policies and procedures, performing safety surveys of their work sites, and making recommendations to reduce accidents and improve regulatory compliance.

“We are pleased to have Ralph join our team of professionals,” company President William Grinnell said. “As we expand our loss-control program, Ralph is poised to assist our clients by identifying hazards, improving safety procedures, and provide update industry regulations regarding OSHA and FMCSA. His work experience will complement our long-term plan to expand our offerings and customer service to our valued commercial-line clients.”

OMG Promotes Chris Mader to Technical Services Manager

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Daily News

AGAWAM — OMG Roofing Products has promoted Chris Mader to the position of technical services manager. In his new role, Mader will manage the day-to-day activities of the Technical Services department, which oversees building-code and approval issues, product-application issues, as well as technical customer-support activities. In addition, he will manage the technical-support team of Andy Cleveland and Stephen Childs. He reports to Josh Kelly, vice president and general manager.

Mader started with OMG Roofing Products in 2011 as a codes and approvals support engineer. Since then, he has worked extensively with OMG’s private-label customers and code and approval officials both in North America and abroad, helping with product evaluation, developing technical product specifications, and maintaining code approvals and keeping abreast of technical changes and advancements in the commercial roofing industry. Prior to joining OMG, he was a manufacturing engineer with Hamilton Sundstrand.

Mader is a member of the National Roofing Contractors Assoc., the Single-Ply Roofing Industry, and the Roof Consultants Institute. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from UMass Dartmouth and a master’s degree in engineering management from Western New England University.

Expo Breakfast to Feature Revitalize CDC, JoinedForces Fund-raiser

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Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — The Business & Innovation Expo of Western Mass. will kick off on Thursday, Nov. 2 with a fund-raising breakfast for Revitalize CDC’s JoinedForces program. The event will take place from 7:30 to 9 a.m. on the Expo show floor at the MassMutual Center in downtown Springfield. The master of ceremonies will be state Rep. Aaron Vega.

Revitalize CDC has been supporting veterans for more than 25 years. JoinedForces, in partnership with businesses, civic organizations, and other nonprofit agencies, provides veterans and their families with critical repairs and modifications on their homes to help make them safe, healthy, and energy-efficient. This is all done in a surrounding that offers integrity, dignity, and hope.

Registration is free, but day-of donations are strongly encouraged, as this is a fund-raising event. Parking in the Civic Center garage will be validated at the conclusion of the breakfast. Sponsorship opportunities are available. Call (413) 781-8600 for additional information.

The Business & Innovation Expo of Western Mass., the seventh annual business-to-business show produced by BusinessWest and the Healthcare News, will feature more than 150 exhibitor booths, educational seminars, breakfast and lunch programs, and a day-capping Expo Social. Current sponsors include Comcast Business (presenting sponsor), Johnson & Hill Staffing Services and Wild Apple Design Group (executive sponsors), Inspired Marketing (show partner), MGM Springfield (corporate sponsor), Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst (education sponsor), Xfinity (social sponsor), Elms College (information booth sponsor), Smith & Wesson (Workforce Support Center sponsor), Savage Arms (JoinedForces parking sponsor), and the Better Business Bureau (contributing sponsor). Additional sponsorship opportunities are available. Exhibitor spaces are also available; booth prices start at $800. For more information on sponsorships or booth purchase, call (413) 781-8600, ext. 100.

Valley Venture Mentors Joins Global Accelerator Network

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Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — After a rigorous selection process, the Global Accelerator Network (GAN) has invited Valley Venture Mentors (VVM) to join its network, which is described as “a highly curated community of independent accelerators, corporates, and investors. We [GAN] create opportunities around the world for startups to access the human and financial capital they need to build businesses and make a meaningful impact, wherever they call home.”

To date, GAN said, its network has helped more than 5,000 startups receive more than $4.8 billion in funding and create 28,000 jobs globally. VVM will join more than 85 other accelerators in a network that includes notable programs such as TechStars, Microsoft Accelerator, and PlayLabs @ MIT.

The network offers expansive opportunities for VVM’s startups and for VVM as a whole, including startup accelerator alumni access to morw than $1 million in in-kind perks, from cloud hosting credits to airline tickets; a network of thought partners with which to share best practices and develop innovations; a global coworking exchange that will allow VVM’s startups to work all over the world and bring other GAN members to Springfield; access to a global network that will match startups with interested investors; the opportunity for VVM to serve as a pipeline to GAN Ventures, which invests in early-stage startups; and programming for alumni that will augment VVM offerings.

The Hub Studio Announces Grand-opening Celebration on Sept. 30

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Daily News

FLORENCE — Tracy Roth, who launched the Hub Studio, a fitness studio located at the Nonotuck Mill in Florence, will host a grand opening at the studio on Saturday, Sept. 30 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The studio will offer spinning, TRX resistance training, mat Pilates, scientifically backed nutrition-coaching programs, outdoor cycling instruction, workshops, special events, and more.

“The Hub believes it’s our clients’ birthright to feel powerful and complete in their bodies,” Roth said, “and that our true potential, physical and mental, lies within our core — our ‘hub’ — and when you find a way to tap into that core, you access limitless power.”

The grand opening will include refreshments and snacks from local cafés and restaurants, live music from kid-friendly DJ Quintessential, free chair massage, a raffle, and more. The raffle prizes include classes and a three-month membership at the Hub Studio, as well as other exclusive items from area businesses. The event is free, and the public is welcome. Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz will attend to assist with the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Located in Suite 202 at the Nonotuck Mill, 296-C Nonotuck St., Florence, the studio will be open full-time starting Monday, Oct. 2 and will include group fitness classes for all levels during the morning, afternoon, and evening hours. The studio will also have classes, workshops, and special events on Saturdays and Sundays. For class descriptions, schedule, a blog, and more, visit www.yourhubstudio.com.

Foundation for TJO Animals to Host ‘Ride Like an Animal’ Event

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Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — The Foundation for TJO Animals will host the ninth annual “Ride Like an Animal” Motorcycle Ride and Car Show to benefit homeless animals in shelter at the Thomas J. O’Connor Animal Control & Adoption Center. All proceeds from this event will provide much-needed medical care and training to the many animals that call TJO their temporary home.

The event takes place Saturday, Sept. 9 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Registration opens at 9 a.m., followed by kickstands up at 10:45 a.m., with the ride leaving at 11 a.m. for a scenic trek through Western Mass.

Pre-registration festivities at the center — located at 627 Cottage St., Springfield — will include Pat Kelly from Lazer 99.3 and special guest Jonathan Hall and Toto the Tornado Kitten. The ride will end at the Ludlow Elks, located at 69 Chapin St., Ludlow, which will host a party featuring live music from the band Tough Customer, a barbecue (vegetarian food available), raffles, and some TJO alumni.

A car show will offer awards for the top three people’s choice. Show car registration is $15 per passenger and includes admission to the after-party and lunch from noon to 3 p.m. Show cars are encouraged to arrive between 11:30 a.m. and noon.

Registration for the ride is $25 per adult rider and free for children under age 7. For those individuals who would like to attend the after-party, post-ride party tickets are available for $15 per person.

Event sponsors include Chicopee Savings Charitable Foundation, Colonial Tire and Brake Center, Florence Bank, Harley-Davidson of Southampton, and New England Treatment Access. The Foundation for TJO Animals is a nonprofit organization that supports and enhances the medical services and enrichment programs for the animals at Thomas J. O’Connor Animal Control & Adoption Center.

Elms College Welcomes Nine New Faculty Members

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Daily News

CHICOPEE — Elms College added nine new faculty members in accounting, biology, communication sciences and disorders, education, nursing, and social work this year.

“We are very honored and excited to welcome such an experienced group of new faculty who are well-respected in their fields,” said Walter Breau, vice president of Academic Affairs.

Sara Smiarowski, an adjunct professor in the Elms MBA program, has been promoted to assistant professor of Accounting. Most recently, she was CFO of Berkshire Brewing Company in South Deerfield, MA. She also held leadership financial roles at Yankee Candle Co. in South Deerfield and Kringle Candle Co. in Bernardston.

Joining Elms as a lecturer in Biology is Dr. Andrew Rucks. Most recently, Rucks has been a faculty member at American International College in Springfield and a consultant with Westat in Rockville, Md. He previously held faculty positions at Holyoke Community College, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in Boston, and Western New England College.

Brittney Carlson and Kathleen Murphy have been hired as assistant professors of Communication Sciences and Disorders. Carlson, who had been an adjunct professor at Elms since January, most recently served as a staff audiologist for VA Connecticut Healthcare System. Since 2004, Murphy has worked in a number of roles for Futures Education, Futures Healthcore in Springfield. She has also served as a speech language pathologist at Stepping Stones Birth to Three Center in Hartford, Conn.; Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton; and Holyoke Public Schools.

Joining Elms as associate professor of Education is Natalie Dunning, and as lecturer of Education is Shannon Dillard. Dunning had been assistant superintendent for teaching and learning for Freetown-Lakeville Regional Schools in Lakeville since 2013. Prior to that, she was chief academic officer for Springfield Public Schools and K-12 supervisor of science for Providence (R.I.) Public Schools. Dillard has been adjunct faculty in curriculum development at Bay Path University since 2010. Prior to that, she was a clinical faculty member and lecturer at UMass Amherst.

New faculty in the School of Nursing are Elizabeth Fiscella as associate professor of Nursing, and Deana Nunes as instructor of Nursing. Fiscella most recently served as an associate professor of Nursing at Berkshire Community College and as assistant clinical professor of Nursing at UMass. Nunes, a certified wound care nurse at Mercy Wound Care Center in Springfield since 2010, has been a clinical adjunct at Elms College since 2015.

Finally, William Gilbert has joined the college as assistant professor of Social Work. He has more than 25 years of experience in social work as a clinician, administrator, supervisor, and educator. He has taught at Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic; the University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford, Conn.; the University of Connecticut in West Hartford; and Elms College. His social-services experience includes positions at agencies such as Catholic Charities in Norwich, Conn.; Family Support Services; Community Prevention and Addiction Services Inc. in Willimantic, Conn.; and the Village for Families and Children Inc. in Hartford, Conn.

Labor & Employment Law Symposium Slated for Oct. 5

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Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C. will hold a Labor & Employment Law Symposium on Thursday, Oct. 5 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. at the Sheraton Springfield Monarch Place Hotel.

“The past year has brought significant changes in labor and employment law, and employers need to be aware of these changes; not knowing the law is no excuse for not following it,” said attorney Timothy Murphy, a partner at Skoler Abbott. “We are offering this symposium to provide local and regional HR professionals and employers with the latest developments, and to help them prepare for what’s coming next.”

The symposium is geared toward human-resources professionals and business owners. Topics and presenters will include:

• “Labor Law Update: Change Is Coming,” by Murphy and attorney Ralph Abbott Jr., Skoler Abbott;

• “Massachusetts’ New Pay Equity Law and the Effects of Implicit Bias in the Workplace,” by attorney Kimberly Klimczuk, Skoler Abbott;

• “Top Ten Wage & Hour Mistakes Made by Employers,” by attorney John Gannon, Skoler Abbott;

• “Insurance Coverage in Employment Litigation: Limiting Your Risk & Knowing Your Rights,” a panel discussion with attorney Marylou Fabbo, Skoler Abbott; Miriam Siegel, director of Human Resources, Springfield College; and William Trudeau, president, Insurance Center of New England; moderated by attorney Amelia Holstrom, Skoler Abbott;

• “After Barbuto: Strategies for Addressing Drugs in the Workplace,” by attorney Erica Flores, Skoler Abbott; and

• “How You Should (and Shouldn’t) Conduct a Workplace Investigation,” by Holstrom and attorney Susan Fentin, Skoler Abbott.

Attendees will be able to select three of six breakout sessions, and the symposium will close with an overall question-and-answer session. The symposium has been pre-approved by the HR Certification Institute for five hours of general recertification credit toward PHR and SPHR recertification.

The cost to attend is $99 per person and includes continental breakfast and lunch. Registration is available at skoler-abbott.com/trainingprograms.

Seminar This Afternoon Aims to Demystify Video Production

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Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — It’s not a novelty anymore. Video content is being consumed at a rapidly inclining rate and can be a crucial tool in the marketing strategy of modern businesses. But how should you go about creating it? What does it take? The process can get confusing.

At a free seminar today, Sept. 6, from 4 to 5 p.m. at UMass Center at Springfield, Chris Thibault, director and owner of Chris Teebo Films, will simplify the complex process of creating good video content.

“It can be frustrating for marketing professionals to get an idea off the page and onto a video format that actually plays well in front of audience,” he said. “Everything is custom, which is great, but can be daunting if not dealt with correctly. But there are a few tricks out there that can be applied.”

At the seminar, attendees will hear about how video is constantly changing and winning the competition for attention, how to hire a professional, DIY techniques for creating video content, and pointers on distribution of video (YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TV, etc.) once it is created.

Attendees will leave with a better understanding of how the video production process works and be able to start the process of either creating marketing video themselves or hiring a team to do it for them. This workshop is part of UMass Center’s “Resolution Within Reach” series.

Announcing the 2017 Healthcare Heroes

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Healthcare Heroes 2017 Recipients
Healthcare Heroes

Healthcare Heroes 2017

healthcareheroeslogo021517-pingThere were more than 70 nominations for the inaugural Healthcare Heroes class, and each one of them was truly worthy of that word ‘hero.’ Each one is to be considered a winner in some respect.

On Oct. 19, BusinessWest recognized those who stood out the most in the hearts and minds of an esteemed panel of judges. Collectively, they are pioneers, and they will continue in that vein at the Starting Gate at GreatHorse in Hampden as they become the first individuals and organizations in the region to accept the Healthcare Heroes award.

Their stories reveal large quantities of energy, imagination, innovation, compassion, entrepreneurship, forward thinking, and dedication to the community.

There are eight winners in this first class, with two in the category of ‘Innovation in Health/Wellness,’ because two candidates were tied with the top score. The Heroes for 2017 are:

• Lifetime Achievement: Sister Mary Caritas, SP;

• Patient/Resident/Client Care Provider: Dr. Michael Willers, owner of the Children’s Heart Center of Western Massachusetts;

• Emerging Leader: Erin Daley, RN, BSN, director of the Emergency Department at Mercy Medical Center;

• Health/Wellness Administrator/Administration: Holly Chaffee, RN, BSN, MSN, president and CEO of Porchlight VNA/Home Care;

• Community Health: Molly Senn-McNally, Continuity Clinic director for the Baystate Pediatric Residency Program;

• Innovation in Health/Wellness: Dr. Andrew Doben, director of the Surgical Intensive Care Unit at Baystate Medical Center;

• Innovation in Health/Wellness: Genevieve Chandler, associate professor of Nursing at UMass Amherst; and

• Collaboration in Healthcare: The Healthy Hill Initiative.

American International College and Trinity Health are the presenting sponsors of Healthcare Heroes. Partner Sponsors are Achieve TMS, HUB International New England, and Health New England. Additional sponsors are Bay Path University, Baystate Health, Cooley Dickinson Health Care, Elms College, and Renew.Calm. Tickets to the event are $85 each, with tables available for purchase. For more information or to order tickets, call (413) 781-8600.

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Lifetime Achievement: Sister Mary Caritas, SP

By
Healthcare Heroes

At 94, She’s Still Finding Ways to Lead, Fight, and Inspire

Sister Mary Caritas, SP

Sister Mary Caritas, SP

Sister Mary Caritas, SP says that many of the assignments during her remarkable 70-year career in healthcare, civic service, and work with the Sisters of Providence were unplanned, unexpected, and, in some cases, well, untimely — at least initially.

By that she meant that, by and large, when she was informed that her role would be changing — and that happened more than a few times — she was very much enjoying what she was doing, making a difference in that role, and looking forward to going on in that way. Meanwhile, in most cases, she considered herself totally prepared for the new challenge to which she was assigned.

That was true when she was told early on by her superiors that she would focus her career pursuits on dietary science rather than nursing, a profession she fell in love with, and again when she was told, after serving several years as a dietitian, that she would become an administrator at St. Luke’s Hospital in Pittsfield, and again when she was named president of the Sisters of Providence.

But in each case, she accepted what was to come next with enthusiasm and a mindset to make the very best of that situation — for her, but also, and especially, for the constituencies she would be serving.

She loves to fight for a good cause; she’s energized by it, and she communicates that enthusiasm or concern or passion to others. And when she gets in that mode, she’s unstoppable; she’s a remarkable woman.”

“Several times, I was doing something I loved doing, and then I was quickly moved somewhere else,” she told BusinessWest. “But each time I had that experience, new doors opened for me; new opportunities came my way. There were many occasions when I happened to be at the right place at the right time.”

There are countless people who would no doubt say the same thing. And those sentiments — not to mention a seemingly endless list of accomplishments and tireless work within the community — go a long way toward explaining why Sister Caritas, who turned 94 on August 22, was the clear winner in the Lifetime Achievement category for this inaugural class of Healthcare Heroes. In fact, she was the top scorer among the more than 70 nominees for the program’s seven categories.

When looking over her résumé, it’s easy to see why.

That document goes on for several pages and includes a long list of professional appointments, including a nearly two-decade-long stint at Mercy for which she is perhaps best known.

It also chronicles a host of church-related activities and appointments, including a nine-year tenure as president of the Sisters of Providence that preceded her time as Mercy’s president, as well as stints on the executive council of the Sisters of Providence, the Catholic Charities board, and many others.

And it also includes a lengthy list of civic activities and work within the business community, including everything from decades of service to the Easter Seals to her memorable role as chair of the task force on Bondi’s Island in the mid-’90s; from a decade of service as chair of the United Way of Pioneer Valley to a five-year stint as chair of the Springfield Council on Aging.

Now 94, Sister Mary Caritas shows no signs of slowing down

Now 94, Sister Mary Caritas shows no signs of slowing down, and clear signs of only adding new chapters to a nearly 70-year career in healthcare and service to the church.

She served on the board of two area colleges — Elms College and Western New England University — and also a few banks, including the former Springfield Institution for Savings and the former Community Savings Bank in Holyoke. She served on the Spirit of Springfield board for 16 years, and still serves on the Economic Development Council of Western Mass.

And then … there’s her service to dozens of healthcare organizations. That list is way too long to print in anything approaching its entirety, but it includes the Sisters of Providence Health System, Catholic Health East, and Trinity Health New England (all parent companies to Mercy at different times), but also Partners for a Healthier Community, Cancer House of Hope, Holyoke Hospital, the American Hospital Assoc., the Mass. Hospital Assoc., the Academy for Catholic Health Care Leadership, and many more.

But despite all that this résumé conveys, it’s still only part of the story.

The much bigger part is the energy, entrepreneurial spirit, and innovative nature she brought to those assignments — or continues to bring; indeed, a good number of those listings have a starting date, then a hyphen, and then the word ‘present’ — and also her ability to inspire others.

Sister Kathleen Popko, current president of the Sisters of Providence, who has worked beside and been friends with Sister Caritas for a half-century, summed it all up this way:

“She loves to fight for a good cause; she’s energized by it, and she communicates that enthusiasm or concern or passion to others, and they join with her, whether it’s for Bondi’s Island stench or fluoridation or reaching out and advocating for those who are are poor and underserved.

“And when she gets in that mode,” Sister Popko went on, “she’s unstoppable; she’s a remarkable woman.”

Heart and Soul

Sister Caritas was doing quite well in her efforts to mask some frustration.

As she talked with BusinessWest, she was awaiting word on the scheduling of what she called minor heart surgery — and coping, if that’s the right word, with a list of things her doctor told her she shouldn’t be doing. (Editor’s note: That surgery went well, and she has been cleared to do pretty much anything she wants.)

At the time, the refrain-from list included golf, a pastime she’s enjoyed for decades (her record includes a hole in one at East Mountain Country Club’s 10th hole), as well as pilates.

While somewhat disappointed that she had to take it rather easy, Sister Caritas took the marching orders in stride. There were, after all, plenty of other things to keep her busy.

But understand that it takes nothing short of orders from a doctor to in any way slow down this energetic leader, who has been keeping a full calendar (whether it be the printed variety in a binder or her cellphone) since just after World War II ended.

Our story begins in Springfield, where she was born and raised. Her father had designs on her being his secretary, and her classes at Commerce High School, which she didn’t like at all, had her on that path.

Things changed after she met a woman in training to be a nurse. “I got so excited and so enthusiastic, when I came back, I told my mother I wanted to be a nurse,” she recalled, adding that these sentiments were not received warmly by her mother, who warned her that she would spend a career emptying bed pans.

But the young Mary Geary was determined — we’ll see that word repeatedly in this discourse — and enrolled at Technical High School, focusing on the sciences, with the goal of entering the nursing profession.

Upon joining the Sisters of Providence — another decision that did not sit well with her mother — she was sent to St. Vincent’s Hospital in Worcester as a nurse. But upon making her final vows after her fifth year, in 1949, she was sent to Mercy Hospital in Springfield, a move she was thrilled with until she found out that, instead of nursing, she would focus on dietary services, a decision made by the reverend mother.

Fast-forwarding a little, after receiving a master’s degree in nutrition education at Tufts University and undertaking a dietetic internship at the Francis Stern Food Clinic at the New England Medical Center in Boston, she was assigned to be administrative dietitian at Providence Hospital in Holyoke.

“I had the happiest time of my life for the next seven years,” she recalled employing a tone that made it clear that such happiness had an expiration date. “December 23, 1966, I was busy preparing a party for the sisters when I got a call from the Mother House. With no preamble, and with no explanation, the reverend mother simply said, ‘little sister, as of January 2, you are the administrator at St. Luke’s Hospital.’”

When she replied that she didn’t know anything about hospital administration, her superior responded with a simple ‘you’ll learn,’ which she did.

After St. Luke’s and Pittsfield General merged in 1969 to become Berkshire Medical Center, Sister Caritas served briefly as associate director of that facility. That’s briefly, because her life and career were soon to change abruptly — again.

Indeed, she was chosen to lead the Sisters of Providence and take the title superior general, a title that intimidated her about as much as the long list of responsibilities that came with it.

“I was totally unprepared for this,” she said, adding that, as she did with other stops during her career, she learned by doing.

A Fighting Spirit

And that ‘doing’ included work to create a new Mercy Hospital, a facility that would replace a structure built by the Sisters of Providence in 1896 and open its doors in 1974.

In another strange career twist — yes, there have been several in this narrative — Sister Caritas would succeed the woman she chose to lead the new Mercy (Sister Catherine LaBoure) after Sister LaBoure was in turn chosen to lead the order.

While Mercy had a new facility, it remained what Sister Caritas called “the little kid on the block,” much smaller than its rival just a few blocks away, Baystate Medical Center.

Sister Caritas (a.k.a. ‘little sister’), front row, center

Sister Caritas (a.k.a. ‘little sister’), front row, center, says she likes creating new things and getting things started. “Those are the kinds of things that energize me.”

But in its smaller size, Mercy’s president saw nimbleness and an ability to fill recognized niches, while also taking some bold, innovative — and, yes, entrepreneurial — steps.

Such as an in-hospital surgery center that has a story behind it that provides some insight into Sister Caritas’ determination and desire to fight for something she wants and believes in.

“I was going to buy a surgery center down on Maple Street,” she recalled. “Everything was moving along smoothly, but the night before the sale was to go through, they called and said they changed their mind. I was naturally terribly disappointed, but disappointed was hardly the word for it. I was mad; I was furious.

“So I said, ‘we have some space; we have some extra operating rooms,’” she went on. “So we created the first in-hospital surgery center.”

Other innovations and expansion initiatives would follow, including an eye center created at the hospital, an intensivist program, one of the nation’s first hospitalist programs, creation of the Weldon Center for Rehabilitation, the Family Life Center, the Healthcare for the Homeless initiative, and much more.

The common denominators with each of these efforts were common sense, expediency, and a desire to better serve patients and families, said Sister Caritas, citing the hospitalist program, now a staple in hospitals across the country, as an example.

“It was never really my intention to start a hospitalist program — I just wanted to create opportunities for more surgery,” she explained. “My whole life has been taking advantage of opportunities that present themselves; when I’m open to something and think it’s a good idea, I move with it. And I like nothing more than creating new things and getting something started. Those are the kinds of things that energize me.”

But while Sister Caritas has always been entrepreneurial, the word most-often used to describe her is compassionate.

“What’s truly impressive is the breadth of her engagement, from the national level all the way down to the individual,” said Sister Popko. “She’s been on many national and regional boards and continues to serve on several — she has that dimension. But at the same time, and simultaneously, she has extraordinary compassion and a big-hearted, magnanimous response to the needs of the individual, whether it’s helping someone find a placement for their mother in a nursing home or reaching out to an individual who’s looking for a job or is in trouble.

“If you know her, you know her thousand closest friends,” she went on. “She just knows everyone.”

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, who was mayor of Springfield during Sister Caritas’ tenure as president of Mercy, agreed.

“Her legacy is one of lasting kindness, compassion, and care for all,” he said. “She vowed to ensure that everyone who came through her doors were taken care of, and she fulfilled that promise. She has truly fulfilled the Sisters of Providence pledge to pay particular attention to the cries of the poor and oppressed.”

Small Wonder

Sister Popko told BusinessWest that Sister Caritas, a.k.a. ‘little sister,’ insists that at one time she was at least 5 feet tall, and maybe a full inch over that mark.

Not anymore.

Not that it matters, or has ever mattered.

“She has such a large presence even though she’s a very small person,” Sister Popko noted. “When she walks into a room, everyone recognizes her and wants to speak to her. She has an indomitable spirit, is very courageous, and is outspoken when it’s called for.”

Such comments evoke Mark Twain’s famous and often-borrowed line: “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” And with many matters, and in many arenas, Sister Caritas has displayed plenty of fight.

Perhaps the most celebrated example was her lengthy battle to win approval from the Mass. Department of Public Health for a cobalt unit for cancer treatment at Mercy Hospital. She first filed an application in 1978, and it was denied. Applications could only be filed biannually, so she tried again in 1980. And 1982. And 1984. And 1986. You get the idea.

“They said I couldn’t demonstrate that there was enough need for it,” she recalled, with exasperation still evident in her voice nearly 40 years after she was first turned down. “I couldn’t believe it.

“But over the next 14 years, I applied every two years,” she went on, adding that the seventh application was to be her last — at least as president of Mercy — because she had informed her board that she would be retiring.

That seventh time was the charm, and the cancer center that was started but not completed during her tenure now bears her name.

In keeping with her character, however, she said that getting the center approved and built were not the real accomplishments.

“It’s one thing to build something, but it’s the quality of the service, the compassion of the people, and the love they have for their patients that really makes the difference,” she told BusinessWest. “While it’s a beautiful center, it’s nothing without that compassion.”

That compassionate, fighting spirit remains today. Indeed, while the word ‘retire’ was officially attached to the end of her tenure at Mercy, she prefers to say that her energies were simply “redirected.”

Toward Bondi’s Island, for example, and the odor problems that had plagued that facility for years, but in many other directions as well.

She still sits on a dozen boards and continues to look for ways to innovate and serve the historically underserved. Both those missions come together in an ongoing project to create senior housing for lower-income individuals on the former Brightside campus.

The Sisters of Providence are seeking additional funding support (state grants have already been secured) for a 36- to 40-unit facility that will be a demonstration project that will tie in with the PACE (Program for All-inclusive Care for the Elderly) initiative already operating at that site.

“We want to demonstrate the relationship between supportive housing and people’s ability to remain independent,” she said of the project called Hillside at Providence. “And that’s exciting.”

As she talked about the Hillside project and the countless others she’s been involved with over the years, Sister Caritas was persistent in her efforts to make it clear that, with each one, she was only working as part of a team.

Indeed, when asked to consider identifying what she considers her greatest accomplishment, she said flatly, “I don’t think I’ve had any great accomplishment.”

Rather, “when I think about all the people who I’ve worked with and the people who have supported me, and the network needed to get things done … there’s not anything that I’ve done by myself,” she went on. “With other people, though, we’ve done some great things.”

Cause and Effect

As she was concluding her talk with BusinessWest and thus getting on to other items on her busy schedule, Sister Caritas took a few minutes to talk about Mary Elizabeth O’Brien, now serving as interim president of Mercy Medical Center.

“She’s someone you can believe in,” Sister Caritas remarked. “And that’s what you need in a leader, someone you believe can get it done.”

Ironically, generations of area residents, including those who have worked beside her, those who have benefited from her many initiatives, and even those working in competing hospitals have said the same of Sister Caritas. And at 94, they’re still saying it.

As her friend Sister Popko noted so eloquently, she loves fighting for a good cause.

And yes, when she gets in that mode, she is unstoppable. Still.

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

Patient/Resident/Client Care Provider: Dr. Michael Willers

By
Healthcare Heroes

This Physician Always Has His Patient’s Interest at Heart

Dr. Michael Willers

Dr. Michael Willers
Dani Fine Photography

Dr. Michael Willers calls it simply “the look.”

When asked to describe it, he said it was somewhat difficult to put into words. What certainly wasn’t is his opinion that generating this look may well be his favorite thing about his work as owner of the Children’s Heart Center of Western Massachusetts.

It comes when a young patient finally comes to the realization that he or she is there at the home on Northampton Street in Holyoke to receive medical care — and not just play on the rug with LEGOs or a stuffed animal.

“I’ll be talking to the parents and I’ll be talking to the kid … and then I get my stethoscope out, and I sit down on the floor with the kid with my stethoscope,” Willers explained. “And it dawns on the kid at that moment that this is not just hanging out on the floor at some friend’s house. There’s a stethoscope involved, and they’re in a doctor’s office … and the kid’s thinking, ‘wait a second … I may have been duped.’

“They have this really surprised look on their face,” he went on. “Then I say, ‘it’s all good … we’re just going to have a listen, and maybe you want to listen, too.’ So we’ll listen to their heart together.”

Willers’ ability to prompt ‘the look’ doesn’t completely explain why he was chosen as the winner in the category of Patient/Resident/Client Care Provider, but it goes a long way toward getting that job done. He and his partners, Drs. Cyrus Yau and Meaghan Doherty, have created an environment that looks and feels far more like a home than a place where pediatric cardiologists would typically do their work.

And they run a practice where parents, often very anxious about bringing their child to a cardiologist to begin with, leave with all their questions answered and their fears, in most cases, anyway, put to rest.

Willers told BusinessWest that, unlike most healthcare operations today, this is not a volume business — or, to be more precise, not a business consumed with volume. Indeed, the three physicians generally book only seven appointments a day and spend an hour, on average, with each patient and their parents.

Taking care of kids and being with them … I could do that all day long and not get tired of it. It picks me up every time.”

And while his work is cardiology, Willers says he and his partners regard themselves as experts in stress reduction, especially when it comes to the parents of the children they see.

“I’ll often tell people that we specialize here in anxiety and worry,” he explained. “Our specialty is helping parents who are anxious or worried or scared. We take pride in tuning into that and understanding where parents are coming from and helping to unravel that anxiety and figure out exactly where their anxiety lies.”

But it’s not simply how much time is spent with patients and their families, or all this work in stress reduction that sets Willers apart. It’s also how that time is spent, which, in his case, means getting down to the patient’s level — quite literally.

“When I went to medical school, I knew I was going to get into pediatrics,” he said while explaining how he chose this line of work, or it chose him, as many working in healthcare opt to phrase things. “I love the social aspect of it, to be honest with you. There’s nothing like walking into an exam room and having a chance to get on the floor and play LEGOs with kids, talk to them about their lives and about what they enjoy.

“Pediatrics is intellectually interesting,” he went on. “But socially, it’s invigorating. The real reason I went into pediatrics as opposed to internal medicine or something else was purely social and emotional reasons. Taking care of kids and being with them … I could do that all day long and not get tired of it. It picks me up every time.”

The Pulse of His Practice

Willers isn’t sure of the exact date, but he believes that the home at 1754 Northampton St. in Holyoke is, like most of the others in that vicinity, not quite a century old.

It is large and comes complete with many nooks and crannies. For example, each of the examination rooms on the second floor has a short, narrow closet in one corner, the dimensions of which are determined by the structure’s sloping roof.

The waiting room at the Children’s Heart Center looks more like a living room, which is exactly what it was for roughly 90 years.

The waiting room at the Children’s Heart Center looks more like a living room, which is exactly what it was for roughly 90 years.

Each closet is filled with a trove of stuffed animals and toys, and on occasion, Willers won’t just go into the closet for something, he’ll actually emerge from it to greet a patient. To get his point across, he gave a demonstration.

“They’ll be looking for me to come in the front door, but once in a while I’ll get down in here,” said the 6-foot, 3-inch Willers as he squeezed in and closed the door behind him. “And then I’ll pop out like this and say, ‘hi, guys.’”

This demonstration, and the enthusiastic commentary that accompanied it, speak volumes about not what Willers does, but something at least equally important — how he does it.

Before we get into that in more depth, though, we need to first explain just how Willers arrived in that closet. It’s an intriguing story, and it really begins back at Wesleyan University, where he was finishing his work toward earning a degree in biology.

He wasn’t considering medicine at that time — he was leaning toward getting a Ph.D. in ecology or evolution — but a week spent with a group of internal-medicine residents at St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York changed all that.

“Six months before senior year, I decided I wanted to go to medical school,” he noted, adding that he enrolled at Dartmouth and, while working toward his degree, developed two passions — working with and for the underserved, and taking care of young people, for all those reasons mentioned above.

After completing his residency in pediatrics at Cornell Medical Center – New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Willers went to work at the Fair Haven Community Health Center in New Haven, Conn., an experience he described as the best of both worlds — taking care of an underserved, largely Spanish-speaking population, and also having teaching and hospital privileges at Yale-New Haven Hospital.

Desiring to narrow his focus to pediatric cardiology, he undertook a fellowship in that specialty at Yale School of Medicine, and upon completing it, he went to work at Baystate Children’s Hospital as a pediatric cardiologist, one of three on staff, while also serving as director of the Pediatric Exercise Physiology Laboratory.

Seeking to provide care in a different setting and in a different manner, he founded the Children’s Heart Center of Western Massachusetts in 2012.

“I wanted to be able to take care of people in a way that focused on patients as individuals, and their families,” he explained. “And spending time with them, answering questions, addressing their concerns, understanding their lives and how their heart problems impacted their lives, and how their lives impacted their heart issues.

“I wanted to do it in a way that wasn’t like a lot of hospital-based outpatient practices,” he went on. “There’s a lot of overhead with those facilities; you have to pay for the fancy waiting rooms, and you have to pay the CEOs and the vice presidents and the middle managers, and a lot of the money goes toward things not directly related to good patient care. And what that means is that the volume of patients you need to see in a hospital-based practice just to keep the boat floating is enormous, and that means spending less time with patients.”

He started in that home in Holyoke with an operating philosophy that minimized those overhead expenses and called for seeing seven patients a day for an hour each, as opposed to 30 patients a day for 15 minutes each.

When asked how this was doable in this modern age of healthcare, where volume is such a critical factor in a practice’s success, he paused for a moment before responding.

“It’s our priority,” he explained. “In any endeavor in life, if you prioritize the right things, then you can make it work. And we prioritize the relationships with patients and families. We don’t prioritize mahogany desks, and we don’t prioritize over-management.”

As the practice grew, thanks in no small part to a very receptive response from the region’s community of pediatricians, it expanded, both with additional cardiologists (Yau and Doherty) and with satellite offices in Amherst and Great Barrington.

Hardly a Murmur

As he offered a quick tour of the Holyoke office, Willers pointed out a number of design elements and choices regarding décor that were chosen specifically with the goal of making young patients and their parents feel comfortable and, well, at home.

These include the couches chosen over traditional plastic chairs seen in most physicians’ offices, oriental rugs, soft, padded examination tables, toys and games seemingly in every room, and patients’ exploits in coloring between the lines decorating one full wall at the front entrance.

Even the terminology reflects this operational philosophy, if you will.

Indeed, upon arrival, visitors are asked to sit in the ‘living room,’ not the ‘waiting room,’ because while the latter phrase effectively describes its official function, it certainly looks more like the former — because, for roughly 90 years, that’s exactly what it was.

But the friendly, patient- and family-focused tone of this practice goes well behind furniture and phraseology. It also involves everything from the considerable amount of time spent with a child and his or her parents, to the attention paid to the communication process.

To explain, Willers chose as his subject matter the heart murmur, a term that most parents don’t fully understand and one that usually generates far more fear and anxiety than are actually warranted.

So Willers said he starts off by focusing on the child, not the word ‘murmur,’ and moves on to making it clear to parents that, in the vast majority of cases, murmurs are normal and not life-altering.

Dr. Michael Willers

Dr. Michael Willers says his favorite toy is whichever one his patient happens to be playing with at the time.

“I’ll tell a parent that there are seven different kinds of normal murmurs, and say, ‘let me tell you about the one your child has,’” he explained, adding that, for this exercise, he referenced the Still’s murmur, a common type of benign murmur named after the man who first described it, Dr. George Frederic Still. “And I’ll draw them a picture of a heart, explain what causes this murmur, and then tell them, ‘this is a totally normal murmur in completely normally healthy kids, something that develops around the age of 2 or 3 and lasts until the kid is 12 or 13 or 14. But it eventually goes away on its own and never turns into anything bad, and you never have to worry about it again.’”

Overall, Willers said he and his partners work hard to effectively communicate with patients and their parents to ensure they have a solid understanding of what’s happening with the heart in question.

“Some cardiologists will say, ‘your daughter has a heart-valve problem; she’s going to need a procedure on down the line — we’ll talk about it more later,’” he explained. “When we sit down with patients, our discussions are usually 20 or 30 minutes long; we draw pictures, we take notes, they go home — we intend for them to go home — with a really solid understanding of what’s going on with their kid, or with them if they’re an older person.

“In my experience, there’s nothing like uncertainty to breed anxiety, and there’s nothing like anxiety to disrupt the joy of parenting,” he went on. “And so we really try to get rid of the uncertainty and give people definitive answers in terms that are in plain English so that they can home with an understanding and a reassurance, and they don’t have to feel anxious.”

The Internet and all the information available on it has acted to fuel this anxiety, Willers said.

“They’ll hear something or read something on the Internet, and they’re really worried that their kid is going to die for X, Y, or Z reason, but they don’t really want to say it,” he went on. “So unless you can tune into their emotions and be on the same wavelength, you can’t really put their fears to rest.”

But getting on the same wavelength with parents is just part of this story. Getting there with children is what Willers probably enjoys most.

And while the methods for doing so vary with the age of the patient, the common threads are communicating and connecting.

“The first five minutes of every visit isn’t ‘so what brings you here today?’” he explained. “It’s ‘how’s your summer going?’ or ‘what was camp like?’ or ‘dude, how’s it going with your little sister?’ You spend five minutes connecting like that, and it brings a certain energy to that visit.”

A Different Beat

When asked if he had a personal favorite when it comes to kids’ toys and games — remember, he gets right down on the rug to play alongside his patients — Willers gave an answer that neatly sums up how this practice operates, and why.

“Whatever the kid is playing with at that given moment — that’s my favorite,” he told BusinessWest.

Such an attitude explains not only why Willers was chosen to be a hero in the Patient/Resident/Client Care Provider category, but also why he loves to create ‘the look’ and can’t wait to see it again.

Like he said, he can do this all day, and it picks him up every time.

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

Emerging Leader: Erin Daley, RN, BSN

By
Healthcare Heroes

Emergency Department Director Creates Efficiencies — and a True ‘Front Door’

Erin Daley, RN, BSN

Erin Daley, RN, BSN
Dani Fine Photography

Almost from the first moment she stepped into the emergency room at Cooley Dickinson Hospital as a nursing student at UMass Amherst, Erin Daley knew this was the environment in which she wanted to work — and maybe spend a career.

“The ER is one of those places where you either love it immediately or you know it’s not for you, and it’s always been a place I absolutely loved,” said Daley, who, when asked what prompted the fast, deep embrace of this setting, said simply, “everything about it.”

“It’s that ability to be reactive,” she went on, as she went into some detail about what she meant by ‘everything.’ “And be able to change priorities at a moment’s notice. It’s unique, challenging, but not in a negative context, and there is nothing routine about it.”

These sentiments are reflected in the way Daley talked about everything from a much-needed return to the ER at CDH after a stint as a telemetry nurse at Baystate Medical Center to broaden her horizons, as she put it — “even though I learned a ton, I knew labor and delivery were not for me and I needed to get to the ER” — to the enthusiastic manner in which she relayed her affection for the work involved with being a ‘charge nurse’ in the ED at Mercy Medical Center.

“You have to know everything about everyone at all times in order to fit the puzzle pieces together,” she explained. “It’s this constant juggling act.”

And her affection for this setting was clearly evident when she talked about how much she misses being directly on the front lines, if you will, in her current role as director of Emergency Services at Mercy.

“I loved being an emergency-room nurse,” she said, expressing clear regret at having to use the past tense. “On days that they’re really busy and if there’s things I could skip, I’d gladly do that to jump in, even if it’s just to help transport patients; most of the day to day does not allow me to be out there anymore.”

But while there is that drawback to her current position, if one chooses to call it that, there are nonetheless many different kinds of rewards — everything from orchestrating strong improvements in the overall efficiency of the Mercy ER to working with a host of other players to help stem the tide of the nation’s opioid crisis.

Her boundless energy has gained her the reputation of being a go-getter, one who gets things done, and overall future leader for our healthcare system and community. She is both an emerging leader and one who has emerged.”

For her achievements in all these realms, Daley was the top scorer amid a strong field of candidates within the Emerging Leader category for these inaugural Healthcare Heroes Awards.

To put her efforts into proper perspective requires liberal use of numbers. For example, she oversees an ER with nearly 80,000 annual patient visits, making it one of the busiest in the state in terms of visits per bed. She oversees a staff of 160 and a budget of $65 million. More numbers are needed to chronicle the process improvements she and her staff have orchestrated with several key measurements of care. For example, the Mercy ER has:

• Decreased the ‘left without being seen’ rates from 5% to 2%, thus improving revenues;

• Decreased overall ‘door-to-door’ time, as it’s called, by 57 minutes;

• Increased patient-satisfaction scores by 40%; and

• Improved employee-engagement scores by 33%.

However, words and phrases are needed to convey how all this was accomplished — phrases like ‘whole-person care,’ used to describe an approach that views health for ED patients as a segue into engaging them in better health — and ‘care map,’ an aptly named initiative that charts a course for individual patients, especially frequent visitors to the ER.

First, though, some words and phrases from Doreen Fadus, vice president of Mission Integration and Community Health at Mercy Medical Center, who nominated Daley, are in order.

“Her boundless energy has gained her the reputation of being a go-getter, one who gets things done, and overall future leader for our healthcare system and community,” she wrote. “She is both an emerging leader and one who has emerged.”

Volume Business

As she talked about her staff’s efforts in the broad realm off efficiency, or process improvement, Daley told BusinessWest that they are driven largely by necessity.

Indeed, the Mercy ED has 36 beds (just over one-third the number at Baystate Medical Center, by way of comparison), which she described as both a blessing and a curse.

“We’re very spacially constrained considering the volume that we have — 36 beds for just shy of 80,000 patients,” she explained. “That’s driven us to be so efficient; it’s made us relook at how we do things, look at our data all the time, and undertake process-improvement initiatives, because we don’t have the luxury of having a lot of beds.

“We look at every aspect of how a patient moves through the system,” she went on. “And if there’s any means for reducing waste and redoing processes, we’ll find it. If there’s 10 extra steps that a staff nurse has to take to do a particular task, taking that waste out of their day puts their attention where it needs to be — back on the patient.”

How Daley came to be directing these efforts at improved efficiency is an intriguing story, one of moving progressively higher in the ranks in terms of responsibility within that environment she came to love.

After her stint at CDH, she came to the Mercy ED in 2004. She told BusinessWest she was attracted by its reputation for being a nurse-driven environment, a description she found to be certainly accurate, and a foundation she would only build upon.

She started as a staff nurse, taking care of patients at the bedside, and remained in that role for eight years, eventually assuming charge-nurse duties, which, as noted earlier, she found quite rewarding.

Mercy Medical Center

Erin Daley says the emergency room, and especially Mercy Medical Center’s, is a unique environment she described as a ‘constant juggling act.’

“It’s probably my favorite job,” she said. “You’re really trying to manage throughput, and it’s a gigantic puzzle with all these moving parts. It’s about how you have to think about the ED; there’s a certain number of beds, ‘X’ amount of patients you’re trying to get through, you’re trying to allocate resources and potentially pull resources from one area to another area to always have throughput in mind, with the patient at the center of it all.

“You’re like an air traffic controller,” she went on. “One’s coming in, one’s going out, and you’re having to reassess that constantly in order to optimize the space that you have.”

In 2010, Daley became clinical nurse supervisor in the Mercy ED, and in that role was directly responsible for the supervision of the department, with specific duties ranging from staffing to scheduling; from compliance to being what she called a “real-time resource,” meaning she was still in the trenches. In 2015, she became nurse manager of the ED, assuming responsibility for productivity and throughput metrics.

And just over a year ago, she was named director of Emergency Services, meaning oversight of the department and all its personnel and not being in the trenches, as she noted earlier.

But it does mean bringing a higher level of efficiency to those front lines, while also bringing new meaning to the notion that the ED is a hospital’s ‘front door’ and a resource for the community beyond emergency care.

“I want to know what’s happening in the community and how I can be a supporting influence,” said Daley, noting that she is involved with everything from the region’s opioid task force to a committee battling human trafficking.

That phrase ‘supporting influence’ gets to the heart of both Daley’s management style and the philosophy that she and her staff members embrace when it comes to what an ED should be and how it should function.

Regarding the former, she said she is a mentor as well as a manager, one whose simple ambitions when it comes to her team are to “inspire, uplift, and motivate.”

And as for the latter, she said the ED cannot only be a place to receive emergency care. In the whole-person-care model, it is also a vehicle for engaging individuals in better health, through such things as medication-management discussions, assistance with setting up post ED visit primary care, behavioral-health services, and more.

As an example, she cited the drug-overdose victim who arrives at the emergency room.

“If someone comes in that has overdosed on opioids … we could be that last line of support to reach out to them,” she explained. “They may have burned bridges everywhere with their family, with their friends, and we could be that last line to reach out to them.”

Elaborating, she said those in the ED, through the unit’s Complex Care program, strive to be more proactive with those who overdose, for example, and not simply treat them and move them through.

“We follow up with phone calls and try to reach out and talk with these individuals after they’ve had a chance to recover,” she explained. “It’s a traumatic experience, that whole overdose process … you’re given Narcan, now you’re in acute withdrawal; it’s incredibly traumatic.”

Erin Daley

Erin Daley says her management style encourages teamwork and solving common problems together.

Fadus may have summed up Daley’s ‘front door’ approach best, noting that “her understanding that the ED can provide the entry way to both providing medical services and the guidance of health education has led to many patients experiencing healthcare through a system rather than rely on services mainly through the venue of the ED.”

By the Numbers

As noted earlier, there are many numbers, or metrics, involved with an emergency department, and all through her career and especially in her current capacity, Daley has been involved with bringing specific numbers higher or lower — whichever translates into improvement.

In the case of patient satisfaction, an upward trajectory is obviously desired, while, when it comes to the ‘left without being seen’ category, downward movement is the goal, because individuals are leaving generally out of frustration with the time they’re spending in the ER waiting room. And when they leave, valuable revenue is lost, and, more importantly, these individuals may be endangering their health.

To achieve improvement in that ‘left without being seen’ category, and all others, the Mercy team embodies ‘lean’ strategies commonly used on the manufacturing floor and other settings, said Daley, adding that the goal is always to remove waste and improve efficiency. But while doing so, patient care cannot be compromised.

And Mercy has managed to do this with what is perhaps the most-watched ER statistic, the one focused on door-to-door time (from when they check in until they are discharged), which Mercy has managed to reduce by nearly an hour — 57 minutes to be exact — to 157 minutes.

This was accomplished with something called a split-flow model, which, as that name suggests, splits those arriving in the ER into ‘lower acuity’ and ‘higher acuity’ categories. “If you can keep vertical patients vertical, the ease of them getting through the system improves, and you can decrease length of stay dramatically by not even putting them in a hospital bed.”

Elaborating, she said the ED took one of its triage rooms and created the aptly named ‘rapid medical exam’ (RME) room. There, patients deemed to be low-acuity are triaged, seen by a provider, and discharged, all from that one room.

“If all of those patients that are of that lower acuity never hit the back of the ER and never take up a bed, you increase your capacity for sicker patients,” Daley explained. “You increase capacity, not because you’ve added beds, but because you’ve added bed hours.

“When we piloted this on our busiest days, it was incredibly successful, and over the next few years, we went from Monday and Tuesday to Monday through Friday, and then, as our volumes grew, we expanded it to every day of the week,” she explained, adding that the RME model has also had a huge impact on the ‘left without being seen’ numbers as well, because of the additional bed space.

These improvements have come about through that lean approach to operations, learning from best practices, and working together as a team to solve problems and achieve continuous improvement, said Daley, adding that her management style encourages all this.

“I’m successful because I have an amazing team of people that I work with — everyone who’s in a leadership capacity in this department is an over-achiever and a go-getter,” she noted. “I’m not the kind of person who micromanages at all; I like to be collaborative and make a goal together.

“How each individual person gets there … I don’t micromanage that,” she went on, “because everyone has their own style, and they do better working their own project in the way they feel comfortable. But we all have the same goals in mind, and they are lofty goals.”

Looking ahead, Daley, now pursuing an MBA at Elms College, is focused on building upon both her leadership skills and her grasp of the many financial aspects of her position and others within the higher ranks of healthcare management.

“I want to be very knowledgeable about how my business, meaning my department, runs, and feel confident about that,” she explained. “From there … I’m not quite sure what the future holds.

“I like operations a lot — fitting those puzzle pieces together,” she went on. “I can see myself overseeing operations on a larger scale. But I also love the work I do in the community.”

Bottom Line

For now, she will continue to oversee the air-traffic controllers and others in the ED, create more process improvements, and, in general, go on being a ‘supportive influence’ — there’s that phrase again — with her staff, in the ED, and within the community she serves.

As Doreen Fadus noted, Daley is both an emerging leader and an energetic administrator who has, in many ways, already emerged.

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

Health/Wellness Administrator/Administration: Holly Chaffee, MSN, BSN, RN

By
Healthcare Heroes

Porchlight’s Leader Has Some Illuminating, Innovative Ideas

Holly Chaffee, MSN, BSN, RN

Holly Chaffee, MSN, BSN, RN
Dani Fine Photography

Holly Chaffee says her husband has a line — perhaps it falls into the category of ‘joke’ — that he’ll throw out on a fairly regular basis, like almost every night.

“He’ll say ‘OK, who are we having dinner with this evening?’” said Chaffee, president and CEO of Lee-based Porchlight VNA/Homecare, adding that he says this because there’s a decent chance that dinner between the two will include a phone call — or several — from a colleague looking for some direction, advice, or a much-needed answer.

“The phone seems to always ring when you sit down to dinner,” she said with a laugh, adding that she always answers it. “We’re a 24-hour business; there’s always someone on call, and there’s always someone backing up calls. You have to be there for people, because they’re relying on you.”

This sharing of dinner time goes a long way, sort of, toward explaining why Porchlight VNA/Homecare is the only agency of its kind in this region to receive what’s known as 5-star status from for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service (CMS).

It will take much more to explain those high scores, which ultimately determine how an agency is reimbursed, and we’ll do that in a bit.

Those phone calls during the evening meal also help explain why Chaffee was the top scorer in an extremely deep field of contenders for the Healthcare Heroes category called Health/Wellness Administration/Administrator. But again, many more supporting words and numbers are needed, starting with this summation from Kurt Toegel, chair of the board at Porchlight.

“Holly is known as an innovator in the home-care arena,” he wrote. “As an administrator and CEO, she has not only the drive and motivation it takes to be successful, she has the leadership skills to develop the work products necessary to be successful.

“Holly has true heart,” he went on, “and compassion for the work she does. She is collaborative and is always willing to share her knowledge.”

I believe it starts with your heart — you have to love what you do. And if you love what you do, it’s going to show from the top down; you all have to be invested in what you’re doing in your job.”

‘Innovative,’ ‘collaborative,’ ‘compassionate,’ ‘motivator’ … these qualities and others become apparent as one looks at the long list of accomplishments accredited to Chaffee and her team since she arrived at what was then known as the Lee Regional VNA andBerkshire Home Care in 2009. These include:

• Changing the existing electronic medical record to improve efficiencies;

• Orchestrating a merger with Chicopee VNA and Great to Be Home Care in 2014;

• Implementing a branding campaign and new company name (Porchlight), as well as oversight and the development of a new website to increase visibility of the service areas;

• Effectively creating a continuum of care (from acute to chronic care) by developing an internal conversion system;

• Designing and implementing a productivity system that increased productivity from 3.25 to 5.75 visits per eight-hour day;

• Operationalizing the accounts-receivable collection;

• Hiring new management-team members with clinical expertise, leading the agency to a deficiency-free survey in 2012 under a new survey process;

• Piloting a childhood-obesity program in schools in Berkshire County; and, perhaps most importantly,

• Empowering staff to lead in their areas of expertise.

Slicing through all of these and countless other bullet-pointed lines from her CV, Chaffee said she and her team have created an environment marked by innovation and calculated risk taking, one that has enabled Porchlight to succeed — and blaze some trails — in a constantly changing and ever-more challenging home-care landscape.

“Porchlight’s leadership is known for not being afraid to take a risk, to try something new,” she explained. “Seven years ago, for us to embrace the medical record that we did, that was a huge step — that was innovative. And there have been many other examples of that kind of thinking.”

Holly Chaffee, center

Holly Chaffee, center, says she and her team at Porchlight have created an environment of risk taking that has led to its 5-star status.

As for those 5-star ratings, they are a reflection of how the agency is responding to these changing times, which require ever-higher levels of accountability and measurable outcomes.

Porchlight is the only Western Mass. agency given such elite status in the most recent ranking, one of two in Massachusetts, and one of only about 200 across the country.

That benchmark is the result of what Chaffee calls the ‘triple aim’ — low cost, high quality, and patient satisfaction.

“We were able to attain that status with boots on the ground,” she said, attributing the accomplishment to solid teamwork. “We have a superior staff of nurses, home health aides, physical therapists, occupational therapists, social workers … all those people are out there creating the 5-star status we have through their encounters with the patients.

“Our goal is keep patients at home and families together,” she went on, adding that the agency’s tagline — and her life’s work — is enabling individuals to live “life as you know it.”

Shedding Light on the Subject

As she talked about that aforementioned rebranding initiative and the new name Porchlight, Chaffee said that, as one expect, there’s a story behind it.

It begins with the original name over the door, Lee VNA, which led many people to believe that the agency served only people in that community, which was not the case. The name was changed to Lee Regional VNA, but it still wasn’t clicking, said Chaffee.

To come up with something that did, she turned to the advertising and marketing agency Darby O’Brien, which had developed a niche in rebranding efforts. The firm eventually came up with ‘Porchlight,’ which resonated with Chaffee and her board chairman, who both conjured up images of front porches with lights blazing (for Chaffee, it was at her parents’ home in New Jersey) when they heard it.

But … there’s usually a ‘but’ in these cases, and there was here as well.

“When you change the name of a 100-year-old agency, there’s a lot of controversy, and we needed to overcome that,” Chaffee told BusinessWest, adding that help came from a board member, then in her 90s, who had served in that capacity for a half-century.

The new name was presented to her by O’Brien, Chaffee, and others, and the response helped dissipate that controversy.

“She told us that when her husband, a doctor, would leave the office, he would tell people, ‘if you need me to stop by on my way home, leave the light on,’” Chaffee recalled. “There couldn’t have been a better entrance for the name ‘Porchlight’ than that, and we were very excited about that response; the name caught on.”

Putting the new name and accompanying logo on signs, letterhead, and the website was far from the most challenging of assignments on Chaffee’s portfolio at her agency, but, like the others, it sheds needed light — pun intended — on those many qualities listed or implied by Toegel in his nomination. They include imagination, forward thinking, teamwork, and, perhaps most important, a willingness to listen and the will to act upon what she hears.

And Chaffee has honed these various careers through a nearly 40-year-long career in healthcare and healthcare administration that might not have happened (well, it probably would have happened anyway) had the market not been flooded with teachers back in the late ’70s, as she was graduating from high school, prompting her to look in another direction career-wise.

“I was talking with my parents,” she recalled. “I volunteered at the hospital as a candy striper, and my father said, ‘you love people, you love helping people … why don’t you think about going to nursing school, because you can do those things and also teach?’”

She thought about it, and then did it, at Skidmore College in New York. Her career in healthcare began in New York (she commuted from her parents’ home) at a pediatric tertiary-care unit, working with children with neurological impairments and kidney disorders. She and her husband would first settle in upstate New York and then relocate to Enfield, after which Chaffee took a job in the pediatric intensive-care unit at Hartford Hospital.

Her career would take a sharp turn, however, after the couple had two sets of twins in a 15-month span.

“That’s when I started my home-care life,” she explained, adding that, while working at Hartford Hospital, she “dabbled” in home care, taking care of a few children on ventilators. She enjoyed that work and, after having her two sets of twins, worked weekends as a home-care nurse, essentially launching a new career that would see her hold essentially every position in that healthcare realm.

Subsequent stops would take her to the Enfield Visiting Nurse Assoc.; Ander-Care Inc. in Springfield, a home-health agency; Special Care Home Health Services in Wethersfield, Conn.; Noble Visiting Nurse Assoc. in Westfield; UConn Medical Center, where she served as a staff nurse and assistant head nurse in the UConn Bone Marrow Transplant Unit; the Enfield Adult Day Center; and Masonicare in Wallingford, Conn., a nonprofit integrated health system, where she directed Masonicare at Home.

In 1999, she also launched her own venture (one that took her maiden name) — Vannucci Consultants, which started as a nursing consulting company that later expanded to include consulting to startup adult day centers and home-care agencies.

In 2009, she was asked to interview at Lee Regional VNA and was chosen as its next president. And with that hiring, the board, taking her vast skill set into account, decided to merge the VNA with a separate company, Berkshire Home Care, and have Chaffee lead both.

Progress Report

Chaffee arrived at LRVNA and Berkshire Home Care in December 2009, roughly six months later than CFO Pat Lamonte. Together, the two have led the organization through a continuous run of growth, innovation, and success — by a number of measures.

“She came from the hospitality industry, was a quick study, and a did a wonderful job of managing the finances,” Chaffee said of Lamonte, adding that one of the first assignments the two took on was implementing a new electronic medical record (EMR) system.

“When I arrived, the staff was using a particular electronic medical record, but they weren’t utilizing it the way they needed to,” she explained. “So I had to look at the operations and change everything that was happening so that things could be efficient and we could get on track financially.

“I went and viewed an electronic medical record called Home Care Home Base out west at a company called Residential Care,” she went on. “I said ‘wow, this is amazing; it gives everyone accountability, internally and externally,’ and so we adopted that system and did the implementation, which was as big change, because everyone’s role changed internally. But we needed to put those efficiencies in place to be sustainable as we are today.”

In many respects, the improvement of the EMR system, as well as the process for doing so — meaning everything from the due diligence to the adaptation of best practices to the quest for new efficiencies — goes a long way toward explaining why Porchlight is a 5-star facility.

The EMR improvements enable the facility to more effectively document information concerning the care of specific patients, she explained, and the process of making that change reflects the environment of innovation and risk taking that she has created.

And these qualities are necessary in this changing environment in home care, one where there is ever-more emphasis on outcomes and measuring them.

“There’s a culture change out there,” said Chaffee. “If someone had home care 20 years ago, they were used to ‘oh, you’re going to provide home care; someone’s going to be in my house for eight hours a day and take care of my mom while I’m at work?’

“It did happen like that 20 years ago if someone had complex medical needs and they were at home,” she went on. “That’s not the way it is anymore — that type of care is not delivered anymore; its been scaled back. Now, you go in, and you’re focusing on the problem you’re there to see that patient for — now, today.”

How agencies fare in those specific assignments is what the CMMS is measuring as it goes about the task of awarding stars.

As Chaffee showed BusinessWest Porchlight’s latest scorecard, if you will, she said scores shaded in light green (in the 60th percentile and higher) were good, and those in dark green (80th percentile and higher) were very good.

With five stars at the top of the card, one would expect lots of dark-green boxes, and there are, in such categories as ‘pain intervention,’ ‘improvement in pain,’ ‘timely initiation of care,’ ‘improvement in management of oral meds,’ and ‘diabetic foot care & education.’

When asked what makes all that green possible, and, in essence, what separates a 5-star operation from one that strives for the rating and falls short, she said there are many factors, many ingredients in the recipe for success.

“I believe it starts with your heart — you have to love what you do,” she explained. “And if you love what you do, it’s going to show from the top down; you all have to be invested in what you’re doing in your job.

“And it’s not just a job — it’s a career, it’s a lifestyle,” she went on. “To be a home-care nurse is a lifestyle, because you have to be invested in your patients. It’s not like you can go to your office at 4:30, click the light off, and it’s done. We’re a 24-hour business.”

Which brings her back to dinner with her husband and the phone calls that can — and often do — interrupt those meals.

And Chaffee is never sure who might be on the other end of that call.

“You might have a manager who wants to run a scenario by you — something they’ve never come across before,” she explained. “You may have a home-health aide you’ve established a long-term relationship with; I’ve had aides follow me from my other jobs into Massachusetts. They’ll call and say that their patient passed away, and they want to discuss how they’re feeling about that.

“I have an open-door policy — all my staff has my cell-phone number,” she went on. “Anybody can call me at any time; sometimes, they just want to check in, and that’s fine with me.”

Bright Future

It may not be an official measure of success in business, but the number of people who want to see what your operation has done, and take best practices from it, is certainly an important statistic — if anyone actually keeps a real number.

Chaffee said she doesn’t, but she acknowledged that many people in her business look to the Porchlight operation as a standard bearer in many respects. The consistent 5-star ratings will do that for a company.

Those who call and visit are essentially looking to know how that mark of excellence was achieved, how a team can be motivated to constantly raise the bar and then clear it, and how a company can excel with that triple aim.

Put another way, they want to know why neither Chaffee nor her husband minds it when he says, ‘who are we having dinner with tonight?’

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

Community Health: Dr. Molly Senn-McNally

By
Healthcare Heroes

This Pediatrician Has Escalated the Fight Against Toxic Stress

Molly Senn-McNally

Molly Senn-McNally
Dani Fine Photography

Dr. James Li remembers his heart rate quickening as the “police officer” moved toward him and his two “siblings.”

That’s how real it all was, he told BusinessWest.

But those words are within quotation marks because none of this actually was real; rather, it was a simulation — a poverty-simulation seminar, to be more precise.

Li, a general pediatric resident working at the Baystate High Street Health Center, was playing the middle child in this exercise. His “family,” like many in Springfield that actually come under his care, was living below the poverty line — well below it. And one of the things Li learned very quickly as he acted out his role was that, when the police enter the picture, bad things are probably about to happen — such as children being taken away for suspected neglect.

And that’s why he felt his heart rate spike when a man who was just playing his role as a police officer moved onto the scene.

“I actively told my quote-unquote siblings that maybe we should walk this way to get away from the police officers,” Li recalled while gesturing with his hands to show what he meant. “That was the moment when the simulation became real for me.”

Making such experiences as real as possible is now part of the broad job description for Dr. Molly Senn-McNally, a pediatrician, Springfield’s school physician, and continuity clinic director for the Baystate Pediatric Residency Program. She has made the poverty simulation part of the orientation for Baystate residents, and also part of very comprehensive efforts to help young physicians better care for people living in poverty by making them fully cognizant of all the challenges facing those in this constituency.

Molly is dedicated to the care of children and families who live in poverty-stricken areas of Springfield.”

And that’s only one of many initiatives she’s involved with that so impressed the judges that Senn-McNally was the high scorer in the Healthcare Heroes category known as Community Health.

Others include everything from the introduction of substance-abuse screenings in Springfield schools to an integrated behavioral-health system at the High Street clinic, to ongoing efforts to establish a diaper bank at that facility to assist those struggling mightily to make ends meet.

“Molly is dedicated to the care of children and families who live in poverty-stricken areas of Springfield,” said John O’Reilly, chief of General Pediatrics at Baystate Health, who nominated her. “She understands that social determinants of health have a great impact on the health and well-being of our families, and she has been working hard to decrease the impact of toxic stress.”

Such stress, which is receiving ever-more attention in the healthcare and social-service communities, occurs, according to the Harvard Center for the Developing Child, in response to the strong, frequent, and/or prolonged activation of the body’s stress-response system without adequate protective relationships and other mediating factors (Li’s spiking heart rate when police appeared on the scene, for example). Stressors may include individual experiences of adversity, as well as family and community circumstances that cause a sense of serious threat or chaos.

Reducing such stress and minimizing its impact has become, in many ways, Senn-McNally’s life’s work. And a big part of it is compelling young doctors, through exercises like the poverty- simulation seminars, to understand how those social determinants of health directly impact the patients they see every day.

“These are things that are non-medical, but certainly impact people’s health and wellness — where they live, where they go to school, whether they have transportation, whether they have access to resources,” she explained. “Through their participation in the simulation seminars, residents and medical students get some empathy around when patients show up late, and they start to understand that health and wellness happens, really, outside the clinic and not only inside those walls. And they begin to understand the stress of living in poverty.”

If one listens to Li and other residents who have taken part in such simulations, Senn-McNally is succeeding in transforming this empathy, this understanding, into better care for this at-risk population.

Dr. James Li

Dr. James Li says the poverty-simulation seminar he took part in gave him greater appreciation of the challenges facing many of the patients he sees.

“The simulation and what I learned from it allows me to take things a step further,” said Li, a graduate of the medical school at Florida International University. “I know what the book says in terms of what these patients need. But now, I’m thinking more about how I can go outside the box to actually make it work for them.”

Dr. Shubham Bakshi, who has also taken part in a poverty-simulation seminar, agreed.

“The simulation has given me a different perspective on how to make sure individuals get the right amount of help, and that we match them up with the resources that are available in our community,” he told BusinessWest. “We take things for granted that we shouldn’t take for granted. That’s what this simulation has shown me, and it will make me a better doctor.”

Ready to Act

Bakshi, a native of India and graduate of Ohio State University and then Northeast Ohio Medical School, said he was obviously not experienced in what it’s like to be a 14-year-old girl, especially one in a family living in poverty.

But that was the role that the pediatric resident was assigned in his poverty-simulation seminar — “I didn’t volunteer” — and, like any good actor, he soon became immersed in his role, if you will. In this case, that meant coming to grips with all the sentiments, emotions, and, yes, toxic stress that such an individual would encounter as they are presented with a task, or scenario, as well as their assignment, which, as he put it, is to simply survive the environment they’d been placed in.

“The environment that I was given was that my dad had just left us, and everything fell to my mom, who was not educated and didn’t have enough skills to work in many jobs; everything fell on her to support us,” Bakshi recalled. “And being a 13- or 14-year-old, I was not able to get any jobs.

“It was eye-opening, because these are real experiences — these are real-life scenarios, as I later found out while practicing in Springfield,” he went on. “I knew that poverty was a challenging thing, especially with child care, but the simulation was very eye-opening; my mother was earning $30 a day, and our rent was $700 a month. It was really hard to make ends meet.”

Creating these eye-opening experiences and, more importantly, changing the way physicians think about how to properly care for those living in poverty is only the latest example of how Senn-McNally has spent much of her career working with and advocating for people at risk.

Indeed, her résumé includes stints with a host of community health and wellness organizations ranging from the New Beginnings Domestic Violence Shelter in Newark, Ohio, to the Franklin County Community Action Center for Self-Reliance, a homeless drop-in center in Greenfield.

Through those experiences and many others, including three years at Connecticut Children’s Hospital in Hartford working in its primary-care center, she brings a keen awareness of those aforementioned social determinants of health to work every day, and making others as aware is now a big part of her duties as a pediatrician and educator.

And in those capacities, she wears a good number of hats. She has her own practice, working at the clinic on High Street, which serves some of the poorest neighborhoods in Springfield.

And like many who work with children, she finds that work not only rewarding, but enjoyable.

“I love kids, and have moments every day where I say, ‘I’m so lucky to be able to spend time with kids and families all day long,’” she said. “A kid does something funny or silly, and we smile; I’m not sure that happens for people who are taking care of older folks.”

She also serves as Springfield’s school physician.

In that role, she works with the school nursing leadership as their healthcare consultant, and has worked with school officials on a number of initiatives, including substance-abuse screenings.

A pilot program involving seventh- and 10th-graders was launched last year, she said, adding that school nurses undertake what are known as SBIRT (screening, brief intervention, referral, and treatment) screenings designed to make the nurses resources in the ongoing battle to stem the tide of substance use.

“The nurses just have a conversation with the kids about substance use,” said Senn-McNally. “And one of the wonderful things about these conversations is that they are preventive; they’re an opportunity to talk with students about substances, hopefully before they’ve started using in the seventh grade, and emphasize the positive choices that kids are making if they haven’t starting using or if they’ve stopped, and see the school nurse as a resource.”

And she is also an educator, specifically associate program director for the pediatrics residency program at Baystate, another role with a host of rewards.

“I love working with residents and medical students,” she told BusinessWest, “because I really think we have a chance to shape how they are as physicians, what they value, and how they grow and treat patients.”

And the poverty-simulation seminars she oversees play a very big role in these efforts.

On a Role

Such simulations are taking place across the country, involving not only physicians and others in healthcare, but also elected officials, educators, business leaders, and other constituencies.

With each group, the goal is essentially the same — to create awareness of the myriad challenges facing those in poverty, and to see this awareness translate into positive change when it comes to how communities and individuals serve the poor and deliver services.

The simulations feature volunteers, perhaps 20 to 30 of them, who are residents of the community and either work with people in poverty or who have lived in or close to poverty, said Senn-McNally, adding that the ‘participants’ are medical residents or medical students who role play for an hour (four 15-minute ‘weeks’) living in poverty.

“They’re placed in families of varying types, maybe a single mom with several children, parents who may have lost their jobs, or an older single adult supporting themselves on disability, for example,” she explained. “And they have to complete a number of tasks over those four weeks; they have to pay their rent, they have to feed their families, and they have to keep the electricity on. And they really experience a small measure of what the families we take care of experience in their lives.”

After the simulation, there is a debriefing, she went on, adding that these sessions, where the participants, such as Li and Bakshi, discuss what they just experienced with the volunteers from the community, are quite compelling.

“The participants talk about how they felt during the simulation, and the community members have a chance to comment on what they saw, and whether the simulation was realistic, went far enough, or didn’t go far enough,” she explained. “And it’s such a powerful conversation, because the volunteers get to share their real-life experiences with our medical students and residents, who have typically grown up with more privilege than the people running the simulation.”

What happens after the seminars is obviously the most important part of this equation, though, said Senn-McNally, adding that the goal is to not only create an understanding of what it’s like to live in poverty, but better serve that population. And she believes the seminars are creating progress in this realm.

“The residents and medical students learn that people have to prioritize when they’re living in poverty,” she explained, “and that meeting their basic needs, food and shelter, may take precedence over their medical needs.

“They learn about why patients don’t always get an appointment when they’re supposed to — because they needed to take three buses or they didn’t have a car or they had to walk,” she went on. “And when they’re more empathetic, they’re able to be more understanding; they’re able to understand the importance of talking to patients about whether they have enough food, about their living situation, how school is going, and more. Doctors don’t typically ask about such things.”

Today, and in large part because of the poverty-simulation seminars, Li, Bakshi, and others are asking such questions, listening carefully to the answers, and using them to help improve their patients’ overall health and well-being.

With that, Li returned to that thought about outside-the-box thinking and going beyond what the book says.

Dr. Shubham Bakshi

Dr. Shubham Bakshi says his role as a teenage girl living in poverty certainly opened his eyes to the challenges facing that constituency.

To get his points across, he used the example of an extremely overweight patient.

“His BMI is in the 95th percentile, which means he’s overweight-slash-obese,” said Li. “You look at his diet history and you see that he’s eating at McDonald’s four times a week. It’s easy to say ‘you should stop that,’ but it’s harder to say that when you realize he’s eating at McDonald’s because it’s the cheapest way that they can get the calories they need to live and to function. I know I have to take it a step further than what’s obvious and telling him not to eat that food.”

Bakshi agreed, and said that before the seminar, he, like most others in his position, would make assumptions and take some things for granted, things he’s learned he shouldn’t do.

As an example, he cited a call he received from a woman living in a shelter concerned about a rash her child had developed.

“I said to her, ‘I’m a little concerned about that because you’re complaining of fever, nausea, vomiting, etc.; why don’t you go to the emergency room?’” he recalled. “Later, I realized she said she lived in a shelter and that it would be hard for her to arrange that transportation. Also, it was 10 at night.

“Now, in that same situation, I think my first question would be, ‘do you have reliable transportation?’” he went on. “Before, I just assumed they did; now, I have changed my perspective and the way I take such calls from these patients. I’ll say, ‘where do you live?’ or ‘who else lives with you?’ or ‘who is supporting you with taking care of the child?’ and ‘how are you making ends meet?’”

Part of the Solution

The gentleman who played the police officer in Li’s poverty-simulation seminar is a greeter at the High Street clinic. Li sees him almost every day.

His heart doesn’t race when he does. But it certainly did that day back during his residency orientation. That’s how realistic that exercise was in essentially bringing Li into a life of poverty and forcing him to somehow survive.

The toxic stress was very real. Also real are the changes in the ways that Li and others like him are looking at, talking with, and treating those who come into their care.

And Molly Senn-McNally has played a lead role in bringing about those changes.

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

Innovation in Health/Wellness: Dr. Andrew Doben

By
Healthcare Heroes

ICU Surgeon Takes Cutting-edge Approach to Help Crush Victims

Dr. Andrew Doben

Dr. Andrew Doben
Dani Fine Photography

Dr. Andrew Doben has two real passions — beyond his family, of course.

Sailing and surgery. Not necessarily in that order, but probably.

They have been both pursuits and professions for Doben, and they are both well-represented on the walls and shelves in his small office at Baystate Medical Center.

Indeed, hanging next to his medical-school diploma is a poster from that famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view) 1983 America’s Cup, the one where Australia II, with its revolutionary winged keel, which Doben would describe in great detail, ended the New York Yacht Club’s 132-year hold on the cup. Not far from a shelf crammed with thick medical textbooks is a photograph of Doben and his children on his boat, a 41-foot Oceanis. And just across from a model of the titanium rib fixture he uses to save (and change) the lives of his patients, is another poster, this one complete with bits of sail flown by America3 in its successful America’s Cup defense in 1992.

“I know they’re genuine,” Doben said of these strips of sail, “because it looks like there’s some salt leaching onto the matting.”

Sailing and surgery; surgery and sailing. Doben can do more than talk about them with confidence and reverence in his voice. He can draw some stirring parallels and analogies between the two professions, as we’ll see. Together, they provide a window into how he views his work as director of the Surgical Intensive Care Unit at Baystate.

Which brings us back to that model mentioned earlier and a surgical treatment known as ‘surgical stabilization of rib fractures’ (SSRF), or rib fixation, which, as that name suggests, uses surgically implanted hardware to stabilize rib fractures. The procedure yields quicker recovery times, decreased mortality, reduced incidences of pneumonia, reduced use of ventilation after trauma to the chest, and less chest-wall deformity.

Doben explained. “With pretty much every bone in the human body, when you break it, you are, in some way, shape, or form, holding that bone stable while it heals, whether you put it in a cast, or you put some degree of fixation on it or through it — you stabilize that bone.

“And almost every bone in the body has had that to some degree, with the exception of the ribs,” he went on, adding that this is largely because they are always moving. “Fractures in motion will not heal.”

Years ago, surgeons would try casting or binding the ribs, Doben noted, but because they are so important to the respiratory process, this strategy is almost universally fatal. “People couldn’t take a deep breath, they got pneumonia, and they died.”

People trust a lot in you when you operate on them, and it’s very similar to the feeling you get when someone asks you to be their captain; they give you their boat, and they ask you to carry them through to safe passage; it’s very similar.”

Matters are further complicated by the fact that, if someone has endured an injury forceful enough to break several ribs, they have likely also damaged one or more of the organs that the ribs protect, he said, adding that for decades the hallmark of treatment of such patients was pain control, which led to slightly improved outcomes, with the emphasis on slightly.

Roughly 75 years of technical and medical developments, accelerated by several wars, have produced a fixation system, one that uses a combination of metal exoskeletal plates and pins to keep the ribs entirely immobile while damaged bone and tissue heal, resulting in reduced pain and a much shorter recovery time, as we’ll see later.

Doben’s emergence as one of the leading practitioners of rib fixation — he has performed the procedure more than 200 times, in his estimation — goes a long way to explaining why he is one of two winners in the Healthcare Heroes category called Innovation in Healthcare.

But that’s only part of the story. His tireless work to help make this surgical procedure more mainstream, thus saving more lives, is another big part. Indeed, while fib fixation is widely available in other countries, that is not the case in the U.S.; Doben is working to change that equation.

He noted that, while the number of rib-fixation procedures being performed in this country has risen, those numbers are skewed by the fact that most procedures are being undertaken at a handful of high-volume centers.

“Only a few dozen people in this country have performed as many as 100 of these operations,” he explained, adding that one of his goals moving forward is to create centers of excellence that will become referral centers for the treatment of people with such injuries and training centers for those who perform the procedure, with Baystate likely being one of the first of these centers.

Taking the High Road

As he talked about the start of his professional career — which saw him on the water, or ‘blue water,’ as it’s known to those who navigate it, and not in the OR — Doben made it clear that, while he misses some if not most aspects of that work, he has no regrets about wearing blue scrubs to work every day.

Nor does he have any regrets about not getting into finance, which would have been the most logical path to take with his degree in economics. Instead, he took, well, a different course, actually hundreds of them, as a professional sailor after being part of a nationally ranked sailing team at Connecticut College, a small liberal-arts school located across the street from the Coast Guard Academy in New London.

“I lived on boats and traveled all over the world,” he explained. “I was a captain and delivered sailboats; I did about 35,000 miles of open-ocean sailing prior to going to medical school.”

Elaborating, he said he was first employed by different companies that would lease out boats for sometimes lengthy excursions. It was his job to sail a boat back after a lessee was through with it.

“So someone might start in Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, and they’d finish in Antigua,” he explained. “Well … somehow that boat has to make it back to the British Virgin Islands. Someone has to have that horrible job of sailing that boat back.”

Later, Doben did well in the business of delivering sailboats to their owners. “Let’s say you live in New England and have a boat you keep in Newport, and you want it in the Caribbean for the winter, but you’re busy; you have a lifestyle where you can’t do it yourself. So you call someone up, and you pay them to bring that boat to you.”

They actually pay more than what he’s making now as a surgeon, Doben said with a smile on his face, noting that, while that life on the ocean sounds like something that would be difficult to leave, he did — and for several reasons.

For starters, life as a sailboat captain didn’t jibe with his ambitions for starting a family — “it’s a tough thing to step aside and say, ‘see you in 35 days,’” he noted. And despite the pleasing picture this lifestyle probably presents in one’s mind, reality is a little different.

“When you’re 600 miles from shore in 140 mile-per-hour winds wondering if your boat is going to sink, it’s not exactly the type of lifestyle most of us want to have in our mid-40s,” he told BusinessWest.

Dr. Andrew Doben

Dr. Andrew Doben can find many parallels between surgery and captaining a sailboat. In both cases, there is what amounts to a contractual agreement.

But, and this is a big but, he desired a lifestyle and a profession that would in many ways mirror what he found on the water.

“I wanted to find a career that was very dynamic, that was constantly changing,” he explained. “One of the things I love about being on the water and navigation is that you can study your whole life and still have things to learn about it.

“No matter what you think you know, things change so rapidly,” he went on, still referring to life on the ocean. “You can start out in the day in beautiful, sunny skies and finish in a tremendous storm, and you have to adjust to it. That dynamic part was something that was very important to me.”

And he’s found it in healthcare, and, more specifically, the operating room.

After going back to college and taking the requisite science courses, he enrolled in medical school at the University of Pittsburgh and quickly narrowed his focus to surgery. And in what couldn’t be considered an upset, he found some parallels between that specialty and being a sailing boat captain.

“I felt that there was a real connection to patients, and much more of what I would call a contractual agreement,” he explained. “People trust a lot in you when you operate on them, and it’s very similar to the feeling you get when someone asks you to be their captain; they give you their boat, and they ask you to carry them through to safe passage; it’s very similar.”

Current Events

Fast-forwarding a little, Doben came to Baystate and its 16-unit surgical intensive-care unit in 2010, a destination he chose because of the specific challenges and rewards it presented. And, once again, he can find similarities to life on the blue water.

“When I made the decision that I was going to this [surgery], I decided that I wanted to take care of the sickest of the sick,” he told BusinessWest. “I have the type of personality where … I was out with a friend sailing a few weekends ago, sailing in 40-miles-per-hour winds. I was having a blast.

“I’m not the sort who gets freaked out by bad things happening around me; I’m just sort of even-keeled,” he said, using terminology directly from his previous profession. “If something’s going wrong, I’m just going to focus and try to solve the problem.”

That phrase ‘sickest of the sick’ is often appropriate when taking about candidates for rib fixation. These are usually the victims of crush, fall, and explosive-force injuries and are often elderly, said Doben, adding that he considers himself at the forefront of efforts not only to perform this procedure, but to educate the medical community about its ability to save lives and improve quality of life, while dramatically reducing the overall costs of treating such patients.

“Most bones heal in six weeks, but with ribs, because they’re constantly moving, you’re talking about three to six months,” he said while explaining the many benefits to be derived from this procedure. “If you’re a contractor and you’re self-employed, and you have a raise a hammer over your head, six months to not be able to do that is a long time.

“Roughly 60% of the people who have a severe chest-wall injury remain unemployed for up to a year,” he went on. “We can get people back to work, full-time employment, in three to six weeks.”

He reports that some progress has been made in mainstreaming SSRF, but there is still considerable work to be done.

“In 2009, we wrote a paper on this during my fellowship, and we basically had tomatoes thrown at us when we were at the national meetings,” he recalled. “And now, we’re asked to come to the national meetings and talk about it; it’s been such a frame shift.”

Progress is reflected in the number of rib-fixation procedures being undertaken in this country, he went on, noting that there were maybe 100 cases performed in 2001; by 2014, that number had risen to more than 3,300.

But behind those statistics are some troubling trends, he went on, adding that there are only 20 surgical centers across the country that are performing this surgery more than 30 times a year.

“Most centers are doing one or two a year,” he explained. “And when you look at the patient pool and the injury-severity scores, meaning ‘how badly injured is this patient?’ the number is almost double at the high-volume centers. So the sicker patients are being treated at the high-volume centers, and the mortality is half what it is at the lower-volume centers. So the lower centers are seeing patients who aren’t as sick, with less frequency, and they’re having worse outcomes.

“And that makes sense,” he went on. “If you don’t do the operation a lot and you don’t have a lot of experience, your outcomes are not going to be the same. This is concerning to me, and we’ve been working on that.”

This work is largely focused on creating those centers of excellence he mentioned, adding that he and others with the Chest Wall Injury Society are working to establish the criteria for such centers.

And there is much more to this than having specialists who can perform the rib-fixation surgery, he explained.

“The operation is only one-tenth of the puzzle,” he explained. “The puzzle is the team that takes care of these people. The respiratory specialists, the ICU, anesthesia, the pain management, the post-op management, the physical therapists … it’s a whole host of people. The operation just helps accelerate that process.”

And while establishing these centers of excellence that the ill and injured can be referred to, Doben and others will work to greatly increase the number of surgeons who perform this procedure, with an eye toward improving care in currently underserved areas.

Elaborating, he said there are maybe two dozen facilities that may soon become centers for excellence, and most are clustered in the western part of the country, where there are higher incidences of motorcycling and skiing injuries. Other parts of the country are underserved, he went on, listing Boston, where there is only one surgeon who performs this procedure, as an example.

“There are many people who don’t even know this procedure is available,” he said, adding that his goal now is to not only change that equation, but make the procedure available to more people.

Stemming the Tide

Returning to his thoughts about why he chose surgery as a profession and the ICU as the place to call his professional home, Doben recalled something that a friend of his father and a cardiologist by trade once said to him — something that has obviously stayed with him.

“He said, ‘being a doctor is a great privilege, where you get to see people in their most vulnerable states,’ and there’s nothing more true about that than the ICU, both for patients and families. And I enjoy that relationship of being able to work with people to get them through all that, to get them to safe passage.”

“Sometimes they don’t get there; they don’t survive,” he went on, adding that helping people live out their final days and moments in dignity is often as rewarding as saving a life.

That reference to safe passage was yet another analogy to sailing, a profession Doben has left behind him. Yet the sailing mindset remains — to focus on the horizon and chart a course that will get where you need to go.

And with SSRF and the challenge of bringing that breakthrough technology to more of the people who can benefit from it, he has done just that.

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

Innovation in Health/Wellness: Genevieve Chandler

By
Healthcare Heroes

Nursing Professor Helps Young People Build Resiliency

Genevieve Chandler

Genevieve Chandler
Dani Fine Photography

James Bowe Jr. had a few full-scholarship offers come his way during his senior year of high school in Miami, Fla.

But at 180 pounds, most of the elite football programs considered him too small to excel at his position — outside linebacker.

He chose to accept an offer from a school that he said stuck by him when others didn’t — UMass Amherst — but was soon to discover that being undersized was only one of many stress-inducing challenges he would encounter on and off the practice fields outside McGuirk Alumni Stadium after arriving in 2015.

“The biggest change for me coming out of high school was the speed of the game and how much you had to learn — we had to develop quickly, because there’s a lot of different plays and a lot of terminology you have to learn,” he said. “And along with my practice schedule, I had my classes and everything else; it was a lot for me to handle, and that affected me in the classroom.”

And there was still more that he needed to cope with, whether he knew it or not.

Indeed, as he would discover, the death of his sister not long before he arrived at UMass had left scars that hadn’t fully healed — there were feelings he needed to get off his chest and emotions that he had to confront.

And confront them he did, while also putting a huge dent in his stress level, thanks in large part to a unique program blueprinted by Genevieve Chandler, associate professor of Nursing at UMass Amherst. It’s called Changing Minds Changing Lives (CMCL), and it was created and piloted by Chandler on the basic premise that resiliency is something that can and should be taught, developed, and built.

“It’s long been thought that people were resilient or they were not resilient,” said Chandler, who so impressed the judges with her work on this subject to date that she became one of two winners in the category of Innovation in Healthcare. “But researchers concluded that everyone has resilience; the question is how much and what we can do about it. Researchers realized that we not only carried something inside, but we needed access to resources outside to build that resilience.”

Elaborating, Chandler said much of her career’s work has been in the realm of creating such resources, especially as they relate to adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, as they’re called.

It’s not about what you don’t know, it’s about what you do know, and that makes it different from most classes. It’s not about deficits, it’s about strengths. I can’t teach you about you; you’re going to have to teach me about you.”

These include physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and the broad category of household dysfunction, which includes everything from substance abuse to incarceration; from domestic violence to divorce or death of a loved one.

That’s a long list, and a host of studies have concluded that perhaps 60% of the population has an ACE, or several, in their background, said Chandler, adding that studies have also shown direct links between these experiences and physical and mental illness.

Her work, and especially the CMCL initiative, is aimed not only at focusing attention on ACEs and their impact, but also at helping individuals move past these ACEs by teaching them resiliency.

How? Through a broad course of study that includes everything from deep-breathing exercises and yoga to group writing (lots of that, as we’ll see later) and storytelling.

These elements and this mindset came together in the pilot program, what Chandler called a “strengths” class offered at the university, one that attracted a broad mix of students, and, later, an expansion of the initiative to include those involved with Holyoke Community College’s Gateway Program for students who had dropped out of high school.

These successes caught the attention of Jim Helling, athletic counselor for the university, which led to a program involving incoming football players, all of whom, like Bowe, were dealing with a host of challenges and experiencing high levels of stress.

And Bowe is just one of many who can testify that CMCL has certainly helped in that regard.

“This class helped me get adapted to college, and taught me a lot of different ways to handle stress; it taught me to just breathe,” he said, saying that last word slowly for special emphasis. “We were taught to breathe and calm down during stressful situations. That next semester, after I took this class, I was able to get my GPA back to where I needed it to be.”

Breathing is just one of the lessons Bowe and teammate Martin Mangram, a safety from Buford, Ga., imparted upon a group of Springfield Central High School football players they mentored as they took essentially the same class offered to the incoming players at UMass in the latest, and apparently successful, expansion of the CMCL initiative.

Genevieve Chandler, seen here with incoming UMass football players

Genevieve Chandler, seen here with incoming UMass football players, says resiliency is something that can be taught or developed.

“We feel it was very successful,” Tad Tokarz, the school’s principal, said of the study, which involved a handful of players. “And speaking to students, they would tell you they’ve grown, and they can tell you how they’ve improved in recognizing emotions and building resilience.”

Course of Action

Helling, a psychiatric social worker as well as athletic counselor at UMass Amherst, was one of those offering instruction and insight to those football players at Springfield Central this summer.

And he said he started one of his presentations by putting up a picture of Charles Darwin on the screen at the front of the room and then focusing the conversation on the naturalist’s theory of ‘survival of the fittest’ — and in a way that hits at the heart of the CMCL initiative.

“The fittest does not mean the physically strongest,” Helling told BusinessWest. “The fittest means the best fit; it’s not the strongest or the biggest or the smartest that survives. The ones who survive are the ones who fit in best in their environment and meet the challenges that their environment presents to them.”

Helping young individuals become far more fit — in this respect — has become the focus of Chandler’s research, and life, in recent years. And this work in resiliency (technically defined as one’s response to adversity) continues what she said is a career-long focus on mental-health nursing, and, more specifically, what she called the “health and strengths aspects of one’s life, rather than the illness aspects.”

Elaborating, her approach has long been to focus on an individual’s strengths, rather than their problems, especially within the realm of ACEs, something she’s been studying for decades.

“I’m committed to using the notion of resilience to respond to the effects of adverse childhood experiences,” she told BusinessWest. “And I’ve learned how much ACE effects physical illnesses such as chronic lung disease, heart disease, anxiety, depression, and cancer; the higher the score for adverse childhood experiences, the higher the likelihood of biological and psychological illness.”

The resilience course Chandler has developed, number N297T in the university’s database, is officially called “Torchbearer: Stress Buster or Strength Builder.” (Actually, it likely does both).

The syllabus comes complete with a stated rationale — “identifying inherent strengths, developing agency, and managing stress to develop social connections and build resilience, promotes health and leads to success in college, community, and career” — as well as a course description, which reads:

“Build individual strengths to empower stress management and increase resilience. Research, mindfulness, and focused writing are applied to increase awareness of emotional responses to life’s challenges and facilitate social connections to increase leadership capacity.”

There are also several formal objectives. Indeed, upon completion of the course, the syllabus reads, the student will able to:

• Analyze individual strengths;

• Utilize health-promoting stress-management strategies;

• Foster a sense of community across lines of difference;

• Promote individual resilience;

• Negotiate a social-support network of mentors, role models, and peers; and

• Demonstrate strategies to facilitate individual leadership capacity.

The required text is just one thing, by Rick Hansen, subtitled “developing a Buddha brain one simple practice at a time.”

This is a different kind of college course in many ways, said Chandler, who explained what she meant by that.

“It’s not about what you don’t know, it’s about what you do know, and that makes it different from most classes,” she explained. “It’s not about deficits, it’s about strengths. I can’t teach you about you; you’re going to have to teach me about you, and that’s how we set up the class.”

Exercise in Resilience

Slicing through all that’s in the syllabus, Chandler said those taking this course essentially teach themselves how to become more resilient.

They do so through creation of a ‘strength plan,’ through a focus on what she called the ABCs of resilience:

• Active Coping, which could include exercise, medication, or yoga;

• Building Strength, which she said means focusing on one’s strengths and not one’s weaknesses or problems;

• Cognitive Awareness. “This means being aware of our thinking,” she explained. “So often, we get caught up in catastrophic ways of thinking, like ‘I’m going to fail a quiz’ or ‘I’m not going to be able to make a car payment;’” and

• Social Support, which, she said, involves understanding that people should call on their lifelines much sooner and build their social support so they have people they can lean on.

“Those are the ABCs, and that’s what we teach,” she told BusinessWest, adding that the course was first taught to essentially any student who wanted to take it four years ago, while the program for the incoming football players was started two years ago.

And that latter initiative is already registering measurable results, she went on.

“Half the incoming football players took it, and half didn’t. And then we measured what happened, and we saw a difference in their resilience, in their stress management, and emotional awareness — a big difference,” she said, adding that the results of that study were published, and the outcomes of a study on the second class of players were in the process of being sent to the Journal of American College Health.

“It’s incredible how fast 17- and 18-year-olds put this into their life,” she said of the football players and their embrace of the ABCs of resilience. “Most of them don’t sleep very well, and in two nights, they’re sleeping better.”

Mangram is among those getting more and better rest at night. He told BusinessWest that the class enabled him to respond better to adversity and to deal with stress, rather than let it accumulate, as he did before CLCM.

“This class really helped me realize that I’m not crazy for stressing, and it’s not abnormal to be going through what I’m going through,” he explained. “And it gave me ways to release stress rather than just recognize it, which is what I did in high school — just carrying it over day by day where it’s constantly pounding you down; this helps me start fresh every day.”

And while she spent a good deal of time talking about college football players and their efforts to build resilience, Chandler said the same theory, and the same practice, applies to just about everyone.

“People will say, ‘I’m taking deeper breaths now, and I don’t react as fast; I now respond to things instead,’” she told BusinessWest. “They say, ‘I think about things a little more, and I talk to a friend about things first about what’s going on with me.’ And this is resilience, and then they can thrive in college and in life.”

Gaining Ground

This has been accomplished through the combination of everything in the CMCL playbook, if you will, from deep-breathing exercises (something the Central students were taught as well) to the yoga poses, to the writing assignments and the discussions that followed.

Indeed, writing has become a big part of the CMCL blueprint, said those we spoke with, adding that these exercises ultimately help individuals open up, share challenges and emotions with others going through most of the same things, and, ultimately, release some of the stress that’s been accumulating.

Chandler said she has long been a strong advocate of the Amherst Writers & Artists (AWA) Method, developed by Pat Schneider, author of the book Writing Alone and with Others.

Jim Helling

Jim Helling evokes Charles Darwin as he talks about survival of the fittest from the perspective of being able to respond to adversity.

The ‘method’ is to encourage writing and provide a safe environment in which individuals can experiment, learn, and develop their craft through practice and helpful response from other writers.

Chandler has used the method in many classes she’s taught over the years. Participants generally write to a specific topic at each class, and in most all cases, the results have surprised and encouraged her, while providing more evidence that resilience can indeed be taught and built.

“In one class, they were asked to write about something they had as a child, but don’t have now,” she told BusinessWest, referring to a program at Springfield’s Putnam High School. “Two-thirds of the students wrote about their father. I thought they’d write about a bike or a toy. But that’s how fast people take to writing about what’s important to them.”

The same has proven true with those taking the Torchbearer course, she said, adding that the opportunity to write and then gain support from those who hear what you’ve written has proven to be a powerful force in efforts to become a stress buster or strength builder.

“What’s interesting is that, when you give people the opportunity to write about strengths,” she said, “they feel safe enough to write about problems, which we don’t ask for, but we listen to and focus our feedback on moment of strength within the problems that arise.”

The upshot of all this, when it comes to the football team, is that the players are bonding in a way they didn’t before, said Chandler, and they’ve become more supportive.

“They’ve said that this gets them to know each other better,” she went on. “And that builds a stronger team — they all believe they have each other’s back.”

Bowe concurred. “A lot of people are afraid to talk about stuff they’ve been holding onto for a while,” he said, adding that, for him, the death of his sister certainly fell into that category, and writing about her and then sharing what he wrote with others certainly helped in the healing process.

“When I wrote about that … it was very hard for me to do,” he told BusinessWest. “But we were asked to write about a time when we had to overcome adversity, and that’s what I chose to write about.

“None of my teammates knew about it, and that’s how they found out — that allowed me to get that off my chest,” he went on. “After that, my teammates came to me and comforted me at a time when I needed it most.”

In his recent role as mentor to the Central High School students, he said his unofficial assignment was to help the students open up as he did, and, in the process of doing so, cope with ACEs, focus on strengths, and become more resilient.

“I’m here to let them know that it’s OK to open up,” he explained, “and make it clear that are other people here who are going through the same things that they are.”

Mangram agreed.

“I enjoy being a mentor,” he noted. “It’s a fun experience and a very eye-opening experience. I think I’m making a difference with them — even if they don’t realize it right now.

Tackling Life’s Challenges

Bowe said he managed to get on the field for a few special plays during his first season with the Minutemen, and he’s looking to hear his number (13) called a lot more this coming season.

He’s put some weight on his 6-foot frame and is now officially listed at 192 pounds on the team’s roster. That’s still a little undersized for a linebacker in the FBS Division.

But as he copes with that challenge and the many others he faces, Bowe is certainly more fit than he was a few years ago — as Charles Darwin might say.

And as Genevieve Chandler would say. She’s the architect of the CMCL initiative, and a true hero when it comes to innovation in healthcare.

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

Collaboration in Health/Wellness: The Healthy Hill Initiative

By
Healthcare Heroes

Partnership Brightens the Picture in a Springfield Neighborhood

The Healthy Hill Initiative

The Healthy Hill Initiative
Dani Fine Photography

Helen Caulton-Harris described Donna Blake as a pioneer of sorts.

Indeed, she was one of the first African-American women to take an administrative role with the city of Springfield. But beyond that, she was extremely active within the community, working at the Urban League for decades, serving as a parks commissioner, and always advocating on behalf of children and their well-being.

“She was a staple in the community,” said Caulton-Harris, commissioner of the Division of Health and Human Services in Springfield. “Everyone in the city went to Donna Blake for advice and guidance.”

So it’s only fitting, then, that the small park named in her honor has become a symbol of sorts for turnaround efforts in the Old Hill Neighborhood of the city, and one of the focal points of a multi-faceted initiative called Healthy Hill.

Not long ago, Donna Blake Park was a place to avoid — unless you were looking for drugs or trouble, which you could find easily and in large quantities. As a result, parents didn’t want their kids playing there. The park became a flash point, a symbol of everything that was wrong with that neighborhood, one of the poorest in the city — and the state.

Today, though, the park is, well, what it was created to be — a resource, a gathering spot, a place to exercise, a haven within the neighborhood, especially for its young people.

And it became all this largely because of the Healthy Hill Initiative, or HHI, as it’s known, an endeavor that epitomizes the term ‘collaboration,’ and was the clear winner in that specific Healthcare Heroes category.

HHI is one of 18 sites funded by the BUILD (Bold, Upstream, Integrated, Local, and Data-driven initiatives) Health Challenge, a national grant program created to improve health and well-being in low-income communities. With $2.5 million awarded over five years to the coalition, as well as matching grants, the Healthy Hill Initiative has been working to change the health landscape in Old Hill by focusing on what Frank Robinson, vice president of Public Health and Community Relations at Baystate Health and one of the initiative’s architects, called “the dynamic intersection of two social determinants of health — public safety and access to physical activity.”

It does this through a number of initiatives, from indoor fitness activities for seniors through a collaboration with the YMCA of Greater Springfield and the Springfield Housing Authority, to C3 police efforts designed to build trust and supportive relationships, to a hugely successful program called Let’s Play that has involved more than 65 young people who participate in physical-fitness activities at Donna Blake Park at least two Saturdays a month.

“Let’s Play has been really exciting,” said Sarah Page, senior vice president of Community Building & Engagement for Way Finders, one of the collaborating entities. “Lots of kids come out and play, and the police often come and play with them. And the police feel they’re building wonderful relationships with those young people, which can really make a difference.“

“Years ago, you felt that you were pretty much safer if you just stayed home. But over the years, things have changed, and the neighborhood is transforming itself.”

HHI is a large, very involved collaborative effort, with more than a dozen players. In addition to Way Finders (formerly HAPHousing), which took a lead role in the initiative, as did Partners for a Healthy Community, participating entities include Mercy Medical Center, Baystate Health, Revitalize CDC, the Old Hill Neighborhood Council, and six city departments, including Health and Human Services and the Police Department.

These agencies were all working toward improving Old Hill before HHI was launched, said Caulton-Harris and others we spoke with. But this endeavor took them out of their respective silos and brought them into the same room — literally — and the same fight for better outcomes.

Bur rather than talk about how it all came together and why, those involved were clearly more interested in discussing the many forms of progress it has yielded.

Awilda Sanchez, vice president of the Old Hill Neighborhood Council and a 25-year resident of that area, said the changes are palpable.

“Years ago, you felt that you were pretty much safer if you just stayed home,” she recalled. “I didn’t go out at night, and my children did not play in the public parks. But over the years, things have changed, and the neighborhood is transforming itself.”

Certainly one of the more poignant measures of improvement is the relationship between young people and the police, as related by Beatrice Dewberry, manager of Way Finders.

“Initially, when the police first began to interact with some of the kids who live in a public housing unit on Pendleton Avenue, a boy walked up to the sergeant and said, ‘I don’t like police; you guys arrested a family member and put him in jail for a long time, so I don’t like you guys,’” she recalled. “Now, each week, when we play, the same kid says to the police, ‘when are you guys coming?’ He can’t wait to connect and engage with the officers.”

Defining Moments

Webster defines collaboration as a willingness to “work jointly with others, especially in an intellectual endeavor.”

Those last few words take on new meaning in an age when the health- and wellness-related problems in society are large in scale, complex in nature, and require collaborative efforts if they are to be effectively addressed.

So much so that, as BusinessWest talked with a large and distinguished panel of advisors as it was bringing the Healthcare Heroes program to reality, those individuals made it clear that a category devoted to collaborative efforts should be established.

One was, and it drew a large and diverse mix of projects, all of which drive home the point that, when groups with common goals and ample amounts of energy, imagination, and persistence come together, powerful things can happen.

Nowhere is that more evident than in Springfield’s Old Hill neighborhood, a once-proud (it’s getting back there) enclave of roughly 4,300 residents.

Like many of Springfield’s neighborhoods, Old Hill, largely populated by Hispanics and African-Americans, has experienced years of disinvestment and complex challenges ranging from higher rates of poverty, lower graduation rates, an active drug trade, gang activity, higher rates of violent crime, and increased incidences of chronic disease and obesity, said Robinson. These matters were further complicated by the fact that the June 1, 2011 tornado tore across parts of Old Hill, causing considerable damage.

With an eye toward addressing health- and wellness-related issues in Old Hill, a host of local agencies and city departments came together behind a common vision, he went on, adding that, in many ways, Peter Gagliardi, president and CEO of Way Finders, was the catalyst by bringing attention to the direct correlation between housing and health and essentially inspiring a call for action.

Sarah Page

Sarah Page says the Let’s Play initiative has brought children — and adults — back to Donna Blake Park, which for decades had been a place to avoid.

“He pulled together 40 to 50 people in his office to talk about this connection,” said Caulton-Harris. “There was a recognition of the need to address this intersection of health and housing.

“There was work going on in that neighborhood involving housing and health,” she went on. “But they were separate initiatives; this effort brought them together.”

The effort she referred to took the form of a proposal for the BUILD Health Challenge that was worthy of all those adjectives that make up that acronym (again, they’re ‘bold,’ ‘upstream,’ ‘integrated,’ ‘local,’ and ‘data-driven’).

By way of clarification, those with the BUILD Health Challenge define ‘upstream’ this way: “partnerships that focus on the social, environmental, and economic factors that have the greatest influence on the health of a community, rather than on access or care delivery.”

And the Healthy Hill Initiative certainly fits that description, said Page, noting that the HHI was clearly focused on those social factors, including everything from housing to public safety to neighborhood infrastructure and facilities — or the lack thereof.

And the application efforts were certainly helped by the fact that there were already initiatives in place to help revitalize Old Hill, including a five-year strategic plan created after the tornado as well as Revitalize CDC’s plan to revitalize 10 blocks of the neighborhood over a 10-year period, an endeavor launched in 2012.

The initiative is also data-driven, said Jessica Collins, executive director of Partners for a Healthier Community, adding that her agency and others involved could look at maps of Old Hill and identify blocks where there were high incidences of asthma, obesity, and other problems.

“It was exciting for us to be able to look at that granular level of health data,” she explained, noting that it was necessary to apply for the grant. “We had never done that before.

“We had an amazing team working on data; information came from health clinics, the school system, and other sources, and then put through GIS,” she went on, adding that the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and Baystate Health both worked to crunch the numbers.

And they revealed that considerable work needed to be done, Dewberry said, adding that the accumulated data was used, along with considerable feedback from the community, to develop specific strategic initiatives, especially in the realms of physical activity and getting young people back out in the parks.

Exercise in Collaboration

But for that to happen, residents had to be convinced that the park was safe, and this took some doing, said Sanchez, adding the park was known as a place for gang recruitment and a host of illegal activities.

Parental approval was required to get children to the park, she went on, adding that people went door to door to secure this approval.

The resurgence of the park has had a transformative effect on the rest of the neighborhood, said all those we spoke with, adding that the return of children playing, the interaction between young people and police, and other positive developments have helped convince Old Hill residents that change is in the air — and they should be out in that air.

“The playing, the physical activity, the public-safety piece, having a safe environment for children … those pieces are critical,” said Caulton-Harris. “And when people see activity in the neighborhood, it definitely makes residents feel it’s safe to come out of their houses, particularly the elderly.”

Dewberry agreed, and told BusinessWest that, beyond a greater overall feeling of safety, the various components of HHI have contributed to creating a neighborhood that is in many ways better connected, something it has certainly not been historically.

“We talk about social cohesion and building this unified, connected neighborhood,” she explained. “And a lot of what we’re doing with the Healthy Hill Initiative is working toward that end.

“Let’s Play is a great example of that,” she went on. “For example, an elderly couple that has custody of their grandkids, they didn’t let the kids come out, but now they do, and they come out as well, to engage with us and engage with the other kids. We have parents and guardians coming, as well as resident health advocates, who also come. We’re developing community and building that social cohesion that has proven to be effective in deterring crime and reporting crime.”

Meanwhile, Healthy Hill Initiative has become a leading-edge example of how healthcare providers, moving beyond a fee-for-service model and into an accountable-care model, are taking on new responsibilities with regard to the health of the communities, and embracing that role, said Doreen Fadus, executive director of Community Health and Well-being at Trinity Health of New England and Mercy Medical Center.

“From a hospital perspective, this initiative and others have changed the culture, especially of the leadership of the hospital,” she explained. “Instead of thinking that these are nice things that the hospital does, these are things we have a responsibility to do to make the neighborhood healthier.

“As we move away from fee for service and just treating people when they’re sick, the leadership is more focused on the social determinants of health. This is our mission; these are the things we should be doing in the community.”

As Sanchez surveys Old Hill today, she sees less blight, she told BusinessWest, a direct result of many of the initiatives taking place in that neighborhood to rebuild properties and clear vacant lots once used as dumping grounds.

But she also sees more green — in the form of flowers, new trees, and vegetable gardens — and, most importantly, more people, who obviously feel safe enough to walk, exercise, and get some fresh air.

And with all that, she’s seeing a lot of what she left behind when she moved here from Puerto Rico decades ago.

“In Puerto Rico, communities are people knowing each other on the block, helping each other … the kids are being cared for by everyone,” she explained. “That’s what I wanted to see in Old Hill, and we’re starting to see that. I can see the difference.”

It came about because of determination, imagination, and, most importantly, collaboration.

Developing Story

Returning to that story she told about the young boy living in the public housing project who once hated police but soon couldn’t wait to engage with them in the park, Dewberry said her agency has tons of pictures of police and young people playing together.

Perhaps more than anything else, these images tell the story of how Old Hill is experiencing change and progress. Not so long ago, this neighborhood, and the park that has been at the forefront of so much that has happened, were the picture of disinvestment, the picture of a neighborhood in crisis.

HHI has brought better times, and better health, into focus.

And Donna Blake would certainly be proud.

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

Prospect Meadow Farm Provides Jobs, Therapy

By
growthopportunities-0917a
Features

Growth Opportunities

Aerial Mehler with ‘Snowy,’ her pet goat.

Aerial Mehler with ‘Snowy,’ her pet goat.

When Prospect Meadow Farm was conceived six years ago, the thinking was that working outdoors and with animals could have a significant therapeutic effect on those with autism or developmental disorders. “That’s something I believed in before this started, but I didn’t quite know how powerful it was,” Shawn Robinson noted, adding that he certainly knows now.

Aerial Mehler grew up on the western end of Long Island, just a short train ride from Manhattan. So, in most all respects, she considers herself a city girl.

Thus, when her family relocated to Western Mass. several years ago, her first reaction was that this region was, in all likelihood, too rural for her liking.

And when she was approached about working at Prospect Meadow Farm in Hatfield, a vocational-services program operated by Northampton-based ServiceNet, after becoming frustrated at a few other employment settings, she was more than a little dubious about the notion that she would soon warm to the place, vocationally and otherwise.

“I thought, ‘I’m from the city — I don’t do this stuff,’” she told BusinessWest, adding that today … well, she does do that stuff, or at least some of the many things that fall into the broad realm of agriculture and farm management.

In fact, she is the program assistant to the facility’s director, Shawn Robinson, and carries out a host of administrative duties ranging from sending out bills to the farm’s many customers, especially those who purchase its eggs and log-grown shiitake mushrooms, to drafting reports to the state, to maintaining the farm’s Facebook page.

“I call myself the on-call employee, because if something needs to be done, I do it, and it’s something different every day,” said Mehler, 29, who actually owns one of the goats now living at the farm, a spirited white female appropriately named ‘Snowy.’

“I’d say I’m a regular here, but that’s a setting on a washing machine,” she joked, expressing an opinion held (if not openly expressed) by most all those who work at the farm — men and women of all ages who are on the autism spectrum or have a developmental disability.

Indeed, there are no ‘regulars’ at Prospect Meadow, only individuals with various talents who, it was thought, could certainly benefit from working outdoors, around animals, and as part of a diverse workforce handling various assignments that, like Mehler’s, are different every day — and also make $11 an hour while doing so.

And six years later, that theory has been validated — and then some.

parsley

At top, farmhand Brittany Rawson tends to some of the parsley plants at Prospect Meadow Farm. Below, Shawn Robinson, director of the farm, with one of the resident llamas.

At top, farmhand Brittany Rawson tends to some of the parsley plants at Prospect Meadow Farm. Below, Shawn Robinson, director of the farm, with one of the resident llamas.

“When the facility was created in 2011, it was with the thinking that there would be a significant therapeutic effect to working outdoors and working with animals,” said Robinson. “That’s something I believed in before this started, but I didn’t quite know how powerful it was.

“One thing that we’ve seen is that people who were not successful in other work programs and had explosive behaviors, for example, would come here, and we just wouldn’t see those behaviors,” he went on. “And I have to credit a lot of it to the outdoors and the animals.”

Prospect Meadow is a multi-faceted operation with many moving parts. There are anywhere from 800 to 1,000 chickens on the property at any given time, and egg sales are a huge part of this business. Likewise, a shiitake-mushroom venture that started small and continues to grow provides those products to a host of area restaurants and stores.

There is also a landscaping component — crews will be sent out to handle a wide range of small residential and commercial jobs — as well as a catering operation managed out of the farmhouse. There are also plans in the works for both a feed store and a small café, separate operations that will provide employees with additional opportunities to interact with the public.

And, yes, the farm sells goats as well — to those, like Aerial, who want them as pets; to groups who need them for culinary offerings to be served at dinners and festivals; and to entrepreneurs who ‘employ’ them as “lawnmowers,” as Robinson called them.

But while Prospect Meadow might be gaining an identity from all of the above and especially the mushrooms, it is, at its core, a place of opportunity — employment-wise and personal-development-wise — for those who come here and don shirts with the farm’s logo, a rooster.

“We’re helping to increase these individuals’ skills and improve any sort of vocational deficiencies that may be identified, while also providing them with a real, paying job experience in a supportive environment,” Robinson explained, “with the hope that combining that support with that training could eventually lead to them being very successful in any career they pursue elsewhere.”

For this issue, BusinessWest visited Prospect Meadow to gain a full appreciation for the many aspects of this operation and the many ways it is cultivating growth, in every sense of that term.

An Idea Takes Root

When BusinessWest asked Robinson if he could pick up one of the chickens he was pointing out as he offered a tour of the farm and make it part of a picture, he replied with a confident “sure, no problem.”

The chickens, however, were not going along with the program.

Indeed, try as he might — and he tried several times — Robinson could not get both hands around any of these fast-moving fowl, and both hands are needed. So he suggested that the resident llamas might prove to be more willing subjects for a photo shoot.

Farm director Shawn Robinson (second from left) with, from left, farmhands Ana Tyson, Vicki Taft, and Justin Cabral.

Farm director Shawn Robinson (second from left) with, from left, farmhands Ana Tyson, Vicki Taft, and Justin Cabral.

Only, they weren’t. They were rather shy and kept retreating to their wooden home or the shaded area behind it; only bribery, in the form of a late-morning snack, seemed to help. Their recalcitrance gave Robinson an opportunity to shed some light on their presence at the farm (in some respects, they are where this story begins) and one of their primary assignments — protecting the chickens who live in the same general area on the 11-acre property.

“They use their legs to really fight, and other animals know that, and even their scent keeps some predators away … but they’ll go after other animals, too,” said Robinson, noting that, while llamas are certainly not indigenous to Hatfield, many chicken-loving animals that are, including coyotes, bobcats, and even the occasional bear, seem to know instinctively that messing with a llama is not a good career move.

But these long-legged animals have, as noted, another, far more important role at Prospect Meadow, that of being therapy of sorts for those who come to work there, and this takes Robinson back before the start of this decade and the genesis of Prospect Meadow.

A ServiceNet-operated residential program in Williamsburg for individuals with psychiatric issues was gifted some llamas, he explained, adding that the animals were having a recognizably positive impact on the residents, information that made its way back to ServiceNet director Sue Stubbs.

She was already aware of highly successful farm operations at the former Northampton State Hospital and other similar facilities, he said, and this knowledge, coupled with entreaties from the state for the development of more innovative vocational-services programs, spurred discussions about perhaps establishing such an operation.

However, the original vision was for a residential program for individuals with chronic mental illness, he continued, adding that Prospect Meadow eventually evolved into what it is today, a vocational program with 40 to 45 people working on the property on a any given day.

As for Robinson, he had no experience in the sector known as agribusiness, but that didn’t stop him from seeking out this career opportunity — or from thinking he had what it would really take to succeed in the role of director.

“I live in Hatfield and know lots of farmers, but certainly wasn’t an expert in that area,” he told BusinessWest. “But I was an expert in developing things and building things, so I was pretty confident that I could come up with a vision and develop this into something with the support of the ServiceNet leadership.”

And he was right; he’s built Prospect Meadow into that unique vocational-services program the state desired.

Individuals are referred to the program through the Mass. Department of Developmental Services (DDS) or through a school’s special-education department, and they often arrive after working in other settings.

Most of the farmhands are between the ages of 18 and 35, but there are some who are much older, and one individual recently retired after turning 65. They come from across Western Mass., but most live in Franklin and Hampshire counties.

Revenue to maintain the farm and its various facilities and pay some of the employees is generated in a number of ways, including the sale of eggs, mushrooms, and other products; the catering and landscaping services; and through community-supported agriculture (CSA) shares sold to area residents who, through those contributions, not only support the farm and its work, but fill their table with fresh produce.

Robinson said the farm operation takes on added significance today not only because it provides a different and in many ways better employment opportunity for those with various developmental disabilities, but because such opportunities are becoming increasingly harder to find.

Indeed, he said piecework job opportunities in area factories are fewer in number, and for a variety of reasons. And while some employers actively hire individuals with developmental disabilities, there is a recognized need for more landing spots.

Not a Garden-variety Business

Still, as noted, Prospect Meadow isn’t merely another a place of employment for those who come here. Because it is agribusiness, it provides opportunities daily that fall more in the category of ‘therapy’ than ‘work,’ although they are obviously both.

And this brought Robinson back to the subject of the animals, which are not exactly a profit center (with the exception of the chickens and their eggs), but provide payback of a far different kind.

“We keep the animals, even at a little bit of a loss, because they are able to make the farmhands more impactful in their other work,” he explained. “Having that 20 minutes to feed a goat in the morning or care for a rabbit makes them more focused when they’re dealing with the shiitake mushrooms or working in the garden.”

Indeed, the farmhands, when asked about what they enjoyed most about coming to work every day, typically started with the animals.

But they also spoke of the importance of the bigger picture, meaning being able to earn a better paycheck, learn a number of different skills, do something different every day, and work alongside others.

It was Justin Cabral, an energetic, extremely candid 26-year-old from Deerfield, who probably best summed up the many types of opportunities that the farm provides to individuals like him.

“I really love this job; it’s a real blessing,” he told BusinessWest, before going into some detail about all that he meant by that. And he started with some very practical matters.

“Before I came here, I was doing piecework at a different place,” he noted. “The pay wasn’t very good at all; I decided to leave and come here.”

We’re helping to increase these individuals’ skills … while also providing them with a real, paying job experience in a supportive environment.”

But then, he moved on to the many other elements in this equation — everything from gaining confidence from taking on various job assignments (including work to drill holes in logs with power tools) to learning how to work in teams, to overcoming fears, such as those involving animals.

“I drill holes in the shiitake logs, and I’ve become really good at it,” said Cabral, now in his second year at the farm. “And I used to be afraid of the chickens and the rabbits, and a lot of the animals here, but not anymore.

“I like everything … I like the egg collections, I like working out in the fields, I like feeding the animals, I like hanging out with my friends, and a lot more,” he said in conclusion. “It’s a great job, and there’s something here for everybody.”

Those sentiments were echoed by the many others we spoke with, and through their comments it became clear that Prospect Meadow provides much more than jobs.

Indeed, Robinson said the experience gained at the farm can open the doors for people in a variety of other settings, including other area farms, where individuals would work independent of state support.

Meanwhile, there are career paths at Prospect Meadow itself, he noted, adding that one can move — and some have — from farmhand to senior farmhand to ‘job coach,’ a level where the state is providing no funding for the individual, who has moved into what amounts to, as the name implies, a coaching position.

Scott Kingsley, 36, is a candidate for that job title, which would bring with it a host of new responsibilities, a pay increase, and benefits such as health insurance. He is currently working to help open the feed store and will work closely with those assigned to that operation.

“I like working with the animals, but I also like doing all kinds of different things,” said Kingsley, clutching the walkie-talkie that also comes with senior-farmhand status. “I guess what I like most is working with other people and helping them make money.”

Experts in Their Field

As he wrapped up his interview with BusinessWest, Cabral turned to Robinson, who asked him if he wanted to go back to his duties at the shiitake logs or hang in and listen to others as they offered comments.

“I’m not getting paid to sit here and talk,” he said with a voice that blended sarcasm and seriousness in equal doses. “I’ve got to go back to work.”

And he did just that, as the others would when it was their turn.

Most of them come here for four or five days a week, in all kinds of weather and at all times of year (this is a farm, after all). But none of them would prefer to be called a regular.

That term, as Mehler so eloquently noted, should be reserved for one of the buttons on a washing machine.

Here, there are only individual farmhands who together comprise a hard-working team that makes this farm a well-run business where there are growth opportunities — of every breed and variety.

And a place that can almost prompt Mehler to say she was a city girl.

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

Lee Builds on Identity as Gateway to Berkshires

By
Community Spotlight Features

Community Spotlight

By Alta J. Stark

Colleen Henry says Lee has always had a great location, but as a community, it has also been very innovative.

Colleen Henry says Lee has always had a great location, but as a community, it has also been very innovative.

Ask a Lee business leader or owner what the key to their success is, and you’ll hear one resounding answer: “location, location, location.”

Lee’s prime location at Massachusetts Turnpike exit 2 has afforded the town some of the best economic opportunities in Berkshire County. “It’s ideal in that regard,” said Jonathan Butler, the president and CEO of 1Berkshire.

“Lee has always had a solid amount of traffic through its downtown because of its proximity to the Pike, and having Route 20 run right through its downtown, but the community doesn’t rest on location alone,” he told BusinessWest. “They’ve done a lot of work to make the town a destination, not just a spot people pass through.”

The community has undergone quite an impressive downtown revitalization over the past decade, following a series of economic transitions in the ’80s and ’90s, as large employers, including a series of paper mills, closed. The most recent such closure was Schweitzer-Mauduit International in 2008, which led to the loss of several hundred jobs in the community. Butler says the town got back on its feet by “forging a partnership between its town government and its community development corporation. They did a lot of good work in the 2000s, focusing on redevelopment projects of a few key downtown properties. They also did a big facelift for the downtown, making it look much more inviting for all the traffic that comes through.”

“People have worked really hard to make Lee beautiful and livable,” said Colleen Henry, executive director of the Lee Chamber of Commerce. “We’re very innovative in Lee, and always have been.”

In fact, town founders were so savvy, they redirected the location of the Housatonic River. Lee was founded in the 1700s when the river flowed down the town’s current Main Street. Henry says the area flooded often because it was on a downhill, so the river was redirected to expand to the riverbank and enable downtown to flourish.

Today, there’s a lot of diversity to Lee’s economy, including high-quality manufacturing jobs, farms, quality eateries and resorts, eclectic stores, coffee shops, and iconic retailers.

This mix has created an intriguing business story, one that is continuously adding new chapters. For this, the latest installment of its Community Spotlight series, BusinessWest turns some of those pages.

What’s in Store

The largest employer in Lee is the Lee Premium Outlets, which, during the tourist season, employs about 750 people in its 60 outlet stores. Carolyn Edwards, general manager of the complex, said the facility recognizes the important role it plays in driving the local economy.

“We tend to advertise out of market to draw tourists and shoppers to the region. Our customer base is driven by cultural attractions such as Tanglewood, Jacob’s Pillow, and Shakespeare & Company,” said Edwards. “But once they’re here, they make a day, sometimes a week of it, and we’re always giving recommendations for ‘what’s a great restaurant to eat at?’ or ‘can you recommend a great hotel to stay at tonight?’ If it’s a rainy day, they ask, ‘what can I do with the kids?’

“We try to stay in tune with what’s going on in the community,” she went on. “And I think it’s a good relationship where we offer something for folks who are here, and then we’re driving business elsewhere as well.”

Edwards said the outlets average about 2 million visitors a year, with shoppers coming from local markets, as well as regional and international locations.

Lee Premium Outlets has become a destination within a destination community.

Lee Premium Outlets has become a destination within a destination community.

“I love meeting the customers,” she said. “I’m always amazed at people who show up from far and away. In the summer, we have a lot of foreign camp counselors who come here to ramp up their wardrobes before going back to the UK, France, and Spain. It’s fun to see them buy things that they’re excited to bring back and show their families. We always look forward to their return.”

Edwards said they come for brand names like Michael Kors, Coach, and Calvin Klein, and they return each year to see what’s new. “We always want to deliver a new experience when someone comes. We’re different from maybe your local mall in that respect because we’re kind of a destination. Shoppers look forward to coming, they plan on coming, and when they do, that’s always the first question: ‘what’s new?’”

Down the road a piece is the headquarters and distribution center of another iconic retailer, Country Curtains. Colleen Henry said its annual sale at the Rink is a big draw. “When they have their sales, they put up a sign. People stop their cars and get out. Once they do that, and walk around Lee and see all that we have to offer, then we all benefit.”

Trade, transportation, and utilities lead the list of employment by industry in Lee, followed by leisure and hospitality, and education and health services. Manufacturing is number four on the list, and while many of the paper mills have closed, the sector is still holding strong, making up more than 7% of the workforce in the Berkshires, and representing some of the highest wages in the region. In Lee, in particular, there are three high-tech companies along the Route 102 corridor that are providing some of the highest wages in the region.

Onyx Specialty Papers is the town’s third-largest employer with more than 150 employees. Butler said it’s a remnant of some of the larger mill closings in the 2000s that was bought by local shareholders with a vision. “It’s now locally run and owned, and they’ve innovated their technology to produce very unique, technically exacting papers. Their products are distributed across the globe.”

Down the road there’s Berkshire Sterile Manufacturing, a manufacturer to the pharmaceutical industry, a relatively new employer that found its way to Lee with the help of a strong regional partnership.

“We not only helped them find space, we also worked with our local community college to do some specific training for their workforce needs,” said Butler.

SEE: Lee at a glance

Year Incorporated: 1777
Population: 5,878
Area: 27 square miles
County: Berkshire
Residential Tax Rate: $14.72
Commercial Tax Rate: $14.72
Median Household Income: $58,790
Median Family Income: $71,452
Type of government: Representative Town Meeting
Largest employers: Lee Premium Outlets; Country Curtains; Onyx Specialty Papers; the Village at Laurel Lake; Oak ‘n Spruce Resort; Big Y
* Latest information available

A third high-end employer providing quality jobs is Boyd Technologies, another company that’s been successful in transitioning from one generation of ownership to the next. Butler said he’s encouraged by these companies because “they’re doing a great job of innovating and diversifying what they’re doing. The economy’s evolving, and they’re evolving with it.”

Henry said she’s working to bring in more high-tech companies. “We have the space for it; we have more open land than a few others of the towns in the Berkshires, so we have the room to grow and expand.”

Henry is also excited by a huge project that’s been on the horizon for several years now, the redevelopment of the Eagle Mill. It’s one of those old Schweitzer-Mauduit mills off North Main Street that has been closed for several years.

Renaissance Mill LLC is working to transform the space into a mix of different economic uses that could help expand downtown offerings, adding everything from lodging to additional eateries and attractions.

“Projects like the Eagle Mill give Lee the opportunity to continue to become a bigger and bigger part of the Berkshire visitor economy, and it’s also a space that eventually will be able to attract next-generation families with a variety of different affordable-housing options,” said Butler. “Presently, Lee boasts relatively reasonable real-estate prices from both the rental and buyer’s market perspective. Adding additional affordable housing will position the town to be very competitive.”

Character Building

Of course, the heart and soul of the town is its quintessential New England charm. Lee has maintained its small-town character through decades of growth and change.

“That’s what we’re all about, and what we would like to be known for even more,” said Henry. “We benefit from the location because we’re at the entrance to a great tourist destination, but we also benefit from the location because it’s beautiful on its own.”

Butler agreed, noting that “Lee is one of those Berkshire communities that’s really bounced back in the past 15 years in terms of its downtown being filled up with great coffee shops, cool bars and restaurants, and an interesting mix of quality stores. It really has a destination feel to it for visitors to the Berkshires, but it’s also the type of downtown that’s really prominent for residents who live in the community.”

Joe’s Diner has been serving the community for more than 60 years, literally and figuratively. Customers far and wide know the diner as the backdrop of one of Norman Rockwell’s most well-known works, “The Runaway,” featuring a state trooper and a young boy sitting on stools in the diner.

The Sept. 20, 1958 Saturday Evening Post cover hangs proudly in the diner, next to a photo of the neighbors Rockwell recruited to model for him, state trooper Richard Clemens and Eddie Locke. Longtime staffers are used to the attention, and don’t miss a beat filling coffee cups while they help make memories for visitors.

Lee is also home to “the best courtroom in the county,” where its most famous case was that of Arlo Guthrie, whose day in court is remembered in the lyrics to his famous war-protest song, “Alice’s Restaurant.”

But there are other hidden gems that Henry invites people to discover, like the Animagic Museum on Main Street, where visitors can learn about the many local animators who made movie magic in films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Matrix, and The Lord of the Rings. One of the town’s quirkiest claims to fame is on property that was once the Highfield Farm. “Monument to a Cow” is a marble statue of a cow named Highfield Colantha Mooie, who in her 18 years produced 205,928 pounds of milk.

Henry says it’s the diversity of business and industry that drives Lee’s economy.

“You can get everything you need in Lee. You don’t have to go somewhere else,” she said. “And you can buy from people who you know, people you see in church and in the grocery store and at basketball games. Supporting the community is really important, and people really do that in Lee. Residents understand that supporting the local economy is really important to our survival.”

Edwards said Lee is unique because of its thriving downtown.

“It’s alive, and it’s beautiful. You turn onto Main Street and see flowers everywhere,” she said. “It’s well-kept, and there are locally owned businesses there and restaurants that are very unique and not necessarily chain restaurants, so there is the best of both worlds in Lee.”

On Location

Henry says she’s proud to be part of Lee’s success story and recognizes it’s just part of the bigger Berkshire picture.

“We’re a work in progress, part of a bigger whole that’s more than just individual town thinking,” she told BusinessWest. “We’re tied into this together in a lot of ways.”

Butler agreed, and said the region has a good handle on the future. “We know what the challenges are, and we have a growing understanding of where the opportunities are,” he explained. “Lee is a great microcosm of the Berkshires in that it went through the same economic transitions that the majority of our communities went through in the ’70s into the ’90s and early 2000s, but Lee bounced back.

“It’s found its place in the visitor economy,” he went on. “It’s found its place in having employers that are evolving and doing cutting-edge things, and it’s attracting families. It’s a really great example of the potential for all our Berkshire communities.”

Lee Builds on Identity as Gateway to Berkshires

By
Opinion

Editorial

By Alta J. Stark

When BusinessWest launched its Healthcare Heroes initiative, we knew this program would by eye-opening in many respects.

We understood it would identify a number of forward-thinking individuals and institutions, as well as some cutting-edge work. We understood it would generate some stories that needed to be told. And we understood it would identify some real heroes. It did all that, and then some, as the section that begins on page 15 reveals.

We created Healthcare Heroes because, despite the fact that BusinessWest has two other popular recognition programs — Difference Makers and 40 Under Forty — many of the outstanding individuals and stories from the broad realm of healthcare are overlooked, in part because these individuals are simply doing their jobs. The results — and the stories — far exceeded our lofty expectations.

Start with Sister Mary Caritas, winner in the ‘lifetime achievement’ category . The word ‘legend’ doesn’t get used much in Western Mass. We don’t have many legends here, it seems. But it works in this case. Her career in healthcare started when Truman was in the White House, and she’s still writing new chapters.

But it’s not simply the longevity that shapes this story; it is her ability to fight for a good cause, innovate, advocate for the most vulnerable of constituencies, and most importantly, inspire others to do all of the above. She is, as one friend and colleague noted, a remarkable woman.

As for the other heroes, they are all innovators as well, individuals and institutions working on the cutting edge within their fields and, more to the point, determining just what the cutting edge is or should be.

Examples include Dr. Andrew Doben, hero in the ‘innovation’ category, who is saving lives and changing lives with a surgical procedure known as rib fixation, and Genevieve Chandler, our other hero in the ‘innovation’ category, who has become a pioneer in work to help young people become more resilient.

But innovation comes in many forms, and this fact is made clear by some of our other heroes, such as Erin Daley, our winner in the ‘emerging leader’ category, who has orchestrated efforts to make the Mercy Medical Center Emergency Department more efficient and a better ‘front door’ for the hospital and this region. And also Molly Senn-McNally, winner in the ‘community health’ category, who is using powerful poverty-simulation seminars to help medical residents and medical students better understand the many challenges facing the region’s many low-income residents, and, through these efforts, making them better doctors.

‘Innovator’ is a term that could also be applied to Dr. Michael Willers, a pediatric cardiologist and winner in the ‘provider’ category, who works (and plays) hard to make his young patients — not to mention their parents — understand what’s happening with their heart and be at ease as he provides care. And also to Holly Chaffee, president and CEO of Porchlight VNA/Home Care, winner in the ‘administration’ category, who has created a culture of entrepreneurship, innovation, and risk taking — one that has enabled that company to earn the highest ratings in its class.

And ‘innovator’ could also be used to describe all those involved in the Healthy Hill Initiative (HHI) in Springfield, the winner in the ‘collaboration’ category. This multi-faceted effort to improve the health and well-being of residents in the city’s Old Hill neighborhood gives new meaning to that term.

As we said at the top, this inaugural Healthcare Heroes class, and the collection of stories behind their various efforts, is truly eye-opening.

But more than that, it is inspiring, reminding us of what a true hero is — someone who advocates for others and gives of themselves in unselfish ways to improve life for all of us.

In that respect, all of our winners — and all those who were nominated for this award — are true heroes.

Solving the Alzheimer’s Puzzle

By
Opinion

Opinion

By Michael O. Moore

Imagine being unable to recognize your child’s face, or to witness a brother or sister forgetting their sibling’s name.

It’s upsetting to think about. Yet, with more than 5 million Americans suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, this is a frightening reality for many. Alzheimer’s permeates nearly every community in our country, forcing millions of families to suffer through the pain of having loved ones gradually forget the people and memories they previously cherished.

The burden placed on these families can be overwhelming as they struggle to best take care of their ailing family member while dealing with their own grief and heartache brought on by their loved one’s memory loss.

Despite declining mortality rates for many other diseases, Alzheimer’s continues to be on the rise. It has emerged as the sixth-leading cause of death in the U.S., with no signs of slowing its upward trajectory.

In Massachusetts, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts that by 2025, there will be more than 150,000 people suffering from Alzheimer’s. That’s more than 427 people in each community in the Bay State.

Cognizant of the challenges we face in this ongoing battle, I have filed legislation that would establish the Massachusetts Alzheimer’s Project within the state’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services. Its purpose is to create and integrate a statewide plan to accelerate the development of treatments that could prevent, halt, or reverse Alzheimer’s disease.

This bill would establish an advisory council on Alzheimer’s research and treatment in order to guide the state on matters related to the disease. This council, served by experts in healthcare, would coordinate with the federal government and other states to recommend policies that promote Alzheimer’s care and disease research.

Furthermore, this legislation recognizes that certain ethnic and racial populations are at an elevated risk for Alzheimer’s disease. In an effort to decrease health disparities across the Commonwealth, this bill would ensure that a greater focus is placed on these high-risk populations.

Ultimately, this legislative initiative will help our state prepare for the predicted increase in Alzheimer’s diagnoses, as well as educate and raise awareness on the disease. The bill, S.1239, is now before the Joint Committee on Public Health, where I hope it will receive a favorable recommendation. This critical piece of legislation will go a long way to supporting our senior citizens, aging veterans, local families, and the community as a whole.

As our population continues to grow and age, we must be proactive in ensuring we have a coordinated effort to treat and address the impact this disease has on individuals and the families who care for them. v

Michael O. Moore is a Massachusetts state senator, D-Millbury.

MGM Puts Team, Strategies in Place for Staffing Up

By
mgmfeature-0917a
Employment Sections

Hire Power

Wanda Gispert, regional vice president of Talent & Workforce Development for MGM Resorts International.

Wanda Gispert, regional vice president of Talent & Workforce Development for MGM Resorts International.

The final countdown has begun at MGM Springfield; the $950 million casino will be open for business in just over a year. That means roughly 3,000 people must be hired between now and then, a massive task that falls to a team that has already been hard at work for months.

126,000.

That’s the number of applications that Wanda Gispert is expecting for the 3,000 or so positions that MGM Springfield must fill between now and opening night roughly a year from now — actually, well before opening night.

Doing the quick math, Gispert, who takes the title of regional vice president of Talent and Workforce Development for MGM Resorts International, acknowledges that this number equates to just over 40 applicants per job.

That might be the average, but the number of applicants will vary wildly with the position, she told BusinessWest, adding that, for top-level positions, like vice president of table games, there might be hundreds of candidates.

And then, for some positions, 40 applicants for each posting would be a blessing, but certainly not a reality.

“Being a butcher is a lost art — a lot of people don’t have that specific skill,” she said, adding that the casino will need a handful of such individuals. The same is true of pastry chefs and security personnel specifically trained to work with canines.

Filling the hundreds of different kinds of positions needed to operate MGM’s $959 million casino in Springfield’s South End is now Gispert’s responsibility. Actually, she leads a team of people that will handle this assignment, one she is still building.

As she goes about her work, she will draw on years of experience with meeting the considerable workforce challenges of major corporations within the broad hospitality sector.

Her specialty is opening new properties, and her résumé includes considerable work within the hotel industry, specifically with Marriott Hilton, opening more than 200 properties within the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean, while serving on what is known as the ‘new-opening team.’

She later went to work for MGM Resorts International, and took the lead role in assembling the team of roughly 4,000 for the company’s National Harbor casino, which opened earlier this year.

She will also draw on a host of resources, everything from the area’s community colleges and workforce-related agencies to websites that can tell her which companies are downsizing across the country and, therefore, what types of talented individuals might be looking for work.

Overall, she said assembling a workforce for MGM Springfield will pose some challenges, but nothing out of the ordinary for such assignments.

The region boasts a large, qualified workforce, she noted, and it has the resources in place to train those who will need specific training, such as dealers. Meanwhile, MGM’s name and reputation within the gaming industry will bring a number of experienced workers into this market, giving the new casino ample talent to draw from as its fills out its team.

“With every market that we service, we see challenges in certain areas,” she explained, noting that this region would certainly not boast many experienced casino workers because legalized gaming only came to this state a year ago. “What’s encouraging about this area is that there are professions that easily transfer over to what we need; the banking industry is huge here, for example. From a cage-operations standpoint and how you run a casino behind the scenes — meaning accounting, finance, human resources, and other areas — we have a lot of positions there, but we know skills will transfer over.”

For this issue and its focus on employment, BusinessWest talked at length with Gispert about the hiring process for MGM Springfield and how things will unfold over the next year.

Surveying the Situation

As she assessed the challenge of staffing up at MGM Springfield, Gispert made a number of observations.

Among them is the fact this is a good time to be in a culinary-arts program, and for fairly obvious reasons made clear by her reference to pastry chefs and how hard it will be to find them. It’s also a good time to be a math teacher or a retired math teacher, for less-obvious reasons she would explain. And it’s a good time to be a bank teller, especially one who might be downsized in this time when there is need for fewer of those professionals.

As for math teachers and those who have retired from that profession, Gispert said they are the perfect sorts for the behind-the-scenes positions in surveillance.

“Those jobs are very different from security positions,” she explained. “Everyone in surveillance is given a math test; they have to understand all the games — poker, blackjack, craps, everything that we offer — and they need to be able to do math in their head very well, because if I’m watching a play, how do I know if an odd is being paid out properly?

“They catch mistakes; they catch possible cheating,” she went on. “They’re the eyes and ears of the casino. They must be really sharp, and their facial-recognition skills must be really strong.”

Loss-prevention specialists for major retailers would obviously be good candidates for such positions, she continued, but those math teachers and former math teachers are also ideal.

And teachers, in general, are good candidates for jobs through the casino, and for many reasons.

“They’re off every night, they’re off every weekend, they’re off for Christmas,” she said while listing some. “We love school teachers; many of our employers teach school because they have the perfect schedule.”

As noted, Gispert can talk about filling such positions from experience — lots of it.

A graduate of Georgia State’s respected hospitality program (the school is located in Atlanta, a popular site for conventions), she said she started her career on the front desk of a Holiday Inn at age 18 and has worked in a host of different positions within the hotel sector.

“I think that’s what’s given me my edge,” she told BusinessWest. “I’ve worked all of those jobs — I’ve washed dishes, I’ve made beds, I’ve worked in sales. You’re a jack of all trades at that point, and when you’re recruiting for those positions or training for them, you know what to look for, and you know how to train better because you’ve been in that position.”

Jason Randall

Jason Randall says the process of onboarding MGM employees is well underway.

As noted, she’s taken all that experience in hotels and added casino staffing to her résumé, assignments that are similar to hotels but have some additional wrinkles, such as host-community agreements, which stipulate commitments that the casino will make to hiring people from the specific host community and region surrounding it.

With MGM Springfield, that commitment is to have more than one-third (35%) of the workforce be comprised of people living in Springfield or from Springfield.

That last consideration is a very important one, said Gispert, adding that one of the things Springfield officials hoped to do by luring a casino here was to bring back some of those young people (with ‘young’ being a relative term) who decided they needed to go elsewhere to find fulfillment of their career aspirations.

That commitment to designate a third of the jobs to those with Springfield roots, as well as other commitments (to hire veterans, for example) is essentially a starting point for this assignment, said Gispert.

“That’s how I start crafting how I will approach my workforce-development game plan for the area,” she explained, adding that 90% of the workforce must come from this region, which is defined loosely as Greater Springfield.

Counting Down

Running down some of the numbers involved with her assignment (there are always lots of numbers to consider when talking about a casino), Gispert said the largest specific team, or department, will be dealers; roughly 600 of them will be needed for blackjack, poker, and other games. A large security force will also be needed, she went on, noting that roughly 200 individuals will be required for such work.

There will be a number of restaurants and catering operations, so about 150 culinary artists will be required, she said, adding that there are subsets within that broad realm (pastry chef, for example), and there will be about 80 cashier, or ‘cage,’ positions, as they’re called; these are people who will be handling money.

There are also a number of positions for which the casino will need just a few talented individuals, or perhaps even one. Butcher falls in that category, as does locksmith, security people that can work with dogs, and ‘master tailor’ (there will likely be just one of those).

When asked about the schedule moving forward when it comes to the process of putting a team in place, Gispert said the hiring has already begun in many areas, especially within the higher levels of management, meaning those who will lead the teams that will be assembled.

The matter of when specific positions will be filled will be determined by several factors, she went on, but especially how much training is involved and, obviously, when the employees in question will be needed.

As an example, she noted security personnel. This will be a large force, as noted, and one that will need extensive training. Also, in many cases, individuals will be needed long before the doors to the casino actually open.

“January is the month when a lot of positions will come on board,” she explained. “Because security and surveillance come in first; they take the longest to train, and you need them on the premises earlier than anyone else.

“Once equipment starts to be delivered, surveillance has to be there from that point on,” she went on. “Once slot machines and other equipment start to arrive, it cannot be left unsupervised; it’s 24 hours a day once they’re on the premises.”

And bringing someone onboard, if you will, is a lengthy process, said Jason Randall, who just went through it himself while being hired as director of Talent Acquisition & Development.

A veteran of the tourism industry in the human resources realm — he was a member of BusinessWest’s 40 Under 40 Class of 2014 as director of Human Resources for Peter Pan Bus Lines — he joined MGM in May. He said one of his primary responsibilities is taking new hires “from A to Z,” as he put it.

“Soon, we’ll start building out our human-resources team to start managing that on a volume scale,” he explained. “We’ll have a team that will take over halfway through the process to help initiate drug and background checks, complete offer letters, assisting with gaming-license processing, and eventually queueing everyone up for the big orientation dates.”

Those will be coming after some large hiring events late next spring and into the summer, he went on, leaving ample time for training before the casino opens.

As jobs need to be filled, the positions are posted on LinkedIn and job boards, said Gispert, adding that the response has thus far been solid, and it points toward overall numbers similar to what was experienced with National Harbor — thus that projection for 126,000 applications.

People can apply for as many as three jobs, and many do, she explained, which will be a factor in how many applications MGM receives, but overall, she’s expecting a very strong response, and from people of all ages.

“We reach out to AARP,” Gispert explained, “because a lot of people thought they wanted to be retired, then they retired and they decided, ‘no, I really want something back in the workforce.’”

Odds Are

As she talked about the process of creating a workforce for MGM Springfield, Gispert noted one challenge that might not be apparent to all.

“Not everyone will want to work for us,” she said with laugh, “because if you work for us, you can’t gamble here. Some people would rather be a customer than an employee.”

Perhaps, but she’s quite confident that this obstacle can be overcome as she goes about hiring dealers, security personnel, and even butchers and pastry chefs.

A year from now, roughly 3,000 people will be wearing ‘MGM Springfield’ nametags as part of the work attire. Getting to that point will be a challenge, but the casino and its workforce will be ready, she said.

You can bet on it.

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

Turning Managers into Leaders

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Employment Sections

The Process Begins with an Important Shift in Focus

By Brian Braudis

Senior leadership at the corporate headquarters of a large retail chain was entertaining succession planning. What started out as an exercise turned into a sweeping new protocol for transitioning managers into leaders.

For the organization, it’s vitally important to get this right. Managers sometimes trip on their way up. Senior leaders can mitigate stumbling with an aggressive strategy.

Managers are typically promoted into leadership roles with the thought that their effectiveness will continue, but rather than assume, senior leaders are wise to put into place a two-pronged approach. The first prong is to place the right candidate. The old cliché applies: “hire for attitude and train for ability.”

The second prong is to cultivate the well-selected candidate. This involves extensive training opportunities and environments that promote growth.

Transitioning managers into leaders should ideally start long before the switch is flipped. Early on, candidates should be ‘groomed’ through extensive training, cross-program experiences, and leadership development. Preferably the training, experience, and development will culminate by equipping the candidate-leader with a view and an understanding of the ‘leadership landscape.’

Placing an incumbent leader in a productive environment is less precise.

The context of leadership can be polarizing, ambiguous, volatile, and complex, so, out of necessity, strong support systems must be in place. A network of colleagues to model the way and offer reassurance along with mentors, coaches, and careful monitoring will serve as the classic challenge/support system to promote a productive transition while cultivating new leaders.

The biggest difference to grasp for new leaders is the change in role that entails a focused shift in five broad areas:

1. Production to Outcomes

The immediate challenge for managers is to shift their thinking and operating from a ‘making widgets’ mindset to an ‘influencing outcomes’ mindset. It is inherent in the leadership process that the leader influences the outcome. As the new leader begins working with department heads and stakeholders, they need to be operating from a new perspective, a long-term view with idea of short-term, stepping-stone implementation. The role of the leader is to influence the long term with organizational strategy in mind.

Rather than making and counting widgets, a new leader must have both eyes toward efficiencies now and necessary adaptations toward the future.

2. Specialist to Visionary

Managers thrive as specialists. They know their department, their people, and their function. That’s not enough for a leader. Leaders must know the language of all departments. They must be able to translate information, patterns, and trends from departments into the language of efficiencies, profit, and direction. The vision of the organization is up to the leadership. No one else will take the reins here. Leaders must harness what is known now with the trends they see in the telescope and provide direction.  Vision can be complex and multi-faceted, but nothing can beat everyone pulling in the same direction. This is one big advantage that is difficult for competitors to duplicate.

3. One to All

Managers have the responsibility to manage the day-to-day on the floor. They are embedded with the staff. Leaders don’t manage things as much as they lead direction. Whereas a manager focuses on employee engagement, a leader has a focus of workforce engagement.

A new leader may have lingering departmental biases that show up as baggage that slows meetings and other processes down. The classic mistake is for new leaders to over-manage and under-lead, especially their previous function. Colleagues need to give the new leader their patience while he or she cultivates an open-minded shift from managing one department to serving all departments in the organization.

4. Solving Problems to Predicting Problems

Strictly speaking, managers and leaders are keen problem solvers. But one of the finer points of leadership — and where leaders earn their keep — is seeing problems before they happen. If a leader can identify slowed growth or a decline in earnings early on and proactively put things in place to avoid the dreaded ‘workforce planning,’ this ‘seeing’ can save everyone.

5. Worker to Learner

Leadership is not about knowing — it’s about learning. New leaders typify the shift from a working manager to a learning leader. As they work to cultivate an open mind and flexibility, they must also demonstrate a commitment to relentless self-improvement — that means applying continuous learning toward competency, excellence, and greatness.

Bottom Line

When new, developing leaders are hand-selected, cultivated, and afforded the organizational backing necessary for success, it’s more than an exercise in succession. It’s a testament to a leadership strategy and the state-of-the-art demonstration of a leadership culture. Over time, the effort builds into the ultimate competitive advantage.

Brian Braudis is a human-potential expert, certified coach, speaker, and author of High Impact Leadership: 10 Action Strategies for Your Ascent. He has also authored several audio programs from executive leadership development to stress management; www.thebraudisgroup.com   

At Encharter Insurance, No Two Customers Are the Same

By
encharterfeature
Insurance Sections

Risk and Reward

The Encharter management team

The Encharter management team, from left: Trish Vassallo, personal lines director; Beth Pearson, commercial lines director; Tracey Benison, president; and Sue Henry, vice president of finance and administration.

Tracey Benison, president of Encharter Insurance in Amherst, says she deals in what some people may consider a dry topic, or ‘white noise.’ But to her and her team, it’s actually a vibrant, highly personalized process of helping people recognize the risks in their home and work lives, reduce those exposures, and make sure they’re well-covered when the unthinkable happens.

Trish Vassallo says there’s a certain gratification in matching insurance clients to the right coverage, especially when the worst — anything from a destructive hurricane to a violent car crash — happens.

“The best thing we can tell them is, ‘you’re covered for that,’” said Vassallo, personal lines director at Encharter Insurance in Amherst, and a 25-year veteran with the agency. But getting to that point takes time and communication, because each client is different.

“It’s really important to talk to the customer and understand what risks might be hidden, what they might be unaware of,” she told BusinessWest. “They may say, ‘I don’t drive for work, but I drop the kids off on the way to work, and do the same for my neighbors.’ That opens the door to further questioning, and we make sure they have the right coverage.”

Tracey Benison, who came on board as Encharter’s president two years ago, agreed, noting that the firm’s customers range from individuals with $500 policies to business owners whose premiums reach eight digits. “Basically, everyone who walks through the door has unique exposures we need to address. So we learn what’s unique about them and make sure they’re absolutely covered. A lot of people underestimate what their insurance needs are, and underestimate the need to get guidance from an experienced adviser. A lot of people are focused on prices and don’t purchase the right coverages.”

She said real-life examples are plentiful, including one individual she knows who had $20,000 in liability coverage on his auto insurance, and hit a pedestrian in a crosswalk; the victim racked up $350,000 in medical care.

“People say, ‘give me the best price,’ but they’re being penny wise and pound foolish,” Benison added. “And it’s not just the financial impact, but the stress. We want people to understand what their exposures are and what the best products are for it, and have them make a decision from there.”

The agency, formerly known as Blair, Cutting & Smith, traces its roots in Amherst back to 1879. In 1999, the firm was purchased by Plymouth Rock Assurance Corp. and changed its name to Encharter.

“But we remain independent, and we write as independent agents, but we work under the guise of Plymouth Rock, and we represent multiple carriers,” Vassallo said. “We don’t feed clients specific companies, but we look for the best product at the best price.”

Benison noted that many of Encharter’s 25 employees have been with the agency for many years, but plenty of new blood has come on board, including eight hires in the past year alone.

“It’s a growing office, and we want to keep growing,” she said, noting that 17 team members are licensed insurance agents. “That’s the majority of our staff, and to me, that’s a big part of what we do. When people walk through the door, anyone can help them with their insurance needs.”

What’s the Risk?

Encharter has long been a multi-pronged agency, offering a raft of products in both personal and commercial lines. On the personal side, customers cover everything from home and condo insurance to life insurance; from auto coverage to boats, motorcycles, even golf carts.

“We’re partnered with more than 50 carriers, which allows our customers to have access to a broad range of choices,” said Beth Pearson, commercial lines director.

But insurance isn’t just about making sure risk exposures are covered; the process begins with lessening those exposures to begin with, a process known as risk avoidance. “Insurance should be the last stop in the process,” Benison noted.

“One of the great things we do is educate people on exposures they might not be aware of,” Pearson added, noting, for example, that many commercial clients don’t comprehend the scope of today’s cyberthreats and the possibility of data breaches.

Tracey Benison

Tracey Benison says people who shop online for insurance, focusing only on price, are missing out on the personalized advice that could save them major headaches later.

“That’s a very interesting phenomenon in the marketplace. Cybercrime and ransomware and stealing data are becoming more sophisticated, and our client base does not necessarily know how to protect their business from these cybercriminals and hackers. In the fall, we offer a cyber presentation in conjunction with the chamber of commerce because people don’t always understand what’s involved in cyber risk and ransomware.”

As for insuring personal property, everyone is different, Benison said. “You can put two identical homes side by side, but the risk for each of them is different. It could be because someone is working from home, or it could be a piece of jewelry or an antique. That’s why purchasing insurance online is a problem. There isn’t someone going to the next stage, giving them advice on exposure. Instead, it’s ‘get the minimum possible, get the sale, and move on.’

“Commercial insurance is the same,” she went on. “You could have two electricians side by side, but one does commercial work and one does residential, or one has employees, and one doesn’t. You have to look at what they do, where they do it, and how they do it, and help them find ways to protect themselves and their assets.”

That said, Pearson noted, it’s gratifying to become a trusted adviser to someone taking a risk and starting a business. “We see a lot of new business owners, people starting a contracting business, a day care, a restaurant, and we have the opportunity to help all those folks open doors and help them as their business grows. We become their partner for a long period of time.”

Clearly, matching a client with an insurance product isn’t just a numbers game at Encharter.

“Insurance is a contract — very specialized, hard to read, and a lot to understand, and customers need to have it interpreted for them,” Benison said. “You can buy a policy from X and a policy from Y, and they cover very different things. People sometimes don’t spend the amount of time they need to really know what’s being covered or not.”

With an eye on further growth, Benison has also led a push to forge affinity agreements with area educational institutions, banks, credit unions, and nonprofits.

“Essentially, we find groups of people with a need for insurance and deliver that,” she said. “We’re finding a lot of employers aren’t addressing the insurance needs of their employees. So that’s an easy way for us to grow our business as well as meet a need on their behalf.”

Meanwhile, Encharter has also ramped up its continuing-education efforts for employees. “A lot of agencies won’t pay for that, but we do encourage and support it,” she told BusinessWest. “I want people continuously learning. Ten years ago, cyber wasn’t even an issue. Drones — that’s a new thing. And driverless cars will be the next thing we’re talking about. The exposures are forever changing, and we need to be on top of it.”

Community Ties

It’s not surprising that an agency whose hometown roots go back 138 years makes a priority of community involvement. Encharter does so through support of organizations like the Boys and Girls Clubs of Amherst and Springfield, Hitchcock Center in Amherst, Family Outreach of Amherst, and the Amherst Block Party. It will sponsor an Amherst Survival Center event this fall, and will be the lead sponsor on the 2017 Festival of Trees in Springfield. And a couple of weeks ago, at a new-teacher orientation at a local middle school, agency employees handed out backpacks filled with coffee cups, Dunkin’ Donuts cards, pencils, and other items to welcome the educators.

Some of those efforts are management decisions, but the agency also boasts an employee-run committee that meets once a month and targets organizations to support with fund-raisers like dress-down days; Plymouth Rock matches the donations.

“We’ve sponsored swimming lessons for students, the MSCPA, the Survival Center, and this month, Berkshire Children and Families,” Vassallo said. “They’re empowered to come up with that list for the whole year, not the corporation or management.”

Encharter traces its roots in Amherst back to 1879.

Encharter traces its roots in Amherst back to 1879.

The company also tries to tie its community offerings back into its core business; a good example is Distractology, a week-long program created by Arbella Insurance. “We’re bringing it to Amherst High School — essentially, they will be training high-school seniors on defensive driving for a whole week.”

It’s one way to stress that concept of risk avoidance in an era when 25% of all car accidents involve a smartphone, Benison said. “I drive around, and I see a lot of accidents, and I have to think it’s highly likely that some of them are because someone was looking at their phone — and it’s avoidable.”

Encharter will also be offering educational seminars in the community on risk-exposure topics, she said. “We’ll try to find a way to make it interesting. Most people think of insurance like white noise. We want to provide information in a way that resonates, is meaningful, and prompts people to take action.”

It’s the kind of material the firm already shares on its blog, another way it continually reaches out into the community to help people make the kind of changes that will make insurance claims less likely. “There’s a lot of good information in there, as simple as changing the batteries in the smoke detector, or clearing snow from the gutters and off the roof. Hurricane season can be a scary time as well; we want people to be out in front of it, so they understand what they should be doing now.”

Pearson was quick to add that making connections extends to the Encharter team itself, which enjoys many employee-appreciation programs throughout the year for going above and beyond in their work.

“There are a lot of benefits of working here at Encharter,” she said. “I’ve had the opportunity to work at several other agencies, and Encharter is not only very generous, but thinks more about driving business toward the future, not just resting on its laurels.”

Such efforts will certainly help ensure its continued success in the town it has called home for almost 150 years.

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Building Permits

By
Building Permits Departments

The following building permits were issued during the month of August 2017.

AGAWAM

Hillside Development Corp.
198-202 South Westfield St.
$8,000 — Install two attached building signs

AMHERST

Good Old Dave’s, LLC
241 Sunset Ave.
$5,000 — Connect breezeway to full bath and laundry area

Hampshire College
West Street
$7,000 — Build two storage rooms

Town of Amherst
70 Boltwood Walk
$113,729 — Renovate four bathrooms

CHICOPEE

Meg Realty, LLC
199 Broadway
$6,750 — Lay over rubber roof

Urzula Nominee Trust
474 Springfield St.
$3,500 — Add two restroom stalls

EASTHAMPTON

Autumn Properties, LLC
184 Northampton St.
$400,000 — Construct mixed-use, three-story building

Keystone Enterprises
122 Pleasant St.
$7,500 — Install spiral duct system

Orchard View Elderly Housing Inc.
108 Everett St.
$1,000 — Build out interior space for office

Williston Northampton School
81 Park St.
$2,900 — Relocate wall to expand hallway, install new door, reconfigure two dorm rooms to apartment space

EAST LONGMEADOW

Secure Energy
515 Shaker Road
$6,000 — Fire alarm

United Methodist Church
215 Somers Road
$2,000 — Handicap ramp

HADLEY

Common Media
84 Russell St.
$1,800 — Alter ground sign

First Congregational Church
102 Middle St.
$10,000 — Install exhaust hood and related equipment

Hartsbrook School
193 Bay Road
$3,400 — New office space

Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School
317 Russell St.
$103,668 — Classroom divisions, metal framing, doors, door frames, hardware, paint, cabinetry, sinks

Pyramid Mall of Hadley Newco, LLC
367 Russell St.
$203,796 — Replace roof above new Planet Fitness

LONGMEADOW

Michael Crowley
21 Dwight Road
$29,737 — Foundation for new, two-story medical office building

LUDLOW

Black Diamond Development
487 Holyoke St.
$225,000 — New commercial construction

Citizens Bank
33 Center St.
$72,000 — Commercial alterations

Paul Baird Middle School
1 Rooney Road
$9,400 — Alterations

NORTHAMPTON

86 Pleasant St., LLC
84 Pleasant St.
$1,500 — Non-illuminated wall sign for Asian Taste

City of Northampton
20 Florence St.
$1,001,190 — Roof replacement on Leeds School

City of Northampton
69 Main St.
$110,620 — Roofing

City of Northampton
2 Parsons St.
$969,012 — Roof replacement

Cooley Dickinson Hospital Inc.
30 Locust St.
$10,000 — Add three antennas and related equipment to existing telecommunications

O’Connell Oil Associates Inc.
506 Pleasant St.
$1,200 — Non-illuminated wall sign for Shell gas station

SPRINGFIELD

American International College
963 State St.
$14,500 — Construct handicap ramp for old science building

Blue Tarp Redevelopment, LLC
1224 MGM Way
$500,000 — Install devices and wiring for fire-alarm system in hotel

Boston Road Property, LLC
665 Boston Road
$119,000 — Remodel existing space for a dental office

MassDevelopment
1550 Main St.
$380,179 — Tenant fit-out for Fuss & O’Neill, including demolition, new partitions, floors, ceilings and mechanical systems

Mercy Medical Center
271 Carew St.
$20,173 — Wall demolition/reconfiguration, installation/relocation of countertop, installation of glass transaction window and security shutter, floor patch, wall paint

Monarch Enterprises
1414 Main St.
$661,302 — Create eight new office spaces, including new sprinkler heads, HVAC, lighting, and walls

New England Family Dental
367 Cooley St., Suite 22
$390,500 — Interior build-out of dental facility, including partitions; floor, wall, and ceiling finishes; lighting and emergency lighting; exit signs; mechanical distribution; and plumbing

David Zheng
146 Chestnut St.
$9,800 — Replace fire-alarm panel, add speakers

WARE

Country Bank
85 South St.
$2,000 — Canopy sign

RT’s Welding
730 Belchertown Road
$2,200 — Install fence

Ware Coin Laundry
142 West St.
$35,000 — New roof, windows, storefront, and soffit

WEST SPRINGFIELD

Eastern States Exposition
1305 Memorial Ave.
$81,285 — General non-structural renovations

WILBRAHAM

Country Club of Wilbraham
859 Stony Hill Road
$24,950 — Repair and replace roof on pro shop, replace roof on porch

Real Estate Transactions

By
Departments 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

Baptist Corner Road
Ashfield, MA 01330
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: Keith Zorn
Seller: Kyla Allon
Date: 08/04/17

688 Bear Swamp Road
Ashfield, MA 01330
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Daniel K. Lederer
Seller: First Congregational Church
Date: 08/04/17

396 Buckland Road
Ashfield, MA 01330
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Robert P. Williamson
Seller: Nelson Howes
Date: 07/25/17

143-A Buckland Road
Ashfield, MA 01330
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Burning Sensation LLC
Seller: Douglas R. Pease
Date: 08/01/17

143-B Buckland Road
Ashfield, MA 01330
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Burning Sensation LLC
Seller: Douglas R. Pease
Date: 08/01/17

143-C Buckland Road
Ashfield, MA 01330
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Burning Sensation LLC
Seller: Douglas R. Pease
Date: 08/01/17

BUCKLAND

146 Bray Road
Buckland, MA 01338
Amount: $358,700
Buyer: Alicia S. Levey
Seller: Linda A. Merritt
Date: 07/26/17

CHARLEMONT

77 Rowe Road
Charlemont, MA 01339
Amount: $139,000
Buyer: Charles J. Crosier
Seller: Collins, Mary B., (Estate)
Date: 07/25/17

CONWAY

16 Bond St.
Conway, MA 01341
Amount: $223,700
Buyer: Dylan Vight
Seller: Bernadine Mellis
Date: 08/04/17

539 Graves Road
Conway, MA 01341
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: James E. Marsh
Seller: Susan Hawes
Date: 07/31/17

332 Williamsburg Road
Conway, MA 01341
Amount: $162,500
Buyer: Sherry D. Ouimet
Seller: US Bank
Date: 07/31/17

DEERFIELD

32 Captain Lathrop Dr.
Deerfield, MA 01373
Amount: $261,000
Buyer: Cheryl A. Patterson
Seller: David Persons
Date: 07/31/17

3 Jones Road
Deerfield, MA 01342
Amount: $166,419
Buyer: USA VA
Seller: Sarah A. Leclerc
Date: 08/04/17

64 Whately Road
Deerfield, MA 01373
Amount: $306,000
Buyer: Jesse L. Sheldon
Seller: Francis G. Sobieski
Date: 08/03/17

GREENFIELD

720 Bernardston Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $400,000
Buyer: Isaac L. Galeas
Seller: Cheryl D. Goodwin
Date: 07/27/17

339 Federal St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Svetlana K. Stewart
Seller: Jeffrey A. Traft
Date: 08/01/17

62 Green River Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $385,000
Buyer: Jeremy M. Suhl
Seller: Treusch FT
Date: 07/31/17

28 Harrison Ave.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Kristi L. Cessarossi
Seller: Charles R. Smith
Date: 08/04/17

8 Madison Circle
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Eric Fry
Seller: Jennifer H. Suhl
Date: 07/31/17

57 Norwood St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Jeffrey E. Lapointe
Seller: Mary P. Quinlan
Date: 07/28/17

65 Norwood St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Benjamin R. Halkett
Seller: Ahlskog, Howard E. Jr, (Estate)
Date: 08/03/17

98 Old Albany Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: Daniel J. Poggi
Seller: Robert J. Ericson
Date: 08/04/17

40 Prospect St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: James Schmidt
Seller: Kenneth W. Russell
Date: 07/28/17

175 Silver St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Robert Foley
Seller: Stuart C. Pratt
Date: 08/01/17

82 Thayer Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $154,000
Buyer: Jody P. James
Seller: Linda M. Mackenzie
Date: 07/28/17

23 Warner St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $131,900
Buyer: Christine Thorington
Seller: Petrin, John D., (Estate)
Date: 07/28/17

MONTAGUE

55 11th St.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $127,000
Buyer: Sheila Webster
Seller: Pioneer Valley Redeveloper
Date: 07/27/17

1 Emond Ave.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Sean P. Sibley
Seller: Jeffrey E. Emond
Date: 07/28/17

39 Grove St.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $249,000
Buyer: David M. Shea
Seller: Barbara A. Rivet
Date: 07/27/17

14 High St.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Ralph R. Messick
Seller: Stanleigh I. Johnson
Date: 08/01/17

NORTHFIELD

33 Hamilton Dr.
Northfield, MA 01360
Amount: $174,900
Buyer: Cynthia F. Channing
Seller: Timothy P. Umscheid
Date: 07/26/17

196 Millers Falls Road
Northfield, MA 01360
Amount: $118,750
Buyer: William R. Chaney
Seller: USA HUD
Date: 07/28/17

817 Millers Falls Road
Northfield, MA 01360
Amount: $229,500
Buyer: Lindsay Lesenski
Seller: Joseph G. Saviski
Date: 08/04/17

829 Millers Falls Road
Northfield, MA 01360
Amount: $285,500
Buyer: Kristopher E. Bradbury
Seller: Wood IRT
Date: 07/28/17

ORANGE

77 High St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Kathryn M. Ahearn
Seller: Brian J. Gannon
Date: 07/25/17

79 Marjorie St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $158,000
Buyer: Neil P. Branco
Seller: Daniel P. Sheehan
Date: 07/28/17

46 Mill St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $1,600,000
Buyer: Jash USA Inc.
Seller: Vag USA LLC
Date: 07/25/17

174 Pleasant St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $132,000
Buyer: Jacob M. Earl
Seller: Michael P. Earl
Date: 07/28/17

ROWE

145 Leshure Road
Rowe, MA 01367
Amount: $219,000
Buyer: Susan D. Tomlinson
Seller: David J. Keppler
Date: 08/02/17

SHELBURNE

3 Common Road
Shelburne, MA 01370
Amount: $375,000
Buyer: Lynn E. Samaan
Seller: Philip W. Shulda
Date: 07/28/17

98 Old Albany Road
Shelburne, MA 01370
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: Daniel J. Poggi
Seller: Robert J. Ericson
Date: 08/04/17

SUNDERLAND

Amherst Road
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: NSTAR Electric Co.
Seller: WD Cowls Inc.
Date: 07/31/17

126 North Main St.
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Margaret A. Byrne
Seller: Beverly J. Clarity
Date: 07/31/17

49 South Silver Lane
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Vincent J. Tran
Seller: Carolyn P. Zimnowski
Date: 07/31/17

WARWICK

315 Athol Road
Warwick, MA 01378
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: James D. Vanvalkenburgh
Seller: Carr, Bruce, (Estate)
Date: 07/27/17

WHATELY

135 Conway Road
Whately, MA 01093
Amount: $272,900
Buyer: Robert J. Ericson
Seller: Caroline A. Christie
Date: 08/04/17

12 Long Plain Road
Whately, MA 01373
Amount: $305,000
Buyer: Denise M. Govoni
Seller: Denise E. Delaney
Date: 07/28/17

HAMPDEN COUNTY

AGAWAM

16 Carol Ave.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Sarah L. Daglio
Seller: Kenneth J. Thompson
Date: 08/02/17

31 Edward St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $253,000
Buyer: John J. Digiovanni
Seller: Ellen K. Juzba
Date: 07/31/17

92 Farmington Circle
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $450,000
Buyer: Peter Polito
Seller: Hillside Development Corp.
Date: 07/27/17

45 Federal St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Kevin A. Masek
Seller: Paul Drewnowski
Date: 07/26/17

200 Leonard St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Kelle R. Morello
Date: 08/01/17

7 Moreau Place
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $279,000
Buyer: David M. Nolan
Seller: Jacqueline G. Loney
Date: 07/31/17

243 North Westfield St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $144,000
Buyer: Steven Grushetskiy
Seller: Yvonne D. Baez
Date: 07/28/17

664 North Westfield St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $198,000
Buyer: Ryan M. Roberts
Seller: Michael W. Price
Date: 07/28/17

86 Roberta Circle
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $193,000
Buyer: Justin V. Buiso
Seller: Diane M. Goodman
Date: 07/31/17

1143 Shoemaker Lane
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $299,900
Buyer: Rudolf Korobkov
Seller: Michael J. Augusti
Date: 07/31/17

BRIMFIELD

101 Cubles Dr.
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $249,000
Buyer: Terence L. Hegarty
Seller: John H. Chianese
Date: 07/28/17

81 Little Alum Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Donna A. Jaworski
Seller: Nancy J. Chapdelaine
Date: 07/24/17

CHESTER

2 Ed Lebleau Road
Chester, MA 01011
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Thomas C. Robitaille
Seller: Edward Burt
Date: 07/28/17

282 Skyline Trail
Chester, MA 01011
Amount: $292,000
Buyer: Kaila R. Spencer
Seller: Richard Gemme
Date: 07/31/17

CHICOPEE

69 Ames Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $164,500
Buyer: Sara Bonakdar
Seller: Lloyd Investments LLC
Date: 07/25/17

74 Ann St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Christopher George
Seller: Donald R. Blanton
Date: 08/01/17

24 Beesley Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $168,500
Buyer: Adam J. Eckert
Seller: Gregory M. Powers
Date: 07/31/17

548 Broadway St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $169,500
Buyer: Arelys Otero
Seller: Ioannis Mirisis
Date: 07/25/17

132 Carew St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: AEM Property Investment
Seller: Ruby Realty LLC
Date: 07/28/17

Carriage Road #36
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Joseph McDaneld
Seller: Gabriel P. Bergeron
Date: 07/28/17

102 Cochran St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $175,700
Buyer: Anne M. Devine
Seller: Rybak, Lucille J., (Estate)
Date: 07/25/17

16 Connell St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $165,960
Buyer: Joshua T. Kelliher
Seller: Ronald R. Heroux
Date: 07/27/17

401 East St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $142,500
Buyer: Jonathan P. Miller
Seller: Jeffrey M. Deren
Date: 08/04/17

94 Forest St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $239,000
Buyer: Ismael Bernabel
Seller: Bruce G. Boisselle
Date: 08/03/17

402 Granby Road
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Marlane T. Velthouse
Seller: John D. Mcgrane
Date: 07/25/17

36 Grandview St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $164,900
Buyer: Bethany Valeris
Seller: Joseph Simonich
Date: 07/28/17

73 Hilton St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: Stephen J. Badura
Seller: Laura A. Schmieding
Date: 08/02/17

231 Langevin St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Daniel C. Sadlowski
Seller: Evan M. Breeding
Date: 07/28/17

52 Lincoln St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $199,500
Buyer: South Middlesex Non-Profit
Seller: Florent D. Marcoux
Date: 07/31/17

36 Loomis Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Daryl D. Berrelli
Seller: Bogdan Matysik
Date: 07/28/17

37 Luther St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Jonathan P. Damours
Seller: Mark A. Russell
Date: 07/27/17

48 Marion St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Jason R. Dorman
Seller: Mary R. Gancarz
Date: 07/28/17

64 Marion St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Patrick A. Chamberlain
Seller: Karen Langome
Date: 07/31/17

132 Maryland Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $182,000
Buyer: German Garcia
Seller: Leonid A. Ignatyuk
Date: 08/03/17

20 Mount Carmel Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $169,900
Buyer: Luis R. Nunez
Seller: Alexander Hripak
Date: 07/31/17

270 Murphy Lane
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Jarred R. Belisle
Seller: St.Pierre, Diane L., (Estate)
Date: 07/28/17

71 Oakridge St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Michael A. Schmitt
Seller: Jessica M. Harper
Date: 07/31/17

177 Rimmon Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Hannah L. Chapman
Seller: Thomas J. Bresnahan
Date: 07/31/17

49 Royalton St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $123,600
Buyer: Kristine D. Labelle
Seller: Theodore A. Monette
Date: 07/24/17

74 Saint Jacques Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $146,000
Buyer: Robert W. Smith
Seller: Ronald J. Pete
Date: 08/01/17

67 Streiber Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $221,964
Buyer: Wells Fargo Bank
Seller: Doreen A. Pepin
Date: 07/27/17

81 Summit Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Martin O. Franco-Bermudez
Seller: Brenda L. Russo
Date: 07/25/17

101 Sunflower Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $164,000
Buyer: Thomas M. Luce
Seller: Dianne Roe-Gallo
Date: 08/01/17

110 Sunflower Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $192,000
Buyer: Damaris Aponte
Seller: Anthony M. Rigali
Date: 07/28/17

96 Sunflower Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: William Hernandez
Seller: William R. Hernandez
Date: 07/26/17

19 Surrey Lane
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Joseph McDaneld
Seller: Gabriel P. Bergeron
Date: 07/28/17

38 Szetela Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Gregory M. Powers
Seller: Theodora J. Galica
Date: 07/31/17

19 Theodore St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $192,000
Buyer: Amanda L. Monette
Seller: Brenda I. Maloney
Date: 08/02/17

35 Theodore St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $133,500
Buyer: Mark A. Moller
Seller: Jared S. Debettencourt
Date: 07/31/17

31 Victoria Park
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Jeffrey F. Thompson
Seller: Kyle Lewis
Date: 07/31/17

15 Wawel St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $134,000
Buyer: Deniz M. Kan
Seller: Sean E. Daly
Date: 07/24/17

23 White Birch Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Patrick K. Asselin
Seller: Min Realty LLC
Date: 07/27/17

43 Woodcrest Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: John Bergeron
Seller: James A. Smith
Date: 07/28/17

EAST LONGMEADOW

Amalfi Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $169,900
Buyer: Paul Heath
Seller: Bella Vista Land Holdings
Date: 07/26/17

5 Balmoral Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $529,600
Buyer: Krishna P. Kafle
Seller: Gwilym Jones
Date: 07/28/17

123 Dearborn St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $385,000
Buyer: Nicholas Dangelo
Seller: Michael Carabetta
Date: 07/31/17

9 Euclid Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $308,700
Buyer: Melissa A. Barrington
Seller: Michael F. Torcia
Date: 07/27/17

29 Forest Hills Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Floyd P. VanLone
Seller: Robert J. Guilmette
Date: 08/04/17

50 Franconia Circle
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: William Christie
Seller: Teresa D. Cavanaugh
Date: 07/28/17

59 Franconia Circle
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Theresa Poremba
Seller: Yakov Gartsbeyn
Date: 07/28/17

24 Gates Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Rebecca M. Webster
Seller: Matthew P. Kranz
Date: 07/27/17

63 Greenwich Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $379,500
Buyer: Benjamin F. Turnberg
Seller: Paul M. Albano
Date: 07/28/17

64 Lee St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $196,000
Buyer: Justin A. Lamontagne
Seller: Robert Sopet
Date: 08/02/17

16 Longview Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $237,000
Buyer: Jean M. Faria
Seller: Jeanne Raudensky
Date: 07/28/17

43 Meadowbrook Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Bank New York Mellon
Seller: Mark A. Bilton
Date: 07/28/17

295 Millbrook Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $520,000
Buyer: Jian Y. Wang
Seller: Mario Ferrentino
Date: 07/28/17

125 Patterson Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $304,900
Buyer: Shalina B. Wray
Seller: David A. Deangelis
Date: 07/31/17

Pondview Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $134,900
Buyer: Douglas G. Mcadoo
Seller: Joseph Chapdelaine & Sons
Date: 07/24/17

600 Prospect St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $408,000
Buyer: Roland F. Berthiaume
Seller: Antonio J. Pietroniro
Date: 08/04/17

108 Rogers Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Jeffrey M. Becker
Seller: Matthew R. Pollock
Date: 07/31/17

14 Rural Lane
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $357,000
Buyer: Michael Sheehan
Seller: Paula S. Wayne
Date: 07/28/17

45 Schuyler Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Erica L. Fisher
Seller: Timothy B. Hickey
Date: 08/02/17

484 Somers Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $305,000
Buyer: Brian S. Connaughton
Seller: William T. Raleigh
Date: 07/26/17

57 Tufts St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Eric Johnson
Seller: Marc A. Hiser
Date: 08/04/17

334 Westwood Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $324,000
Buyer: Patrick J. Byrne
Seller: Julie A. Michaelson
Date: 08/04/17

GRANVILLE

54 Granby Road
Granville, MA 01034
Amount: $355,000
Buyer: Robert M. O’Connor
Seller: Donald B. Johnson
Date: 07/31/17

666 Main Road
Granville, MA 01034
Amount: $124,900
Buyer: Elmer J. Robinette
Seller: Elizabeth D. Merring
Date: 07/28/17

87 Silver St.
Granville, MA 01034
Amount: $318,500
Buyer: Karen Dahmke
Seller: Daniel Hoadley
Date: 07/31/17

HAMPDEN

16 Kibbe Lane
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $423,844
Buyer: Joseph Celetti
Seller: Custom Homes Development Group
Date: 07/27/17

Kibbe Lane
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $500,000
Buyer: Custom Homes Dev Group
Seller: Ed Speight & Co. Inc.
Date: 07/27/17

Kibbe Lane #15
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $500,000
Buyer: Custom Homes Dev Group
Seller: Ed Speight & Co. Inc.
Date: 07/27/17

Kibbe Lane #16
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $500,000
Buyer: Custom Homes Dev Group
Seller: Ed Speight & Co. Inc.
Date: 07/27/17

Kibbe Lane #17-19
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $500,000
Buyer: Custom Homes Dev Group
Seller: Ed Speight & Co. Inc.
Date: 07/27/17

Kibbe Lane #4
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $500,000
Buyer: Custom Homes Dev Group
Seller: Ed Speight & Co. Inc.
Date: 07/27/17

437 Main St.
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $158,500
Buyer: Keith R. Wiley
Seller: Karen W. Quiet
Date: 08/03/17

HOLLAND

8 Brandon St.
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Michael Harpin
Seller: Gayle Neff
Date: 07/28/17

15 Chaffee Road
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Benjamin C. Marinelli
Seller: Storey, Allan E., (Estate)
Date: 07/27/17

10 Collette Dr.
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Stacy Stout
Seller: Dennis M. Quinlan
Date: 07/28/17

15 Lakeridge Dr.
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Jeffrey Neilson
Seller: Annette G. Kelehan
Date: 08/04/17

224 Stafford Road
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Robert J. Beauregard
Seller: Richard E. Blease
Date: 07/28/17

HOLYOKE

21 Bassett Road
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $213,000
Buyer: James Egge
Seller: Robert E. Olmstead
Date: 08/03/17

45 Berkshire St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $136,000
Buyer: Edgar J. Diaz
Seller: John G. Martin
Date: 07/27/17

172 Central Park Dr.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Mackenzie Pause
Seller: Angel L. Rodriguez
Date: 07/24/17

15 Concord Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $173,000
Buyer: Betsy A. Everett
Seller: Karen A. Gaulin
Date: 07/31/17

6 Curran Lane
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $191,000
Buyer: Kyle G. Anderson
Seller: Anne M. Curran-Laplante
Date: 08/01/17

210 Elm St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Chicopee Kendall LLC
Seller: Girls Inc. Of Holyoke
Date: 08/04/17

21 Florence Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $203,000
Buyer: Kevin M. Benson
Seller: Guillermo Santiago
Date: 08/02/17

676 Hampden St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Jessica Delgado-Morales
Seller: Margarita Matias
Date: 07/24/17

205 Hillside Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $175,500
Buyer: Nadia Muusse
Seller: Jeremy P. Brown
Date: 07/27/17

40 Lower Westfield Road
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $149,900
Buyer: Erica F. Schomer
Seller: Emilia Cruz
Date: 07/31/17

1226-1228 Main St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Blue Summit Realty LLC
Seller: Mark Bonavita
Date: 07/28/17

960 Main St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $164,000
Buyer: Carmen J. Hernandez
Seller: Jahjan LLC
Date: 07/28/17

428 Maple St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $565,000
Buyer: Muni Management Inc.
Seller: Mark A. Caplette
Date: 08/04/17

98 Nonotuck St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $197,000
Buyer: Frank M. Ruemmele
Seller: John F. Tenczar
Date: 07/28/17

21-23 Parker St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Amanda F. Leitl
Seller: Linda M. Menard
Date: 08/03/17

24 Parker St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $169,900
Buyer: Chad M. Cain
Seller: Eric A. Frary
Date: 07/28/17

325 Pleasant St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $144,000
Buyer: Caitlin R. Shea
Seller: Dorothy A. Wojciak
Date: 07/24/17

18 Quirk Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $450,000
Buyer: Hat Trick Properties LLC
Seller: Holyoke Property Management
Date: 07/27/17

20 Rhode Island St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Clemente Saravia
Seller: Healy, Patrick J., (Estate)
Date: 08/04/17

173 South St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Donald G. Abrahamson
Seller: Kevin Cruz
Date: 07/31/17

298 West Franklin St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Richard A. Santiago
Seller: Michael J. Lattinville
Date: 08/01/17

LONGMEADOW

45 Belleclaire Ave.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $324,000
Buyer: Jeffrey Lamoureux
Seller: Alexander C. McGill
Date: 07/28/17

21 Brookwood Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Joseph A. Gallo
Seller: Robitaille, Janice C., (Estate)
Date: 08/04/17

24 Chatham Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $360,000
Buyer: William P. Harrington
Seller: Patrica E. Sullivan
Date: 07/28/17

68 Churchill Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $535,000
Buyer: Alexander C. McGill
Seller: Kathleen A. Nietupski
Date: 07/28/17

432 Frank Smith Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $413,000
Buyer: Lisa L. Scarnici
Seller: Dawn M. Quercia
Date: 08/04/17

217 Laurel St.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Lauren L. Rollins
Seller: Linda Michalik
Date: 07/28/17

542 Laurel St.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $340,000
Buyer: Scott G. Bombardier
Seller: Jonathan Pieciul
Date: 07/31/17

63 Lawnwood Ave.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $174,000
Buyer: John E. Taylor
Seller: Ryan Connelly
Date: 08/01/17

56 Lincoln Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $310,558
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Joseph M. Consolini
Date: 08/04/17

129 Longview Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $396,000
Buyer: Brian A. Hafey
Seller: Dennis M. Luciano
Date: 07/25/17

111 Maple Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $219,900
Buyer: Margaret Bernier
Seller: Jennifer A. Hafey
Date: 07/28/17

129 Normandy Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $289,900
Buyer: Nuwan Desilva
Seller: Sue E. Lovejoy
Date: 08/01/17

15 Pinewood Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $520,000
Buyer: Jesse R. Rivest
Seller: Robert S. King
Date: 08/01/17

63 Tanglewood Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $480,000
Buyer: Andrew T. Scott
Seller: Jami Wholesale LLC
Date: 07/24/17

85 Western Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $550,000
Buyer: John D. McGrane
Seller: Roy R. Johansen
Date: 07/25/17

188 Westmoreland Ave.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $299,000
Buyer: Chantal M. Ryall
Seller: Ann M. Togneri
Date: 07/28/17

LUDLOW

39 Arnold St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $209,900
Buyer: Daniel J. Parker
Seller: Jaime R. Hoppock
Date: 07/28/17

216 East St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $149,500
Buyer: Katie E. Cole
Seller: Riverbend 2 Properties
Date: 07/28/17

100 Howard St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $154,900
Buyer: Taylor K. Wiggin
Seller: Pedro P. Pereira
Date: 07/28/17

64 Mero St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $162,000
Buyer: Jamee R. Stearns
Seller: Boucher FT
Date: 07/31/17

133 Ridgeview Circle
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Jose S. Ovelheiro
Seller: Federico R. Molinari
Date: 07/24/17

MONSON

2 Carpenter Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $269,000
Buyer: Mark E. Major
Seller: Jeffrey Kuselias
Date: 07/27/17

30 Childs Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Kathryn Esser
Seller: Michele Salerno
Date: 08/04/17

63 Margaret St.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Jessica M. Coldwell
Seller: Frederick A. Waldron
Date: 08/02/17

160 May Hill Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $168,000
Buyer: Jesse Beaudoin
Seller: Daniel A. Duval
Date: 07/28/17

125 Peck Brothers Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Jeffrey A. Jordan
Seller: Brian I. Witkop
Date: 07/31/17

15 Woodhill Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $278,000
Buyer: William J. Carabetta
Seller: Nathan J. Krach
Date: 07/24/17

PALMER

152 3 Rivers Road
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Kevin Harris
Seller: Linda A. Haskell
Date: 07/28/17

10 Elizabeth St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Kristin B. Novia
Seller: Barbara Holt
Date: 07/26/17

113 Longview St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: William J. Beynor
Seller: Richard Corsi
Date: 07/25/17

1376-1378 Main St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: PEL RT LLC
Seller: PFE Inc.
Date: 07/28/17

2119 Main St.
Palmer, MA 01080
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Marlene Ottomaniello
Seller: Jean M. Faria
Date: 07/28/17

13 Orchard St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $128,000
Buyer: Louis E. Tortora
Seller: US Bank
Date: 08/02/17

1060 Overlook Dr.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $194,500
Buyer: Daniel W. Gagner
Seller: Kimberly Bailey
Date: 08/03/17

33 Pearl St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $148,900
Buyer: Andrew M. Moontri
Seller: Brian Zandy
Date: 07/25/17

3027 Pleasant St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $158,000
Buyer: David A. Farnum
Seller: Lillian M. Griffin
Date: 08/03/17

22 Saint John St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $180,750
Buyer: Bank Of America
Seller: Julies F. Wellington
Date: 08/04/17

39 Shaw St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Anthony M. Wilkins
Seller: Stephen T. Masley
Date: 08/04/17

RUSSELL

725 General Knox Road
Russell, MA 01071
Amount: $239,900
Buyer: Brian M. Harvey
Seller: Lloyd O. Long
Date: 07/24/17

53 Highland Ave.
Russell, MA 01071
Amount: $199,900
Buyer: Jason J. Scribner
Seller: Allen D. Papillon
Date: 07/25/17

21 Main St.
Russell, MA 01008
Amount: $212,000
Buyer: Edward M. Donnachie
Seller: Bonnie L. Netto
Date: 07/25/17

SOUTHWICK

126 Berkshire Ave.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $237,500
Buyer: Olga Liogky
Seller: Jayne Smith
Date: 07/26/17

28 Birchwood Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $202,900
Buyer: Anthony W. Frye
Seller: Kimberly A. Moses
Date: 07/28/17

66-R Feeding Hills Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $2,100,000
Buyer: Western Mass Electric Co.
Seller: Griffin Land Dev. MA LLC
Date: 08/04/17

18 Meadow Lane
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $143,000
Buyer: Craig S. Miller
Seller: Nicholas M. Katsounakis
Date: 08/01/17

14 Oak St.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Walter E. Drenen
Seller: John Gulbrandsen
Date: 07/26/17

15 Shaggbark Dr.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Robin A. Desruisseaux
Seller: William R. Currier
Date: 07/28/17

243 Sheep Pasture Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $264,999
Buyer: Dennis P. McGonagle
Seller: Andrew T. Scott
Date: 07/28/17

48 Sheep Pasture Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Christopher P. Whalley
Seller: Mary J. Duffy
Date: 07/31/17

SPRINGFIELD

274 Abbott St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $157,000
Buyer: Andrew Collins
Seller: Kenneth R. Bisi
Date: 07/27/17

16 Amity Court
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: David Bedrosian
Seller: Samuel Bedrosian
Date: 07/27/17

540 Armory St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $3,389,212
Buyer: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 08/03/17

46 Bancroft St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $3,389,212
Buyer: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 08/03/17

111 Barre St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $143,000
Buyer: Joshualee D. Nembhard
Seller: Joseph J. Lynskey
Date: 07/28/17

47 Barrison St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $166,000
Buyer: Joel Maldonado
Seller: James Egge
Date: 07/28/17

323 Bay St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $3,389,212
Buyer: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 08/03/17

5 Bellwood Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $192,000
Buyer: Somalia Santiago
Seller: Ting Chang
Date: 07/31/17

28 Birch Glen Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: Sean M. Geaghan
Seller: David J. Geaghan
Date: 08/01/17

135-137 Bloomfield St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Eric Newkirk
Seller: Viviana Council
Date: 07/28/17

194 Bolton St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $209,900
Buyer: Emily Kerswell
Seller: Hedge Hog Industries Corp.
Date: 07/31/17

30 Brandon Ave.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $157,317
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Jeffrey J. Jerome
Date: 08/04/17

55 Bridle Path Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $222,000
Buyer: Jemmala Encarnacion
Seller: Timothy M. Fedora
Date: 07/24/17

76 Bronson Ter.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $312,000
Buyer: Ketaki Rella-Brooks
Seller: Patrick Roach
Date: 07/28/17

131 Bronson Ter.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $194,900
Buyer: Dwayne Whitney
Seller: Daniel E. Bachelor
Date: 07/31/17

14 Brookside Circle
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Charlotte M. Zanolli
Seller: Elizabeth S. Barber-Jones
Date: 07/31/17

19 Bulat Dr.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $137,000
Buyer: Estelle Castaneda
Seller: Michael Belanger
Date: 07/31/17

247 Cabinet St.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $229,000
Buyer: Richard A. Glashow
Seller: Elvis A. Martinez
Date: 07/25/17

68-70 Calhoun St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $3,389,212
Buyer: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 08/03/17

81 Calley St.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: John J. Denoto
Seller: Christopher J. Conway
Date: 08/04/17

28 Canton St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $128,000
Buyer: Basile Realty LLC
Seller: Dsmith RE Holdings
Date: 07/31/17

13-15 Cass St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $3,389,212
Buyer: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 08/03/17

273-275 Centre St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $3,389,212
Buyer: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 08/03/17

108 Cherokee Dr.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Christopher Santiago
Seller: Olmsted Realty LLC
Date: 07/28/17

67-69 Chester St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $3,389,212
Buyer: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 08/03/17

73 Clayton St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Carmen V. Mercado
Seller: LE & Associates LLC
Date: 08/04/17

107 College St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $262,500
Buyer: Boardwalk Apartments LLC
Seller: Blythewood Property Management
Date: 08/03/17

80 Cornell St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $136,000
Buyer: Siervo R. Jimenez
Seller: Say Cun
Date: 07/31/17

82 Crystal Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $127,900
Buyer: Peter C. Horta-Bergquist
Seller: Long, Christopher L., (Estate)
Date: 07/28/17

18-24 Decker Place
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $400,000
Buyer: Hat Trick Properties LLC
Seller: Abel J. Silveira
Date: 08/03/17

31 Duggan Circle
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $162,000
Buyer: Juan L. Gonzalez
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 07/27/17

1446-1450 Dwight St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $3,389,212
Buyer: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 08/03/17

1529 Dwight St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $3,389,212
Buyer: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 08/03/17

299 Eastern Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $213,000
Buyer: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 08/03/17

87-89 Edgewood St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $3,389,212
Buyer: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 08/03/17

93-95 Edgewood St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $3,389,212
Buyer: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 08/03/17

122 Ellendale Circle
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $172,000
Buyer: Lazzaro Desantis
Seller: Jonathan R. Carignan
Date: 07/31/17

97 Ellsworth Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $129,200
Buyer: Calla M. Vassilopoulos
Seller: Svetlana Ovechkina
Date: 07/28/17

31 Emily St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Ana M. Rodriguez-Santiago
Seller: James W. Fiore
Date: 07/31/17

48 Euclid Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $3,389,212
Buyer: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 08/03/17

208-210 Euclid Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $143,800
Buyer: Veronica Gonzalez
Seller: Svetlana Malyshevski
Date: 07/31/17

66 Flint St.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Orlando Rosario
Seller: Property Keys LLC
Date: 07/26/17

61-63 Fountain St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $187,500
Buyer: Jose D. Pietter
Seller: Federico Flores
Date: 08/01/17

54 Gardens Dr.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $144,900
Buyer: Warren C. Scott
Seller: Nancy E. Hunter
Date: 08/03/17

114 Garnet St.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $167,000
Buyer: William A. Accorsi
Seller: Margo L. Lee
Date: 08/04/17

41 Gates Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $246,000
Buyer: Christina L. Harbour
Seller: Jeremy R. Paine
Date: 08/04/17

25 Indian Leap St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Petrena A. Wallace-King
Seller: Michael Reynolds
Date: 07/27/17

25-27 Jefferson Ave.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $213,000
Buyer: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 08/03/17

395 Kent Road
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Petre Capatina
Seller: Michael P. Sheehan
Date: 07/28/17

26 Kimberly Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $198,000
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: RR & Co. Realty LLC
Date: 08/01/17

39-41 Knox St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $3,389,212
Buyer: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 08/03/17

170 Laurelton St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Greguy Montas
Seller: Kristy J. Raymond
Date: 07/31/17

30 Leete St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $3,389,212
Buyer: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 08/03/17

39 Leyfred Ter.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $197,000
Buyer: Shaunee St.Amand
Seller: Leon Blake
Date: 07/26/17

935 Liberty St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $3,389,212
Buyer: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 08/03/17

29 Lillian St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $3,389,212
Buyer: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 08/03/17

15-19 Litchfield St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $358,000
Buyer: 15-17 Litchfield LLC
Seller: Grace James Realty LLC
Date: 08/02/17

187 Lucerne Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $219,900
Buyer: Christian Delacruz
Seller: Wayne A. Doyon
Date: 07/24/17

31 Macomber Ave.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Anne J. Brea
Seller: Noella S. Jones
Date: 07/31/17

274-276 Main St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $3,389,212
Buyer: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 08/03/17

2594 Main St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $700,000
Buyer: HRES Main Street LLC
Seller: North End Housing Initiative
Date: 07/28/17

116-118 Malden St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $3,389,212
Buyer: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 08/03/17

234 Mallowhill Road
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $146,500
Buyer: Sapphire Property Dev LLC
Seller: Nationstar Mortgage LLC
Date: 08/02/17

11 Marble St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $294,000
Buyer: Boardwalk Apartments LLC
Seller: Blythewood Property Mgmt.
Date: 08/03/17

28 Marengo Park
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $196,000
Buyer: Luis M. Rosado
Seller: Home Equity Assets Realty
Date: 08/03/17

143 Marion St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $3,389,212
Buyer: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 08/03/17

203 Marion St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $3,389,212
Buyer: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 08/03/17

24 Marshall St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $3,389,212
Buyer: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 08/03/17

105-107 Massachusetts Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $3,389,212
Buyer: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 08/03/17

14-16 Massasoit Placce
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $3,389,212
Buyer: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 08/03/17

18-20 Massasoit Place
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $3,389,212
Buyer: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 08/03/17

75-77 McKnight St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $3,389,212
Buyer: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 08/03/17

26 Meadowbrook Road
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $233,000
Buyer: Jeanne M. Alix
Seller: J. C. Noyes-Noyes
Date: 08/03/17

100 Milford St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $121,000
Buyer: Shannon Tahir
Seller: Malloch, Mary E., (Estate)
Date: 08/01/17

49 Montmorenci St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Arelis Siri
Seller: JD Powers Property Management
Date: 08/02/17

70 Nathaniel St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Shemay K. Morris
Seller: Richard A. Flebotte
Date: 07/31/17

43-49 Oak St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Valley Castle Holdings
Seller: Maddox Realty LLC
Date: 07/28/17

214-216 Oak Grove Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $3,389,212
Buyer: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 08/03/17

77 Ontario St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $143,300
Buyer: Damian Falcon
Seller: Raju Patel
Date: 08/01/17

268-270 Parker St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Felix Sanchez
Seller: Chmura, Stephen A., (Estate)
Date: 07/31/17

77 Parkside St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $3,389,212
Buyer: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 08/03/17

59 Pennsylvania Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $166,000
Buyer: Justin M. Mestre
Seller: George N. Mekeel
Date: 07/28/17

76 Pheasant Dr.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $206,000
Buyer: Tam T. Nguyen
Seller: Michael Aloisi
Date: 07/31/17

349 Plumtree Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $137,000
Buyer: Lisa M. Ashline
Seller: Scott T. Phillips
Date: 08/01/17

65 Pocantico Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Hector Dejesus
Seller: Edward J. Haluch
Date: 07/28/17

480 Porter Road
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $171,000
Buyer: Philip E. Bratty
Seller: Brianne M. Byrne
Date: 08/04/17

174 Powell Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $183,000
Buyer: Federico Flores
Seller: Dennis Matt
Date: 08/03/17

40-42 Ranney St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $138,000
Buyer: Fernando Rodriguez
Seller: Trang Nguyen
Date: 07/31/17

29-31 Richelieu St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $3,389,212
Buyer: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 08/03/17

8 Riverview Ter.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $208,000
Buyer: Thelma L. Cruz
Seller: Randall J. Fortunato
Date: 07/25/17

305 Roosevelt Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $128,000
Buyer: Bank Of America
Seller: Angela E. Greco
Date: 08/01/17

30 Sachem St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $116,400
Buyer: Junior Properties LLC
Seller: Ally Bank
Date: 08/02/17

55 Saint George Road
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $3,000,000
Buyer: Pioneer MOB LP
Seller: Spine Realty LLC
Date: 08/02/17

76 Saint Lawrence Ave.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $137,000
Buyer: James J. Fitzgerald
Seller: Ricardo K. Quintero
Date: 07/31/17

53 Scott St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Talanda S. Boyd
Seller: Jacqueline A. Lacombe
Date: 07/28/17

221 Senator St.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Naquia J. Byrd
Seller: Thomas P. Wozniak
Date: 07/25/17

109 Sierra Vista Road
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Benjamin D. Brown
Seller: Melissa A. Barrington
Date: 07/26/17

42 Stocker St.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $212,000
Buyer: David Reyes
Seller: Elba L. Casiano
Date: 07/28/17

1337 Sumner Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Zenaida Lisboa
Seller: Melissa M. Doe-Largay
Date: 08/03/17

16 Sunrise Ter.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $142,000
Buyer: Joshua Z. Betancourt
Seller: Denny, James W., (Estate)
Date: 07/28/17

130 Talbot Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $186,000
Buyer: Jonnathan Gonzalez
Seller: Kenneth J. Kimker
Date: 08/04/17

296 Talmadge Dr.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $153,000
Buyer: Jorge E. Rodriguez
Seller: Ann M. Towne
Date: 07/31/17

16 Varney St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $168,000
Buyer: Rafael Rodriguez
Seller: Pecenak, Russell C., (Estate)
Date: 07/28/17

192 Westbrook Dr.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $159,900
Buyer: John Michael F. Burno
Seller: Monique M. Hegarty
Date: 07/27/17

151 White Oak Road
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $245,900
Buyer: Phillip A. Giguere
Seller: Gail A. Sullivan
Date: 07/28/17

105 Wilton St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Charles E. Winston
Seller: Meredith E. King-Milou
Date: 07/24/17

35-37 Windemere St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $204,000
Buyer: Grzegorz M. Klosowski
Seller: Michael Katsounakis
Date: 08/03/17

215 Winton St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $202,500
Buyer: Roberto C. Jimenez
Seller: Jeffery A. Green-Gray
Date: 07/31/17

90 Woodcrest Road
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Madeleine P. Wozniak
Seller: Richard C. Robinson
Date: 07/25/17

785-787 Worthington St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $3,389,212
Buyer: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 08/03/17

TOLLAND

101 Owls Nest Lane
Tolland, MA 01034
Amount: $173,000
Buyer: Wilmington Trust
Seller: Brian Karadimas
Date: 08/04/17

194 School House Road
Tolland, MA 01034
Amount: $321,000
Buyer: Steven Carrington
Seller: Edmund C. St.Laurent
Date: 07/28/17

WALES

6 Main St.
Wales, MA 01081
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Wells Fargo Bank
Seller: Mari R. Veroneau
Date: 07/27/17

WEST SPRINGFIELD

43-51 Allston Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $490,000
Buyer: 47 Allston Realty LLC
Seller: Kasmer A. Kielb
Date: 08/04/17

55 Altamont Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $650,000
Buyer: Town Of West Springfield
Seller: Gary A. Spaeth
Date: 07/27/17

217 Ashley Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: John T. Donnelly
Seller: Ann M. Clark
Date: 07/24/17

64 Bacon Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $178,000
Buyer: Brittany A. Rice
Seller: William J. Pasternak
Date: 08/01/17

163 Bosworth St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Dhan Gurung
Seller: Eagle Home Buyers LLC
Date: 07/27/17

90 Bridle Path Road
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Joseph P. Dechristopher
Seller: Barbara C. Eddy
Date: 07/31/17

6 Crestview Dr.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Deborah Heady
Seller: Carl L. Wise
Date: 07/27/17

617 Dewey St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $264,000
Buyer: Caitlin E. Patruski
Seller: Jeffrey D. Paquin
Date: 07/31/17

64-66 Elmdale St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $181,000
Buyer: Mazin AlNuaimi
Seller: DJJ Investments LLC
Date: 08/04/17

17 George St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Alexander Frazier
Seller: HDCB LLC
Date: 08/02/17

38 Granger Place
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $217,450
Buyer: Jamal Hussein
Seller: Richard J. Larose
Date: 07/28/17

77 Hanover St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $131,000
Buyer: Oleg S. Gladysh
Seller: FNMA
Date: 07/25/17

52 Hummingbird Lane
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $348,000
Buyer: Scott E. Mendoker
Seller: Cornell N. Bogdan
Date: 08/01/17

Hyde Road #5
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: Arseniy S. Sergeychik
Seller: John G. Kudlic
Date: 07/24/17

Hyde Road #6
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: Vladimir Sergeychik
Seller: John G. Kudlic
Date: 07/26/17

42 Kent St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $213,750
Buyer: Cortney Cheney
Seller: Thomas Gavin
Date: 07/28/17

81 Laurence Dr.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $248,100
Buyer: Nicole J. Palange
Seller: Deborah A. Heady
Date: 07/27/17

73 Maple Ter.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $216,250
Buyer: Daniel D. Parker
Seller: Mars Real Properties Inc.
Date: 07/31/17

21 Monastery Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $186,000
Buyer: Christopher R. Heaton
Seller: Frank G. Vescio
Date: 07/31/17

271 Park St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $5,000,000
Buyer: Pioneer MOB LP
Seller: Quality Realty Partners
Date: 08/02/17

264 Poplar Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $219,000
Buyer: James A. Biscoe
Seller: Jeffrey R. Mitchell
Date: 07/31/17

133 Quarry Road
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $450,000
Buyer: Gary A. Spaeth
Seller: Robert Duffy
Date: 07/27/17

107 Queen Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $152,500
Buyer: Rafael Toro
Seller: Lori A. Picard
Date: 07/31/17

49-51 Russell St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Westmass Apartments LLC
Seller: Anwar Properties LLC
Date: 07/27/17

21 Sean Louis Circle
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $487,500
Buyer: Matthew A. Hamilton
Seller: Steven M. Page
Date: 07/26/17

71 Silver St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $164,500
Buyer: Stella R. Couture
Seller: Christine R. Simard
Date: 07/28/17

28-30 Sprague St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Amer R. Jasem
Seller: V. Nicolayevich-Krinitsyn
Date: 08/04/17

39 Thomas Dr.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $203,000
Buyer: Aman Chuwan
Seller: Linh P. Huynh
Date: 07/31/17

44 Thomas Dr.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $215,500
Buyer: Jasmine D. Barreto
Seller: Sheila F. Baker
Date: 07/28/17

WESTFIELD

32 Atwater St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $194,712
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: John J. Szymkiewicz
Date: 07/27/17

217 Belanger Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Eugene S. Picard
Seller: Eugene S. Picard
Date: 07/27/17

62 Butternut Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Rodolfo Vega
Seller: Lee S. Diamond
Date: 08/04/17

62 City View Blvd.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Renee A. Sanders
Seller: Katherine M. Frye
Date: 07/28/17

10 Collins St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $191,500
Buyer: Bradley D. Buzzee
Seller: Betty J. Sheldon
Date: 07/26/17

57 Day Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $223,000
Buyer: Michael D. Moran
Seller: Robert J. Desormier
Date: 07/25/17

1830 East Mountain Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $287,100
Buyer: Adam J. Sharon
Seller: Kathleen Arrington
Date: 07/27/17

59 East Silver St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $199,950
Buyer: Gregory P. Strattner
Seller: Florek, Dorothy M., (Estate)
Date: 07/31/17

18 Gladwin Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Dennis W. Stoops
Seller: James A. Scheip
Date: 08/04/17

40 Heritage Lane
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $309,000
Buyer: Marybeth Hayes
Seller: Peter J. Curtin
Date: 07/25/17

15 Hillary Lane
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $424,900
Buyer: Wilson R. Jara
Seller: Adam T. Hamada
Date: 07/28/17

299 Hillcrest Circle
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $329,900
Buyer: Matthew R. Cadieux
Seller: MA Home Buyers LLC
Date: 08/04/17

42 Jefferson St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $204,000
Buyer: Matthew A. Patterson
Seller: Robert J. Mahoney
Date: 07/31/17

20 King Place
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $136,000
Buyer: Melissa H. Dupont
Seller: Ramorita Castro
Date: 07/31/17

75 Kittredge Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $254,900
Buyer: William A. West
Seller: William J. Greenwood
Date: 08/04/17

7 Leonard Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Daniel E. Rines
Seller: Joseph G. Flahive
Date: 07/31/17

337 Little River Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: John Mayhew
Seller: Summit Group Properties
Date: 08/04/17

42 Magnolia Ter.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $580,000
Buyer: Xiuyu Ma
Seller: Anthony E. Amanti
Date: 08/01/17

53 Michael Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $344,900
Buyer: Mark R. Valcourt
Seller: Kenneth L. Peters
Date: 07/31/17

52 Mockingbird Lane
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $375,000
Buyer: Brian Cleland
Seller: Joseph M. Spagnoli
Date: 07/27/17

5 Sherman St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $167,000
Buyer: Randy A. Arkoette
Seller: Lois V. Horak
Date: 07/25/17

459 Springdale Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Emily A. Amidio
Seller: John P. Lamoureux
Date: 08/02/17

27 Winding Ridge Lane
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $490,000
Buyer: Serge Lukomsky
Seller: Melanie Whitman
Date: 08/02/17

WILBRAHAM

1 Alder Lane
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $418,000
Buyer: James B. Dunbar
Seller: Donna L. Beaumier
Date: 08/04/17

2 Bulkley Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Ioannis Mirisis
Seller: James B. Dunbar
Date: 07/25/17

14 Horseshoe Lane
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $407,500
Buyer: Matthew S. Fortune
Seller: Eileen Caterina
Date: 07/31/17

309-311 Main St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Main Street Rentals LLC
Seller: Robert H. Rowe
Date: 07/31/17

Main St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $147,000
Buyer: Sapphire Property Dev. LLC
Seller: Patriot Living LLC
Date: 07/28/17

33 Oakland St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Charles D. Spurlock
Seller: Christopher J. Novelli
Date: 07/31/17

15 Pidgeon Dr.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $296,000
Buyer: Jonathan R. Carignan
Seller: Donald Carignan
Date: 07/25/17

15 Rice Dr.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $280,250
Buyer: Kelley A. Barber-Jones
Seller: Donald Bremner
Date: 07/31/17

16 Scenic Dr.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $299,900
Buyer: Timothy M. Fedora
Seller: Wayne D. Carpenter
Date: 07/27/17

5 Springfield St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Stephen P. Wagner
Seller: Margaret E. Connell
Date: 08/01/17

7 Sunnyside Ter.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $198,000
Buyer: Ana C. Serrenho
Seller: Elmer C. Wyman
Date: 08/04/17

2 Sunset Rock Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $346,500
Buyer: Kerryn E. Perkins
Seller: Christopher N. Lucarelle
Date: 08/03/17

1347 Tinkham Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $375,000
Buyer: Joanne Fredette-Beauvais
Seller: Karsten M. Kristensen
Date: 07/28/17

10 Ward Dr.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $425,000
Buyer: Chistopher N. Lucarelle
Seller: John C. Welch
Date: 08/03/17

45 Weston St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: James B. Palmier
Seller: Jason Balut
Date: 07/28/17

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY

AMHERST

301 East Pleasant St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $517,500
Buyer: George B. Stevens
Seller: Maryann Barakso
Date: 07/28/17

37 Greenwich Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $240,500
Buyer: Matthew J. Westgate
Seller: Kilerine Properties LLC
Date: 08/04/17

42 Harris St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $364,500
Buyer: Yvonne Defelice
Seller: Amy R. Hamel
Date: 07/26/17

34 Lincoln Ave.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $595,000
Buyer: Michael S. Siegel
Seller: Anne M. Harazin
Date: 07/24/17

Lindenridge Road #60
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Bercume Construction LLC
Seller: Tofino Associates LLC
Date: 07/28/17

279 Market Hill Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $424,900
Buyer: Julianne E. Applegate
Seller: Sarah A. Willburn
Date: 07/25/17

29 Mill Lane
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $1,750,000
Buyer: La Petite Ferme NT
Seller: 29 Mill Lane TR
Date: 08/01/17

26 Plum Tree Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $535,000
Buyer: Brian S. Cheng
Seller: Sheila F. Klem
Date: 07/28/17

562 South Pleasant St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Susanna Nazarova
Seller: Daniel R. Sheldon
Date: 08/03/17

67 Spaulding St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $292,000
Buyer: Karen L. Schimmel
Seller: Margaret J. Burggren
Date: 07/28/17

74 Stony Hill Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Mitchell D. Culler
Seller: Joseph G. Kunkel
Date: 08/03/17

15 Trillium Way
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $405,000
Buyer: Wei Lu
Seller: Jonghyun Lee
Date: 07/31/17

651 West St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Daniel Horlitz
Seller: Kielbowicz, Stanley, (Estate)
Date: 07/31/17

BELCHERTOWN

271 Allen Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $238,000
Buyer: Elizabeth K. Bishop
Seller: Curran, Michael D., (Estate)
Date: 07/28/17

57 Bay Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $226,500
Buyer: Erin R. Brown
Seller: Linda E. Barron LT
Date: 07/28/17

211 Boardman St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $352,000
Buyer: Brett Lord
Seller: Robert J. Pare
Date: 07/31/17

201 Federal St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $175,900
Buyer: Robert Felton
Seller: Jeremy Fugler
Date: 07/27/17

25 Hickory Hill
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $399,900
Buyer: Kenneth G. Ventura
Seller: J. N. Duquette & Son Construction
Date: 08/04/17

5 Lake Dr.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Donald C. Ahrens
Seller: Arthur R. Lemire
Date: 08/01/17

42 Sheffield Dr.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $355,000
Buyer: Jintao Ma
Seller: Nancy J. Bousquet
Date: 07/25/17

350 Springfield Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: Ali Cayan
Seller: Brian Major
Date: 07/28/17

CUMMINGTON

336 Berkshire Trail
Cummington, MA 01026
Amount: $335,000
Buyer: Ilse D. Godfrey
Seller: Charles Handfield
Date: 07/28/17

361 West Cummington Road
Cummington, MA 01026
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Patricia J. Corley
Seller: Joshua J. Banville
Date: 08/01/17

EASTHAMPTON

4 1st Ave.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Amberlynn Curtis
Seller: June M. Wilby
Date: 08/04/17

5-15 Adams St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $660,000
Buyer: Krupalu LLC
Seller: John Dunphy
Date: 08/01/17

484 East St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $259,900
Buyer: Michelle Molineaux
Seller: Vision Investment Properties
Date: 07/28/17

238 Hendrick St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $239,900
Buyer: Tara F. Slade
Seller: Katherine Granger
Date: 07/28/17

21 Summit Ave.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $212,777
Buyer: John G. Martin
Seller: Paul D. Winsky
Date: 07/24/17

GOSHEN

19 Lake Dr.
Goshen, MA 01096
Amount: $315,000
Buyer: Jeffrey A. Dan
Seller: William T. Kelly
Date: 07/24/17

GRANBY

367 East State St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Richard A. Bruso
Seller: Gary N. Vickers
Date: 07/24/17

4 Ken Lane
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Kristen M. Killeen
Seller: Richard A. Twining
Date: 08/01/17

108 Munsing Ridge
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $395,000
Buyer: Carl W. Ruprecht
Seller: Jason N. Parent
Date: 07/25/17

153 South St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $117,000
Buyer: Jamroth LLC
Seller: Vandomo, Virginia M., (Estate)
Date: 07/31/17

77 South St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Valorie J. Macy
Seller: Francis J. Donovan
Date: 07/27/17

HADLEY

3 French St.
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $216,250
Buyer: Michael O’Connor
Seller: Jessica M. Judah
Date: 07/24/17

2 Indian Pipe Dr.
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $640,000
Buyer: Laura M. Whyte
Seller: Bercume Construction LLC
Date: 07/28/17

232 River Dr.
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: David F. Marsh
Seller: Berestka FT
Date: 08/04/17

HATFIELD

10 Chestnut St.
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $257,600
Buyer: Adam T. Smith
Seller: Duda, Thomas E., (Estate)
Date: 07/25/17

66 Chestnut St.
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $196,000
Buyer: Thomas J. Wickles
Seller: Roberts, Donald R., (Estate)
Date: 07/27/17

164 Depot Road
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Jeffrey J. Soley
Seller: Richard W. Cooper
Date: 07/25/17

140 Prospect St.
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $326,400
Buyer: Zachary Bolotin
Seller: Steven P. Levin
Date: 07/27/17

HUNTINGTON

204 Norwich Lake
Huntington, MA 01050
Amount: $249,900
Buyer: Allyson R. Hornstein
Seller: Bradley J. Robbins
Date: 07/31/17

NORTHAMPTON

29 Aldrich St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $396,500
Buyer: Reed Schimmelfing
Seller: Mitchell K. Hinard
Date: 08/02/17

180 Bridge Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Jennifer B. Norton
Seller: Linda Darlene-Monds
Date: 08/02/17

56 Dunphy Dr.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Amy D. Kotel
Seller: Robert E. Olmsted
Date: 07/28/17

65 Federal St.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Andrew E. Morehouse
Seller: Townsend, William H. Jr, (Estate)
Date: 07/31/17

69 Marian St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $319,000
Buyer: Julia A. Max
Seller: Ann L. Dunphy
Date: 07/31/17

23 Maynard Road
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $649,000
Buyer: Kerry Dinh
Seller: Ruddy, Beatrice, (Estate)
Date: 08/03/17

105 Maynard Road
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $650,000
Buyer: Katie S. Nason
Seller: Edward A&J A. Allen RET
Date: 07/31/17

44 North Farms Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $375,000
Buyer: Katelyn Smithling
Seller: Marsha G. Lieberman
Date: 07/31/17

11 School St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $500,000
Buyer: Luke Bloomfield
Seller: 11 School Street LLC
Date: 08/01/17

53 Strawberry Hill
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $810,750
Buyer: Edward Selke
Seller: Matthew D. Curtis
Date: 07/27/17

30 Village Hill Road
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $269,900
Buyer: Patricia Allen
Seller: Columns At Rockwell Place
Date: 07/28/17

30 Village Hill Road
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $299,900
Buyer: Julie A. Anderson
Seller: Columns At Rockwell Place
Date: 08/02/17

24 Walnut St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $484,500
Buyer: Rosamond L. Merrill
Seller: John L. Nixon
Date: 08/01/17

SOUTH HADLEY

520 Amherst Road
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Brian M. Major
Seller: Christopher G. Kostek
Date: 07/28/17

59 Brigham Road
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $209,000
Buyer: Lindsey M. Anderson
Seller: Joseph J. Ruszczyk
Date: 07/28/17

15 Bunker Hill
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $157,440
Buyer: US Bank NA
Seller: Jeffrey P. Gladu
Date: 07/28/17

124 College St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $152,000
Buyer: Veronica Gajownik
Seller: Ashley K. Warren
Date: 07/25/17

281 East St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $390,000
Buyer: Rehm Family Properties
Seller: George J. Ladas
Date: 07/26/17

65 McKinley Ave.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $177,000
Buyer: Joshua R. Kaciak
Seller: Kurt W. Conner
Date: 07/31/17

41 Michael Dr.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $206,000
Buyer: Judith Bartlett
Seller: Brian Morris
Date: 07/28/17

7 Misty Court
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $482,500
Buyer: Manufacturers & Traders TR
Seller: Willaim A. Brousseau
Date: 07/27/17

139 North Main St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Anthony M. Rigali
Seller: Michael E. Mostowski
Date: 07/28/17

32 Park Ave.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $264,900
Buyer: Marilyn Paterno
Seller: Kevin J. Baldini
Date: 07/26/17

52 Richview Ave.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $149,900
Buyer: Kari Courchesne
Seller: Richard, Robert A., (Estate)
Date: 08/04/17

8 Ridge Road
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Nuria P. Ayala
Seller: Nicholas R. Wanat
Date: 07/26/17

16 Skyline Dr.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $318,000
Buyer: Nathan R. Provost
Seller: Anna Dymon
Date: 07/31/17

8 Stewart St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $193,000
Buyer: Megan A. Motyka
Seller: Ronald B. Motyka
Date: 08/03/17

SOUTHAMPTON

45 Miller Ave.
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Nicole A. Gralla
Seller: Jane I. Dipenta RET
Date: 08/02/17

18 Pequot Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Lori Beaudry
Seller: 18 Pequot Road LLC
Date: 07/28/17

79 Russellville Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $257,500
Buyer: Samuell B. Anthony
Seller: Kevin M. Benson
Date: 08/02/17

120 Strong Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $284,000
Buyer: Alex R. Trombley
Seller: Robert M. O’Connor
Date: 07/31/17

4 Wyben Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: James P. Anspach
Seller: James & Kay Higgins LT
Date: 07/26/17

WARE

7 2nd Ave.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $124,500
Buyer: Elisa Watras
Seller: Viola M. Chaffee
Date: 07/25/17

124 Bacon Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Joshua M. Dusza
Seller: Scott McCartney
Date: 07/25/17

87 Church St.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $208,900
Buyer: Nicole Sicard
Seller: John F. Slattery
Date: 08/01/17

13 Coldbrook Dr.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $329,750
Buyer: Gary R. Bressette
Seller: Benchmark Custom Homes
Date: 07/31/17

5 Demond Ave.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Daniel S. Saletnik
Seller: Bernard R. Robbins
Date: 08/04/17

9 Howard Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Ryan A. Sidur
Seller: Patricia A. Nicholas
Date: 07/31/17

38-40 Morse Ave.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $216,500
Buyer: Lambertus Louw
Seller: Linda Reeser
Date: 08/01/17

66 Old Poor Farm Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $242,000
Buyer: Jessica Murphy
Seller: Dorothy A. Olecki
Date: 08/04/17

332 Palmer Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $154,900
Buyer: Christopher P. Swett
Seller: Michael T. Huse
Date: 07/27/17

16 Sherwin St.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $119,000
Buyer: Deutsche Bank
Seller: Cynthia E. Saloio
Date: 08/03/17

3 Walter Dr.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $277,000
Buyer: Michael Huse
Seller: McM Capital Partners LLP TR
Date: 07/28/17

WILLIAMSBURG

7 Bridge St.
Williamsburg, MA 01038
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Joanna Pheasant
Seller: Susanne M. McCrea
Date: 07/31/17

1 East Main St.
Williamsburg, MA 01096
Amount: $356,850
Buyer: Shirlee Williams
Seller: Catherine V. Carija
Date: 07/31/17

10 East Main St.
Williamsburg, MA 01096
Amount: $486,400
Buyer: Kathleen M. Ventre
Seller: John H. Davis
Date: 08/04/17

10-12 High St.
Williamsburg, MA 01062
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Jason C. Harder
Seller: Thomas E. Seymour
Date: 08/01/17

7 Kingsley Ave.
Williamsburg, MA 01096
Amount: $445,000
Buyer: David Daley
Seller: Valerie Pennington
Date: 08/02/17

13 Main St.
Williamsburg, MA 01096
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Charlene S. Elvers
Seller: Gerald D. Lashway
Date: 07/24/17

172 Main St.
Williamsburg, MA 01096
Amount: $224,500
Buyer: Ryan K. Darling
Seller: Russell M. Griffin
Date: 07/31/17

WESTHAMPTON

139 Southampton Road
Westhampton, MA 01027
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Joseph Tanguay
Seller: Donna L. Delisle-Mitchell
Date: 07/31/17

WORTHINGTON

272 Cummington Road
Worthington, MA 01098
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Forest Medicins Sanctuary
Seller: 272 Cummington Road RT
Date: 08/01/17

Bankruptcies

By
Bankruptcies Departments

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

Allahyari, Shahriar
24 Bent Tree Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 07/17/17

Bacci, Deborah Corser
a/k/a Corser, Deborah J.
240 Tully Road
Orange, MA 01364
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 07/27/17

Blase, Joi R.
a/k/a Tatro, Joi
17 Allyn St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 07/25/17

Blissett, Whitney Shayla
43 Draper St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 07/31/17

Brick, Anna M.
122 Main St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 07/27/17

Bristol, Leida
20 Gerard Way, Apt. H
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 07/21/17

Britt, Nancy Jean
41 Corey Road
Springfield, MA 01128
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 07/25/17

Brooks, Michael C.
a/k/a Brooks, Michael Charles
109 Holiday Circle
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 07/28/17

Chase, Andrea
a/k/a O’Connell, Andrea
5 Forest Park Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 07/26/17

Conway, Shawn D.
Conway, Laura A.
22 Mohawk Trail, Unit 2
Greenfield, MA 01301
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 07/17/17

Dakis-Fiore, Sandra
7 Castlegate Dr.
Springfield, MA 01129
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 07/20/17

Elizabeth’s Wee Garden
Roberts, Elizabeth C.
430 North Liberty St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 07/17/17

Fields, Steven L.
23 Crestwood St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 07/24/17

Forde, Keith A.
P.O. Box 51466
Indian Orchard, MA 01151-5466
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 07/31/17

Forney, Gregory A.
45 Barrister Circle
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 07/31/17

Freeman, Gary Thomas
Freeman, Linda Jean
12 East Howe St.
Orange, MA 01364
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 07/28/17

Goodsell, Robert J.
Goodsell, Jeanne S.
134 Dorwin Dr.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 07/31/17

Gourinski, Lee P.
124 College St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 07/31/17

Gregori, Bruce F.
242 Burbank Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 07/18/17

Harmony’s House Daycare
Rivest, Harmony K.
a/k/a Niedzwiecki, Harmony K.
180 Line St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 07/19/17

Hernandez, Emma T.
a/k/a Garcia, Emma T.
25 Dayton St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 07/28/17

Lovett, David F.
402 Colrain Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 07/25/17

Maher, Brian Edward
761 Old Petersham Rd
Barre, MA 01005
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 07/26/17

Mascroft, Carol A.
PO Box 162
Gilbertville, MA 01031
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 07/26/17

Morrison, Christine M.
786 Wheelwright Road
Barre, MA 01005
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 07/24/17

Morrison, Christphor J.
Morrison, Kathleen M.
124 Gillette Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 07/24/17

Murphy, Michael P.
Murphy, Kimberly A.
45 North Westfield St.
Feeding Hills, MA 01030
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 07/18/17

Nikolayeva, Olga V.
126 Union St. Unit 2-2
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 07/21/17

Pecord, Gerald Leroy
560 Riverglade Dr.
Amherst, MA 01002
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 07/27/17

Polastri, Barbara A.
336 East Main St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 07/17/17

Rodriguez, Edel L.
414 Chestnut St., Apt. 826
Springfield, MA 01104
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 07/17/17

Rooney, David J.
Rooney, Brenda Lee A.
239 Turnpike Road
Montague, MA 01351
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 07/17/17

Ruel, Dawn L.
115 Garvey Dr.
Springfield, MA 01109
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 07/28/17

Taylor, Philip F.
41 Thornliebank Road
Williamstown, MA 01267
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 07/25/17

Top 2 Bottom Cleaning
Krzykowski, Laura
31 Alfred Circle
Agawam, MA 01001
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 07/27/17

Woodbury, Mark S.
118 Clairmont Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 07/28/17

York, Karen J.
152 Federal St., Apt 5
Greenfield, MA 01301
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 07/27/17

Your Property Matters LLC
Morris, Kathleen Cecelia
91 Batchelor St.
Granby, MA 01033
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 07/27/17

Doing Business as Certificates

By
DBA Certificates Departments

The following business certificates and trade names were issued or renewed during the month of August 2017.

AMHERST

Catch My Thrift
11 East Pleasant St.
Robert Chesnut

Red Door Salon
55 South Pleasant St.
Kirsten Barnes

Sachem Capital
264 Harkness Road
Sachem Capital Corp.

SweetSpotWake.com
747 South East St.
Jed Rovhana

CHICOPEE

Curb Appeal Landscaping
48 Borys Circle
Matthew Galaska, Kimberlee Galaska, Raymond Galaska

Jasper and Nick
52 Ellsbree St.
Debra Lucia

Riera Construction
30 Nassau St.
Lazaro Riera

EASTHAMPTON

DWE Landscaping
521 East St.
Donald Eggleston, Veronica Frantz

Pono Mai Therapeutic Massage
11 Duda Dr.
Melissa Pandina

EAST LONGMEADOW

Carlson Roofing Co.
176 Porter Road
Robert Carlson

National Camping Travelers
9 Somerset St.
David Fant

Martin Roofing
85 Lee St.
Robert Martin

Redstone Marketing & Design
12 Colony Dr.
Joseph Rosa

HOLYOKE

Button It
540 County Road
Terry Paquin

Burnt Offering Design
22 Linden St.
Mark Chilton

Fruity Bubble
50 Holyoke St.
Kelvin Zheng

The Kick It Club
426 Maple St.
Yaritza Rivera

King Mart
494 Westfield Road
Sanjay Patel, Krishnakant Swadia

Spirit Halloween Superstores, LLC
50 Holyoke St.
Spirit Halloween Superstores, LLC

LUDLOW

Dave’s Soda and Pet Food City
433 Center St.
Dave’s Retail Trust

John C. Marcus Contractors
123 Shawnigan Dr.
John Marcus

Morais Landscaping
222 Cady St.
Danny Morais

Silver Brook Farms
67 Jackie Dr.
Thomas Cislak

A Touch of Heaven at Spa West
326 West Ave.
Tanya Martinez

NORTHAMPTON

Astute Tutoring and Education Services
9½ Market St.
Christian Covert, Aaron Covert

Computer First Aid
209 Main St., Apt. 2A
Cian Dowling

Faith Sullivan, M.Div.
71 King St.
Faith Sullivan

Highview of Northampton
222 River Road
Robert Petroff

Local Forager Brokerage
245 Main St., Unit 207
Pamela Ferrechio

Mill River Music and Guitars
16 Armory St.
Jon Aronstein

Mineral Hills Winery
592 Sylvester Road
Susan Godard

Northampton Psychotherapy
8 Crafts Ave.
Nicholas Boutros

PALMER

Joshua M. Gibbs Electrician
3041 South Main St.
Joshua Gibbs

Noble Stoneworks
124 St. John St.
Jonathan Bechard

SOUTHWICK

Lakewood Village, LLC
160 Point Grove Road
Mary Thayer

Sunny’s Convenience
801 College Highway
Synil Patel

SPRINGFIELD

A 2 Z Towing and Roadside Assistance
110 Old Lane Road
Branden Stanek

Andre’s Fitness Training
151 Merrimac Ave.
Andre Webley

Angie’s Fashion
34 Maryland St.
Luna Ruben

Brian’s Carpet and Upholstery
154 Brittany Road
Brian Stasiak

BTC Home Improvement
224 Pearl St.
Glenn LaBier

Calvin Auto Repairing
170 Massachusetts Ave.
Calvin Fearing

Catering by Meital
979 Dickinson St.
Meital Aloush

Dollar General Store #190
1070 St. James Ave.
DG Retail, LLC

Dollar General Store #191
786 Boston Road
DG Retail, LLC

Eco Friendly Cleaners
436 Boston Road
Arksone Anachack

Elite Security Service
22 Winnipeg St.
Troy Gebo

Elorac & Enaid
51A Trafton Road
Anthony Frogameni

EWB Lawncare & Snow Removal
30 Gatewood Road
Ernest Buffaloe

The Flower Box
596 Carew St.
Brian Grisel

J & J Barbershop
165½ White St.
Javier Nunez

Jad Mourad
66 Newton Road
Jad Mourad

Juvrena, LLC
139 Switzer Ave.
Yecenia Guzman

Marcel Smith
31 Westford Ave.
Marcel Smith

Masters Beauty Salon
24 Island Pond Road
Janet Disco

Miya’s Mixes
39 Kirk Dr.
Glynis Phillips

My House of Temptations
57 Haskin St.
Tamika McKenzie

Pacos Detailing
17 Arthur Picard Circle
Francisco Cancinos

Polish Me Pretty
34½ Oak St.
Eddie Santiago

Pressure Washing USA
1242 Main St.
Service Jobs Inc.

Property Maintenance
122 Temby St.
Daniel Rivera

Sara, LLC
603 Wilbraham Road
Zahoor Haq

Shades of Jade
6 Berkshire St.
Fanta Simmons

Suzana Decoration
103 Rhinebeck Ave.
Maria Machado

Triptic Star
298 Allen Park Road
Michelle Barbaby

Velopez Cleaning Services
23 Wareham St.
Jose Velez

Vibra Hospital of Western Massachusetts
400 State St.
Vibra Hospital of Western Massachusetts

WARE

Century 21
109 West St.
James D’Amico

Maple Leaf Mowing and Landscaping
11 Smith Ave.
Andrew Egan

WEST SPRINGFIELD

Auntie Cathie’s Kitchen
217 Elm St.
Catherine Albrecht

Basic Packaging Supply
136 Wayside Ave.
James Pollard

Fathers & Sons Volvo Cars
989 Memorial Ave.
Damon Cartelli

Kia M. Brokos, L.M.T.
425 Union St.
Kia Brokos

Noel’s Damce & Gymnastics
87 Norman St.
Louise Noel

Riverdale Dental
1073 Riverdale St.
Vijay Gaddam

Royalty
51 Park Ave.
Khalis Kasimov

Wendy’s
644 Riverdale St.
Parikh Amish

Wiggles & Giggles Day Care
112 Orchardview St.
Kristen Montville

WILBRAHAM

Callahan’s Camp for Canines, LLC
2 River Road
Meryl Callahan

Frank’s Lawn Care
14 Iroquois Lane
Frank Kochanowski

Wilbraham Nail Spa
2133 Boston Road, Unit 4
Anderson Tai

Incorporations

By
Departments Incorporations

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

BELCHERTOWN

Quabbin Art Association Inc., 40 South Main St., Belchertown, MA 01007. Denise Fontaine-Pincince, same. Non-profit organization that provides education, support, and opportunity for local artists, and promotes community interest and appreciation in visual arts.

NORTHAMPTON

Prepared Accounting P.C., 35 Conz St., Northampton, MA 01060. Lyle D. Phipps    , same. Certified public accounting.

Shiva Shakti Inc., 17 Strong Ave., Northampton, MA 01060. Naima Workman, same. Yoga studio.

CHICOPEE

Tomas Express Inc., 55 Empire St., Unit 10, Chicopee, MA 01013. Tomasz Radawiec, same. Transportation, truck driving.

FEEDING HILLS

The Magic Blend Co., 1325 Springfield St., Suite 8, Feeding Hills, MA 01030.  Adam Kaplan, same. Smoothie and juice bar.

LONGMEADOW

Smile Line P.C., 20 Pinewood Dr., Longmeadow, MA 01106. Vijay Bhaskar R. Gaddam, same. Dentist.

Springfield Sting Charitable Foundation Inc., 10 East Primrose Dr., Longmeadow, MA 01106. Zachary Baru, same. Non-profit established to work with and donate to various nonprofits and youth organizations within the community to promote the values of the Springfield Sting, using basketball as a way to give back to the community.

SPRINGFIELD

S & A Corp., 228 Ramblewood Dr., Springfield, MA 01118. Imran R. Chaudhry, same. Convenience store.

Springfield Merchandise Grove Inc., 1655 Boston Road, Springfield, MA 01129. Mistry Massomali, same. Retail discount store.

Temple of Praise Ministries Church of God in Christ Inc., 31 Oswego St., Apt. 1A, Springfield, MA 01105. Thomas C. Robinson, 56 Burns Ave., Springfield, MA 01119. Christian ministry.

STOCKBRIDGE

Pricing Carbon Initiative Inc., 51 Interlaken Road, Stockbridge, MA 01262. Thomas H. Stokes, same. Non-profit which fosters safe dialogue, explores effective approaches, and ultimately encourages action to price carbon that is viable, equitable and commensurate with the challenge of climate disruption.

WEST SPRINGFIELD

Seven Hill Transportation Inc., 155 River St., Apt J4, West Springfield, MA 01089. Esengul Ozdemir, same. Transportation company.

WESTFIELD

State Plumbing & Heating Inc., 1343 East Mountain Road, Westfield, MA 01085. Sergey Girich, same. Heating and plumbing services.

Briefcase

By
Briefcase Departments

Nominations Sought for Difference Makers Award

SPRINGFIELD — Nearly a decade ago, BusinessWest created a new recognition program called Difference Makers. That carefully chosen name sums up what this initiative is all about — identifying and then celebrating individuals, groups, and agencies in this region that are making a difference in our communities. And now, it’s time to nominate candidates for the class of 2018. The nomination form can be found at www.buisnesswest.com; click ‘Our Events,’ and then ‘Difference Makers.’ Nominations must be submitted by Nov. 3. Over the first nine years of the program, honorees have included a host of individuals and nonprofit agencies focusing on everything from childhood literacy to combatting homelessness; from reducing gang violence in Springfield to creating a walk to battle breast cancer. For a full list of previous winners, visit www.businesswest.com.

Those nominating candidates are encouraged to make their submissions detailed and explain why the individual or group in question is a true Difference Maker.

VVM Graduates 14 from Collegiate Accelerator

SPRINGFIELD — Valley Venture Mentors announced that it has graduated 14 startups from its inaugural Collegiate Accelerator Program. After nine weeks of intensive training, more than $20,000 in cash prizes was distributed to the entrepreneurs by accredited investors. Additionally, a $5,000 award was given to the startup that showed the most grit. Here is a rundown of the teams and the prize distribution:

• The Travel Unicorn, the LGBTQ+ travel guide that works to connect travelers to safe destinations based on their recommendations: $6,000, plus the $5,000 Grit Award;

• lymph + honey, which provides access to healthful, wholesome, and sustainable natural hair- and body-care products: $6,000;

• Vidvision, which helps marketers convert their video viewers into customers: $2,700;

• Zirui, offering innovative and stylish solutions for traveling with beauty and care products: $2,700;

• Mt. Mitho, bringing flavors from the highest peak on Earth: $1,350;

• redflowers, an online media platform that fosters community and dismantles societal stereotypes surrounding black identities and black women: $700;

• STEAMporio, training the makers of tomorrow by creating a passion for learning: $700;

• Boman, where a shipping container plus agricultural system equals a turn-key platform for growing any crop, anytime, anywhere;

• El Cherufe Chile Paste, an artisanal chile paste that offers a new flavor experience to lovers of spicy heat;

• INDI10.com, where you bid to wear it first;

• Lighthouse, which helps students with projects, no matter the size;

• Shesabelle Chandeliears, helping those with limited earring options experience the full range of expression earrings have to offer;

• Studio 26, a promotional service that offers underground musicians in Massachusetts tools and resources to help expand and build their brand; and

• The Black Enterprise Business Resource Center, which cultivates the empowerment and collaboration of black entrepreneurs in the Western Mass. area through quality business education and business services.

Leadership Holyoke 2017-18 Series to Begin

HOLYOKE — Leadership Holyoke is a comprehensive community-leadership and board-development program of the Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce. The series utilizes a combination of classes and practical experiences to help local business people develop their leadership skills, increase their knowledge of the community, and acquire the skills needed to serve as board members and community leaders. The 2017-18 Leadership series begins on Sept. 22, consists of a weekly series of eight seven-hour sessions, and concludes on May 2 with a graduation ceremony at Holyoke Community College (HCC) with a specialty luncheon prepared by the college’s culinary program students. All sessions will be held on Fridays (except for the Boston State House trip) and take place at HCC as well as other locations throughout the city. Each session will include a segment on organization and leadership skills, and a segment on community needs and resources. Faculty members from HCC will participate as instructors and facilitators, and community leaders will participate as speakers and discussion leaders in areas of their expertise. The Leadership Holyoke series is made possible by PeoplesBank. Tuition of $600 per participant is due at the start of the course and includes a continental breakfast each week, a bus trip to Boston, and the graduation luncheon. Sign up online at holyokechamber.com or call the chamber at (413) 534-3376 with any questions.