Archive for April 2020
PeoplesBank Issues 2020 Corporate Green Report
PeoplesBank issued its 2020 annual Corporate Green Report in recognition of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Through its green values and actions to support environmental sustainability, PeoplesBank believes it can help make the region a healthier place in which to live, work, and raise a family. The bank puts these values to work throughout…
Read MoreMGHPCC Expands Computing Access to Researchers Working on COVID-19
The Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center (MGHPCC), operated by a consortium consisting of Boston University, Harvard University, MIT, Northeastern University, and the University of Massachusetts system, announced it will provide access to outside researchers working on projects in which high-speed computing would accelerate resolution of the COVID-19 crisis. The MGHPCC’s member institutions are already…
Read MoreThese Springfield restaurants are getting creative to get through the pandemic and beyond – masslive.com
Teri Skinner, owner of popular downtown Springfield sandwich shop NOSH, recently learned that her application for a $20,000 loan through the Paycheck Protection Program was approved. The PPP program is included in the $2.2 trillion stimulus package signed into law by President Donald J. Trump. It provides loans for businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic…
Read MoreGov. Baker leaves door open for Massachusetts businesses to reopen before end of June if COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations decline – masslive.com
Gov. Charlie Baker’s announcement extending school and daycare closures through June confirmed that the road to reopening Massachusetts will be much longer and more arduous than officials initially thought, but there’s hope that businesses and agencies won’t be shuttered for that long. The Republican governor, who constantly stresses the need to “flatten the curve,” said…
Read MoreCoronavirus response: East Longmeadow toy factory making face shields instead of board games
The Cartamundi plant here and its workers usually makes classic games like Monopoly and Trouble and churn out canisters of Play-Doh, all for toy giant Hasbro. But today they’re making personal protection equipment, manufacturing 50,000 plastic face shields per week, for donation to local hospitals during this COVID-19 pandemic. The project is a partnership between…
Read MoreUMass Amherst Donates PPE Face Shields to Loomis Lakeside at Reeds Landing
UMass Amherst has donated 300 face shields to the skilled-nursing center at Loomis Lakeside at Reeds Landing. The face shields were developed by UMass researchers, engineers, nurses, and other health care professionals, and arrive at a time when personal protective equipment (PPE) is in very short supply for many nursing facilities in the region and…
Read MoreGreater Holyoke Chamber, City Launch Business Emergency Operations Grant Program
In an effort to provide assistance to Holyoke businesses to meet the challenges of COVID-19, Mayor Alex Morse and Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Andréa Marion introduced the COVID-19 Holyoke Business Emergency Operations Grant Program. The primary purpose of this program is to help Holyoke-based businesses withstand and mitigate the effects of the…
Read MoreNew Educational App Shows Promise for Improving Pre-schoolers’ Pre-literacy Skills
As millions of families struggle to keep their children learning while schools are closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, preliminary results of a randomized, controlled study led by psychology researcher David Arnold at the University of Massachusetts Amherst show that 4- and 5-year-olds from low income families who used a Khan Academy Kids App for…
Read MoreRelief and Resiliency Microgrant Program Launched In Amherst
The Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce has partnered with the Amherst Business Improvement District’s launch of the Relief and Resiliency Microgrant Program to provide financial relief to Amherst-wide small businesses affected by COVID-19 closures, through the newly formed Downtown Amherst Foundation (DAF). The foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, was formed as a means to develop downtown…
Read MoreBarnes Regional Airport’s $7.6M runway rebuild eyes September completion
Construction is underway on the long-awaited, $7.6 million rebuilding of a secondary general aviation runway at Barnes Regional Airport with completion targeted for September. The Federal Aviation Administration is paying for the majority of the work with $6,773,052 of the $7,635,984 price tag. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation is kicking in $464,576.67 with thecity paying…
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