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The Baker-Polito administration announced that Massachusetts will advance to step 1 of phase 4 of the Commonwealth’s reopening plan on Monday, March 22. The administration continues to take steps to reopen the Commonwealth’s economy with public-health metrics continuing to trend in a positive direction. This includes drops in average daily COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. The…

Since 2009, BusinessWest has been recognizing the work of individuals, groups, businesses, and institutions through a program called Difference Makers. The 2021 Difference Makers include Kristin Carlson, president of Peerless Precision; EforAll Holyoke; Janine Fondon, founder of UnityFirst.com and professor at Bay Path University; Harold Grinspoon, philanthropist and founder of Aspen Square Management; Chad Moir,…

Today, the Baker-Polito Administration announced the timeline for all remaining residents to be eligible for a vaccine. The Administration also announced the weekly distribution of vaccine doses statewide for providers and a new $24.7 million investment in the Administration’s Vaccine Equity Initiative. Vaccine Eligibility Timeline   Governor Baker today announced the dates that all remaining…

You are invited to an event: The New England Women in Energy and the Environment (NEWIEE.org) is doing a program on MVPs and municipal resilience planning in WMA with FRCOG’s very own Kimberley McPhee, Erving’s amazing town planner Mariah Kurtz, and Carrieanne Petrik,  the state’s MVP coordinator for our area: Read the source article at…

Only one-third of all businesses in Western Mass. are owned by women, according to a recent survey. In the healthcare sector, one of the largest employers in the region, leadership positions are held by women 41% of the time — with outliers like one hospital where it’s only 16%. These findings are from a 2019…

The UMass Amherst School of Public Policy’s Socioeconomic Policy Lab conducted an online survey from February 22, 2021 to March 2, 2021 with support from the Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA). The purpose of this survey is to gather information about the challenges municipalities are facing because of the COVID-19 public health crisis and its socio-economic…

BusinessWest Editor George O’Brien talks with Vince Jackson, executive director of the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce. The two have a lively discussion about the deep toll the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on Paradise City, and how that community’s strong, eclectic business community has responded with determination, imagination, and perseverance. The two also discuss how the…

Serve Food, a new business in Holyoke, will host its grand opening on Tuesday, March 16 at 2 p.m. at its 112 High St. location.  Serve Food, a shared-use kitchen, is a certified commercial kitchen in which individuals or businesses prepare value-added food products and meals using a monthly membership. Because expenses are shared, the…

The Working Cities Challenge is the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s signature community development initiative. Mt. Auburn examined what went right and wrong in the WCC programs in Haverhill, Lowell, Pittsfield, and Springfield at the end of a three-year, $475,000 funding window, which closed in 2020. Read the source article at Home – Federal Reserve…

The Habitat for Humanity Women Build Week event, sponsored by Lowe’s, is an opportunity to spread the positive and powerful message of “women helping women” and facilitate in building stronger and safer communities. During the weeklong event, which began March 8, women from all walks of life and skill levels have come together to work…