Berkshire United Way Renews More Than $1 Million in Funding to 40 Programs

Berkshire United Way (BUW) announced renewal funding of $1,029,500 for 40 programs across 24 community partner organizations, providing a much-needed additional year of support. This funding will be for a one-year period, from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023, and will continue to stabilize BUW’s three main community-impact areas: early childhood development, positive youth…

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Green River Festival held at Franklin County Fairgrounds

The Green River Festival at the Franklin County Fairgrounds will fall silent in a few hours, after a memorable three days of frolicking set to the music of some of western Massachusetts most iconic musicians. It’s been 35 years since the Green River Festival made its initial appearance at the fairgrounds. Many of the fans…

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Bringing Valley Green Energy to Hampshire County

The town of Amherst has signed a contract with MassPowerChoice, an aggregation services company that will implement an inter-municipal community choice aggregation (CCA) to help reduce the local and state carbon footprint. Planning for aggregation will entail developing production strategies that will ensure uninterrupted production at a specific facility. This will enable the implementation of…

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AIM to Present 2022 Vision Award to Andrew Dreyfus

Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM) announced that it will present its 2022 Vision Award to Andrew Dreyfus, president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, for his decades-long efforts to create a sustainable and equitable health-care system in Massachusetts.  Dreyfus, who has announced his intention to step down at the end of 2022, has…

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Manning Family Foundation Provides $3 Million Gift to UMass Amherst

Alumnus Paul Manning and his wife, Diane, have committed $3 million through their family foundation to expand the Manning Innovation Program at UMass Amherst. The gift provides three years of support in advancing a robust and sustainable commercialization pipeline of applied and translational research projects from the university. The Manning Innovation Program, based in the…

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Springfield College Partners with MassDevelopment, Earns Green Bond Designation

Springfield College announced it has partnered with MassDevelopment to issue $106,675,000 in bonds, of which $50 million has received the Green Bond designation by Kestrel Verifiers, approved verifiers accredited by the Climate Bonds Initiative. Sustainability remains a key strategic focus for Springfield College, and pursuing a Green Bond was an intentional decision to demonstrate that…

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Valley Community Development Names Alexis Breiteneicher Executive Director

Valley Community Development announced Alexis Breiteneicher has been named executive director. She comes to Valley after almost eight years at Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA), where she served as director of Development. Before that, she was the Development manager for the Trustees of Reservations and worked for the Melville Charitable Trust in Boston. She…

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Health Partners New England Acquires Providence Behavioral Health Hospital

Mercy Medical Center has long collaborated with other hospitals, organizations, and agencies to offer new and more integrated, sustainable pathways to behavioral healthcare. Such collaborative planning, the health system notes, is essential in developing creative and effective ways of matching patient needs with available resources. Read the source article at BusinessWest

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Berkshire Bank Boosts Sustainability with Nexamp Community Solar

Berkshire Bank has chosen Boston-based Nexamp as its community solar provider to reduce costs and improve sustainability. Founded more than 170 years ago, Berkshire Bank operates 130 branches across seven northeastern states. By enrolling in the Nexamp community solar program, the bank is taking an active role in the advancement of clean energy. Corporations and…

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