Chicopee to spend $2.89 million to demolish 5 more Uniroyal buildings
The city will remove five of the largest buildings on the Uniroyal property this year but at a higher cost than was originally expected. The City Council voted 13-0 to allocate $2.89 million to tear down the five largest remaining buildings on the Uniroyal campus after learning the cost of demolition skyrocketed due to deterioration…
Long-time Northampton state representative Peter Kocot dies at 61 | masslive.com
Peter Kocot, a long-time state representative from Northampton, has died. Kocot has served in the state Legislature since 2002 representing the 1st Hampshire District. He was chairman of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing. He was 61 years old. Kocot had been ill. House Speaker Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop, emailed state representatives Thursday afternoon to…
Agawam considering tax breaks for targeted redevelopment zone near Big E | masslive.com
The city is working on creating a District Improvement Financing zone, or DIF, around the former Games & Lanes property, a longtime eyesore and bulwark to revitalizing the Walnut Street Extension business district. The formerly toxic Games & Lanes site has undergone extensive environmental remediation and the dilapidated building that long dominated the lot has…
Dress for Success, Thunderbirds Partner for Hockey ‘N Heels
Dress for Success of Western Massachusetts will host its second annual Hockey ‘N Heels night before the Springfield Thunderbirds game against the Utica Comets on Saturday, March 10 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the MassMutual Center in Springfield. Baystate Health and Health New England will sponsor “Pink in the Rink” as part of the…
Development of vacant Chicopee industrial parks could get a boost with state grants
The Chicopee River Business Park always seemed to be the perfect spot for new industry since it is situated just off the Massachusetts Turnpike and Interstate-291 and has a number of “shovel ready” parcels complete with roads and water and sewer connections. But for nearly three decades and through good and bad economic times few businesses…
Women in leadership speaker series offered by Holyoke Chamber of Commerce
The “Women in Leadership: Leadership in Your Future” speaker series by the Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce will begin March 7 and include four events. “We recognize the importance of creating local and affordable professional opportunities to help people grow professionally and personally,” said Christina Royal, president of Holyoke Community College, one of the speakers.…
‘A dream come true’: Springfield plans $12 million early education center aimed to serve…
Mary E. Walachy, executive director of the Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation, said that $13.5 million has been raised in private funds for the center and its programs. That amount came from three donors — two anonymous contributors and the Davis Foundation. The Davis Foundation was the lead partner in pushing for the new…
Bradley International Airport passenger total grows for 5th straight year
Bradley International Airport saw 6.2 percent more passengers in 2017 compared with 2016, its fifth consecutive year of growth, the airport said Wednesday. The Windsor Locks, Conneticut, airport, which serves Connecticut and Western Massachusetts, had 6.4 million people get on or off a plane there in 2017. It had 6 million passengers a year earlier…
HCC president first speaker in Women’s Leadership Luncheon Series
Holyoke Community College president Christina Royal will be the first featured speaker in a monthly Women’s Leadership Luncheon Series hosted this spring by the Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce. The four-part series kicks off March 7, with Royal’s talk, “Managing Up.” All the events will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the…
Federal broadband solicitation could help rural unserved Massachusetts census tracts, says FCC | masslive.com
The Federal Communication Commission says it will launch an auction on July 24 for private telecom firms to provide broadband to 13,000 rural premises in Massachusetts that still don’t have high-speed internet service. Dozens of state census blocks are eligible under the next phase of the FCC’s Connect America Fund, which offsets provider costs of…
‘Partners’ Becomes Public Health Institute of Western Mass.
Partners for a Healthier Community recently initiates a rebrand, and is now known as the Public Health Institute of Western Mass., a name that officials say more accurately reflects what this agency has evolved into over the past 22 years and the critical role it plays within the region. As she talked about a rebranding…
Springfield officials praise $3.5 million renovation project at Central Library slated for…
A $3.5 million renovation project at the Central Library on State Street is slated for completion by late summer, designed to preserve and enhance the historic building for generations of visitors. “We are really, really pleased,” said Molly Fogarty, city library director. “The Central Library is an information and cultural resource for the entire city…