Human Resources Unlimited Pyramid Project began in 1982 with three people on the campus of American International College.  Now, the project is readying a $2.6 million, 17,600-square foot building at 60 Brookdale Drive in East Springfield that will serve as a home for the project as well as for HRU's headquarters and for its transportation program.

The Springfield Parking Authority has authorized capital improvements to three downtown garages, totaling approximately $4 million, beginning with the Civic Center Garage this summer. The Civic Center Garage project will proceed first, as the authority's busiest garage and generator of its greatest revenue, along with having more significant need for repairs than other authority garages, said Mary McNally, the authority's executive director.

Holyoke Community College will open the Center for Hospitality and Culinary Excellence at a site downtown with plans to teach such skills to 175 students a year beginning in 2016, an official said Wednesday (March 4). The announcement was one of the features at the third annual meeting of the Holyoke Innovation District held at the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center on Bigelow Street

The town recently released on its website the design concept for a revitalized Walnut Street Extension, a rundown corridor officials hope to turn into a dining and shopping destination.  The concept plan, designed by Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, details project goals and shows what the area might look like after the large-scale makeover. The primary focus of the proposed revitalization would be the portion of Walnut Street Extension from Springfield Street to Ramah Circle North.

The Springfield Central Cultural District aims to find innovative ways to support cultural institutions and artists and enliven downtown spaces in our city. These goals are represented in a new public art sponsorship program, which pairs pieces of public art in the district with sponsors in order to raise funds to pay the artists an honorarium for their work. The art available for sponsorship is by two artists whose work currently brightens our downtown, sculptor James Kitchen and painter John Simpson. We are lucky to have these two talented artists working with us, and we look forward to welcoming many ...

Christopher Russell, executive director of Springfield Business Improvement District, said the positive impact of the project for Springfield and the region "far outweighs the short-term inconvenience."

The City Council voted unanimously to authorize a $4 million project to renovate and expand the Clifford A. Phaneuf Environmental Center at Forest Park, bringing cheers and applause from supporters at City Hall including students, parents, and teachers. Burt Freedman, a long-time teacher in the Environmental Center of Our Schools program at Forest Park, said Monday night's council vote, approving the funds, ensures the long-term future of the highly popular, highly successful program.

The meeting is set for the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center, 100 Bigelow St. -- the very reason for the innovation district. Speakers will include Jay Ash, secretary of the state Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, and Mayor Alex B. Morse. The Holyoke Innovation District is what officials call the downtown blocks around the computing center, a university research facility that is between Cabot and Appleton streets overlooking the first-level canal.

Smith & Wesson will report earnings for the third quarter of its fiscal year on Tuesday, following the close of the stock market.  In December, Smith & Wesson reported that the market for firearms was still adjusting back to a new normal following the panic-buying in 2012 and 2013. Buyers were afraid that states and the federal government would pass tighter gun regulations in the wake of mass shootings in a Colorado movie theater and at the Sandy Hook, Connecticut, elementary school

Lou Kornet, vice president and chief of staff at the Markens Group Inc. (TMG), has been designated as a certified association executive (CAE).  Conferred by the American Society of Association Executives, the certification is the highest professional credential in the association industry. To be designated as a certified association executive, an applicant must have five years experience in nonprofit-organization management, complete a minimum of 100 hours of specialized professional development, pass a stringent examination, and pledge to uphold a code of ethics.