BusinessWest

SPRINGFIELD — Moms in Power will present the Strength in Her Story Conference on Saturday, May 18 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Macedonia Church, 215 Tinkham Road, Springfield.

The conference aims to be a beacon of hope and inspiration, dedicated to celebrating the resilience, strength, and courage of women navigating through life’s complexities.

“This transformative event is a celebration of your evolution, your rise above trauma, and your journey of redefining who you are in the complexities of life,” said Arlyana Bowie, CEO of Moms in Power. “This event is for all women: the woman finding herself, the women going through a tough season, the daughter, the wife, the single parent, the aunt, the grieving woman, even the matriarchs of our families. Everyone you know has a story, and this conference is about redefining your and celebrating story with a different narrative while recognizing your true strength: your healing, restoration, and purpose. Dive deep into empowering conversations, interactive workshops, and inspiring activities designed to uplift and inspire.”

The $40 ticket includes a brunch buffet, inspirational speaker, dynamic panel discussions, healing workshops, raffles, networking, and more. Click here to register.

“From overcoming challenges to embracing and redefining who you are and all you desire to be, this conference is your opportunity to connect with like-minded women, share your stories, and leave feeling empowered, healed, and restored,” Bowie said. “Join us as we celebrate the strength, resilience, and beauty of womanhood.”

Springfield Symphony Chorus to Present Concert in Holyoke on May 11

SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield Symphony Chorus will give a spring concert, titled “Sing, Praise, Light II,” on Saturday, May 11 at 4 p.m. at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, 34 Jarvis Ave., Holyoke. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts.

Tickets cost $10, cash only at the door. Doors open at 3:15 p.m. The chorus will perform eclectic choral works based on themes of “Sing, Praise, Light.”

In addition to chorus recitals, the Springfield Symphony Chorus collaborates and performs with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra each concert season. During the 2023-24 concert season, the chorus performed during Holiday Pops and the Fantasias concert in March, and will also perform at the upcoming free Juneteenth concert, all at Springfield Symphony Hall.

Max on Monday Networking Event Slated for May 13

SPRINGFIELD — Max Tavern at the Basketball Hall of Fame will host the seventh Max on Monday networking event on Monday, May 13 from 4 to 6 p.m., offering attendees the opportunity to connect with other professionals while enjoying complimentary hors d’oeuvres. A cash bar will be available for beverages.

At each event, Max on Monday will feature a selection of local businesses. In May, the sponsored businesses will include PeoplesBank, Allied Flooring, Budget Cabinets, Greenstone Landscape, and LAKAY Building and Remodeling. Representatives from these businesses will be able to network with one another and share information about their organizations.

In addition, the event features a local charity. On May 13, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation will be the featured charity. A local artist will also be featured.

For more information about Max on Monday or to register to attend, RSVP to AnnMarie Harding (413) 244-4055 or [email protected].

Celebrating 40 Years of BusinessWest

Cover Story

A Look Back — and Ahead

What’s Changed — and What Hasn’t — in 40 Years

1984. That’s the title of an epic George Orwell novel, written 36 years earlier, that takes a look into the future and describes a world ruled by a televised ‘Big Brother.’

The real 1984 was a thankfully cheerier year. Ronald Reagan won a second term in office, the Boston Celtics won an epic NBA Finals series over the Los Angeles Lakers, gymnasts including Mary Lou Retton and West Springfield’s own Tim Daggett dominated the Summer Olympics in LA, and the Basketball Hall of Fame was soon to open its doors on Springfield’s riverfront.

That May, a new publication first appeared in businesses across the region. It was called the Western Massachusetts Business Journal, and the monthly magazine was something new and completely different — a publication devoted entirely to the region’s business community.

A few years later, the name was shortened to BusinessWest, which was not the only change to have taken place over the past 40 years. The magazine has since added a second issue each month, a strong digital presence, a daily news blog, a podcast, and several annual recognition programs and accompanying events.

Yet, as BusinessWest turns 40, we’ve dedicated this commemorative issue not to the changes that have taken place here, as significant as they are, but on the sweeping changes that have taken place in the workplace and in our business community.

They have included advances in computer technology that have transformed virtually every sector; a few memorable recessions, including one so profound it was called Great; a pandemic that shut down much of the world for months and may have permanently altered the way people work; a slew of state-of-the-art healthcare projects; a dramatic wave of contraction and acquisition in fields ranging from banking to insurance; a continued focus on entrepreneurship; and even brand-new sectors, most notably cannabis, and still-murky developments like artificial intelligence.

These sweeping, profound changes have impacted just about every sector, from education to law to construction, and have altered how we work, where we work, when we work, and even what we wear to work. In short, it’s been an eventful four decades, which has more than justified Publisher John Gormally’s decision to chronicle all of it on the pages of this magazine.

There’s no way to sum all that up in one issue, but we hope the articles below, brought to life by interviews with some of this region’s most prominent business leaders, at least begins to paint the picture of an economy, and region, ever in flux.

In this special section, 40 years of:

Click on each story to read more

or go HERE to view the entire BusinessWest 40th Anniversary issue

Banking

Commercial Development

Construction

Financial Planning

Healthcare

Higher Education

Manufacturing

Nonprofits

Professional Services

Technology

The Workplace

Bulkley Richardson Celebrates a Century of Commitment to the Community

Law Special Coverage

Firm Resolve

Sean Buxton was talking about why he chose to join the Springfield-based law firm Bulkley Richardson, and what he’s found since he came on board not quite a year ago.

“It’s been an amazing experience,” said Buxton, who handles general commercial litigation and is currently doing a lot of work in the firm’s new office in Greenfield, referring specifically to being around — and being mentored by — seasoned attorneys with decades of experience.

“Just in the Litigation department alone, we have Sandy Dibble — I can’t even tell you how long he’s been practicing — and Mike Burke, too; they’re such valuable asssets,” he said. “In the legal field, you get this feeling sometimes that the problem you’re coming on is something you’re seeing for the first time seen before and that no one’s ever dealt with this before. To have someone to go to and have them say, ‘that same exact circumstance hasn’t happened to me, but here’s what my instincts say’ and ‘here’s what I’ve experienced,’ that is so valuable.

“You can bounce ideas off so many people here and make sure that your decisions are informed not only by you and what you’ve learned, but by the instincts and experience of everyone around you,” Buxton went on. “And they’re just fascinating people; we have Judge [John] Greaney here, who sat on the Appeals Court and the Supreme Judicial Court, and Sandy as well; the stories they tell and the experiences they can relate … they’re great mentors.”

While the names of the older lawyers and mentors may have changed, and the exact words used to describe their impact may have changed as well, generations of lawyers who have worked at the firm have been saying pretty much the same things as Buxton.

“You can bounce ideas off so many people here and make sure that your decisions are informed not only by you and what you’ve learned, but by the instincts and experience of everyone around you.”

And that’s just one of many things the firm is celebrating as its marks its centennial this year in what could be described as quiet, poignant fashion (we’ll get back to that in a bit).

It’s taking place at a time of change in the business landscape, such as the rise of the cannabis industry, and at a time when many firms are smaller or have been merged into larger entities. Meanwhile, the firm’s ongoing commitment to the community has become a focal point of the centennial, said Managing Partner Dan Finnegan, who came on board in 1992.

“We wanted to celebrate all of the amazing work that has gone into supporting, celebrating, and engaging in the communities in which we live, work, and play through initiatives such as helping to feed the hungry and addressing food insecurity, supporting arts and culture, contributing funds to lifesaving healthcare and research organizations, and providing pro bono legal services to those in need, among many, many others,” he explained. “Members of the firm have contributed time, resources, and finances to help so many worthy causes over the past century, and we plan to continue that legacy.”

Dan Finnegan says the firm’s commitment to the community has become a focal point of its centennial celebration.

Elaborating, he said the firm has launched a new campaign called ‘Be the Change.’ It will connect lawyers and staff with opportunities to engage with organizations in Western Mass. and beyond so they can act together to bring positive change.

The campaign was launched last fall, with a team of 50 from the firm taking part in the annual Rays of Hope breats-cancer walk. Other specific initiatives include a YMCA clean-up day on May 3, when attorneys and staff rolled up their sleeves and helped prepare Stony Brook Acres, a YMCA camp in Wilbraham, for a June opening; partnering with Greater Springfield YMCA to assist area boys and girls attend summer camp (the firm will send 16 youth campers to a YMCA-run camp this summer for one week); and a $10,000 donation to Baystate Health to purchase infusion chairs.

“Giving back to the community is one of the core values that differentiates us,” said Peter Barry, who joined the firm in 1982 and preceded Finnegan as managing partner, adding that this is one of many qualities and traditions that essentiually go back to 1924.

For this issue and its focus on law, BusinessWest takes a look at 100 years of tradition, expansion, innovation, entrepreneurship, and giving back — and at how these traits will continue to define the firm moving forward.

Making Their Case

When asked how Bulkley Richardson intends to celebrate its centennial — beyond ‘Be the Change’ — Finnegan suggested that the annual holiday party “might be a little more robust this year.”

In most respects, though, it will be business as usual.

And it has been this way since 1924, when R. DeWitt Mallary became associated with the law firm of Frederick Wooden and Harold Small, located in an office at 387 Main St. in Springfield, several blocks south of where the firm is headquartered now, in Tower Square. Eventually, the firm would become Wooden, Small & Mallary.

Peter Barry says the firm has had a noticeable impact on Springfield and surrounding communities over the years.

Mallary would later partner with Morgan Gilbert to form Mallary & Gilbert, and in 1934, J. Bushnell Richardson, a graduate of Springfield’s Central High School, Amherst College, and Harvard Law School, would join them, and in 1947, the firm became Mallary, Gilbert & Richardson.

In 1950, the firm was reorganized, with the law practice conducted in collaboration by two separate partnerships — Mallary & Gilbert, and Richardson Dibble & Atkinson, adding Norris Dibble and Robert Atkinson as partners. The firms practiced together in shared office space.

Fast-forwarding through the midle of the 20th century, Richardson Dibble & Atkinson merged with the firm of Gordon, Bulkley, Godfrey and Burbank in 1956, and the firm was renamed Bulkley, Richardson, Godfrey and Burbank. A year later, Robert Gelinas joined the firm, and in 1964, Godfrey left to form a partnership with Edwin Lyman. Matthew Ryan Jr., elected as district attorney, a part-time office in those days, joined Bulkley, Richardson, Godfrey & Burbank soon thereafter. And with Burbank’s departure in in 1972, the firm was renamed Bulkley, Richardson, Ryan, and Gelinas.

In 1978, the district attorney’s role became full-time, and Ryan left the firm, whch was renamed Bulkley, Richardson, and Gelinas. By 1983, the firm consisted of 27 attorneys and was occupying a suite of offices at Baystate West, which later became Tower Square.

It is still there and recently renewed its lease, said Finnegan, so it will be there for a long while to come. Meanwhile, the firm recently opened a Greenfield location (it also has one in Hadley), and now consists of 40 attorneys and more than 30 staff.

“We work hard, and we provide quality service, but we’re pretty good at work-life balance and understanding that folks have to have lives outside of the office.”

That brings us to today, when the firm is marking what have remained constants through all those changes to the letterhead over the past 100 years — especially quality service to a wide array of clients across dozens of different specialities, and an environment where generations of lawyers have, as Buxton noted, worked together and mentored those new to the profession.

It is also marking change, including the contunuing expansion of its practice areas — there are now 32 of them, Finnegan noted.

“We’ve always been a full-service law firm, one of the biggest, if not the biggest, in the area,” he said. “And we’ve always been able to provide a wide array of services to clients.”

Within those 32 practice areas there have long been specific strengths, such as health law, said Barre, noting that the firm has long represented many of the region’s larger providers, as well as education, representing several colleges and universities.

Bulkley Richardson’s leaders say the firm was built on excellence and has maintained it through the decades.

But there have been important additions to the portfolio over the years as well, he went on, citing the broad realm of cyber law and service to the growing, changing cannabis industry as just two examples.

Continuing a Legacy

Barry, who has been with the firm for 42 of its 100 years, joined it just before it relocated from State Street to Tower Square, a big move and a rather large risk for the partners at the time, he said, adding that downtown Springfield was a much different place at the time.

And the firm has been involved in many of the changes that have taken place since, representing entities ranging from the Basketball Hall of Fame, which built its new home just over 20 years ago, to the Springfield Redevelopment Authority, which presided over the renovations that brought Union Station back to productive life after nearly 40 years of dormancy, to the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, which operates the MassMutual Center.

“It’s nice to be able to drive around and say, ‘we were involved with that,’” Barry said, adding that the firm has also represented the Westover Metropolitan Development Corp. in its many endeavors in Chicopee and Ludlow and countless other clients as well.

Like Finnegan, Barry said many changes have come to the field of law and the firm over the past few decades, let alone the past century — everything from the demise of law libraries, with all that material now online, to the advent of depositons and other legal functions via Zoom.

What’s probably more important is what hasn’t changed — and won’t change, they said, especially the firm’s commitment to excellence as well as the environment that Buxton described earlier, one where lawyers and staff with wide ranges of experience and knowhow work together to generate positive results for clients while learning from each other.

In fact, both Barry and Finnegan used similar words and phrases to describe those who mentored them when they arrived four and three decades ago, respectively.

“I’ve had a lot of great mentors here,” said Barry, noting that he and others now serve as mentors to the younger atttorneys.

Finnegan said the firm has created a strong culture, one that has promoted many lawyers (he’s one of them), and staff members as well, who then spend their entire careers at Bulkley Richardson.

“That’s a testament to the culture of the firm,” he said. “We work hard, and we provide quality service, but we’re pretty good at work-life balance and understanding that folks have to have lives outside of the office.”

Looking ahead, Barry and Finnegan said the business plan is rather simple. It calls for continued growth and building upon the solid foundation laid in 1924.

“We’ve made a commitment to growth. Within the past few years, even we’ve hired quite a few young lateral attorneys, as well as several attorneys right out of law school,” said Finnegan, adding that the firm has what he calls a rather robust summer associate program (he was one himself) that has served to help keep talent flowing through the pipeline. “We have a lot of young lawyers that we’ve hired over the past few years.”

Overall, the firm has long managed to maintain an important mix of older attorneys, those in the middle of their careers, and those just joining the profession, said Barry, adding that such a mix is critical to the ongoing success of any law firm.

Finnegan agreed, noting that this quality is one of many that have defined the firm since Warren Harding was in the White House, and will continue to do so moving forward.

“When I got here, the word I always heard was ‘excellence’ — this firm was built on excellence,” he said. “The firm has always been a collection of exceptional lawyers providing top-quality legal services to our clients. I don’t think that’s ever changed over the 100 years the firm has been in existence, nor is it going to change moving forward.”

Gándara Center Tackles Mental Health and More with Cultural Sensitivity

Healthcare News Special Coverage

Breaking Down Barriers

Gándara’s Family Resource Centers each provide a number of services for families in one location.

There’s no doubt, Lois Nesci said, that the COVID years triggered or exacerbated a lot of mental-health issues, which makes the multifaceted of Gándara Center more important than ever.

At the same time, the pandemic’s impact on mental health also got more people talking than ever before — and that’s good for everyone.

“The need has increased, absolutely,” said Nesci, Gándara’s CEO. “But at the same time, as we continue to break the stigma around mental health, people become more and more willing to discuss some of their struggles or ask for help. We as a society have been educating people: what are the signs people exhibit if they’re not doing well, if they’re depressed, anxious, or struggling with substance abuse?”

To help those who fall into those categories, as well as many others, Gándara’s services fall into five buckets:

• Behavioral health, which encompasses a broad array of clinical and substance-use services for adults, families, children, and adolescents, including individual and group psychotherapy, diagnostic assessments, and treatment;

• Youth, young-adult, and family services, including children’s behavioral health, foster care, and youth and young-adult residential homes;

• Substance use and recovery, with services include recovery coaching, peer recovery centers, and long-term residential treatment for men, women, and young adults with substance-use disorder and co-occurring mental-health disorders;

• Community and prevention, including health-education programs and initiatives that provide resources and information addressing numerous public-health areas while representing the multicultural needs of the region; and

• Intellectual and developmental disability services, which promote the health and well-being of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and those with behavioral health and/or substance-use disorders.

Gándara’s mental-health services — its most robust collection of offerings — focus on a few key areas: outpatient behavioral-health clinics, children’s behavioral health, substance-use and recovery services, and adult community clinical services.

“As we continue to break the stigma around mental health, people become more and more willing to discuss some of their struggles or ask for help.”

“Gándara has always had a mission to help people at the grassroots level,” Nesci said. “We’re in communities where people live. We’re accessible and very visible. We provide the linguistic ability to meet people where they’re at, and the staff reflects the population we serve.”

As a multi-service organization with a geographic footprint statewide, Gándara targets many of its programs at specific populations, such as recovery programs for Hispanic individuals and a residential group home for LGBTQ+ youth, Nesci noted. “Gándara has always responded to individual needs in the community.”

Five Decades of Growth

According to its website, Gándara Center was founded in Springfield in 1977 to advocate and provide for equal, culturally competent behavioral-health services for the Hispanic community.

The 1970s saw a large wave of Hispanic migration to the Greater Springfield area, and the portion of newcomers who had mental-health and substance-use issues had limited access to services that could help them.

Lois Nesci says mental-health needs have increased, but so have the conversations around them.

Fortunately, in 1977 — and later, as a part of President Carter’s Mental Health Systems Act of 1980 — funding was made available to communities across the U.S. to address the mental-health needs of individuals suffering from serious mental illness, including the elderly as well as racial and ethnic minority communities.

The city of Springfield submitted a citywide application that included needs in both the Hispanic and African-American communities. This funding strengthened the city’s mental-health services and aided the Gándara Center, whch was named after Dr. José Gándara Cartagena, a prominent physician and public servant from Puerto Rico who dedicated his life to providing services for those who could not afford medical care. He also advocated for urban renewal, especially the construction of much-needed new public housing.

Gándara Center was first housed in a storefront on Main Street in Springfield and then on the Mercy Hospital campus on Carew Street. In 1982, when the center opened an outpatient clinic on Main Street, it was the only agency in the area specifically providing culturally sensitive care to the Hispanic community.

In the early years, Gándara’s first executive director, Dr. Philip Guzman, laid the foundation for what the agency would later become. In 1982, Dr. Henry East-Trou joined the team as a supervisor for the agency’s psychiatric day treatment program. At the time, Gándara had just one Springfield location and approximately 50 staff to house all of residential, outpatient, and substance-use programs. Over the years, the agency secured numerous contacts and grants, expanded services, created additional programs, and increased staff size.

In 1989, when East-Trou began shepherding Gándara Center through an unprecedented era of growth as executive director, the agency employed 100 people and served approximately 2,000 individuals.

“We’re in communities where people live. We’re accessible and very visible. We provide the linguistic ability to meet people where they’re at, and the staff reflects the population we serve.”

After 30 years of service, East-Trou retired in May 2019. Throughout his tenure, he further expanded the agency and its services, which by that time offered behavioral-health, substance-use, prevention, and educational services to more than 40 communities throughout the Commonwealth, employed more than 900 staff, and served nearly 13,000 adults, children, and families from all backgrounds.

Gándara’s foster care program has been placing youth in temporary, safe, therapeutic home environments for more than 30 years.

In 2020, Nesci joined the agency and assumed the role of CEO, bringing experience working with individuals from all races and ethnic backgrounds. In her time at the agency, she has led several relocation projects, program expansions, and agency-wide accreditation from the Council on Accreditation.

Today, around 1,100 Gándara employees serve more than 17,000 clients at more than 100 locations.

“We have a full complement of behavioral-health services delivered in community-based clinic settings, as well as our home behavioral-health services for youth and families,” Nesci said. “We’ve expanded and grown our in-home services to include hospital diversion for youth. In addition to that, we also provide services for people who are struggling with substance abuse. We have six recovery centers statewide, and then we are also providing recovery coaching to individuals in the community who are in recovery.

“I’ve been here almost four and a half years,” she added, “and during that time, I’ve seen our services grow in a lot of areas, particularly in the area of substance-abuse services, our youth services, and our behavioral-health services to children and adults.”

The organization’s footprint has also grown, expanding into the Berkshires, Fitchburg, Falmouth, and Worcester, to name a few more recent locations.

Starting the Conversation

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, but Nesci wants critical conversations to happen year-round.

“There was a time when mental health was something that was never discussed,” she said. “People didn’t understand it; therefore, they feared it. Subsequently, they made judgments about it.”

Participants in Gándara’s PhotoVoice educational campaign promote mental-health awareness, demystify stigma around mental health and addiction, and illustrate barriers to seeking help.

Though stigma still exists, she added, plenty of progress has been made to break down those barriers, and Gándara’s focus on cultural competency is part of that.

“When we started talking about mental health being just as important as physical health, it began to change the rhetoric around providing safe spaces for individuals to be able to get services.

“It’s very important to have a space that’s judgment-free,” Nesci continued. “When an agency like us meets people where they are in the community, as recovery coaches or with behavioral-health therapy in their homes, speaking the language of individuals, understanding cultural backgrounds, people feel welcome. They don’t feel judged. They feel like someone understands them.”

And that builds trust and relationships, which she calls the greatest catalyst for people to make needed improvements in their lives — which has, after all, been Gándara Center’s mission for almost 50 years.

Non-compete Agreements May Be in Jeopardy

By Contributor May 9, 2024

Law Special Coverage

Challenging the Rule

By Trevor Brice, Esq.

On April 23, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a final rule banning non-competition agreements for all employees. While this action by the FTC was expected, there were many unanswered questions about the final impact of the non-compete rule in regard to existing non-compete agreements and its scope as applied to future non-compete agreements. These questions were answered under the final rule as promulgated.

Most Non-competition Agreements Banned

The FTC’s final rule banning all non-competition agreements is effective 120 days after its publication in the Federal Register. As of the effective date, all non-competition agreements are banned, with close to no exceptions, except for franchisor/franchisee relationships and for sales of a business between buyer and seller.

Independent contractors are also included under the umbrella of employees that would no longer be subject to non-competition agreements under the final rule. This would effectively mean that many employees in industries such as film, finance, and other professional services now have the right to switch between employers, which the FTC states “will ensure Americans have the freedom to pursue a new job, start a new business, or bring a new idea to the market.”

Trevor Brice

“The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has already vowed to block the rule, calling it ‘an unlawful power grab’ and arguing that the authority to govern non-competition agreements should be left to the states.”

However, and of note, the FTC does not have jurisdiction over nonprofit employers, so non-competition agreements are enforceable in this regard despite the FTC’s final rule.

Final Rule Retroactive as to Lower-wage Workers

In addition to prohibiting all non-competition agreements after the effective date of the final rule with limited exceptions, the FTC’s rule is retroactive, prohibiting certain non-competition agreements before the effective date of the rule as well.

Existing non-competition agreements can remain in effect as to senior executives, which are defined in the rule as employees in ‘policy-making positions’ making at least $151,164 per year. Existing non-competition agreements with employees who do not meet this definition are no longer enforceable per the final rule.

Despite the final rule, employers do not need to modify existing non-competition agreements by rescinding them. Employers do, however, need to notify their workers that the employer will not enforce non-competition agreements in the future. The FTC has included in its final rule model language for informing employees of this change, which can be communicated through email, text, or in paper format.

The final rule does not generally impact non-disclosure agreements or non-solicitation agreements unless they prohibit a worker from seeking or accepting work or operating a business. Employers should be aware that more restrictive state laws governing non-competition agreements remain in effect.

Challenges to Final Rule Looming

As of the announcement of the FTC’s final rule, challenges are already looming. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has already vowed to block the rule, calling it “an unlawful power grab” and arguing that the authority to govern non-competition agreements should be left to the states.

The statement issued by the Chamber of Commerce goes on to note that, “since its inception over 100 years ago, the FTC has never been granted the constitutional and statutory authority to write its own competition rules. Non-compete agreements are either upheld or dismissed under well-established state laws governing their use.”

This announcement by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will undoubtedly lead to other challenges through the court system. Indeed, a Dallas-based global tax-services and software provider has already filed suit against the Federal Trade Commission over the impact of the final rule.

The FTC, as the Chamber of Commerce rightly points out, has no authority to write its own competition rules. The FTC can, however, make rules if it goes through the proper rule-making process, including introducing proposed legislation and leaving it open to comment for a certain amount of time, which did occur here.

However, even following this process does not ensure that the rule will stand. The rule still remains open to court challenges from the Chamber of Commerce, individuals, or organizations affected by the rule or any other stakeholders within the final rule. This could mean that changes would be on the horizon for the rule, and possibly a narrowing of its already expansive application.

Takeaways

As noted, the FTC’s final rule is already being challenged through the court system, and a challenge from the Chamber of Commerce will most likely follow suit. Therefore, if an employer has existing non-competition agreements, the employer may not need to rescind them just yet.

Further, if employers are intending to enter into non-competition agreements that are reasonable and enforceable under existing state laws, other options, such as non-disclosure agreements and non-solicitation agreements, may have to be used, but it would be prudent to wait on further ruling from the existing challenges to the final rule.

In the meantime, consultation with an attorney will aid in navigating the changing landscape of non-competition agreements.

Trevor Brice is an attorney who specializes in labor and employment-law matters at the Royal Law Firm LLP, a woman-owned, women-managed corporate law firm certified as a women’s business enterprise with the Massachusetts Supplier Diversity Office, the National Assoc. of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms, and the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council.

MHA Launches New Community Support Program

By Contributor May 9, 2024

Health Care Special Coverage

Toward Their Best Life

The Mental Health Assoc. (MHA) recently announced the launch of its new community support program (CSP), which is part of its BestLife Clinic.

The program aims to help individuals who are facing social, economic, and environmental factors that significantly impact their ability to access healthcare and live independently. CSP is a mobile, short-term (three to six months), intensive case-management service that helps clients who are dealing with unemployment, food insufficiency, transportation, and housing issues.

CSP services are available to individuals who have been diagnosed with a mental-health, substance-use, or co-occurring disorder. To qualify for these services, individuals must have had either a psychiatric hospitalization discharge within the past six months, multiple emergency-room visits within the past 90 days, or documented barriers to accessing and consistently utilizing essential medical and behavioral-health services. Clients must be at least 18 years old and actively enrolled in therapy, and they must be residents of Hampshire or Hampden county and not receiving other case-management services.

“The services they provide allow for our clinicians, recovery coaches, and medication prescribers to focus on their main tasks of providing therapy, peer support, and treatment, while they also serve as another set of eyes helping to monitor our participants’ needs and overall well-being.”

“Community support programs are very important for our participants as well as for our other service providers, such as clinicians, recovery coaches, and medication prescribers,” said René Piñero, vice president of Behavioral Health and Clinical Operations. “The services they provide allow for our clinicians, recovery coaches, and medication prescribers to focus on their main tasks of providing therapy, peer support, and treatment, while they also serve as another set of eyes helping to monitor our participants’ needs and overall well-being.”

Clients who qualify will work with MHA’s behavioral-health case managers to improve their overall lives by developing their daily living skills and helping them access critical resources such as benefits, housing, and healthcare. Clients will also receive assistance with accessing recovery-oriented peer-support groups and temporary assistance with transportation to essential medical and behavioral health appointments.

CSP services are available via community outreach, telehealth, and in-person. MHA accepts referrals through its Central Intake Department and accepts MassHealth and some insurances. To get in touch, call (844) 642-9355 or email the BestLife Clinic at [email protected].

MHA provides access to therapies for emotional health and wellness; services for substance use recovery, developmental disabilities, and acquired brain injury; services for housing and residential programming; and more. Its goal is to provide person-driven programming to foster independence, community engagement, wellness, and recovery.

40 Years of the Workplace

The Pendulum Has Shifted — Maybe for Good

Allison Ebner recalls that, when she first entered the workplace just over 30 years ago, the overriding question still concerned what the employee could do for the employer.

Over the years, and especially over the past decade, the pendulum has certainly shifted to where it’s now more about what the employer can do for the employee.

Indeed, while there have been cycles with the economy and the job market — and, thus, times when the employer and employee have alternated when it comes to having the proverbial upper hand, if you will — the employee has been in control for a while, and will probably remain so for the foreseeable future.

“It’s been flipped on its head, and I don’t think it’s necessarily going to flip back that much moving ahead,” Ebner said. “As employers, we’re constantly trying to figure out ways to retain top talent, and I think that is something we’ll see continuing into the future.”

This is just one of many changes that have come to the workplace over the past four decades, and especially the past four years, as the pandemic created a new paradigm. Others involve everything from how people work and where to dress codes; from technology and the emergence of AI to how to maintain a company culture when people are all together maybe, as in maybe, a day or two a week.

Drew Andrews, managing partner and CEO of the accounting firm Whittlesey, touched on many of these trends and issues as he flashed back almost exactly 40 years to when he started with the firm in June 1984.

“There was one computer in the corner of the office; it was a desktop that no one knew how to use. I was the bright, young kid who came out of college and somehow took a course my senior year on how to use that software, Lotus 1-2-3,” he recalled. “I was the only one who knew how to use it, so they had me start to train people on how to do spreadsheets on it. It was so slow and so ineffective that I can remember partners saying, ‘we’ll never be using this … I can do in 10 minutes what you just did in an hour.’”

Meanwhile, he was doing this work in a three-piece suit. “My first day, it was about 85 degrees out, and I’ve got this suit and tie on, and I’m thinking to myself, ‘why am I doing this?’” he recalled. “I was thinking that I should have taken the summer off and worked at the beach.”

Flash ahead to late last month, and he was doing this interview with BusinessWest via Zoom, from his home, wearing an unbuttoned collared shirt, and marveling at just how much things have changed — not just since he was that kid fresh out of school, but since the start of this decade.

And he’s certainly not alone.

Indeed, one of the common threads running through the stories in this 40th-anniversary issue is the dramatic changes that have come to the workplace in recent years, what they mean, and what might come next.

Allison Ebner

“It’s been flipped on its head, and I don’t think it’s necessarily going to flip back that much moving ahead.”

Many of those we spoke with have been working for three or four decades and referred to themselves as ‘old timers’ or even, in one case, a ‘dinosaur.’

And while some admit to being a bit stubborn when it came to those changes that have come in realms from relaxed dress codes to remote work, in almost every case, reason — driven by many factors, but especially the need to attract and retain talent — has won out over stubbornness.

“I’m a suit kind of guy,” said Tom Senecal, chairman of Holyoke-based PeoplesBank. “And it’s taken me a while, but the pandemic changed things. People wanted to go to casual; I said ‘no,’ but finally acquiesced. Then they wanted jeans on Friday, and I acquiesced. And then they wanted jeans every day, and I acquiesced, and it hasn’t really changed.

“I acquiesced on all of them,” he went on, “because who wants to go work at a stodgy, old-perceived institution versus one that’s flexible? I’m competing against tech companies and insurance companies and financial-services companies. You want to wear jeans? You want to work at home? I have to compete, so I have to acquiesce to what the market is doing.”

Moving forward, Ebner and others are seeing some slight movement toward returning to the office, or at least strong efforts in that direction. What they don’t see is the pendulum (meaning that upper hand) swinging back to the employer any time soon.

Is This Work in Progress?

As he talked about all the changes that have come to the workplace, Andrews put things in poignant perspective when he said he would prefer to visit his firm’s three offices, scattered across Northern Conn. and Western Mass., on Monday or Friday, because there are noticeably fewer people on the road those days courtesy of hybrid work schedules and a desire to be home those days.

His own employees are among those who fall into these categories. “So, if I went on Monday or Friday, I’d be visiting myself,” he said with a laugh.

Drew Andrews

“I was the bright, young kid who came out of college and somehow took a course my senior year on how to use that software, Lotus 1-2-3. I was the only one who knew how to use it, so they had me start to train people on how to do spreadsheets on it.”

So he winds up visiting toward the middle of the week, when people are around — at Whittlesey and most other larger places of business across sectors and jobs in which hybrid schedules are feasible.

And that’s a large list, said Ebner, noting that, while profound changes have come to the workplace since the pandemic arrived in 2020, there were already shifts in those directions years before COVID. The pandemic simply accelerated the process, and on many levels.

Also, the period just after the height of COVID became one of the most competitive in recent memory when it came to talent, the shortage thereof, and the lengths that employers would go to attract talent and then retain it.

“Employers pulled out all the stops to keep their people and attract talent, in terms of raising wages, enhancing benefits, and working on ways to keep their people happy,” she said. “It’s settling down just a little bit; we’re seeing a little bit of a cooling on wages — increases for 2024 were not predicted to be as high as they were in 2023 — and benefits are scaling back, especially in terms of employers sharing the increased cost of healthcare. And some of the other benefits around wellness have gone away.

“We’re trying to find that next normal,” she went on, acknowledging a dislike of the phrase ‘new normal.’ “And we’re still settling into that; we’re trying to find the right balance of productivity expectations for employees versus what we’re offering — the employee value proposition. What does that look like?”

Meanwhile, the workplace has changed in other ways, again mimicking society in many respects.

Today, Ebner said, it’s a less tolerant place than it was years ago, with co-workers becoming seemingly less willing to accept points of view — on a wide of topics — other than their own.

“There’s a lack of respect in our workplaces today for ideas, thoughts, basically anything that someone has that differs from yours,” she explained. “There’s a very confrontational undertone in our workplaces today.

Tom Senecal

“You want to wear jeans? You want to work at home? I have to compete, so I have to acquiesce to what the market is doing.”

“The congenial tone of our workplaces where we were more accepting of people who don’t think and do things like us has really diminished, and it’s causing a lot of chaos for employers trying to manage a respectful workplace,” she went on, adding that this chaos has manifested in everything from microaggressions — stealing coworkers’ lunches and messing with their workstations — to sharp rises in requests at EANE for conflict-resolution training and coaching for people who can’t get along.

Remote Possibilities

Certainly, the biggest change to come to the workplace involves fewer people being in the workplace day in and day out.

We all know what happened. COVID forced most people to work remotely, and over the course of weeks that eventually turned into months, people found they liked it, and they were, by and large, just as productive. And when it came time to go back to the office, many weren’t ready to do so. At least not every day.

Over the past few years, remote work and hybrid schedules have ceased being a perk, if that’s even the right word. They became a demand, or an expectation.

As noted earlier, this was not the first preference for the old timers, who came into a world where everyone worked 9 to 5, or something close, and couldn’t work remotely even if they wanted to, because the technology wasn’t there.

It’s certainly there now, and in recent months, two camps have seemed to develop, at opposite extremes.

“There’s a camp on one side that says everyone has to be in the office, and there’s no remote work, and they don’t want to offer any flexibility. And then, you have the other group that says everyone should be virtual, and if you’re not virtual, you’re not a modern employer,” said Ebner, adding that there is room in the middle and one size (or two) does not fit all.

Meanwhile, many of those who recognize this middle ground still believe something important is missing when people are not in the office, even a few days a week.

Dave Glidden, president and CEO of Middletown, Conn.-based Liberty Bank, said his institution has largely solved the issues involving productivity when it comes to remote work. But he worries about culture and the overall development of younger team members.

“When I came up, I don’t know how many times I sat in the conference room and listened to grizzled veterans talk about problem commercial credits and about how you go to market,” he recalled. “That learning was invaluable to me as I came up, and there are now fewer opportunities for young people coming up to experience that.”

As a result, the bank puts great emphasis on ways to maintain culture when people are not in the office every day, because of its importance to the institution’s overall well-being. Initiatives include everything from professional-development programs to outings where teammates can come together, such as a recent ‘bring your kid to work day’; from food trucks and ice-cream trucks to an all-employee gathering at Mohegan Sun.

“I’ve always said that if a company has no culture, it has no soul, and it takes years to build a good culture,” Glidden told BusinessWest. “But you can lose a culture in minutes or 30 days, you really can.”

Andrews agreed.

“Going back to 1984, my seat was outside the boss’s office; just listening to how he talked to clients … I learned so much,” he recalled. “I was a 21-year-old kid; all I knew how to talk to was other 21-year-old kids. Listening to how that person was interacting with clients and handling situations … I just learned from that.

“I’ve been saying this for a while … we as leaders need to get people back into the office more, and for the right reasons — not just to sit there and talk with people who are remote,” Andrews went on. “We have more fulfilling days when we’re together.”

40 Years of Technology

Welcome to an Exciting, Uncertain New World

On Jan. 22, 1984, a good deal of the U.S. watched — for the only time, because it never aired again — a commercial that was, in many ways, more interesting than the beatdown the Los Angeles Raiders were putting on the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII.

Directed by Ridley Scott, the spot, titled “1984,” used dystopian imagery to introduce Apple’s Macintosh personal computer, which would hit stores two days later, with the promise of allowing the average person access to the kind of computing power formerly reserved for big corporations.

The world would never be the same. The home computer was already a thing — it was, in fact, Time magazine’s ‘Machine of the Year’ in 1982 — but the Macintosh introduced a wave of innovation and ease of use that eventually made computers ubiquitous in both homes and businesses — for better (productivity) and, arguably, worse (a pervasive blurring between work and home life).

The latter, of course, became possible with the rise of the internet, email, and, later, social media.

“The internet has completely changed how we work, how we communicate, how we conduct business, how we learn, how we consume entertainment, and a million other aspects of our daily lives that have become so normal, we have forgotten that, 30 years ago, they didn’t exist,” said Delcie Bean, CEO of Hadley-based Paragus Strategic I.T., adding that technology is still changing things, in ways that feel unstoppable.

“If we step back and truly think about just how much changed as a result of the internet and we look at how quickly it happened,” he went on, “AI is going to have a much bigger impact in a much shorter amount of time.”

And that will require the kind of nimbleness and ability to pivot that Sean Hogan has demonstrated through his entire career, since launching Hogan Associates (later Hogan Communications and now Hogan Technology, based in Easthampton), with an initial focus on cabling and infrastructure.

“We saw the ethernet becoming a thing, and everyone needed wiring; there was no networking back then,” he told BusinessWest. “For six or seven years, we did strictly cabling. We ran it up and down the East Coast; we had a ton of work.”

After surviving the recession of 1989-90, Hogan began to see telecommunications as a huge opportunity, and that became his first major pivot.

“Back then, very few companies had voicemail. People hate it nowadays, but they wanted it then. So we started selling phone systems that could integrate with computers and voicemail. We did very well selling phone systems, started getting attention from bigger companies, and ended up selling the Toshiba name. That brand gave us recognition. As a company, we built a great base of clients; we were thinking phones would never go away.”

Delcie Bean

“If we step back and truly think about just how much changed as a result of the internet and we look at how quickly it happened. AI is going to have a much bigger impact in a much shorter amount of time.”

About 16 years ago, Hogan began to move toward its current IT management model — which, these days, focuses on managed security as much as anything else, to respond to ever-growing cyberthreats. “The help desk is still critical, but if you’re not secure, that’s the biggest problem.”

And in the next few decades, companies like Hogan’s will have to keep adapting, because opportunities, challenges, and threats in the IT world certainly will.

“We’ve been able to keep educating ourselves enough to know that we have to be willing to change and accept change as an opportunity,” he said. “We totally believe that’s our culture here. We change when we have something new to learn. We consider ourselves security fiduciaries for clients. We protect our clients to the best of our ability; that’s our number-one job these days.

“Thirty years ago, we’d say we’d provide a solid ethernet foundation and a good network infrastructure,” Hogan added. “We’re still able to do that. But if you’ve got a bad network cable, that’s one thing; if you’ve got CryptoLocker or some other ransomware, that’s a huge threat to your business.”

Breaking the Mold

Joel Mollison, president of Northeast IT in West Springfield, shares a similar story of adaptation and evolution.

“When we started 21 years ago, the market was referred to as ‘break and fix’: if something breaks, we fix it,” he said, adding that he might do some network troubleshooting or provide very basic antivirus solutions, but in general, the work was sporadic.

Sean Hogan

“We change when we have something new to learn. We consider ourselves security fiduciaries for clients. We protect our clients to the best of our ability; that’s our number-one job these days.”

Around 15 years ago, Northeast switched to the model of a managed service provider, providing ongoing services under contracts, doing more diligence for each client. “We created the ability to form long-term relationships with clients, understanding their networks and providing them with hardware and other services, and also networking equipment.”

The Great Recession impacted the IT world, and many businesses were just trying to stay afloat and weren’t necessarily investing in their systems, Mollison recalled, but as brighter economic times re-emerged, managed services and IT tools had become more sophisticated, with more integration across platforms, automated monitoring services, and more complex cybersecurity tools, and businesses of all kinds were increasingly recognizing the need for them.

“Things have escalated in terms of the veracity and tools used by the threat actors; they have better tools and techniques,” he explained, noting that businesses need to combat online threats not just by installing protective technology, but by training employees to recognize increasingly sophisticated phishing schemes, which promise to become more realistic and targeted in the AI era.

“A lot of this has been driven by insurance — cyberliability policies dictating that businesses must have certain elements,” Mollison noted. “We get handed policy affidavits to review what’s installed. But it’s a good conversation piece, a chance to talk about where they’re at and where they can make some progress.”

Bean, who launched a solo business fixing home computers in 2002 and now boasts a growing team of 65 employees, made his own important pivot around 2011, choosing to focus only on commercial clients at a time when residential work still represented 60% of his revenue.

It has proved to a successful decision, as more businesses have realized they need a partner like Paragus (or Hogan, Northeast, or other regional IT players) at a time when, as noted earlier, networks and cybersecurity are becoming more complicated.

“Even the large Fortune 100 companies rely on consultants and experts and advisors because this field is just so broad, and it’s touching businesses in so many ways,” Bean said. “It takes a team of experts with a lot of different experience. Even we are constantly leaning on experts and outside advisors and doing research because it is just such a broad field, and it’s changing so quickly.”

Joel Mollison

“Things have escalated in terms of the veracity and tools used by the threat actors; they have better tools and techniques.”

Mollison said there’s a reason his firm has become more security-centric than ever. “We’ve had customers come to us who have experienced a breach, dealt with ransomware, lost hundreds and hundreds of hours while the whole rebuilding process took place. They couldn’t produce anything, there were legal fees, information was compromised. A lot of those factors are at play.”

Indeed, 20 years ago, smaller businesses didn’t have much to worry about when it came to aggressive cyberattacks, but experts agree that everyone is a target now.

“The thing that’s going to cause some chaos for everyone is the introduction of AI,” Mollison said, citing Microsoft Copilot — an AI-powered tool that automates features for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams — as one example of opportunity married with concern.

“If you’re allowing a system to comb through documents, you know there might be some bad intentions,” he told BusinessWest. “In the wrong hands, somebody could gather a lot of information that could be detrimental to your organization or turn into a security vulnerability, with espionage potential. We’re going to see a lot more AI-generated attacks in the future.”

And AI isn’t going anywhere, Bean said — with all its benefits and potential worries.

“I hate really dire predictions like, ‘if you don’t do this, you’re going to be out of business,’ but in this case, I think it’s right,” he said, adding that AI could be as transformative as the internet started to become 30 years ago. “And I’d like you to name how many businesses you know that don’t use the internet in any way, shape, or form. I would imagine it’s going to be zero.”

Therefore, “if you’re not having those conversations yet, asking those questions, talking to partners, going to webinars, getting informed and educated, I think you’re starting to fall behind,” Bean added. “There’s still plenty of time, but there won’t be for that much longer. I think now is the time for CEOs and C-level staff to really get engaged, to ask questions, to get educated, and to start to figure out where this fits into their business’s strategy and life cycle before they get left behind.”

Future Shock

Hogan has long recognized the growing importance of cybersecurity and its continuing evolution.

“Fifteen years ago, small companies weren’t a target. You had viruses isolated to desktops, but now, everyone’s a target,” he said — and AI will only complicate matters. “You see the bad actors out there that use AI to do deepfakes, do all sorts of bad things. We’re already seeing AI with voice recognition, duplicating voices on the phone. I fear for seniors out there. I’m afraid that’s going to be an issue.”

But AI poses great opportunity as well, Bean said, especially with the emergence of predictive AI.

“It’s going to be based on your specific niche industry, where it’s going to be able to run models and simulations and solve problems within your business or give you hypothetical outcomes to new products or things that you’re thinking of developing,” he explained. “We haven’t quite seen that hit the masses yet, but it’s coming in the next 18 months. And that’s what we need to be prepared for.”

Bean cited Moore’s law, a long-standing observation in the IT world that the number of possible transistors in a computer chip doubles every two years or so.

“This is going to be exponentially faster,” he said. “We are going to see that apply to innovation, where what used to take a decade has already been cut in half a handful of times, and now happens in 12 to 18 months. Soon, that will become six months, and then three months, and then we are going to reach a point where things are changing so quickly that, for a while, it is going to be very difficult to manage until we find some kind of equilibrium and things stabilize — or we find a new normal.”

This brave new world will be a far cry from what we were seeing in 1984 (to cite the titles of two classic dystopian works), but businesses that specialize in IT will have to do what they’ve always done: keep pivoting, keep learning, keep adapting … and keep their client businesses from being overwhelmed by the next big thing.

40 Years of Professional Services

In Law and Accounting, It’s a Different World

When Rudy D’Agostino entered the accounting profession back in 1985, there was what they called the ‘Big 8.’

These were the very large firms that dominated the industry at the time — Arthur Anderson, Arthur Young, Coopers & Lybrand, Deloitte Haskins and Sells, Ernst & Whinney, Peat Marwick Mitchell, Price Waterhouse, and Touche Ross.

“Everyone wanted to work for the Big 8 firms, and there was enormous competition for those jobs,” said D’Agostino, a partner with Holyoke-based Meyers Brothers Kalicka, who got his start at Coopers & Lybrand.

After a series of acquisitions, the Big 8 is now the Big 4 (Deloitte, Ernst & Young, Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler, and PricewaterhouseCoopers), fewer accounting graduates want to work for those giants, and … well, there are fewer accounting graduates in general, a challenge for firms of all sizes.

These are just some of the many changes that have come to the sector, and professional services in general, said D’Agostino and many others we spoke with, who highlighted everything from the way people work to the way people dress to the way firms market themselves — something they couldn’t do in the legal profession, other than the phone book, until 1977. And in accounting, getting Fridays off during the summer, or at least Friday afternoons, has become the norm as firms’ staffs look to recover after a long, seemingly never-ending tax season.

Overall, the biggest change is in how people communicate and a resulting faster pace to the work, said Amy Royal, founder and principal with the Springfield-based Royal Law Firm. She noted that, when she broke into the field in 2000, most correspondence was still by mail. Now, the postage machine sees less use seemingly every month, and very little is actually done by mail.

Instead, much more is being done by email and phone, specifically the cellphone.

Indeed, Royal remembers walking into the office once maybe 15 years ago, and noting, with alarm, how infrequently the office phone had been ringing of late.

“I said to my office manager, ‘do we have a problem? — our office phone isn’t ringing as much,’” she recalled, noting that, after some perspective, she was simply recognizing a trend — people were finding other ways to reach out. And they were doing so at seemingly all hours of the day and night.

Indeed, modern communications technology allows people to reach their accountant or lawyer at any hour, said Jeff Fialky, managing partner of the Springfield-based law firm Bacon Wilson, and, increasingly, they’re doing just that.

Meanwhile, there have been other changes in these fields, including consolidation, especially in accounting, said Patrick Leary, a principal with the Springfield-based firm MP CPAs, noting that many of the smaller firms doing business in the ’80s, ’90s, and earlier this century have been merged into larger firms, a reflection of a broader trend in business.

Jeff Fialky

“We’ve seen substantial consolidation in the banking environments. We have larger and larger and fewer and fewer banks, and the same consolidation across the service industries.”

There are several reasons for this, including the rising costs of technology and retiring Baby Boomers, he noted, but one of the biggest is something that probably couldn’t have been imagined in 1984 — the deepening challenge of finding and retaining talent.

Accounting was never a ‘sexy’ profession, and modern technology has only made it slightly more so, said Leary, adding that this reality, coupled with the fact that a fifth year of college is now required to become a CPA, is leaving fewer people interested in entering the field, at the same when most Baby Boomers are on the doorstep of retirement, if not there already. This has led to firms boosting salaries and sending more work overseas.

Efforts to recruit more students into the field have become a topic of conversation and concern among CPAs and industry groups, said D’Agostino, and greater reliance on internship programs as feeder initiatives.

It’s the same with clerking programs in the legal profession, said Fialky, adding that, overall, law-school enrollment is down, and many firms face challenges with keeping talent in the pipeline.

Case in Point

It’s not exactly what you would call a pressing matter — not like some of those other challenges mentioned above — but one of the challenges facing law firms today is deciding what to with their libraries.

Once an important part of any firm’s operation, they are now all but obsolete, used by only the occasional old-timer now that every piece of information available in those books and journals can be found online, said Royal, adding that, at most firms, law books are decoration — and an enduring background for photos.

Fialky agreed, noting that the demise of libraries is just one of many changes to the profession. Others include the now-24/7 nature of the work, the desire among clients for information immediately — not the next day or even in a few hours, as was once the case — and even the work that lawyers are doing, work that reflects shifts in the market and also movement toward lawyers being more generalists than they are specialists.

Amy Royal

“For a long time, I resisted putting my cell phone on my business card. Post-COVID, that became a necessity, and now people will just call me on my cell or text because they know they can get me.”

“I’m a transactional attorney; 25 years ago, transactional attorneys were not handling M&A transactions and purchases and sales and private equity,” he said. “That’s something we’ve seen become more prominent, especially in our market, over the past 15 years or so, as we’ve seen these maturing, multi-generational companies that have contemplated their outcome being that it’s a matured asset, and their contemplating sale to, in many circumstances, a private-equity-funded purchaser.

“And this has certainly changed the marketplace,” Fialky went on. “We’ve seen substantial consolidation in the banking environments. We have larger and larger and fewer and fewer banks, and the same consolidation across the service industries — not only in law, but in accounting, architecture, landscape architecture, and other sectors.”

But perhaps the biggest change to come to this sector involves technology and how it has changed the pace of work.

Royal noted that lawyers have never exactly been 9-to-5 professionals, and now, they are far less so, with calls, texts, and emails coming at all hours of the day, and with those on the other end expecting an immediate reply.

“For a long time, I resisted putting my cell phone on my business card,” she said. “Post-COVID, that became a necessity, and now people will just call me on my cell or text because they know they can get me.”

Fialky agreed. “The pace has increased precipitously; the volume of correspondence has increased exponentially. In the course of a day, it’s not uncommon, at least in my experience and in my practice, to receive hundreds of correspondences, and those are texts, calls to my cell phone, calls to my hard line, and more, and a lot of that is transferred direct to attorney.”

Adding Things Up

As he talked about his profession, Leary said it was never just about adding up numbers and being a proverbial ‘bean counter.’

There was always a consulting component to the work, he said, adding that now, there is much more of this kind of work, as software has taken over some of the tasks handled with the old calculator that still sits on his desk but is rarely used.

Patrick Leary

“It’s fascinating what you can get involved with in public accounting today, whether it’s forensic accounting or foreign taxation issues and so forth.”

“Today, most businesses, regardless of size, have some accounting software, so you’re getting information from them that’s already compiled and put together, so they’re relying on us for more strategic analysis of those numbers,” he explained. “You’re not questioning whether two plus two equals four; now it’s ‘let’s see what four means.’

“It’s a higher level of skill than what you needed before,” he went on, adding that this shift is one of many to come to the industry.

Another is how the work is done. Indeed, years ago, said D’Agostino, much more time was spent with the client, in person. Today, there is still some face-to-face interaction, obviously, but much more is done by Zoom or over the phone. And those face-to-face meetings are much different.

Leary agreed.

“If we were going to audit ABC Company, we’d back up last year’s paper files and head over there,” he said. “You would spend a couple of weeks with a client, meeting with them, going through their records, pulling invoices, and doing reports. You’d spend a few weeks there — which I really liked, being out of the office, meeting with clients — and building that relationship. And you got a workout because you’d be hauling loads of paper. Today, you’re going out with your laptop, and you’re not necessarily going out to see clients.”

Still another change to come to this field, as noted earlier, is the fact that fewer people are choosing to enter it.

“The accounting field has been experiencing a decline nationally because people who are driven by numbers are leaning more toward the software industry,” Leary said. “And the profession is certainly looking to change that; you can have an excellent career in accounting, because it goes well beyond simple bookkeeping. It’s fascinating what you can get involved with in public accounting today, whether it’s forensic accounting or foreign taxation issues and so forth.”

Rudy D’Agostino

“It really hit home during COVID, and it has only continued since — there are just not enough professionals coming into the workforce.”

D’Agostino agreed. He noted that the required fifth year of college, compensation that is less competitive than some other fields, and a general interest among young people for something sexier than what they perceive accounting to be has led to what is becoming a critical problem for the industry.

“It really hit home during COVID, and it has only continued since — there are just not enough professionals coming into the workforce,” he told BusinessWest. “So accounting firms have to think outside the box to get things done — and also to keep professionals here, which has necessitated being creative, compensation increases, and, with some firms, outsourcing work to other countries.”

One initiative that has helped put young professionals in the pipeline at MBK is an internship program, D’Agostino went on, adding that the firm has four or five interns that come on board annually, and maybe one or two of these will join the firm when they graduate.

“That’s a way to introduce students to the work they will be doing and get them into our firm,” he said. “And we have a pretty good success rate.”

Despite this success, workforce issues will continue into the future, said those we spoke with, creating a greater reliance on technology, automation, and, increasingly, AI to get the work done, leaving accountants with more time to do analysis and consulting.

“There are routine tasks that will get taken over by AI, such as data entry, which can be automated to some extent,” Leary said. “And that provides the time and the tools to analyze data for clients much better. Rather than spending your time keying in data, you’re taking a hard look at it and understanding what those numbers are telling you.”

Bottom Line

When asked to look ahead and project what might happen next within the legal sector, Royal started by saying that, if she was asked that question 25 years ago, she could not possibly have predicted what her world would like today.

That’s a world where most meetings are conducted by Zoom, where lawyers and accountants work remotely in some cases and wear jeans to work when they’re not in court or visiting clients, where the office phone doesn’t ring nearly as much, and where clients’ names come up on cellphones at 10 p.m. — and even 3 a.m.

This is the new reality for those in professional services, she said, joking that maybe what will come next is a shift back to the way things were.

That is certainly not likely. What is likely is that law libraries and those old-fashioned adding machines will become more obsolete and more office decoration than anything else.

40 Years of Nonprofits

Increasingly, They Operate as an Ecosystem

The Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts has been funding the work of charities and nonprofits across the region since 1991. And its overriding mission hasn’t changed.

What has changed, at least recently, is how CFWM accomplishes that mission — specifically, moving away from specifically targeted grants into a more trust-based model. Instead of seeking to put some dollars toward a specific goal, the foundation gives to organizations in a way that puts them at the center of it and allows them to dictate how they want to spend their money.

“It’s a recognition that funders don’t necessarily know what’s best for nonprofits,” said Megan Burke, the organization’s president and CEO. “It’s the people on the front lines who are dealing with constant change in the community who know the best places to use those funds.”

The Community Foundation was moving in that direction before the pandemic, but COVID, and the urgent needs it exposed, really accelerated the process, she explained.

“If we know you have a strong mission, a strong organization, we’ll put the money in your hands and say, ‘use it well.’ We’ll ask afterward how that went, but in the moment, you know what you need to achieve and how to get there.”

Meanwhile, the mission of Square One, which began life in 1883 as Springfield Day Nursery, has in many ways remained consistent for more than 140 years.

“We’re still doing the same type of work, although the world has changed enormously,” president and CEO Dawn DiStefano said. “Children still require care for their parents to go to work. And we’re a company that cares for children and instills confidence in our community that we are a safe, healthy, and high-quality place for young children to learn and be cared for.”

At the same time, she added, much has changed.

“Probably around the time BusinessWest started,” DiStefano said, “we realized something that today is quite obvious — that you can do a lot of work with children all day, but if you’re not in partnership with families and caretakers, you can hinder permanent growth and change. After all, learning happens 24/7.”

Specifically, Square One — it took that name in 2008 to reflect its role as more than just a day nursery, but as a key foundational element in the lives of preschoolers — has made a point over the past few decades to communicate more thoroughly with parents at the start and end of each day about the child’s lessons, experiences, and mood. That way, parents can continue the conversations at home — and, in many cases, start their own, which builds trust between the parents and Square One’s providers.

The organization has gone beyond that level of communication as well, opening a Family Support Services division about 15 years ago, which includes a home visitation program for parents who request it, including specific programs for young, first-time parents and parents in recovery.

Megan Burke

“If we know you have a strong mission, a strong organization, we’ll put the money in your hands and say, ‘use it well.’ We’ll ask afterward how that went, but in the moment, you know what you need to achieve and how to get there.”

“We see ourselves as partners with families,” DiStefano said. “If we can bring out the best in the child and families, they become productive members of our community, and we all benefit from that. We all do better when folks are able to engage in our world.”

Megan Moynihan, CEO of the United Way of Pioneer Valley, said her organization’s goal since its founding 103 years ago as Springfield Community Chest has been to meet the greatest needs of the region, from early education to food insecurity to financial literacy.

“Post-COVID, we did a community assessment to really understand where the needs in the community are, if they had changed or not,” she said, noting that the greatest needs right now run the gamut from basic services, like food, to financial wellness, housing access, and mental-health support.

It meets those needs through its community service centers, where people can access emergency food supplies but also mental-health resources, including a suicide-prevention hotline. There’s also a financial-wellness program called Thrive, a partnership with Holyoke Community College on career training — in fields like culinary arts and medical assisting — and a host of other outreaches.

“Understanding the pulse of the community is the number-one issue that needs to be addressed,” Moynihan said. “It can be mental health tomorrow, but in 10 years, it might solar power and how to transition to that. We know what today’s needs are, but we have to be responsive to those needs, and when community needs change, we have to change, too.”

Come Together

One thing the United Way has done well over time, Moynihan noted, is connecting many resources in the community.

“If someone comes in and they are are housing-insecure, we’ll call one of the outreach workers at Health Care for the Homeless and see what kind of services are out there for them,” she said as one example. “We’ve always been a connector in the community, finding where the needs are and connecting individuals to the services they need. We can’t do the work alone.”

Megan Moynihan

“We’ve always been a connector in the community, finding where the needs are and connecting individuals to the services they need. We can’t do the work alone.”

It’s a philosophy many nonprofits were already moving toward even before COVID — and the way it isolated people and organizations — really laid bare the need to connect and work together as a nonprofit ecosystem.

For example, Burke said, someone might seek job training, but they might also face other barriers to employment, from unreliable transportation to unaddressed health issues, and nonprofits can refer clients to each other to address multiple needs at once.

“A healthy nonprofit ecosystem, made up of nonprofits of all different sizes, is the best way to meet folks’ needs. No single nonprofit can do everything; there are so many different needs,” she told BusinessWest. “So coordination and collaboration with each other is really important.”

DiStefano used the example of connecting a parent of a child at Square One with Way Finders if they’re in need of housing support.

“We serve 1,200 families a year. Most are working one or two jobs, working eight to 12 hours a day, maybe even riding the bus, going to appointments,” she said. “I’m not in the housing business, but I’m not going to say to families, ‘I can’t talk to you about housing.’ That’s a big part of our evolution.

“Society 140 years ago was harsher in its opinion that your family was your business; it really wasn’t the business of social-service agencies or the government to help your family. But as a society, we noted over time that you can ignore problems, but that only costs more money down the line,” DiStefano went on. “The more you can invest in the child, especially between age zero and three, when the brain is doing the most developing, the better off they’ll be. Why not sink every resource we have into making sure the child has the healthiest opportunities in those years?”

The Center for EcoTechnology, which predates BusinessWest by eight years, has certainly been a connector of resources, in its case programs focused on energy efficiency, sustainability, and the environment.

In the years leading up to CET’s founding in 1976, the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and the establishment of Earth Day saw Americans more focused on environmental concerns, and CET began its work largely in the realm of energy efficiency and home-energy audits. Today, the initial vision is largely intact, but the work has expanded into commercial waste, decarbonization, and recycled building materials.

Dawn DiStefano

“As a society, we noted over time that you can ignore problems, but that only costs more money down the line.”

“We’re still doing energy conservation and energy efficiency. In some ways, we’ve remained true to our origins,” said Ashley Muspratt, the nonprofit’s president and CEO. “But we’ve modernized some of the language and approaches to evolve with the times — for example, shifting the conversation to electrification, which is no longer about just saving energy, but shifting away from fossil fuels to electricity and renewable sources of electricity.”

CET got involved in waste reduction in the 1980s, and that remains a core area of its work today. In addition, it’s more focused now on the question of environmental justice, aiming to ensure that no communities or customer segments are left behind or harmed by the transition to a lower-carbon or no-carbon economy.

“We offer our services in dozens of languages and have made an effort to recruit multilingual staff. We also work with a translation company, so we can provide real-time interpretation on the phone or in the field,” Muspratt added. “We want to make sure we have a staff that reflects and looks like and understands the different communities that we’re trying to serve.”

That hits home for Burke, who noted that the Community Foundation adopted a new strategy a few years ago around diversity and increasing opportunity and equity in the community. To her, that means nonprofits should have staff members that share the lived experiences of clients — not just ethnic background, but, to cite one example, serving people in Franklin County who are living with limited means trying to address all the challenges rural families have.

“Having people on their staff and on their board who may have lived those experiences allows them to develop programs to be more successful,” she noted. “We’ve stressed the importance of organizations really thinking about what perspectives they need on their staff and board.

“And it’s not just so they can feel good or have a great photo that shows diversity; it’s to be more successful in delivering the services they were founded to provide,” Burke went on. “Nonprofits recognize there really is value in incorporating a lot of different perspectives in the work they do.”

Thoughtful Evolution

While focusing their work in a more connected way and dealing with, in many cases, greater levels of need, some the region’s most venerable nonprofits have expanded in other ways.

Square One, for instance, has grown its family childcare program, where children are cared for and learn in home settings instead of one of the organization’s centers.

“I predict, in the next 10 years, we’ll see an explosion of interest in family childcare,” DiStefano said. “Some people, post-COVID, found comfort working from home. It’s a great business opportunity; they can make money, and Square One can help coordinate these services, so we’re supporting businesses.”

At CET, Muspratt said the organization has launched a strategic plan to grow its impact by five times by 2030, because, she noted, that’s what the climate needs, and there is plenty of money at the state and federal level to do the work, as well as private funders.

“More and more philanthropic donors want to support climate work, so that pace of growth is possible,” she said. “This region has always had an environmental bent.”

The organization has grown by 20% each of the past two years, with a staff of 100 that could double if the 2030 goals are hit, she added. “We became a more remote organization during the pandemic, and that has helped us cast a wider net. It’s good to have been able to expand our pool of candidates outside the Western Mass. region, though the majority of our staff are still based in Massachusetts.”

Nonprofits also thrive off volunteers; the United Way’s Volunteer Connect program has been successful at, well, connecting area agencies that need help with people who have time and talent to offer. It’s just one more way, Moynihan said, that nonprofits are operating in tandem.

“Everyone is working hard and chasing the same dollars,” she added, “but if we do it together, do it as a community, the outcome is always better.”

40 Years of Manufacturing

Companies Still Find Ways to Make It Here

Rick Sullivan calls manufacturing the “invisible backbone” of the Western Mass. economy.

That’s not an adjective he would likely have used 40 years ago, not when the region and many of its communities were dominated by large individual manufacturers or clusters — like GE’s massive transformer complex in Pittsfield, American Bosch and other major players in Springfield, and a still-sizable paper-making sector in Holyoke.

But it works today.

Indeed, while there are still some large manufacturers employing hundreds of people (as opposed to thousands 40, 50, or 100 years ago), this sector is now dominated by smaller players employing maybe a few dozen people each.

And what they’re making has changed as well. While local manufacturing was dominated by firms making tires, matches, paper, and, before that, arms for the U.S. military (at the Springfield Armory) and even monkey wrenches and ice skates, today, they’re making parts for stealth fighters, infrared goggles, medical devices, and other sophisticated products. And soon, in Holyoke, one will be making what is billed as ‘green’ concrete.

“I say invisible backbone because the manufacturing sector in Western Mass., for the most part, is made up of small- to mid-sized manufacturers that are in the supply chains of the larger companies,” said Sullivan, president and CEO of the Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council and formerly the long-time mayor of Westfield, one of the region’s manufacturing hubs. “And many of those companies are not situated in Western Mass. or Massachusetts, for that matter; they’re in Connecticut or worldwide.

“And they make important parts for the industry,” he went on. “Back when I was mayor of Westfield, there was $100,000 worth of parts of on every single commercial airplane that went through the city of Westfield, and that has only increased.”

These are some of the shifts that have come to this important sector over the past four decades. Others include a seismic shift in how such jobs are perceived, one that has contributed to a lingering workforce problem, and one that has led to a sea change in how hard companies must work to attract and retain talent — and some initiatives that probably couldn’t have been imagined 40 years ago.

Like ‘Barbecue Friday’ at Boulevard Machine in Westfield.

Susan Kasa, president of that company, which makes parts for the military, aerospace, and outer space, among other sectors, said Boulevard feeds its workers breakfast and lunch each day, and, as that name suggests, it devotes Fridays to barbecuing.

“People will take turns being the chef,” she explained. “We’ll do a lot of hot dogs and hamburgers, but sometimes we’ll go all out and do chicken and other meats; our people really enjoy it. You know it’s Friday because you can smell the barbecue.”

Rick Sullivan

“I say invisible backbone because the manufacturing sector in Western Mass., for the most part, is made up of small- to mid-sized manufacturers that are in the supply chains of the larger companies.”

This new tradition is one of many efforts that fall in the broad category of attracting and retaining talent, she said, with others including everything from advertising open positions in church bulletins to programs to introduce young students to manufacturing and the opportunities in this field — starting with middle school.

“We’re not your grandfather’s shop,” Kasa said, adding that the machinery is both more complex and cleaner, and one ongoing challenge is educating not only young people but their parents about this new reality.

Mark Borsari agreed.

He’s president of Sanderson MacLeod, a Palmer-based maker of twisted wire brushes. That’s not as sophisticated a product as infrared goggles or parts for artificial knees, but is an example of how traditional manufacturing is still making it in Western Mass., although it’s challenging — when it comes to everything from competition for orders to competition for people.

“It’s a different world, a different environment than it was 40 years ago and even 20 years ago,” Borsari said. “It gets down to the perception people have and the pride people have in making things and the importance of community; it’s just different.”

Susan Kasa

“Young people have such a bright future in manufacturing, and without incurring all that college debt.”

Like others we spoke with, he said technology, automation, and lights-out manufacturing, where machines run unattended at night, will play ever-larger roles in this sector. But it will always need people, and finding them will continue to be a challenge, especially as the Baby Boomers continue to retire in large numbers.

Tradition of Innovation

As he talked about this important sector, Sullivan stressed what hasn’t changed in 40 years or 250 years, and hopefully won’t change moving forward — that manufacturing is a source of what economic-development leaders have long called ‘good jobs at good wages.’

That is, the kind of jobs every region and every community wants and compete tooth and nail to get — and retain.

This region has always had a strong tradition of manufacturing and innovation — Sullivan said those words are essentially interchangeable — that goes back to the Springfield Armory and even before that. And it continued with the production of everything from firearms to toys; from automobiles and trolley cars to textiles; from home appliances to buggy whips, products that even gave some area communities their nicknames.

Many of these items are no longer made here (although trolley cars are again with the arrival of CRRC). In their place, manufacturers are making parts for jet liners, lunar landers, and the SpaceX rocket. But they also making timing chains for automobiles in the case of U.S. Tsubaki in Holyoke and Chicopee, and fasteners for the roofing industry in the case of OMG in Agawam.

“The manufacturing base in the region still runs the gamut,” said Sullivan, adding that this diversity is certainly a positive, with communities no longer dependent on one company or one sector (Westfield, for example, once home to several buggy-whip manufacturers, suffered greatly with the invention of the automobile).

Mark Borsari

“You can’t have culture when you have people transitioning every two or three years to chase the latest and greatest thing.”

Overall, the sector is smaller and much more invisible, a trait that emerged as many jobs in manufacturing went south or overseas — Bosch closed in 1986, for example — movements that prompted many to question the sector’s viability, contributing to today’s workforce challenges.

Those we spoke with said there has been some progress from efforts to introduce young people to the field, from initiatives like Barbecue Fridays to the rising cost of higher education and a willingness to look at fields that don’t require advanced degrees.

“Young people have such a bright future in manufacturing, and without incurring all that college debt,” Kasa said. “That debt is getting way out of hand, and rising interest rates aren’t helping. These kids going to vocational schools, and they can be an entrepreneur; they can make six figures and be an integral part of the community. So we’re really working to educate parents about this.

“Not every student is cut out for a college degree, and meanwhile, four years is getting them nowhere in this day and age,” she went on. “Having the vocational education does so much more for these kids, and there’s such a future in it.”

She said showing young people where the parts made at Boulevard are going — into the SpaceX rocket, for example — generates enthusiasm.

Meanwhile, valuing employees and cultivating a strong sense of team are also important, she said, not just with breakfast and barbecues, but by creating a culture, building camaraderie, and even grooming the next generation of leadership for the company.

Borsari agreed, noting that building a team and creating a winning culture are some of the things that haven’t changed over the years.

“Years ago, a good business realized they had to have talented people who could add value to their business feel well-compensated to stay with them,” he explained. “It’s the same today, but the difference is that, a lot of times, the high compensation and all those things need to be there before people can demonstrate that they have value.

“And you see that everywhere,” he went on. “You see that in companies with very little longevity; there’s no culture left. You can’t have culture when you have people transitioning every two or three years to chase the latest and greatest thing.”

Overall, Borsari said the culture he and his team have created — one where people enjoy working well together — is perhaps the company’s greatest competitive advantage because such a culture is less common than it was years ago.

“It’s pretty simple stuff, really,” he said. “It’s a refusal to take the cheap way out and at the end of the day, and it’s doing right by the people who count on us to treat them like we would want them to treat us.”

Bottom Line

Looking ahead, Sullivan repeated his oft-stated view that this region needs a growth strategy, one that will emphasize both the lower cost of living here and the strength and diversity of the local economy in an effort to convince more young people to stay — and more people from outside the region to find the 413.

And manufacturing is a big part of that story, he said, adding that the innovation that has defined the region for hundreds of years lives on in this sector.

You can’t look up a passing jet fighter out of Barnes and see the parts made here, said Sullivan, but they’re there. Just like this all-important component of the region’s economy.

40 Years of Higher Education

Colleges Adapt to Non-traditional Realities

At the recent ceremony that officially installed him as chancellor of UMass Amherst, Javier Reyes noted that attitudes about higher education are changing, while rapid advancements in technology, with artificial intelligence at the center, are forcing colleges and universities to find new ways to meet their obligations.

“How does higher education respond to these challenges?” he asked. “How do we meet the needs of today’s students — students who are increasingly mobile and more agile? How do we meet the needs of a changing society? How do we remain nimble and adapt so that our students are prepared to be active and engaged members of their communities today, tomorrow, and for decades to come?”

That’s a lot to unpack, but UMass will focus on six key areas, Reyes explained: education, research and creative activity, translation and knowledge transfer, engagement, inclusivity and wellness, and financial and operational viability.

Then, importantly, he added, “it is important to stress that these are not six independent areas. Rather, they are six interconnected areas that must work in synergy with each other to achieve our goals.”

It’s a theme of connectivity that … well, connects Reyes’ thoughts with the conversations BusinessWest had with three other area higher-education leaders as they considered how academia has changed over the years — and where it’s going next.

“There’s been an evolution in higher education,” Elms College President Harry Dumay said. “About a decade ago, we knew there was a demographic cliff coming up for traditional undergraduate students. So everyone was thinking about the non-traditional population. And Elms had a strategy of partnering with community colleges to create degree-completion programs, which was very successful in growing enrollment in college through non-traditional students.”

John Cook, president of Springfield Technical Community College (STCC), said the role of his institution has become more prominent with last year’s launch of MassReconnect, which makes community college in Massachusetts free for adults over age 25 — another example of how colleges are prioritizing non-traditional students.

“We’ve become even more essential,” Cook said. “The fundamentals of what community colleges offer are even more important, if that’s possible, than they were 40 years ago. Access, opportunity, equity — all the things we talk about in the public sector — are really part of our DNA. And it’s invigorating to be a part of this, especially with MassReconnect, with a different kind of spotlight shining on us that further underpins this value that our name represents.”

Whether attending college right out of high school or returning as part of that older, non-traditional, often career-changing crowd, today’s students are increasingly facing an economy in flux, so they need, more than anything, to learn how to learn, Bay Path University President Sandra Doran said.

“Today’s graduates will have, on average, seven careers — not seven jobs, but seven careers,” she told BusinessWest. “That’s why we’re really committed to the concept of lifelong learning.”

Elaborating, Doran said, “in the past, you’d go to school for four years, then start your career. But that’s not always how higher education works. You might be taking college courses as a high-school student, or between ages of 17 and 24, or, sometimes, when you’re 50 years old. You might be in the workforce and, at the same time, taking college courses. This continuum of being able to learn any time you need to learn — and have the courses and programs available to do that — is really important to your future. And being adept at online learning is absolutely critical.”

Sandra Doran

“Today’s graduates will have, on average, seven careers — not seven jobs, but seven careers. That’s why we’re really committed to the concept of lifelong learning.”

In such a different environment from 40 years ago, she added, colleges and universities need to provide pathways, credentials, certificates, and degrees that are adaptable to people at all stages of life, not just those in that 17-24 age range.

“What we used to refer to as a student conjured up notions of sitting at a desk, taking notes, listening to a professor. But that’s not the only way education is delivered anymore,” Doran added. “People can learn forever.”

Into the Real World

Students are also training for a work world that’s fiercely competing for top talent — meaning not just graduates with skills, but those able to keep learning on the fly. With that in mind, Elms College recently crafted a strategic plan that emphasizes the core value of a liberal-arts education, experiential learning in the real world while still in college, and innovation.

“The employers of today are really desperate for students who are real-world ready; you don’t have to teach them how to behave in the workforce,” Dumay said. “At the same time, they can think on their feet. They have that critical thinking. A liberal-arts undergraduate education prepares students to think on their feet, articulate their thoughts, work in groups, all the soft skills that employers are looking for.”

At the same time, he said, the Elms has brought flexibility to the forefront, offering non-traditional students everything from remote options to short-term certificates and stackable credentials that will get them into careers, with growth potential, more quickly than in a full, four-year program.

Harry Dumay

“A liberal-arts undergraduate education prepares students to think on their feet, articulate their thoughts, work in groups, all the soft skills that employers are looking for.”

The presidents we spoke with also emphasized the importance of offering programs relevant to growth industries, like STCC’s future involvement in the Richard E. Neal Cybersecurity Center of Excellence being built at Union Station in Springfield, or its continued leadership in health sciences (at a time when healthcare deals with persistent staffing shortages), and HVAC and energy systems (as green energy continues its ascent).

“These are really, really helpful programs to have when we map out what the needs are in the workforce,” Cook said, noting that STCC’s School of Health will be renovated in a major capital project.

Doran takes a similar approach. “Bay Path has always been workforce-driven. That, again, relates back to lifelong learning — always being responsive to the marketplace, to employers. We started in 1897 as a business institute, as a reaction to what was needed in the workplace. That commitment to providing employers with a talented, long pipeline of potential employees really is a commitment to our region, and our lifelong learners.”

She, like Dumay, stressed the importance of flexible programs adaptable to the needs of non-traditional learners.

“It’s not one size fits all. Personalized education is a continuing trend,” Doran said. “We know how important it is for students to feel their college experience is valuable and works for them.”

Reyes said UMass intends to strengthen its role as a public research university in the coming years.

Javier Reyes

“We must continue to embrace our role as the primary developer of talent in the Commonwealth while ensuring that all of our students — regardless of their discipline — have the core skills, soft skills, and critical-thinking skills that will allow them to thrive in a rapidly changing economy and a rapidly changing world.”

“Fulfilling our role as a premier land-grant public research university will require us to continue to grow our research infrastructure while also expanding opportunities for students across all disciplines and at all levels to engage with research and hands-on learning opportunities,” he said, noting that, in FY 2023, UMass faculty received 1,164 research awards totaling nearly $240 million. “This is tremendous and speaks to the confidence in the research that is happening at UMass Amherst and the impact that our faculty have on the common good.”

In the current academic year alone, he noted, the campus became home to the National Science Foundation’s Center for Braiding Indigenous Knowledges and Science and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Academic Center for Reliability and Resilience of Offshore Wind, while UMass Amherst became one of just 18 institutions to receive the National Science Foundation’s inaugural Accelerate Research Translation Award, aimed at translating the research conducted in campus laboratories into tangible solutions to real-world problems.

“We must continue to embrace our role as the primary developer of talent in the Commonwealth while ensuring that all of our students — regardless of their discipline — have the core skills, soft skills, and critical-thinking skills that will allow them to thrive in a rapidly changing economy and a rapidly changing world, so that they can succeed and grow in the fields that they choose to be a part of.”

Better Days

Going back to MassReconnect for a moment, Cook noted that community-college enrollment had been on a downward trend in the Northeast for a while, but for both the fall and spring of the 2023-24 academic year, STCC saw a double-digit increase in enrollment, and he expects that pace to continue.

John Cook

“We’re not all the way back to pre-pandemic, but we have changed the trend, and we hope to continue to build on that.”

“We’re not all the way back to pre-pandemic, but we have changed the trend, and we hope to continue to build on that,” he said.

“We’ve been through COVID, which were pretty tough years,” Cook added. “When you combine the momentum of a major capital project and MassReconnect and our equity outlook and the fact that we’re the most affordable college in Springfield … these are wonderful fundamentals. It’s a great place to be.”

40 Years of Healthcare

Hospitals Grapple with Some Significant Trends

Twenty years ago, in the issue commemorating BusinessWest’s 20th anniversary, area hospital leaders talked about what had changed the most over two decades, and they all mentioned the same thing: a shortening of hospital stays, with procedures that once required a several-night stayover now requiring only one — or none at all.

Today’s hospital leaders are still talking about it — because the trend has only accelerated.

“The time people spend inside the hospital for various procedures has been shortened significantly,” Holyoke Medical Center Spiros Hatiras said. “When I started in healthcare 30 years ago, someone would come in for a gallbladder surgery and spend four days in the hospital. Now it’s the same day, come in and leave.

“The same with other procedures,” he went on. “People even get knee replacements and leave the same day. For bariatric surgery, they just stay one night. They used to spend more time in the hospital, so that definitely has changed.”

Dr. Mark Keroack, president of Baystate Health, noted that, around the time BusinessWest ran that story, he started seeing an accelerating shift to more procedures done in the outpatient arena — which has impacted revenues across virtually all hospitals.

“We have 1,000 hospital beds, but 60% of our revenue comes from the ambulatory side. And even in my career, things that used to land you in the hospital for a week don’t anymore. Now you’re out in a day. That is an incredible advance because of microsurgery and advanced techniques.”

The other dramatic shift regionally — and nationally — has been a trend toward consolidation. Over the past four decades, Baystate Health, and its flagship hospital, Baystate Medical Center, have brought formerly independent hospitals in Greenfield, Palmer, and Westfield under its umbrella, while Mercy Medical Center was acquired by Trinity Health, and Cooley Dickinson Hospital is now part of the Mass General Brigham family.

“Healthcare has been evolving, and how hospitals are reimbursed has become extraordinarily challenging. There’s been a shift from inpatient care to outpatient care, which is beneficial for the community, but challenging to maintain revenues to support hospitals, which communities rely on for services,” said Dr. Robert Roose, president of both Mercy and Johnson Memorial Hospital in Enfield, Conn., both part of the Trinity family.

“And as those trends continue to shift and reimbursement rates for services decrease, that has reinforced the value of being part of a large system that has scale, that can leverage strengths across the service area.”

Cooley Dickinson Health Care President Dr. Lynnette Watkins said Cooley becoming part of Mass General Brigham just over a decade ago has been a benefit in many ways, and a model for what’s happening with formerly independent hospitals across the country.

Dr. Mark Keroack

“We have 1,000 hospital beds, but 60% of our revenue comes from the ambulatory side. And even in my career, things that used to land you in the hospital for a week don’t anymore. Now you’re out in a day.”

“So you still have that community impact, but you’re also backed by a larger network,” she told BusinessWest, citing, as one example, a current, $26 million capital project that will add about 7,700 square feet to the Emergency Department, increasing its footprint by about 40%. “We would not be able to undertake a renovation like this without the support of Mass General Brigham and its ability to engage and identify contractors and work through supply-chain issues and, candidly, to finance a project as large as this.

“Also, in order to be able to recruit and retain talent, particularly in primary care, we have to be competitive in the market,” Watkins continued. “And a lot of our colleagues come to Cooley Dickinson for that great community feel and care, but also are attracted by competitive compensation and the fact that we’re part of Mass General Brigham.”

Baystate’s own growth story began almost 50 years ago with the merger of three facilities into what is now known as Baystate Medical Center — and it has grown significantly since, with the expansion of Baystate Children’s Hospital, a massive addition known as the Hospital of the Future in 2012, and other projects.

But Baystate Health also encompasses Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield, Baystate Noble Hospital in Westfield, and Baystate Wing Hospital in Palmer, along with a host of physician practices and a cluster of specialty services in Springfield’s North End, most notably the D’Amour Center for Cancer Care, which opened in 2004.

“People don’t have to leave the area to get their care, and to get advanced medical care — level-1 trauma, neonatal ICU, specialty cancer care, specialty pediatric care, all those things that built up over the years,” said Keroack, who will retire from a more than four-decade career in healthcare this year. “Baystate has grown to the point where we’re doing roughly 65% of the medical care in Western Mass.”

Dr. Lynnette Watkins

“During COVID, we lost hospital personnel because they got sick or their families got sick or burnout occurred and individuals decided to take time off. We also had trainees in the pipeline that, for a couple of years, did not have the ability to learn at the bedside.”

At the same time, he added, a number of small hospitals closed or were repurposed over the years, from Ludlow Hospital to Farren Memorial Hospital in Turners Falls to Mary Lane Hospital in Ware, partly because of that shift to outpatient care and the ability of the region’s larger hospitals to diversify what they offer. “It’s hard for a small community hospital to make it.”

Getting Back to Work

That said, all hospitals these days, of all sizes, are struggling with workforce shortages across the spectrum, from nurses to many specialists.

Keroack said Baystate employs around 13,500 people and, before the pandemic, typically averaged 600 to 700 open positions at any given time. That number shot up to 2,100 during the Omicron phase of COVID — a time known in healthcare as the Great Resignation.

“No one wanted to work in healthcare. It was scary and difficult,” he recalled. “But we’ve done an awful lot to be better employers — we’ve done a lot with workplace safety, flex schedules, employee wellness, and novel approaches to new pipelines with our education and training partners.”

With almost 1,500 openings currently, “we’re about halfway back to where we used to be,” he added. “There’s still some work to do, but we’re making good progress and heading in the right direction.”

Watkins agreed that COVID took a toll on the workforce at Cooley Dickinson.

“We’ve had shortages before, particularly in nursing, but in the technical fields as well — radiology technologists, pharmacy techs, laboratory techs — but during COVID, we lost hospital personnel because they got sick or their families got sick or burnout occurred and individuals decided to take time off.

Spiros Hatiras

“Even though you have interoperability, the systems are not talking to each other. It’s a mess, if you ask me, where you could have made a really big breakthrough in medical records.”

“We also had trainees in the pipeline that, for a couple of years, did not have the ability to learn at the bedside,” she added. “And learning on the screen or in a sim lab is not the same as learning at the bedside. So these graduates are taking longer to complete their training, and taking longer to onboard and orient. That means more folks, particularly those that enjoy teaching and mentoring, are really required in order to bring this new cohort along.”

That has ramped up partnerships with UMass Amherst, Bay Path University, Springfield Technical Community College, and others on targeted programs to get more talent into the pipeline, from certified nurse aides to lab techs and surgical techs.

“One of the silver linings is that it has really forced us to be creative and collaborative,” Watkins said. “We even have high-school and college students as a part of our volunteer programs here at the hospital, so that young people can get exposed to what it means to be in a hospital, and what sorts of positions there are. Doctors and nurses are important, but there are other ways that you can work in the hospital and have a great experience.”

Roose said healthcare leaders have come to understand the importance of caregivers’ concerns at a time when the industry in general is at “an inflection point” when it comes to how hospitals operate.

“We need to double down and maximize our efforts to support caregivers through systems that keep people well and transform the systems that keep people well and transform our services in ways that meet the evolving needs not only of the patients we serve, but the colleagues that are part of our mission and drive service.”

Holyoke Medical Center has taken big steps to address those concerns as well, Hatiras said, including with compensation, but the system has still struggled, emerging from the pandemic, with employee expectations when it comes to long hours, weekends, and on-call hours — and a desire for more of their work to be remote, which isn’t always possible.

That said, artificial intelligence could begin to have a broader role, not in replacing providers, but making their jobs a little easier.

“You can have a natural conversation with the patient about their condition; the doctor can tell you what your blood pressure is, the patient can say what their symptoms are, and you can have AI listening in and creating an actual note for the chart instead of someone having to transcribe it or dictate it or type it,” Hatiras said, adding that AI can process copious amounts of information and … not make a diagnosis, exactly, but augment the doctor’s own decision making.

“It could be helpful as an overlay with all the patients that come and go — ‘hey, doctor, can you check this patient based on the data input? He may need attention; he may have sepsis; he may have an infection.’ It can be a tool to assist.”

Evolution Continues

Speaking of technology, Hatiras noted that one of the most monumental changes in healthcare in recent decades is the electronic medical record.

“I would say there are benefits and drawbacks. One benefit is that you can access certain information from anywhere. In the old days, you had paper charts, and if a doctor was on call and needed to look at somebody’s chart, he couldn’t. Now you can look at it — X-rays, lab results, all sorts of things. And there’s certainly more data being captured this way.”

The main downside is what Hatiras characterizes as a big missed opportunity, and that’s the failure of the U.S. government, early on, to establish a bid process and choose the best electronic medical record system and make it the national standard.

“What has happened is we have a hodgepodge of a system,” he explained. “If you physically cover more than one hospital, it’s a bear; you’ve got to learn each other’s systems: how to input orders, how to check labs. It’s not easy. Secondly, you can’t train for it in medical school because what system are you going to train on? If we had a national system, we could be learning this from year one in medical school. And even though you have interoperability, the systems are not talking to each other. It’s a mess, if you ask me, where you could have made a really big breakthrough in medical records.”

Speaking of government, Keroack noted that the way healthcare is paid for has changed dramatically, especially over the two decades since Romneycare; today, 97% of Massachusetts residents carry health insurance.

And with more than 90% of Baystate patients cared for under a global budget — specifically, Medicare and Medicaid accountable-care organizations — “if we overspend or are inefficient, we have to eat the difference. It leads us to emphasize prevention, wellness, and coordination of care. It’s changed the way doctors think about keeping people healthy.”

Today, with an older population than the national average, 70% of Baystate’s payments come from Medicaid and Medicare and 30% from commercial managed care, while the average hospital in the U.S. is 40% government and 60% managed care.

“Over time, the country’s going to have to tackle the question of whether we move to some single-payer health approach,” Keroack added. “We’re not done as a nation dealing with the cost of healthcare. We have the highest cost of healthcare in the world and the most splintered, uncoordinated program of paying for it.”

Meanwhile, major projects continue locally in an effort to meet community needs, from Cooley Dickinson’s Emergency Department overhaul — the ER was built in the 1970s when ER visits were less than half what they are today — to Trinity Health’s Enfield Ambulatory Center, which will reflect that overall shift toward outpatient care.

“There will continue to be an emphasis on innovation, technology, and what will be known as precision medicine or personalized medicine as we move into the future,” Roose said, citing projects at Mercy from a new palliative-care center to an agreement with the US Oncology Network to improve services, technology, and access to clinical trials.

“The main emphasis will continue to be on compassionate care and creating experiences that are holistic and compassionate and help people along their healing journey.”

40 Years of Financial Services

Technology, Immediacy Have Changed the Game

When she first started working for Merrill Lynch in 1985, Pat Grenier had a desk, a phone, a phone book, and a street directory. And there was a lot of cold calling.

“I picked a street, and I would call everyone on that street; you can’t do that anymore,” she said, adding that it goes without saying that there’s no phone book anymore. And there’s nowhere near as much cold calling — in this sector and most others. And the desk and desk phone are not used nearly as much as they were even five years ago.

These are just some of the changes that have come to the broad financial-services sector, said Grenier, president of Grenier Financial Advisors, noting that, back when she started, and until maybe a few decades ago, this was what she called a ‘transactional’ business. Now, it’s far less about making transactions — especially the buying and selling of stocks — and more about partnering with the client to secure lifelong financial security.

“Now, our business is far more planning-oriented, and advisors are working more as a part of a team,” she said, adding that, instead of buying and selling stocks for clients, professionals like her will advise clients on everything from retirement planning to the specifics of a senior-living facility contract, to helping family members find bookkeepers or companions for their parents. “All that is not transaction work.”

Barbara Trombley, president of Trombley Associates, agreed, noting that the word advisor has come into popular use only over the past two decades or so.

Years ago, she said, individuals would have called someone who did what she does a stockbroker or even ‘my guy’ — a nod to how few women ventured into this field.

“It’s not just us putting together a portfolio — it’s how do you spend your money? How do you make it last? How do you leave money to your kids? And it’s a lot more personal,” she told BusinessWest. “I don’t get upset about the market going up and down on a day-to-day basis because I’m not trading stocks.”

Much has changed, and the same is true in another branch of the broad financial sector — insurance.

Indeed, when Sam Hanmer, president of Rush Insurance and a nearly 40-year veteran in this field, first started, he used “manuals, microfiche, the fax machine, and a dot-matrix printer,” he recalled. And customers were OK with getting answers to their questions in a few days.

Now, everything is stored in the cloud, and those same customers want this information instantaneously.

“The expectation is that they call, and they want the answer,” he said. “It’s on-time delivery in just about any setting, including insurance.”

Lisa Johnson, chief operating officer of Amherst-based Encharter Insurance, agreed, and said this business has changed in many other ways as well. Maybe the biggest has been consolidation brought on many different factors, ranging from the higher cost of doing business in a far more technology-driven field to retiring Baby Boomers looking for an exit strategy.

Pat Grenier

“Now, our business is far more planning-oriented, and advisors are working more as a part of a team.”

“It just became too difficult for small, independent businesses to survive given the amount of technology needs required to run an agency these days,” she said. “Human resources has changed so dramatically; you almost can’t run a business without having a human-resources expert to turn to. A lot of this has driven many of these smaller agencies to decide that this is the time to sell.

“What used to be your neighborhood agency is now likely owned by a much larger entity,” Johnson added, referring to a trend that covers not only insurance but many any business groups as well, from banks to accounting firms to law firms.

Meanwhile, another trend impacting almost every sector — challenges with finding and retaining talent — is also prevalent in this field, she said, using understatement when saying, “young people are not turned on by insurance.”

This has led to ever-greater amounts of automation and use of AI, she said, adding that these trends will only accelerate in the years and decades to come.

Money Never Sleeps

Flashing back to when he started in financial services nearly 40 years ago, Mike Matty, president of St. Germain Investment Management (which is celebrating its own milestone: 100 years), started by talking about technology and how it has profoundly changed this business and financial services in general.

“I always say that people have more information available to them today, on the internet and on their phone, than I had available to me as a mutual-fund manager back in the ’80s,” he told BusinessWest.

Barbara Trombley

“It’s not just us putting together a portfolio — it’s how do you spend your money? How do you make it last? How do you leave money to your kids? And it’s a lot more personal. I don’t get upset about the market going up and down on a day-to-day basis because I’m not trading stocks.”

“There wasn’t even CNBC back then,” he added. “If you wanted to know what happened with the stock market back in those days, you turned on the 6 o’clock news and waited for the business segment. The world is so different right now.”

That goes for everything from the Dow, which was at or around 2,000 in the late ’80s (except for that fateful day in October 1987, when it lost 25% of its value) and is now at 38,000, to the way information is available instantly.

Too much information in some respects, said Matty, noting that the 24/7 nature of CNBC and other outlets creates higher levels of anxiety among those watching their wealth.

“Everything becomes an immediacy that they need to do something about,” he explained. “They’ll say, ‘the opening bell in seven minutes’ or ‘the most important hour of the day, the closing bell.’ They try to create anxiety and news out of a clock.”

This anxiety, and need to do something, certainly contributes to the wild fluctuations that have defined the markets in recent years, he said, joking that people might be better off if they waited for the 6 o’clock news.

They are certainly better off with today’s financial professionals, who do far more advising than their predecessors did 40 years ago.

“In 1984, most folks on this side of the table were more asset managers than financial planners,” Matty explained. “Now, the term we use is ‘wealth managers,’ because with that term comes the financial planning and the estate side of things; it’s a holistic approach as opposed to just managing a slice of your assets, which is more the way the business was years ago.”

Grenier agreed and described a typical day, and typical customer interaction, 40 years ago this way: “We focused on … ‘well, we have A, B, and C for you to buy because we think it’s going to do this, that, or the other thing.’ We didn’t look at the entire person, whereas now we are looking at the entire person, as well as their family.

Sam Hanmer

“The expectation is that they call, and they want the answer. It’s on-time delivery in just about any setting, including insurance.”

“And we’re talking with them about transitioning wealth and protecting wealth,” she went on, adding that financial-services professionals are coaches, counselors, caretakers, and mediators — even if these words aren’t necessarily printed on business cards. “‘If you have a trust, is it titled properly? Are your beneficiaries up to date?’ I talk to them about all of that, whereas, when I first started, it was, ‘OK, I have this municipal bond,’ or ‘I have this stock.’”

This represents a dramatic change in this field that is still ongoing, said Matty, adding that today’s financial advisors serve in the same way Google Maps does.

“We guide people,” he said. “We need to know where you are, so let’s find out where we’re starting from. Let’s then figure out where you want to go and look at the options for getting there.”

Meanwhile, some important things haven’t changed.

“Oftentimes, you’ll have these conversations with people, and they’ll say, if I die…’ And I say, ‘let’s back up a minute. There is no if, there’s only going to be a when, unless you know something that I don’t, so let’s talk about what you want to do with your money between now and then to help you accomplish your goals.’”

In other words, death and taxes are still the only certainties in this business.

Policy Makers

Turning back the clock to to 1985, when he got his start in the insurance business, Hanmer, who has been with several agencies over the decades and unretired a few years ago, said there are certainly more players in this sector, primarily because the business was in many ways easier and less costly.

Mike Matty

“People have more information available to them today, on the internet and on their phone, than I had available to me as a mutual-fund manager back in the ’80s.”

“When I started in the agency, your personal lines and your automobile insurance, specifically, had what they called ‘fixed and established rates,’ and that was all set by the state; the insurance companies didn’t set the rates,” he explained. “And that allowed you to have a mom-and-pop agency on just about every corner because it was more of a convenience buy then ‘I need to go shop my insurance to see if I can get the best deal,’ because every agency would provide you with the same number when it came to auto.

“All this allowed for what I call a lifestyle business,” he went on. “You could make a pretty good living with two, three, or four people in your office, and there would be one right down the street and another right down the street from that.”

It’s much different now, Hanmer said, adding that, when the state changed to competitive rating a quarter-century ago, that changed the dynamic in the industry. Prior to that time, and because the state set the rates, most direct writers didn’t have a presence in the state.

Lisa Johnson

“Businesses look to cut down on the vulnerabilities they have. And a big vulnerability for all of us in insurance over the past decade, and I’ve really seen it accelerate, is personnel — trying to get people who are well-trained and understand that the insurance business is just really difficult.”

“They didn’t want to play that game,” he said, adding that the Progressives, State Farms, and Liberty Mutuals of this world now have a huge presence in the state, and its residents are subject to their endless TV commercials.

“With that competition, agencies had to work a whole lot harder because they had to shop everything,” he went on. “A lot of them said, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore,’ and that started the consolidated process.”

And it has continued unabated, said Johnson, noting that private-equity funds have discovered the insurance industry, and now, many of the mergers are driven by aggregators backed by private-equity funds.

All this consolidation is in some ways good for consumers because larger agencies provide them with more choice, she said, adding that this is countered by perhaps not knowing the person behind the counter — or on the other end of the phone — as well.

Meanwhile, the players left in the industry now find it increasingly difficult to attract and retain talent (yes, you’ll read these same words in just about every story in this 40th-anniversary issue), which is prompting many to outsource tasks and turn to virtual assistants based in other states or, increasingly, other countries.

“A lot of quoting of business is now automated, as are some aspects of claim handling, billing, invoicing, those types of things,” Johnson said. “Anything repetitious is now likely to be automated, and that’s not unique to the insurance industry.

“Businesses look to cut down on the vulnerabilities they have,” she went on. “And a big vulnerability for all of us in insurance over the past decade, and I’ve really seen it accelerate, is personnel — trying to get people who are well-trained and understand that the insurance business is just really difficult.”

40 Years of Construction

Workforce Challenges Have Emerged over Time

When you’ve been building things for as long as Daniel O’Connell’s Sons (DOC) has, well … sometimes you enjoy the sequel.

Take, for example, the Montgomery-Russell bridge on I-90 over the Westfield River. DOC is currently renovating it, a $46.9 million project that includes deck rehabilitation, lighting and drainage improvements, and a major steel component replacement.

It’s a return of sorts for Holyoke-based DOC, which built that bridge nearly 70 years ago.

“When you have situations like that, it’s kind of cool,” said Joubin Hassanein, the company’s president. “You look back at photos of the people that were working on that original bridge, and to know that they’re kind of connected to you in some way is pretty awesome.”

With a 145-year history of major projects, from Springfield’s Memorial Bridge to Rowe’s Wharf in Boston and that city’s Leverett Circle Connector Bridge, the leaders at O’Connell’s can take a long view of what has changed in the construction industry, but Hassanein believes some of the bigger changes are still to come.

“Construction in general has been an industry that hasn’t seen a lot of change over the course of a long time — except for the period that we live in now,” he told BusinessWest, especially in the realm of technology. “We’re seeing a rapid adoption of technology into construction. We’re probably in the early stages of a very fast-changing scene within the construction industry. And I think it’s important for companies to be nimble enough to move with that change, and we’re heavily invested in that.”

DOC is equally invested in wastewater and drinking-water facilities, which now account for about 40% of its work, with the other 60% falling mostly into the education sector, but also healthcare, hospitality, senior living, and other areas. With two offices in Massachusetts and one each in Connecticut, New York, and Florida, it’s also looking to expand geographically.

David Fontaine Jr., CEO of Fontaine Bros., has also had a hand in plenty of large-scale public work, as well as helping to shape the landscape of downtown Springfield, from the MassMutual Center project 20 years ago to the recent conversion of the former Court Square Hotel into market-rate apartments.

“It’s great to see the momentum that’s generating for the area,” he said, adding that high schools and colleges have been another mainstay, with work at Deerfield Academy, Wilbraham Monson Academy, and a host of other schools, as well as healthcare projects for clients like Baystate Health and Mercy Medical Center. “We intentionally keep a mix of work in public and private sectors. The public sector is a little less sensitive to the ups and downs of interest rates.

“Almost 70% of our work is with repeat clients, so that’s important,” Fontaine added. “When there are fewer projects out there and they’re more difficult to get, we see fierce competition for every project we’re going after. But even with that fierce competition, we’ve won six of the last seven projects we competed for. We attribute a lot of that to those repeat relationships.”

When Joe Marois opened the South Hadley-based construction firm that bears his name in 1972, business was conducted differently, and he was discouraged to see some of that fall away.

Joubin Hassanein

“We’re probably in the early stages of a very fast-changing scene within the construction industry. And I think it’s important for companies to be nimble enough to move with that change.”

“It was a complete joy. A lot of the work we did initially was, believe it or not, on a handshake. We were doing colleges and private work, a lot of the mills, very little public work. But there was an abundance of work, and we had large crews, and it was a different time.”

Heightened competition in the private sector, however, eventually shifted the dynamic.

“As people started seeing what we were doing, they started migrating into our area to the point where the profits became problematic for us. So we migrated into the public sector. And that’s a lot more difficult — it’s permitting-intense, it’s paperwork … the process is very difficult. We’re dealing with engineers who have to deal themselves with peer review, which increases the requirements for the project substantially. We’ve had to use attorneys more in the last 20 years than in prior years just to make sure we cross our Ts and so forth.”

Ryan Pelletier, project manager for Houle Construction in Ludlow, said his firm has been focused for more than 30 years on the healthcare and hospital industry.

“That’s been our mainstay, our bread and butter. We do other things, all kinds of commercial work. But 90%, of what we do is healthcare by virtue of our repeat customers.”

His father, company President Tim Pelletier, arrived at Houle as an estimator back in 1989, working for company founder Ray Houle. At the time, the firm was building Friendly’s and Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants up and down the East Coast, as both were in serious growth mode.

Later, “Ray saw some opportunities in healthcare, and also, some of the guys were settling down with wives and kids, and fewer of them wanted to do the traveling,” Ryan said. “So the team leaned into the healthcare sector. They found some idiosyncrasies and peculiarities about the sector that makes it unappealing for some companies, but we found a niche there.”

David Fontaine Jr.

“When there are fewer projects out there and they’re more difficult to get, we see fierce competition for every project we’re going after.”

COVID was an interesting time, he added, as Houle built temporary structures at Baystate Medical Center and Cooley Dickinson Hospital to handle COVID overflow, among other projects, but infection-control measures at area hospitals didn’t make things easy. “We were really, really needed, but they also didn’t want us there.”

All these firms have traveled different paths and made unique impacts on the landscape — both literally and figuratively. But they’ve shared many challenges, too.

Priming the Pump

One substantial change across the industry has to do with workforce — in particular, the flow of young workers into the industry, which has slowed to a trickle, something every contractor we spoke with for this story recognized.

Many years ago, Marois said, each summer, “we’d have nine or 10 or more college students that would come here automatically, and we’d hire them all. They’d stay for the four-year college stint.”

Nowadays, even vocational-school graduates are slim pickings, he went on. “It doesn’t seem like a lot of people have ambitions to be in the trades anymore. Not a lot of people are showing up. We’re even advertising on television.”

Joe Marois

“It doesn’t seem like a lot of people have ambitions to be in the trades anymore. Not a lot of people are showing up.”

Pelletier agreed. “The economy has been shifting. Traditionally, you got apprenticeship work in the field. Today, a lot of young people are being pushed toward college, and none are excited to come out of school with an expensive degree to go into a career where they didn’t need a degree to begin with.”

He hopes some might be drawn by rising salaries, especially for in-demand trades like HVAC. “Demand is as high as ever, so beginning wages are increasing, and the costs to us are increasing.”

Indeed, Marois said someone still learning on the job can make $17 an hour, and they could be making $45 to $50 on a public-works project not too much later. “There’s some incentive there for young people, the fact that you can start at that level that quickly. But it doesn’t seem to be enticing for a lot of these young people.”

Hassanein said some of the technology being used in construction today may draw more individuals to consider a career.

“We have a lot of connected systems and data, and being able to make decisions and being guided by that data is becoming more and more prominent in our world, where it wasn’t before. So the people you want to bring in are people that can do that type of work and can process that information and translate it to the job.”

Pelletier added that “the obvious answer is to make it more appealing, pay more, and offer more benefits, but we can also get people from different sectors, like warehousing and retail. That’s something I like to do — find people in my daily commute, at Dunkin’ Donuts or Men’s Wearhouse, somebody who has a good personality and is always working hard; I encounter them daily. They may be at a job that’s just paying the bills, and if I have a need for an apprentice, I can put them on a career path.

“Our only option at this point is to be more proactive than looking for the kids who go from trade school right into the industry,” he added. “Those kids don’t exist in large numbers anymore. So we have to deal with that.”

Hassanein added that the workforce shortage across the industry was in evidence before COVID, but the pandemic exacerbated the situation.

“When we talk about the workforce, there’s certainly a focus on inclusion — a broad mix of people of color and women, people who represent the area that we’re building. We want to help them not only get into the trades, but be successful in the trades.”

“I think our industry lost quite a bit of people in the last downturn and never really recovered. So, as an industry, we’re challenged,” he said, adding that casting a net for a more diverse workforce, including more women, would help.

Fontaine agrees, noting that Liz Wambui, the firm’s director of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Impact since 2021, has made some positive headway in workforce matters.

“It’s great to see the construction industry embrace diversity in the workplace,” he said. “When we talk about the workforce, there’s certainly a focus on inclusion — a broad mix of people of color and women, people who represent the area that we’re building. We want to help them not only get into the trades, but be successful in the trades.

“That’s where Liz goes above and beyond; she works with different partners on pathways into the industry, and once someone is in the industry, she partners with them to help them transition from project to project and make those first couple of years a success so they can have a long-term career.”

Considering the current challenges, Fontaine added, “a lot of Liz’s role is focused on the workforce generally. It’s a need we have across all the trades we work with, and we’ve done some innovative things, like partnering with unions, which are very forward-thinking and helpful in coming up with ways to attract people into the trades and keep them.”

Something to Build On

Some of the challenges of today’s construction industry are sector-specific, like the trend toward hospitals being acquired by national players, as in the case of Mercy Medical Center and Trinity Health.

“Where that becomes a challenge is the powers that be are located elsewhere, and decisions are being made halfway across the country for things that are local,” Pelletier said. “They don’t necessarily understand the complexities of the local market.”

Hassanein said it’s a good time to work in education because many colleges are prioritizing energy efficiency and carbon neutrality, and DOC is helping them achieve those goals over a number of years. “We’re at Mount Holyoke, Trinity, and Amherst right now, for example. Those are multi-year projects.”

Some of this work is still in its infancy, he added, but it’s expanding quickly. “It’s definitely a great place to be. Almost every academic institution has a goal established, with a deadline, and until now, they’ve been kind of waiting because the technologies have been changing at a rapid pace, so they didn’t want to invest a lot too early and realize that it’s outdated. But now, the clock is ticking, and they’re all in full motion.

“We’re always evolving, and you have to be a company that’s nimble enough to evolve with the environment that you have,” Hassanein went on. “The continuous-change element is a really key part of any company’s success going forward.”

Fontaine agrees that sustainability, green building, and new technology are exciting elements of construction today, but he added that another aspect of his firm’s success is not getting too busy when times are busy.

“A lot of people will chase whatever the new sector is, whatever they think the new geography is; they want to grow just to grow and do as much volume as possible. Our goal is always to do as good a job as we can on projects where we can be successful and execute.”

Despite the workforce challenges, he added, “I think the industry is in a good place. It’s been a positive profession for the last 20-something years that I’ve been in it.”

40 Years of Commercial Development

The Landscape Has Changed — in Many Ways

When Jack Dill, president of Colebrook Realty Services, arrived in downtown Springfield in the mid-’70s, it was a different world and a much different city.

The still-new mixed-use complex on Main Street, then called Baystate West, complete with a 28-story office tower, was crammed with retail on two floors (much of it migrating from storefronts elsewhere in the downtown), everything from a Friendly’s to a sporting-goods store to a men’s clothing shop.

It was connected via airwalks to two major department stores, Forbes & Wallace and Steiger’s, the latter of which was also connected via airwalk to an even more recent addition to the landscape, the new home of Springfield Institution for Savings, which Dill helped conceptualize and build as an employee of the bank. It, too, had retail and restaurants on two floors.

By 1984, the scene had started to change, with retail experiencing a sharp decline in Baystate West with the opening of the Holyoke Mall in 1979. Forbes & Wallace was soon demolished to make way for what is still known as Monarch Place, even though the namesake tenant and partner in the project, Monarch Capital Corp., filed for bankruptcy in 1991, and the property was subsequently sold at auction to Peter Picknelly.

By the mid-’90s, Steiger’s was demolished as well. In its place was built a park dubbed “a little park for a little while.” It’s still there. Meanwhile, at what is now Tower Square, there is very little retail (although Big Y is now a tenant), but two colleges (UMass Amherst and Cambridge College) and the YMCA of Greater Springfield call it home. And at what is now the TD Building, which Dill now co-owns, there is just a single restaurant, but the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, United Way of Pioneer Valley, and the Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council and its many affiliates are based there.

This quick history lesson helps show the many ways the landscape has changed over 40 years and continues to change, said Dill, adding that downtown Springfield is not unlike many other downtowns that suffered losses in retail to the malls and, later, internet shopping, and other properties — from the offices of banks that no longer exist to long-closed mills, to most of the Springfield Republican building — given over to new uses ranging from housing to breweries; from cannabis dispensaries to co-working facilities.

And we haven’t even mentioned the new, $1 billion casino complex built a few blocks south on Main Street.

“And now, the internet and that kind of distribution model is creating real problems for the large, enclosed malls,” said Dill, citing the ongoing demolition of the Eastfield Mall, the first such facility in the region, and the start of work to transform it into a mix of retail, housing, and other uses, as an example of how the scene continues to shift and change the landscape in the process.

Jack Dill

“The internet and that kind of distribution model is creating real problems for the large, enclosed malls.”

Evan Plotkin, president of Springfield-based NAI Plotkin, agreed. He said the landscape has certainly changed from a commercial real-estate perspective, and it continues to evolve due to powerful forces ranging from malls to consolidation of the financial-services sector to, most recently, the COVID 19 pandemic, which introduced the world to remote work and hybrid schedules that left many to ponder the fate of office facilities in communities of all sizes.

He has seen, and been part of, movements to create dedicated facilities for healthcare practices (something that was novel four decades ago when such businesses would be next to accountants and lawyers) and to rethink downtown office towers, such as the one he owns, 1350 Main St. in Springfield.

Plotkin said the rise of remote work will certainly impact demand for office space, but he sees a partially offsetting force in east-west rail, which has the potential to put some area communities on the map, drive development in areas near the rail stops, and even prompt some businesses to realize they don’t have to be in Boston anymore.

“It could be transformative; in Springfield, for example, it could drive development in the Union Station area and make that area much more attractive,” he said, adding that he’s already seen more interest in properties there. “If east-west rail is successful, and I think it will be, and it becomes a reliable way to get to Worcester or Boston, it changes things dramatically.”

Space Exploration

Overall, the real-estate sector has seen a number of ups and downs over the past 40 years, from the boom times of the mid-’80s to the bust that came later that decade; from the surge provided by the arrival of the cannabis industry — which impacted most communities, but especially Holyoke — to the most recent turmoil resulting from the pandemic. And there have been headwinds of different strengths, from the tornado in 2011 to the Great Recession of 2008 to Springfield’s being placed in receivership 20 years ago.

Evan Plotkin

“If east-west rail is successful, and I think it will be, and it becomes a reliable way to get to Worcester or Boston, it changes things dramatically.”

Overall, compared to other regions, the scene in Springfield and surrounding communities has remained relatively flat, said those we spoke with. There has been some new building and notable renovation projects — Springfield’s Union Station tops that list — but, overall, little movement of new businesses into the region (MGM Springfield being a major exception) and large amounts of what Plotkin called “musical chairs,” tenants moving from one location in the region to another.

“I’m seeing a lot of businesses move from property to property, but not really much new growth,” he explained. “We really need to look at how we can bring new businesses here.”

Meanwhile, the landscape has certainly changed on the retail side — everything from the departure of Johnson’s Bookstore, a watershed moment in the history of downtown Springfield, to the ongoing redevelopment of the site of the massive GE transformer complex in Pittsfield; from the successful conclusion of decades-long efforts to convert the former Court Square Hotel in downtown Springfield into a mix of retail and market-rate housing (the first tenants have started moving in) to the massive, ongoing effort to redevelop the massive Ludlow Mills property. That undertaking, a mix of brownfield and greenfield development led by Westmass Area Development Corp., is already more than a decade along, and will likely take another decade.

At present, with interest rates high and questions about the economy (let alone who will occupy the White House) moving forward, new building has been mostly stagnant, said those we spoke with, creating a white-hot market for manufacturing and distribution facilities. Meanwhile, cannabis is starting to retreat, with some of the properties turned over to that use (or intended for that use) now back on the market, especially in Holyoke.

But the biggest area of concern moving forward is the office market. Remote work and its impact on how much space companies will need is a huge factor, but there are other considerations as well, said Plotkin and Dill, noting that the continued consolidation of many sectors (a thread running through these 40th-anniversary stories) is an issue as well.

And it has been for decades now.

“Coopers & Lybrand had a large presence here, and they consolidated and moved to Hartford,” said Dill, citing just one example of this movement from years ago. “There are fewer banks, fewer head offices … fewer players in many sectors, and it has certainly impacted the market.”

“Having access to Boston that’s walkable from your downtown … that will have a big impact. You can live in downtown Springfield and, in an hour and a half, be in Boston. It takes longer than that to drive to Boston from Sudbury.”

As for remote work, Dill preferred to remain somewhat optimistic about its future and, thus, its overall impact on the real-estate market, despite growing concern, if not outright panic, in larger cities such as Boston and San Francisco.

“It’s taken some time, but we’re starting to see a return to the office,” he said, noting that several major corporations are ordering workers back, or trying to. “Work is kind of a social activity — there’s a reason we were all together in the first place as opposed to being out tending our own field.

“The joys of working at home, working in your pajamas, gets old after a while, I think,” he went on, leaving room for a measure of compromise in the form of a four-day workweek.

Plotkin is not quite as optimistic. He sees more permanence to remote work and hybrid schedules, and noted that Zoom has greatly reduced the need for people to be in their offices and for consumers to visit these offices.

This leaves questions about existing office towers and other facilities and their futures, he said, adding that conversion to residential use is an option that should be explored.

There is a huge need for housing in the region, he went on, and the need may grow if east-west rail becomes a reality, which he believes it will.

“Having access to Boston that’s walkable from your downtown … that will have a big impact,” Plotkin said. “You can live in downtown Springfield and, in an hour and a half, be in Boston. It takes longer than that to drive to Boston from Sudbury.”

Bottom Line

Flashing back 40 years, Dill said that, in many respects, downtown Springfield still looks a lot like it did then, at least from the street.

But a closer look — one inside the buildings on either side of Main Street — reveals large amounts of change, especially in Tower Square and the TD Bank building.

It’s very difficult to project what might come next given all that has happened over the past four decades, from the rise of malls to the demise of many of them, said Dill, adding quickly, and forcefully, that the only constant is change.

40 Years of Banking

The Environment Has Shifted Profoundly

Tom Senecal used some hard numbers to detail what is perhaps the biggest change in the banking industry over the past four decades.

“In 1985, there were 18,400 banks in this country,” said Senecal, chairman of Holyoke-based PeoplesBank. “We are now down to 4,600; we’ve lost 13,000 banks in those 40 years. Credit unions … there were around 12,000; now they’re down to 4,200, so they’ve lost more than 7,000. In Massachusetts and Connecticut, there were 230 banks in 1985; I think we’re down to 130, and we expect to be down to 80 by 2030.”

That consolidation, brought on by many factors, but especially the higher cost of doing business and shrinking margins, has changed the local landscape in all kinds of ways, including commercial real estate, with dozens of former bank buildings and offices given over to new uses, from jewelry stores to cannabis dispensaries.

Indeed, it would take quite a bit of space in this story to list all the banks that were here 40, 30, or 20 years ago that aren’t here anymore. Just a partial list would include, on the larger-institution side, Bank of New England, Springfield Institution for Savings, and BayBank (names and letters that were once on office towers in downtown Springfield), and also Shawmut, Fleet, and BankBoston. On the smaller, community-bank side, Hampden, Heritage, Chicopee Savings, United, Woronoco, and Westbank are just some of the names that have disappeared from the landscape.

All of this is reflected in the large collections of business cards amassed by some bankers in this area, sometimes without actually leaving their office — it was only the name and logo on the card that changed.

But consolidation of the industry (and we’ll get back to it later) is obviously just one of many changes in this sector since Ronald Reagan was running for a second term in the White House. There have been huge changes in technology and how people bank, in how many non-bank entities are now vying for market share in this industry, and also in how people work, where, and even what they wear to the office.

Indeed, Lauren Duffy, executive vice president and COO of UMassFive College Federal Credit Union, is one of many officers at the institution that do not have their own office anymore. She works remotely a few days a week, and for the days she’s in, she reserves a desk online.

“I try to make sure I get one with a good window,” she told BusinessWest, adding that she usually does. And this sea change is only one of many in the world of credit unions, which four decades ago might have served the employees of one company or institution (like UMass Amherst or Mercy Hospital) and now have memberships that are much larger and more diverse.

There have been other changes as well, said Glenn Welch, president and CEO of Freedom Credit Union, who has almost exactly 40 years of experience in the industry and is one of those who saw his business card change repeatedly, but not the location of his desk. He said the business is, well, less formal now, reflecting trends across business.

“When I started out back in the ’80s, you had to wear a suit and tie every day,” he recalled. “If you left the floor you were working on, you had to put your suit jacket back on; you couldn’t walk through the lobby without being very formal.”

Dan Moriarty

“Over my career, people have always been talking about how branches were dying or how we wouldn’t need anymore. But for small community banks or community banks in general, a physical presence will always be a necessity.”

Getting back to technology, it is a thread that runs through each and every story in our 40th-anniversary edition, and for good reason. In banking, the changes have been profound, with paper and old-fashioned bankbooks giving way to automated tellers and mobile banking, greatly reducing the need to visit the local branch and generating discussion and debate about whether banks will need such facilities moving forward — and, if so, how many.

Senecal said PeoplesBank plans to add three branches just this year as the institution plots an organic growth strategy while also looking hard at mergers and acquisitions. Meanwhile, Dave Glidden, president and CEO of Middletown, Conn.-based Liberty Bank, can see a day, not far ahead, when the bank will make net reductions in the number of branches in its portfolio. And Dan Moriarty, president and CEO of Monson Savings Bank, like others we spoke with, noted that, while the branch is visited less often today than before, and this trend will likely accelerate in the future, there will always be a need for face-to-face, in-person service.

“Over my career, people have always been talking about how branches were dying or how we wouldn’t need anymore,” Moriarty said. “But for small community banks or community banks in general, a physical presence will always be a necessity.”

By All Accounts

As he talked about the changes that have come to this sector since he entered the business more than 30 years ago, Senecal reflected on the building, and the office, he was sitting in.

This is the inverted-triangle-shaped office tower off I-91, across the street from the Holyoke Mall. It was once the headquarters to Heritage Bank, which famously failed amid excess and scandal in 1992, a time when many institutions were failing and the banking industry was in a state of turmoil.

Lauren Duffy

“When I started working in credit unions almost 20 years ago, our financial services were fairly simple. It was a savings account, a checking account, and, most commonly, a car loan, a mortgage, or a personal loan. We’ve evolved with the economy and with the region, and it’s so complex now, the many things that we can offer.”

“The top floor here, the eighth floor, is much larger than the second floor, because of the shape of the building,” he explained. “Heritage had four offices on the eighth floor; we have maybe 30 on the second floor now. The eighth floor was extremely opulent. Joe Lobello, our president at the time, was pretty adamant that he did want the negative association of a failed bank; we were looking to move our headquarters, but he did not want to buy this building because of that negative association.

“Joe realized how inexpensive it would be to buy this building as opposed to building something new, so he finally acquiesced,” Senecal went on. “But my office is on the second floor because Joe did not want to be associated with the opulence of the eighth floor. Twenty-five or so years ago, Joe’s office was on the second floor, and today, my office is still here.”

Perhaps, but very little else about this sector is the same as it was a few decades ago. As noted earlier, institutions have disappeared, and many others have changed their name, in many cases dropping the word ‘Savings’ from the sign over the door because that word did not accurately reflect all that an institution could provide for its clients.

“When I started working in credit unions almost 20 years ago, our financial services were fairly simple,” said Duffy, speaking for other credit unions and banks as well. “It was a savings account, a checking account, and, most commonly, a car loan, a mortgage, or a personal loan. We’ve evolved with the economy and with the region, and it’s so complex now, the many things that we can offer — all the many things that we can do with cards and mobile apps, and all the ways we’re trying to be more accessible to people and really innovating around the idea of financial wellness.

Glenn Welch

“There’s not necessarily that loyalty now, especially when people can go online and see what others are paying on accounts or charging for fees or charging for loan rates. So you have to be more competitive.”

“That’s what credit unions were founded to address all those years ago,” she went on. “But we were addressing it in a more simple way 40 years ago than we are today.”

Meanwhile, the Massachusetts/Connecticut border, which wasn’t crossed by institutions based on either side years ago, is now readily crossed, with PeoplesBank advancing south, for example, and Liberty marching north.

The biggest change, though, has come in how people bank and the technology they use. It brings convenience, obviously, with people able to do almost everything by phone now.

This convenience brings expectations, on the part of consumers and commercial clients alike, Glidden said. “Everyone is trying to deliver that Amazon experience, and it’s of great importance today for a bank to stay up with what the consumer’s expectations are — and that’s higher, probably, than what banks have historically delivered.”

But this convenience also brings the ability to change banks quite easily, said Welch, which is forcing institutions of all sizes to pay even more attention to what the competition is doing and adjust to remain competitive.

“At the touch of a button, people can move their money anywhere, within seconds or minutes,” he said. “It used to be that you would have to go into the bank and have them draw up a cashier’s check, go down the street, sit down with someone to open a deposit account, and then move money over. Now, it can be done in an instant.

Dave Glidden

“Everyone is trying to deliver that Amazon experience, and it’s of great importance today for a bank to stay up with what the consumer’s expectations are — and that’s higher, probably, than what banks have historically delivered.”

“So there’s not necessarily that loyalty now, especially when people can go online and see what others are paying on accounts or charging for fees or charging for loan rates,” Welch went on. “So you have to be more competitive.”

Senecal agreed, noting that this is just one of the many pressures facing financial institutions today.

“Banks used to have 4% margins; getting out of bed, they had 4% margins — they didn’t have to do anything,” he explained. “Margins are down to 2.5% now and struggling to get to 3%. No banks in this country are enjoying those 4% margins we used to enjoy because information is so readily available that consumer behavior can change in an instant. You can move your money so fast, and that sort of competition drives attractive prices — it drives mortgage rates down, and it drives savings rates up, which squeezes margins.”

Points of Interest

This simple math explains why size is more important than ever before in this industry, and thus why the current pattern of mergers and acquisitions will continue into the future, with both banks and credit unions.

“It’s a consolidating industry, and we’ll continue to consolidate,” said Glidden, adding that, for a number of reasons, ranging from rising interest rates to the current administration in the White House, the pace of such transactions has slowed somewhat in recent years.

But consolidation will continue, he said, and especially on the community-bank level.

And while the number of banks continues to shrink, it is likely that there will be fewer of the traditional branches that have come to symbolize the industry, said Glidden, who worked for many of those institutions no longer here — Shawmut and then Bank of Western Massachusetts., for example — before arriving at SIS (which was later acquired by Banknorth, which was subsequently acquired by TD Bank), before moving on to Liberty.

He made it clear that branches are still critical to any institution’s success, and they provide great visibility. But there is no denying that use of these facilities continues to decline.

“Many of our younger generations have never been in a branch and probably never will be in a branch and are fine with a totally digital banking experience,” he said. “And this has really changed the dynamic of how we as bankers and financial advisers have to respond and engage our customers.

“Years ago, you might have gone to the branch once a week, or, if you were a small-business owner, you might go five times a week,” Glidden went on. “The reality now is that you might go the branch every two or three weeks, or you might go to it when you really have a question or problem you want resolved and you don’t want to do it through the call center or any of the other channels.”

As a result of these trends, banks are looking to maximize the visits that do happen, he said, while also thinking hard about consolidating their branches. He can see a day a bank with maybe 20 branches in an area like Greater Springfield might want to get down to 10.

Moriarty agreed that fewer people are visiting branches and those that do visit them less often, but he stressed that there will always be a need for such facilities.

“I feel that customers still want to come in and talk to someone, either to better understand a product or get advice or just get that face-to-face interaction because trust is a big part of the equation,” he told BusinessWest. “Down the road, we’ll still see that kind of interaction because people want and need it.”

Whether they will still need cash is another story, he went on, adding that, given the pace of change and the emergence of debit cards, he wonders how long consumers will still need coins and currency.

That might be the next chapter in the ongoing evolution of banks, credit unions, and the entire financial-services industry.

Sip & Shop Event Supporting Christina’s House Happening Today, Rain or Shine

SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield Business Improvement District (BID) isn’t letting a little rain stop an evening of shopping, sipping, and supporting a good cause at its Sip & Shop event today, May 8, from 4 to 7 p.m. Hosted on the covered back patio of 1350 Main St. in downtown Springfield, this event is billed as “an unforgettable experience filled with fabulous finds, delectable treats, live music, and more.”

In the spirit of celebrating women and motherhood, all ticket proceeds from the event will support Christina’s House, a local organization committed to providing shelter, support, and resources to women and children in need. Tickets for the event cost $15 and may be purchased by clicking here.

Highlighting the entrepreneurial spirit of women, all vendors featured at the Sip & Shop are proudly women-owned businesses. From fashion and jewelry to home decor and wellness services and products, attendees can explore a diverse array of offerings while directly supporting female entrepreneurs.

Guests can relax and enjoy a cash bar and indulge in snacks while browsing through the curated selection of products. The event will also feature live music, adding to the festive atmosphere.

“Whether you’re shopping for the perfect Mother’s Day gift or simply treating yourself, the Sip & Shop event offers a unique opportunity to make a difference while indulging in a memorable experience,” the Springfield BID notes. “Don’t miss out on this special occasion to celebrate motherhood, support women-owned businesses, and give back to the community.”

Greenfield Cooperative Bank Promotes Casey Cusson

Casey Cusson

GREENFIELD — Tony Worden, president and CEO of Greenfield Cooperative Bank, announced the promotion of Casey Cusson to vice president, Treasury Management officer.

Cusson will work closely with Jim Alexander, vice president, Government Banking & Treasury Management, on the bank’s municipal and government lending activities. This collaboration will ensure a cohesive approach to serving the financial needs of Greenfield Cooperative Bank’s clients.

Cusson is a seasoned banking professional with seven years of experience in the industry. He joined Greenfield Cooperative Bank in 2017 and previously held the title of vice president, manager of the Shelburne Falls branch.

“We are excited to promote Casey to vice president, Treasury Management officer,” Worden said. “His understanding of our clients’ needs and commitment to providing exceptional service will be invaluable in leading our team to continued growth.”

Pittsfield Cooperative Bank Welcomes Zachary Gundler

Zachary Gundler

PITTSFIELD — Pittsfield Cooperative Bank announced the hiring of Zachary Gundler to its Commercial Lending team as a vice president. He has significant experience in commercial lending, commercial real-estate assessment, credit risk analysis, portfolio management, relationship management, and business development.

Gundler joins the bank after working for the previous 10 years at Berkshire Bank in its Commercial Lending and Business Banking departments. For the last four and a half years, he has been a vice president, Business Banking officer, managing customers with annual revenues ranging from $3 million to $25 million and originating loans up to $3 million.

“Coop Bank is excited to add Zach to our growing team,” CEO J. Jay Anderson said. “He has significant experience in lending, commercial real-estate valuation, relationship management and development, and risk analysis.”

Gundler has a bachelor’a degree in business administration and an MBA from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA). He currently serves on the Vermont Banking Assoc. commercial lending committee and previously served on the MCLA alumni board.

Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni to Host Annual Pasta Dinner on May 16

SPRINGFIELD — Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni and his family are inviting the community to their annual pasta dinner on Thursday, May 16 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Ludlow Elks Lodge, located at 69 Chapin St. Tickets will be available at the door for $25 per person or $50 per family.

In addition to a home-cooked meal of homemade pasta, meatballs, sausage and peppers, and desserts, attendees will enjoy live entertainment by local celebrity and former contestant on The Voice, Noah Lis.

BusinessWest, Like the Economy, Has Changed Much in Four Decades

By Editorial May 8, 2024

Opinion

Editorial

The Western Mass. region has a strong tradition of entrepreneurship that goes back more than three centuries.

And BusinessWest publisher John Gormally reflects that tradition in many ways. He has owned, or still owns, everything from a billboard company to a television station to a boutique resort hotel in Costa Rica. But his story began 40 years ago with a small, monthly publication he decided to call the Western Massachusetts Business Journal (the first issue is pictured at right).

As he tells the story, he looked around New England and saw that other cities and other regions had publications focused specifically on the many aspects of business. He saw that the Greater Springfield area did not have such a publication, and decided that it should, because, well … there were stories that needed to be told.

Four decades later, there are still stories to be told, and we remain dedicated to telling them. We also remain dedicated to expanding on Gormally’s initial vision of 40 years ago and finding new and better ways to turn a mirror on the region’s business community and provide thought-provoking stories and commentary on what is reflected by that mirror.

A great many changes have come to the region and its economic landscape over the past 40 years, and these are reflected in the stories that start on page 6, each focusing on a specific sector. These developments involve everything from the consolidation of many industries to profound shifts in how work is done, where, when, and by whom (or what, in the emerging AI era).

There are many common threads running through these stories, but the biggest is technology. Those who can recall what the workplace was like 40 years ago remember a time when desks didn’t have computers on them, when people who wanted to contact someone reached for a three-inch-thick phone book, when the fax machine was a wonderous new way to deliver information; when the internet was still a decade away from emerging from government research facilities into millions of homes and businesses, when portable phones were the size of bricks and the only thing you could do with one was call someone.

Now, information is everywhere and instantaneous. People can call or text their lawyer at 3 a.m. — and he or she will answer the phone. Consumers can move their money from one bank to another in a matter of minutes — or get a quote on car insurance or a loan approval just as fast. Manufacturing equipment can and does run all night, with no one to attend to them. Business meetings are often taken by Zoom, saving travel time and expense and allowing people to work from virtually anywhere, while not diminishing the value of in-person collaboration.

There have been many other developments as well. Our business community is different in many ways, but it is especially more diverse, with far more women (29 of whom earned a spot in this year’s 40 Under Forty) and those from traditionally minority populations serving in leadership positions and owning their own businesses. This has been a profound and refreshing change.

Speaking of 40 Under Forty, BusinessWest introduced that recognition program and gala in 2007, and it remains a fiercely coveted honor among the region’s young professionals. We followed that up with other recognition programs and accompanying galas, including Difference Makers in 2009, the 40 Under Forty Alumni Achievement Award in 2015, Healthcare Heroes in 2017, and Women of Impact in 2018. Why? Because so many success stories, both individuals and organizations, deserve to be celebrated, and their stories told.

Those stories and thousands more in the pages of BusinessWest and the Healthcare News, our sister publication introduced in 2000, and on our two websites, businesswest.com and healthcarenews.com, have, over the years, testified to a changing business landscape. So has our use of daily e-newsletters, social media, and weekly podcasts, dynamic business tools that further reflect changes in the way people work, share information, and engage with each other in 2024.

Even the way we produce this magazine is much different today; we went, like other media companies with a long history, from using negatives and paste-up ads in the ’80s and early ’90s to quickly laying out and producing each issue digitally, and immediately sharing stories on our websites and through daily e-news. And we’ve undergone all that change while retaining our culture as a small, independent, local operation with deep roots and a commitment to the communities of Western Mass.

The downtowns of many of those communities, by the way, have been dramatically reshaped by changes that have come to retail and other sectors. Meanwhile, many of the huge manufacturing mills that once gave many communities their character (think Holyoke, Easthampton, Chicopee, Greenfield, Palmer, and Pittsfield) have become housing facilities, spaces for artists, multi-use properties, shared office space, small-business incubators, or cannabis cultivation operations, to name a few.

Yes, cannabis cultivation. That’s another profound development, and one of many that probably could not have been imagined back in 1984.

Indeed, when asked to look ahead and project what will come next, many of those we spoke with said, given the pace of change that has taken place, predicting the future is very difficult, indeed.

As for BusinessWest … we’ll just keep doing what we have been doing: holding up that mirror and putting the spotlight on a business community that is rich, diverse, ever-evolving, and with an endless supply of good stories to tell.

We thank our advertisers, our readers, and the entire Western Mass. business community for your support over the past four decades, and we’re looking forward to the next 40 years of progress, challenge, and unpredictability.

Picture This

Picture This

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

A New Era at HCC

Hundreds of Holyoke Community College (HCC) friends, former colleagues, relatives, students, dignitaries, and supporters filled HCC’s Leslie Phillips Theater to capacity on April 19 to celebrate the official installation of George Timmons as the fifth president of HCC, and the first African-American man to hold that position.

Pictured: Timmons embraces Student Senate President Alicia Beaton after she placed the HCC presidential medallion around his neck as Vanessa Smith, interim chair of the HCC board of trustees, and student trustee Barney Garcia look on.

Something to Build On

PeoplesBank is supporting Square One’s capital campaign to build a new, state-of-the-art facility. With early support from the city of Springfield and the Commonwealth, Square One has reacquired the land of its original South End location, which was destroyed by the 2011 tornado, and is looking to build a 26,000-square-foot child and family center.

Square One President and CEO Dawn DiStefano (pictured, second from left) received a check for the first installment of a multi-year, $175,000 pledge from (from left) PeoplesBank CEO Tom Senecal, Cindy Wszolek, and Xiaolei Hua.

Helping Around the House

The senior leadership team at Greenfield Cooperative Bank recently traded their suits for paintbrushes and joined forces with Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity to help put some finishing touches on a new home being built by dozens of community volunteers alongside the future homeowners. This hands-on effort followed a previous commitment of $10,000 from Greenfield Co-op toward the project.

Pictured, from left: Jackie Charron, Jeremy Payson, Kevin Bowler, Lisa Kmetz, Mary Rawls, Jane Wolfe, and Michael Turley.

Agenda

Agenda

Tri-State SHRM Conference

May 13-15: The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) announced that the Tri-State SHRM Conference, the largest human-resources (HR) conference in New England, will take place at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn. The conference aims to unmask the changing face of HR by providing HR leaders with the necessary tools to stay ahead of the curve. The multi-day event will feature keynote speakers, educational breakout sessions, interactive games, multiple business networking opportunities, and an expo showcasing the latest HR technology and trends. The conference will cover a variety of topics, including “Building a FOMO Workplace Culture,” “SEAT of Success: How Top Performers Never Settle for Balcony Seats,” and “Beyond Productivity: the Unseen Risks of Employee Stress and Burnout in the Workplace.” There will be 24 sessions available in total, featuring more than 27 speakers. Register online at tristateshrm.com.

Workers’ Compensation Seminar at Royal Law

May 14: Proposed changes in workers’ compensation laws aim to hold employers to a higher standard, as well as increase employers’ potential liability. At a seminar from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at the Royal Law Firm, these changes and recent legislation regarding workers’ compensation will be discussed in detail to ensure employers are aware of the consequences of not following new practices. Attorney Trevor Brice will discuss the recent changes and potential upheaval in the workers’ compensation world. The firm is located at 33 Elliot St., Springfield. The cost is $30 per person. Registration is required, and seating will be limited. Contact Heather Child at [email protected] to register or with any questions. Checks should be made payable to the Royal Law Firm.

Designer Showhouse at Cassilis Farm

June 1-30: Construct Inc., a nonprofit provider of affordable housing and supportive services to residents in 15 towns across the Southern Berkshires, announced its first Designer Showhouse fundraising exhibition. Slated for the entire month of June, the Designer Showhouse will highlight the elegant, creative work of more than a dozen local and regional designers, as well as landscape architects and visual artists. Each exhibitor has been assigned a space at Cassilis Farm, an iconic, 27-acre, Gilded Age estate that Construct, along with the New Marlborough Housing Development Committee, purchased at auction with the intention of renovating and converting it into 11 much-needed affordable-housing apartments. The Designer Showhouse pays homage to the theme “Nature in the Berkshires” and displays the transformative, custom work of award-winning designers, whose areas of focus range from real-estate staging and interiors to styling and iconic textile design. Room themes range from a swan nursery inspired by a local swan rescue area to a picnic-under-the-stars nod to Tanglewood to an equestrian-heavy library drawing inspiration from the estate’s former existence as a hackney horse-breeding farm. The Showhouse will be a timed, ticketed walk-through and will be open to visitors through five weekends in June. Timed tickets cost $40 per person and can be purchased online only, at constructberkshires.org/construct-designer-showhouse.

Free Shred Days

June 8, 22: bankESB invites customers and members of the community to two free shred days at local offices. Events will be held from 9 to 11 a.m. (or until the truck is full) on the following dates and at locations: Saturday, June 8 at 770 Main St., Agawam; and Saturday, June 22 at 241 Northampton St., Easthampton (two trucks at this event). No appointment is necessary. Local residents can reduce their risk of identity theft by bringing old mail, receipts, statements or bills, canceled checks, pay stubs, medical records, or any other unwanted paper documents containing personal or confidential information and shredding them safely and securely for free. A professional document destruction company will be on site in the bank’s parking lot and can accept up to two boxes of documents per person.

40 Under Forty Gala

June 20: BusinessWest will celebrate the 18th annual 40 Under Forty at the MassMutual Center in Springfield with fine food, music, networking, and the presentation of the class of 2024, profiled in the April 29 issue of BusinessWest and at businesswest.com. The 40 Under Forty sponsors include presenting sponsor PeoplesBank and partner sponsors the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst, Live Nation, Mercedes-Benz of Springfield, and Mercy Medical Center/Trinity Health. The event will also feature the announcement of the 10th annual Alumni Achievement Award, presented by Health New England. Tickets cost $125 each. To reserve tickets, visit businesswest.com/40-under-forty/40underforty.

Hooplandia

June 21-23: Registration is now open for Hooplandia, the second annual 3×3 basketball tournament and festival, at www.hooplandia.com. The three-day event includes levels of play for all ages and divisions. Hooplandia launched in 2023. Taking place in the heart of Greater Springfield, the birthplace of basketball, the event is hosted by Eastern States Exposition (ESE) in West Springfield and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield. Most games will be played on the ESE grounds, with special games held at the Hall of Fame. Seventy-five basketball courts will be set up to accommodate more than 650 games played by approximately 2,100 participants of all ages. Divisions of play have been created to provide an all-inclusive environment for players of all ages and playing abilities. The diverse divisions include young girls, boys, women, men, high-school-level, college-level, OGs, veterans, and more. Players are invited to build teams of four, create their own unique team name and uniforms, and register at www.hooplandia.com. Team fees range according to age, and children in the under-8 category are free of charge. Hooplandia will once again partner with Boys and Girls Clubs throughout the region as its designated philanthropic partner, providing $10 from every paid team registration to support the mission and programs of the clubs. Sponsorship opportunities are available. For inquiries, email [email protected].

Yidstock

July 11-14: Tickets are now on sale for Yidstock: the Festival of New Yiddish Music. Now in its 12th year, Yidstock brings the best in klezmer and new Yiddish music to the stage at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst. Highlights this year will include the Klezmatics, Frank London, Eleanor Reissa, Judy Bressler, Daniel Kahn, and many more. Concert passes are available and include admission to all concerts and the two dance workshops. Individual tickets are also available for purchase for those who can only attend for part of the weekend. This year, livestream concert passes will allow friends from afar to experience Yidstock from the comfort of their homes. These passes only include access to the seven concerts; they do not include access to talks, workshops, or the film screening. Visit yiddishbookcenter.org/yidstock for more information and to purchase tickets.

People on the Move

People on the Move

Doug Anderson

David Glidden, president and CEO of Liberty Bank, and the bank’s board of directors jointly announced that Doug Anderson was unanimously elected chairman of the board at its March meeting. The election of Anderson comes after the unexpected passing of longtime Chairman Mark Gingras on March 7. Gingras served as Liberty’s board chairman since 2007 and board member since 2001. Anderson’s role as a Liberty Bank corporator and board member began in April 2018. During that time, he has served on the credit risk, audit, compensation, and governance committees, and most recently as chair of the credit risk committee. He brings decades of diverse leadership experience in banking, finance, management, and operations to the role of chairman. His extensive background includes senior executive roles as president of the former Savings Bank of Manchester (SBM) until 2004 and chairman, president, and CEO of the former Open Solutions. He spent 14 years at Unisys, an international technology company, and served on the board of directors for the former New Alliance Bancshares Inc. Beyond Liberty’s boardroom, Anderson, a graduate of the University of Connecticut, has been a dedicated and generous community partner. This includes his philanthropic support and board service for many organizations and causes, such as the Connecticut Science Center, SBM Charitable Foundation, Manchester Community College Foundation, and Connecticut Foodshare. He also served as chairman of the Liberty Bank Foundation.

•••••

UMassFive College Federal Credit Union announced new leadership for its board of directors. Jacqui Watrous has been elected as board chair, Ruth Yanka as board vice chair, and Jeremy Bentley as board secretary. Watrous has served on the UMassFive board of directors for more than seven years, including most recently as board vice chair. She holds a BBA in finance and an MBA from the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst. Now retired, she previously worked at UMass Amherst for more than 30 years, having held a variety of positions in the finance and systems fields, including most recently the role of executive director of Administrative Systems in Finance. Yanka has volunteered on UMassFive’s board for more than 12 years, serving in many capacities, including board member and secretary. She holds a master’s degree in program administration from UMass Amherst and has served on the board of many nonprofit organizations in a variety of positions, from member to treasurer to president. Her work history responsibilities have always included operations, budget, and personnel. She currently holds the role of executive director, A&F Operations in Administration and Finance at UMass Amherst. Bentley first joined the UMassFive board of directors in 2022, having previously served as a volunteer on the credit union’s asset and liability management committee when he moved to the area after completing his Ph.D. in accounting from Cornell University. He currently serves as a research foundation director for the Institute of Management Accountants and in multiple positions with the American Accounting Assoc. He is also the Richard Dieter & Susan Dieter faculty fellow and an associate professor at UMass Amherst, where he teaches financial and managerial accounting and examines how accounting systems change the way people think about and report on their performance. With this transition in board leadership, Robert Harrison ends a decade-long tenure in the role of UMassFive board chair. He will continue serving as a board member of the credit union.

•••••

Eunice Bragg

American International College (AIC) announced the appointment of Eunice Bragg as vice president for Institutional Advancement. As an accomplished fundraiser and relationship leader, Bragg brings valuable expertise in building relationships, inspiring team culture, and employing metrics to meet fundraising goals for the institution. In her new position, Bragg will oversee fundraising and stewardship relationship initiatives and will be responsible for strengthening engagement with AIC alumni and community partners. She will play a vital role in the campaign to restore Courniotes Hall, the health-sciences building damaged by fire last summer after a lightning strike. After earning a bachelor’s degree at Taylor University and completing her master’s degree in strategic fundraising and philanthropy at Bay Path University, Bragg served as director of Development at the Discovery Center (now RE-Center) in Hartford, Conn. She then assumed the role of director of Annual Giving at Hampden Hall Country Day School in New Haven, Conn. Returning to her alma mater, she became director of Major and Planned Gifts at Bay Path. She joins AIC from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where she most recently served as director of Development and Leadership Gifts.

•••••

Whittlesey announced that its CEO and managing partner, Drew Andrews, has been included in Forbes’ inaugural “America’s Top 200 CPAs” list. Curated by Forbes’ editorial team, this list features the top CPAs in public practice across the U.S. The rigorous selection process involves independent nominations and recommendations from various CPA societies and associations. Candidates are evaluated on numerous criteria, including certifications and credentials, years of experience, industry specialization, professional achievements, community involvement, thought leadership, diversity of client base, ethical and regulatory compliance, and innovation and technology adoption. Andrews has been leading Whittlesey since 2008 and has significantly influenced its trajectory. He has grown the firm’s revenue to more than triple its original size and expanded its operations to include three offices throughout Connecticut and Massachusetts. His innovative approach has notably advanced the firm’s capabilities and strengthened client relationships. In addition, he serves a select clientele. His dedication extends beyond corporate management to personal mentorship and community involvement. He actively develops talented professionals within the firm, providing guidance and support as a mentor and coach. He is committed to philanthropy and has held prominent leadership positions on boards of several local nonprofit, business, religious, and charitable organizations, contributing significantly to community-enrichment efforts.

•••••

Gilbert Nieves

Community Bank announced that Gilbert Nieves has been promoted to district manager. In his new role, Nieves will oversee strategy and operations for branches in Vermont and Massachusetts, ensuring administration of the bank’s financial goals and objectives, including business development. He will also be responsible for staff training, coaching, and professional development for continued excellence in customer service and operations. With more than two decades of experience in the financial industry, Nieves first joined Community Bank in 2019 as branch manager of the Springfield location. In that role, he oversaw daily office operations, including sales and customer-service activities, to ensure operational efficiency, integrity, and adherence to policies and procedures. Prior to that, he served the Springfield community in other banking and financial roles, including vice president and branch manager at Webster Bank and assistant city treasurer for the city of Springfield. Outside of the office, Nieves is an active member of the community, serving his congregation as a Bible instructor and volunteering at Springfield Public Schools. In addition, he facilitates financial-literacy workshops at the Gándara Center, as well as first-time homebuying seminars at Way Finders. He is also a member of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce and Business Network International’s Springfield chapter. He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Universidad Metropolitana in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

•••••

Fontaine Bros. Inc. announced the addition of Jason Boudreau as project executive and Mark Fulton as senior superintendent. They bring more than 40 years of combined experience working together on complex building projects throughout Western and Central Mass., Connecticut, and beyond, making them a valuable addition to the Fontaine team. Boudreau and Fulton have been working together for more than 20 years. They have successfully delivered work for notable clients such as Amherst College, Baystate Medical Center, Berkshire Medical Center, UMass Amherst, Williams College, and many others, and earned certifications from the American Society for Health Care Engineering and the International Code Council for Tall Mass Timber Buildings.

•••••

Rachel Dionne

Polish National Credit Union (PNCU) announced that Rachel Dionne, assistant vice president and credit risk officer, has joined the board of directors of Providence Ministries. PNCU, a full-service community credit union, is committed to meeting community needs and fostering growth. The organization emphasizes community engagement through corporate leadership and volunteerism. Dionne is dedicated to community service. Her volunteer work includes more than a half-decade on the board of trustees for Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School, membership on the school’s finance committee, involvement in a youth ministry group, service on the Southampton Finance Committee, and as an eucharistic minister at Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Church in Westfield. She now adds the Providence Ministries board membership to her list of contributions. With nearly 35 years of experience in accounting and finance, Dionne joined PNCU in 2017. In her role, she analyzes complex commercial financial information, oversees commercial lending policies, and manages loan administration, loan servicing, and credit teams. She is a two-time graduate of American International College (AIC) with degrees in accounting and nonprofit management.

•••••

The Center for EcoTechnology (CET), an environmental nonprofit dedicated to advancing just and resilient climate solutions, announced the appointment of Julia Riseman as its inaugural director of Philanthropic Investments. With her experience and commitment to climate-change mitigation, Riseman will help accelerate CET’s growth and impact during this decisive decade for decarbonization. Riseman brings a wealth of expertise in development strategy and relationship building, honed through her years of dedication to causes throughout the U.S. and Canada. Through consulting, she has helped organizations raise more than $350 million through her consulting firm, Riseman Consulting, and during her 14 years at the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, providing consulting services to grant-supported recipients. Prior to becoming a consultant, she was the Development director at the Center School, an independent school in Amherst, and she co-founded two nonprofit organizations, Friends of Northampton Trails and Health in Harmony, an international environmental organization working with local communities to save rainforests in Brazil, Madagascar, and Indonesia. Her strategic vision and commitment to CET’s mission is expected to propel the organization into a new era of expansion and influence. As director of Philanthropic Investments, Riseman will be instrumental in cultivating partnerships, securing funding opportunities, and fostering connections with stakeholders to fund targeted projects and further CET’s impact across a dozen states. Her leadership will play a pivotal role in advancing the organization’s strategic goals and expanding its reach across the country.

Company Notebook

Company Notebook

Gateway City Arts Sells Complex to LightHouse Holyoke

HOLYOKE — Gateway City Arts (GCA) announced it has signed a purchase and sale agreement with LightHouse Holyoke for the transfer of the three-building arts complex at 92 Race St. in Holyoke. LightHouse is a competency-based middle and high school for self-directed learning. It first opened in Holyoke in 2015 and began a collaboration with Holyoke Public Schools in 2017, and now has partnerships with six public districts. The move offers a significant opportunity to expand its existing programs. The new facility will feature similar non-traditional learning spaces as those currently existing at LightHouse, presently just down the block at 208 Race St., including a maker space, music studio, and recording studio, which have already been instrumental in nurturing creativity and inspiration among students who may not have previously enjoyed school. Plans for the three-building, 40,000-square-foot facility include a Production Academy integrated into the two on-site performance spaces, the 100-person-capacity Divine Theater, and the much larger 500-person-capacity concert venue, creating scaffolded training and internship opportunities for young people to learn the many skills associated with the entertainment and event-production industry, from lighting and sound to artist management and beyond. Similarly, the café will reopen as a public restaurant, with integrated courses and internships in all aspects of running a café, leading to paid work and future career opportunities. The facility also hosts an 8,000-square-foot maker space that will continue on as a community maker space, complete with a wood shop and ceramic studio, both hosting classes and workspaces for LightHouse students and accessible to the larger community as well.

Community Bank Plans to Expand Branch Presence

DEWITT, N.Y. — Community Bank announced a strategic plan to expand its branch presence in select markets throughout 2024 and 2025, including two new branch locations in the New England region. The new branches will include an additional location in Springfield, as well as the bank’s first physical branch in New Hampshire, having broken into that market with a commercial banking presence in 2023. The bank’s current presence in New England includes 28 branches throughout Vermont and Springfield. This announcement comes as newly appointed President and CEO Dimitar Karaivanov officially steps into his role this year and begins to execute his strategic vision for the bank. As Community Bank expands into promising markets with strong potenial for growth, it is reimagining the customer in-branch experience with clean, modern designs that encourage customer and banker collaboration, local community tie-ins, and staff that can handle a wide array of financial needs. The bank will bring a full suite of consumer, business, and municipal banking products and services, including no-closing-cost mortgage options, business loans and lines of credit, and competitive CD offerings. The move to establish additional branch locations in New England is a substantial investment that will allow the bank to better serve clients and aid in local economic development by creating new jobs, contributing to community efforts, and fostering financial stability. In addition to expanding in New England, Community Bank will continue to grow its branch presence throughout New York’s Western, Central, and Capital regions, as well as throughout Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania.

Summit House Wealth Partners Recognized by Forbes

SOUTH HADLEY — Summit House Wealth Partners, a private wealth-advisory practice with Ameriprise Financial in South Hadley, was named to the list of “Best-in-State Wealth Management Teams” published by Forbes. The list recognizes financial advisors and their teams who have demonstrated high levels of ethical standards, professionalism, and success in the business. The rankings are based on data provided by thousands of the nation’s most productive advisors and their teams. Summit House Wealth Partners was chosen based on assets under management, industry experience, compliance record, and best practices in its practice and approach to working with clients. Summit House Wealth Partners is led by Stephen Duval, CFP. The team also includes financial advisors Ed Boscher, Mike Otto, and Justin Osowiecki, and support staff Debra Whalen, James Lucey, Matthew Mitchell, Patricia Belanger, Jennifer Gray, Morgan Szczygiel, and Nicole Old. They have collectively served the South Hadley community since 1992.

Goodwill Industries Receives Grants for Job Skill Programs

PITTSFIELD — Goodwill Industries of the Berkshires and Southern Vermont announced it has received $8,500 in grants from Berkshire Bank, Greylock Federal Credit Union, and MountainOne Bank to support its Soar for Success employability skills program. The nonprofit social-services organization received an additional $2,500 from Greylock Federal Credit Union toward promotion and other costs associated with its annual meeting in October. Goodwill’s Soar for Success program focuses on job training in custodial skills, customer service, and employability skills guidance for individuals preparing for job interviews, as well as providing interview and work attire. The program is offered free of charge to all Berkshire County residents. Services are provided at Goodwill’s career centers in Pittsfield and North Adams and online. Goodwill sells donated clothes and other household items at a discounted price to aid in funding training and educational programs for individuals seeking employment.

Comcast Delivers Gig Speeds to Xfinity Mobile Customers

PHILADELPHIA — Xfinity Mobile and Comcast Business Mobile devices can now connect to millions of new Xfinity Mobile hotspots and receive internet speeds over WiFi up to 1 gigabit per second. By delivering a faster connection over Xfinity’s WiFi network, Comcast is helping ensure customers can stream, game, chat, download, and surf wherever they are. Today, 90% of the mobile data traffic on Xfinity Mobile devices travels over WiFi, not cellular. With more than 23 million WiFi hotspots giving customers a speed boost, Xfinity Mobile aims to deliver a better experience to support data-intensive applications when traditional cellular networks can’t keep up. Comcast has invested more than $20 billion over the past five years to upgrade and expand the Xfinity network and introduce new, innovative features like WiFi Boost to support the constantly increasing number of connected devices consumers use both inside and outside of the home. For more information or to sign up for Xfinity Mobile, visit an Xfinity store or www.xfinity.com/mobile.

Davis Foundation Supports Irish Cultural Center

WEST SPRINGFIELD — The Irene E. and George A. Davis Foundation awarded the Irish Cultural Center of Western New England (ICCWNE) a $100,000 grant toward its $2 million goal to help create a community performance center at its Morgan Road facility. The grant will support the ICCWNE’s Capstone Campaign. Funds from the Capstone Campaign will be used to complete the community performance center, which will serve the needs of the greater region for concerts, events, meetings, and private functions. It will provide a home for local, regional, national, and international performance groups, making it a full-scale regional base for Irish heritage and culture as well as a center for cross-cultural collaboration. The space will be able to house performances by major Irish cultural groups, such as Dublin’s Abbey Theatre, as well as regional performers of all ages. Formerly the home of the Elks Lodge, the facility had been vacant for five years prior to the ICCWNE taking possession of it through a partnership with the city of West Springfield. Improvements have included developing a vibrant, Irish country-style restaurant, pub, and meeting and gathering place for the community. With 11,500 square feet of space on four floors, the facility has become the ideal home for the Irish Cultural Center, which was established in 1999.

Eastman Donates Monitoring Equipment to Springfield FD

SPRINGFIELD — Eastman, in partnership with Northern Safety, donated vital medical equipment, known as oximeters, to the Springfield Fire Department. This donation marks a significant and continued collaboration between Eastman, a global specialty manufacturing company with a plant in Indian Orchard, and the Springfield Fire Department, in serving the local community. The equipment being donated consists of 17 high-tech, portable oximeters, which are essential for monitoring vital signs in emergency situations. The Fire Department’s need for the oximeters was learned by Eastman at an Eastman Community Action Program gathering of local neighborhood and community officials sponsored regularly by Eastman Indian Orchard. The oximeters are advanced medical devices capable of accurately measuring blood oxygen levels and heart rates, crucial parameters in assessing a patient’s condition during emergencies such as fires, accidents, or medical crises. These Concord models are rechargeable with large digital displays. Seventeen pediatric finger clips are being donated alongside the oximeter units. These can be used to save the lives of children, including infants.

Tenth Local Farmer Awards Help 100 Farms Make Improvements

AGAWAM — Checks of up to $2,500 have been sent to 100 Western Mass. farms that are recipients of this year’s Local Farmer Awards. Supporting a diverse range of farm operations and infrastructure projects, the Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation, in partnership with Big Y and the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture, along with other funders, issued a record number of awards in the program’s 10th year. A team of independent reviewers read each of the 199 applications submitted this year. These reviewers selected 100 farms to receive a 2024 grant from the Local Farmer Awards. The capital projects include the purchase of an egg-washing machine, livestock pasture expansion, reusable harvest bins, a cover-crop flail mower for reduced tillage, mobile chicken coops, and many more. The program funders collectively contributed more than $230,000 this year to assist these local farmers. Funders include the Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation, Big Y, Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture, PeoplesBank, Ann and Steve Davis, Charles and Elizabeth D’Amour, Barbara Deslauriers, Audrey and Chick Taylor, Andrews, Farm Credit East, Hood, the DeNucci Group at Merrill, Baystate Health, Country Bank, Eastern States Exposition, Three County Fair, bankESB, and Franklin First Federal Credit Union. Anyone interested in supporting the 2025 Local Farmer Awards should email Cari Carpenter, director of the program, at [email protected].

Incorporations

Incorporations

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

AGAWAM

2017 Baaz Corp., 7 South Bridge Dr., Agawam, MA 01001. Kuljit Singh Khalsa, 94 Navratil Road, Willington, CT 06279. Pizza parlor.

AMHERST

Amherst Mobile Market Inc., 990 North Pleasant St., Apt. A110, Amherst, MA 01002. Isabel Ramirez Baldaras, 990 North Pleasant St., Apt C107, Amherst, MA 01002. Nonprofit organization established to provide a community-driven, bilingual mobile farmers market that offers high-quality, fresh, affordable, local, and culturally desirable foods to Amherst communities challenged by poor food access and limited income.

CHICOPEE

3rd Rock Kids Inc., 27 Baltic Ave., Chicopee, MA 01020. Joanne Boulanger, same. Charitable organization designed to connect today’s youth with nature and science by utilizing their love of technology while emphasizing the need to protect their planet, their community, and their health.

Prime Max Food Service Inc., 1329 Memorial Dr., Chicopee, MA 01020. Zhong Chen, 76 Gary Dr., Westfield, MA 01085. Wholesale food business.

EAST LONGMEADOW

Attention to Detail Detailing Specialists Inc., 173 Shaker Road, East Longmeadow, MA 01028. Aaron Carrier, 42 Irvington St., Springfield, MA 01108. Detailing and automotive restyling services.

GREENFIELD

Greenfield Tree Committee Inc., 254 Davis St., Greenfield, MA 01301. Mary Chicoine, same. A nonprofit, volunteer group of concerned citizens whose purpose is to promote a strong and resilient urban forest in the city of Greenfield by facilitating the planting of trees along public ways and by educating the public on the value of trees and the need for their care and maintenance.

HUNTINGTON

Still Services Inc., 59 Searle Road, Huntington, MA 01050. Matthew Still, same. Plumbing and related services.

NORTH ADAMS

Good Birth Corp., 225 Eagle St., North Adams, MA 01247. Stanley Shaffer, 5104 Main St., Kansas City, MO 64112. Corporation established to promote maternal and newborn health through education and quality improvement for global midwifery centers.

NORTHAMPTON

Holyoke Hockey Club Inc., 88 Massasoit St., Northampton, MA 01060. Robert Eppsteiner, same. To provide youth underrepresented in the sport of hockey — including kids of color, girls, non-binary kids, and economically disadvantaged kids — with an opportunity to play hockey without cost in a safe and fun environment.

PITTSFIELD

Degree Inc., 82 Wendell Ave., Suite 100, Pittsfield, MA 01201. Sarah Franklin, same. Software development.

Mountainview General Contractors Inc., 1450 East St., Suite 6F, Pittsfield, MA 01201. Cherie Pierce, same. New home construction and renovations.

Tri-State Lock and Security Inc., 82 Wendell Ave., Suite 100, Pittsfield, MA 01201. Jane Glass, same. Commercial locksmith sales and service.

SOUTH HADLEY

Kiaowan Thai Inc., 9 College St., South Hadley, MA 01075. Fernando Teixeira, 23 Rivercrest Way, South Hadley, MA 01075. Food preparation and services.

SPRINGFIELD

Martes Logistics Corp., 31 Daytona St., Springfield, MA 01108. Diego Martes-Marte, same. Transportation and logistics services.

Tutlop Solutions Inc., 171 Dunmoreland St., Springfield, MA 01109. Luis Lopez, same. Landscaping and handyman for residential and commercial properties.

TURNERS FALLS

Zak’s Auto Sales Inc., 221 Millers Falls Road, Turners Falls, MA 01376. Zaharia Nichita, 46 Randall Wood Dr., Montague, MA 01351. Auto sales.

WEST SPRINGFIELD

Fit Mantra Inc., 353 Rogers Ave., West Springfield, MA 01089. Lakshmi Mudumba, same. Professional fitness training.

WESTFIELD

Howard Landscape & Lawn Care Inc., 4 Powder Mill Road, Westfield, MA 01085. Andrew Howard, 239 Montgomery Road, Westfield, MA 01085. Landscaping and related services.

Kiwanis Club of Northampton Foundation Inc., 223 Bates Road, Westfield, MA 01085. George Ronald Delisle, same. Charitable organization organized exclusively for charitable, religious, educational, and scientific purposes, including, making distributions to organizations that qualify as tax-exempt organizations.

WILLIAMSTOWN

Zhou Chopsticks Inc., 412 Main St., Williamstown, MA 01267. Jiayu Zhou, same. Restaurant.

Doing Business as Certificates

DBA Certificates

The following business certificates and/or trade names were issued or renewed during the month of April 2024.

HOLYOKE

Comfortable Colors Painting
35 Reservation Road
Mary Hamel

Emmanuel Jewelry
311 High St.
Tai Kang

Enterprise Rent-A-Car
1615 Northampton St.
Stephen Ranieri

Estella Insurance
580 Appleton St.
Laura Solano

Flo’s Services
42 Arnodale Ave.
Florin Muradian

Green Rose Tattoo
1735 Northampton St.
Northampton Street Tattoo LLC

Jo-Ann Stores #677
2267 Northampton St.
Jo-Ann Stores LLC

Matt’s Pellet Stove Service
175 Sycamore St.
Matthew Abelli

N Touch Wireless Inc.
2227 Northampton St.
John Quillen

Scorpio’s Lair Creations
33 Maple Crest Circle
Sarah King

A Touch of Beauty Hair and Nails
50 Holyoke St.
Hoang Vo

LONGMEADOW

Art by Samantha Pacheco
93 Westmoreland Ave.
Samantha Pacheco

Charthouse Financial Group
210 Bliss Road
Cynthia Stewart

Charthouse Wealth Management
210 Bliss Road
Cynthia Stewart

Clear View Exterior Cleaning
150 Bel Air Dr.
Vito Cocchi

Coddington Accounting & Tax
29 Elmwood Ave.
Ian Coddington

Four Guys and a Truck
162 Field Road
Lori Conte

Prime Real Estate
111 Warren Ter.
David Roffo

Solutions for Senior Living Communities
50 Wheel Meadow Dr.
George Prouty

Wash Bros.
551 Williams St.
Dimitri Beach

Weiss Consulting
704 Shaker Road
Anne Weiss

PITTSFIELD

Brattle Farm
600 Williams St.
Donna Chandler

Brewberry
204 Partridge Road
Brewberry LLC

Business Growth Catalyst
6 Aspen Way
Roger Matus

Chris Burnick Home Improvement
412 Barker Road
Christopher Burnick

Circa
436 North St.
Rebecca Barnini

Convenience Plus #3727
585 Merrill Road
Global Montello Group Corp.

Crawford’s Service
585 West Housatonic St.
Andrew Newton

Daigle Insurance
82 Wendell Ave., Suite 100
Daigle & Associates Inc.

Dalton Service Plaza
457 Dalton Ave.
El Gato Grande LP

DCT Enterprise Inc.
316 Merrill Road
Donald Davis Jr.

Digital Design Hippo
747 Pecks Road
William Lander

Don Davis Heating, Cooling, Plumbing & Refrigeration
316 Merrill Road
Donald Davis Jr.

Factory Upgrade Solutions
747 Pecks Road
William Lander

Gallagher Consulting
21 Nottingham Dr.
Laurie Gallagher

GDL Associates
141 North St.
Giora Witkowski

Gralok
555 Hubbard Ave.
Gralok Loptsson

JF Offroad
82 Wendell Ave.
Brook Ridge Inc.

Mountain View Car Sales
48 Dalton Ave.
Bryan Nguyen

Number 5 Studios LLC
75 South Church St.
Shany Porras

Promise Enterprise
59 Howe Road
Ellen Laryea

Radsac
4 Meadow Ridge Dr.
Rialene Hughes

Rare 297
297 North St.
J&D Reyes Restaurant Entertainment LLC

Superior Seamless Gutters Inc.
316 Merrill Road
Donald Davis Jr.

Trattoria Rustica
75 North St.
Manzo Ristorante Inc.

SOUTH HADLEY

Chef Maggie
643 Newton St., Apt. 2
Margaret Vescio

Operation Backpack
36 Chestnut Hill Road
Operation Backpack

Shopmdgems
8 Tigger Lane
Michelle Denault

SVG Athletics
749 New Ludlow Road
Savage Athletics

SOUTHWICK

Affordable Home Repairs
37 Point Grove Road
Kent Johnson

Max Construction
197 Granville Road
Yuliya Pichnyi

Kennedy Construction
609 College Highway
Shaun Kennedy

Moolicious Farm
258 Feeding Hills Road
Joseph Deedy

Original Car Detailing
529 College Highway
Nicholas Riccitelli

Southwick Meeting House
222 College Highway
Joseph Deedy

Specialty Overhead Door
160 Point Grove Road
Bailey Garrison

Tenerowicz Construction Services
34 Ed Holcomb Road
Robert Tenerowicz

WESTFIELD

BDaniel Construction
31 William St.
Daniil Bondaruk

Camile Hannoush Inc.
99 Springfield Road
Camile Hannoush

Joe’s Mobile Auto Repair
5 City View Blvd.
Joseph Martin

Legacy Cleaning and Remediation
6 Lincoln St.
Patricia Poteat

Mega Bomb’s Lash Studio
77 Mill St., #332
Meghan Murphy

MJ Buy Sell Trade
24 North Elm St.
Michael Ventrice

Mrs. C’s
192 East Main St.
Thomas Collins

Overlook Design Collective
81 Overlook Dr.
Laurencia Carmen, Manuel Rivera Ortiz

PLAYNOW!
5 East Silver St.
Jennr Ventures

Suit Salon
103 North Elm St.
Alieksandra Mkrtchian

Superior Electromechanics
17 Sackett St.
Fran Bozak, Hunter Howie

Vantage Health and Rehab of Westfield
60 East Silver St.
Vantage at Westfield LLC

Bankruptcies

Bankruptcies

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

Arthur, Jane E.
57 Woodlawn Dr.
Williamstown, MA 01267
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/08/2024

Brodeur, Judith O.
133 Carol Ann St.
Springfield, MA 01128
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/03/2024

Brunelle, James C.
Brunelle, Yovana
18 Calvin St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/12/2024

Bullock, Portia Laverne
83 Mouton St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/01/2024

Butkus, Jesse
27 Christian Hill Road, Apt. 32
Great Barrington, MA 01230
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/11/2024

DeNardo, John A.
DeNardo, Lisa L.
17 Regency Park Dr.
Agawam, MA 01001
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/11/2024

Dickerson, Charlene
142 Dayton St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/09/2024

Feyrer, Rochelle L.
85 Maple St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/04/2024

Gonzalez, Antonio
106 St. James Circle
Springfield, MA 01104
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/11/2024

Guagliardo, Tammy L.
23 Piper Road
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/01/2024

Ho, Sei N.
1143 Elm St., Apt. 3L
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/04/2024

Meservey, Julianna May
PO Box 615
North Hatfield, MA 01066
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/12/2024

Pare, Lucie
24 Bither St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Chapter: 13
Date: 04/08/2024

Jones, Candace E.
PO Box 1331
Belchertown, MA 01007
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/01/2024

Kimball, Michael David
641 Little Rest Road
Warren, MA 01083
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/03/2024

McGale, Jennifer A.
54 Bradford Dr., Apt. A7
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/01/2024

Mendez, Angel D.
114 Ellsworth Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/09/2024

Polverini, Adam J.
57 Perrault St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/15/2024

Rhone, Joseph Craig
Chan, Joanne
46 North St.
Hatfield, MA 01038
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/01/2024

Sherman, Benjamin J.
111 Lloyd Ave.
Springfield, MA 01119
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/11/2024

Singley, Sharon Lyn
419 East River St., #912
Orange, MA 01364
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/10/2024

Thompson, Hannah D.
P.O. Box 974
Barre, MA 01005
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/11/2024

Tomasello, Mary Jane
72 Cathy Lane
Barre, MA 01005
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/08/2024

Vazquez, Wanda
a/k/a Malave, Wanda
14 Coomes St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Chapter: 7
Date: 04/12/2024

Real Estate Transactions

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

BUCKLAND

76 Ashfield Road
Buckland, MA 01370
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Rheanna Bauer
Seller: Deleo, Louis J., (Estate)
Date: 04/01/24

10 Maple St.
Buckland, MA 01341
Amount: $565,000
Buyer: James A. Most
Seller: Seth D. Wilschutz
Date: 04/11/24

COLRAIN

4 Avery Hill Road
Colrain, MA 01340
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Kristofer J. Billiel
Seller: Lisa J. Genetelli
Date: 04/01/24

25 Phillips Hill Road
Colrain, MA 01340
Amount: $453,000
Buyer: John C. Sherman
Seller: Walter H. Keintzel
Date: 04/02/24

GREENFIELD

1 Coombs Ave.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $204,959
Buyer: Fidelity & Guarantee Mortgage TR
Seller: Venture Residential LLC
Date: 04/01/24

28 Davenport Way
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $627,500
Buyer: Servicenet Inc.
Seller: Xianmei Li
Date: 04/12/24

4 Michelman Ave.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Brittany Billmeyer-Finn
Seller: Douglas Simon
Date: 04/11/24

3 Prospect Ave.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $123,488
Buyer: Brian K. Hall
Seller: Lakeview Loan Servicing LLC
Date: 04/01/24

52 Riddell St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Marjorie Altidor
Seller: Adil A. Behadilialboade
Date: 04/02/24

10 Southern Ave.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Jessica L. Flaxington
Seller: Techntech LLC
Date: 04/08/24

MONTAGUE

58 Central St.
Montague, MA 01349
Amount: $370,000
Buyer: Danica M. Davis
Seller: Sumwin Corp.
Date: 04/05/24

29 Country Club Lane
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $249,000
Buyer: TM Realty II LLC
Seller: Warren D. Thomas
Date: 04/01/24

30 Country Club Lane
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $249,000
Buyer: Tm Realty II LLC
Seller: Warren D. Thomas
Date: 04/01/24

Dry Hill Road
Montague, MA 01351
Amount: $249,000
Buyer: TM Realty II LLC
Seller: Warren D. Thomas
Date: 04/01/24

Fairway Ave.
Montague, MA 01351
Amount: $249,000
Buyer: TM Realty II LLC
Seller: Warren D. Thomas
Date: 04/01/24

1 Fairway Ave.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $249,000
Buyer: TM Realty II LLC
Seller: Thomas FT
Date: 04/01/24

96 High St.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $338,000
Buyer: Jonathan Lord
Seller: Joseph P. Kosewicz
Date: 04/12/24

43 J St., Lot 3
Montague, MA 01351
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: James E. Koyama
Seller: Marcel James Viens TR
Date: 04/12/24

7 Keith St.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Jesse Zabko
Seller: Peter J. Zabko
Date: 04/10/24

163 Montague City Road
Montague, MA 01301
Amount: $249,000
Buyer: TM Realty II LLC
Seller: Warren D. Thomas
Date: 04/01/24

133 Ripley Road
Montague, MA 01351
Amount: $430,000
Buyer: Kevin J. Ovitt
Seller: Geoffrey R. McDonald
Date: 04/08/24

52 Walnut St.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $249,000
Buyer: TM Realty II LLC
Seller: Warren D. Thomas
Date: 04/01/24

ORANGE

8 Fieldstone Dr.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $291,500
Buyer: Jahmall M. Jones
Seller: Tarrah C. Hart
Date: 04/05/24

29 Pleasant St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: William J. Saben
Seller: Ralph O. Blair
Date: 04/03/24

524 South Main St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $262,000
Buyer: Claude Niyonzima
Seller: RCF 2 Acquisition TR
Date: 04/10/24

20 Victor Ave.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Todd J. Bernard
Seller: Ryan T. King
Date: 04/08/24

SUNDERLAND

153 Amherst Road
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $439,000
Buyer: DNB Properties LLC
Seller: Sunderland Rentals LLC
Date: 04/11/24

118 North Main St.
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $485,000
Buyer: DNB Properties LLC
Seller: Sunderland Rentals LLC
Date: 04/11/24

WARWICK

600 Orange Road
Warwick, MA 01378
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Kathryn Woods
Seller: Alana L. Mankowsky
Date: 04/05/24

HAMPDEN COUNTY

AGAWAM

115 Anthony St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $249,500
Buyer: Kmak LLC
Seller: Alicia C. St. Laurent
Date: 04/09/24

738 Barry St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: Jamison C. Gottier
Seller: Lindsey, Patricia A., (Estate)
Date: 04/11/24

36 Central St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Nres LLC
Seller: Perillo, Margaret E., (Estate)
Date: 04/04/24

28 Florida Dr.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Sareen Properties LLC
Seller: Marion Montagna IRT
Date: 04/11/24

118 Forest Hill Road
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Edward C. Anderson
Seller: Alan Rogers
Date: 04/05/24

108 Franklin St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: John E. Cassidy
Seller: Hassan Saleh
Date: 04/02/24

18 Katy Lane
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $492,500
Buyer: Carlos Mukanu
Seller: Douglas Dichard
Date: 04/12/24

148 North West St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $162,500
Buyer: Silverbrook Environmental LLC
Seller: Thomas Gallagher
Date: 04/01/24

239 South St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Rosa C. Saravia
Seller: Our Town Home Buyers LLC
Date: 04/02/24

36 Taft St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Daniel Sanchez
Seller: F. H. B. Realty LLP
Date: 04/12/24

BRIMFIELD

4 Hall Place
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $232,500
Buyer: Christopher Beesley
Seller: Christina Cassell
Date: 04/08/24

CHICOPEE

14 Blanchwood Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $341,000
Buyer: Alison Lonczak
Seller: Cac Marketing LLC
Date: 04/08/24

713 Britton St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $137,310
Buyer: Soundview Hm Loa T. 2006-O
Seller: Mary Nadeau
Date: 04/11/24

1154 Burnett Road
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Hannah L. Enscoe
Seller: Scott, Susan S., (Estate)
Date: 04/02/24

322 Dale St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $405,000
Buyer: Vasyl Levchyk
Seller: Daniel Burgos
Date: 04/11/24

28 Glenwood St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Miguel F. Ribeiro
Seller: Beverly A. Los
Date: 04/02/24

2 Lucretia Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Miguel A. Colon-Lopez
Seller: Kevin A. Joly
Date: 04/05/24

60 Murphy Lane
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $201,500
Buyer: Aldo Properties LLC
Seller: Darlene Stewart-Hernandez
Date: 04/05/24

243 Murphy Lane
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Robert E. McQueen
Seller: Roger L. Kubik IRT
Date: 04/11/24

20 Pendleton Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Junior Ndikidjang
Seller: Resolute RT
Date: 04/05/24

31 Rose St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $465,000
Buyer: Jonah Holdings LLC
Seller: Home LLC
Date: 04/04/24

47 Royal St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $372,500
Buyer: Angel G. Martinez
Seller: Yanjun Yang
Date: 04/03/24

24 Summer St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $309,999
Buyer: Arnaldo Graceski
Seller: Bergeron, Jane C., (Estate)
Date: 04/11/24

EAST LONGMEADOW

42 Favorite Lane
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Peter & Elizabeth RET
Seller: Panter NT
Date: 04/12/24

Parker St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Panini Properties Ma LLC
Seller: East Longmeadow Group Investors LLC
Date: 04/12/24

45 Young Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Brianna Jackson
Seller: Keith R. Bazinet
Date: 04/01/24

GRANVILLE

904 Main Road
Granville, MA 01034
Amount: $547,500
Buyer: Tanya M. Laveck
Seller: Susanne M. Chase
Date: 04/05/24

1421 Main Road
Granville, MA 01034
Amount: $390,000
Buyer: Nathan Jensen
Seller: Dean Drzewiecki
Date: 04/08/24

HAMPDEN

Wilbraham Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $385,000
Buyer: Keith Nicoli
Seller: Evan Boyle
Date: 04/10/24

174 Wilbraham Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Paul Yasi
Seller: Irene F. Graves
Date: 04/10/24

HOLLAND

20 May Brook Road
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $449,000
Buyer: Raffi Keshishian
Seller: Dennis Sneade
Date: 04/12/24

529 Old County Road
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $555,000
Buyer: Jill M. Papandrea
Seller: Cormier & Sons Construction
Date: 04/10/24

HOLYOKE

203-205 Allyn St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $385,000
Buyer: Lobsang Dolma
Seller: Jonathan D. Aronstein
Date: 04/05/24

4 Center St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $187,500
Buyer: Lia Douillet
Seller: Kenneth Raskauskas
Date: 04/04/24

19 Charles St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $309,900
Buyer: Janice Garcia
Seller: Modern Creative Contractors
Date: 04/08/24

360 Chestnut St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Antonia Santos
Seller: Greater Springfield Habitat
Date: 04/09/24

903 Dwight St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $212,639
Buyer: PNC Bank
Seller: David A. Caputo
Date: 04/08/24

48-50 Florence Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Timothy J. Beaudry
Seller: Lori L. Beaudry RET
Date: 04/03/24

11 Grant St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Nathan Nuttall
Seller: Carl Hartig
Date: 04/12/24

66 Homestead Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Christian F. Figueroa
Seller: Larry T. Camus
Date: 04/05/24

6 Keefe Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $258,000
Buyer: Peter Lustenberger
Seller: Carolyn E. Lustenberger
Date: 04/01/24

78-82 Newton St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Principia Holdings LLC
Seller: Alecto RT
Date: 04/05/24

58 Waldo St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $336,000
Buyer: Venetia M. Guerrasio
Seller: Jonathan Mills
Date: 04/11/24

LONGMEADOW

67 Birchwood Ave.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Timothy Mulcahy
Seller: Kenneth R. Henrikson
Date: 04/03/24

50 Oak Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $375,000
Buyer: Daniel G. Capretta
Seller: Quercus Properties LLC
Date: 04/08/24

21 Salem Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $678,000
Buyer: Ivan Soares
Seller: Robert W. Sullivan
Date: 04/08/24

51 Wellesley Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $520,000
Buyer: Mohamed A. Aliyar
Seller: Tran T. Le
Date: 04/05/24

LUDLOW

Balsam Hill Road, Lot 71
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $177,150
Buyer: Robert C. Lattanzi
Seller: Whitetail Wreks LLC
Date: 04/04/24

22 Bristol St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Samuel Cobb
Seller: Antonio Afonso
Date: 04/11/24

306 Chapin St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $360,000
Buyer: Kayla Bolduc
Seller: Vincent Fuda
Date: 04/12/24

Equinox Pass Lot 89
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $177,400
Buyer: Richard Young
Seller: Whitetail Wreks LLC
Date: 04/12/24

238 Holyoke St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $369,900
Buyer: Alexander Pena
Seller: Jonathan P. Kielbania
Date: 04/12/24

162 James St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: Jeffrey Jansson
Seller: Waiwai RT
Date: 04/09/24

64 Kirkland Ave.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $335,000
Buyer: Brandy E. Alexander-Zuber
Seller: Edward J. Rondeau
Date: 04/01/24

61 Lawton St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $299,000
Buyer: Gilbert Palatino
Seller: Brian P. Andraca
Date: 04/08/24

52 Skyridge St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Alexandria L. Florence
Seller: Sarah M. Pascale
Date: 04/05/24

53 Stevens St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $322,500
Buyer: Zecarlos Roxo
Seller: Carol J. Jorge
Date: 04/04/24

123 Westerly Circle
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $650,000
Buyer: Erwin A. Enderle
Seller: Dino J. Dangelo
Date: 04/05/24

75 White St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $309,900
Buyer: Jonathan Kielbania
Seller: MJ Real Estate LLC
Date: 04/12/24

MONSON

246 Bumstead Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $340,000
Buyer: Robert E. Flynn
Seller: Joyce A. Pikul
Date: 04/11/24

66 Margaret St.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $370,000
Buyer: Matthew R. Lillibridge
Seller: Carol A. Snyder
Date: 04/05/24

32 Stebbins Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $385,000
Buyer: Lauren Czarniecki
Seller: Sarah Beauchemin
Date: 04/04/24

4 Stewart Ave.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $291,252
Buyer: RMF Buyout Acquisition TR
Seller: Norma M. Germain
Date: 04/08/24

PALMER

55 Buckland St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $329,500
Buyer: Nicholas McAlley
Seller: Laura M. Brown
Date: 04/05/24

4113-4115 Church St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Evan Crossman
Seller: Jonathan A. Marcinkiewicz
Date: 04/10/24

4293-4295 High St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Joejoe Properties LLC
Seller: J. & M. Premier Properties LLC
Date: 04/04/24

57 Springfield St.
Palmer, MA 01080
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Luis A. Ayala
Seller: Elizabeth Tellier
Date: 04/12/24

34 Ware St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Joshua T. Smith
Seller: Edward R. St. Amand TR
Date: 04/10/24

SPRINGFIELD

81 Adams St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $197,500
Buyer: Veteran Stan LLC
Seller: Janis A. Grimaldi
Date: 04/03/24

33 Ambrose St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Virgilio Santos
Seller: David Martin
Date: 04/01/24

132 Ambrose St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: William Raleigh
Seller: Richard A. Beyer
Date: 04/09/24

56 Audley Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Hedge Hog Industries Corp.
Seller: Martel, John Peter, (Estate)
Date: 04/10/24

43 Belmont Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $2,090,000
Buyer: S. & G. Realty LLC
Seller: Nolava LLC
Date: 04/05/24

49 Belmont Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $2,090,000
Buyer: S. & G. Realty LLC
Seller: Nolava LLC
Date: 04/05/24

10 Belvidere St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: Little Eagle LLC
Seller: Christopher Johnson
Date: 04/03/24

788 Berkshire Ave.
Springfield, MA 01101
Amount: $425,000
Buyer: CRG Properties LLC
Seller: Beverly A. Gay TR
Date: 04/10/24

1112 Boston Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $134,550
Buyer: Pinecrest Holdings LLC
Seller: 1090 Boston Road Inc.
Date: 04/10/24

85 Bowles Park
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Carina Marrero
Seller: Lsf8 Master Part TR
Date: 04/08/24

121 Brandon Ave.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Lamikco T. Magee
Seller: Thomas Ricks
Date: 04/08/24

365 Cadwell Dr.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $3,100,000
Buyer: 6S T Springfield Mass. LLC
Seller: Cal Rolling Hills LLC
Date: 04/10/24

147 Cedar St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: DD&K Properties LLC
Seller: Carlos Dones
Date: 04/04/24

414 Central St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Migdalia Leon
Seller: C&C Homes LLC
Date: 04/02/24

564 Chestnut St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $327,000
Buyer: Lucimar Ribeiro
Seller: Luis A. Villanueva
Date: 04/09/24

86-88 Chestnut St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $356,000
Buyer: Mark E. Bido
Seller: Revampit LLC
Date: 04/10/24

66 Clydesdale Lane
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Frank J. Gleason
Seller: Paul R. Gramarossa
Date: 04/10/24

70 Coleman St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Marisa Rivera
Seller: Phantom Holdings LLC
Date: 04/12/24

226-228 College St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: DB Investments & Properties LLC
Seller: Etabav RT
Date: 04/08/24

64 Colonial Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Juan L. Vazquez-Mercado
Seller: Hedge Hog Industries Corp.
Date: 04/10/24

791 Cottage St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $425,000
Buyer: CRG Properties LLC
Seller: Beverly A. Gay TR
Date: 04/10/24

137 Croyden Ter.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $260,850
Buyer: Brooke Eddy
Seller: Joy E. Levine
Date: 04/11/24

82 Crystal Brook Dr.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $575,000
Buyer: Hirving Henriquez
Seller: Grahams Construction Inc.
Date: 04/04/24

189 Dickinson St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $401,000
Buyer: Moises A. Bonilla
Seller: Jefferson Barros
Date: 04/12/24

80 Embassy Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $282,000
Buyer: Elizabeth Langat
Seller: Monaghan, Marilyn Ruth, (Estate)
Date: 04/12/24

53-55 Fernwold St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Jose N. Arenas-Caceres
Seller: Corey A. Diaz
Date: 04/12/24

28 Florence St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Petrika Jankulla
Seller: Earl Andrews
Date: 04/03/24

68 Forest Park Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $341,000
Buyer: Augustin H. Hernandez
Seller: AK & M Properties & Estates LLC
Date: 04/12/24

132 Gresham St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Plata O. Plomo Inc.
Seller: 716 Spring Valley LLC
Date: 04/05/24

136 Gresham St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Plata O. Plomo Inc.
Seller: 716 Spring Valley LLC
Date: 04/05/24

97 Groveland St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: James W. Fiore
Seller: Linda Zolendziewski
Date: 04/09/24

61 Harmon Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Imayrin Padua
Seller: Henry D. Champagne
Date: 04/04/24

162 Hartford Ter.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $304,000
Buyer: Jonathan P. Lafrenaye
Seller: Matthew R. Lillibridge
Date: 04/05/24

65 Hollywood St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Kelli L. Phillips
Seller: Sullivan Property Preservation
Date: 04/09/24

50 Home St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Jacob Martinez
Seller: Keefe, Richard P., (Estate)
Date: 04/12/24

50-52 Kensington Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $375,000
Buyer: Mass. Orange Pleasant LLC
Seller: Trudel C. Allen
Date: 04/01/24

161 Kensington Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $440,000
Buyer: MLB Property Mgmt. LLC
Seller: Benjamin L. Lawlor
Date: 04/11/24

148 Knollwood St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $137,000
Buyer: Dreamwake Homes Inc.
Seller: Robert, John E., (Estate)
Date: 04/01/24

243 Lamont St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $272,500
Buyer: Lida Lim
Seller: Blanca I. Valentin
Date: 04/12/24

38 Larchmont St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $249,525
Buyer: Richard MacDonald
Seller: Fumi Realty Inc.
Date: 04/12/24

4-8 Leyfred Ter.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $2,090,000
Buyer: S. & G. Realty LLC
Seller: Nolava LLC
Date: 04/05/24

15 Lloyd Ave.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $345,000
Buyer: Mark Whyte
Seller: Mark S. Goulet
Date: 04/04/24

33-35 Los Angeles St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $355,100
Buyer: Joel Matias
Seller: Robin Sytulek
Date: 04/04/24

119 Maebeth St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Sami Ventriglia
Seller: Guadalupe M. De Friedson
Date: 04/01/24

28-30 Marble St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Barthelemy Properties LLC
Seller: Cherrie Jowers
Date: 04/09/24

21 Marchioness Road
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $271,500
Buyer: Latoya G. Hallums
Seller: Juliane M. Brayton
Date: 04/10/24

137 Massachusetts Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $405,000
Buyer: Mildred O. Abrah
Seller: Elite Properties LLC
Date: 04/11/24

57 Massreco St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $247,000
Buyer: Yannick Shematsi
Seller: Iris M. Valentin
Date: 04/01/24

84 Meadowbrook Road
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $335,000
Buyer: Matthew T. Pahl
Seller: Sean Stevens
Date: 04/05/24

100-102 Middlesex St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $285,500
Buyer: Nixilu Romero
Seller: VMC Investments LLC
Date: 04/02/24

151 Monroe St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $306,500
Buyer: Eduar B. Masariegos
Seller: Anthony Bixby
Date: 04/09/24

219 Morton St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Unlimited Property Services LLC
Seller: Chenevert Properties LLC
Date: 04/08/24

210 Navajo Road
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Andrew F. Delsanto
Seller: Louis Bonavita
Date: 04/05/24

118 Oak St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Angel Franco
Seller: Debra A. O’Connor
Date: 04/05/24

87 Oak Grove Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Patricia Delarosa
Seller: Brvsa Associates LLC
Date: 04/12/24

1128 Page Blvd.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Juan A. Vargas
Seller: Raquel I. Rodriguez
Date: 04/01/24

1964 Parker St.
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $180,400
Buyer: Erin K. Sullivan
Seller: Nancy A. Ainsworth
Date: 04/03/24

35 Patricia Circle
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Chenevert Properties LLC
Seller: Linux Holdings TR
Date: 04/12/24

76 Paulk Ter.
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $365,000
Buyer: Erica Davis
Seller: Jeffrey W. Peristere
Date: 04/11/24

81 Pemaquid St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Dawn M. Wanzo
Seller: Chelyka Diaz
Date: 04/12/24

271 Pine St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Jennifer M. Rodriguez
Seller: North End Housing Initiative
Date: 04/04/24

110 Quincy St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Erica M. McAuliffe
Seller: Pah Properties LLC
Date: 04/12/24

221-223 Quincy St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $317,500
Buyer: Glenroy A. Henry
Seller: Morgan V. Dibacco
Date: 04/02/24

4 Silas St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Angel Colon
Seller: Thomas, Brenda D., (Estate)
Date: 04/12/24

37 Silver St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $317,500
Buyer: Brendan M. Rios
Seller: Pah Properties LLC
Date: 04/11/24

3 Smallwood St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $349,900
Buyer: Jametrious L. Sourdiffe
Seller: Rafariel Garcia
Date: 04/12/24

South Cottage St.
Springfield, MA 01101
Amount: $425,000
Buyer: CRG Properties LLC
Seller: Beverly A. Gay TR
Date: 04/10/24

89 Sparrow Dr.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $340,000
Buyer: Caridad Jean-Baptiste
Seller: Carrasquillo Fix Up LLC
Date: 04/12/24

162 Springfield St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $330,500
Buyer: Affluent Circle LLC
Seller: Christine Wyszynski
Date: 04/01/24

691 State St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $625,000
Buyer: Royal Vibe Homes LLC
Seller: M. Mistri LLC
Date: 04/02/24

63 Telbar St.
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: NSP Residential LLC
Seller: Ajax 2020-D Reo Corp.
Date: 04/11/24

63 Telbar St.
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $230,700
Buyer: Tammy M. Brown
Seller: NSP Residential LLC
Date: 04/11/24

550 Tiffany St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $305,000
Buyer: Andrea P. Allen
Seller: Jenny L. Wiley
Date: 04/12/24

14 Tourigny St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $269,000
Buyer: Javier Laboy
Seller: Pah Properties LLC
Date: 04/11/24

111 Warrenton St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: Kelly Summers
Seller: David Roffo
Date: 04/11/24

116-120 William St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: Carole A. Calderon
Seller: RBT Enterprise LLC
Date: 04/08/24

58 Willard Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Jean L. Saintlouis
Seller: Roy Watson
Date: 04/04/24

1402-1404 Worcester St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $331,000
Buyer: Brandon Loyd
Seller: Jennifer Montalvo
Date: 04/03/24

930-934 Worthington St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Pak ABQ Property LLC
Seller: SIS Worthington Realty LLC
Date: 04/04/24

940 Worthington St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Pak Abq Property LLC
Seller: Sis Worthington Realty LLC
Date: 04/04/24

SOUTHWICK

765 College Hwy.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $409,000
Buyer: Joseph Hamelin
Seller: Hamelin Framing Inc.
Date: 04/04/24

72 Granville Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $427,400
Buyer: Miller RET
Seller: RM Blerman LLC
Date: 04/10/24

28 Noble Steed Xing
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $625,000
Buyer: Mehmet Mizanoglu
Seller: Hedge Hog Industries Corp.
Date: 04/05/24

WALES

60 Stafford Road
Wales, MA 01081
Amount: $187,500
Buyer: Charliene Casey
Seller: Albert F. Casey
Date: 04/03/24

WEST SPRINGFIELD

25 Brice Road
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Jennifer M. Rossi
Seller: Steven R. Rossi
Date: 04/10/24

135 Brookline Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $284,000
Buyer: Michael K. Morgan
Seller: Jeet Majhi
Date: 04/04/24

34 City View Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Shannon B. Doyle
Seller: Christopher J. Fontaine
Date: 04/12/24

31 Cottage St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Maxwell D. Foxx
Seller: Arpc LLC
Date: 04/05/24

83 Miami St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Mark R. Turnbull
Seller: Kenneth P. Turnbull
Date: 04/09/24

29 York St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $335,000
Buyer: Koch Real Estate Corp.
Seller: Colin Moll
Date: 04/02/24

WESTFIELD

5 Bancroft St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $420,000
Buyer: Steven W. Gardner
Seller: Malia Homebuyers LLC
Date: 04/08/24

80 Elizabeth Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $466,000
Buyer: Gregory J. Linscott
Seller: Lizette Rodriguez
Date: 04/10/24

4 Greylock St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $228,000
Buyer: Jeffrey D. Edinger
Seller: Bernadine M. Laquerre
Date: 04/05/24

34 North Elm St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $1,500,000
Buyer: North Elm Realty Inc
Seller: Harry E. Theodorakis TR
Date: 04/04/24

4 Ravine Circle
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: Nikolas Fiore
Seller: John L. Vershon
Date: 04/11/24

12 Robinson Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $317,000
Buyer: John L. Vershon
Seller: Michael Solek
Date: 04/11/24

28 Smith Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Andrzej Barszcz
Seller: Paula A. Patterson
Date: 04/01/24

21 State St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Devun Nadeau
Seller: Coburn A. Watson
Date: 04/04/24

WILBRAHAM

408 Dipping Hole Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Maureen Pisani
Seller: Nicole A. Lapointe
Date: 04/12/24

4 Iroquois Lane
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $770,000
Buyer: Brandon Lawrence
Seller: Lamica, Robin C., (Estate)
Date: 04/05/24

512 Mountain Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $535,000
Buyer: Rafariel Garcia
Seller: Xiuyi Liang
Date: 04/12/24

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY

AMHERST

16 Arbor Way
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $738,000
Buyer: Nan Zhao
Seller: Faheem Ibrahim LT
Date: 04/08/24

63 Cherry Lane
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $625,000
Buyer: Richard B. Pierce
Seller: Theodore A. Hallstrom
Date: 04/02/24

East Pleasant St., Lot 1
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $218,000
Buyer: YG Pleasant LLC
Seller: Richard B. Spurgin
Date: 04/09/24

East Pleasant St., Lot 2
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $218,000
Buyer: YG Pleasant LLC
Seller: Richard B. Spurgin
Date: 04/09/24

22 Foxglove Lane
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $570,000
Buyer: Wade R. Elmore
Seller: Charles P. Sutphin
Date: 04/12/24

35 Maplewood Circle
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $470,000
Buyer: Julius J. Rosenthal
Seller: Bodin, D. Joseph, (Estate)
Date: 04/01/24

37 Meadow St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $264,000
Buyer: Matthew J. Sabola
Seller: Cheryl M. Sabola
Date: 04/10/24

65 Mount Pleasant
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $670,000
Buyer: Marrs Cottage LLC
Seller: William B. Rosenbaum
Date: 04/10/24

240 Northampton Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $600,000
Buyer: Larunamurti LLC
Seller: JELB Properties LLC
Date: 04/04/24

80 West St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $420,000
Buyer: Gregory Gotlieb
Seller: North Pleasant St. Partner
Date: 04/01/24

BELCHERTOWN

68 Cheryl Circle
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $129,564
Buyer: Daniel F. Gualberto
Seller: Susan M. Gualberto
Date: 04/09/24

15 Jasons Way
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $610,000
Buyer: Kristofer C. Nite
Seller: Jason A. Overgaard
Date: 04/12/24

North Liberty St., Lot 5
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: David R. Muir
Seller: Steven E. Pomerantz
Date: 04/03/24

52 South Liberty St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $400,000
Buyer: Kristina Nowak
Seller: Hal H. Freeman
Date: 04/12/24

20 Sarah Lane
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $355,000
Buyer: Rema Mills
Seller: Shelterwood Mgmt. LLC
Date: 04/11/24

8 Sherwood Dr.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $455,000
Buyer: Gergess A. Assaf
Seller: Bryand D. Jamgochian
Date: 04/12/24

Woodland Lane
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Nancy Tougas
Seller: Bell Property Corp.
Date: 04/09/24

GRANBY

100 North St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $295,000
Buyer: Griffin A. Robtoy
Seller: Wicked Deals LLC
Date: 04/04/24

HADLEY

72 North Maple St.
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $450,000
Buyer: Kenneth H. Ozkaptan
Seller: Pelham Rd Partners LLC
Date: 04/08/24

124 Rocky Hill Road
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $495,000
Buyer: DNB Properties LLC
Seller: Hadley Reantals LLC
Date: 04/11/24

Shattuck Road (off)
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $950,000
Buyer: Food Bank Of Western Mass.
Seller: John T. Boisvert
Date: 04/08/24

NORTHAMPTON

87 Chapel St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $379,000
Buyer: Brandon Hagen
Seller: Judith A. Dion
Date: 04/09/24

88 Crescent St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $500,000
Buyer: Theodore J. Paradise
Seller: Michael G. George
Date: 04/02/24

94 Crescent St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $1,185,000
Buyer: Michael G. George
Seller: Theodore Paradise
Date: 04/02/24

177 Crescent St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $410,000
Buyer: Chenevert Properties LLC
Seller: Ferree, Louisa, (Estate)
Date: 04/09/24

12 East St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Elaine M. Reall
Seller: Frances C. Corriveau
Date: 04/09/24

Fern St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $162,000
Buyer: Michael J. Hoffman
Seller: Elizabeth Young
Date: 04/05/24

70 Fern St.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $421,000
Buyer: Kristen J. Elden
Seller: Elizabeth Young
Date: 04/05/24

Florence Road
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $237,000
Buyer: Lee Feldscher
Seller: Jonathan N. Kelley
Date: 04/11/24

23 Higgins Way
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $901,000
Buyer: Susan Claire Faludi RET
Seller: B. Samuels & N. Ryburn Jret
Date: 04/12/24

41 Hillside Road
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $910,000
Buyer: Kusmer-Plude Ft
Seller: Irish, Alan J., (Estate)
Date: 04/10/24

PELHAM

2 Amherst Road
Pelham, MA 01002
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Wilson Prop Group LLC
Seller: Robert D. Jackson
Date: 04/05/24

128 Amherst Road
Pelham, MA 01002
Amount: $405,000
Buyer: Joseph Famighette
Seller: Copeland Int.
Date: 04/12/24

SOUTH HADLEY

12 Alvord St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $651,000
Buyer: Sarah E. Burns
Seller: Mariann Millard
Date: 04/03/24

258 East St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Chance Sliwa
Seller: Carol Y. Florence
Date: 04/04/24

275 Hadley St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $360,000
Buyer: Joan G. O’Connell
Seller: Gregory J. Linscott
Date: 04/10/24

465 Newton St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Brittany Ankiewicz
Seller: Brett F. Johnson
Date: 04/10/24

SOUTHAMPTON

3 Glendale Woods Dr.
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $291,590
Buyer: Donna L. Wright
Seller: David K. Roland
Date: 04/11/24

2 Laurie Dr.
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $348,800
Buyer: Ryan Goff
Seller: Gauvin IRT
Date: 04/05/24

5 Parsons Way
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $660,000
Buyer: Elisabeth E. North
Seller: Trevor H. Young
Date: 04/01/24

WARE

45 Aspen St.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $178,000
Buyer: Dionisio Cepeda
Seller: Edith Modebe
Date: 04/03/24

123 Glendale Circle
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Kristi-Lee Kinney
Seller: Darin M. Snow
Date: 04/11/24

11 Walnut St.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $284,000
Buyer: Daniel Warsaw
Seller: Kayley L. Jones
Date: 04/12/24

WORTHINGTON

264 Goss Hill Road
Worthington, MA 01098
Amount: $475,000
Buyer: Grace A. Golden
Seller: Thibaud E. Doultremont
Date: 04/08/24

Building Permits

Building Permits

The following building permits were issued during the month of April 2024.

CHICOPEE

Fairview Knights of Columbus
1599 Memorial Dr.
$550,000 — Construct Dunkin’ Donuts restaurant with drive-thru

Faith United Methodist Church
191 Montcalm St.
$25,547 — Replace 19 windows

Paul Mailhott
301 Front St.
$9,600 — Insulation

Jeffrey O’Connor, Cathy O’Connor
15 Leclair Ter.
$18,000 — Air seal and insulate attic, basement, and walls; install ventilation; weatherize access

O’Leary Vincunas LLC
2140 Westover Road
$10,000 — Demolish office interior, including acoustical ceiling and grid, office partition walls, and data cabling

Tremble Realty Corp.
20 First Ave.
$229,950 — Roofing

EASTHAMPTON

136 Pleasant LLC
136-148 Pleasant St.
$33,300 — Construct non-structural, non-load-bearing walls

136 Pleasant LLC
136-148 Pleasant St.
$15,600 — Construct non-structural, non-load-bearing walls

Margaret Lecko
101 Briggs St.
$13,600 — Air seal and insulate attic, basement, and walls; install ventilation; weatherize access

Elaine Pourinski
41 South St.
$11,820 — Demolish and drywall second-floor bathroom tub, replace with shower

Christopher Thompson
6-12 Irving St.
$14,000 — Remove and replace shingles

HADLEY

BH Real Estate LLC
14 South Maple St.
N/A — Produce and install channel letters

Gordon Cook Jr.
129 South Maple St.
N/A — Construct packed bedded barn

E&A/I&G Campus Plaza LP
454 Russell St.
N/A — Construct interior partitions for offices and workout area

Floranine LLC
285 Russell St.
N/A — Apply maintenance coat over roof membrane

Hadley Mall Outparcel LLC
379 Russell St.
N/A — Interior demolition

Kathryn Richardson
81 Rocky Hill Road
N/A — Install ground-mounted PV array

SPRINGFIELD

276 Bridge LLC
270 Bridge St.
$81,900 — Alter storefront system and soffit at Springfield Innovation Center

C&W Real Estate Co. LLP
1889 Wilbraham Road
$250,000 — Extend height of telecommunications tower, install new antennas and associated equipment

FNBC Realty Corp., et al.
1350 Main St.
$3,000 — Renovate office space on 16th and 17th floors

Gulmohar Hospitality LLC
711 Dwight St.
$1,500,000 — Remodel rooms at La Quinta Inn & Suites to combine and create new kitchenette areas

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
1000 West Columbus Ave.
$1,034,894 — Alter interior banquet hall into a golf simulator lounge

Rhino Realty
143 Parker St.
$50,000 — Install foundation for car dealership

Solutia Inc.
730 Worcester St.
$505,339 — Electrical building

United We Care LLC
1522 State St.
$796,477 — Remodel commercial property to create new adult daycare facility

Senate Leaders Propose Universal Free Community College for Massachusetts Residents

LOWELL — On Monday, Senate leaders unveiled MassEducate, a proposal for tuition-free, universal community college for all Massachusetts residents, aimed at boosting the state’s workforce and expanding opportunity for students and families in every part of the Commonwealth.

The announcement was made during an event at Middlesex Community College in Lowell, where Senate President Karen Spilka, Senate Ways & Means Chair Michael Rodrigues, and Senate Higher Education Chair Jo Comerford gathered with members of the Senate, presidents of the Commonwealth’s 15 community colleges, business leaders, students, and advocates.

“Today, we shift conversations about college from ‘I wish’ to ‘I will’ for thousands of students and families in Massachusetts,” Spilka said. “We are investing in talent that is right here at home and opening the workforce floodgates to employers who are starved for graduates, so Massachusetts keeps the competitive edge that we pride ourselves in.”

MassEducate would invest $75.5 million in new spending to cover tuition and fees for all residents and offer an up to $1,200 stipend for books, supplies, and other costs to students who make up to 125% of median income in the state. Pell-eligible students already eligible for a books stipend through state financial aid would also be eligible for a stipend for books, supplies, and costs of attendance, for a combined amount of up to $2,400 per year.

“With the historic investments announced today, ushering in universally free community college and more, the Senate doubles down on our commitment to build back the power and promise of public higher education,” Comerford said. “The Senate investments will propel the Commonwealth forward toward greater social equity and greater economic competitiveness.”

The Senate’s plan, which will be included in the chamber’s FY 2025 budget, would continue to invest in programs created in the FY 2024 budget, including $18 million in free nursing programs at community colleges and $24 million in free community college for residents over age 25.

Students would be eligible for free tuition, fees and the stipend in the fall 2025 semester if the proposal is included in the Commonwealth’s final FY 2025 budget.

To support students whose education paths can be jeopardized by unanticipated life events, Senate leaders announced the creation of the Student Persistence Fund, a $10 million investment that would go directly toward aiding community colleges and state universities in supporting low-income students with such costs that are shown to put someone’s chance of finishing school at risk, such as transportation, childcare, or food insecurity.

Understanding that retention and graduation is directly tied to support systems like advising and career planning, the Senate also proposed an $18.3 investment in the Supporting Urgent Community College Equity through Student Services (SUCCESS) program, which is designed for community colleges to invest in wraparound supports and services using models proven to strengthen outcomes for students facing systemic barriers, especially for colleges’ most underserved populations.

To ensure the long-term fiscal sustainability of the program, the Senate’s proposal would institute annual tuition-increase caps at community colleges set at an inflation index. And to hold community colleges accountable for producing positive outcomes, the proposal creates a working group to re-evaluate community-college performance funding, aimed at better aligning state funding with key metrics such as student success and workforce alignment.

Recognizing that many Massachusetts students opt directly for four-year universities, the budget makes a historic $105 million investment in the Massachusetts financial-assistance program MassGrant Plus which keeps college costs low for students at all public colleges in the Commonwealth. This increased investment builds on recent investments that have allowed all Pell-eligible students in Massachusetts to go to a community college, state university, or UMass campus without paying tuition or fees.

The proposal additionally includes policy directives to study future paths to success for the Commonwealth’s students. It directs the Department of Higher Education to improve the credit transfer pathway between two- and four-year institutions so students can easily transfer to a public four-year institution. It also creates a new commission to evaluate current state financial assistance for students to attend state universities and UMass and evaluate ways to further ensure accessibility and affordability of an education at these institutions.

Greenfield Cooperative Bank Promotes 10 Employees

GREENFIELD — Greenfield Cooperative Bank (GCB) announced the promotion of several key employees, reflecting the bank’s commitment to fostering a culture of growth and recognizing exceptional performance.

“Investing in our people is paramount to our continued success,” said Tony Worden, president and CEO of Greenfield Cooperative Bank. “These promotions acknowledge the dedication and expertise of our team members who consistently deliver exceptional service to our customers. Their leadership and deep understanding of the financial-services industry will be instrumental in driving our future growth.”

Siobhan Tripp is being promoted to marketing director. She has been with GCB since 2020.

Harlin Glovacki is being promoted to branch manager-in-training. He has been with GCB since 2022.

Annette Baker is being promoted to customer service representative. She has been with GCB since 2021.

Brandi Knowlton is being promoted to customer service representative. She has been with GCB since 2024.

Aaron Thompson is being promoted to customer service representative. He has been with GCB since 2023.

Sarah Beresford is being promoted to head teller. She has been with GCB since 2022.

Samantha Kelley is being promoted to assistant manager. She has been with GCB since 2013.

Kim Fontaine is being promoted to senior underwriter. She has been with GCB since 2023.

Angie Macleay is being promoted to senior underwriter. She has been with GCB since 2009.

Aaron Frentzos is being promoted to senior technology specialist. He has been with GCB since 2013.

Health New England Honors Tania Barber with Grant to Caring Health Center

SPRINGFIELD — In honor of Tania Barber’s eight years of service on the board of directors of Health New England (HNE), the not-for-profit health plan is donating $5,000 to Caring Health Center. Barber recently retired from the HNE board and is currently the president and CEO of Caring Health Center, the only federally qualified community health center in Springfield.

The grant will focus on Caring Health Center’s new Tania M. Barber Learning Institute, which offers training for professions in the healthcare industry. The model of the Learning Institute, developed by Barber, pays students, often individuals from historically underrepresented groups, while they undergo training for jobs.

“By serving on Health New England’s board, Barber has helped enhance the company’s partnerships with community health entities to form a more collaborative healthcare ecosystem,” said Richard Swift, president and CEO of Health New England. “She helped steer the company through the COVID-19 health emergency while managing her frontline health center as it dealt directly with the ravages of the pandemic. That is exceptional work. We will miss Tania on our board and thank her deeply for her service.”

Barber’s vision for the Learning Institute is to address systemic barriers affecting BIPOC, immigrant, and refugee communities in Springfield. She prioritizes hiring from within the community to respond to workforce shortages and disparities, like racial wealth gaps and barriers to access education. During her two decades at Caring Health Center, she has been committed to lifting others up.

“This donation is so appreciated. The Learning Institute will use these funds to help us keep the doors open, transform lives, and train the next generation of healthcare professionals,” Barber said. “The work we do today will shape the future of so many people and change our community for the better. These funds will also help people from Springfield and other communities gain the skills they need to get jobs with good pay in the healthcare field. It has been a great pleasure serving on the board of Health New England, and I thank my fellow board members for their support of community health.”

Berkshire Bank Foundation Makes Philanthropic Contributions to 107 Nonprofits

BOSTON — Berkshire Bank announced that its foundation made $401,190 in philanthropic investments during the first quarter of 2024. The grants covered a wide range of projects that foster upward economic mobility, support overall well-being, and enhance opportunities for individual success in the communities the bank serves. The investments also support the company’s BEST Community Comeback program.

In all, the Berkshire Bank Foundation gave 107 local nonprofits grants to assist with critical projects in the areas of education, youth, food insecurity, housing, healthcare, substance-abuse prevention, veterans, and employment. In addition, the foundation supports programs that align with Berkshire Bank’s Center for Women, Wellness, and Wealth.

“As a community-focused bank, we recognize the importance of supporting nonprofit organizations with time, talent, and treasure,” said Lori Gazzillo Kiely, director of the Berkshire Bank Foundation. “We are proud to provide philanthropic contributions to so many organizations that are enabling vital services continue in the communities that Berkshire Bank serves.”

Greenfield Cooperative Bank Announces Three Executive Promotions

By BusinessWest Staff May 6, 2024

GREENFIELD — Greenfield Cooperative Bank (GCB) announced the promotions of three team members, recognizing their contributions while fostering a culture of advancement within the company.

“We are thrilled to celebrate the achievements of these dedicated employees,” said Tony Worden, president and CEO of GCB. “Their commitment to excellence and leadership skills make them invaluable assets. These promotions demonstrate our dedication to empowering our people and providing them with opportunities for growth.”

Jeremy Payson is being promoted to executive vice president, Finance. He holds an MBA in finance and economics from Western New England University and has been with the bank since 2022.

Chris Wilkey is being promoted to vice president, Information Systems. He has been with GCB since 2007.

Julie Gonzales is being promoted to assistant vice president, Human Resources. She has been with Greenfield Co-op since 2012.

These promotions acknowledge the significant contributions made by these individuals across various departments within Greenfield Cooperative Bank. This commitment to internal advancement fosters a positive and motivated work environment, where employees are empowered to reach their full potential.

Kuhn Riddle Promotes Garrison Piers-Gamble to Senior Project Manager

By BusinessWest Staff May 6, 2024