Lapointe receives AILP designation

EASTHAMPTON — Amy Lapointe, an agent with Banas & Fickert Insurance Agency in Easthampton, has been named an accredited insurance lines professional (AILP) designee, following her completion of The Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents program for experienced insurance professionals.

Lapointe has been at Banas & Fickert for 20 years, for her entire insurance career. She has been an agent for 15 years. Lapointe graduated from Westfield State College in 2010 with a degree in psychology. She obtained the CISR Elite Designation in 2017.

Food bank,
businesses outlets
land grants to
improve refrigeration

BOSTON — Two Hampshire County retail food businesses and a food bank have been awarded money from the state to use climate-friendly refrigerants in commercial refrigeration equipment.

The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts has received $50,000 to switch to a CO2 refrigeration system Hadley.

Also receiving funding are Big Y Foods, which gets $238,507 for five system retrofits for lower GWP refrigerants and improved leak detection in supermarkets in Northampton, Palmer, Springfield and Wilbraham, and ALDI Inc., which receives $75,000 for a new CO2 system at its new store in Northampton.

The Healey-Driscoll administration recently announced that more than $581,000 in Commercial Refrigeration Grant Program funding was awarded to eight retail food businesses and a food bank in Western Massachusetts. The grant program, administered by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, will support the use of climate-friendly refrigerants in commercial refrigeration equipment.

Many commercial refrigeration systems use potent greenhouse gases known as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), with global warming potential up to thousands of times that of carbon dioxide (CO2). These harmful refrigerants leak into the atmosphere over time, contributing to climate change.

UMassFive joins Massachusetts LGBT Chamber of Commerce

HADLEY — UMassFive College Federal Credit Union has joined the Massachusetts LGBT Chamber of Commerce in a partnership will allow the local credit union to further extend its reach, particularly with local LGBT businesses.

Collaborating with the MA LGBT Chamber opens the door for UMassFive to sponsor the Western MA branch of the LGBT Chamber of Commerce networking events, participate in additional volunteer opportunities, host educational financial workshops, participate in job fairs, and much more.

Greenfield Coop offers homebuying assistance to people of color

GREENFIELD — Greenfield Cooperative Bank has been approved to participate in the Lift Up Homeownership program, a Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston pilot program designed to provide financial assistance to people of color purchasing their first home. People of color is defined as Black, American Indian or Alaska Native, Hispanic, Asian and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander borrowers.

Through Lift Up Homeownership (LUH), people of color earning up to 120% of the area median income are eligible to receive up to $50,000 in down-payment and closing cost assistance on a first-come, first-served basis to purchase their first home in New England. Homebuyers are required to complete a homebuyer counseling program prior to receiving LUH funds.

To learn more about applying for homebuying assistance through the Lift Up Homeownership program and other programs Greenfield Cooperative Bank offers in partnership with Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston and other organizations, contact Greenfield Cooperative Bank Loan Originations at 413-772-5000 extension 490 or e-mail at loaninfo@greenfieldcoopbank.com.

Historic Deerfield appoints Whitley curator of historic textiles, clothing

DEERFIELD — Lauren Whitley has joined Historic Deerfield as the curator of historic textiles and clothing. Whitley started in the position in June.

The museum’s textile collection includes historic clothing and accessories, flat, woven textiles, bed hangings, quilts, coverlets, needlework, carpets, upholstered furniture, and textile processing tools spanning some 400 years, from about 1600 to 2000. One of Whitley’s first projects will be a reconceived installation plan for the Helen Geier Flynt Textile Gallery in the Flynt Center of Early New England Life.

Lauren worked for many years as senior curator in the Department of Textile and Fashion Arts at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and in 2020 received the honorary designation of senior curator emerita. While at the MFA Boston, she curated several exhibitions, most notably Fabric of a Nation: American Quilt Stories and Hippie Chic, which were both accompanied by publications. Most recently Whitley consulted as an independent curator on collection and exhibition issues with the Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the Rokeby Museum in Ferrisburgh, Vermont.

Whitley holds an undergraduate degree in art history from Trinity College in Hartford, a master’s degree in fashion and textile studies from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, and recently completed her doctorate in humanities at Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island.

Pioneer Valley Hotel Group names new general manager

LUDLOW — Cristina Gonzalez has been promoted to the general manager role at the Holiday Inn Express in Ludlow. Gonzalez has worked with Pioneer Valley Hotel Group since 2015. Before taking the general manager position, Gonzalez worked as an assistant general manager at the Hampton Inn in Hadley and other positions within the PVHG family of hotels.

Gonzalez began working at the Holiday Inn Express Ludlow in the winter of 2022.

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