Girls Inc. providing free programming this summer

Girls Inc. is providing free programming for young girls this summer right here in the pioneer valley. This summer, the organization wants to make sure that every child is able to afford summer camp experiences. Girls Inc. of the Valley serves youth ages 5-18 from the greater Holyoke, Springfield, and Chicopee areas. Suzanne Parker, the…

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Boston Fed president visits Western Mass. for first-hand look at economic challenges, opportunities

Working Cities Challenge team focuses on supporting families, students Collins met with Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and West Springfield Mayor William Reichelt Thursday morning. Then, she joined Springfield WORKS for a roundtable discussion on local economic issues. Springfield WORKS is a workforce development effort that began through the Boston Fed’s Working Cities Challenge, part…

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Big Y opens first Express Fresh Market at Tower Square

It’s taken several years for the Springfield-based supermarket giant to devise a plan and location for its first small-scale market, according to Colin D’Amour, senior director of Big Y Express, but that time has come. The official opening of the market in the former CVS location at Tower Square was conducted on June 15. The…

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MassHire Hampden County awarded $4M to find more than 1,000 youth jobs

The Healey-Driscoll Administration is awarding $34.4 million in state funding grants to support the hiring of 7,655 youth in summer and year-round employment. Of that total, MassHire Hampden County Workforce Board, Inc. was awarded $4,000,240 to hire 1,023 youth. The YouthWorks program provides teens and young adults with hands-on work experience and soft-skill development in…

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Springfield Program Strives to Take Dining Option to the Next Level

The Great Outdoors The term ‘parklet’ isn’t exactly new. Larger municipalities like San Francisco, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Chicago, and others have been using it, officially or unofficially, for at least a few years now to describe efforts to repurpose and reimagine parking spaces for recreation, dining, retail, and other uses. It’s starting to be heard more…

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BusinessTalk with Nicole Polite, CEO and Founder of MH Group

It’s an interesting time, to say the least, in the world of employment and staffing, amid a shortage of talent in many industries and tidal changes in the way people work. Amid all of this, Nicole Polite has built a model at her staffing and recruiting firm, the MH Group, that aims to meet the…

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MCLA Receives $1 Million from Executive Office of Health and Human Services

The Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) awarded Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) $1 million to fund the college’s new bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) program. The grant will support the first two years of the program by supplementing its curriculum development and funding the cost of a simulation lab…

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Western Mass. towns get EPA brownfields cleanup funds

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded 14 communities in Massachusetts to receive grants totaling $8,740,000 in competitive EPA Brownfields funding, including several in western Massachusetts. The money comes from the EPA’s Multipurpose, Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (MARC) Grant programs. The effort is part of the Biden administration’s effort to rebuild the…

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Franklin County Thrives Through Connection

Northern Exposure Rechtschaffen cited draws like the county’s outdoor recreation experiences and attractions like Bridge of Flowers in Shelburne Falls and Poet’s Seat Tower in Greenfield, but said tourists find much more. “People come for these beautiful experiences, and they’re also finding other cool stuff, from whitewater rafting to restaurants. So the challenge is to…

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