Deshaies earns Florence Bank’s 2023 Community Support Award 

FLORENCE — Florence Bank has presented its 2023 Community Support Award to Tim Deshaies of Holyoke, director of retail operations at the bank.

The Community Support Award was established by the bank in 1997 as a means of formally recognizing employees who are active in the community and give their personal and professional time to local nonprofit organizations.

Each year, the award recipient can select an organization of his/her choice, and the bank will donate $500 to that organization. Deshaies has chosen The Therapeutic Equestrian Center, citing the incredible work the organization does with horse-assisted therapy for people in the community.

Deshaies came to Florence Bank in 2007. He holds a master’s in business administration from Western New England University.

He is active in the community and currently holds these positions: treasurer of The Therapeutic Equestrian Center and The Wistariahurst Foundation; vice president of Black Horse Trust; and director of Mansir Trust.

Gary Rome Hyundai lands 2 prestigious awards

HOLYOKE — Executives from Hyundai Motor America recently visited Gary Rome Hyundai to present two awards given to its top dealers.

Hyundai presented Gary Rome with the 2022 Hyundai Board of Excellence Award as well as the Global Dealer Award.

The Board of Excellence Award, given to a small number of dealers each year, is a national recognition program that rewards top-performing dealerships for sales and service excellence. Some of the requirements include a minimum of 250 new retail sales in 2022, having positive year-over-year sales growth, being profitable in 2022.

The Global Dealer Award incorporates sales, service and customer satisfaction. Only 100 dealers receive this award globally, and Gary Rome Hyundai is one of the 19 in the United States.

Yankee Mattress makes, donates pet beds to Dakin

AGAWAM — Yankee Mattress Company, an employee-owned maker of handcrafted mattresses with a store in Northampton, has found an innovative way to support a local nonprofit organization while improving its own sustainability goals.

The company uses its excess mattress material to make pet beds, instead of disposing of it. Those beds are then donated to Dakin Humane Society.

Lamirande coordinates with the Dakin team to customize the sizes needed, including small beds that fit inside the pet carriers the adopted animals go home in, and bigger beds for larger dogs. The number of beds Yankee Mattress creates is based on the amount of excess bedding material they have.

bankESB promotes Gilbert to assistant branch manager

EASTHAMPTON — bankESB recently promoted Peter Gilbert to assistant branch manager of its 241 Northampton St. branch in Easthampton.

Gilbert, of Westhampton, started as a teller at bankESB’s Hadley branch in 2018, was promoted to teller supervisor in 2019, and moved to a float retail supervisor in 2021. He holds an associate degree in liberal arts and science from Springfield Technical Community College, as well as a bachelor’s degree in computer information technology from the College of Our Lady of the Elms.

50+ job seekers networking group

AMHERST — The Jones Library holds a networking group for job seekers who are 50 and older that can help participants build their job search toolkit.

The free biweekly skill-building and networking group meetings are held via Zoom. The series began in August and runs through December. Job seekers can join at any time. Learn more and register at www.joneslibary.org/jobseekers.

The virtual professional forum allows for people to network in a safe and comfortable environment, conducive to developing new relationships, skills and strategies to help in a career transition. Each biweekly meeting features a new topic. There are both morning and evening sessions that meet twice each month. Participants can attend whichever session is most convenient.

More than 60 Massachusetts public libraries have partnered to offer the 50+ Job Seekers Networking Group program. Each biweekly meeting is facilitated by Deborah Hope, an experienced executive career coach.

Jones Library participation in this series is made possible by the Friends of the Jones Libraries. For more information, please contact Janet Ryan at 413-259-3223.

EASTHAMPTON — bankESB recently awarded $5,000 to the Belchertown Pickleball Community and Belchertown Orioles Athletic Association to support the initiative of building two new community pickleball courts at 59 State St.

The Belchertown Pickleball Community ​is a volunteer run, not for profit organization, created to better the Pickleball experience in Belchertown. The two new State Street courts recently held a grand opening to celebrate the finished project and partners who helped to make it a reality. The courts are lighted and open until 10 p.m. through Labor Day and are open to the public. For more information about these new courts, visit btownpickleball.org.

The donation was made as part of the bank’s charitable giving program, The Giving Tree, which reflects the roots the bank has in its communities, its commitment to making a real difference in the neighborhoods it serves, and the belief that everyone’s quality of life is enhanced when we work together to better our communities.

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