Western Massachusetts Business News

1. Pathlight Awarded $23,000 to Support Innovative Curriculum

   Explore BusinessWest Oct 19 2018

   Pathlight, a Valley leader in residential and community services for people with intellectual disabilities or autism, has been awarded $23,000 in funding from the Westfield Bank Future Fund and the Chicopee Savings Bank Charitable Foundation to support a sex-education and relationships program that gives people with intellectual disabilities and/or autism the skills to build and maintain healthy relationships throughout their lives. The program, called Whole Selves, is the result of 10 years of teaching the social skills of relationships to adolescents, teens, and adults with a variety of disabilities at Pathlight’s Whole Children program. Whole Selves is ...

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   Mentions: Springfield Chicopee Westfield

2. Invesco, MassMutual Announce Strategic Combination of Invesco and OppenheimerFunds

   Explore BusinessWest Oct 19 2018 Financial Services

   Invesco Ltd. and MassMutual announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement, whereby Invesco will acquire MassMutual asset-management affiliate OppenheimerFunds Inc. In turn, MassMutual and OppenheimerFunds employee shareholders will receive a combination of common and preferred equity consideration, and MassMutual will become a significant shareholder in Invesco, with an approximate 15.5% stake. This strategic transaction will bring Invesco’s total assets under management to more than $1.2 trillion, making it the 13th-largest global investment manager and sixth- largest U.S. retail investment manager, further enhancing the company’s ability to meet client needs through its comprehensive range ...

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   Mentions: MassMutual Springfield

3. UMass Amherst Professor Receives Computer Networking Industry Award

   Explore BusinessWest Oct 19 2018 Education

   

   Professor Ramesh Sitaraman of UMass Amherst’s College of Information and Computer Sciences is one of a large team of scientists and engineers who have been honored by the Assoc. for Computing Machinery with its SIGCOMM Networking Systems Award for work that “has had a significant impact on the world of computer networking,” the association said. Sitaraman and colleagues are credited with building the Akamai content-delivery network (CDN), the world’s first major CDN and now one of the largest ever built, and for pioneering the concept of internet content delivery. The Akamai CDN currently consists of 240,000 servers ...

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   Mentions: University of Massachusetts Amherst

4. 'All about collaboration': Hampden's Rediker Software unveils work space for development team

   Explore masslive.com Oct 18 2018 Entrepreneurship , Information Technology

   

   One of the conference rooms at Rediker Software is called "The Bridge." The other - a more relaxed space that's got comfy couches and is around the corner from the shuffleboard table - is "Ten Forward," a reference to the lounge on the Starship Enterprise in "Star Trek: The Next Generation." It's an indication of how Rediker's new office space here in the center of Hampden has a lot in common with the trendy work spaces of Silicon Valley and Boston's tech hubs.

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   Mentions: Westfield

5. Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito addresses Holyoke Chamber, touts public-private partnerships

   Explore masslive.com Oct 18 2018 Business Development , Entrepreneurship , Workforce

   

   Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito hailed the public-private partnerships promoted by the Baker administration at the Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce's annual Governmental Affairs Luncheon. The Wherehouse? Banquet Hall hosted the chamber's event Thursday. Polito noted the commonwealth's continued collaborations with the business community. She used Holyoke as "Exhibit A" in describing those relations, with the keys being planning, people, places and partnerships. Polito said the state extends grants, low-interest funding and tax credits to businesses that promote expansion, innovation and workforce development.

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   Mentions: Holyoke Community College Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce Holyoke Medical Center

6. Study pushes east-west rail forward at last

   Explore masslive.com Oct 18 2018 Transportation

   

   Governor Charlie Baker is right when he says the concept of an east-west rail line is complicated. But that doesn't mean it can't be done. One step toward making the dream become reality occurred when the Massachusetts Department of Transportation hired a consulting firm to conduct a feasibility study for a line from Boston through Worcester and Springfield and on to Pittsfield. The study will cost $1 million. Such studies often take on the image of unnecessary political stall tactics and a waste of taxpayers' money, but not this one. It's necessary to identify issues of cost ...

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   Mentions: Springfield Massachusetts Department of Transportation

7. Run-down Pride Station in Agawam to be demolished, new 'Pride Kitchen' planned

   Explore masslive.com Oct 18 2018 Retail

   

   Pride Convenience Inc. on Oct. 1 pulled a permit with the city's Building Division to demolish an old service station and car wash at 395 Main St. In its place, a new, 5,400-square-foot "Pride Kitchen" convenience store with gas pumps and a drive-through will be built, Pride Stores CEO Robert L. Bolduc said Thursday. In a telephone interview, Bolduc said demolition will take place this fall, that he will submit applications to the city's Planning Department and that he hopes to start construction in the spring.

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   Mentions: Westfield

8. Brownfields Redevelopment Fund Recoverable Grants

   Explore MassDevelopment.com Oct 18 2018 Business Development , Financial Services

   

   The Brownfields Redevelopment Fund finances the assessment and remediation of brownfield sites in Economically Distressed Areas to encourage their reuse and redevelopment into clean, tax-generating properties with public purpose benefits. Under this competitive solicitation, eligible municipalities

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9. Massachusetts business group honors Six Flags, United Personnel, Sanderson-MacLeod

   Explore masslive.com Oct 17 2018

   

   Associated Industries of Massachusetts has honored Six Flags New England, of Agawam, and United Personnel, of Springfield, with its Next Century Award. AIM, a statewide employers group, has also honored brush manufacturer Sanderson-MacLeod, of Palmer, with its the 2018 Sustainability Award.

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   Mentions: Associated Industries of Massachusetts Palmer Six Flags New England

10. UMass Amherst Launches New Biomedical Engineering Department

    Explore BusinessWest Oct 17 2018 Education , Life Sciences

    

    The College of Engineering at UMass Amherst has established a new department of Biomedical Engineering, which will offer bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees. It is the fifth department within the college. Biomedical engineering (BME) integrates engineering science, biology, and medicine into a cross-disciplinary field focused on improving human health and solving problems in the delivery of healthcare. Its key principle is that, by looking at the human body through the lens of engineering, one can apply the concepts of design, optimization, and programming to complex biological systems in order to detect, repair, and treat disease and to create ...

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    Mentions: University of Massachusetts Amherst
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