Westfield Bank takes stock, eyes growth after merger
Sometimes bank mergers mean fewer branches, with locations closed or consolidated in the name of eliminating redundancy. But Westfield Bank and Chicopee Savings didn’t close any locations in their $110 million merger. The deal, which created a larger Westfield Bank, became official in October 2016. Westfield Bank completed the transition and changed signs on all…
Hcc Mgm Culinary Arts Institute designed to fit employer need
The Holyoke canal walk just outside the windows of the HCC MGM Culinary Arts Institute on Race Street was covered with fresh snow. But Warren Leigh, chairman of hospitality management and culinary arts programs at Holyoke Community College, imagines it as an outdoor dining room once the weather turns nice. There students will serve food they…
Chicopee to see $87 million in business investment in 2018
Two new hotels, a downtown mill conversion, construction of an assisted-living facility and a variety of other smaller projects will total more than $87 million in business investment in the city this year. “Last year’s announcements have become this year’s ribbon cuttings,” Mayor Richard J. Kos says. The major project on tap for 2018 is…
Greenfield Community College, Franklin County Technical School partner with industry on workforce development
Franklin County Technical School partners with Greenfield Community College to provide evening adult education programs in manufacturing technologies and with businesses to educate a new generation of workers and to retrain adults who are unemployed or underemployed. The ninth cohort of adult learners graduated from the advanced manufacturing CNC (computer numerical control) operator training program in…
Bradley International Airport looks to develop routes, facilities in 2018
Bradley International Airport — Springfield’s gateway to the world — competes for passengers with neighbors like LaGuardia, JFK, Newark, Rhode Island’s T.F. Green and Boston’s Logan. It also competes for aircraft with literally every airport in the country, all clamoring to add more flights in a marketplace where there are just too few jetliners. That’s…
Daniel O’Connell’s Sons marks more than century of building in Western Massachusetts
Company founder Daniel O’Connell was just 14 years old when he arrived in Holyoke from Ireland in 1847. He first worked as a water boy for the construction team of the original Holyoke dam. Later he worked for the city as a superintendent of streets, and, in 1879, he established Daniel O’Connell’s Sons, a firm…
Chicopee’s MicroTek cable manufacturer is ‘wired for excellence’
In the early 1980s, when the state was shuttering its schools and hospitals for the disabled, three concerned residents of Hampden County were worried about the security of those being so abruptly re-introduced into mainstream communities. The trio created MicroTek so that people with intellectual and physical disabilities would have a path to earn an income.…
Westfield keeps economic development focus on Urban Renewal project and industrial park
The city of Westfield has taken a precise, multi-year approach when it comes to economic development, focusing on two main areas, urban renewal downtown and a possible industrial park on the city’s North Side. Both areas have had projects slowly cooking on the back-burner for many years and are this year’s priority for Mayor Brian…
Want to land one of the thousands of jobs at the soon-to-open MGM Springfield casino? Here’s another opportunity
MGM Springfield is offering information sessions in the week ahead for those interested in jobs at the $960 million casino set to open in September. General career information sessions will be held Tuesday at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. at the Rebecca Johnson School, 55 Catharine St. Information sessions for prospective dealers and other table…
MassMutual decision adds to Springfield’s ‘momentum,’ Western Massachusetts development official says
CRRC is about to open its rail car factory in East Springfield, MGM Springfield is seven months from opening its resort casino in the South End and now homegrown MassMutual will add jobs at its headquarters on State Street. “That is a lot of momentum, and it gets noticed,” said Richard K. Sullivan Jr., president and CEO…
$45 million for new Springfield police station included in Senate bond bill
The Senate passed a bond bill Thursday that includes $45 million for a new Springfield police station. The House already included the money in its version of the bill, which makes it more likely that the earmark will be included in the final version and ultimately become law. Springfield police officials say the current headquarters…
Elms College, Baystate Health, TechSpring to Offer Workshop
The Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at Elms College has joined forces with Baystate Health and TechSpring to offer a hands-on workshop on problem solving and innovation in the field of healthcare. “Passionate Problem Solving Workshop” will be held on Saturday, Feb. 10 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at TechSpring, located at on the fifth…